392 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 18, 1899. 
ints for Amateurs. 
Forcing French Beans.—The esteem in which a 
vegetable is held not infrequently depends in a great 
measure upon its scarcity. When there is plenty to 
be had people turn to something else, but when 
there is a shortage, or a good deal of trouble has to 
be incurred before it is forthcoming, everybody would 
then like to have it. This seems to be particularly 
the case with French Beans. Early in the year 
when they have to be produced under glass they are 
looked upon as a great delicacy. It is true that when 
well-grown, under glass, the Beans are rather tenderer 
and more delicate in flavour than those from the 
open, but it is the fact of their being produced out 
of their natural season that causes them to be so 
eagerlj snapped up. 
To the amateur who has a warm pit, with a 
temperature of from 58° to 6o° Fabr. by night, the 
cultivation of Beans under glass is easy enough. The 
man who is inclined to look strictly at the question 
from a profit and loss standpoint, would probably 
shy at the undertaking, for it means a good deal of 
work, but the amateur is not as a rule hampered by 
such considerations, he does not mind working for 
comparatively small results, for in the work itself he 
finds a good deal of pleasure. 
Cultivation in pots is the best method of procedure. 
The plants are not like their relatives out-of-doors, for 
once the first crop is over it is of no use to keep them 
any longer but they may as well be thrown away at 
once to make room for another batch. Pot plants 
can easily be shifted about, and the system is there¬ 
fore preferable to the planting-out one. 
Two methods are in vogue even with pot culture. 
The one is to sow in small pots, and shift the plants 
when they have made their first pair of leaves into 
the fruiting pots, and the second is to sow in 
the fruiting pots at once. It does not really matter 
which is followed, except in the case of old seed the 
germinating powers of which are not to be trusted. 
In that case the seed should be sown in the small 
pots and the plants repotted, otherwise some pots 
may be sparsely furnished with plants. Seven or 
eight inch pots are the best for fruiting the plants 
ir, and the soil should consist of three-fourths of 
good loam with one-fourth of leaf soil or well-rotted 
stable manure chopped up, and thoroughly mixed 
with the loam. When the seed is sown straightaway 
in the fruiting pots the latter should only be filled 
two-thirds full so as to leave plenty of room for a 
good top-dressing after the plants have got thoroughly 
established. A temperature of from 58° to 60° Fahr. 
is necessary to insure speedy germination. Batches 
of seed should be sown about evey ten days in order 
to keep up a succession. 
As soon as the young plants make their appearance 
above the soil the syringe must be got to work upon 
them twice a day regularly. Beans are very subject 
to the attacks of red spider, and copious syringings 
are the only practicable method of keeping the mites 
at bay. If the plants are placed on a shelf near the 
glass, staking will not be required, for they may be 
allowed to haDg down as they list. Where they are 
to be accommodated on an ordinary stage, however, 
staking will be necessary. This need not be elaborate; 
all that is wanted is to stick three or four light 
stakes about fifteen inches in height round the pot 
near the edge, and run a couple of strands of raffia 
round. Short twiggy pieces of Pea-sticks may also 
be emplo>ed, and then there will be no need for 
strings. When the young Beans commence to swell 
feed the plants liberally with liquid manure. 
One of the best varieties for forcing, and an old 
favourite that has been employed thus for many 
years is Osborne's Forcing. A newer and equally 
good variety is the Ne Plus Ultra. Both are to be 
thoroughly depeuded on. 
Disbudding Yines.—Even when close pruning is 
practised several eyes, as a rule, start from each spur. 
Generally speaking one shoot is all that is required 
to a spur unless the spurs are far apart, when two 
shoots may be required to cover properly the allotted 
space. All shoots, therefore, beyond these may be 
removed sooner or later, but the work of disbudding 
is one that requires a good deal of care. A start 
may be made now and the little weaklings rubbed 
off, but the final thinning must be left for a while 
yet, and until it is seen that they can be spared. No 
matter how careful and skilful a man may be an 
accident will occasionally happen, and a shoot will 
snap out whilst a little pressure is being exerted 
upon it to bring it down to the wires. Now if the 
spur has been disbudded to that one shoot the mis¬ 
chief is irretrievable and the spur practically spoilt. 
Caution in disbudding is therefore strongly recom¬ 
mended. 
Tying-down Yine Shoots. —There is a number of 
" ticklish ” operations connected with Grape grow¬ 
ing, and probably the one technically known as 
“ tying-down ” is the most " ticklish ” of any. The 
shoots are exceedingly brittle, although this brittle¬ 
ness varies with the variety, the locality .and the health 
and vigour of the plant. Pressure must therefore be 
put upon them very gradually, and at first only 
enough must be exercised to keep the strings taut. 
Use fine strands of raffia, loop them loosely round 
the shoot that is to be brought down, and tie the 
other end to the wires in a running knot. This 
admits of the pressure being increased or lessened 
at will without employing a fresh string each time. 
If the tying-down is done the first thing in the morn¬ 
ing, and a bright warm day follows, a sharp look out 
must be kept upon the shoots, for they are extremely 
liable to snap under the rush of sap to the leaves- 
If it is feared that the strain upon particularly sappy 
shoots is too great they should be eased a little. 
This may seem rather like a lot of old women’s 
fidgetiness, but experience has shown that one cannot 
be too careful when dealing with Vine shoots. 
Seed Potatos that are to be planted early should 
be looked over, and the best tubers selected. Place 
the sets on end in layers, in shallow boxes, and put 
them underneath the stage in the greenhouse, so that 
the eyes may have a chance to start into growth. 
The tubers will become green, but that, of course, 
does not matter in the least. 
