January 19, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
327 
Immediately after flowering, prune the bush variety 
to within t in. of the previous year’s growth, and 
those of a trailing nature need only have the tips of 
the shoots cut off. Afterwards remove the plants to 
some moist pit, with a temperature of 50°, till the 
month of June. When a deep airy frame will then 
be in their favour. Plunge the pots in ashes. Shade 
on scorching days, damping with a fine rose over¬ 
head in the afternoon. Repotting may be done when 
the young growths have made a start. A compost of 
peat, sharp sand and a piece of loam will suffice. 
Some shoots that are making rapid growth may have 
the points pinched, resulting in laterals that will be 
a mass of flower. The month of September will 
have to find the plants in their flowering quarters. 
The secret of Epacris is in watering. They enjoy 
abundance of water, but will not allow of stagnation 
at the roots. Crocking of pots is an art in hard- 
wooded plants which is very often neglected.— Adam 
V. Main, Coltness Gardens, Wishaw, N.B. 
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GLOXINIAS. 
Gloxinias are very charming tuberous stove plants, 
of easy culture, producing a wealth of bloom con¬ 
tinually for months. Start a quantity of the bulbs 
in January, using leaf mould, turfy peat, fibrous 
loam, with a little sand well mixed, and place them 
in a temperature from 6o° to 8o°, giving a little 
water. Pot a second batch in February and another 
in March. This succession will supply flowers for 
at least five months in the year.- The different 
upright and drooping forms and colours lend an air 
of gracefulness to the surroundings, whether grown 
together in a stove or dotted round the front stage of 
a fernery ; and when well grown are very decorative 
plants. After the blooming season is over they 
gradually go to rest, and all they require then is to 
keep the pots free from frost and wet, and the tem¬ 
perature should never be below 45°. If lower than 
this they are very apt to rot. To start them from seed, 
they ought to be sown in February in a well drained 
seed pan, using a compost of sifted leaf mould, peat 
and sand. Sow the seed on the surface, water with 
a fine rose, and place a sheet of glass over it and put 
it in an atmosphere of 65® to 75°. As soon as they 
attain a leaf or two, transplant them on the surface 
of a shallow box, and pot when large enough into 
4-in. pots.— J. C. Dick, Cliampfleurie, Linlithgow. 
- -—i-- 
WINTER BLOOMING IRISES. 
The Algerian Iris (I. stylosa) is one of the few 
plants which bloom out of doors in mid-winter, and 
when we see its sweetly-scented, delicate, and finely 
coloured flowers peering out of the grassy leaves, our 
thoughts go back, or rather forward, to the summer 
"Flags.” There are several varieties of different 
shades of blue; speciosa is one of the best and 
largest flowered; alba is a lovely white one. They 
are most successfully grown in the southern counties. 
The best position is on a well-drained border at the 
foot of a sunny wall. The soil should be a very 
light one and not over rich, or the plants will be 
inclined to make excessive growth and not flower 
well. In any case they should be well sheltered, as 
the flowers are too delicate to withstand heavy rain. 
The season for flowering is very long, November till 
April. The method of propagation is by division in 
April when they have finished flowering and are 
about to form new roots. An interesting point about 
this Iris is that the flower has no true stem. What 
appears to be such is really the elongated flower 
tube. This feature gives it its name, stylosa. The 
Iris has been called the "Poor Man’s Orchid,” and 
when we are able to admire it in all its glory in the 
dull days at this season of the year, the name seems 
particularly appropriate.—L. F. 
■— « *- 
ROOT PRUNING. 
I find there is still much to learn regarding the 
root pruning of fruit trees. I know that I am going 
a long way out of the old beaten track when I 
recommend that the root pruning of fruit trees 
should always be done from the middle of July to 
the middle of August. When I want to bring fruit 
trees into a fruitful condition, on the previous season 
the trees to be root pruned get little or no pruning, 
merely cutting out the small summer growths—let¬ 
ting all the leading and well-placed shoots remain 
their full length. The following season I begin root 
pruning about the middle of July and finish by the 
middle of August. By root pruning at that time 
" you gain a whole season,” which is a consideration 
to fruit growers of the present day. I am sending 
you by this post shoots taken from standard Pear 
trees that were root pruned last July and August to 
show that the system is thoroughly practical and 
sound.— Richard Nisbet. 
