December 22, ibOO 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
268 
by long Greek and Latin names whose meaning be 
soon comes to recognise, and likewise their appro¬ 
priateness to the plant. Some of the educated 
amateurs he addresses may have had the benefit of 
a classical education but we fear too many of the 
young men put in charge of small gardens are much 
at sea in this respect. The advice given to those 
about to build a greenhouse is "Don't” as Punch 
said in another case. The foplanation is that a gar¬ 
den will take care of itsel even if neglected for 
some days, but a greenhouse, if overlooked, will 
very soon give no end of trouble and bring discredit 
to its owner. 
Instructions are furnished concerning the soil and 
its preparation, the food of plants, manuring, half 
hardy plants and their culture under glass, profitable 
glass gardening, hot beds and chid frames, the gar¬ 
dener’s natural enemies, budding, grafting, inarching, 
the spring garden, summer and autumn flowers, 
shrubs and autumn tints, &c. A large number of 
different kinds of flowers receive attention in 
separate paragraphs. Selections are given of what 
the author considers the best varieties. The same 
may be said of Roses, Ferns and other subjects 
which do well in the Emerald Isle. Vegetables also 
get a share of attention and the advice given by the 
author is generally very sound as far as it goes. 
Those who desire other mental pabulum are fur¬ 
nished with the names of other books which go 
more deeply into the subject. 
■ i »- 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
Strawberries for forcing. —The earliest batch 
of Royal Sovereign Strawberry may be placed in an 
early vinery or in a Peach house, which is intended 
to be started soon. The very best plants should 
be selected for the earliest forcing. Clean the 
surface soil and remove any moulded or dead foliage, 
and at the same time wash the pots. Place the 
plants for a day or two on a stage of the house so as 
to inure them a little to the change, and also to have 
them more directly under observation so as to get 
the soil into proper condition. When Strawberries 
are brought in from frames or the open air one 
sometimes finds some too wet, or some too dry, and 
when they are placed straightway up on the shelves 
they are not open to receive the care they demand. 
The plants only require clear water until growth 
begins, but must be seen to every day. A tempera¬ 
ture of 50° at night up to 65° in mild days, with the 
best lighted shelf as their position, should be 
accorded to them. 
Cucumbers. —Cucumbers are a source of anxiety 
during hard winters, but the present season has been 
so mild that little trouble has been occasioned. The 
plants should be lightly pinched and tied in, the 
pinching being performed only on the lateral shoots 
just beyond the second, and in some cases even the 
first leaf beyond the flower. Do not tax the plants 
by, allowing them to carry weakly growths or old 
.growths, which might give place to younger and 
more vigorous shoots. Remove the fruit when 
they are three parts grown. Top-dress the roots 
occasionally with good loam, having a dash of guano 
and suitable proportions of leaf mould and sand in 
it. This should always be warmed before being 
applied. The soil should not be mounded around 
the base of the stem. Fill the evaporating troughs 
with liquid manure from the cow sheds, and sprinkle 
the borders, stages and paths just often enough to 
maintain a soft, moderately moist atmosphere. The 
night temperature should be 65°, with a rise of io Q 
during the day. 
Early F®rced Pot Vines.— Those started in 
November were recommended to be plunged in 
leaves, clean Oak or Beech leaves being preferred. 
The temperature during the present mild weather 
may go as high as 75 0 during the day and down to 
55 q at night. I always like to let the temperature 
low down at night to insure a firm, short-jointed 
wood. This cannot be so readily got when the 
house is kept at a high temperature. In severe 
weather a maximum temperature of 65 Q is sufficient. 
Until growth starts, there is little need for much 
water; and when water is given, it should be tem¬ 
pered to the heat of the bouse. Tie up the canes as 
soon as the first buds have started, but do no 
pinching nor disbudding until the flowers show at 
the end of the growths. 
Earliest Forced Vines in Borders should 
now be started to follow on after the pot Vines have 
yielded their crops. Start the house at a tempera¬ 
ture of 50° ; and in a fortnight raise this to 6o°, and 
gradually after that up to 75 0 as the maximum day 
temperature. Black Hamburgh and Buckland 
Sweetwater are two of the best for early forcing. 
