THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 15, 1894 . 
39 
When potting, use a compost of good fibrous loam 
one part, peat two parts, with a liberal allowance of 
sharp sand. Keep them close in a shady place, and 
syringe them occasionally, when little fear of any 
severe check to them need be felt. These Rhodo- 
drons are among the finest of our greenhouse flower¬ 
ing plants. There are many splendid varieties in 
cultivation well worthy a place in every collection of 
plants. Indeed, looking at their great value, both to 
the amateur and professional gardener, it is astonish¬ 
ing that they are not more grown than they are. 
Pits and Frames. 
In many localities slugs are a perfect pest at this 
season of the year, and in this department particu¬ 
larly they often cause trouble. Nothing is safe from 
their ravages. They evince a particular regard for 
the tender leaves of Primulas, Cinerarias, and seed¬ 
lings of every description. Traps should be set and 
examined twice or thrice a day. Lettuce leaves are 
as good as anything in the way of bait. Another 
sowing of Mignonette seed may be made for succes¬ 
sion, 48-sized pots being perhaps the handiest. 
Zonal Pelargoniums for Winter Flowering.— 
These are almost a necessity in places where the 
houses are expected to look gay and bright, even 
during the dullest months of the year. And there is, 
I venture to say, no plant more suitable for the pur¬ 
pose than the Zonal Pelargonium. If grown on 
during the summer and well fed, particular attention 
paid to the pinching out of flower buds, and stopping 
of too vigorous shoots, a succession of bloom may 
be had from the beginning of November till the 
middle of March, after which they are usually not 
required, plenty of other subjects filling their place. 
The first batch may now be allowed to develop their 
flower buds, the others still having them pinched out 
for a while yet, so as to form a suitable succession. 
— A. S. G. 
-» « - - 
Til ORCHID HOUSES. 
East India House.— Calanthes should be en¬ 
couraged to make up good bulbs by affording them 
some kind of stimulant once or twice a week. They 
are not very particular as to what kind of manure is 
used, but care should be taken not to over-do it. It 
is always better to give weak doses often than strong 
ones at wide intervals. A light position near the 
glass if possible should be given them from now 
onward. They are subject to the attacks of scale, 
which must not be allowed to get hold as they are 
very weakening to plant life. 
Cattleya aurea. —This free flowering form of C. 
Dowiana, although requiring the higher temperature 
of this division during the growing season, will last 
longer in full beauty if transferred to the Cattleya 
house, which is more airy and drier. The change to 
a lower temperature will insure that rest which is so 
essential in keeping them in the best of health for 
years. 
Dendrobium formosum giganteum. —This very 
fine Dendrobe will establish well enough in the 
Cattleya house, but it is impossible to do it to 
perfection in such a temperature, and only those 
that can give them plenty of heat should attempt its 
culture. When well grown there is no Dendrobe to 
beat it. Very little compost to root into, plenty of 
heat when growing, an abundance of water at the 
roots and in the atmosphere, with a good season of 
rest after they go out of flower, is what they require- 
Cattleya House. —Laelia elegans alba now in 
bloom is certainly very free flowering as well as 
being handsome, and this is the second time it has 
flowered this year. It does well either in pots or 
baskets, but dislikes very much compost about the 
roots; it requires plenty of moisture when growing, 
and at no time should it be quite dry, for if allowed 
to shrivel much it is very difficult to get round 
again. 
Miltonias. —Plants that have been growing with 
the Odontoglossums during the summer months 
should now be returned to the Cattleya house for the 
winter. We have done M. vexillarium well for some 
years treated in this way, but M. Roezlii refuses to 
do kindly under the same treatment. The Cattleya 
house during summer, and the warmer division to 
winter them in, seems to suit them best. It requires 
more moisture too than does Vexillarium. Thrips 
are very fond of tl^em and must be kept under by 
frequently dipping them in tobacco water. 
