518 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 14, 1900. 
with a sprinkling of Clay’s fertiliser mixed with the 
soil. This will soon be found to be a mass of young 
roots. Between the topdressings liquid manure 
should be given; by treating them in this manner it 
will be found that help is given in time of need—IT. 
Waite, Southfields. 
—--a-- 
ADDERLEY, MONIFIETH. 
It gave me great pleasure to get a walk round the 
grounds and gardens of Adderley, Monifieth, For¬ 
farshire, to see the great alterations that have taken 
place in a few years. About four years ago the 
gardens at Adderley were lying in a forlorn state of 
neglect, but I may say since it has come into the hands 
of A. Fordyce Burke, Esq., as proprietor he has 
done much for the improving and beautifying of the 
garden and grounds. 
The glass extends to seven houses in all. The 
principal range, or a part of it, is shown in the 
accompanying illustration, which includes the prin¬ 
cipal plant house in the centre, from which other 
lean-to houses extend along the wall of the garden 
in either direction. One house, standing by itself in 
another part of the garden, is not seen in this view. 
A fine collection of stove and greenhouse plants 
has been got together, including the aristocratic 
Orchids and Ferns, all very clean and in the best of 
health. They are a credit to the gardener, Mr. 
Alexander Macrae, who to all appearance takes a 
great interest in his gardening duties. I may have 
more to say upon them at some future time. 
The kitchen garden is laid out on a plan similar 
to those in many other parts of Scotland, and con¬ 
tains many healthy bush fruit trees bordering the 
principal walks. Adderley gardens are favourably 
situated in the vicinity of the wide mouth of the 
Firth of Tay, so that the climate is mild for Scotland, 
and well suited for hardy plant growth. I may have 
something to say upon Adderley gardens on some 
future occasion.— D.D. 
—- - — 
A SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWER BED. 
A large flower bed which was much admired some 
years ago, containing plants which were nearly all 
indigenous to South Africa, should be a very appro¬ 
priate one this season, when patriotic feeling runs 
high, and Britons seek to emphasize the laudable 
sentiment. Its contents were Gladioli, scarlet and 
white, Agapanthus, Richardias, Hyacinthus candi- 
cans, Humeas, Nicotiana affinis, Gazanias, Gerani¬ 
ums, scarlet and white, and blue and white Lobelias. 
The form was oval, no severely symmetric arrange¬ 
ment being carried out, though the larger subjects, 
naturally, were dotted in towards the central 
portion. On a quiet autumn evening, with the air 
just sufficiently in motion to set the tall, slender 
plumes of the Humea a-quaking, and waft the sweet 
perfume of the Tobacco abroad, this bed elicited from 
the owner of the garden—a lady of refined taste—the 
pithy remark, " most artistic." The alien element, 
viz., Hyacinthus, Humea, and Nicotiana is indis¬ 
pensable here, but, though alien, may, by a little 
stretch of imagination, be considered emblematic 
of their human prototypes—the Transvaal Out- 
landers, who will yet be as indispensable to the 
prosperity of these disturbed regions as the plants 
are to this group. In the early autumn, when the 
mass comes to perfection, let us hope that all sorts 
and conditions of men there may be blended as 
agreeably together under the benign sway of Her 
Majesty as the plants appeared at the time indicated. 
—John McAra, Kingsburgh, Preston Kirk, April gth, 
igoo. 
———— 
HOW TO PROPAGATE CYPERUS 
ALTERNIFOLIUS. 
As decorative plants they are invaluable ; whether 
in stove, conservatory, or house they look graceful. 
Being plants that could almost live in water it is 
advisable (where there is no fountain or such-like 
place) to have saucers placed beneath them filled 
with water; it adds to the beauty and freshness of 
the foliage. If left to become dry they are only fit 
to be thrown away. A better, cleaner, and quicker 
way of getting up a stock of these plants (than the 
old fashioned way of dividing them up) is to propa¬ 
gate the tops or parachute part of them. Cut off the 
top part with about 2 in. of a stem and insert it into 
a 25 in. pot filled with a compost of leaf-mould and 
sand and a little loam, and then plunge the pots in 
cocoanut fibre in a propagating frame with good 
bottom heat. Give a good watering and keep them 
well watered, and at the end of a fortnight you will 
have every one of them well rooted and established. 
They can then be set out on the stage, or used for 
any purpose they may be required. — Donald 
M'Millan, Downside Gardens, Stoke Bishop, Bristol. 
HERBACEOUS CALCEOLARIAS. 
This beautiful plant is usually considered difficult to 
grow, but with careful treatment can be grown 
successfully. Procure a good strain from a reliable 
firm, and sow it in the beginning of August in well 
drained boxes or pans in some good light soil. As 
the seed is very small it should only be covered with 
a light sprinkling of silver sand. Place the seed in 
a cool house and cover with some glass and paper to 
keep dark, as the seed germinates better in the dark. 