Syringe the rods with tepid water three times a day, 
but avoid deluging in any case. In dull, heavy 
weather the least possible amount of water should 
be sprinkled about or syringed as is consistent in 
maintaining a soft, agreeable atmosphere. The air 
of the house should be kept slightly circulating. A 
mere seam of top ventilation will insure this. Fill 
the troughs with liquid manure. Some growers 
think it beneficial to mulch the inside borders of the 
vinery, but to put it mildly, the practice is ridicu¬ 
lous. I strongly urge that the outside borders be 
covered over to a depth of two feet with fresh leaves 
such as have just fallen in the wocds, for these fer¬ 
ment, and besides warming the border, they main¬ 
tain an even moist condition, and plenty of air gets 
in to supply all the needs of the roots. Heavy rains 
and chilling snows, should these come, are also 
warded ofl. A layer of straw may be spread over 
the leaves and a few clods of soil here and there 
over the entire covering will suffice to keep the straw, 
&c., from being blown off. The early Muscats, in¬ 
cluding the best and most popular of all, Muscat of 
Alexandria, together with Muscat Hamburgh and 
Black Muscat, should also be started where Muscat 
Grapes are wanted by May or early June. 
The Midseason Houses should be rested for yet 
awhile. As soon as the leaves fall, pruning to two 
buds should be done. In the matter of pruning, 
however, each grower favours a special system, and 
that which he has found to answer best will natur¬ 
ally be adhered to. 
The early Peach house should be got ready for 
starting. Peach trees in pots for very early fruits, 
say May, should now be treated in the way recom¬ 
mended for early pot Vines.— D. K. 
KitcUen Garden Calendar. 
During wet and bad weather there are many opera¬ 
tions that may be done in the garden under cover, 
which will save time later on when outside work is 
more pressing. If such work as making labels, pre¬ 
paring pea stakes, tying mats, &c., be done now, this 
will help forward in spring. All root stores should 
be looked over, and any that show signs of decay 
removed. Potatos should also be stood on their 
ends in an airy place, where frost can be excluded, 
to induce them to make firm, robust growths Too 
much importance cannot be attached to having 
sturdy growths on Potato sets, as such usually pro¬ 
duce the best crops. Ample soil should also be got 
under cover for filling seed boxes and other purposes. 
When the weather is fine and the ground in a work¬ 
able condition push on with the digging of all vacant 
plots as fast as possible, but do not attempt such 
work when the soil is pasty and sticks to the boots 
to any extent. When not able to get on the land 
hedges may be clipped and any other work done that 
will help forward later on. 
Forced Vegetables.— There are many kinds of 
these that pay for a little extra attention being 
bestowed on them, and although the season 
has been so mild as to admit of a plenti¬ 
ful supply of good Broccoli and other green 
vegetables being taken from the open ground, it is 
necessary to provide a change, Seakale will now be 
in demand, therefore, a supply of roots must be 
introduced into a gentle heat to induce them to push 
up new growth, select some of the best crowns for 
this purpose and plant them rather thickly in the 
Mushroom house or other dark place where sufficient 
warmth can be maintained to cause a sturdy growth. 
Potatos may also be planted in heated pits or on hot 
beds ; if the former, care must be taken not to have 
the temperature too violent and air must be admitted 
on all favourable occasions. Tubers that were stood 
on their ends in shallow boxes and placed in a gentle 
warmth will now be in a fit condition for planting. 
Where space is very limited, it is a good plan to 
start the sets in 60-size pots, allowing them to push 
through the soil before planting out. Such will 
generally produce tubers fit for lifting in seven or 
eight weeks, according to the state of the weather. 
French Beans. —These do not set very freely this 
dull weather, therefore the crops are not heavy un¬ 
less in properly constructed places. Sowings made 
now will be in bloom when the days are getting 
longer, and as such will set their fruit more freely a 
less quantity will be sufficient to keep up a supply. 
