*726 
July 14, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
a small piece of turf in the bottom of the pots over 
crocks ; replace in frame on ash bottom ; and water 
carefully not to wash the soil from the roots. Pot 
on into larger pots as the plants fill the compost 
with roots. Take care as the season advances to 
give plenty of air ; and when watering do not wet 
the leaves, but give a good supply so as it goes 
through the soil. When frost appears cover up with 
mats. Care must be taken not to coddle the plants 
but give air in all favourable weather, removing any 
leaves that are decayed. Lay a few pieces of tobacco 
cloth between the pots to keep down fly. They can 
be had in flower from February until May by re¬ 
moving a few into a cool house. Fire should be 
used only to keep out frost. They will stand a few 
degrees, but they are best without it; and very few 
plants make a better display for the conservatory.— 
J. Wallace, King's Lynn. 
THE FUTURE GARDENERS. 
We read and hear about how to cultivate this and 
that plant or plants, but to be successful in our call¬ 
ing may be put in two words with eight letters— 
•• Hard Work.” An American saying is, " If a man 
would be wise let him think, think, think ; and if a 
man would be successful, let him work, work, work.” 
I hope some of our young gardeners who read this 
paper may take a hint from this saying, apd not 
bestow all their spare time on footballing, bicycling, 
and such like, as we cannot afford nowadays to waste 
all the precious time on pleasure. There is so much 
competition for the best openings that one must 
study and practice the different branches of his trade 
to be able to do things well, so that his employer in 
time puts full confidence in him. Another hint I 
would venture to give to our young men is “ not to be 
too proud to do rough outside work, as they 
generally call it, for much is to be learnt both in the 
way of growing hardy fruit and flowers, and keeping 
up a good succession of vegetables for the supply of a 
large establishment throughout the year.” Keeping 
a diary, and taking note of all the different kinds of 
work going on jn their seasons, both inside and out¬ 
side, will prove to be of great help to the gardener 
when once be has the management of a place on his 
own shoulders.—John C. Dick, Champflenrie Gardens, 
Linlithgow. 
HARDY FRUIT. 
This season requires much attention in the way of 
thinning out its fruit. Especially is this the case 
among a good many of the Apples and Plums, 
whose branches are clothed similar to a rope of 
Onions in many cases, and if allowed to remain 
small, indifferent fruit will be the result. Apples in 
bunches of six and seven should be reduced to one, 
two, or three, according to variety and size of fruit 
required. Of course, I have in my mind bush and 
espalier trees to be operated on, but if time could be 
given to many of the standards it would be well 
spent, as it is quite certain that fruit of all kinds are 
much better in flavour when allowed to swell up to 
its normal size, which cannot be done when over¬ 
cropped. Several varieties of Plums are laden, 
especially Victoria, Pond’s Seedling, Czar, and 
Magnum Bonum (white). A free hand should set to 
work here at once, and where crowded let each fruit 
stand clear of its neighbour. The fruits so left not 
only swell to a large size, but colour much better. 
After this thinning has bean done, by letting in sun 
and air, both (especially the latter) important 
factors in aiding colour, all later growths, except 
any required to fill in, should be shortened back to 
the third or fourth leaf from the base, preserving all 
leading shoots if extending the tree is contemplated. 
— Grower. 
CRASSULAS. 
Of this family only two species are recommended 
for general greenhouse culture. These are C. coccin- 
ea (also known as Kalosanthes coccinea) and C. 
jasminea. Plants well furnished with large trusses 
of bright scarlet tubular flowers present a very 
showy appearance, and well-rounded specimens are 
particularly attractive. Propagation is effected by 
cuuings, formed of either short lengths of firm 
growth, or, preferably, of the top in June or July. 
As Crassulas are of a succulent nature, these 
cuttings should be exposed to the sun for a day or so 
for the cuts to dry. Insert them thinly in well 
drained pots, filled with a mixture of loam, leaf 
mould, and sand, and place on a greenhouse shelf. 