When the seedlings are large enough to handle pot 
them lightly into “ thimbles," using some good 
loamy soil with a fair amount of leaf soil and silver 
sand. Stand them in a cold frame with a north 
aspect and be careful with the water. When the 
plants are established pot them on into 56’s or 48’s, 
using the same mixture as before, adding a little 
chemical manure. Stand them in the frame as long as 
it is safe, and then remove them into a cool house of 
45 0 . The plants will stand the winter in the 48’s, 
and as the weather improves pot them on into 32's 
and 24’s. Use the above mixture and pot very 
lightly. Care should be taken to remove all decayed 
leaves as they will harbour green fly, &c. Great 
care is required with the water pot, for over-watering 
is the real cause of so many failures with Calceo¬ 
larias. When the plants are established in the pots 
a little weak manure water will do them good, but do 
not give it strong one day and then none for a week, 
but little and often is a good rule. Cease feeding as 
soon as in flower, for the flowers will last much 
longer if given clear water. Shade well on sunshiny 
days as the sun will take the colour out of the 
flowers.— R. Maybury, Silver Medalist of the Wolver¬ 
hampton Horticultural Chib. 
A SPRIG OF WALLFLOWER. 
Amongst the floral treasures of spring there are no 
plants so popular with the masses as ordinary 
strains of sweet smelliDg Wallflower, the delightful 
fragrance of its flowers, combined with their attrac¬ 
tive appearance, fully meriting the plant's popularity. 
The extreme ease of its cultivation enhances its 
value as a plant of the people, for it flourishes under 
conditions where many varieties of hardy flowers 
could not exist. In pots, tins, and boxes on the 
window sills of dark city courts, where its flowers 
appear a veritable gleam of sunshine, and diffusing a 
sweetness that permeates its squalid surroundings, 
you find it flourishing. Though esteemed alike by 
prince and peasant, Wallflower is peculiarly adapted 
for the decoration of the cottage garden, its appear¬ 
ance being as suggestive of a modest flower border 
there as it is of the joyous days of spring. Its 
homely unassuming presence seems happiest in this 
sphere. Growing by the wall of the creeper-covered 
homestead, self-reproduced generations of its kind 
have come and gone, and where it has contributed 
to the joys and taken part in the sorrows of the 
humble occupants through many years. Its beauty 
has graced the nuptial board, and its fragrance given 
solace in death’s dark chamber. Deep in the folds 
of the Big Ha’ Bible linger evidences of its sweet¬ 
ness reminiscent of a quiet Sabbath afternoon lang 
syne, when an aged forbear with tottering steps and 
shaking hand plucked the odoriferous shoot and 
placed it there to mark the lesson of the day. Its 
remains are kept in treasured memory, perhaps, of 
one who has long since gone to rest. Instances like 
this adduce the fact that favourite flowers become so 
closely associated with the lives of the people that 
their cultivation [.becomes not only a matter of 
pleasure, or a whim of fancy, but a deeply religious 
duty.— J. Graham, Coltness Gardens, Wishaw, N.B. 
“TRIMMING THE LEAVES OF 
TOMATOS.” 
This has been, and still is, a vexed question, and like 
the poor is ever with us. The Tomato is now re¬ 
garded such a staple article of diet, that of late years 
this question of trimming the foliage of the growing 
plants has come very much to the front, and rightly 
so, for in more cases than one I have known it have 
a bad effect on a growing crop of Tomatos. Each 
individual grower has his own ideas about it, and 
acts accordingly. 
As a grower of Tomatos on a large scale in 
various places, perhaps a few items of experience so 
gained may be of value to some few of your readers. 
I find the general error to which many a young 
grower commits himself to is to trim too hard, and 
that is far worse than not trimming at all. Certainly 
it is an advantage, in more ways than one, to trim 
the foliage ofl, but it must be done judiciously, and 
not in a kind of a wholesale manner, to rob the 
plant of that which is an absolute necessity to the 
proper development of its fruit. Firstly, then, never 
trim a leaf off, nor a portion of it, unless it is 
decayed, till the first and second trusses are well set, 
and the first one swelling up fast. Secondly, never 
trim quite close up to a truss of flowers that are in 
the act of setting, but draw the line before that is 
reached at the truss below, that is safely set and go¬ 
ing on all right. The fruit ripens quicker when the 
foliage is removed; but too much exposure to the sun 
is harmful, so care must be taken in that respect. 
Again, if the plants are too close together they are 
apt to retain too much moisture on the leaves, which 
fosters mildew and kindred diseases; and a judicious 
removal of some of the foliage does much to mitigate 
this. Commercially, of course, it is a great advan¬ 
tage, as fruit ripe a week earlier may mean a con¬ 
siderable trifle in the monetary returns.— H. A. C. 
Adderley, Monifieth. 
