104 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 13, 1900* 
Hints for Amateurs. 
Seasonable Rose Notes.—Roses in pots for the 
cool greenhouse should now be repotted, or at least 
top dressed. The roots in the first place should be 
examined, and if they are healthy and abundant the 
plants may be repotted. Thorough good drainage 
should be accorded, for with the waterings which 
the Roses require during the period of active 
growth it is necessary to provide efficient drainage. 
Top dressing alone will be advisable where the pots 
are but meagrely filled with roots. Moderately firm 
potting (using a rammer, of course) is practised, and 
besides clean pots of a suitable size and ample 
drainage, the next thing is to supply a good compost. 
Having turned the plant carefully out of the pot 
remove what soil is loose from the top and sides, 
even to giving the ball a good shaking. A ball in 
the proper condition ought to be firm enough 
to hold together, for it is only the 
unpermeated outer soil that requires to be 
removed. A suitable compost for pot Roses con¬ 
sists of two parts good yellow or brown loam with a 
fair amount of fibre in it, one part leaf soil, and 
one part of spent Mushroom bed manure, to which 
may be added a 5-in. potful of bone meal to every 
bushel of soil. According to the quality (be it light 
or heavy) of the loam will the need for much or 
little of sand be regulated. When the plants have 
been potted into their new pots they may be put on 
the greenhouse stages, and each morning, and per¬ 
haps afternoon as well, they should be syringed until 
such time as the plants are deemed to have become 
re-established. Young stock, which may be had 
from the nurseryman in 5-in. pots, may be treated as 
advised above, and if grown on they will furnish a 
fair supply of blooms early in the new year. Old 
Roses in pots which have been flowering from the 
early part of the spring onward through the summer 
should be rested by being placed in a cold frame 
with dry leaves as packing around the pots. If 
these are left there until February and are then 
taken to the potting shed to be pruned and either 
potted or top dressed, thereafter to be gently forced, 
they will yield Roses for Easter. Cuttings of hardy 
Roses should be put in now. Bush or standard 
Roses, or, indeed, Roses of any sort which are 
growing in the open air, should be pruned back or 
“ headed back,” as we might say, so as to save the 
plants from undue swaying or breaking by the 
wiods and snows of winter. This is rather import¬ 
ant. Real good stout wood which is likely to pro¬ 
vide a quantity of flowers should not be too 
heartily pruned, nor yet should too much be left. 
Rose shoots are generally pliant enough to bend or 
sway without break or bruise, but the leverage and 
the swaying loosens the "collar” of the plants, and 
also slackens the roots. It may be profitable in so 
far that it tends to produce fibrous roots, but no one 
likes to have their Roses loosened and root pruned 
in that way. Roses on walls with shoots left un¬ 
pruned are very frequently pulled or borne down 
from the wall by a sudden heavy snowfall or even 
rain with wind. 
Open-air Tomatos.—Throughout the country 
there are acres of plants scattered about in ro.vs and 
odd corners which badly require ten days’ powerful 
sunshine to ripen off their existing crops. Anything 
which will keep the plants dry at the roots, or com¬ 
paratively dry, will tend also to hasten the ripening 
of the fruits. Probably some overhead shelter might 
be arranged for the benefit of some of the plants. 
Rain water, if water is really required, should be 
used in preference to “hard” water. Stimulants 
should not be used now. Those fruits which are 
too small to swell-up and ripen may be successfully 
pickled. All lateral growths should be closely 
pinched off and where leaves overlie the fruits these 
should be drawn aside or pruned off. 
Late Vegetable Marrows. —It often happens that 
many very fine fruits fail after this time of the year 
from inclement weather. A goodly percentage of 
these might be finished off for use by using a 
rough framework of protection. Any form 
of protection, consistent with exposure during the 
warm part of the day, will be helpful. Those who 
can afford frames with sashes, should use these. 
