THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 81, 1900. 
486 
bis some claim to inclusion in a collection. The 
species is in flower now. The lip is bifid, and winged 
at the back part on each side. These wings and the 
front drooping part of the lip are streaked with 
purple veins. The petals and sepals, which are 
ovate and acute, likewise bear this faint purple vein- 
ing. The culture as for Calanthes suits the 
Eulophia. 
The following species are likewise to be seen in 
flower CattDya guttata var. Prinzii, C. aurantiaca. 
Lae'ia harpophylla, Lycaste Skinnerii, Maxillaria 
venusta, Gomesa crispa, Oncidium unguiculatum, 
Dendrobium crepidatum, Selenepedium grande, 
Crypostylis arachnitis, Acriopsis indica, Eria flava. 
Calanthe vestita Regnierii, Epidendrum xantbinum, 
and Laelia Cowani. 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE CLIMBERS. 
Many climbing plants are really never seen to per- 
f, ction through improper training, although some¬ 
times it is unavoidable, owing to the position, etc. 
Some of the most beautiful plants belonging to the 
stove and greenhouse are to be found among those 
classed as climbers, and a selection can easily be 
made to suit any position. For the roof of the 
stove the following flowering plants are indispen- 
sab’e:—Thunbergia grandiflora, Dipladenia profusa, 
Bougainvillea glabra, var. sanderiana, flowers incon¬ 
spicuous, and almost concealed by large, leafy 
bracts, which are a rich violet-red. This plant 
should be allowed to grow freely. Schubertia 
grandiflora, Allamanda Hendersoni, Stephanotis 
floribunda are others. Cissus discolor is a very 
handsome foliage creeper, and if the vines are 
trained so that the branches hang freely from the 
roof the effect is very beautiful. Manettia bicolor 
is very pretty for pillars or supports of any kind, 
Ficus repens is very useful for covering back walls 
of stoves and ferneries. Cobaea scandens and 
Cobaea scandens variegata are graceful and very 
rapid growers, producing large, bell-shaped flowers, 
and are very effective when trained as recommended 
for the Cissus discolor. Myrsiphyllum asparagoides 
(Smilax) is a universal favourite for table decoration, 
bouquets, &c. A good plan is to train each spray up 
separate threads of binding string. Cantua depen- 
dens has long, tubular flowers. Plumbago capensis, 
if passible, should be allowed to grow freely. 
Lapageria alba and Lapageria rosea are very 
effective when trained over a greenhouse or con¬ 
servatory roof.— C. P. Cretchley, The Honeys, Twyjord, 
Berks. 
-- .i». — 
HOW TO PROPAGATE CROTONS. 
The safest and best way to propagate these plants is 
by the simple process known as ringing. The best 
time to do this is the spring of the year. Select the 
plan s to be rung, aid remove a few leaves about six 
or eight inches from the top of the plant, just enough 
to allow room for moss. Get a sharp knife and cut 
from a joint downwards in an inwardly fashion. 
Leave enough of the stem you have cut to support 
the Croton, and supply it with sap. Get some good 
damp moss a id put round the cut and tie up securely 
with bass. Be sure and tie the plant firmly to a 
stake to avoid its being broken off when syringed. 
See that the moss is kept well damped by frequent 
syringing, for if the moss is left to go dry the Croton 
wi'l not root. As soon as roots appear through the 
mos-, cut off the plant below the moss and pot up 
int ) 6o's or 56’s in some good soil. Fibrous loam 
with some good leaf soil and silver sand will be 
found to suit them. I may here aid that Dracaenas 
of all varieties may be rung the same as Crotons, 
but of course the soil is different, some requiring 
pe t &c , and others the same mixture as Crotons.— 
R Maybury, Silver Medalist, Wolverhampton Horti¬ 
cultural Club. 
BOWLING GREEN. 
