664 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 20th, 1885. 
IIJUMATHIS’ feAMEM. 
THE GEEENHOUSE. 
Shading and Watering. —With the days now at 
their longest and the sun bearing its full power, 
shade will be necessary from about ten in the morning 
to three in the afternoon, if flowers are to be kept 
fresh and at their best, but it should not be of 
such a degree of intensity as will obstruct the light 
much, or the petals will be thin and flimsy and their 
colour affected. Next in importance to shade is 
moisture, and to have the air impregnated with this 
the floors must be damped down occasionally, which 
will make the atmosphere congenial and prevent the 
plants feeling distressed by the heat. To keep this to 
as low a degree as possible, the lights or ventilators 
should be opened wide, if it can be done without 
causing too great a draught, which ought to be 
avoided, or severe flagging may follow through the 
rapid evaporation that takes place from the leaves. 
Although it may be necessary to look over the 
plants more than once a day, the right time to water 
is during the evening, as then it has the night to soak 
in and properly moisten the balls of soil, which gives 
the roots a fair chance to start on afresh. 
Hanging Baskets. —As the general run of green 
houses exhibit many objectionable straight lines, 
when not hidden or ornamented with climbers, a few 
hanging baskets should be used, as when well 
furnished with suitable things they are highly 
ornamental, and help much to embellish the roof 
Among some of the best plants that may be mentioned 
for the purpose of filling them, few are more effective 
than such Tropaeolums as Ball of Fire, or its 
improved variety, or indeed any other of the named 
varieties, which are very brilliant, and their habit all 
that can be desired to render them adapted for sus¬ 
pending at a height, as they run about up the chains 
or hang down in the most graceful manner. 
The Deooping Vakieties of Tuberous Begonias 
are also grand when used in the same way, as 
elevated above the head they show off the beauties of 
their pendulous blooms to the greatest advantage. 
Fuchsias too are never seen to better effect than they 
are at a certain elevation, as they are naturally 
pendent, the habit of many sorts being quite weeping 
and straggling, and such as these look just at home 
in a basket. Petunias are almost climbers, but it is 
only the single varieties that should be used for the 
baskets, and the best strains of these are very 
beautiful, as the flowers are large and marked with 
the richest of colours. Pelargoniums, Bollison’s 
Unique, and the many Ivy-leaved varieties, are 
magnificent as roof plants, and form quite a feature 
in any house that is light, as under its influence they 
bloom profusely and make a fine show. 
Foe a Shady Position, Ferns are the best, and 
amongst these Nephrolepis tuberosa, Asplenium 
flaccidum, and Woodwardia radicans are the most 
desirable of those that grow large, but there are many 
smaller that are very neat and pretty, the more 
striking among them being Pteris scaberula and 
Adiantum setulosum, the latter of which does well 
in an Orchid-pot, as it ■null send its fronds through 
the holes at the sides. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
Hoeing and Mulching Flowee Beds. —A better 
time for bedding plants since they have been turned 
out could not have been, as no sooner were they 
in the ground than rain fell and settled the earth 
well about them, and immediately after hot weather 
followed, giving such an impetus to the plants that 
they started right off at once. As the ground will be 
pattered down and hard and close on the surface, 
the thing to do now is to run the hoe over it to break 
up the crust and destroy any seed-weeds, after which 
the beds should be mulched down with cocoa-nut 
fibre or old tan, either of which have a neat appearance 
and are a great help in keeping the soil regularly 
moist, when the plants are able to stand the hot 
weather and will continue to send up plenty of 
bloom. 
Evebgreens, such as Laurel and other common 
kinds planted as screens, may now be cut back freely 
where they have overgrown walks or got beyond 
bounds, as they soon break again, but what pruning 
is done should be effected with a knife, as nothing is 
so objectionable as to see shrubs with a clipped front 
and a face like a wall, with severed or mutilated 
leaves that show all the season. Rhododendrons as 
they go out of bloom ought at once to have the seed- 
pods picked off, as to bear and ripen seed distresses 
the plants far more than it does to carry their flowers, 
and often prevents them making proper growth and 
setting fresh buds. To assist them in this, a good 
soaking of water will be a great help, as they are 
moisture-loving subjects, and have their roots near 
the surface. 
Roses will still require watching to keep them free 
from aphis and maggot, and should the weather set 
in dry, frequent soakings of sewage or other liquid 
manure will be necessary, as without plenty of feeding 
the bloom will be poor, and the plants so impoverished 
that they will not flower free in the autumn. 
Lawns and Walks. —If lawns are to be kept in 
good order they must be mown regularly once a week, 
or the grass will get so long as to make the work 
of cutting it difficult, and the labour heavy, and 
not only that, but the bottom becomes discoloured 
from being smothered, after which the sun scorches 
and injures the plants when they have their crowns 
suddenly exposed. Dandelions, Plantains, and Daisies 
are a great disfigurement in turf, and should be 
eradicated either by cutting them out or destroying 
them, which may easily and quickly be done by just 
touching the crowns with vitriolic or carbolic acid, a 
single drop of either of which will break a weed up. 
For those on walks, salt and water poured on through 
a rosed pot on a hot dry day is a good and easy 
remedy, but the salt water must be kept away from 
Box or other like edging. 
THE FRUIT GARDEN. 
