152 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 4, 1899. 
||ints for ||mateurs. 
Hardy Rhododendrons and Azaleas. — When the 
months of May and June come round again one will 
hear the rapt exclamations of pleasureable surprise, 
not unmixed wiih envy, when a bank of Rhododen¬ 
drons in bloom, or a bed of the brilliant and sweet- 
flowered Azalea mollis appears in view. There may 
then be mental resolutions passed by a few that they 
may have a show of their own during another year. 
And what is to hinder anyone? True, if there is no 
garden you can hardly grow a Rhododendron success¬ 
fully in a flower pot, but then where anyone has half 
a roodof land,why not plant half a dozen good Rhodo. 
dendrons? There is no special need for a peaty 
soil, although no doubt this is more to their liking. 
Any good loam will suit them and give you capital, 
busby plants, which will remain healthy and flower 
freely. The one great point to remember and to 
make sure of is that no lime be incorporated, or 
that none has previously been in the soil. This is 
like poison to them. Stiff, dry clay, of course, is 
a’so unsuitable. No one will be wrong in plantirg 
them in a loamy soil. Decaying moss and peat can 
also be added if the cultivator has it to spare. Bracken 
fronds and leaves are also useful. After a year or 
two the Rhododendrons will have hidden or screened 
the spot under which their roots are, for they seem 
to like shade or coolness at the roots, like many 
other plants. The branches may be pegged down 
and rooted for the propagation of fresh plants. 
Plants can be bought at this time, I he ground for 
their reception having been prepared beforehand. 
P ant them firmly but not too deeply. 
Rhododendrons are very hardy, especially the old 
parents of the race, so to speak, R. ponticum and R. 
catawbiense. Occasional top-dressings with cow 
manure is a beneficial thing for them. They must 
also be kept fairly well supplied with water during 
summer. Sometimes I have known Rhododendrons 
die completely off from an unknown cause. The 
first symptoms are seen in the drooping foliage, then 
in its drying up and in shrivelling. What the cause 
is in certain cases it is difficult to determine. Cer¬ 
tainly it is not always drought. The roots may, 
however, penetrate into poor or even hurtful soil. 
This could be largely or altogether prevented by 
mrking a deep station in the first instance, and 
building the bottom level with stones. A few good 
varieties which any of the advertisers of hardy 
plants in The Gardening World will be able to 
supply, are Charles Dickens, dark scarlet ; The 
Queen, blush, changing to white; Blandyanum, deep 
rose-crimson ; Snowflake, pure white ; Mrs. Holford, 
salmon-pink ; Moat Blanc, dwarf and white flowered; 
Mrs John Glutton, one of the best whites in culti¬ 
vation ; and Sefton, maroon crimson. Some of the 
finer new varieties seDt out recently are Kate 
Waterer, W. B. Elliott, F. B. Hayes, Michael 
Waterer, and Mrs. Tom Agnew. The latter one has 
trusses of lovely pure white blooms. 
Begonias — These in the southern counties have 
how bean lifted and stored The dead and decaying 
stems must be carefully cleaned from the crowns, 
which may then be picked closely in single layers in 
boxes among dry soil. Any cool and dry chamber 
will do for storing them in. 
Chrysanthemums —Many growers and ardent 
lovers of these handsome flowering plants err in 
keeping the houses tco close and warm, being under 
the impression, no doubt, that the plants require 
some extra warmth during the flowering period with 
such unpropitious weather out of doors. After hous¬ 
ing the temperature should be kept just a little warm, 
because of the attacks of mildew, which follow 
when there is a cold, damp, and stagnant atmosphere. 
But when the heat is turned on, and only slightly, 
there ought to be some top and bottom ventilation 
given also. No more water than that which is un¬ 
avoidable should be spilt about, and the watering of 
the plants should be most cautiously attended to. 
When the flowers are fully expanded, as a great many 
of them are now, the watering with clear water alone, 
and even that only sparingly, is all that is required. 