Deutzias. — Large specimen plants are far more 
frequently tound about gardens than shapely pieces 
of smaller size in pots of about 5 in. to 7 in. in 
diameter. But Deutzias are always serviceable and 
large plants can be kept in first-rate condition with 
little trouble. I have known plants to have flowered 
in the same 18-in. pots for a period of seven years 
without having had a change. During the growing 
season such plants can absorb a large amount of 
nourishment given in the form of liquid manure. 
Natural liquid manure though acting more slowly 
at the same time produces firmer wood growth. 
Manures which act too fast if they are assimilated 
must result in an abundance of growth which gener¬ 
ally is lax. Deutzias are successfully forced, and old 
stools which have been subjected to the process 
before, are perhaps more responsive than younger 
and even more vigorous plants. Frequently speci¬ 
men plants are far too thick. The wood which 
forms year after year should be thinned out, and 
this is just one of the cultural items not always 
put into practice. At the present time when the 
plants are being brought indoors from their open-air 
quarters they must be subjected to as little coddling 
or growth exciting conditions as possible. If there 
is a likelihood of the plants having received or being 
open to a check, either from having roots severed 
or from other cause, take the precautions to attend 
well to them in the watering and keep them in a cool 
and shaded position. I believe that many cases 
of bud-dropping or other peculiar ailments of 
Deutzias could be traced to heedlessness at one or 
other of these “ shifting " occasions. The Deutzia 
likes a moist, genial atmosphere to expancf^its 
flowers in, but anything like hard forcing will have 
no success. Young plants which have been growing 
freely all summer may now be in need of potting. 
Knock a plant or two out of their pots and examine 
the state of the roots, and pot accordingly. A liberal 
shift should be given if potting is decided on. Perfect 
drainage is required ; a good rich compost and 
firm potting are other necessaries. 
The Mushroom-house.—Some beds are already 
spawned; many others are yet to prepare. The 
Mushroom-house should now, at latest, be cleaned 
and got into order. About ten weeks elapse between 
the times of spawning a bed and gathering the 
earliest Mushrooms so that those who are anxious to 
keep up a supply will have to calculate according to 
their circumstances. It takes some time to collect a 
sufficient quantity of the proper material. The finer 
portion of the stable manure should be shaken out 
from the bin and after heating, a further shaking, 
selection will have to take place until the required 
quantity of nice, short, mediumly moist dung has 
been worked up. 
Kniphofias.—At this season when so many of these 
richly glorious flowers are in gardens and various 
exhibitions a note on their culture may be welcome. 
They are not deemed tender subjects by any means, 
yet it is well, especially on the heavier qualities of 
soil, to give them the slight protection at least of 
rough mould around the crowns duriug winter. 
Many of the suckers will be permanently planted in 
the next few weeks and for at least the first year it 
will be well to do all in your power to get the plants 
well established. Though thriving well in a variety 
of situations, in rockeries, in beds, borders or in 
clumps in the wild garden, Kniphofias or Tritomas, 
as they are otherwise own, seem to appreciate a 
well-drained rather sou oam. If the soil is heavy 
the usual expedients s uld be put in force to 
remedy it, so that the most suitable condition may 
be prepared. Suckers from the older plants root 
freely if taken now and inserted in pure sand or 
sandy soil. When they have become established for 
a year or two, a top dressing should be given to 
them. 
Hyacinths and other Bulbs that have been potted 
for some time should be looked to every four days 
from now, to observe the progress of growth. When 
the shoots have pushed up through the soil the pro¬ 
tective material, be it ashes or fibre, may then be 
removed. The plants should be taken to a shaded 
greenhouse (or they may be placed beneath the open 
stages for a day or two) till they have become 
acquainted with the exposed conditions. Very little 
water will be required until the flower spikes begin 
to show it. It is now that feeding is generally 
practised and is beneficial. Nearly all spring bulbs 
undergo the same treatment after being removed 
from their early quarters. To grow Hyacinths in 
glasses good bulbs should be sought out and placed 
upon the moutns of the glasses. The latter are 
filled with water, which, however, must not touch 
the base of the bulb, else the bulb will decay. The 
glasses must be kept in a cool, dark room until roots 
have commenced to grow. After a number of 
healthy roots have started it will be best to enure 
the bulbs to daylight. A shelf by the window suits 
the Hyacinths during growth. The foliage should 
be kept clean, and if gas can be avoided in the 
room, the plants will be healthier from its absence. 