Temperatures. —East India house yo° at night, 
Cattleya house 60° and Cool house 50° at night 
with plenty of air, the day temperature should be 
raised io° all round, but the state of the weather 
will be the best guide.— C. 
- - 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
Preparing the Ground. 
The autumn is fast approaching, when it will be 
necessary to prepare the ground for spring crops. 
Too little attention is often paid to this part of the 
business, for in many places the soil is scarcely 
turned over a sufficient depth to bury the weeds, so 
that there is little chance of the roots getting down 
in search of food. When talking to a gardener the 
other day who professed to know a great deal, I was 
much struck by the observations he made. Ah ! 
he said, I never dig more than three or four inches 
deep, as I like to keep the roots near the top, and 
from the appearance of his crops they were near 
the top, too near in fact. Digging is one of those 
operations that requires practice to do well. It may 
seem superfluous to say so, but there are few gar¬ 
deners of the present day who can handle a spade 
properly, and if this be so how are they to teach 
those under them. I remember some years ago, 
when taking charge of the garden here telling some 
three or four men to go and dig a piece of ground ; 
to my great astonishment on going to them a short 
time afterwards they had not taken out any trench. 
On asking them what they intended doing to fillup 
when they reached the other side. “ Oh! draw it 
in " was the remark. At this I made them fetch 
some barrows, take out a trench two spits wide and 
two deep, which was wheeled to the opposite side, 
then after taking the spade and working with them 
for about a couple of hours to put them in the way, 
the digging was done in a business-like manner. 
The remarks made by one of the men, who is now 
holding a good position in the gardening world, was 
this, he “did not mind working for a master who 
knew what work was, and how to do it, but did not 
care to serve one who only bullied and could not do 
the work himself. 1 ’ 
To grow good vegetables, as with everything else, 
it is necessary to have a fair start, and to com¬ 
mence with the preparation of the ground, after¬ 
wards sowing or planting as the case may 
be. True, all gardens have not a sufficient depth 
of good soil to enable the gardener to turn it over to 
such a depth, but by careful cultivation a sufficient 
thickness may be had in most places after a few 
years’ labour, and when once the ground is well 
made it does not require the attention afterwards. 
It is the common practice to turn the top spit to the 
bottom, leaving it untouched, but in my opinion no 
greater mistake could be made. It is on this layer 
that the roots of the plants feed after they have made a 
start, and gone down, and as there is no possibility 
of breaking it up when the ground is once dug the 
lumps will remain solid till turned up again. The 
top spit when turned into the trench should be 
chopped up fine, allowing that which is brought to 
the surface to remain as rough as possible unless it 
is intended to be planted at once, when all lumps 
ought to be broken. In gardens where heavy 
cropping has not to be resorted to, many of the 
summer crops will be cleared off so that manure may 
be got on, and digging done the first favourable 
opportunity, as the longer the soil is thrown up to 
the action of the weather before being planted the 
better will it be for the crops. 
Spring Cabbage. 
Spring Cabbage ought now to be planted, for 
unless they are well rooted before frost sets in, there 
is a risk of their being lifted by its action and there¬ 
by losing them during the winter. Plant the small 
growing kinds so that each other may be cut 
before they are fully grown. On heavy soil it is the 
better plan to plant as digging proceeds, for by so 
doing this dispenses with the necessity of treading 
on the ground afterwards. On light ground it 
would be an advantage to make the soil firm as the 
roots cannot take hold of it when too loose. 
Vegetable Marrows. 
Keep all fruit that are ready for use cut daily, as by 
so doing they will be secu red from harm should we h|ve 
a sharp frost, while it will assist the plants to swell 
those more rapidly should the weather continue 
mild for some time longer. Should there be 
signs of frost a little litter of some kind thrown over 
the plants will usually ward it off. Those residing 
in low-lying districts know too well how these sudden 
changes affect them and are therefore usually on the 
look out. 
