THE GARDENING WORLD 
663 
June 15, 1895. 
T" 
dug, and in these the pots may be stood and the soil 
packed neatly around them until it is level with the 
surrounding lawn. Treated thus the plants will 
really appear as if they were growing there. It is 
, scarcely necessary, perhaps, to add that copious 
supplies of water must be given to plants so 
situated throughout the season. The following 
Palms will be found very suitable for plunging out¬ 
side in the manner suggested. Trachycarpus 
(Chamaerops) excelsus, T. Fortunei, a species that 
. is well-nigh hardy and will stand through the winter 
in favoured localities; Phoenix sylvestris, P. 
canariensis, P. reclinata, and Archontophoenix 
Cunninghamiana, or, to give it its common garden 
name, Seaforthia elegans. 
Carnations. —These should now be throwing up 
their flower stems, and will therefore need to be seen 
to for staking as soon as possible. Although exten¬ 
sive disbudding is not an advisable proceeding in 
dealing with outdoor plants that are required to 
furnish lots of cut bloom, a little may be practised 
with advantage, as usually large quantities of buds 
are produced which, if left, would lessen the size of 
the flowers considerably. See that plenty of water 
is given to the plants, and keep a bright look-out for 
green fly, which is usually among them in greater or 
less numbers.—d. S. G. 
* 
Peaches and Nectarines. —The bright sunshiny 
weather that has been so characteristic of the 
greater part of May, as well as of the beginning of 
the present month, should have assisted greatly in 
the ripening and colouring of the earlier crops of 
fruit if care has been taken as recommended in a 
former calender to push aside any leaves that were 
shading the fruit. Although the border may be kept 
a good deal drier than it has been up to the present, 
water must on no account be totally withheld, or the 
roots, which have up to the time of the ripening of 
the fruit been stimulated to brisk and healthy action, 
will suffer from the sudden change. As soon as all 
the fruit has been gathered from the earliest house 
heavy and copious syringings should be given morn¬ 
ing and evening ; for during the time that the at¬ 
mosphere has been kept dry it is just possible that red 
spider may have obtained a foothold, and it is impor¬ 
tant that its ravages should be checked as soon as 
possible. In houses where the fruit is commencing 
to stone air must be cautiously given, draughts being 
studiously avoided. A crack of air must be left on 
all night, however, as formerly advised. After 
stoning is completed the final thinning of the fruit 
may take place. For ordinarily strong trees a fruit 
to every eight square inches will be a very good crop. 
More than this the trees ought not to be allowed to 
carry. 
Figs.— In houses where Figs are commencing to 
ripen a rather drier atmosphere may be maintained 
than formerly, more air being given both by night 
and day in order to get as much flavour in the fruit 
as possible. The night temperature may range from 
65° to 7o« Fahr., rising to 8o<? on sunny days. On 
no account must the borders be allowed to get dry, 
for there is the second crop to think about, and this, 
if the roots are allowed to languish from lack of 
water, is sure to suffer. 
Melons.— Houses from which one crop has been 
obtained must receive a gcod overhauling before 
being refilled. The old plants must be pulled out 
and removed, together with the soil in which they 
have been growing. The old fermenting material 
may also be taken out a foot or so in depth. This 
will be quite sufficient if the bed is warmed by hot 
water pipes ; for at this season of the year it is not 
so necessary to have a strong bottom heat as was 
the case in dealing with the earlier crops. The house 
must receive a good washing, and a brush dipped in 
petroleum should be applied to the wires and any 
crevices that may afford a shelter for mealy bug. 
Make the bed up with fermenting material, which 
has been well turned previously, and place the soil, 
which should consist of good loam, in mounds or 
ridges upon it to get warmed through before planting 
is attempted. Make the soil firm about the roots of 
the young plants, using the rammer pretty freely, 
and shade from hot sun for a day or two. Maintain 
a night temperature of 70° Fahr., allowing this to 
rise to 8o Q by sun heat, and syringe regularly with 
soft water morning and evening. In houses where 
the fruits are swelling the syringe must still be kept 
consistently at work, and manure water may be 
applied to the roots at alternate waterings. 
