THE GARDENING WORLD 
121 
October 22 , 1898 . 
The plants are then commencing to push their young 
growth. In fairly good soil they then grow away 
almost without a check. The length of time that it 
will take to make a good hedge depends upon two 
things—first of all the size of the plants when they 
are put in, and secondly, the required height of the 
hedge. The fine, old, trimmed hedges, 5 ft. or 6 ft. in 
height, that you see in some places, have 'aken many 
years to develop into that stage. If you put in good 
plants in the first place, say 2 ft. in height, they will 
make a nice, dwarf hedge in four or five years time, 
but they will require a little pruning annually to keep 
them in shape. A 4 ft. hedge will take at least three 
years longer than this, or not less than seven or eight 
years in all. 
DOUBLE BEGONIAS. 
(Concluded fromp. 106.) 
There is one more point to be mentioned in regard 
to the seedling beds, and that is weeding. In the 
outdoor growing of Begonias, weeds, like the poor, 
are always with you. If there be one redeeming 
point in a long drought such as we have just 
experienced, it is that weeds cease growing with 
other things. This is not so with the Begonia beds, 
because you are obliged to water them, and the 
vegetable inutilities of the whole neighbourhood 
seem to find it out, and push through the cool fibre 
in rich profusion. You cannot use the hoe. They 
must be pulled up. I find people with young backs 
like this work best. If I remember rightly it was 
Dean Hole who said that a gardener should have a 
cast iron back, with a hinge in it. This reminds me 
that I only once met an enthusiastic gardener who 
did not object to weeds. The real truth of it was, 
some of his things were so rare and valuable that he 
did not like his gardener working amongst them. 
"As we are both clergymen,” he said, “I don’t 
mind telling you that I fear he would pull up the 
wheat with the tares.” “ As we are both clergy¬ 
men,” I ventured to reply (having regard to what 
appeared to be a fine breadth of couch in the middle 
distance), " I don’t mind telling you it a little 
reminds me of some words which are equally familiar 
to us both—" Now there was much grass in the 
place at which I fear my friend was a little nettled 
It now only remains to bring this long paper to a 
close by presupposing one of those sharp touches of 
frost among the seedlings, such as we may expect 
any night in October. The stricken foliage gives out 
that peculiar but not unpleasant odour which is only 
too familiar to the grower ; and, if the frost continue 
for a night or two, every leaf and stem will be 
reduced to the consistency of boiled cabbage. The 
havoc is heartrending, but the moment is too critical 
to admit of sentiment. You then see the necessity 
of labelling in good time, because in one night the 
plants have lost all individuality, and nothing 
remains, except the tally, to recall their quality or 
colour. 
As the frost must not reach the tubers, no time 
should be lost in taking them up. We have long 
low sheds of corrugated iron, open at the front, under 
which the wounded are stored, with some balls of 
soil attached, and the inevitable label. 
Here such foliage as remains dries off gradually 
and drops away. 
In a week or two the tubers may be laid in small 
heaps upon the stage of some cool greenhouse, until 
the few remaining stalks can be rubbed off, after 
which they should be stored in pots or boxes with a 
little half-dry earth scattered over them to prevent 
shrivelling. These boxes should be kept from frost 
or heat and should be examined once or twice during 
the winter, in case any tuber may rot and affect its 
neighbours. I may add that in order to commence 
operations on the lines I have indicated it will be 
well to buy a dozen or two good named varieties 
from some well-known nurseryman in the month of 
January, some of which, or some of their cuttings, 
will be certain to produce pollen in the course of the 
season, if started early. 
In indoor growing there is one point which is of 
vital importance, that is, the plants should never be 
allowed a dry atmosphere until they bloom, or you 
will inevitably produce thrip, a most insidious pest 
and difficult to eradicate, being invisible to the naked 
eye, or nearly so, and carrying on its ravages on the 
under side of the leaves. To prevent this, use the 
syriDge every evening overhead, and keep the floors 
well sprinkled, till the flowers come; indeed, the 
latter practice may be continued some time after¬ 
wards. 
Shade from bright sunshine, and if you ever 
become sufficiently enthusiastic, and build a house 
for the purpose, let the stages be of slate or corrugated 
iron and covered with an inch or two of gravel, 
which should be kept moist. 
This of course applies to plants growing for 
bloom, but after the first flowers are over and you 
wish to hybridise, then a dry house with a dry 
atmosphere and plenty of sunshine, will produce the 
most satisfactory results .—Edwin Lascelles, The 
Rectory, Newton St. Loe, Bristol. 
■ 1 - 
ARUNDINARIA NITIDA. 
On p. 57 we gave an illustration of Phyllostachys 
Henonis, the favourite Bamboo of A. B. Freeman- 
Mitford, Esq., the great lay authority on Bamboos in 
this country. We now retrace our steps to give an 
illustration of Arundinaria nitida, of which we spoke 
in a previous number. In our opinion, and in that 
of many other admirers of this family, it is one of the 
finest, if not the finest, of all the hardy Bamboos. 
Some others may take the precedence for particular 
purposes, but that does not in the least detract from 
its infinitely graceful beauty and rich colour of the 
foliage. The stems attain a length varying between 
6 ft. and 9 ft. in the open, but many considerably 
exceed that under favourable conditions. After 
rising to a certain height their slender character 
enables or compels them to arch over, and even be¬ 
come drooping, as shown in the accompanying illus¬ 
tration. They are short-jointed, while the more 
slender branches and twigs are densely fascicled at 
the nodes, thus serving to weigh down the main 
stems. The leaves are also small in keeping with 
the proportions of other parts of the plant, being 
only i£ in. to 34 in. long, of a rich glaucous green 
when young, but ultimately becoming dark olive- 
green, while retaining that glaucous tint which im¬ 
parts to them their peculiarly rich colour, which can 
hardly be described in words, especially when seen 
glittering in the bright sunshine of a summer’s day. 
The value of the species was recognised by the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 26th July, when they 
accorded a First-class Certificate to the plants 
shown by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., Chelsea, 
and A. B. Freeman-Mitford, Esq. The illustration 
was prepared from a photograph taken at Kew in 
August last during the great heat and drought. 
- » i »- 
PINKHILL NURSERIES, EDINBURGH. 
Having an afternoon to spare recently we took the 
opportunity of looking through the nurseries of 
Messrs. R. B. Laird & Sons, Pinkhill, Murrayfield, 
Midlothian. With the new range of glasshouses on 
the south side of the Edinburgh and Glasgow road, 
and the old nurseries on the hill side just opposite, 
there is the convenience for housing a vast quantity 
of plants of all kinds, so that we can merely give an 
indication of the nature of the contents of the 
different houses. 
The New Range of Houses. 
Several of the houses next the highway are on a level 
with it, the floors being high above the actual 
ground level, giving convenience beneath for packing 
and potting sheds, the carpenter's shop, stables, and 
other necessary premises. On entering one of the 
stoves we noted some well furnished plants of 
Bambusa falcata variegata, striped with creamy- 
white. Other decorative subjects were Dracaenas 
of a useful size for table work, Eulalia japonica 
zebrina, Araucaria Bidwilli, and Juniperus bermu- 
diana. The latter has sprung into popularity within 
the last few years for decorative work; and it is 
