THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 16 , 1900 . 
662 
Gourds. — The collection of these plants which are 
yearly grown at Kew is now being planted. 
Rose Exhibition.— An extensive exhibition of 
Roses will be held this year at Trier, Germany. It 
will include all the leading novelties. Some 30,000 
standards and dwarfs have been planted in the open 
ground for this purpose. The German Rose society 
will meet at Trier about June 27th. The secretary 
is P. Lambert, Trier, Germany. 
North Eastern Agricultural Association, Bel¬ 
fast.—On Wednesday, and Thursday July 25th and 
26th, a Rose show will be held in the Association's 
premises, and its classes are open to competitors 
from all parts of the United Kingdom. Entries 
close on Tuesday, July 17th. Applications should be 
made to the secretary, Mr. Kenneth MacRae, the 
Ulster Bank Chambers, 37, Donegall Place, Belfast. 
Telegraphic address, " Society, Belfast." 
Weather in London.—The past week has been a 
" boiler." Thursday and Friday of last week were 
moderately warm ; Saturday was a delightful day- 
sunny, breezy, and clear. Sunday became fiercely 
hot, and on Monday the shade temperature ranged 
between 87" and go e . Thunderstorms early on Tues¬ 
day abolished the oppressiveness somewhat, and in 
the evening another very violent thunderstorm and 
downpour occurred. Wednesday was dull and cool. 
The Winter Aconite.—The sweet little Winter 
Aconite (Erantbis hyemalis) charms our benumbed 
fancies when it spreads out its golden cups, and its 
green-fringed collars above the winding sheets of 
winter snow, but it suffers just a little when it 
awakens and stares out on a garden full of Pansies, 
Lilies, Rhododendrons, Irises, and Globe flowers. 
And in such company I saw a sturdy batch of it in 
Mr. Logan's garden at Lewisham, during the first 
week of this month. The rhizomes were late in 
being planted, yet seem very healthy. Having 
seen the summer queens, I fancy they’ll try to flower 
in February next year. — D. 
The Royal Society, Edinburgh. —At a meeting 
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, held on Thurs¬ 
day, June 5th, in the Royal Institution, The Mound, 
Dr. R. Stewart MacDougall read a paper on the 
genus Pissodes. This is a genus of beetles extremely 
harmful to Pine trees in Scotland and England, 
destroying thousands of pounds worth of timber. 
The Dr. described the full life-history,and the impor¬ 
tant features of the genus, and discussed the remedial 
and preventive measures which should be taken 
against them. " Catch trees," that is, weak or 
decaying trees, should be carefully prepared every 
month from spring till September, as a breeding 
place for the Pissodes. 
CAMPANULA PYRAMIDALIS. 
These remarkably pretty plants are not grown as 
pot plants so generally as they ought to be. For 
the embellishment of the mansion house, cottage or 
conservatory nothing better can be found or more 
easily grown. When well grown they amply repay 
the labour expended on them. I saw a group of 
them last autumn arranged on the floor in the centre 
of a large conservatory among Palms and tall Dra¬ 
caena australis. 
The Campanulas ranged in height from five to 
seven feet, some of them carrying as many as twenty 
flower spikes covered with thousands of lovely 
white and blue flowers, calling forth the remark of 
many visitors who saw them, “ What are these ? 
how wonderfully pretty.” Plants that will flower 
this autumn, are pushing up their flower spikes and 
should be liberally fed with liquid manure, and 
staked to prevent them getting broken. If not 
already done, seed should be sown for next year’s 
supply. I prefer sowing about the end of March 
in pans placing these in a gentle heat. When large 
enough to handle, prick into boxes and gradually 
harden off ; thus stronger plants are obtained. 
Some of the finest may be potted and the remain¬ 
der planted in beds or borders. It will also be 
noticed that some plants from last year’s sowing 
will not flower this year. When large specimens 
are wanted these should be kept for next year and 
potted on to eight or ten-inch pots. A compost such 
as is used for Chrysanthemums suits them well.— 
IV. Grant. 
WINTER FLOWERING PELAR¬ 
GONIUMS. 