Peaches and Nectarines. —One of the greatest- 
enemies to these is red-spider, and the chief cause of 
these affecting trees is dryness at the roots, to prevent 
which the borders should be mulched, and after this 
is done a thorough soaking either with clear water or 
liquid manure given, the stimulant being desirable 
for such trees as have a heavy crop of fruit. As the 
crop in houses will now be stoned and safe, it may be 
thinned, and in doing this choice should be made of 
all those on-the upper side of the branches, as there 
they are not smothered up with foliage, and being so 
much more exposed to sun and air than those below 
they colour better, and therefore come far finer in 
flavour. If the Peaches and Nectarines are wanted ripe 
early, they may be hurried on without any harm by 
closing the house at three o’clock in the afternoon, 
but if this is done the trees must then have a good 
syringing, as heat without plenty of atmospheric 
moisture will soon bring on the parasite mentioned 
above. 
If green-fly makes its appearance on the tips of the 
shoots it will be necessary to resort to fumigating at 
once, but this needs to be done with care, as an 
overdose would injure the young, tender leaves. To 
prevent this, the best way is to smoke slightly night 
and morning for three or four days in succession, 
which gives the aphis no time to recover. For trees 
out-of-doors, smoking is impracticable, and to get rid 
of the fly on them the shoots must either be dipped 
in dilute Gishurst or Nicotine Soap, or dusted with 
Tobacco-powder, after which they should be subjected 
to a good syringing or be well washed with water from 
a garden engine, the latter being best, as the water 
can be sent with more force and the insects knocked 
off by the stream. 
Plums and Cherries will also be much benefited 
by receiving a thorough washing in the same way, 
as they too are much affected by aphis, which if 
not got rid of soon cripples the trees, and quite 
spoils the fruit by covering it with the sticky excreta 
they exude on its skin. Currants are often made 
quite unfit for use in the same way, but this 
may be prevented by snipping off the points of 
the shoots and any badly blistered leaves, as it is 
on them the aphis lurks and causes the malformation 
or curl. 
The Vinery. —Excepting where forcing is being 
carried on, fires may now be dispensed with, as all the 
heat necessary for either young Vines or old may be 
had from the sun, and to secure and utilize it the 
house should be closed early in the afternoon, at which 
time the floors, pathway, and other inner surface 
should be well wetted, that there may be no lack of 
atmospheric moisture, which is essential for the health 
of the Vines. In cases where young rods are being 
run up, and have no fruit on them, they will be 
benefited by being syringed twice a day, but for those 
with Grapes on the wetting must be avoided, for 
however clear the water may appear, a sediment is 
sure to be left on the berries. These ought now to be 
large enough for the bunches to be thinned, and the 
sooner this is done after the berries are a little bigger 
than pins heads the better, as not only may the 
work be carried out much more expeditiously, but they 
swell considerably faster than when left to crowd each 
other and struggle for room. In thinning, the things 
to be particular about are not to rub the bunches, and 
to leave only those berries that have strong footstalks 
and stones in them, which an experienced eye can 
pick out at once, as they have quite the lead of the 
others. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
Cauliflowers. —Although the late heavy rains have 
been highly beneficial in most respects, they have 
pattered down the surface of the soil and sealed it as 
it were against the air, and therefore hoeing should be 
resorted to at once to give a gentle stirring, which is 
best done by using a Dutch hoe, an implement that is 
of great service, as it cuts under all weeds without 
driving up or unduly disturbing the ground. Cauli¬ 
flowers are one of the most important of summer 
crops, but without some degree of management it is a 
difficult matter to keep up a succession. The only 
way to do this is to sow and plant frequently, giving 
the plants a cool part of the garden, where the ground 
has been well prepared by manuring and deep digging, 
in which favourable position, if kept watered and 
given an occasional soaking with sewage, they cannot 
fail to turn in. One of the greatest pests that affect 
Cauliflower, as well as all other of the Brassica tribe, 
is the fly or “ Black Jack,” which punctures the 
leaves and eats out the heart of the plants, causing 
them to go blind. The best remedy against that is 
to dust them with lime or Tobacco-powder while they 
are damp with dew, when the powder or lime will 
adhere and keep the insects away. 
Scarlet Runners.— Where these can have suffi¬ 
ciently tall sticks they run to a great height and 
bear profusely, but it is not everyone who can so 
accommodate them, and many have to be content 
with them dwarf, in which state they may be kept 
by stopping the shoots, which makes them branch out 
and support themselves, or they may be limited to 
3 ft. or 4 ft. stakes by treating them in the same way, 
but however grown, the great thing with Scarlet 
Runners is to keep them wet at their roots, or they 
shed their blossoms without setting, to prevent which 
the best way is to spread some long dung or fitter 
alongside of the rows, as with the ground so covered 
a watering tells, for the moisture cannot evaporate 
in the way it otherwise would. 
Turnips and Radishes.—To have these young and 
tender, frequent sowings must be made, the most 
suitable situation for them being a cool half-shady 
border, as there they are not likely to suffer so much 
from drought, which soon makes the flesh fibry and 
strong to the taste. 
Carrots. —For pulling small, the French Horn is 
the best, and a sowing of this should be made now in 
sandy soil, and another a month later, and unless the 
plants come very thick, they may be left without any 
thinning till required for use. 
THE TRUE BACHELORS’ 
BUTTONS. 
I note in a recent number, p. 612, a short note 
on Ranunculus aconitifolius plenus, or “ Fair Maids 
of France,” which is said to be also called Bachelors’ 
Buttons. Is not this an error? Should it not read 
that R. acris flore-pleno is the old Bachelor’s Button. 
I think so—at least I have always known this plant 
so called, even when I was a boy. The blossoms of 
R. aconitifolius plenus are small, and produced in 
clusters, and might be more appropriately compared 
