june 16, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WOR1 D. 
663 
do not stand long when cut.— J. Henry, Naemoor 
Gardens, Rumbling Bridge, by Stirling. 
■ • » »-- 
STRAWBERRIES FOR FORCING. 
As the time will soon be here for layering and potting 
Strawberries for forcing next season, a few words 
on the subject may be of use to readers of The 
Gardening World. Where it is possible it is as 
well to keep a bed separate for this purpose, not 
allowing the plants to flower, so that all strength 
may be thrown into the runners. As soon as these 
show signs of making roots, they should be layered 
into small 6o-sized pots, securing them with a small 
wooden or wire peg. Keep the plants well watered 
and syringed, as this will keep them free from spider, 
and also promote quick growth. It is a good plan 
to sink each pot into the soil to the rim, as this will 
help them to retain the water. When sufficient 
runners have been layered, cut the rest off with a 
sharp knife. As soon as the pots are filled with 
roots, sever the runners and place the plants in a 
cold frame for a week or two when they will be 
ready for potting into fruiting pots. Seven-inch pots 
are the size mostly used for this purpose, and as 
many as are required should be well washed and 
crocked, using a rough piece of turf over the crocks. 
A rough admixture of fibrous turf, old Mushroom 
bed manure and a few good bones will suit the 
plants very well. Pot firmly and place the p’ants on 
a bed of coal ashes, and water carefully till they are 
well rooted.— R. Thatcher, Lockinge Gardens, Wantage, 
Berks. 
-1 -* - 
ANNUALS. 
Not a few of our gardens are dependent upon this 
class of flower for much of their brightness from 
early spring to late in autumn ; yet in very few 
instances do we see them in their full beauty. It is 
a common failing among amateurs and others to sow 
the seed too thickly and afterward to indifferently 
perform the process of thinning, with the result that 
the plants are drawn and weakly, the bloom inferior 
in quality and for home decoration hardly worth the 
trouble of gathering. Most annuals if given sufficient 
room will develop into stately plants (we might 
almost term them bushes), that will be a blaze of 
colour throughout the summer and on until cut 
down by frost. In order to have them at their best 
it is necessary to first prepare the ground liberally. 
The better this is done the better able will the plants 
be to stand the dry time that is sure to follow. 
Having done this sow thinly on the prepared ground 
and when the seedlings appear, thin severely until 
sufficient space is left between according to the var¬ 
iety. The sun, air and genial showers will do the 
rest; and I venture to say the result will be flowers 
that call forth the admiration of your neighbours 
and friends; and one of the rudiments of gardening 
will be indelibly fixed in your mind that may be of 
permanent benefit in the management of this beauti¬ 
ful class of plants.—G. H. Andrews, West Hill Drive, 
Mansfield. 
■ ■ - 
OUR RESERVE GARDEN. 
All gardens, where possible, should have a few 
plants for filling up ; not only Conifers, but plants 
that will produce flower in abundance; not only for 
the use of the establishment you have to keep 
supplied, but also for your own purpose. There are 
very few places in country districts where the 
gardener has not a garden attached to the cottage, 
and it is more satisfactory for him to cut from it 
than from the gardens; and as good standard 
briers can be bought at one shilling per dozen I keep 
a good stock in reserve, A large quantity is also 
grown from cuttings, for of these you cannot grow 
too many for the ladies. All our cuttings are taken 
in September and October ; and there are very few 
Conifers and evergreen shrubs, but will take root and 
grow when treated as advised ; and also Roses and 
hardy flowering shrubs. The ground should have a 
north aspect, or east will answer better if sheltered by 
a wall or fence. The land should be dug over, and 
small trenches, about a foot apart, taken out with 
the spade, 6 in. deep. Beat the sides of the trenches 
firm. Lay a small quantity of sharp gritty sand or 
road scrapings in the trench. Take cuttings of 
Cupressus lawsoniana, Thuja Lobbii, Thujopsis 
dolabrata, Laurels, Aucubas, Viburnum plicatum, and 
Lilac. Cuttings of the Conifers should be taken 
with a heel or joint; also the Lilac and Roses. 'See 
that the wood is well ripened. Place the cuttings in 
the trench so that they do not touch each other ; 
then put the soil and tread firmly. The following 
autumn the young plants should be removed to the 
nursery bed, leaving plenty of room for them to 
grow.— T. Wallace, King's Lynn. 