Protecting tender Vegetables. 
Protection in general at nights will now have to 
be resorted to, as all such things as Capsicums, late 
Peas, Dwarf Beans, and any tender plants that it is 
desired to prolong the use of must be looked to, as 
we may expect to find them cut down any morning, 
Clear away all crops as they become ready for use, 
or have matured their growth, as the ground can then 
be manured and dug for future supplies. All early 
Carrots should now be lifted, for i*f allowed to 
remain longer in the ground and a quantity of rain 
falls they will split and become worthless. Lift 
them in dry weather and allow them to remain on 
the surface for an hour or two before storing away, 
so that any soil sticking to them may be rubbed off. 
Take advantage of every favourable opportunity to 
earth up Celery, but do not attempt to do such work 
when either the foliage or soil is wet .—Kitchen 
Gardener. 
Onion, Veitch's Main Crop. 
In most localities onions are a heavy crop this year, 
and the above splendid sort has given especial 
satisfaction. I have seen several grand crops of 
it, and in every case was struck with the uniform size 
and weight of the bulbs. At one place in particular 
where the ground had been trenched, and well- 
manured last autumn, and a liberal dressing of wood 
ashes given it in February, splendid results were 
obtained. Of the Improved White Spanish type 
this sort far surpassed most of the other varieties in 
quickness of growth, added to which it is one of the 
best of keepers.— G. 
Lettuce—Sutton’s Intermediate. 
It is an undeniable fact that a large number of the sorts 
of Lettuce in cultivation to-day are comparatively 
valueless. Indeed, before one can venture to grow a 
new variety to any extent, it is advisable to make a 
trial of it with a few plants only, or to see it growing 
elsewhere, and then to taste it to make sure that it 
is of a good flavour. Recently, when looking round 
Elvetham Park with Mr. Jones, I had the oppor¬ 
tunity of seeing and tasting a sample of Sutton’s 
Intermediate, and I may say that I never tasted one 
which pleased my palate so much as did this variety. 
I am no lover of the large, coarse Cos Lettuces, or 
of the monster Cabbage sorts either. I consider 
that a Lettuce, to be good, should be crisp and well 
flavoured, and this is just what Sutton’s Intermediate 
is. Its leaves are dark in colour, like those of the 
Bath Cos type, and it stands a long time before 
running to seed. In appearance, it seems to come 
half-way between the Cos and Cabbage types — Con. 
Tomato Hackwood Park. 
The present sunless season has been so sadly 
against the likings of this sun-loving plant that it 
becomes of importance to take notice of cases where 
success has been achieved even under these 
unfavourable conditions. Last week I saw as fine 
a crop of Tomatos outside as ever delighted the eye 
of a gardener. In one of those little places where 
every inch of space is available the wall of a melon 
pit was utilised. The wall in question was 3 ft. in 
height and faced due west. A border 1 ft. in width 
ran along it, and here the Tomatos were planted. 
They were taken up with a single stem, all laterals 
rigorously picked out and trained after the oblique 
cordon fashion. As soon as the fruit began to colour 
all the leaves that could be spared were cut off, 
together with all superfluous growth, with the result 
that all the energies of the plants were devoted to 
the speedy development of the fruit, and even in 
this sunless season good crops have been gathered, 
and now, September 8th, a nice lot are ripening. 
Hackwood Park Prolific was the sort grown, and it 
will, I think, be difficult to find a better all round 
Tomato than this. It forces well and it does well 
outside, and there are very few Tomatos of which 
this can be said. What particularly struck me with 
regard to this border was the way in which it was 
made to serve purposes of ornament as well as 
practical utility. A row of single flowering Petunias 
was planted at the foot of the Tomatos, and an 
edging to this was furnished by the pretty little 
zonal Pelargonium Golden Harry Hiover. The 
whole formed a most pleasing picture and one well 
worthy of being copied.— A. S. G. 
