72 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 2, 1897. 
|INTS FOR WMATEURS. 
PREPARING FOR FROST. 
The summer has taken a final farewell of us or the 
year with the vanishing September, and we have now 
to look forward to a long spell of more or less dull, 
dreary, and cold weather, and to make what arrange¬ 
ments we can to protect our floral pets from suffer¬ 
ing from the experience. September has been a very 
chequered month, and on the whole we have had 
more bad weather than good ; for the first two weeks 
at any rate were cold, wet, and miserable. Frost, 
however, only touched us very lightly, too lightly to 
do any damage, although on two evenings the ther¬ 
mometer showed a couple of degrees of frost upon 
the grass. It will not do to trust any longer to the 
weather in case of those plants that are of importance 
for the winter supply of bloom, but steps must be 
taken at once to get them under cover. 
Bichardias—Plants that were put out in an open bor¬ 
der in well worked scil have made a good deal of head¬ 
way of late. The drought of July and the first half 
of August kept them from starting into growth until 
late in the year, for no matter how they were watered 
the ground seemed to be too hot and the atmosphere 
too dry for them. They have made amends for it 
since the rain came, however ; and although the plants 
are rather ranker in growth than we like to see them, 
still, they will doubtless improve. Lifting and potting 
up should be seen to without delay, for a fairly sharp 
frost would injure them considerably, having regard 
to their somewhat soft and sappy condition. Large 
plants will require a good deal of care in lifting, for 
it is very necessary that no more of the thick, fleshy 
roots should be injured than can be helped. If 
manure was buried in the soil previous to planting, 
the roots will almost surely have gone down after it, 
and will take a good deal of fishing out. A digging 
fork with long tines will be found absolutely essential 
to get the plants up, and the soil all round the 
largest specimens will have to be loosened well 
before attempting to lift. Good balls of earth will 
thus be attached, which is a consideration. Before 
potting, this soil may be reduced a little by the use 
of the fingers, and the lower roots may even be 
shaken quite free, in order to admit of a fair sized 
pot being employed. Any little suckers that are 
observed round the base should likewise be picked 
away, otherwise they will develop into a mass of 
small leaves. For soil, a compost of two-thirds of 
good loam and one-third leaf soil, or leaf soil and 
dried horse droppings mixed, with a liberal addition 
of coarse river sand should be employed. 
The pots are the next consideration. It is manifest 
that fairly roomy ones will be required in order to 
get in the large balls of earth without too much 
breaking. There is another point to receive attention, 
however, and that is that it is not advisable to give 
too much root room at the approach of winter, 
otherwise there will be a lot of cold stagnant soil 
lying round the roots of the plants, and this cannot 
fail to do harm. The exact size of the pots must be 
decided by the plants themselves, whether they are 
large or small. Generally speaking, however, an 
8-in. pot should be sufficiently roomy for a large fine 
plant. Second size plants may be accommodated in 
7-in. pots. All of these plants should flower freely 
this season, but there will be a number of smaller 
ones that will not be large or strong enough to 
flower, or.at best may each throw one late bloom. 
For the best of these 6 in. pots will be quite roomy 
enough, and the smallest samples of all may do in a 
pot a size less than this even. 
Now a word as to potting The size and fleshy 
character of the roots will have prepared the amateur 
to some extent for the statement, that too firm 
potting would be a mistake ; but on the other hand 
such free rooting subjects as Bichardias must not 
have too loose a root run or they will grow too 
rankly, and there will be a corresponding hesitancy 
on their part to flower well. A medium course should 
therefore be adopted, and the soil made fairly firm. 
A rammer may be employed to effect this end, but it 
must not be too freely wielded, and above all, should 
not be used at all when the potting soil is very wet. 
Filling the pots too full of soil is a mistake that 
amateurs and young gardeners are often guilty of. 
In no case should the surface of the soil come higher 
in the pots than to within an inch of the surface when 
7-in. and 8-in pots are employed. In the smaller 
pots a proportionate amount of room must be left. 
Treatment after Potting.— Supposing lifting and 
potting off to have been successfully performed, 
there ensues a period when a little coddling is 
necessary. The sun of October, although its bright¬ 
ness is a daily diminishing quantity, is yet strong 
enough to try these newly lifted plants not a little. 
It is a good plan therefore to stand them fairly close 
together in a brick pit, if possible, or failing that, in 
a frame and keep them close for a week or ten days, 
and shaded from all direct sunlight. If the pit is 
gently heated during cold nights, so much the 
better. Do not deluge the plants with water at the 
root, but keep them sprinkled overhead with a fine 
syringe. Under such conditions the plants will not 
be long in recovering from any check they may have 
sustained. 
Berried Solanums. —These, too, are calling out 
for a change into winter quarters. They should 
now be fairly well set with berries, some of 
which are beginning to turn from the bright olive 
green, which they assume in their earlier stages, into 
the scarlet, which is at once so showy and so much 
admired. These plants naturally take on a 
symmetrical and bushy habit, and when well set 
with berries form very handsome plants for the 
greenhouse and conservatory, as well as being quite 
the thing for the dinner table. If the seed was sown 
early, good bushy plants are now the result, and as 
a few more of these should have been planted out 
than will be required, it should be possible to pick 
the best plants. If the grower does not want them 
all himself, there is usually plenty of opportunity to 
give them away to others less fortunately situated. 