A selection of the best flowering kinds of Pelar¬ 
goniums for winter blooming, if properly managed, 
will help to fill up the gap after the Chrysanth¬ 
emums are over, and will keep in good flowering 
condition at least six weeks. Their brilliant colours 
being very effective at that dull season of the year, 
will well repay anyone to grow a quantity. They 
should be propagated in May, or not later than the 
middle of June, when cuttings should be inserted in 
3-in. pots, and plunged in bottom heat. They will 
be rooted in ten days or so ; then) give them a shift 
into 5-in. or 6-in. pots. As regards soil, they like a 
mixture of two parts turfy loam, one leaf mould, one 
old dried manure, and a little sand. Firm them 
pretty well and place in a cold frame, keeping it 
close for eight days, with a thin mat or spruce 
branch over it to shade them. In a month’s time 
they will require another shift into 7-in. pots. 
Pinch them and set them out, clear of each other, 
on a bed of ashes. By September the pots will be 
full of roots, which will be materially assisted in 
their growth by an application twice a week of 
liquid manure. I prefer “ Methven’s Edin," but 
also give, them a mixture of soot water occasionally. 
They must be put into a light airy house before 
frost sets in, the temperature from 55 0 to 6o°.— J. 
C. Dick, Linlithgow. 
- .— 
RICHARDIA AFRICANA. 
Two short notes on the culture of these, having re¬ 
cently appeared in your pages, both advocating the 
planting out system after flowering, I thought the 
all year round pot culture may interest your readers, 
claiming as I do two distinct advantages over the 
former, these being earlier flowering, and able to use 
a more suitable size pot for house decoration, as all 
who have planted them out know too well that a 
great manipulation of roots is necessary at lifting 
time to get the plants into pots much under 9 in. in 
diameter, which check must surely retard their 
flowering. Our plants are now standing under a 
north wall, and kept rather on the dry side for the 
next six weeks, when they will be shaken out and 
repotted into sizes varying from 5J in. to 10 in. 
across, putting three plants into the latter, tying 
any fresh-looking foliage to a stake (I deprecate 
cutting down as advocated), placing them back in 
the same position, syringing two or three times 
daily, watering when necessary, and gradually shift¬ 
ing to a sunnier aspect as growth advances, giving 
them plenty of space, affording weak manure from 
the cow yard twice weekly from September, battling 
against greenfly, their one enemy, after housing 
time, which should be on the first approach of frost. 
Our compost consists of good loam, leaf soil, a little 
soot and coarse sand to keep it porous, as they 
require abundance of water, and rich feeding when 
established.— J. Mayne, Bicton. 
ABOUT SHADING. 
Blinds are by far the best means of keeping the 
rays of the sun from scorching tender plants under 
glass. Unfortunately, however, we are not all placed 
in positions where such aids to successful gardening 
are allowed. It stands to reason, therefore, that a 
gardener eagerly looks round for the next best thing 
to suit his purpose. I have tried most of the adver¬ 
tised shadings, but have had serious faults to find 
with most of them. The green ones, except for 
ferneries, are too dark, and during a spell of dull 
weather, such as we have had of late, have a very 
bad effect on vegetation. Experience, therefore, 
shows that a white shading by allowing the maximum 
amount of light, is best. What therefore to aim at is 
the thinnest possible shade, which at the same time 
thoroughly protects the plants from injury. The 
best shading I ever saw, was prepared by a painter, 
from Rice flour, its one drawback being its inability 
to withstand heavy rains. It was therefore discarded, 
as it is usually very inconvenient to place shading 
inside. A ter trying many home-made plans, I have 
at length hit on one that gives me much satisfaction, 
and has the great advantage of always being at hand. 
Make up common whiting to the proper consistency, 
and add about half its bulk of well made paste, such 
as painters use for paper-hanging. This will last a 
whole season, and can easily be washed off when 
wanted. — Chas. Blair, Binny, Uphall, N.B. 
JAPANESE MAPLES. 