[The shoots sent were nearly 3 ft. long and brist¬ 
ling all round and throughout their length with 
short spurs J in. to 2J in. loDg, and mostly all fur¬ 
nished with one flower bud each at the apex. The 
shoots were also clean, healthy, and taken from trees 
fifteen years old.—E d.] 
THE PAST CENTURY OF FLOWERS. 
When we review the rapid strides, which all 
branches of horticulture have made within the last 
century that is past, the more one thinks of the vast 
numbers of florist flowers which have been raised 
and put into commerce, the more gigantic in thou¬ 
sands do they become ; and it would tax the best of 
brains to keep one-hundredth part of their names 
within the memory. When quite a young man, 
serving my apprenticeship, the Chrysanihemums 
were few in number; Fuchsias, Geraniums, and 
many others the same. In the young days of my 
father, who served his time in the early part of the 
last century, the flowers were but few in number. I 
have heard him often say the number of Roses could 
easily be counted, also the Dahlias. The latter he 
enjoyed the great privilege of helping to hybridise 
from the old single varieties to the semi-doubles, 
and so on, until the show ones made their appear¬ 
ance ; and never was he more amazed than when the 
present type of Cactus Dahlia came out. So we can 
look forward to the new century we have now com¬ 
menced, wondering what the man of science, or the 
hybridist, will turn his hand to next; doing our duty 
as thoroughly as we can in the capacity of life in 
which we are placed, never forgetting to lend a hand 
to the younger members of our profession.— J. Ford, 
May's Villas, Sidcup, Kent. 
FRUIT UNDER SUSS. 
Strawberries. —The earliest batch of forcing 
Strawberries will now be upon the shelves of a warm 
house. It is not desirable to over-press them to 
start with. A Fig house or an early Peach house is 
very frequently accorded to them, or in lean-to 
vineries a shelf on the back wall, raised high so as 
to get the maximum of light, will answer very well. 
The temperature should not be lower than 57° at 
night, and may rise up to 65° or 68° by day. Pre¬ 
vious to bringing in the Strawberries they should be 
carefully examined for red spider or similar pests. 
If they are in the least infested they must be dipped 
three or four times in a warm solution of Gishurst 
Compound and soft soap, which are boiled together 
in just enough of water to make a fairly strong 
solution. In any case it is advisable to dip the 
plants. Wash the pots and pick away the dead 
leaves. Plants in flower, as some very early batches 
no doubt will be, should be gone over with a rabbit’s 
tail brush to fertilise the blooms. Maintain as 
bouyant an air as possible without allowing it to be¬ 
come either too moist or dry. When set, the plants 
may be fed three or four times a week with weak 
liquid manure. Thin the berries to eight or ten per 
plant. 
Vines in Pots. —The plants started in November 
will now be showing flower. It is very difficult to 
maintain a suitable and regular temperature in such 
changeable weather as we are at present experienc¬ 
ing. First comes fog, then seme clear, cold weather, 
followed in a couple of days by rain or snow and 
fog again—a very different state of things to that 
under which Vines grow naturally. In their own 
habitats sunshine, night dews, and showers all unite 
to bring out the best that is in them. Still, the gar¬ 
dener must overcome difliculties else there would be 
no art in gardening. During the flowering period of 
the Vine keep a drier atmosphere than has been 
necessary up till now. Do not syringe the plants, 
and watch when the flowers are at their best, at 
which point go over them with a soft camel's hair or 
rabbit’s tail brush. Stop the laterals at two leaves 
beyond the bunch, and pinch in all unnecessary 
laterals. What is wanted is a well-furnished, fruitful 
Vine, with a moderate supply of foliage, for it must 
not be forgotten that foliage stimulates the roots to 
action, and is altogether necessary. Still, too much 
foliage excludes the light, a point to be guarded 
against. Plants in pots, however, can be shifted 
about, whereas permanent Vines cannot be. Rene v 
the fermenting material occasionally, and keep tie 
pots plunged. Tie in those side shoots that are 
selected to remain. 