A Correspondent in a contemporary some time 
back made enquiries as to the formation of a bowl¬ 
ing green. Another correspondent replied to this 
eflect :—•' We do not understand what is meant by 
the crown in the centre. We have never seen bowl¬ 
ing greens other than absolutely flat, indeed, as per¬ 
fectly level as can be. The winding of the bowling 
is not produced by the formation of the ground, but 
to the form or bias given to the ball, and the play 
really depends on understanding this bia^ and how 
it may be overcome. If there are grounds with 
crowns and trenches round them to catch the balls, 
then is that something we have never heard of. You 
can really get a true level if you use a bricklayer’s 
level or plumb-board." 
Bowling is a very popular game in Lancashire, 
consequently greens are numerous, and are all laid 
down with a crown in the centre, from 6 in. to 10 in- 
high. A green fifty yards square may be a foot 
higher in the middle or the crown than the outer 
sides. Round the sides there are channels to receive 
the balls. I am not a bowler, but have always 
understood that there would be no art in bowling if 
the ground were level; so the plumboard or level is 
useless for laying out a bowliDg green, and the only 
way it can be done is with the T rods. One owner 
of ground concreted the bottom in convex fashion, 
and placed over this some cinders, then soil. 
Another secured a lot of old bricks cheap, and 
paved the bottom with them. On these he placed 
cinders from mill furnaces, and over these soil, the 
object being in each case to ensure dryness at all 
times. In dry weather sprinklers are placed on the 
green to avoid parching of the grass, and to maintain 
it in one uniform state. Has anyone beside the cor¬ 
respondent referred to seen an " absolutely flat ’’ 
bowling green ?— W. P R, Preston. 
——•**—-- 
THE FRUIT GARDEN. 
March is the starting-post from which the gardener 
takes his departure on his race round the year. 
Whatever remains unfinished in the fruit garden, it 
should yet have attention if possible. Peaches off 
the walls to retard them may soon be fastened in 
their positions. If flower-buds are very thick on 
weakly trees, they should be thinned in time, other¬ 
wise a thin crop may be the result. It is not un¬ 
common among practical men to say “ they had 
abundance of buds, but they all dropped off." Wood 
crowded, and buds clustered all over, without room 
to expand, are often the causes of this “ dropping." 
Where trees are at the mercy of frost and cold 
battering rains it is difficult to secure a crop under 
such circumstances. Disbudding requires attention. 
It should be done gradually. As soon as the buds 
can be detected, rub or nip them out among the fruit 
buds with a sharp pointed knife, clearing off many 
of the latter at the same time, leaving those best 
placed and strongest. This applies to Apricots, 
Plums, and Morello Cherries, as well as Peaches, 
always leaving one or two good buds next the main 
branches, and one at the top of each shoot to lead up 
the sap. Stopping the shoots, and having a number 
of spurs fitting closely to the wall is a sure way of 
having plenty of fruit buds. Timely stopping strong 
shoots is necessary to keep the trees evenly balanced 
over the walls.— J. Macdonald. 
■--4*-—- 
DENDROBIUM NOBILE. 
With the exception of Calanthes I consider the 
above the most useful Orchid to grow for early spring 
flowering. It can be had in bloom easily by the 
time Calanthes are on the wane, which makes it 
doubly valuable. As soon as new growth is seen 
pushing from the base, carefully pick out any loose 
material, and give a top-dressing of fresh sphagnum 
and peat, adding a little charcoal or crocks. If any 
plants require repotting shake them clear of old 
soil, prepare your pot, half filling it with clean 
crocks, a layer of sphagnum, and then a little peat, 
placing your plant a little above the rim of the pot. 
Add the soil just mentioned as work proceeds, not 
pressing it too firmly,securing the longest growths to 
neat stakes to keep the plant in position. An 
ordinary stove, if no Orchid house proper is avail¬ 
able, will grow this plant splendidly, providing a 
fairly light position is given it, dispensing with 
shade as much as possible. Ply the syringe well 
up under the growths to the disadvantage of thrip. 
