February 27, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
413 
Hardening miscellany. 
ADIANTUM FARLEYENSE. 
The beauty of this Fern is generally recognised— 
not so its value for cutting. People grow their 
plants in a close warm house, and as a matter of 
course the fronds produced under such conditions 
are not hardy enough to stand much. By judicious 
hardening this difficulty may, to a large extent, be 
obviated. Of course, the fronds will not last so well 
as the ordinary Maidenhair—this is scarcely to be 
expected—but they answer well. By keeping the 
plants in small pots, and by comparatively free 
ventilation durmg the summer months, the fronds 
may be educated to stand a good deal. Mr. William 
Iceton grows Adiantum farleyense in quantities at 
Putney, and finds that such a course pays. Certainly 
one could not wish to see finer plants than those he 
turns out. 
ROSE KAISERIN. 
Glowing accounts of this Rose come from the 
United States, where it is evidently a great favourite. 
According to a contributor to the American Florist if 
should be planted out in a well-drained bed, rested 
during a great part of the winter, by allowing the 
house to almost freeze, and pruned similarly to a 
hybrid. Its defect is that it is liable to suffer from 
black spot late in the autumn, and hence it is 
advisable to take any cutttings that may be required 
early. 
LATANIA LODIGESII. 
In a small state this Palm is very distinct and 
pretty, although it loses some of its beauty as it gets 
older. The fronds are palmate, and divided for 
about two-thirds of their way down The segments 
are of medium width. A narrow line of deep crimson 
runs all round their margins, and the petioles exhibit 
a suffusion of the same colour, which shows up very 
conspicuously against the dark green of the upper 
surfaces of the fronds. L. Lodigesii does well in a 
stove temperature, the great thing being to avoid 
overpotting it. It is sometimes met with under-the 
name of L. glaucophylla. 
TILLANDSIA LINDENI. 
This pretty Tillandsia has been flowering for some 
time past in the stove at Kew. It certainly well 
repays any care bestowed upon it. The bright blue 
flowers are produced in a terminal, compressed 
spike, ovate in shape, and usually bearing about a 
score of flowers, which open one or two at a time 
from the base upward, so that the blooming season 
extends over a considerable period, although the 
flowers themselves do not last for long. The sepals 
are green, tinted slightly with red at ihe apices. 
The leaves are rather narrow, accuminate, spreading, 
reflexed, and unarmed. A fairly strong compost 
should be given it, consisting of two parts fibrous 
loam, with dried cow manure and sand. A few 
small pieces of charcoal may advisably be added. 
DRACAENA CANTLEYI. 
Not a little of the value of the Dracaenas as foliage 
plants is due to the variety of colour and general 
appearance that they present. The one under 
notice is distinct from any of the usual run of those 
grown in our stoves. The leaves are very long, 
lanceolate in shape, rather thick and succulent. 
They exhibit a deep green hue and are thickly dotted 
all over their upper surfaces with green-white dots, 
circular in shape, and about the twelfth-of-an-inch in 
diameter. The whole plant possesses a noble 
presence, but up to now is a stranger to most estab¬ 
lishments. A very fine and vigorous young specimen 
is to be seen in the stove at Kew. 
ASPARAGUS DEFLEXUS. 
One might travel a long way before meeting with 
such fine specimens of Asparagus deflexus as are to 
be found at Mr. Iceton’s Nurseries at Putney. They 
are accommodated in pots some r5 in. in diameter, 
and are fully 4 ft. high and 3 ft, in diameter. 
Throughout the winter months they are kept in a cool 
he use, and judging from appearances this treatment 
suits them. Curiously enough, although A. plumo- 
sus seeds freely enough at Putney, of which our 
readers are doubtless aware, A. deflexus is very shy 
in this respect, only a few straggling seeds being 
obtained at intervals. 
FOOD OF MOLES. 
I observed your reply to a correspondent a few 
weeks back, wherein if I rightly remember, you stated 
you thought moles do not harm, except, perhaps, on 
the lawn, and that they lived upon grubs, etc, 
injurious to crops, and I felt reassured. I am greatly 
troubled with moles and hardly know what to do 
about destroying them, and I am also troubled with 
wireworms and black slugs, so much that I cannot 
get a good Carrot crop, and it is with difficulty I can 
keep Lettuces in early spring, the numerous slugs 
eating them off as fast as we can plant them out, 
notwithstanding frequent application of soot and 
lime. I think on the whole, however, I would prefer 
the wireworm to the moles in my Carnation beds, 
where they make a sad havoc. Feeling curious to 
know exactly upon what this vigorous little under¬ 
ground worker lives, I opened one a few days since 
that I caught upon a Strawberry bed, and found in 
in his stomach undigested short pieces of the common 
earth-worm and black slugs, together with what 
looked to me like fragments of wireworm. It is very 
annoying when one’s seed beds, Carnation and 
Strawberry beds are riddled and drained. Still, 
perhaps, of the two evils the moles are the lesser.— 
QOGSnOQS AQD MSUJGRS 
*,* Will our friends who send us newspapers be so good 
as to mark the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see. 