Coiled wire supports for the flower spikes should be 
got hold of in good time. Neat stakes for the pur¬ 
pose can be bought at bulb stores or at a nursery¬ 
man’s shop. 
Autumn - Sown Sweet Peas.—Sweet Peas are 
decidedly popular, and it may be that some of those 
who have not tried the autumn sowing of Sweet 
Peas previously may have wished to do so as a start 
this year. They are hardy nearly everywhere, and are 
able to struggle along until the balmier days of 
spring when their retarded energies force them to 
strong and robust development. Sowings which 
were made a month ago may soon be staked, not 
because they so much require support as the shelter 
which close stakes gives to them. Draw up the 
earth to the necks of the plants along each side, 
before staking. Close, thick-set stakes, such as 
Spruce would afford, should not be employed, for 
though protective so far as frost and winds go, they 
would also exclude the light and smother the Sweet 
Peas.— Beacon. 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked, by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
Anyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
ti questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
"Amateurs' Page " on the top of their letters. 
Propagating Raspberries.— L. F. W .: The Rasp¬ 
berry may be propagated either from seeds, cuttings 
or suckers. The latter is nearly always adopted. 
Only when new varieties are desired are seeds em¬ 
ployed. Autumn-sown seeds will germinate in the 
spring, and in two years will have produced fruit- 
yielding plants. But from the suckers, which come 
up in the form of strong shoots around the stools of 
the old plants, specimens already prepared for next 
year’s fruiting are obtained at once. These may be 
taken and planted now as advised in last week's 
fruit garden calendar. 
Nymphaeas for Planting.— J. H. : Those most 
usually planted and which are the best include 
Nymphaea marliacea albida, N. m. rosea, N. m. 
carnea, N. m. ignea, N. m. chromatella, N. gloriosa, 
N. ellisiana, N. ordorata, N. sulphtirea grandiflora, N. 
sanguinea, N. Leydekeri rosea, &c. Nymphaeas 
should not be planted now until March or April. 
Dahlias Frosted.— L. M.: Dahlias are amongst 
the first plants to succumb to frost. You must just 
cut them down to within a foot from the soil. Then 
lift the tubers to clean them, and when they are dry, 
hang them up in a cool, dry shed for the winter. A 
steaming shed, such as a wash-house, which we 
have seen used, is of no good. 
Pruning Plum Trees.— J. Harrison : So long as 
the shoots are freely set apart, say about 9 ins. either 
way, you will only require to shorten back the stout, 
leading shoots. If this had been done some time 
ago — in August—-you would have had some of the 
strength which has been expended in useless extra 
growth saved for the thickening and firming of that 
part of the shoot which remained. Mulch the trees 
in winter. A stout wooden post, about 2J ins. in 
diameter, should be inserted close to the stem, so 
that the latter may be kept straight and supported. 
Laying Out a Cottage Plot.— J. S . : We always 
like to see as much nice green grass (neatly kept) 
and pretty shrubs about small front gardens as can be 
tastefully and wisely allowed. Such places are not 
at all adapted for imitation rockeries and miniature 
flower gardens. Certainly, a few tasty beds are very 
advantageous, but always let them be in proportion 
to the space and in harmony with the architecture 
of the house and surroundings. Squares and angles 
harmonise with the turreted, Grecian and Roman 
styles of buildings ; round or oblong beds are suit¬ 
able where the houses have round pillars, curved 
balconies and so on. What they should be filled 
with should also be as much studied as the kind and 