Earliest Vinery. —While the pot Vines are 
useful to all classes of growers, but especially to 
those with limited accommodation or conveniences, 
the permanent Vines for early forcing to supply 
Grapes in April or early May, are a special feature 
of all the larger, leading establishments. For early 
Vines inside borders are preferable, to the exclusion 
of outside borders altogether. The inside border 
should be mulched or rather dressed with fermentieg 
leaves mixed with some fairly well decomposed 
stable litter. The earliest house was started in 
November, so that it may be necessary to add or 
renew some of the fermenting material. The border 
must be tested with a Kirk’s Vine border " tester ” 
or similar device, for in the careful and proper 
watering of the earliest Vines, depends nearly all 
the success with this valuable indoor fruit. The 
state of the soil at 2 ft. may be quite different from 
that of soil at 1 ft , and if the roots have nit just 
the very best and most exact conditions it is nearly 
impossible to bring on a perfect and early crop. 
The water applied must always be of the same 
temperature as the air of the house. Rain water 
should be plentiful and this cught to be used. No 
liquid manure should be given yet ; enough of 
nourishment will pass downward from the fermenting 
top-dressing. The treatment of the growths is 
similar to that for pot Vines. Succession houses 
may be started. Later, or midseason houses must 
be prepared at once. The latest houses of all 
should have the bunches cut if any remain, after 
which the Vines may be pruned, cleaned, washed, 
the soil of the border scraped to cleaD off bugs or 
insects which may have fallen there, and every 
square inch of the house should be scrubbed with 
hot water and soft soap. Syringe every crevice with 
one or other of the well-known insecticides prepared 
in solution. 
Vines may be propagated from eyes at this time, 
and suitable wood should be selected when pruning. 
Vine Borders must be got into a state of pre¬ 
paredness for the starting of the Vines. Some of 
the vineries may be having their borders re-made. 
There are many things to take into consideration 
when doing this work, as for instance, the quality of 
the subsoil—though if a concrete bottom is decided 
on this will not matter—the presence of an outside 
border, the run of the vinery, the Vines themselves 
and the climatal conditions of the district. It is 
gradually becoming more or less a rule to have only 
outside borders for mid-season Vines, where the con¬ 
ditions are all much more natural than for Vines 
where the growth has to be made in the dull months 
of the year, or in the case of the late Vines, where 
the summer’s wood and the bunches too, have to be 
ripened in the late and often suoless autumn months 
By only providing an inside border one knows 
exactly where the roots are, and what their condi¬ 
tions are like. The grower can do with them just 
what he likes, and all the contrary forces of Nature 
have very little effect. Then again, stfll further to 
have the roots in one's grasp, as it were, a cement 
bottom to the Vine border is coming annually more 
into favour; 2j ft. of soil is quits enough for a 
border and J ft. of well-laid and properly chosen 
drainage material with nice, fresh turves above it, 
are all that is necessary. I would further suggest 
that all borders be made piecemeal in the same way 
as we do for Figs. 
Peach Houses.— The earliest peachery will be 
coming into flower and the same precautions as are 
taken with Vines or other trees in flower, should be 
adopted here. A balmy air, gently changing by 
having a chink of top-air on, and some heat in the 
pipes, should be maintained. Shake the trees and 
pollinise the flowers when they are ready. Early 
Rivers’ pollen should be used on Noblesse which is 
a shy setter. Keep the laterals pinched, but always 
leave a shoot at the base of the present wood. Keep 
the centre of the trees well furnished, and go over 
all the branches carefully at this time to destroy 
mealy bug and look out for redspider. Succession 
houses to supply fruit early in June may now be 
started. Allow a night temperature of 50° or a 
little higher, up to 65° by day,— J. H. D. 
