712 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 9, 189S. 
INTS FOR WMATEURS. 
A LIST OF SELECTED CANNAS. 
Carrying out the promise appearing in last week s 
<• Hints," the undermentioned varieties will be found 
some of the finest in existence :— 
Aurea.—This is one of the finest of Crozy smany 
fine varieties. The flowers are of great size, and 
the individual segments very broad and of great 
substance. The colour is a rich golden-yellow. If 
space can only be afforded for one self yellow variety, 
this is the one to have. 
Aurore.—Here we have a rich salmon-scarlet hue 
exhibited. Both spike and segments are large. 
Ami Chretien is another huge flower in which the 
prevailing colours are rose and orange. T he mixture 
of the two gives an exceedingly beautiful shade of 
rosy-salmon. 
Florence Yaughan —In America this variety is 
thought well of, and it is equally amenable to treat¬ 
ment in this. The flowers are deep yellow, heavily 
spotted with chocolate-brown. 
I. J. Bsrkman — Here the colour is a peculiar 
shade of rose-scarlet that is both distinct and hand¬ 
some. 
Madam la Baronne P. Thenard has been blessed 
with a name whose leDgth is sufficiently cumbrous, 
but it is a noble flower notwithstanding. The colour 
is a rich shade of red-orange, with a more or less 
distinct margin of golden-yellow. 
Incendie, appropriately enough, is one of the 
brightest of all. The colour is a rich orange red, 
with an unusually broad margin of yellow, which 
also bears a few spots of the same colour as the body 
colour. The flowers are ot extra size, and are pro¬ 
duced with exceptional freedom. 
Milne Redhead.—Than this there is a number of 
larger flowers, but the variety is especially remark¬ 
able on account of its colour, which renders it quite 
distinct from everything else. It may, perhaps, be 
best described as dull scarlet-red. The plant is very 
dwarf in habit, and a free bloomer. 
L. G. Bally is a variety of a number of years’ 
standing, but is a real good thing still, although it 
can be obtained very cheaply. The colour is yellow, 
and the e are numerous spots of deep carmine. 
Mrs. W'Marshall, on the other hand, is one of 
the newest, for it received an Award of Merit from 
the Royal Horticultural Society no longer ago than 
the last meeting, viz., that on the 25th ult. On that 
occasion it was shown by Messrs. Paul & Son, of 
Cheshunt. It is a large and handsome flower, in 
colour yellow, but heavily spotted with large spots 
of deep crimson-scarlet. 
Alpha is another new variety of great merit. The 
flowers exhibit a deep apricot hue, which, if not 
exactly a new colour, is distinct from anything we 
have as yet. 
Mosaic is a showy flower that will doubtless find 
its admirers, although, personally, we prefer to see 
a more loosely built spike, wh ; ch is also not so 
heavy in appearance as the close ones, of which this 
new variety is a good sample. The Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society gave this also an Award of Merit on 
the 28th ult., but it is not nearly so good a flower as 
Mrs. W. Marshall. The colours are good, golden- 
yellow ground, with many blotches of red-orange. 
Doyin J. Liabaud is light canary-yellow, with 
large blotches of pale salmon-red. The flowers are 
large, and the plant dwarf, and of vigorous habit. 
Gloire Lyonnaise is also canary-yellow, but in 
addition to blotching and mottling with red the 
centres of the segments bear a number of stripes of 
the same colour. 
Henry Irving.—Here we see a fiery oraDge-scarlet 
flower, with a broad orange margin to the segments. 
It is very showy, and the best of its colour. 
Konigin Charlotte.—Although an old variety, 
this is still one of the most useful sorts in cultiva¬ 
tion. It is dwarf, vigorous, a free bloomer, and very 
easy to grow. The flowers are bright red, with a 
very broad margin of golden-yellow. The price for 
this is very low, since good plants can be obtained 
for a shilling each. 
All the above-named varieties have foliage of 
various shades of green. For the sake of contrast, 
however, one or two of the dark or purple-leaved 
sorts should be grown, since whether in or out of 
flower they are always effective. 
Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire is one of the best of these, 
since not only is the foliage rich and effective, but 
the rich orange-red flowers are also large and showy, 
and fully up to the standard of many of the green- 
foliaged ones. 
Paul Bert —This is a dwarf and sturdy variety 
that may well be included amongst the dark-leaved 
forms. The flowers are bright amber-yellow, the 
contrast between flowers and foliage thus being very 
conspicuous.— Rex. 
company's pipes, which, perhaps, are not any too 
deep in the ground, but the water from which is 
often cold and always hard. 
All water used, therefore, should be exposed for a 
day or two in open tanks to the action of the sun, 
which will speedily raise it to something like a suit¬ 
able temperature. The liquid manure, too, should 
always be rather too weak than too strong.— 
Practice. 
WATERING FRUIT-TREE BORDERS. 
The man who has mastered the question of watering, 
whether it be of pot plants, or of plants growing in 
enclosed borders, or in the open ground, where the 
roots are free to run as they list—has gained a con¬ 
siderable knowledge of the whole art of gardening. 
On the other hand, without a man possesses a 
knowledge sufficient to guide him in giving water in 
sufficient quantity, and at the right time, he cannot 
be regarded as anything else than a novice. 
Now, curiously enough, even after the watering of 
pot plants has been mastered by the amateur 
gardener, the treatment of borders seems to present 
a further difficulty. Many an amateur seems to 
think that the rules that apply to plants in pots do 
not apply to plants in borders, and if only the upper 
strata of soil appear to be damp it is assumed that 
all is well below, and the poor plants are left to look 
after themselves. In the case of Vines particularly 
it must be admitted that they often do the "looking 
after themselves," with great succes. Their roots 
will travel almost incredible distances in the search 
for moisture, and in doing so will penetrate the sides 
of cesspools and wells to get at the precious liquid. 