SUTTON’S APRIL CABBAGE. 
In April one expects to get something luscious in 
the vegetable line—the system craves for it; and he 
who can produce a Cabbage worthy of the name, and 
of the foregoing character, is entitled to all praise. 
We have it on the authority of the late M. Henri de 
Vilmorin that a properly grown and cooked Cabbage 
is one of " the most precious vegetables we have.” 
Such a Cabbage—and I have it on the dictum of Mr. 
A. Wright, of Bucklebury Place Gardens, Berks.— 
is the one here noted. 
It is an excellent variety ; it is dwarf, compact, 
tender, and finely flavoured, and is in every way 
suitable for early work, or amateur cultivation. 
Another good feature in its favour is its unwill¬ 
ingness to “bolt,” as evidenced by the fact that 
out of a goodly batch of plants under Mr. Wright’s 
care, not one evinced a desire to “ run away.” 
The batch in question was sown on August 
iSth, and some of them came to perfection by 
April 21st. They were planted a foot apart each 
way, and thus were enabled to develop their solid, 
juicy heads in early spring. By the middle of May 
the ground was cleared, and is now occupied by 
another crop. Thus this variety is, in every respect, 
a valuable acquisition to the vegetable garden.— 
C.B.G., Acton, W. 
--i-- 
Apples. —Down the stems of standard and half- 
standard trees there frequently issues a number of 
strong shoots. As a rule, these are not wanted, 
though, on the other hand, some enthusiasts would 
like to make spurs of these and so secure fruits. But 
the best way to get rid of them is to cut them cleanly 
and closely to the stem. The system of pulling out 
these shoots with their swollen base, from the trunk, 
is not a good one. It leaves nasty holes, and these 
are just the places which I have found American 
Blight first to lodge in. Besides this, there is con¬ 
stantly the possibility of canker or other attack and 
disease following such eradications. 
Cherries and Plums must be gone over to be 
pinched and somewhat regulated. It is rather too 
early as yet, however, to do much in this respect. 
Fruit trees may be mulched. Young trees which 
were planted this year may be in need of a watering ; 
the showers we are receiving go no depth. 
Peaches. —Trees in the open air are now so far 
advanced that steps must be taken to give the fruits 
all the exposure possible. Good colour and flavour 
are important points, and these are only obtainable 
when the trees are well nourished and the fruits are 
exposed to the sun. But be it noted that nourish¬ 
ment without the sun's effect, or the sun without the 
nourishment, are, singly, of little value. Careful ex¬ 
periments have proved these facts. Therefore while 
yet the fruits are in process of development be sure 
you nourish the roots well. Thin out and pinch 
back unneeded shoots. Tie in others that will be re¬ 
quired ; keep the trees well syringed for the sake of 
cleanliness, and when the fruits begin to ripen (which 
they will soon), place nets over the trees and fasten 
here and there so as to prevent the fruits from falling 
and being bruised. 
But the careful gardener will take the trouble to 
look over his trees daily, and will gather those fruits 
which are fit and ready. 
Peach and Nectarine trees, which are late with 
their crops, may be gone over to have the fruits 
thinned. Few operations are worthier of the time 
they require, for where heavy crops have set, and 
where all the fruits are left, the result is that not one 
fruit amoDg all the host has any flavour, size, or 
appearance. Plums especially are worthless in this 
respect. The rule of one fruit per square ft. of 
surface should be adhered to ; a crop so regulated is 
quite heavy enough. 