Strawberries.— As soon as the fruit commences to 
turn colour preparations must be straightway made 
to protect it from the ravages of birds. Before the 
nets are put on, however, a last watering should be 
given the plants if they are anything like dry, clear 
water being quite sufficient. In putting on the nets 
it should be borne in mind that these should not be 
allowed to rest directly on the leaves if it is possible 
to avoid it. It is a far better plan to drive in a few 
posts temporarily, a number of iron rods or light 
pieces of wood being nailed to these so as to form a 
framework over which the nets may be thrown. If 
this framework is between four and five feet in height 
the fruit may be gathered at any time without the 
necessity for dragging the nets to and fro over the 
plants, the leaves of course being not a little damaged 
by the proceeding. 
Red and White Currants, —These are such 
essentially popular fruit trees that a word or two of 
advice may be necessary concerning their culture 
during the present time of the year. In most cases 
the trees are this year carrying heavy crops of fruit 
and if these are to be properly ripened a little care 
it necessary. In no case should the trees be checked 
too much by the extensive removal of foliage; for it 
must be borne in mind that plenty of healthy foliage 
means an abundance of working roots. On the 
other hand, however, it is not advisable to allow the 
growths to become too crowded together or harm 
will be done that way. Lateral shoots may be 
stopped by pinching out the points between finger 
and thumb when they have made four or five leaves. 
The leading shoots may also be thinned somewhat, 
cutting out the weakest or those that cross each 
other. This will be quite enough pruning for the 
present. 
Aphides will often cause trouble at this season. 
Their depredations must be checked, however, either 
by cutting out the parts affected or by dipping them 
in fairly strong tobacco water. Caterpillars also 
often do an immense amount of damage, completely- 
spoiling much of the foliage and in some cases 
making the trees look very bare. Hand picking, 
when this can be practised, is the best method to 
pursue in order to rid the trees of these pests ; dust¬ 
ing the trees with newly slaked lime will also prove 
efficacious. Other caterpillars, which carry on their 
investigations in the interior of the branches, it will 
be manifestly impossible to get rid of thus, as very 
often their presence is only detected in the first 
instance by the withering of the branch or branches 
in which they have taken up their abode. Portions 
of trees which are observed to be affected in this 
manner should therefore be cut clean out and burned 
without delay. 
General Work.— The hose and water-cans will 
have to be kept busily employed in order to make up 
for the deficiency in the rainfall. Wall trees more 
particularly will need plenty of water, likewise 
young trees whose roots have not as yet rambled to 
any extent. Continue to mulch all fruit trees where 
practicable. The garden engine must also be con¬ 
tinually in requisition as wall trees of all kinds 
profit immensely by occasional washings with clear 
water. 
--■*-- 
(iMeanimia feu m the ithu-Ri 
of Science. 
Supposed Vitality of Fern Spores.— Speaking in 
its issue of the 13th November last The Daily Chronic!e 
discredits, as we have always done, the possibility of 
seeds or spores retaining their power of germination 
after periods variously stated at hundreds and even 
thousands of years. Our contemporary states that 
touching the recent discussion regarding the 
extreme improbability of “ Mummy Wheat ”—and 
other seeds of great antiquity—sprouting, a corres¬ 
pondent writes us:—“At the Kensington Health 
Exhibition there was shown a model of the Roman 
baths uncovered at-Bath, and in the centre I remem¬ 
ber seeing a large seed-pan, filled with Ferns, to 
which was attached a label stating that they were 
grown from seeds obtained from Fern-leaves during 
the excavations, and found so many feet under the 
Roman ruins, where they had lain so many hundred 
years. Will you please give your verdict ? ” With¬ 
out being acquainted with the facts of the case, we 
are inclined to pronounce ferns grown under such 
circumstances apocryphal to the last degree. Ferns, 
in the first place, do not propagate by " seeds,” and 
the spores, which serve the same purpose, aie 
exceedingly difficult to preserve for any length of 
time, far less for “ hundreds of years.” Their great 
lightness enables them to be carried about by the 
wind, and deposited on any upturned earth, so that 
the mere fact of their growing in the places men¬ 
tioned by our correspondent is no proof that they 
were dug up " under the Roman ruins.” 
