792 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 13, 1898. 
11 NTS FOR MMATEURS. 
FREESI AS 
The amateur finds a number of strong favourites 
amongst bulbous subjects, plants which may be 
grown with very little trouble, and with a full 
measure of success, but amongst them all we know 
of nothing that can claim a higher place than the 
Freesias. With Hyacinths, a yearly outlay for bulbs 
is necessary, for more favourable climes than ours 
are alone able to furnish the material that will yield 
us good flowers; but with Freesias this is not the case, 
for once a stock of bulbs is procured the cultivator 
is self-supplying, and with ordinary care he can not 
only maintain his stock at its original numerical 
strength but considerably increase it as the years 
roll on. 
The requirements of the Freesia are but few, and 
as simple as they are few. Their beauty is beyond 
question, and they respond readily to any care and 
attention that may be lavished upon them. The 
delicious fragrance of the flowers, moreover, appeals 
strongly to the susceptibities of the ladies of the 
household, although they may declaim against the 
too powerful odour of the Hyacinth and the Lily. 
It is well to call to mind just now the existence of 
the Freesias, for it is at this season of the year that 
they are needing the first attentions. As the spring 
wore on and they gradually sank to rest th^y were 
consigned, just as they were in the pots, to some 
sheltered corner in the storeroom, or in an odd 
corner in a north frame where they would be 
sheltered from the rain and where they would be out 
of the way, but not out of mind for the rest of 
the spring and summer. 
Now the time has once more arrived when they 
must be awakened from their rest, and induced to 
quicken into vigorous life once more. The soil in 
which the plants grew last year, and in which the 
quiescent bulbs are still lying, is now, of course, 
quite dust dry, and hence there will be no difficulty 
in separating the bulbs from it. By the way, we may 
comment here on the smallness of the bulb that 
produces such a relatively large truss of flowers. 
There is nothing else that can vie with the Freesia 
in this respect. 
A place on the potting bench should be cleared 
without delay, the soil knocked out of the pots, 
broken up with the fingers, and the bulbs, large and 
small, picked carefully out. Take care to search 
each potful of soil thoroughly before another one is 
tackled, for the bulblets of last season's production 
are but small and are easily missed. The soil may 
subsequently be put out in a heap in the open air for 
the weather to play upon it. In a few weeks’ time 
a quantity of soil will be wanted for cuttings of 
Pelargoniums, Coleuses, Iresines, Heliotropes, Cal¬ 
ceolarias, and other bedding plants, and as this soil 
will have probably become fairly moist by that time, 
it will come in exceedingly handy for cuttings, which 
do not need a rich compost. 
Sorting the Bulbs will be the next operation. All 
the largest and the medium sized bulbs will flower 
next year without fail, so these should be placed by 
themselves. The small ones should also be placed 
in a heap together so that they may be potted up by 
themselves. It is advisable to thus separate the 
bulblets from the bulbs of flowering size, for finer 
pots of bloom can thus be obtained, and the flower¬ 
ing plants will have all the benefit of the room 
instead of being choked up with a mass of young 
growths. 
The Soil should be light and rich. One half of 
good fibrous loam well chopped up, with a quarter 
of the whole bulk of leaf soil, and the other quarter 
of cow manure dried and rubbed through a sieve, to 
which may be added a nice sprinkling of coarse 
silver sand, make a capital compost. Mix the in¬ 
gredients thoroughly together by turning over the 
heap several times. 
Pots—For general purposes 5-in. pots are the 
handiest size to use, for an effective mass of bloom 
can be had in them, and they are not too large for 
placing in ornamental stands and vases in the dwel¬ 
ling rooms. This sized pot will hold five or six good 
bulbs, although some growers, who want extra fine 
flowers, put only three of the largest in them. 
The pots should be clean, and fairly well drained, 
that is, the single crock in the bottom should be 
placed concave side downwards, and upon it five or 
six other pieces a little smaller, a layer of moss being 
placed over the crocks. In potting the rammer 
should not be brought into play at all, as the soil can 
be made firm enough by the pressure of the fingers 
and a few smart taps upon the bench. Keep the 
bulbs rather low in the pots, as a top dressing will do 
good a couple of months hence. The tops of the 
bulbs should just be covered with soil, so that it will 
be necessary to allow at least 1 in. when filling in the 
soil up to the level upon which the bulbs are placed. 
Subsequent Treatment.—No water will be wanted 
for some time as the soil will be moist enough for 
the present needs of the bulbs. Clear out a corner 
in a cold frame, stand the pots as closely together 
as they will go, and cover them with cocoanut fibre 
so that the soil is covered to the depth of several 
inches. If cocoa nut fibre is scarce or lacking, ashes 
may be employed, but in this case it will be advisable 
to prevent them from coming into direct contact with 
the young growths, which are very tender and quickly 
sustain injury. An empty pot should therefore be 
inverted over each of the pots containing the bulbs. 
After the lapse of four or five weeks the plants will 
be ready for removal from the plunging bed, and 
may then be transferred to another cold frame, where 
they must be gradually inured to the light. 
The Bulblets that are too small and weak to 
flower next year may be " sown ” thinly in pans in 
the same sort of soil as that given the larger bulbs, 
and also plunged. It will be worth paying them a 
little attention, as if they are kept growing on 
properly they will make strong flowering bulbs by 
the end of next season. 