Water sparingly till the cuttings are rooted. If five 
or six strong tops are rooted together early in the 
summer, these need not be separated or pinched, 
but should receive a shift into a larger sized pot, 
and be grown in the full sunshine. Thus treated 
each plant ought to produce a fine flower head the 
following May or June. Neat little plants can be 
formed from cuttings in one season by not pinchiDg 
them ; but these young plants will not flower the 
following year. It is the same with old plants. If 
they flcwer freely one season, forming few or no 
stout flowerless growths, there will be no flowers 
produced the following jear. Two sets of plants 
should be grown, flowering them alternately, a prac¬ 
tice worthy of general adoption.— W. Hogarth, 
Norton Gardens, Ratho, Midlothian. 
--- 
THE SCOTCH ROCKET. 
This must not be confounded with the French 
varieties, which are much more easily managed. 
The true Scotch Rocket is a very much superior 
plant in every respect, except that it is more difficult 
to grow. I have had a good deal of disappointment 
with it, but have now,I think, fully mastered it. Some 
growers recommend lifting every year ; this, I ihink, 
is hardly right. I would, however, lift every second 
or third year. My reason for objecting to the 
annual lifting is that they do not get time to develop 
into handsome plants under that treatment. If 
lifted in March or April, the plant may be increased 
by division. This, however, is hardly so satisfactory 
as cuttings. As soon as the flowers are over, cut off 
all flower stalks carefully, and encourage the plants 
to make new growths; these as soon as long enough 
to handle, should be taken off with a heel, and in¬ 
serted in 4-in. pots of sandy soil, three or four round 
the edges. Give a good watering to settle the soil, 
and stand the pots on a shady shelf in a cold green¬ 
house. They should not be disturbed until spring, 
when the little plants may be potted singly into 3-in. 
pots, gradually hardened off and planted where they 
are to bloom, as soon as the weather is suitable. 
Do not on any account coddle them, they do not 
like fire heat, nor getting dry at the root.— Chas. 
Blair, Binny, Uphall, N.B. 
PANSIES FROM OXFORD. 
A box of Pansy flowers reached us the other 
day from Mr. R. T. Howell, The Gardens, Middle 
Aston House, Oxford. Amongst them were several 
named Violas, including Jessie Prestwell, Ada 
Fuller (both striped), Butterfly, with a purple bor¬ 
der ; Iona, plum-purple, with its flowers quartered 
by light blue ; Commander, a fine violet flower in the 
way of Archibald Grant; Bobby Craik, similar to 
Butterfly; Lizzie Barron, a large purple in two 
shades; Stobhill Gem, purple and white; Florizel, 
light mauve ; and Blanche, a beautiful rayless white. 
He also sent a number of seedlings, including a very 
good dark plum-purple, purple and white, a clear, 
bright yellow, and a good striped variety similar to 
a sport which we have seen arise from York and 
Lancaster, being closely striped with purple on a 
rosy ground. 
Mr. Howell is also an exhibitor, and gained the 
leading award for twenty-four blooms of Pansies at 
Oxford the other week. Many of the blooms sent 
us were fancy varieties. Some of those which took 
our fancy as the most handsome were J. Thornley, 
Mrs. R. G. Moir, Mary Travir, Lord Salisbury, and 
J. Gillespie, all having well defined blotches of 
various shades of violet. The purple top petals of 
the last-named were also handsome. A lovely 
flower of smaller size was J. Myles, having blackish- 
violet blotches and a red border to the top petals. G. 
Stewart, C. K. Pooler, and Provost White were 
yellow ground varieties of good form. Colin Pye 
was notable for its immense size and indigo blotches. 
The colours of The Baron were a bit *' run.” Mr. 
J. Currie is a good maroon variety with reddish- 
purple edges. The plentiful rain and the absence 
of burning sunshine has been greatly in favour of 
Pansies and Violas this year. 
