808 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 20, 1898, 
JflNTS FOR ||MATEURS. 
Combating the Drought.—Like the sun that shineth 
alike upon the just and the unjust, so the effects of 
the sun and the drought affect both amateur and pro¬ 
fessional gardener, although the latter, with his closer 
grip of his subject and his wider experience, is better 
able to minimise the evil effects of a long spell of 
drought upon his plants than the amateur. Deep 
and thorough cultivation of the soil is an inestimable 
blessing at such limes, and the amateur would do 
well to take the hint and work his ground as deeply 
and as thoroughly as he can. The ever recurring 
question of watering is also of vital importance at 
such seasons. The tyro is apt to keep on sprinkling 
his plants day after day, and wondering in his bliss¬ 
ful ignorance why they are always dry, and seem to 
be going backward all the time. He does not know 
that his wretched sprinklings and surface waterings 
in dry weather are worse than nothing, and that 
they do the plants more harm than if they had had 
not a drop at all. Deep root waterings is what is 
wanted, and unless these can be given it is better to 
leave the water-can alone, and let the clouds of 
heaven do all the sprinkling. Mulching with short, 
half-rotted stable manure or cocoanut fibre, if 
nothing better can be obtained, following after a 
good watering are of inestimable service. Such 
plants as Dahlias, Sunflowers, and perennial Asters 
benefit greatly by mulchings of manure, for not only 
is nutriment directly added to the soil but the 
express evaporation of water from the soil is checked. 
Helenium pumilum.—So comparatively few are 
the plants that do really well in a town garden that 
when we find one of them we cannot refrain from 
mentioning it. At the present time this pretty little 
■Helenium is the most showy plant in the herbaceous 
border, and it will continue to produce its relatively 
large bright golden-yellow flowers for a considerable 
time. As the specific name implies the plant is 
dwarf in stature, its height varying from i ft. to 
iS in., according to the season, whether it be wet or 
dry. This year the plants are not more than i ft. in 
height, owing to the prevalence of drying winds and 
hot sun, and the shortage of rainfall. The market 
growers know full well the value of this bright-faced 
flower, for many acres of it are grown solely for sup¬ 
plying cut flowers for market. It is, however, its 
remarkable smoke-resisting qualities that we wish 
now to point out, for it does equally as well in the 
town as in the country, ft is rather tall for window 
boxes, except in the case of very large windows 
where a fairly high screen does not come amiss. In 
such cases it might well be utilised in this way, for 
it is certainly the most showy of the dwarf yellow 
flowers that we are acquainted with. Given one 
good strong plant a stock may soon be worked up by 
dividing the roots in springtime just before growth 
commences! The divisions soon make good plants 
if they are put into rich soil and are looked after for 
water during the early part of the summer. Seed 
also germinates freely enough. 
Calystegia pubescens flore pleno —To general 
appearance this plant looks exactly like a Convolvu¬ 
lus with double flowers, and it is, in fact very closely 
allied to that genus, and is oftentimes called a Convol¬ 
vulus. We get the same climbing habit, the long 
pliant stems twining round everything within reach. 
The chief, if not the only, difference between ihe 
two genera is that in Calystegia the calyx or green 
outer covering cf the flower is itself enclosed by 
two large, persistent bracts or modified foliage leaves; 
hence the generic name Calystegia, form kalyx, a 
calyx, and stege, a covering. The leaves in the 
form under notice are hastate or halberd shaped, 
and bear a certain resemblance to those of the Ivy. 
This has caused the specific name of C. hederacea 
to be applied to it, but C. pubescens is the one under 
which it is usually to be met with in gardens. This 
has allusion to the pubescent or downy character of 
the leaves. There are few climbers that will do 
better in a London garden than this handsome plant, 
for the large, full double bright pink flowers are pro¬ 
duced with great freedom all along the stems during 
the latter part of summer and autumn. It does ex- 
ceelingly well if trained to a wall facing towards the 
west, but a south wall is rather too hot for its likings. 