Strawberries. — Cut off both runners and flower 
trusses from newly planted Strawberries. Both 
these products only tend to exhaust the strength of 
the plants, whose energies should be directed toward 
the building up of strong crowns for fruit production 
another season. YouDg plants cultivated simply to 
yield runners for propagation, may have their 
flower trusses removed. The soil around them 
should be stirred and kept clean. The runners 
should be selected and only the best ones be allowed 
to remain. Those who grow their Strawberries as 
annuals, or who do a considerable amount of forcing, 
find it greatly to their advantage to grow plants 
specially for runner production. 
Runners should never be taken from very gross¬ 
growing, barren plants. They never throw flower 
trusses. Whenever the Strawberry brakes begin to 
show ripened fruits, nets should be placed over the 
whole lot of plants. It is far more convenient, and 
better also for the nets, to place them over a made 
framework raised 4 ft. high.— J. H. D. 
-—5—- 
Tfte Oidiid Browers’ Balenilar. 
Seedling Orchids. — The difficulties of raising 
this interesting class of plants from seed have been 
practically overcome, so that most species may 
be raised in this country with as much certainty as 
florist flowers. It is after they are up and have 
reached a stage when the pricking off has to be done, 
that any real danger of loosing them presents itself. 
We are, as a rule, I am afraid, over anxious, and 
start shifting them too early in the season before the 
weather is at all genial. 
Now is a fine time to handle seedlings, A good 
plan we find with the tiny fellows is to take two or 
three heads of live sphagnum moss, place the seed¬ 
ling in the centre and tie a thin bit of raffia round it; 
make up your pan or pot with peat and then prick 
the moss with the seedlings into it at suitable 
distances apart, treated in this way they are not so 
liable to be washed away when the watering is done, 
which should be in the morning, and by the aid of 
a fine-rose can. 
Cattleya seedlings get out of hand more 
quickly than do those of Odontoglossums, but the 
system adopted is the same for the first shift. With 
subsequent shifts we find it best to surface the whole 
of the top of the pots or pans with live sphagnum 
moss, using a thin layer of peat as a base for the 
strongest plants. There seems something in the 
moss that is more to their liking in the earlier stages 
than is peat. Another trait with them is that they 
do best when suspended, the reason being, perhaps, 
that they get a free circulation of air about them. 
Of course they dry up quicker, but that is an ad 
vantage as they are not so liable to damp off. 
Attend to the shading early in the morning of bright 
days, for they cannot stand the sun direct on to 
them like established plants at any time. 
In watering use soft rain water if possible. We 
generally manage to keep sufficient back for this 
purpose during the dry weather, though we may 
have to use hard water from the company's main.— 
(gleanings ftnnt tyz DmrU* 
of Science 
The subjects mentioned below were discussed 
by the Scientific Committee of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society on the 5th inst. 
Tulipa gesneriana diseased.—Some roots re¬ 
ceived from Mr. Mann, Penhill Close, Cardiff, were 
forwarded to Dr. Smith for examination and report. 
Iris with diseased roots —Mr. Wilks brought 
some plants showing premature decay in the foliage. 
He observed that he had received reports from all 
parts of England of a similar condition among 
Irises of all sorts. The roots appeared to rot close 
to the rhizome. They were also sent to Dr. Smith. 
Odontoglossum, synanthic — A flower from a 
spray on a plant of O triumphans (?), sent by Mr. 
Pitt, illustrated the twin condition of two coherent 
flowers ; the columns, however, were free from each 
other above the combined ovaries, as well as the two 
labellums. 
Fendlera rupicola.—Mr. Gumbleton exhibited a 
flowering branch of this unique tree, there being but 
one species to the genus. It is a native of Texas 
and New Mexico, and a near ally of Philadelphus or 
Syringa, as popularly known ; but while the ovary is 
inferior in the latter genus, it is superior in Fendlera. 