We shall be greatly obliged bv their so doing. 
[ Correspondents , please note that we cannot undertake to 
name florists' flowers such as Carnations, Pelargoniums, 
Chrysanthemums, Roses, nor such as are mere garden 
varieties, differing only in the colour of the flower. 
Florists' flowers, as a rule, can only be named by those who 
grow collections of them.] 
Roses Injured with Frost.— D. W. D.: October 
and the early part of November are very suitable for 
the planting of Roses, but the latter are very liable 
to be injured or even killed, if the succeeding winter 
should turn out a severe one, jmt as has happened 
in your case. In future we think it would be a safer 
plan, in your northern district, to defer planting till 
a suitable time in March, dependent upon weather 
and the state of the soil. The actual amount of 
injury done to your Roses can only be determined 
some time after frost and snow have disappeared, 
say in March. If you had not protected them as you 
did with a layer of stable manure, most 1 kely they 
would have been completely killed. As it is, some 
of them may make good growth during the coming 
summer, and possibly flower late. The second fort¬ 
night of March would be early enough to prune them, 
for you will then see to what extent the shoots have 
been injured. 
Hybrids Amongst British Primulas.— W. Napper. 
You give no instances of a hybrid between two 
genera. Under cultivation there are several well- 
marked cases amongst Orchids ; and in a wild state 
there are supposed hybrids between Cattleya and 
Laelia. But until people are agreed upon what is a 
genus, and what is a species, it will oe impossible to 
speak with any degree of definiteness or precision. 
The terms " genus” and “ species ” are often purely 
arbitrary in their application, or in other words a 
matter of convenience. Primula vulgaris, P. veris 
and P. elatior are certainly very closely allied, and 
many botanists regard them as good species, while 
others as emphatically affirm that they are only 
forms of one species. You speak wrongly, however, 
when you say that the Cowslip and the Primrose are 
one and the same plant. You may say that they are 
forms of the same specie', if you care to adopt that 
view. If any case it is merely a matter of assump¬ 
tion, or conventionalism, and must remain so until 
science can define exactly what is a species. Where 
the Cowslip and Oxlip grow together in a state of 
nature, intermediate forms are found, connecting the 
two by numerous links ; hence, some botanists regard 
them as one species, whilst others consider them as 
two species, and that the intermediates are hybrids. 
All the three fortr s of Primula above-named repro¬ 
duce themselvr s true from seed, and we regard them 
as speci-s merely for convenience sake. We prefer 
a medium course or view between extremes For 
your other questions see next week, as we are 
crowded on this occasion. 
Plants to grow amongst Roses —D. W. D. : 
There are various subjects that might be planted 
amongst Roses to fill up the gaps till the Roses 
become well established. It depends much upen 
taste as to what you might plant. Tall subjects aie 
Dahlias, Hollyhocks, Phloxes, Pentstemons, 
Gladioli, &c. None of these should be planted so as 
to crowd the Roses or shade them too much, 
because they want all the sunlight possible. The 
first four you could keep sufficiently thinned out. 
Gladioli of the gandavensis type might be planted 
fairly thickly, as their foliage casts little shade. 
Dwarfer plants are Stocks, China Asters, Calceo¬ 
larias, Fuchsia Dunrobin Bedder (about a foot high), 
Double Larkspurs (annual), Dianthus, Napoleon III., 
Mignonette, Nemophila insignis, and Violas. We 
think the latter would be very suitable without any¬ 
thing else, using one or several colours in a bed 
according to fancy. Others next week. 
Names of Plants. —T. D. : 1, Crocus susianus ; 
2, Crocus aureus luteus ; 3 , Scilla bifolia ; 4,Coton- 
easter micrcphylla.— W. H. : 1, Pinus austriaca ; 2, 
Sequoia sempervirens; 3, Thuya orientalis; 4, 
Cupressus lawsODianus; 5, Cupressus pisifera 
plumosa ; 6, Cupressus pisifera squarrosa.— G. M. : 
i.Cornusmas; 2, Eranthis hyemalis ; 3 , Anemone 
blanda. — -A. K .: r, Odontoglossum Coradinei; 2, 
Odontoglossum Lindleyanum ; 3 , Dendrobium find- 
layanum. 