The Onion Bed. —It will not be long before the 
Onion bed will have to be got into trim. The recent 
spell of frost did a lot of good in breaking up the 
soil; in fact, up to that time, the lumps that had 
been roughly thrown up at the autumn digging had 
remained pretty much as they were when they were 
turned up by the spade. A dressing of wood ashes 
given just before the ground is finally levelled down 
and got ready for the seed is an admirable manure, 
and one which, more particularly on heavy land, is 
to be strongly recommended. Now, in most gardens, 
there is a rubbish heap attached, and this rubbish, 
although not of much use as it is, may be turned to 
good account by burning. The ashes will then come 
in very handily for the Onion bed. A dressing, 
which not a few successful Onion growers are very 
fond of giving, is a mixture of soot and salt in equal 
proportions, sprinkled over the ground at the final 
forking over. Just enough should be given to colour 
the ground. The effects are most marked. 
Early Peas.—Various are the methods employed 
to obtain an early picking of Peas. The practice of 
sowing the seed under glass at the end of January or 
early in February is, however, the favourite and 
generally adopted one. Pots, ordinary shallow 
boxes, boxes with movable bottoms, and turves are 
all utilised, and all succesfully. For general pur¬ 
poses, pots recommend themselves to the notice of the 
amateur, for they do not take up a lot of room, and 
they can be shifted easily. Where the pots or boxes 
were placed on a shelf near the glass in an early 
vinery, germination has been rapid ; but the young 
plants must not be allowed to remain too long in 
heal, otherwise they will become drawn, and their 
chances will be seriously discounted. Shift them to 
a cooler house, and after they have recovered from 
the change, give air in increasing quantities during 
mild weather. Be careful with the watering pot, and 
keep the plants on the dry side rather than other¬ 
wise. A bright lookout must be kept for mice, 
which are very fond of Peas, and soon do a lot of 
damage if their depredations are allowed to go on 
unchecked.— Rex. 
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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. 
Greenhouse Acacia .—Acacia : —You are quite right, 
the shrub is an Acacia, A. armata, a common green¬ 
house plant. The falling of the leaves is probably 
due to the action of tbrips. Take theplant down from 
the stage, lay it on its side and syringe with Tobacco 
water, Fir tree oil, Lemon oil, or some other 
insecticide. 
Potting Phoenix rapicola. —With reference to 
your remarks on this question on p. 360, it may 
interest Palms to knew I have a plant of Phoenix 
rupicola which has not been potted for six years. It is 
in an eight-inch pot, and is pushing itself out in the 
same way as mentioned by Palms, but it is in such 
good health that I shall not disturb it yet. I give it 
a small pinch of nitrate of soda every fortnight from 
about April to October, but none in winter. Every 
week during the dull weather its leaves are sponged 
over and I attribute the tact that it remains in good 
health very largely to this attention.— F. N. 
Davallia platyphylla. — Amos : As far as our 
experience goes this Davallia does best when planted 
out in a prepared bed. It will grow fairly well in 
pots for a while, but after a tiiae it degenerates, and 
each succeeding frond becomes weaker. It is a cool 
or intermediate house Fern. 
Fern Pockets.— Amos. If you want something 
very substantial and are willing to pay the price, you 
can obtain Fern pockets made of ordinary pot ware. 
These receptacles-may be hung against the wall, and 
of course have the advantage that they can be moved 
at any time without disturbing their occupants. For 
ordinary purposes, however, two or three pieces of 
virgin cork nailed to the wall will answer the same 
end, and to our way of thinking they look 
better than the pot ware, which is of rather glaring 
hue. The cork perishes round about the nails in a 
year or two, and the pockets then become unstable, 
but that can easily be seen to. 
Laying Turf.— 0 . T. G. : If the weather is mild 
and open you may lay the turf, but if it keeps frosty 
you must allow it to stand over for a while. The 
turves will not hurt stacked up in rolls for a day or 
two, but if they have to wait longer than that you 
must have them unrolled and spread out somewhere. 
In any case, have them laid as soon as the weather 
will permit. 
Lapageria and Frost.— L. L . A few degrees of 
frost will not hurt the Lapageria, for although it is 
not exactly hardy in this country, generally the 
tough, leathery leaves and wiry stems will stand a 
good deal. Of course this does not apply to the 
period when it is making its young growths, for they 
are very tender, and a little injury causes them to 
go black at the tips. All that is necessary for the 
Lapageria in the winter time is to keep the ther¬ 
mometer from registering more than two or three 
degrees of frost, but the plant usually is treated to a 
temperature of from 40 r ‘ to 45 0 Fahr., seeing that it 
is grown in houses with a mixed collection of green¬ 
house plants. Although it will stand the frost the 
Lapageria is not at all averse to the higher tempera¬ 
ture. 
CucumberB.— G. S.: Keep the male flowers picked 
off the plants. They are not necessary, as the 
fruits will swell without the flowers being fertilised, 
although they will, of course, be seedless. 
Scab in Potatos. — C. C. L.: Dusting the sets with 
sulphur has been recommended for the prevention 
of scab upon Potatos, but it is not always effectual. 
The actual cause of the disease is obscure, but it is 
probably brought about by the plants being sub¬ 
jected to drought while the tubers are yet small. 
Deutzia gracilis. — Amateur: As soon as the 
flowers begin to opeD, you must take the plant out of 
heat, otherwise the flowers will soon be past their 
best. 
Chinese Primulas — D.N. :—The propagation of 
Chinese Primulas by division is very seldom practised, 
as they can be reproduced from seeds so quickly and 
easily that it would not pay to totber with divisions. 
The double varieties cannot be reproduced from 
seeds, for the pistil and stamens, the essential organs 
of reproduction, have been turned into petals. 
Rooting Poinsettias. — Amies :—Unless you have 
the means of giving the cuttings a bottbm heat of 
