May 4, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
567 
the edges. The lip is nearly similar in shape above 
the base, but is bifid at the dilated apex, yellow with 
a white edge, a large red-brown blotch in front of 
the crest, and some smaller ones by the side and 
base of it. The crest consists of radiating ridges, 
ending in very short teeth. The column has a 
crimson blotch on the back and some brown spots 
on the wings. Altogether it is a highly or richly 
coloured, beautiful, and valuable variety of the 
type, and Mr. Pitt, who has a keen eye for a good 
thing, is to be congratulated on its possession. 
FRUIT UNDERGLASS, 
Vines. —Houses in which the Vines are in full vigour 
of growth and the berries swelling apace must be 
watched very carefully for scorching. The disfigure¬ 
ment of the leaves thus caused is very great, and the 
check imparted to the Vines themselves correspond¬ 
ingly large. Where the roof of the house is glazed 
with cheap and bad glass scorching will often ensue 
under the most careful management, but it is more 
often the result of careless or negligent attention to 
ventilation. At nightfall perhaps the atmosphere of 
the house is surcharged with moisture, and the tem¬ 
perature being allowed to drop rather low during the 
night a great deal of this moisture becomes 
deposited upon the leaves. If following this comes 
a bright sunny morning, and air is not given soon 
enough or in sufficient quantities, the little globules 
of water upon the leaves act as miniature lenses, 
focussing the sun’s rays upon the tender leaves, and 
causing the ugly brown spots which are so often to 
be seen. It will thus be seen that to prevent dis¬ 
figurement of the leaves in this fashion serious falls 
of temperature during the night must be guarded 
against, and ventilation must be skilfully and care¬ 
fully performed. As soon as the temperature of the 
house commences to rise in the morning air must be 
given in proportion. Indeed, as soon as the outside 
glass keeps up above 45 0 Fahr. through the night a 
chink of air must be always left upon the house, of 
course supposing this can be done without undue 
recourse to fire-heat. A night temperature of 6o° to 
70° Fahr. will now be necessary for all vineries 
which are in full growth. 
Peaches and Nectarines. —As soon as the fruit 
in the earliest house commences to colour, all the 
sunlight possible should be admitted, in order to 
obtain well coloured and highly flavoured fruit. To 
this end any leaves that are shading the fruit from 
the sun’s rays may be pushed aside. Any tying in 
of growths that has not yet been completed should 
also be seen to at once, as the weight of the fruit is 
considerabteand may pull the branches down unless 
they are securely fastened. Syringing may be 
carried on here until the fruit commences to soften, 
when, of course, it must be discontinued, and a drier 
atmosphere allowed to prevail. In the succession 
house, where the fruit will just be commencing to 
stone, care must be taken that no check of any kind 
is received by the trees, either as the result of 
frequent fluctuations of temperature or of insufficient 
moisture at the root. A slightly higher temperature 
by night than that advocated in the last calendar, 
say about 58° Fahr., will suffice. 
Orchard House.— If sturdy vigorous growth is 
expected to delight the eyes of the gardener free and 
ample ventilation must be the order of the day in 
this house. The hardy subjects, such as the Apple, 
Pear, Plum, and Cherry, do not need a much higher 
temperature under glass than that which they would 
naturally receive outside, and they always resent 
undue and ill-advised coddling by the production of 
weak unhealthy foliage, also by the dropping of any 
fruit they may have set. Where the " set ” of fruit 
has been a good one thinning should be commenced 
early, as the usual idea in growing Apples and Pears 
in pots is to obtain a few extra fine fruit rather than 
for these under-glass subjects to vie with their 
brothers and sisters outdoors in the carrying of 
heavy crops of medium sized fruits. With Cherries 
it is not safe to thin much, however thick a crop of 
fruit the trees may appear to have set ; for with 
marvellously few exceptions they thin themselves 
naturally at stoning time, the fruit in some cases 
dropping off the tress wholesale, until the gardener 
is inclined to wonder if, after all, he is going to get 
even a medium crop. 
