680 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 26, 1897. 
HINTS FOR ||MATEURS. 
Hoeing.— If there is one tool more than another 
that must not be allowed to lie idle during the sum¬ 
mer months it is the hoe, although we fear there are 
comparatively few amateur gardeners that fully re¬ 
cognise this. Usually the hoe is looked upon as an 
instrument for clearing the ground of weeds. This 
is the truth certainly, but it is not by any means the 
whole truth. What is the use of hoeing, the tyro 
will say when there are no weeds to hoe, it is labour 
for no end. If the eye of such a person chances to 
light upon these notes,we would ask him to let it rest 
there awhile, as we would like him to understand 
thoroughly that useful and invaluable tool as the hoe 
is for getting rid of weeds, it is equally serviceable in 
other directions. 
It may be advisable to remark at the outset that 
there are two kinds of hoes, the draw hoe, and the 
push or Dutch hoe. Of the former there is a number 
of forms which the ideas of various makers have 
called into existence. The draw hoe, however, is not 
easy to use, and not so thoroughly useful as the 
Dutch hoe, the virtues of which we will pass on to 
consider. 
In employing it the workman is not obliged to 
walk over the ground he has already loosened, but 
simply walks backward, thus leaving everything in 
front of him clean level, and shipshape. Generally 
a handle upwards of 6 ft- in length is affixed to the 
head and thus beds and borders of a good width can 
be reached by the operator standing on the path, 
and without the need of his going on the soil at all. 
Throughout the summer months all growing crops 
be they of vegetables of flowers benefit greatly from 
frequent stirring of the surface soil. Thus in hot 
weather watering is necessary. The sun’s rays coming 
after the operation of water bake the soil into a hard 
crust and thus hinder the perfect aeration of the soil. 
This crust should therefore be broken up by means 
of the hoe. Then again the effects of drought are 
really minimised by keeping the surface soil 
occasionally stirred. 
We may add a word of caution as to the use of the 
instrument however. The proper way to use it in 
flower beds and borders is to allow the blade to lie 
on its back, when it will be nearly parallel with the 
surface cf the soil, and will not then have a tendency 
to plunge away down, and seriously disturb the roots 
of favourite plants on behalf of which the trouble is 
being taken. The haft of the hoe may be held so 
that it reaches to the waist of the workman or work¬ 
woman, Tn which position it can be use 5 with the 
greatest ease and comfort. In selecting a tool from 
the store, therefore, hold the haft in this position, 
and turn the blade on its back, whtn, if it is a good 
tool and one that will suit you, the latter wi 1 lie flat 
on the ground or nearly so. 
Edging Shears.—If there is anything that is likely 
to put the amateur out of patience it is the use of 
the edging shears. More than likely he has let the 
grass edges in his garden grow far longer than he 
ought to have done. The grass has rooted into the 
walk in the meantime, but of that the happy 
procrastinator knows not nor recks. Finally the 
time comes when the effort has to be made, he 
grasps the shears in an ecstacy of energy and goes at 
the grass fondly imagining that it is not going to take 
him long to put matters straight. A wild convulsion 
of the handles follows. The blades twist and 
wriggle like snakes, dig into the gravel, tear pieces 
out of the turf, and are generally unmanageable. 
Never mind, that was only a beginning ! We’ll make 
a fresh start and do better this time, says the sufferer. 
Accordingly a fresh start is made but the better 
results are still in the realms of the dim future. 
What the dickens were these things made for is the 
first question Mr. Amateur asks himself; it is obvious 
that they will not cut grass. In such an extremity 
the only thing to do is to abuse the store-keeper who 
sold them, or the friend who lent them, and the fun 
goes on again Possibly, if the man sticks well to his 
task for a few hours, he may manage to make some 
show for his labour, but what a show it is ! the 
grass edge looks as if it had been badly bitten or 
worried to death, and tufts of grass are sticking up 
here and there defying the scissors to dislodge them. 
It may be that the wielder of the scissors in high 
dudgeon then retires to the privacy of his chambers 
to oil his blistered hands, to return to his aching 
body an equivalent for some of the moisture that has 
left his body in the form of perspiration, and to 
ruminate on the hardness of life in general and the 
“ cussedness ” of grass edges and shears in particular. 
Possibly the last straw comes when Mr. Amateur 
hears his better half kindly telling visitors that 
“John worked so hard this afternoon to make that 
grass look nice. It makes him feel like a bad mixture 
of culprit and martyr." 
Now all this trouble may be spared if, first of all, 
the edges of the grass are kept regularly trimmed, 
not allowing time for roots to be made. Then the 
shears must be used in a quiet sort of way. The 
curved point of the lower blade must be allowed to 
lie on the ground and the handle attached to that 
blade grasped firmly and held rigidly in the left hand. 
The right hand takes the other handle which governs 
the blade which does the working backwards and 
forwards. A gentle pressure forward should be given 
and as soon as a fair quantity of grass is between the 
blades the latter should be closed evenly and firmly. 
No twisting or straining of the blades must be 
allowed, otherwise the cutting will not be satisfac¬ 
tory. It is also bad practice to attempt to take too 
much grass at a time, for a clean cut is almost 
impossible under such circumstances. 
The above are only hints as to the management of 
edging shears. A practical demonstration of their 
use would be necessary to complete the lesson, and 
even then some practice is required before the 
beginner can handle them easily and efficiently. 