Another Method of Culture —We have given the 
routine of cultural treatment that is adopted in the 
majority of cases, but in most things horticultural 
there is more than one way, and often several 
methods, of accomplishing the same end. Some 
growers do not take the trouble to pot up the bulbs 
each year but simply start the plants in the same 
soil and in the same pots which accommodated them 
the preceding season. About the middle of August 
the pots containing the bulbs are taken from the 
place in which they have been resting, and by 
repeated waterings the soil is reduced to a state of 
moistness. The pots are then plunged, taken out 
when roots have been freely formed, and the plants 
are then given a nice light place on a shelf near the 
glass in a cold pit, or in a frame. The strongest 
growths thrown up by the big bulbs are allowed to 
remain, but all the weaker ones, that is, those coming 
from the bulblets, which would not produce flower 
are cut off close to the surface of the soil, and the 
bulblets are thus killed. Liberal feeding from an 
early date and onwards till the flowers appear is 
resorted to, and the result is that very fine pots of 
flowers are frequently obtained. Of course the 
pursuance of this method ghes no chance of 
increasing the stock of bulbs, as all the young ones 
are destroyed by the pinching process. 
Seedlings.—The raising of plants from seed is 
quite an easy undertaking but the practice is not at 
all a common one. The seed should be sown about 
the same time as the bulbs are potted up, viz., near 
the middle of August. The young plants will not 
stand transplanting at all well, for the roots are very 
thin and delicate, so that the common treatment of 
seedlings will not do for them at all. The best way 
of getting over the difficulty is to sow in pots or pans, 
and thin the plants down until those that are allowed 
to remain have plenty of room to grow. These 
young plants will make good flowering bulbs for the 
second year. It will be seen, therefore, that such 
amateurs as do not imperatively want immediate 
results, but are willing to wait for a season, will do 
well to invest in a packet of seed at once, and sow it 
as advised. Seed should be easily obtainable from 
all good seed houses.— Rex. 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
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. 
Seedling Carnations.— F.E.B. : The self-coloured 
crimson-scarlet variety is a fairly good flower, but is 
not so good as either King Arthur or the recently 
certificated Isinglass, so that it would be waste of 
time to give it a distinctive name. The fancy variety 
is really first rate, and you will do well to name and 
propagate it. 
Table Decorations.— Dissatisfied : It would be im¬ 
possible for us to pass an opinion upon the respec¬ 
tive merits of the floral tables you speak of without 
seeing them. We think it quite probable, however, 
that you made your vases look too heavy by putting 
too much in them, and that the judges gave the prize 
to the other competitor because of the lightness and 
gracefulness of his exhibit. It is a common mistake 
to put too many flowers in the vases, and you are not 
the first competitor who has been dissatisfied because 
the judges preferred something lighter. Of course, 
judges may have individual tastes that may not be 
in accordance with somebody else's ideas ; thus it is 
policy when you know your man, to dress the table 
according to his ideas of what it should be if you 
want to stand a good chance. The fact that the 
flowers on your table were of higher class than those 
on the other may or may not have influenced the 
award. Strictly speaking, the test is not for the in¬ 
dividual excellence of flowers—that is done in the 
other classes—but for the arrangement of the 
material, and the general effect of the decorative 
scheme. 
Cypripediom spectabile— E. L. : This Cypri- 
pedium is one of the prettiest of the hardy Orchids. 
It requires a damp place, and peaty soil to grow in. 
The corner of the rockery you mention will suit it 
very well, but not the soil that is there at present. 
You should clear that out and fill up with a compost 
of two-thirds of peat, one of good loam, and sand. 
If the peat is very sandy a further addition of sand 
may not be required. You need not use expensive 
peat for the operation. The quality sold by sun- 
driesmen for Rhododendrons and Azalea beds will 
do capitally. 
Wallflowers.— Reader : You are very late in sowing 
your Wallflower seed, and the plants will be corres¬ 
pondingly late in blooming next year. The seed 
should have been sown at the end of May or the be¬ 
ginning of June. The plants then have plenty of 
time to make good growth, and get hard and well 
matured before the winter. If you must have Wall¬ 
flowers lose no time in getting the seed in, but the 
plants will be valueless for spring bedding. 
Dahlias.— Carlos : Thin out the growths of the 
plants, and pinch out some of the buds. Give 
plenty of liquid manure—fresh farmyard manure for 
preference, if you can get hold of it—and you will 
then have flowers as large as you want them. 
Single Scarlet Dahlia.— Carlos : The flower is 
fairly good, but there are plenty better. The colour 
is the best point about it. 
Retarding Lilinm auratum.— Tenby : Stand the 
plants in a shady corner where they will not get 
much sun, and do not excite them with too much 
manure water. They will then develope their flower 
buds very slowly. 
Nertera depressa is the name of the pretty dwh*f- 
berried plant that you refer to, Excelsior. It would 
do quite well with you in an ordinary greenhouse, 
and is, as you say, something quite out of the common 
run of plants. We do not know why it is so com¬ 
paratively rarely met with; perhaps it is because 
they look upon it more as a curiosity than anything 
else. It may be raised easily enough from seed, but 
is generally increased by dividing up the old plants. 
Almost any soil will suit it, but it should not have 
too much soil given it, and should therefore be grown 
in shallow pans or deep saucers. 
Lapageria leaves dropping.— Suburbs : From the 
leaves you send it is evident that the plant is badly 
attacked with thrips, a pest which is very pariial to 
the Lapageria. Can you not manage to fumigate or 
vapourise the house with “ XI All.” This is the 
quickest and best way of getting rid of thrips. 
Syringing with Fir Tree Oil, or other insecticides is 
a tedious operation, and for a big plant a rather ex¬ 
pensive one. Follow up the smoking by heavy and 
repeated syringings with clear water. Never mind 
about the few flowers that are now upon the plant, 
as it is important that the leaves should be cleansed 