Melons and Cucumbers. —As soon as the fruit in 
the second early house has reached the size of cricket 
balls, preparations must be made to support them, 
or their weight will prove too heavy for their foot¬ 
stalks. This may be done either by means of small 
Dets or by boards supported by strings at the four 
corners. In adjusting these latter, however, they 
should be tied in a slanting position so as to allow 
of the escape of the water, which will otherwise 
collect at the point of contact between the supporting 
board and the fruit, this invariably causing the latter 
to rot off. Care must be taken when watering all 
Melons that the water is not allowed to touch the 
collars of the plants, or these will also damp off, 
and good-bye to all hopes of success. Should signs 
of this appear the affected parts should be dusted 
now and again with a little lime, a careful and 
consistent use of which will often result in the 
securing of a crop from badly affected plants.— 
A. S. G. 
* 
Things are at last commencing to move apace after 
the long winter and late cold spring, thanks to the 
advent of more genial weather. The recent showers 
we have had, coupled with the warm sun, has indeed 
worked wonders in an exceedingly short space of 
time, and the general aspect of the flower garden 
has improved greatly. Beautiful as it all is, how¬ 
ever, from the gardener’s point of view it only 
means more work, and in fact the usual routine of 
operations characteristic of the flower garden during 
the summer and autumn months will have now to 
be gone through. Walks must be kept swept, 
rolled, and free from weeds; the grass edges must 
be kept neatly trimmed and the scythe and mowing 
machine will need to be regularly and consistently 
employed. In using the mowing machine, however, 
take care that the cutting knives are not set down 
too low, for the roots of the grass are extremely 
liable to be injured if due precautions are not 
exercised. It is far better not to cut too close at 
first, even if this does necessitate a little more fre¬ 
quent application of the machine, for the grass will 
stand the hot summer’s sun much more easily when 
treated thus than it would were the roots weakened 
by too close cutting now. A well-kept lawn is 
always an ornament to any place, and any little 
trouble that is taken to obtain it is labour well 
expended. 
Although we have had a deal of dull weather and 
some few showers, this more especially during the 
past week, it must not be taken for granted that 
because the surface of the soil is damp the lower 
strata are sufficiently moist also. In many places 
the want of sufficient rain is severely felt, and there¬ 
fore a bright lookout must be kept to see that trees 
and shrubs, especially newly planted ones, are not 
allowed to get too dry. The rockery and hardy 
fernery, in establishments where such features are 
present, will also need attention in this respect; for 
from the fact that the plants occupying them are 
usually growing in well-drained positions or in 
places where the earth is very shallow it will readily 
be grasped that the drying searching winds which 
characterised the beginning and middle of April will 
have taken much of the moisture out of the soil. 
Calceolarias. —In most districts in the South of 
England these may be planted out at the beginning 
of the present month without any great fear of 
danger, and some gardeners make a point of putting 
them out about the middle of April. Frosts in May 
are, however, of far too frequent occurrence to 
warrant planting out without taking some steps 
whereby covering may be easily and expeditiously 
given if occasion requires. An excellent plan is to 
bend some long stout stakes hoop fashion over the 
beds or borders, upon which mats may be spread if 
frost threatens. These stakes may remain in 
position until all danger of severe frost has passed. 
Ornamental Vases.— In most places there are a 
few of these scattered about the terraces and flower 
garden, and very pretty they look when well 
furnished with suitable plants. Where these 
receptacles are fixtures it is usual to fill them with 
small plants of Conifers of various kinds or other 
subjects equally as hardy. In most instances, how¬ 
ever, many of these vases are movable, and will thus 
have been taken in last autumn out of the way of 
the frost. These will have been washed and cleaned 
from all filth during the bad weather, and they may 
now be restored to their places as soon as desired. 