The plant is gifted with a strong constitution, and no 
matter how much the white, string-like roots are cut 
up during the winter digging, all the pieces will grow 
as freely as those of the ordinary Bindweed (Convol¬ 
vulus sepium); indeed, the roots of the two are very 
similar. This quality of the plant may be taken 
advantage of in propagating it, for all that is 
necessary is to cut the roots up into pieces 4 in. or 5 
in. in length, and plant them just before growth be¬ 
gins. They should not be kept out of the ground too 
long, or they become withered and enfeebled. 
Everlasting Peas.—The great boom that has been 
made in Sweet Peas of late years seems to have 
caused the eclipse, partial or otherwise, of our old 
friend the Everlasting Pea, Lathyrus sylvestris 
platyphyllus, or L. latifolius, to give it its rather com¬ 
moner name. At the present time, however, the 
rose-coloured flowers of the type as well as those of 
the white flowered variety are much in evidence, and 
their huge trusses are making a great show. Those 
who are oa the lcok-out for a hardy climber for 
covering arbours and trellises cannot do better than 
go in for it. Almost any soil will suit it, and the 
plants very quickly make themselves at home, when 
they take little or no looking after, for they are quite 
able to take care of themselves, and will appear year 
after year in ever increasing bulk. They like to be 
in firm soil, and by far the best plants and flowers 
that we have ever seen were growing by the side of a 
hard trodden gravel walk, and clambering over an 
old hedge of Yew and Holly trees. In such a posi¬ 
tion they can get but comparatively little moisture, 
but they do not seem to mind it. The flowers are 
very valuable for cutting, for if the trusses are 
heavier than those of the Sweet Pea, and less elegant, 
they score off the latter by lasting better in water. 
The footstalks, too, as a rule are long, stout and 
wiry, and thus are fully able to support the weight 
of the flowers. The white form is not quite so tall 
and vigorous a grower as the rose one, for if the 
latter gets into good soil it will grow with almost 
the abandon of a weed, although in such cases the 
flowers are not so numerous, even if they are 
individually a little larger. Both white and rose 
forms are, however, worthy of a place in every 
garden where there is a trellis or an arbour to cover 
and beautify. Propagation may be effected by seeds, 
but whether the seeds that are often sold are not 
good, or whether the treatment given has not bren 
just the thing, many people have complained that 
they have failed to get them to germinate, particu¬ 
larly those of the white variety. We have known 
pans in which the seed was sown and tended care¬ 
fully to lie for three months without a single plant 
making its appearance, until the gardener’s patience 
has been lost, and the contents of the pans have been 
consigned to the rubbish heap. Happily other 
methods of propagation besides that of seeds cffer 
themselves. Division of the root in spring is very 
easy and is generally attended with complete success, 
whilst cuttings, taken just as the young shoots are 
pushing through the soil root readily enough if 
placed in light soil round the edges of pots, and 
covered with a handlight. Once the plants are 
established in their places nothmg should be allowed 
to disturb them at the roots, and then an annual dis¬ 
play of bloom may be confidently looked for. 
Carnation Raby Castle.—Last week we discussed 
the progress and development of the Carnation, and 
gathered up a few points whereby we contra 1 ted the 
florist’s ideal with the kind of plant that found 
favour with the general public. In Raby Castle we 
have a good instance of what we may term a popular 
Carnation. The bright salmon-pink flowers have 
those notched margins to the petals that the florist 
abhors, but the flower is all the prettier for them 
even if it be in a vulgar sort of way. A more serious 
defect is the occasional bursting of the calyx in the 
larger flowers, but in view of the general utility of 
the variety we are fain to overlook this. There is 
no other sort that beats it as a continuous bloomer, 
for with us it is the first to open its flowers, and con¬ 
tinues to throw blooms from the side buds long after 
most of the others have entirely finished. The late 
blooms may be small, but the colour is good, and 
they come in very useful for decorative work—it is 
indeed cut and come again with them. The plant is 
of vigorous habit and makes plenty of “grass," so 
that there is no lack of material for making up with 
the flowers or for layers when they are wantei. We 
have found that this variety seems to do best when it 
is allowed to form large clumps, and is not layered 
every year Such clumps throw a lot of bloom, and 
as they stand, are a great ornament to the flower 
garden. Young plants may throw finer flowers, but 
as has been slated, these are most likely to split their 
pods, so that the apparent advantage is discounted. 
