March 13, 189V. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
439 
heavy land through which the water does not pass away 
freely, and this causes many seeds to rot during cold 
weather. Light soils give little trouble or anxiety, 
but in all cases it is desirable to have a light covering 
over seeds at this season, as this is more readily 
permeated by the warmth of the atmosphere, the 
average temperature of which is several degrees 
higher than the ground at this season of the year. 
Onions —Where the main crop has not been got 
in, no time should be lost. As soon as the ground 
gets into the condition that it can be freely trod upon 
without binding, it will be quite safe to sow. A 
good dressing of soot, wood ashes, and guano raked 
into the surface will be a great help to the young 
crop. Sow in drills 8 in. apart and tread the seed in 
firmly. 
Lettuce. —Advantage should have been taken of 
the late fine weather to transplant the early spring 
crop raised from seed sown in frames in autumn. 
Special precautions must be taken against slugs as 
they are very fond of this crop and soon do 
irreparable mischief among the young plants. The 
hoe should be frequently used among the growing 
crops of this plant. Another sowing, both of Cos 
and Cabbage kinds should also be made in a warm 
position outside. 
Potatos. —A warm sheltered position must be 
selected for this crop. A method I can recommend 
for growing a few rows for an early supply is to take 
out trenches as for Celery, and fill the bottoms with 
six inches of bush tree prunings, and over this a 
layer of long dung, then a few inches of soil, on 
which to plant some of the strongest sets, covering 
these with fine pulverised soil. By adopting this 
plan I have dug Potatos in the third week in May of 
excellent quality. A watering may be necessary 
during dry weather at the end of April or beginning 
of May, but the results are worth the trouble. 
Successional sowings of Peas and Beans should be 
made, also small sowings of Celery, Brussels Sprouts, 
Leeks, Turnips, Cauliflowers,Cabbages, and Carrots; 
good beds of Radishes, and Spinach may be sown, 
the latter between Peas or other crops that do not 
fill the whole ground.—/. R. 
-- 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
The Cool Conservatory. 
There should be no lack of flowers in the conserva¬ 
tory now, for the bulk of the forced material which 
has only been forwarded gently during the winter is 
now in flower. The mild season has exercised a 
hastening effect upon under-glass plants, as well as 
upon those growing in the open. The present 
season demands a deal of watchful care in dealing 
with this department, and constant attention must be 
paid to ventilation. Cold nights will call for a little 
fire-heat, in order to keep the house up to about 45 0 
Fabr., but this must be applied with great caution, 
since the dryness and aridity of fire heat materially 
shorten the life of the blooms. Turn off the fire- 
heat the first thing in the morning if the day 
promises to be fine. This will allow the pipes time to 
cool before the sun is very high in the heavens, and 
the temperature of the house begins to rise rapidly 
as the result. 
In bright days there will be a considerable 
difference between the night and the day temperature, 
even if air is given freely, but this will do no greu 
harm. The same cannot be said of draughts, which 
are easily generated by incautious opening of the 
ventilators. If the wind is keen and cold, the top 
ventilators on one side only, and that the sunny one, 
should be opened. 
Shading —Whilst ordinary plant houses are not 
likely to suffer for another fortnight from the effects 
of the sun, it is high time that some of the blinds 
were fixed to the conservatory, as the flowers must 
be shielded from the bright sun if they are to last 
for any length of time. To commence with, the 
blinds maybe let down from about 11 am. until 
3 p.m., just for the brightest part of the day. 
Watering is daily becoming a more arduous task, 
and one that must not on any account be neglected. 
The bulk of it should be performed in the morning, 
until the end of the month, but a second look round 
will be necessary about 3 p.m. Manure water may 
be applied occasionally with advantage to any plant 
that is developing its flowers, but not to those upon 
which the flowers are already expanded, as they are 
then too far advanced to benefit by it. 
Lapagerias.— Attend closely to the tying-in of 
these at frequent intervals. If pruning was 
judiciously performed, there should be plenty of 
room for laying in the young growths without undue 
crowding. The shoots should not be allowed to 
cross or intertwine, but must be laid in side by side 
with each other. This will admit of some of the 
growths being loosened and allowed to hang down 
when in flower, the general effect being thereby 
greatly improved. Be ever on the watch for the 
appearance of green-fly, and if the plants are so 
situated that a syringing can be occasionally given 
them, do not fail to pay this little attention, which 
will go far towards keeping them clean and in good 
health. Growths from the bottom must be watched 
for, and protected as soon as seeD, otherwise they 
will be likely to fall a prey to slugs. These little 
pests may be kept at bay, however, by enclosing the 
young shoot with a little cotton wool, or by 
sprinkling a little salt on the soil so as to form a ring 
of about i* in. in diameter round it. The slugs will 
not cross this. 
Azaleas. —Not a few growers fail to get the 
utmost out of their plants by neglecting them after 
the flowers have fallen. Sometimes the poor plants 
are huddled into cold draughty houses where growth 
is much retarded, and the " set ” of buds towards the 
end of the summer poor as a natural consequence. 
This is not the way to treat them. If potting is 
required, it is best to catch the plants just after the 
flowers have fallen, but before new growth has 
commenced. If no potting is required the plants 
should be removed to a light pit where they will get 
a gentle heat. Here the syringe may be plied freely 
among them morning and afternoon, and the new 
growth will thus be made under the most auspicious 
circumstances. 
Ericas and Epacrises that are now out of flower 
must be cut back at once close to the old wood. It 
is only by a regular annual pruning that symmetrical 
plants can be obtained. After pruning place the 
plants in a gentle heat. A heated frame is a capital 
place, as plenty of light is obtainable. An occa¬ 
sional syringing will be helpful. 