Whenever the blooms fade remove them, and this 
will help to lend strength to the others. 
Pelargoniums and Cyclamens.—I place these two 
classes of plants together, because at the present 
time their treatment is the same. Private gardeners 
usually devote a house specially to them. The 
Cyclamen may be made to fill one side, while the 
Pelargoniums or zonal Geraniums, as they are also 
named, may occupy the other. 
The flower trusses on the Pelargoniums, which 
have till recently been kept off, have started to 
develop and are strong. By only growing really 
fine, named varieties, bought from the best sources, 
one can have a splendid supply of cut blooms all 
through the dreary months of winter. The Cycla¬ 
mens are grown annually from seeds sown in August 
of the previous year. In one summer where they 
can be relied on to do well, they furnish capital 
flowering plants by autumn. Both the Cyclamens 
and the Pelargoniums may have liquid manure about 
three times a week. It is well not to confine them 
to one kind of stlution, but to use either Canary 
guano, Ichthemic guano, or Thomson’s manure, at 
one time, and various natural manures at others. 
When plucking the Cyclamen blooms take hold of 
the stems half way down, and then give them a 
straight upward jerk to detach them. The Pelar¬ 
goniums should have their trusses cut off, not broken 
or snapped off. A temperature of about 6o° at all 
times, although it may fall somewhat at night, must 
be maintained. Slight ventilation should be kept on 
night and day, and the plants should hav 3 plenty of 
space. 
Yine and other coloured leaves may now be 
collected for pressing and drying. When properly 
prepared these are very pretty, and may be used for 
making patterns on draught screens, designs on 
windows, or for pasting upon books got for the pur¬ 
pose, and they also may be bunched as decorations 
for the corners of a room. They are very effective 
on the white table cloth at some of the winter parties. 
Even if they are strung and made to wave in neat 
curving trails between the lamps or candles, they 
show off their colours beautifully. The special pre¬ 
paratory processes for preserving the leaves, which 
certain people adopt, are not generally knowD, there¬ 
fore they have the monopoly if they preserve 
them for selling. 
Winter Cucumbers.—Probably not many amateur 
gardeners care so much for Cucumbers as to attempt 
to have a houseful for the winter supply. They grow 
very slowly at this season, and are much too expen¬ 
sive for any but the wealthiest. Where old plants 
still linger a stray fruit may be got from the younger 
shoots, otherwise if there is no shew the plants 
should be bundled out. Young plants must be kept 
in a comfortable house with sufficient, but not too 
much, root room. 
Mushrooms.—-These are a crcp which one might 
the raiher expect an amateur gardener to indulge in, 
if only in a small way. Autumn directions for the 
culture of this edible Agaric have appeared at 
various times during the past summer. Good stable 
duDg is the first necessity. This should be thcroughly 
prepared, and when it has lain for some lime it should 
be pressed farmly into either a pot, a deep box, a 
section or bench in some cosy, though not necessarily 
heated, dark out house. If the bulk of the dung in 
the receptacle is net great, spawning should take 
place immediately. On the other hand, if it is a bed 
into which the Mushroom spawn has to go, the 
better plan is to place a thermometer in among the 
dung, and when the heat coming from the fermented 
mass has subsided to about 8o° Fahr., it is then safe 
enough to spawn Pieces the size of a Walnut may 
be put in at a few inches deep and wide all over the 
bed. After this, spread a layer of soil (loam). 2 in. in 
depth all over the surface, and water with tepid 
water whenever needful. 
Indoor Fruits.—The trees in the earliest houses 
are altogether defoliated, while the late house is also 
almost bare. Pruning may or may not be done at 
this time. The houses, unless they are filled with 
Chrysanthemums or other plants, should be washed 
thoroughly inside. The outside glass may be in need 
of a look over as well. Where fogs have been pre¬ 
valent this will be a work of necessity, for nothing 
besmears and darkens glass structures more than a 
thick falling fog, which brings down soot in large 
quantities. It is very often inconvenient to properly 
wash the houses, inside I mean, at this season when 
so much space is required, and again gardeners find 
that their houses get begrimed before the early 
months of spring arrive. Still, if one cannot wash 
or scrub them now, they should at least try to give 
every seam and corner a forceful syringing with hot 
water, soap, and paraffin. At this season the insect 
pests have barely gone to rest, and probably a 
thorough drenching of soapy paraffin around them 
or their cocoons, would cause their death. The 
borders should not be utterly neglected, especially 
those parts beneath the pipes, which have to part 
with much moisture. 