As soon as growth is perceived to be finished, which 
can easily be seen by examining the centre, remove 
to cooler quarters, where a temperature of 50° to 
6o° can be maintained, affording sun and air to 
thoroughly ripen the growths made the previous 
years, which will produce the most flowers. Later 
growths often carry a few near the base. Keep dry 
overhead, and only afford water at the root to pre¬ 
vent shrivelling, and introduce into heat and 
moisture as required, as soon as you see the flower 
buds prominent at the nodes. But they require a 
loDg rest, and if given much heat before they are 
thoroughly ripened, growths appear instead of 
flowers.— J. Mayne, Bicton. 
n g» — 
Kitctien Garden Calendar. 
Forced vegetables. —Owing to the backwardness 
of the season and the scarcity of green spring vege¬ 
tables, those grown under glass will still be in 
demand. Unless there is a very great change in the 
weather there will be no Asparagus ready to cut 
from the open ground for another three weeks or 
longer. Every effort should therefore be made to 
prolong the usefulness of that growing on hot beds 
or in pits. Those who have permanent beds over 
which temporary frames can be erected will be able 
to forwa r d the growth somewhat by their aids. It is 
too late now to take up roots for forcing, as that in 
the open ground should be ready to cut before the 
roots lifted and planted in frames would be exhaus¬ 
ted, and to sacrifice permanent beds for so short a 
period would be a great waste. A sprinkling of salt 
or guano over the surface of the soil in the frames, 
and afterwards washed in with watm water, would 
induce the roots to send up a few more growths, and 
so tide over till that outside was ready to cut. 
French Beans —The absence of sun has neces¬ 
sitated the use of more fire heat to maintain the 
requisite warmth, and such is always favourable to 
the production of red spider. To keep this under 
more moisture in the atmosphere must be afforded, 
and the plants must on no account be allowed to 
suffer for want of moisture at the roots. Should 
any spider make its appearance this ought to be 
promptly dealt with by giving thefoliage'a thorough 
washing with the syringe. As the weather gets 
warmer, tbe pods will swell much faster, therefore it 
will not be necessary to make such large sowings to 
keep up a supply. Smaller sowings at shorter 
intervals will be found more economical. 
Potatos, both on hot beds and in frames, will 
need watching to prevent the foliage from coming in 
contact with the glass. Where this happens, special 
care must be exercised in the way of covering at 
night, for if the leaves get frozen this causes a serious 
check to the growth. Earthing should be done 
before the foliage is too forward. Do not apply too 
much water, only just sufficient to keep the plants in 
a healthy growing condition, Planting in the open 
ground will cow be general, and where the land has 
been prepared as previously advised this will not be 
a loDg operation. Many make a mistake by having 
the rows too close together for some varieties, as the 
haulm has not room to develop properly; when 
this happens the crop is never satisfactory. Where 
strong growing kinds are cultivated in the garden, 
and the soil is in good heart, a distance of 3 ft. should 
be allowed between the rows, and at least 15 in. from 
plant to plant in the row. 
Carrots. —At all times tbe young tendenoots of 
these are acceptable. Those sown on hot beds will 
soon be ready for use, and to succeed these the batch 
brought forward on a warm border will be most 
acceptable. A sowing should now be made of some 
short-rooted variety in the open quarter. About the 
middle of the month the intermediate and loDg 
rooted varieties may be sown for a main crop. In 
districts where the soil is very fertile, the latter end, 
or even the beginning of May, will be early enough 
to put in the seed, for when the roots are overgrown 
they often split should we have a wet autumn before 
being lifted. 
Small Seeds. —Borecole, Brussels Sprouts, 
Savoys, and Cauliflower, should now be sown. 
Avoid sowing too thickly as the plants become 
stunted before they are ready for transplanting. It 
is useless to sow a quantity of seed where only a few 
dozen plants of each kind are wanted for planting ; 
better by far have dwarf strong plants than those 
that have become spindly through overcrowding in 
the seed bed. The Turnip fly sometimes plays sad 
havoc with these when small; for this reason it is 
necessary to sow more seed than would otherwise be 
needed. Soot, newly slacked lime, and guano are 
all good for keeping these pests off, particularly the 
latter, for the quicker the plants grow the less 
opportunity there is of these pests destroying them. 
Cauliflower, Onions, Lettuce, and other 
plants that have been grown under glass may now 