Fuchsias, whilst they are great favourites for pot 
work are not utilised as rafter and pillar plants to 
the extent that they might be. Taken up with a single 
stem, and without stopping, they soon reach a con¬ 
siderable length. Each autumn it will be necessary 
to spur the lateral growths back to within a couple 
of eyes of their bases. Plants treated in this way 
have broken strongly into growth and are advancing 
rapidly. Watch for mealy bug, which finds a 
congenial refuge amongst the roughened bark of the 
stems. 
Pits and Frames. 
Herbaceous Calceolarias.— If thtse have not 
received their final shift it must be given them at 
once, as if potting is delayed for too long, and until 
the flower stems begin to make their appearance, the 
result will be an over-luxuriance of foliage at the 
expense of the flowers. For the largest plants a 10- 
in. pot may be allowed, whilst for those of medium 
strength an 8-in. size will be amply roomy enough. 
The soil should consist of mellow loam two parts, 
and leaf soil one part. Add a fair allowance of sand 
and a sprinkling of soot. After potting, the plants 
may be kept a trifle warmer than before, but still not 
coddled. A place in a cold frame on a bottom of 
ashes suits them well. After the check of potting has 
once been surmounted air must be given freely. 
Spread a piece of thin tiffany over the glass so as to 
prevent the plants from suffering from the effects of 
the sun. 
Other plants in 32-pots that are too forward to 
warrant potting may be allowed to remain as they 
are. They will bloom rather earlier than the others, 
and, moreover, being in smaller pots, will come in 
very useful for decorative work for which the others, 
on account of their size, are unfitted. They will 
need liberal feeding in order to get the most out of 
them. 
Achimenes.— Nothing will be gained by keeping 
the tubercles any longer in the old dry soil. They 
should be picked out and potted up at once. Suit¬ 
able successions may be easily arranged by putting a 
part of them in heat, and allowing the rest to come 
on just as they like in a cold frame. The earliest 
batch started at the beginning of February is pushing 
away nicely. Do not delay staking, as it is far better 
to do this too soon than too late. 
Clerodendron fallax.— Seed sown in February 
has now produced sturdy little plants, which must 
be potted off singly into thumb pots at once. Use a 
compost of equal parts of loam and leaf soil with 
sand. A good batch of this Clerodendron will be of 
the utmost service in the autumn. Bear in mind 
that it revels in a high temperature, with plenty of 
moisture both at the root and in the atmosphere. A 
bottom heat of about 70° is also a great help. 
Old plants that are to be grown on for another 
season have now made growths 2 in. or 3 in. in 
length. They should therefore be potted up at once. 
Shake as much of the old soil away as possible, and it 
will then be found that a pot of similar size to that 
accorded them last summer will accommodate them 
this. We do not believe in overpotting, as the plants 
not only do not flower so well, but also do not stand 
the low temperatures of the conservatory during the 
latter part of the autumn so well— A. S. G. 
THE ORCHID HOUSES. 
Shading.— If not already done, no time should be 
lost in getting the blinds into position for use during 
the middle of the bright sunny days which we are 
most likely to be favoured with during this month. 
Shading of some kind is as essential to plants grown 
under glass as are water and air, if the cultivator is 
to be successful. At the same time it can be over¬ 
done. Therefore it must be attended to with great 
care and consideration, only running the blinds down 
when the sun is very powerful. This will obviate 
giving top air, which would be a most injudicious 
proceeding during this month when cold east winds 
are prevalent. 
Firing.— Whilst it is necessary to have good fires 
during the cold nights we are still getting, they 
should be drawn, say at 9 o’clock on all bright morn¬ 
ings. This with the judicious use of the blinds keeps 
the temperature from running up too high, and 
causing the plants to start prematurely into growth. 
General Work.— Push along with the potting of 
all plants that require fresh material, such as Den- 
drobium wardianum, D. nobile, D. Ainsworthii, D. 
aureum, &c., that have done flowering; Cattleya 
Trianaei as it goes out of bloom ; C. gigas that was 
not done in August, and the later flowering Laelia 
anceps. In fact, anything that to the cultivator's 
eye requires a fresh supply of material to root into, 
should be afforded it as the plants pass out of bloom, 
and are beginning to make new growths and fresh 
roots. 
Continuing my dissertation on the best twelve 
Orchids for beginners, I come to Cymbidiums ; and 
in taking C. lowianum, I am actuated by a desire to 
put forward only those varieties that under ordinary 
circumstances will give the best results for the least 
possible outlay. The one under notice is a most 
beautiful species, and one that only requires the tem¬ 
perature of the Cattleya house to grow it to perfec¬ 
tion. The only possible thing that can be urged 
against it, is that it takes up a good bit of room. 
However, being evergreen plants, they are always 
handsome whether in or out of bloom. 
We grow ours in a compost consisting of peat, 
loam, dried cow dung, chopped moss, and bits of 
crocks broken up fine. Being a moisture-loving 
plant, the drainage should be put in carefully and 
well, so that the water may pass freely away. Yet it 
is not advisable to put in more than 2 in , as being a 
plant that makes large fleshy roots and plenty of them 
they require plenty of room, and for that reason 
should not be too much confined. 
Cypripediums.— In taking C. insigne I am afraid 
I shall be considered a bit behindhand ; yet for all 
purposes what is there to beat some of the varieties ? 
Take C. i. punctatum violaceum, and some of the 
montanum forms for instance; besides, everyone 
grows it, and that easily too. Some of the best 
plants I have seen were grown in cold pits all the 
summer, with just a little whitening on the glass for 
shade. About the end of September they were 
transferred to a warm greenhouse, and at Christmas 
they were a pleasure to behold. 
Culture.— Use compost as recommended for 
Cypripediums. Give plenty of water when growing, 
and keep the atmosphere well charged withmoisture, 
and there you are.--C. 
