January 5, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
297 
Moss on Lawns.— R. L. D.: When the lawns are 
very bad, raking them with short-teethed iron rakes is 
resorted to. By this means a very large quantity of 
the moss is drawn out, leaving the grass. Then by 
furnishing a rich top-dressing of fine soil and 
fertilisers the grass is encouraged, and may even¬ 
tually overcome the moss. Make up a finely sifted 
compost of good soil, wood ashes, and add 3 lbs. of 
basic slag per cwt. of the mixture ; or bone-flour 
might take the place of the basic slag. Soot should 
be scattered over the lawn during showery mornings 
in April and May. Bad drainage and poor soil are 
often accountable for moss on lawns. 
Begonia Gloire de Lorraine.— A. V. M. begs to 
thank Mr. A. Hemsley for his hints on the propa¬ 
gation of Begonia Gloire de Lorraine and expressed 
the hope that others may ventilate their views on 
the same subject. 
PINKHILL NURSERY, MURRAYFIELD. 
Taking the advantage of our proximity to the nur¬ 
sery of Messrs. R. B. Laird & Sons, Pinkhill, 
Murrayfield, Midlothian, one fine afternoon in 
September last, we paid a hurried visit of inspection 
to see some of the many things which are grown in 
that establishment. The large Palm house contained 
a varied assortment of new and old Palms, some of 
them of considerable size. For instance, a plant of 
the relatively new Kentia sanderiana was 3$ ft. to 
4 ft. high, very graceful, and furnished with suckers 
at the base like Areca lutescens, and, therefore, use¬ 
ful for potwork for those who like to have small 
Palms at the base of a large one. This one supplies 
the want, without the use of supernumerary speci¬ 
mens. Kentia belmoreana was also of large size, and 
K. karsteiniana resembled some of the fish-tailed 
Palms (Caryota). Thrinax elegans is a graceful 
fan-leaved Palm that ought to be more extensively 
In the propagating pit was a fine batch of Nerine 
Fothergillii, whose large scarlet flowers are very 
handsome. The new Ficus radicans variegata was 
grown on pieces of virgin cork, stuck into pots. It 
requires similar treatment to F. repens. The scol¬ 
loped, palmate leaves of Evodia elegans, a new table 
plant, is very handsome. Cuttings make the best 
and most bushy specimens, those obtained from 
seeds being bushy on the top only. It develops its 
best form with greenhouse treatment. Even less 
known is E. formosa, but its broader leaflets make 
it less graceful than E. elegans. The leaflets of 
Panax monstrosa aurea (new) are oval and yellow 
in the centre. Those of P. Balfourii are nearly 
orbicular and of irregular outline. The long, narrow 
leaves of Carex Victoria are gracefully recurved, of 
firm growth, white in the centre, and T2 in. to 15 in. 
long. About seventy varieties of Crotons are grown 
on the place, including Golden Ring, Flamingo, and 
Messrs. R. B. Laird and Sons’ Group in the Waverley Market, Edinburgh. 
Pruning Roses.— J. F '., Warwick : Some Roses 
yield the best returns when hard pruned, others 
when less severely operated on. A. K. Williams 
comes under the former regime, while the popular 
Mrs. John Laing should be more lightly touched. A 
practice we have persistently advised is that of bend¬ 
ing, in arch fashion, the points of long, strong 
shoots, and pegging them to the ground. Of course, 
before doing so you would have to prune back to 
firm and stout wood. It is often performed where 
an abundance of moderate sized Roses is wanted. 
Each bud all along the length of the shoot breaks 
and produces flowers. Teas should be pruned 
lightly, but what wood is left should be firm, plump, 
and well ripened. Gloire de Dijon on a wall requires 
to be spurred in. Climbing Roses in Rose houses 
need to be shortened back and radically thinned out. 
China Roses in beds are, somewhat like the Briers, 
best left alone, or at least only lightly thinned. 
grown for decorative work in private establishments. 
Phoenix rupicola has now attained grand dimen¬ 
sions, a specimen here measuring 24 ft. from point to 
point of the leaves, and standing 14 ft. high. A rare 
variety is Kentia fosteriana variegata, the leafstalks 
of which are even more finely variegated with yellow 
than the leaves. A large specimen of K. belmoreana, 
12 to 14 years old, grown in a specially made and 
deep pot, was in splendid health. The pot being 
narrow did not take up so much space as an ordinary 
No. r pot would. Largeplantsof K. fosteriana are kept 
in small pots, put in a moist atmosphere, and well 
fed, which proves far more preferable than putting 
them in big pots. Some of the large specimens even 
have their roots trimmed down occasionally and put 
into relatively small pots, giving very satisfactory 
results. The leaves of Curculigo recurvata were 3 ft. 
to 4 ft, long, a very unusual size for this plant, 
which, moreover, is not a Palm, 
other popular sorts. For the rest the house is occu¬ 
pied with general stock being propagated. 
At one time or other many fine varieties of Dra¬ 
caenas have been raised at Pinkhill. D. 
Marchioness of Lothian has bronzy-crimson leaves 
about 2J ft. long, and very graceful for table work. 
Those of D. Princess May are also narrow and 
bronzy purple, with a narrow red margin. The 
leaves of D. Mrs. D. P. Laird are even narrower, 
with a bright red eye and very graceful. D. Miss 
Glendinning has more red colouring on the middle of 
the leaf. Those of Duchess of York are likewise 
narrow, but green and bordered with red, while the 
young leaves are rosy and very pretty. The plant is 
of vigorous growth and good constitution. There 
can be no doubt this is a fine strain of crosses and a 
record for the firm. Other fine foliage stove plants 
in this house include Alocasia macrorrbiza variegata, 
A. argyrea, silvery all over; A, thibautiana, with 
