May 8, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
667 
advantage for this sowing, as the young plants may 
have to remain some time in the seed bed ; and will 
retain a better colour than when exposed to full sun 
and probably drought. The earliest sown plants 
should soon be fit for transplanting. Where the 
finest heads are.desired, trenches half filled with 
manure will give the best results. For an ordinary 
crop the young plants may be dropped in holes about 
six inches deep made with a dibber, and one foot 
apart, giving a slight watering to wash a little soil 
over the roots. 
Turnips. —To keep up a supply of young roots, 
sowings should be made at short intervals, choosing 
showery weather. Small sowings will be best until 
the end of the month. Thin out early beds and 
water during dry weather.— J. R, 
- 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
The Cool Conservatory. 
To keep a show house filled with attractive material 
throughout the year necessitates not ODly adequate 
supplies of suitable subjects with proper conveniences 
for their accommodation, but also the employment 
of a deal of careful foresight on the part of those who 
are in charge. Even with all this it is sometimes 
exceedingly difficult to avoid an awkward break or 
two in the succession at various times of the year, 
and impossible to prevent the exhibit of floral colour 
from fluctuating. 
The present time is one of those natural breaks or 
changes that cannot well be avoided. The forced 
material has been having its own way since the 
decline of the Chrysanthemums, and while we are 
fully alive to the decorative value of Tulips, 
Hyacinths, Narcissi, Lilacs, early Azaleas, Primulas, 
Cinerarias, etc., we cannot keep them always with 
us, nor would we if we could, for change and variety 
in a show house is as necessary as colour and 
appropriate arrangement. 
The plants that may appropriately be termed 
summer subjects are ready to take their part in the 
proceedings, but it will be well to make some little 
alteration first. This constitutes a favourable 
opportunity for giving a general clean up, and the 
chance should not be lost. Clean plants and a dirty 
house are not a successful combination any more 
than dirty plants and a clean house would be. It is 
possible to keep dirt out of sight during the duller 
months of the year, but the brighter light of summer 
renders this exceedingly difficult. All the woodwork 
and glass that can be conveniently got at, without 
disturbing the climbers overhead, should be washed ; 
likewise the shingle on the stages. 
Climbers, such as Lapagerias, PassiSoras, 
Tacsonias, Plumbagos, etc., will need to be carefully 
looked after for tying, as they are now growing with 
great rapidity. Both Tacsonias and Passifloras are 
prone to making a great deal of growth when they 
are in good health, and too much of this should not 
be tied in. Passiflora racemosa, however, does not 
make nearly so much growth as P. caerulea and P, 
c. Constance Elliott. Thin out all the weaker 
growths of these, and allow the ends of the remainder 
to hang gracefully down, or they may be tied in now, 
and loosed when they commence to flower. 
Roses.— Where there are large plants permanently 
growing in beds or borders with their growths up 
close to the glass a continued watch has to be kept 
at this time of the year, not only to keep the shoots 
tied down in good time, but also to prevent green fly 
from getting a hold. With a houseful of flowering 
plants it is impossible to syringe or vaporise, and 
hence syringing with insecticides or dipping the 
infected shoots become the only available methods 
of combating the pest. William Allen Richardson 
and Marechal Niel are favourite varieties for plant¬ 
ing in the conservatory, and green fly seems to be 
especially fond of both. 
Pelargoniums. —As the earliest plants throw up 
their flower buds staking must be seen to. Do not 
let the stakes be more conspicuous than is necessary, 
and endeavour when inserting them to extend the 
spread of the plants as much as possible. Feed them 
liberally now with manurial stimulant. A daily 
application of manure water will not be too much if 
the plants are vigorous. As Pelargoniums are 
notorious for being a congenial refuge for green fly a 
fumigation should be given them just before the 
flowers open in order to keep them clean for awhile. 
Ferns in Pots.— Throughout the summer months 
there are many Ferns that require more heat during 
the winter and spring than the conservatory will 
afford that will do in a cool house. In bringing 
them from the warmer quarters into the cooler ones 
it will be advisable to keep the side lights closed for 
a few days, only giving air on the roof, thus inuring 
them gradually to the change. Although the Ferns 
do best when given a corner to themselves they are 
very valuable in combination with flowering plants 
of various kinds. 
Fern Nooks. —Where these are tastefully planned 
and properly constructed and looked after there is no 
more attractive corner of the conservatory. The 
present time is a good one to renovate such nooks. 
Pockets made of virgin cork nailed to the wall are 
easily kept in order, and a wall may readily be 
covered in this way. A top-dressing of light soil will 
be of great service to established plaots, whilst 
vacancies may be made good by dropping in fair 
sized pot plants. Pieces of Selaginella Martensii.S. M. 
variegata, S. kraussiana, S. k. aurea, and S. 
uncinata root quickly and soon establish themselves, 
if kept supplied with water and shaded. 
Pits and Frames. 
Within the course of the next week, if the weather 
proves promising it will be possible to transfer a con¬ 
siderable number of the bedding plants that are now 
choking up the pits and frames to a place outside. A 
start may be made with the hardiest; but tender sub¬ 
jects like Zinnia, Perilla, Ricinus, and Nicotiana, 
must be kept under glass for a little longer. Mean¬ 
while more air will be given daily to plants in 
frames, in order to prepare them for the outdoor 
shift. 