It is a good plan to sow a few once a fortnight in 
small pots. These can be planted out or transferred 
into larger pots, as the case may be, or the conveni¬ 
ence at the command of the grower. When grown on 
shelves in houses pay particular attention to keeping 
the foliage clean, as they are very subject to the 
attack of red spider. Those who have low-spanned, 
well heated houses will have no difficuty, but where 
various things have to be grown in the same struc¬ 
ture, some are sure to suffer, unless special care be 
taken to look after their wants. See that there is a 
good stock of Endive, Chicory, Lettuce, Dandelion 
and the like always in readiness. Mustard and 
Cress, small Onions and other salads will also be in 
request, therefore due attention should be paid to 
these. The time will soon be round when seed 
lists for the coming season must be made out; 
it will therefore be well to look round and see what 
is required so that there rhay be no delay when the 
time comes for sowing. It is far better that the 
seeds should wait than the grower should wait for 
his seeds.— W. F. J. 
- -—>s»--— 
©leanings from ffje Hhnrlh 
of Science. 
Grasswrack from Kwen Lun Mountains. — 
At a meeting of the Linnean Society of London, on 
December 6th, Dr. A. B. Rendle, F.L S , exhibited 
specimens, including leaves and fruit, of Grasswrack 
(Zostera marina, L.) recently found by Capt. H P. 
Deasy, near Yepal Ungar, in the Kwen Lun moun¬ 
tains, at an altitude of 16,500 feet. The plants were 
not growing in this remarkable locality, but were 
preserved in a bed ro ft. to 12 ft. thick on top of and 
interspersed with which were strata of blue clay 
The broken leaves and sheaths of which the speci¬ 
mens consisted were dry and brittle, but showed no 
alteration, the internal structure being as perfect as 
in the fresh plant. As the country is geologically 
unknown, it is impossible to estimate the age of the 
deposit. It probably formed the bed of a salt-lake. 
There is one in the neighbourhood; and Capt. 
Deasy is of opinion that the whole district formed at 
one time a large salt-lake. The specimens were 
very dusty, but microscopic examination ot the dust 
revealed nothing beyond particles of sand and a few 
small brown objects, apparently spores of some kind, 
Capt. Deasy states that he saw similar growths in a 
lake in the same district, but was unable to procure 
specimens. This occurrence of Zostera marina in 
the heart of the Asiatic continent and at so great an 
elevation, is of special interest The plant, so far as 
known, is purely marine, occurring plentifully on 
our own coasts, and throughout Europe, on the 
Atlantic shores of North America, and in North¬ 
east Asia. It has not previously been recorded from 
an inland lake, though an allied species, Zostera 
nana, L , occurs in the Caspian. Whether its exist¬ 
ence in the Kwen Lun range has any relation to the 
Tertiary marine deposits which connect the Mediter¬ 
ranean area with the Himalayas is matter for conjec¬ 
ture. There seems to be some evidence for the 
existence of Zostera in Upper Cretaceous and 
Tertiary times ; at any rate several species have 
been described from fossils resembling the rhizome 
of the plant, found in Central European beds. A 
discussion followed in which Dr. Stapf, Messrs. E. 
M. Holmes, H. Groves, J. E. Harting, and Prof. 
Howes took part. 
Halophila stipulacea.—At the same meeting 
Dr. Rendle also showed a specimen of another 
marine monocotyledonous plant, Halophila stipu¬ 
lacea, Asch., from Tuticorinin Southern India, sent 
by Mr. Edgar Thurston. This species is not inclu¬ 
ded in the • Flora of British India,’ nor in Trimen’s 
• Ceylon Flora,’ a plant found by Dr. Harvey at 
Trincomalee, and thus determined by Thwaites, 
being assigned to the commoner H. ovata, Gaud. 
H. Stipulacea occurs in the Red Sea, the Mascarene 
Islands, and Rodriguez. 
A Revision of the British Thrifts.—Mr. H. 
Groves, F.L.S., on behalf of Mr. G. C. Druce, com¬ 
municated a paper entitled “ A Revision of the 
British Thrifts ” (Statice and Armeria), in which he 
attempted a rectification of the synonymy, and 
discussed the value of the pubescence on the ribs of 
the calyx as a distinguishing character. A discussion 
followed in which Dr. A. B. Rendle, Mr. F. N. 
Williams, and Mr. Daydon Jackson took part. 