The Mummy Pea again. —In a recent issue the 
same paper says that gardeners will be interested 
to learn that Mr. J. Davis, of Wood Close, Bromley 
Common, Kent, has growing at the present time 
Peas which are the produce of sound Peas found in 
Upper Egypt in a mummy case about three years 
ago. The sarcophagus which contained the mummy 
and case in which the parents of these Peas were 
found was discovered in a cave tomb situated in the 
Valley of the Kings at Assaseef, which is about an 
hour’s ride west from the Nile at Thebes. The 
discovery was made by a party of five gentlemen, 
consisting of two Americans, two Cambridge students, 
and the cousin of the lady from whom the specimen 
Peas now growing at Bromley were obtained. 
An old African Flora. —Popular lectures on 
various subjects relating to plants are now being 
delivered weekly in the gardens of the Royal 
Botanical Society of London. On the 7th inst. 
Dr. D. Morris, C.M.G., delivered the first of two 
lectures on the “ Romance of Plant Life.” Lime¬ 
light illustrations were employed to elucidate his 
remarks, as was the case at the meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 14th ult. The Dragon 
Trees were amongst the most characteristic and 
striking features of the Canary Islands, so far as 
native vegetation is concerned. These Dragon 
Trees were closely related to others distributed over 
widely separated parts of Africa. They were 
regarded as survivals from an ancient African flora 
which flourished at a time when that continent 
enjoyed a much cooler climate than at present. It 
had been suggested by Balfour and other authorities 
that as the ice cap in the glacial period gradually 
receded northward, and the climate in the south be¬ 
came correspondingly warmer, the plants of the old 
flora were driven to the higher regions. The low¬ 
land portion of the African continent had by this 
time become too hot for the ancient vegetation. For 
this reason we find the surviving members of the old 
flora on the high peaks of Central and Southern 
Africa, the Canary Islands, the slopes of Ruwenzori, 
and the mountains of Abyssinia. The lowland vege¬ 
tation of those countries consist at present of plants 
of a more tropical kind, which gradually ousted, so 
to speak, the old inhabitants, which we now find 
stranded on the mountain tops. The study of those 
plants afforded problems of the greatest interest to 
botanical science. The lecturer concluded his dis¬ 
course by discussing the Palm native to the Canary 
Islands, and this led up to some interesting remarks 
on various curiosities occurring in Palm life. 
The Celery Fly. —For the last fortnight at least 
this pest has been busy among the young plants of 
Celery and Parsnips. Means should be taken forth¬ 
with to check their increase, particularly while the 
plants are young and most susceptible to injury and 
the crippling influences of the fly at this stage. 
Dusting the plants with dry soot during the heat of 
the day will help to drive away the insects; but a 
boy should be sent over the plants to pick off the 
leaves now containing grubs, and to prevent the 
next brood by burning the leaves. 
Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs, by 
A. D. Webster. A valuable guide to planters of beautiful 
trees and shrubs for the adornment of parks and gardens 
Price, 3s.; post free, 3s. 3d. Publisher, Garde nins World 
1, Clement’s Inn, Strand, London, W.C. 
Chrysanthemums and their Culture. By Edwin 
Molyneux. Eighth Edition. By far the best practical work yet 
written on this subject. Price, is.; post free, is. 2d. Publisher, 
Gardening World, 1, Clement’s Inn, Strand, London, W,C ( 