Those which have been standing outdoors all the 
winter should now be washed also, for it is desirable 
to get all this kind of work as forward as possible, 
as during the rush which invariably accompani- s 
the bedding-out season such jobs as this will be 
almost sure to be neglected. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
At last we are being blessed with something a little 
more like spring weather than that which we ex¬ 
perienced during the greater part of the month of 
April, and late as things are generally it is really 
wonderful to see the amount of progress that has 
been made in so short a time. Just as the vegetables 
are feeling the beneficent effects of really growing 
weather the weeds also are having a right good time, 
fostered in their growth by the rains which were so 
much needed and which have at last put in an 
appearance The warfare which the gardener has 
to wage with the encroaching weeds will, therefore, 
need to be renewed in all its intensity, and the Dutch 
hoe will have to be kept vigorously employed during 
favourable opportunities, hand picking being resorted 
to for the removal of the larger ones. 
Cabbages and Caulifowers which have been 
raised from seed sown under glass will now be grow¬ 
ing away well after the severe check which they 
have so long had placed upon them in the shape of 
dry cold winds. Indeed, so unfavourable have cir¬ 
cumstances been that in many cases they appeared 
for a long time to be growing smaller instead of 
larger. Keep a sharp look-out for the attacks of 
slugs and caterpillars, which should be picked off by 
hand as soon as seen and destroyed. 
Thinning of Crops. —This is an operation the 
importance of which cannot be too strongly 
emphasized. It is the essence of folly to leave the 
plants in the rows until they are spoiling each 
other for want of room before thinning is com¬ 
menced. The weeding out of the smaller and 
weaker ones should be begun as soon as the seed¬ 
lings are large enough to handle comfortably. 
Short-horn or Early Nantes Carrots that 
have been sown on a warm south border to come in 
early will now need looking after for thinning, but 
care should be taken that plenty of plants are left, 
for these may be drawn when young, in which state 
they form a much sought after vegetable as well as 
highly prized material for flavouring soups, etc. 
Onions. —Supposing the ground to now be in a 
state of thorough preparedness, Onions which have 
been raised under glass and pricked out in pans or 
boxes should te planted out. A warm dry day 
must be chosen for the operation when the ground 
will work well, and is not liable to be trodden into 
a pasty mess with the feet. The young plants 
should be removed from their present quarters with 
as good a ball as possible, a hole made with the 
trowel and the soil subsequently well firmed round 
the young plant. A good watering in afterwards 
will then put matters all square, and but little fear 
of a check need be entertained. 
Potatos. —Early Potatos on a south border will 
now require to be earthed up, as it is not advisable 
to defer this operation until too late. Should they 
be at all dry at the root a thoroughly good watering 
must be given and the surface of the soil allowed to 
dry somewhat before the hoe is started to work. In 
drawing the earth up, however, take care that the 
joung plants are not smothered, as it is far the better 
plan to have two or three turns at earthing up, and 
thus to get the soil around them gradually than to 
be too rash at the outset. As it is more than likely 
that we shall be plagued with a few May frosts, at 
least, if previous years are to be taken as a sample, 
and as it would be a thousand pities that these early 
Potatos should be cut down at the commencement 
of their career, a few boards should be kept in readi¬ 
ness. One of these may be run up on either side of 
the row, and thus an effective protection will be 
afforded with but very little trouble. 
Tomatos.— While it will not be safe to plant 
these out-of-doors for a week or two yet prepara¬ 
tions for their accommodation may be carried on. A 
sunny part of the garden must be selected, as sun¬ 
light is an all-important factor in the securing of a 
crop of Tomatos. If a few spare feet of wall to which 
the plants may be trained are vacant so much the 
better, for in a position like this the best results are 
obtained. The ground should be well manured and 
deeply trenched, for Tomatos are heavy feeders. 
The plants, meanwhile, may be hardened off 
gradually in readiness for putting out, and if a few 
fiuits are set upon them before planting, so much 
the better.— K. G. ___ 
' Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and SnruDs, by 
A D Webster. A valuable guide to planters of beautiiul 
trees 'and shrubs for the adornment of parks and gardens 
Price, 3S ; post free, 3s. 3d. Publisher, Gardening World 
i, Clement's Inn, Strand, London, W.C. 