Strawberry Plants Damping — 0 . H .: In the first 
place we think October was too late for getting the 
plants. You should make a point of getting them 
about the beginning of September, or earlier if you 
can get them. They should be potted as soon as 
received, in order that the fruiting pots may be filled 
with roots before the short days come on. After 
potting them firmly in good, rich compost, in a 
properly workable condition, stand them on a layer 
of ashes in an open position well exposed to sun and 
air. They will then be in a better ripened condition 
and keep better. Cultivators, for forcing purposes, 
pot their plants, as soon as they have been properly 
rooted in the small pots and removed from the parent 
plants. The crowns should not be buried too deeply in 
the pots, and the plants should not be watered over¬ 
head in the sunless and dull early part of winter. 
We cannot say whether any of these mistakes have 
been made, but they should occupy your considera¬ 
tion. We strongly advise you to get the plants 
earlier next year, so that they can be put in the 
fruiting pots at once. 
Manure for a Yine Border.— Nelson : The 4 cwt. 
of 5 in. bones and the 2 cwt of bone meal, which you 
propose using, would not be tco heavy a dressing ; 
but we should prefer 6 cwt. of £ in. bones, leaving 
out the bone meal, which might be used in after 
years when the Vines are in full bearing. See that 
there is an outlet for the drainage water, and put at 
least 6 in. of brick rubble in the bottom, to insure 
the superfluous water draining away. Even 9 in. of 
drainage would be better (with the depth of the 
border you are making), and over this a layer of turf 
should be placed. Use good turfy loam. After the 
Vines are bearing you can support them with top- 
dressings of various manures containing nitrogen, 
phosphorus and potash. For instance, a mixture 
might be made of 2 cwt. of dissolved bones, 1 cwt. of 
nitrate of potash, and 1 cwt. of sulphate of lime, and 
the surface of the border dressed with it at the rate 
of 2 lbs. to the square yard every three weeks or a 
month, during the growing period. 
Disbidding Pansies — R. M. : The advantages to 
be gained trom disbudding are not very great. A 
few flowers of greater size might be obtained in this 
way, but it would be difficult to time them. You 
should make a point of getting varieties that naturally 
bear large flowers ; then in the second place you 
should encourage young shoots that will be in full 
vigour and flowering about the time you require 
them. The older shoots might be cut away to give 
the young ones all the advantages of light and air. 
In any case, the plants should not be allowed to 
become crowded by too many shoots. Mulch the 
ground around the roots, and give copious supplies 
of water during dry weather. 
Communications Received. —C. Darmer.—W. 
Napper.—D. W. D.—J. of H.—Barr & Son.—M. T. 
—E. Wilson Gates. — John Fleming.—S. M.—W. 
N.—G. Lawes.—Stove.—P. T.—C. Wilson.— 
Querist.—S. S. R.—T., Surbiton. 
- 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Dobie & Dicks, 66 , Deansgate, Manchester.— 
Descriptive Price List of Seeds. 
Albert Upstone. F.R.H.S. (late John Cobban, 
jun ), Market- Place, Rotherham.—Seed List. 
James Cccker & Sons, 130, Union Street, Aber¬ 
deen.—Descriptive Catalogue of Roses and Hardy 
Herbaceous Plants ; also Ca'aU gue of Seeds, Plants, 
&c. 
Nathan Smith & Son, 167. West Maumee Street, 
Adrian, Michigan, U.S A —Descriptive Trade List 
of Chrysanthemums. 
Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie., 4, Quai de la 
Megisserie, Paris.—Catalogue of Dahlias, Cannas, 
and Chrysanthemums 
Joseph Mock, Seedsman, Trier (Rheinprovins) 
Germany.—Price List of Vegetable and Flower 
Seeds. 
John Laing & Sons, Forest Hill Nureries, and 
Catford, Kent.—Special List of New and Rare 
Clivias, also Streptocarpus. 
E. H. Krelage & Sons, Bloemhof Nurseries, 
Haarlem, Holland.—Catalogue of Novelties, Her¬ 
baceous Pcrermials and Florists’ Flowers. 
James Carter & Co„ 237, 238 and 97, High 
Hulborn, London.—Carter’s Iavicta Grass Seeds. 
D. M. Andrews, Alpine Nurseries, Boulder, 
Colorado, U,S.A.—Descriptions and prices of one 
hundred select Hardy Perennial Plants. 