The largest plants will be furnished by “ cut¬ 
backs,” i.e., last year’s plants which were cut back 
in the spring and allowed to break into growth 
again. For these 7m. pots may be needed if they 
have grown freely and done well. Seedlings of this 
year, resulting from seed sown in February, will, 
however, be amply satisfied with a 6in. pot, and if 
they can possibly be got into a size smaller, so much 
the better. Pot rather firmly, and use a compost 
-similar to that employed for the Richardias. The 
after treatment of the two subjects is likewise 
similar, although after the Solanums have picked up, 
after the shifting, they must be given all the light 
possible to enable them to ripen off the berries as 
speedily as may be. 
Marguerites.—Perhaps we have had a little too 
much of the white Marguerites in beds, borders, and 
window boxes, during the summer months and some 
people will perhaps be asking in an injured sort of 
way what on earth we want to drag them into winter 
arrangements for, but the plants themselves must be 
their own excuse. White flowers, even if they are 
the despised Marguerites, are always welcome in the 
winter time, and in these plants we have subjects 
that are exceedingly tractable and useful. We had a 
number of plants in 7-in. pots which flowered them¬ 
selves nearly to death early in the summer. When 
they got shabby they were cut back, knocked out of 
their pots, and planted out in a border facing to the 
east, where they got scarcely any sun. This situation 
was not given them as the result of choice, but from 
necessity ; because there was no room for them any¬ 
where else at that time. These plants have made a 
lot of growth and are now as healthy and vigorous 
specimens as could well be imagined. Lifted and 
potted up now, they will soon commence to flower, 
and by the aid of a little manure water at intervals, 
will remain in bloom all the winter and early spring. 
They will be placed, if possible, in 8 in. pots, and the 
soil made fairly firm about them. Large old plants 
that require very big pots or small tubs to hold them 
are often well worth the space they occupy, and in 
the absence of large subjects to fill the conservatory 
may well be utilised. Once they have got hold of 
the new soil, which they speedily do, they may be 
treated pretty liberally with manure water.— Rex. 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this paqe. 
A nyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
" Amateurs' Page " on the top of their letters. 
Liliom candidum—I have several large clumps ot 
the Madonna Lily ia my garden, and should like to 
divide them up so as to increase the stock. Will the 
present be a favourable opportunity for doing this ? 
-Q. 
It is now too fate in the season to think of trans¬ 
planting Lilium candidum. This Lily, and one or 
two others cotrmmence to grow early in the autumn 
—in fact, they should have started strongly now—and 
their foliage is persistent through the winter. If 
you disturb the bulbs now you will be almost sure to 
prevent the flowering next year. The best time to 
lift and replant the bulbs is some time during 
August, after they have bloomed, and the stems have 
ripened off. This being so we should advise you 
to wait until next year before you touch them. 
Calathea (Maranta) zebrina .—Geo. Tripps. : This 
plant requires a warm house to do it properly. It 
would grow all right in an unheated house during the 
summer months, but the temperature there would 
be much too low for the greater part of the year. 
Chamaepeuce diacantha is the name of the 
plant you are enquiring about, C B. It is a most 
handsome subject, and is used with great effect in the 
public parks, as well as in many private establish¬ 
ments, for sub-tropical and carpet bedding. The 
plants make symmetrical rosettes of handsomely- 
variegated foliage, and do not flower until the second 
year. They are not hardy. Propagation may be 
effected by seeds sown in heat in September or 
February. 
Yines .—Subscriber : If the foliage is beginning to 
turn colour the wood should ripen up well in the 
coming six weeks if we get fairly bright weather. 
You may require to give a little artificial heat to 
assist in ripening the wood should the weather prove 
dull, but of that you must be the judge. In any 
case, a little fire-heat at the beginning of November 
Cannot do harm. Give as much air as you can in 
the meantime. 
Begonia Seed. — S. L.: If the capsules have 
dropped from the plants naturally, and not as the 
result of violence or rough handling you may assume 
that they are ripe, although they still appear to be 
green. Lay them on a sheet of paper in a dry room 
to finish drying. When dry they will burst open, 
and the seeds will fall out 
Dried Mint.— A. O.: Mint is dried in most gardens 
in the way you have done by simply cutting down 
the plants, and exposing the cuttings to the sun and 
air to dry. There is very little demand for Mint 
dried thus, however, for housewives prefer that 
that has been dried more quickly, either by putting it 
before a fire or laying it in a slow oven, most of the 
green colour then being retained for an indefinite 
period. 
Gladioli. — M. T .: The corms must not be left out 
all the winter, but must be boused before severe 
frost. You will do well to lift them with the half- 
ripened stems attached sometime during the present 
month, and pack them in shallow boxes with sand. 
The remains of the stems may be left on until they 
are quite dry, and then removed. 
Ampelopsis Yeitchii.—Than the propagation of 
this favourite climbar nothing is easier, Ash. Take 
pieces of well-ripened growths of last year, cut them 
up into lengths of 3 in. or 4 in., and insert them in 
light sandy soil. The cuttings will root quicker if 
placed in a cold frame or in a greenhouse. You 
should have no difficulty in working up a stock. 
Failure with Mushrooms.—We have no doubt 
that your failure in Mushroom growing last year 
was due to the fact that you let the droppings be¬ 
come much too wet, J.G. Once the manure has 
been exposed to the action of heavy rains in the 
manner yours was there is little chance of succeed¬ 
ing with it. Even good spawn would not be at all 
likely to yield results planted in such a medium. 
You must put the manure under cover somewhere, 
while it is undergoing the necessary turning and 
shaking up. It will not heat itself dry, unless it is 
allowed to remain without being disturbed for too 
long. Every time fresh manure is added to swell 
the heap a good turning should be given in order 
to thoroughly mix the old and new material. 