Cinerarias. —In a few gardens where plants are 
required to bloom in December, a sowing of seed is 
made about the beginning of the second week in 
April. The May sowing, however, is the important 
one, although it may be supplemented by a sowing 
made next month to furnish plants for late blooming 
i e., in March and April. Sow thinly in shallow 
pans filled to within an inch of the top of their rims 
with light soil. Do not bury the seed too deeply, 
and cover the pans with a piece of glass. Place the 
seed pans in a gentle heat and shade them carefully 
from sun. Some people find a difficulty in the ger¬ 
mination of Cinerarias, and this is somewhat diffi¬ 
cult to understand seeing that the seed dropped 
naturally from the plants germinates quickly and 
well. Not infrequently we have noticed that when 
the seed sown in pans under glass which has had a 
good deal of trouble taken over it has only produced a 
few straggling plants, the naturally sown seed¬ 
lings have made their appearance in scores upon 
positions where the old plants have been stood. 
Primula sinensis.— A sowing of Primulas should 
be made without delay. Drain the seed pans well, 
and fill them in a similar fashion to those occupied 
by the Cinerarias. Press the compost down pretty 
firmly, level it, and water it before sowing. A steady 
temperature of about 6o° will give the best results. 
As soon as the seedlings get large enough to handle 
they should be lifted out carefully and potted up in 
small thumb pots. Primula seed is usually rather 
irregular in germinating, and by lifting out the plants 
as they appear and keeping the seed pan as much 
undisturbed as possible, more plants will be obtained 
than by pricking out the whole of the seedlings at 
once and throwing the soil containing the dormant 
seed away. 
Zonal Pelargoniums. —The cuttings taken for 
the purpose of supplying a stock of plants for winter 
flowering have now filled the pots of their first shift 
with roots. It will now be a good time to put them 
into their flowering pots—32’s. A compost of two- 
thirds of good loam and one part of old horse 
droppings or dried cow manure with sharp sand will 
answer well. Pot pretty firmly, as this conduces to 
the formation of dwarf, short-jointed growth that 
has a better chance of attaining to the maturity that 
produces a good show of bloom than the rank and 
sappy growth. For the next fortnight a place in a 
cold frame will be necessary, but after that the 
plants may be turned out of doors. 
Cyclamen.— The strongest plants will be ready 
for a shift into large 6o-pots by the middle of the 
month. Use a compost of nearly equal parts of good 
loam and good leaf soil with a sprinkling of sand, 
the loam being slightly in excess of the leaf 
mould. The compost may be made a little heavier 
at the next shift. Place the plants in a frame on an 
ash bottom and after they have got over the check of 
shifting do not attempt to coddle them. 
Tree Carnations.— The old plants will pay for 
overhauling now. Cut away any long straggling 
stems and growths, and train up the best shoots from 
the bottom to take their places. A topdressing of 
rich light soil will render good service. The old soil 
may be removed to as great a depth as possible with¬ 
out uncovering too many of the roots. The only 
objection to topdressing is that greater care is needed 
for some time after it is given to see whether the 
plants want water or no, for the appearance of the 
top layer is apt to be deceptive with regard to the 
condition of the lower ones. By tapping the pots, 
however, the true state of affairs may be ascer¬ 
tained. 
Lobelias.— A quantity of the strongest of the 
blue Lobelias propagated in such quantities for the 
flower garden come in very handily for conservatory 
decoration if potted up into 6o-pots. Almost any 
soil will do, and the plants will soon commence to 
flower.— A. S. G. 
THE BEST TWELVE ORCHIDS FOR 
BEGINNERS. 
Laelias.— For cheapness and general usefulness 
there is no doubt but that L. anceps comes first. 
Like all the Mexican Orchids, Laelias enjoy a light 
airy place close to the glass of the intermediate 
house. We grow ours in well drained baskets and 
pans which are suspended from the roof. Here they 
get all the light possible, and the air that plays 
about them is drier that it is nearer the stages. 
The best time to repot or rebasket the type—that 
is the dark varieties—is in early spring, when they 
begin to grow. Most of ours have been done some 
few weeks, but there are a few late flowering kinds to 
be done. With these we shall simply pick out as much 
of the old material as possible, and replace with 
fresh, without disturbing the roots more than we can 
help. The compost will consist of the usual 
material, two parts peat and one of Sphagnum 
moss. 
Watering. —In the early stages they are very 
impatient of too much moisture at the root, but 
when rooting and growing freely, copious supplies 
should be given, always allowing the plants to get 
moderately dry between each watering. 
The white varieties are of course, very desirable, 
but they are not so free-flowering, except L. 
a. williamsiana. Their treatment too, is somewhat 
different. We repot the white kinds when they 
begin to root from the base of the newly made up 
pseudo bulb. This generally takes place during the 
autumn months. In some cases when done thus 
early the moss that is used will die owing to the 
plants being kept—-as they should be—dry through 
the dull winter months. When such is the case we 
pick out 1 he worst of it when going over the others in 
spring, and insert a few live heads here and there, 
without disturbing the bulk. 
Position.— Where possible they should be 
afforded a few degrees more heat than is recom¬ 
mended for the type, and placed where they can 
get enough sunlight to make the growths and leaves 
hard without burning. With such treatment there 
would be some chance of flowering them, but not 
without it ; at least, that is our experience. 
Manure Water. —For some few years now I have 
advocated the use of some kind of stimulant from 
the time the plants first show their flower spikes 
until the flowers are almost ready to expand Just a 
pinch of guano, such as you can take with your 
thumb and finger, in three gallons of water, once a 
week, when dipping the plants, is all we give them. 
No one need be afraid to use this small quantity with 
plants in health ; but to those in bad condition and 
without roots it would probably do more harm than 
good. 
Insects. —White scale attacks these plants owing 
to their being kept on the dry side during the winter ; 
but with a sponge and small brush they may be 
easily eradicated. 
How to Make the Moss Grow. —In early 
spring, after the plants are newly re-panned, instead 
of dipping and saturating the whole mass, stand the 
plants on the floor, and sprinkle with a rose-can, or 
syringe them lightly. It rarely fails under these 
conditions,—C. 