I have in my mind a case of an old gardener who 
always used to take the prize at the local show for 
Black Hamburghs. No matter how sunless the 
season, his bunches were always the best finished, 
and as black as Sloes, and yet he never appeared to 
treat his Vines any differently toother people. The 
secret came out, however, when an old well, situate 
at some little distance from the vinery producing 
the prize fruit, was opened in order to see what had 
gone wrong with the pump leading to it, which sud¬ 
denly refused to work. It was found that the sides 
of the well were literally festooned with active feed¬ 
ing Vine roots, and it was these that had choked up 
the pipe and prevented the pump from working. The 
well was speedily covered over again, for the gar¬ 
dener was too shrewd to risk bis Vines by disturbing 
these roots to any extent. 
This only goes to show how important is the 
question of the water supply. At this season of the 
year, when Vines, Peaches, and other fruits are 
feeling the heavy strain of carrying a heavy load of 
foliage, and of developing their several crops of 
fruit, it becomes a matter of the first importance-to 
see that the borders are not allowed to get dry. In 
vineries and Peach houses the regular damping 
down and syringing are apt to keep the surface soil 
wet, whilst underneath the soil is dry. The surface, 
therefore, must not be taken as an index of the true 
condition of the border, or the results may be dis¬ 
astrous. If Vine and Peach borders have been 
properly made in the first instance, and if the trees 
are in fairly vigorous health, they will take a thorough 
soaking every two or three weeks, not a dribble 
merely, but enough to moisten every particle of soil 
ia the border. When such regular waterings are 
not given the roots are induced to push outside the 
border in search for moisture, they get into poor or 
sour soil, and shanking follows as a matter of course. 
It will thus be seen how desirable it is to keep the 
roots from straying too much by giving them what 
they require. 
Liquid manure water is of the greatest value to 
trees carrying heavy crops, but it is not infrequently 
carelessly used, and its virtue to a large extent 
wasted. An all too-common instance of this is to be 
seen when the borders are allowed to become so dry 
that cracks open in them, liquid manure is given, 
perhaps stronger than the roots are able to bear 
under ordinary conditions, and the roots, if not 
killed outright, are sadly injured. L : quid manure 
should never be given to very dry borders, but the 
latter should be first prepared for the stimulant by a 
good soaking of clear water, when, if desired, the 
manure water may follow. 
Another fruitful cause of check to under-glass 
fruits is the application of large quantities of cold 
water drawn directly either from wells or the water 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
Anyone 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. 
Tropaeolum Sunlight. — Apt : This Tropaeolum is 
new only to this country. We believe it has been 
cultivated for some time in the United States. It is 
a pretty plant, and produces its bright yellow 
flowers with great freedom. You would find it very 
useful for cutting, for the flowers last well in 
water. 
Origin of Garden Petunias. — Enquirer : The 
parents of all the numerous fine Petunias that we 
find in our gardens are P. nyctaginiflora, a white 
flowered species introduced to this country in 1825, 
and P. violacea, a plant with purple violet flowers, 
introduced here in 1831, or six years after. Both 
are natives of South America. 
Plunging Chrysanthemums.— Jos. Ringold : We 
think too much fuss has been made about the 
plunging and non-plunging of Chrysanthemums, for 
it has been conclusively proved that excellent 
results have been obtained from both methods. 
Some growers hold to the one, and some the othe-, 
but it is very largely a matter of convenience, and 
even more largely still a matter of habit—gardeners 
are highly conservative creatures and do not care 
about treading the mazes of the unknown in makirg 
experiments. We know gardens where early 
Chrysanthemums are plunged, and others where not a 
single one is thus treated. Again there are others 
which have come under our own observation in 
which the bush plants are plunged, but those plants 
which are to bear large flowers are not. In your 
own case we should advise you to do whatever is 
most convenient—you have plenty of latitude as to 
your choice of method. 
* 
Cucumbers Dying. —R. P .: From what you say we 
should say that your surmise is correct, and that the 
plants have been attacked by eel-worms. These are 
very diminutive creatures,and you would have need to 
have magnificent eyesight in order to see them with¬ 
out the aid of a microscope. You can do nothing in 
the way of cure. The only thing is to root the 
remains of the plants out, remove the soil, put in 
fresh, and start again with new plants. You should 
adopt some means of sterilising the soil, especially if 
you obtain it from the same sources as you did fhe 
last. This can be done either by soaking it with 
boiling water or by baking. If you want to use 
it soon the latter method would be preferable to the 
former. 
Canna Suckers.— Geo. Findlayson : You will find 
that Rex has answered your question fully in last 
week’s 1 Hints.’ 
Descriptive Book of Carnations. — J. G. : As far 
as we are aware there is no book upon Carnations 
issued with coloured plates. *'The Carnation,” by 
E. S. Dodwell, will give you a deal of valuable infor¬ 
mation on all phases of Carnation culture, but it 
has only one illustration, and that not a coloured 
one. The book can be obtained from this office for 
is. 6d., or is. 7d. post free. The ‘ Carnation Manual,’ 
published by Cassell & Co., Ltd., for the National 
Carnation and Picotee Society (Southern Section) is 
also a valuable book. The price is 3s. 6d., cloth 
boards. It has only one illustration, in fact, the 
same one as that appearing in “ The Carnation." 
The book may be obtained either from the publishers 
or from the Hon. Secretary of the National Carnation 
and Picotee Society, Mr. T. E. Henwood, Auricula 
Villa, 16, Hamilton Road, Reading. 