Miscellaneous Work. —The potting up of lately 
lifted bedding plants still continues to be a fairly 
heavy item in the routine of garden work. Cleaning 
up all outdoor corners and gathering leaves as they 
fall in all the more frequented parts of the garden, 
also occupies much time. Re-turfing and edging, 
also road-making and mending, tree planting and 
some pruning, looking over wall trees to make them 
secure against winter winds and snows, and the pre¬ 
parations for covering and protecting of things not 
absolutely hardy, are items which must all be seen 
to. Amateurs should delay no longer in securing 
bulbs for spring flowering. A thousand bulbs of many 
kinds of bulbous plants can be got fer £1 2s.; there¬ 
fore, nobody should complain of not having bargains 
offered them. Plant cleaning will be work for the 
indoor gardener.— Beacon. 
-«*——— 
Correspondence. 
Questions ashed 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. 
Monstera deliciosa. — Juno: The plant is certainly 
handsome and peculiar from the fact of its having 
large leathery, perforated leaves. It is not one we 
would recommend to any gardener, however, whose 
space for growing indoor plants is limited. The 
long cone-like fruits are generally freely enough 
borne on large well nourished plants and they are 
splendid for eating. It is propagated from suckers 
or offshoots and may be planted cut into rich 
narrow borders by the wall of a stove corridor. 
Palms for a Cool House. — S. Cochran, Clacton-on- 
Sea : Much depends on the past circumstances under 
which the plants have been growing. Kentias in 
one or two varieties can generally be got hardy 
enough to withstand the temperature of an unheated 
dwelling room with impunity. Chamaercps excelsa 
in a very young state is ornamental. Larger plants 
of this will be serviceable for corridors. Livistonas 
i re also worth the noting. Latanias are suit¬ 
able and so on. It is a great point not to 
allow them to stand in draughts ; neither should the 
sc il be kept cold and wet. 
Pteris tremula.— Mrs. L. \ The cause of your 
plants ill-health or drooping appearance, we imag¬ 
ine to arise from the fact of a cold draught down 
the chimney. The hawker’s buy them from the 
growers, who in their turn have grown the plants 
on the “express” system, which means that they 
give such Ferns plenty of heat and moisture. They 
slightly harden them off and then they sell them. 
Thus, having made a fire-screen of your tender 
Pteris, you see the consequences. Cut eff the 
withered fronds or parts of them and place your 
plant and all like it, in a warm room with fairly 
good light, free from injurious gases and keep the 
roots agreeably moist and the atmosphere as well, 
if this can be done. 
Window Plants: Protection for —S.: The facts 
from S. are that he has an abutting window case in 
which is a miscellaneous collection of Cacti, Ferns 
and one or two soft-wooded flowering plants. These 
must be preserved during the cold weather and yet, 
if possible, nothing unseemly is wished for as pro¬ 
tective material. Well, Bracken fronds closely 
packed about the pots and covered over with some 
fine cinders and a top-dressing of sand would be a 
help. For top protection a couple of mats, packed 
with bay between them, sandwiched as it were, could 
be made and this could at any time be fastened upon 
the outside of the case. During severe weather a 
small oil lamp kept buring for an hour or two would 
prevent too low a temperature. 
Asparagus Sprengeri.— Oliver, Wig ton : It can 
be grown either as a hanging plant or as a climber. 
In the latter case, of course, you would have to train 
it to strings or wires. It is one of the most useful 
plants of recent introduction, supplying greenery dur- 