PapaYer rupifragum.— The gorgeous colours of 
the Poppies are not admired by all. Many find 
fault with the plants because of their garishness, and 
aver that they find no pleasure in beholding the 
vulgarly bright-hued flowers. Others again grumble 
at their fugitive character. The form under notice, 
however, cannot be brought under either of these 
indictments. P. pilosum is thought highly of by not 
a few, and this is undoubtedly a great deal better 
than it. It is about 18 in. in height, and a most profuse 
fiowerer. The blooms themselves are about 4 in. in 
diameter when fully expanded, aod exhibit a most 
attractive shade of bright orange-buff. This colour 
is all the more valuable on account of its comparative 
rarity in the months of early summer. The flowers 
will last for several days in water, and in every way 
the plant is well worthy of the attention of the 
amateur .—Rex 
--*►- 
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. 
Pelargonium Wall. — A. Linford was greatly 
interested in the mention of a " Pelargonium Wall " 
made by Rex last week. He has a bit of a wall in 
his greenhouse that he would like to cover, and 
wishes to know when to put the plants in, and if the 
border requires any special preparation. 
Planting may be conducted at any time—the 
present is as good as any. The border should be 
dug out to the depth of 2 ft., and some broken 
bricks put in the bottom of the hole for drainage. 
The soil may consist of two parts of mellow-loam, 
and one of good leaf soil rubbed through an inch 
mesh sieve. An addition of sharp river sand will be 
advisable. The directions given by Rex for pruning, 
etc., should be followed. 
Pruning Laurels.—I have a Laurel hedge in my 
garden which has got too high, and is thin at the 
bottom. Please tell me when will be the best time 
to cut it back.— Jas. Muir. 
You must leave the hedge until early next spring, 
say the end of February or the beginning of March. 
Then you may prune it to your heart's content, and 
the old wood will soon be covered with young 
shoots, and will not look unsightly for very long. If 
the hedge is thin at the bottom we should advice a 
pretty severe pruning. 
Mulching Carnations.— C. L. : About 2 in. in 
depth would be a good mulching with manure. If 
you use Cocoa-nut fibre refuse 1 in. in depth will be 
sufficient. 
Tomatos on a low Wall — F. 0 . B.: A wall such 
as yours on which the greenhouse stands may be 
turned to some account for Tomatos, certainly, but 
it will be of no use to train the ordinary erect way, 
for they would not have sufficient room. Train the 
stems at an angle of about 45° to the ground line, and 
you will stand a chance of reaping results. 
Bad Cineraria Seed.— IF. Teg writes a most 
amusing letter, although as it consists chiefly of 
defamatory adjectives we will not attempt to print it. 
Of course, the first thing many people do when they 
have a failure is to abuse the seedsman—that is 
generally safe. We should advise him to get 
another packet of seed, and not to cover it so deeply 
this time, and above all to shade it well and water it 
carefully. Heat is not the only consideration nor 
one of the most important either, since the young 
plants may be seen coming up out-of-doors in 
shady places where the old plants have been stood. 
Pot-bound Tomatos. —I noticed some Tomato 
plants a few weeks ago that were intended for plant¬ 
ing out-of-doors. They were over 2 ft. in height, 
and were carrying a few small fruits, although they 
were only in 32-sized pots. On enquiry I was in¬ 
formed that this was exactly what was wanted, as 
such starved plants gave a better crop of fruit than 
others which had been allowed to grow as vigorously 
as they liked. Is it a common custom to treat the 
plants thus ?— C. C. N. 
The custom is commonly practised, and there is 
very little doubt that the starving induces the plants 
to make a greater effort to produce fruit. It is a 
natural thing for any plant, once its existence 
becomes threatened, to produce fruit to carry on the 
successi in. The trimming and pinching that 
Tomatos are accorded is another method of curtail¬ 
ing what is to the gardener undue vigour, since it 
minimises his chance of a heavy crop of fruit. 
Freesias. — J , Kennington .—The Freesias maybe 
left as they are until August, when it will he time to 
repot them. They should be kept under cov er out 
of reach of the rain. 
Thinning Onions. —We should advise you to get 
your Onions thinned at once, IF. Arkwright, if the 
ground is soft enough. The best time to thin Onions 
is after rain, when the plants can he easily pulled 
out. When the ground is bard and dry they only 
break off. In the absence of rain the best thiDg to 
do is to water the bed well overnight, and rise wi h 
the lark next morning to do the thinning before the 
sun has had time to bake the soil. 
Verbenas —Undoubtedly some little time must 
elapse before the plants will cover the whole of the 
ground, B. L., but it is not advisable to plant too 
thickly at first. Get a number of wooden pegs about 
4 in. in length, similar to those commonly used for 
layering Carnations, and peg the growths down to 
the soil. By distributing them evenly over the 
surface of the bed you will soon get the ground 
covered. 
Cockscombs Out-of-Doors.— Querist noticed In the 
" Hints to Amateurs " recently that Celosia pyramid- 
alis plumosa might be used as a bedding plant for 
the flower garden, and wishes to know if Cockscombs 
might be utilised for the same purpose. 
We see no reason why they should not. Of 
course they must be raised in heat and potted on 
un il the combs are of a fair size. Once this stage 
is attained, however, there is nothing to prevent 
their being consigned to the flower garden. Doubt¬ 
less the one thing that militates against their employ¬ 
ment in this way is that they have reached an 
attractive stage in their pots before they are fit for 
outdoors, and it seems too great a sacrifice to part 
with them when they would look so fine In the con¬ 
servatory. 
Mealy Bug on Stephanotis. —You will find some 
difficulty in ridding your plant of this pest, Y.A., 
now that it is so dirty. You must go over it fre¬ 
quently with a small soft brush dipped in a solution 
of Lemon Oil Insecticide. You will thus be able to 
cleanse the axils of the leaves and rout the bug from 
various odd corners that you could not otherwise 
reach. Chinks and corners in the house itself that 
afford convenient harbourage for the bug should be 
touched with neat petroleum. Syringe well with 
clear water twice a day. 