Few things have been mere admired at our horti¬ 
cultural shows of late years than the above, and they 
well deserve their popularity, not for the flowers, 
which are insignificant, but for their handsome 
foliage. Acer palmatum or polymorphum is the 
type of the very extensive group of Japanese Maples, 
amongst which are included many of our most 
beautiful hardy shrubs. A rich well-drained loam 
suits them best, and in very dry weather the plants 
will derive much benefit from a good soaking of 
water. Among the best varieties of palmatum are 
sanguineum, very bright red ; reticulatum, pale 
green and yellow, with darker veins; atropurpureum 
deep purple-crimson; roseum-marginatum, green, 
edged with rose; crataegifolium, very distinct; 
japonicum aureum, deep golden-yellow, one of the 
best; and dissectum ornatum, very finely divided 
leaves, giving the plant a beautiful Fern-like 
appearance. There are several varieties of septem- 
lobum, all very interesting and well worth growing. 
A great many more might be mentioned if space 
would permit. Some have an idea that Maples are 
not hardy, and cultivate them as pot plants for in¬ 
door decoration, but this is quite a mistake, as they 
have stood the severe winters here with perfect im¬ 
punity. The palmatum varieties are all shrubby, 
but well-grown specimens, when between 4 ft. and 
5 ft. high, are objects of much beauty, and deserve 
to be cultivated far more extensively than they are 
at the present time.— A. Thatcher, Elstree. 
-- - 
VIOLETS FOR FRAMES AND POTS. 
For winter flowering lift the plants about the middle 
or end of September with as much earth as possible 
at the roots, and place them in frames or pits having 
a southerly aspect and a sharp angle. Prepare the 
frames by filling them with one part of stable 
manure, two parts decayed leaves, so that with the 
addition of 6 in. of goed soil, only sufficient space is 
left between the soil and the glass for the plants. 
Plant the Violets just clear of each other, and give 
a good watering; then put on the lights, admitting 
very little air for about a week, but afterwards keep¬ 
ing the lights off in sunny and mild weather, re¬ 
placing them when it is frosty or otherwise unfavour¬ 
able. Should greenfly make its appearance, gentle 
fumigation may be resorted to. Avoid gathering 
the blooms too closely. One fully developed flower 
is worth two or three only half formed. Double 
Violets succeed well in pots, always provided they 
are not unduly coddled or subjected to much fire 
heat. Swing shelves in cool airy houses suit them 
best, or they may be kept near the glass in pits 
where plenty of light and air can reach them. The 
following are a few good varieties for frame culture : 
—Princess of Wales, Princess Beatrice, Amiral 
Avellan, Wellsiana, Lady Hume Campbell, Comte 
de Brazza, Mdme. Bertha Baron, Neapolitan and 
Mdme. Millet. The five last mentioned are double 
varieties, useful for pot culture.— W. Hogarth, The 
Gardens, Nortm House, Ratho, Midlothian. 
-— 5 —- 
LIBONIA FLORIBUNDA. 
The Libonia is a very old plant, and not half 
enough seen nowadays. It is easily propagated 
from cuttings in the month of March. Insert the 
cuttings round the side of a small pot in a light 
compost, and they will root freely without the aid 
of a bell-glass. When rooted, pot off singly into 
small pots, using a light loam; 5-in. or 6-in. pots 
may be used, and good, strong, turfy loam for the 
next shift, which will be the final. Grow them on 
in a cool pit or frame on an ash bed, and give all the 
light and air possible. 
Occasionally turn them to prevent their being one¬ 
sided. Never pinch them, as the plants have 
naturally a nice pyramidal habit. The old plants 
make very good specimens. Cut them back into 
pyramidal shape after they are out of flower ; start 
them a little, turn them out of their pots, shake them 
well out, and pot them up, using a good strong turfy 
loam. When the pots become filled with roots 
gradually begin to use a stimulant, for they are 
heavy feeders. Never let them become too dry, for 
they soon loose all their bottom leaves, besides 
which greenfly and thrip will make their appearance 
on them. They commence to flower about the New 
Year, and continue to the end of March. The 
orange-red tubular flowers make the conservatory 
very gay during these dull months. The flowers 