— Rex. 
- •* — 
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. 
Seedling Fachsia .—Sardon : It is not at all likely 
that your seedling Fuchsia will bloom this year. 
Keep it growing on, however, in the same pot in 
which it now is until the leaves begin to fall off, thus 
showing that its season of growth has practically 
finished. Then give less water and expose it fully 
to all the sun you can in order to ripen up the wood 
thoroughly. Next year it will flower freely enough 
if these directions are followed. Seedling Fuchsias 
rarely, if ever, bloom the same year that they are 
raised from seed, but are all right for the following 
year. 
Achimenes.— Jas. T .: You may turn the plants 
out of doors, and stand them on a bottom of ashes. 
Keep them well supplied with clear water, but give 
no manurial stimulant. They will gradually die 
down, and you should watch for this, curtailing the 
water supply as maturation advances. 
Heeling down Onions.— W. L. : The practice of 
bending down the stems of Onions which you 
descrlba in this way is quite a common one. There 
is no doubt that it assists the development of the 
bulb as it tends to check the flow of sap to the 
leaves, and thus induces the plant to turn the whole 
of its attention to the swelling of the bulb. 
Pear Citron des CarmeB is ripe from the middle 
to the end of July, G'., according to the character of 
the year. The variety has nothing to recommend it 
but its earliness, and we think you would be dis¬ 
appointed with it. Of course it sounds very nice to 
hear of ripe Pears in July, but there is no com¬ 
parison between them and those ripe in September 
and October. 
Fig to name — Jarl : The Fig is White Ischia, a 
very fine flavoured and good all-round variety. It 
never gets very much larger than the samples you 
sent, but it is an exceptionally prolific bearer, whilst 
in our own opinion nothing can touch it for flavour. 
Gooseb r.ies.— A. Carleton: You will find it a 
matter of considerable difficulty to keep the Red 
Warrington Gooseberries for any length of lime. 
True, it is, that the variety will hang as long as, 
probab'y longer than, any other variety, but that 
accounts for ody a relatively short period. The 
best thing that you can do will be to cover the 
bushes entirely with Archangel mats to exclude a 
great part of the light. If j ou want Gooseberries 
late in the season jou must plant a few bushes 
against a north wall, where they will haDg much 
longer than they will on bushes in the open ground. 
Seedling Pentstemons.— W. Barnes : Cuttings 
should be taken within the course of the next month 
of the varieties that you wish to preserve. As a 
rule, plenty of cuttings are obtainable from side 
shoots near the base of the plant. Put the cuttings 
in a bed of soil in a cold frame, or if the frame is 
large use a small hand-light, such as those employed 
for covering Cauliflowers. 
White Abutilon.— A. B.: Abutilon Boule de 
Neige is the best white-flowered variety that we 
know of. It is of a good many years' standing, but 
we presume that does not make any difference to 
you. 
Mushroom Litter.— Advance: The preparation of 
the litter for Mushroom beds is ooe of the most im¬ 
portant points, for if it be neglected or improperly 
performed, good-bye to the chances of success. The 
material shoal 1 consist in bulk of horse droppings, 
but an admixture of leaves and straw will do no 
harm. The droppings should be procured fresh 
from the stables, and placed in a heap on the floor 
of an old shed or other place where protection from 
the rain can be given. About twice a week the heap 
should be turned over and well shaken out, so as to 