Mr. Howell gives the following as his method of 
'■ Propagation of Violas for Spring Blooming " :— 
" All who intend having Violas for spring blooming 
should now take cuttings 2 in. to 3 in. long, with a 
heel or from the roots. Make a bed behind a north 
wall, raised a little from the level ground. Stand a 
cold frame upon it, put in a mixture of loam, leaf 
soil, peat, and a little sand Press the compost 
moderately firm, insert the cuttings 3 in. apart, label 
them, water well with a rosed can, keep close for a 
week, then gradually admit air. In a month they will 
be rooted, and will require more water. Take the 
sashes off altogether. Syringe with soft soap and 
water to keep down greenfly. They will make nice 
sturdy plants. Put them into permanent quarters, 
which should be during September and October. I 
always find medium-sized plants stand the winter 
best, and the beds look best if only one variety is 
grown in it. I have never had Violas do so well as 
they have this season.” 
■ *«— - 
THE TERM ULEX. 
Mr. Stogdon’s disingenuous criticisms on this and 
kindred subjects necessitate repudiation and re¬ 
joinder. I do not feel disposed, however, to comply 
with his request for my ” authorities "—not because 
I “ shirk ” the question or am unable to comply, but 
because Mr. Stogdon’s transcendentalism would pre¬ 
clude his acceptance of anything of which he did 
not want to approve. Moreover, judging by Mr. 
Stogdon's previous attitudes under similar circum¬ 
stances, I have a right to assume that if I supplied 
the suggested information the discussion would de¬ 
generate, as hitherto, into a mere quibble as to what 
constituted an ” authority.” I regret to have to with¬ 
hold this information, but the readers of the Garden¬ 
ing World can rest assured that I have not con¬ 
cocted anything for their especial consumption; 
while my critic, who appears to be privileged to over¬ 
haul the shelves of the British Museum, can repair 
to that institution and consult the local Floras, in 
several of which he will certainly find the derivation 
as recorded by me. It is, however, scarcely neces¬ 
sary to visit the British Museum for information on 
such an elementary matter; and so to this end I 
would recommend Mr. Stogdon to add to his library, 
say Chambers' Primer on " Etymology ” and Mrs. 
Humphrey's little work on " Manners for Men.” 
He will find these very useful; they contain a lot of 
sound advice. And if I may make a farther sug¬ 
gestion, it would be that in future communications, 
when he is writing about the former he will not 
entirely overlook the instruction of the latter. 
His other reference to a palpable error is beneath 
contempt. 
Concerning Pliny, however, and his fabulous 
accounts of plants and animals—and a host of other 
things, no one, I should hope, would attempt to 
distort the meaning of such a phrase as " legendary 
Pliny,” and upon such a distortion to found a charge 
of the flimsiest pretence. Ignorance, I am pre¬ 
pared to admit—I am always struggling agaiDst it; 
and Mr. Stogdon will doubtless see, on reflection, 
why it is that I dare not look in his direction for 
enlightenment. I submit, therefore, that a “ legen¬ 
dary ” is “a writer of legends ”—that is the only in¬ 
terpretation. As such I regard Pliny, and as such 
many of his biographers and commentators so 
regard him. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, for 
instance, says of this man that "he was an 
industrious compiler,” that " he had a great store of 
ill-digested knowledge, not only imperfect in itself, 
but put together on no consistent plan,” etc. And 
yet he is considered by some as “ one of the greatest, 
if not the greatest of the old Roman savants.” 
Save us from the Roman savants! And yet I do 
not desire to decry old Pliny ; I dip into him occa¬ 
sionally for amusement ; he is very interesting ; his 
fabulous stories are often related with “ truly infan¬ 
tine simplicity.” 1 only want to know why he 
should be mentioned in connection with Ulex, and 
placed on a pedestal he ought not to occupy. In 
conclusion, I beg our courteous editor will not see 
fit to suppress these too voluminous lines—will not, 
in fact, adopt Horace's advice this time, because it 
would seriously interfere with Mr. Stogdon’s right 
of reply. Personally, I do not envy Mr. Stogdon’s 
state of mind, for I would rather be dubbed an 
ignoramus any day, than be stigmatised by this 
same Horace as a sapientum octavis. — C. B. G., 
Acton, W. 
