538 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 20, 1901. 
between these has taken place after one or two years, 
the Wellington scion should be grafted or budded as 
preferred. Owing to the lateness of the season there 
is still time for the first stage of this operation. 
Care, however, should be taken that the true 
English or broad-leaved Paradise stock is used, and 
not the French variety, as where this is used disap¬ 
pointment is certain, as it is apparently unable to 
withstand our climate.— J. W.M. 
— -—&»—- 
THE TOMATO. 
This is one of the most popular of our market crops. 
I intend in this article to deal with its culture under 
glass. First a good variety must be selected—Con¬ 
ference and Chemin Rouge are good reliable sorts. 
To have ripe fruit by the end of May seeds should 
be sown in shallow boxes early in January, and kept 
in a temperature of 6o°. When the seedlings make 
their appearance place them near the glass to make 
them sturdy. When in the rough leaf prick 
them out 3 in. apart in boxes, where they may 
remain until ready for planting out. They may 
either be allowed to fruit in pots, or be planted out 
in the borders, the latter plan being by far the best. 
Plant them out i ft. apart along each side of a span- 
roofed house, using no manure at the time of plant¬ 
ing. The plants are trained on a single stem, care 
being taken to rub off all laterals as they appear. 
Ventilate freely, keeping the atmosphere free from 
moisture. When the flowers have expanded they 
should be brushed over with a hare's foot in order to 
distribute the pollen. Treated in this way the fruit 
sets much more freely. After the first truss of fruit 
is well set and commencing to swell a good dressing 
of manure may be given. These are among the chief 
items in the successful culture of this valuable fruit- 
vegetable.— G. H., T. 
GREVILLEA ROBUSTA. 
In its native country (New South Wales) this is a 
stately tree, but here it is grown as a pot plant, and 
although there is no brilliant colour to recommend 
it, set ihe finely cut drooping, Fern-like foliage 
produces one of the most graceful decorative subjects 
we possess. Its value is enhanced by the fact that 
it stands the baneful influence of gas and dust better 
than most tab'e plants. Seedlings are easily 
raised in a little heat; and afterwards the simplest 
cool culture will suffice to grow handsome specimens. 
I do not know of any seed—not even the Auricula— 
which is so long and capricious in germinating. In 
all cases where seed is sown in pans they should be 
sown in a layer of sand with a slight covering of soil 
so that when the surface becomes green it may be 
removed and fresh soil put in its place, without 
detriment to the seeds. Sow at any time in small 
pans, and as the seedlings straggle through and show 
two pairs of leaves, pot singly and give them the 
shelter of a close pit until they are established. 
Never allow tham to flag for lack of water. There 
is no necessity to give them manure water at aDy 
stage of growth. An occasional repotting is the 
only other attention they require until they reach 
the final stage which need not be large .—Albert 
Marks, 4, Orchard Terrace, Chichester, Sussex. 
HINTS ON BOUVARDIAS. 
This genus contains some of the most useful plants 
that can be grown, and to anyone who has a lot of 
buttonholes, shoulder sprays, &c., to make, they are 
simply invaluable. They are natives of Mexico but 
good varieties have been obtained by cross-breeding 
in England As young plants produce the finest 
bloom, cuttings should be inserted at once, round 
the sides of cutting pots filled with sandy peat and a 
layer of sharp sand at the top. As soon as rooted 
pinch out the top in order to produce side branches ; 
these after making two joints should be pinched 
again, and sa on till a bushy plant is obtained. As 
the plants increase in size they must be potted 
accordingly, and by the end of July they will be well 
established. They will have been in a close moist 
atmosphere ; but should now be removed to a cool 
house where they can have free ventilation. This 
will mature the growth, and cause them to set flower 
buds. About the end of September place in a house 
where heat is at command, in case of wet or cold 
weather, and as flowers are required remove batches 
into the stove in order to keep up a succession. The 
soil they thrive best in Is a mixture of peat, loam and 
leaf mould, with the addition of a little sand. Keep 
the syringe going frequently, or green fly and red 
spider will play havoc with them. Three good 
varieties are Alfred Neuner, double white ; President 
Garfield, double pink, and Hogarth, brilliant car¬ 
mine.—T. W.Dollerv, The Gardens, Whitburn, Sunder¬ 
land. 
ARALIAS 
Are more grown for their decorative foliage than 
their inconspicuous flowers. A compost of loam, 
peat, mould and sand is consistent for Aralias. 
Their fleshy roots speak for abundance of water all 
through. We are all familiar with A. Sieboldi or its 
proper definition (Fatsia japonica). Its large, deeply 
lobed leaves of a glossy green colour are very 
attractive. It is classed as a greenhouse plant. 
There are also some variegated forms of Sieboldi. 
In the case of stove plants they are incomparable as 
table plants, that is, the small-leaved varieties. They 
were in grand form at the past show in Edinburgh, 
Aralia Veitchi and its exquisite offspring, A. Veitchi 
gracillima, being very conspicuous in the class for 
table plants. A. filicifolia is also a showy subject in 
the stove. Propagation of Aralias is often effected 
by cleaning the thick fleshy roots, cutting in lengths 
of 2 in. and inserting in sand with the end next the 
stem uppermost, plunging in a bottom heat of 8o°. 
Plants from seed are also preferable, which must be 
new. The small leaved section mentioned have to 
be grafted. A. reticulata is easily increased and is 
used in some places as a stock for grafting these 
delicate subjects.— A. V. Main, Coltness Gardens, N.B. 
-- 
THE HERBACEOUS BORDERS. 
To those interested in the hardy flower borders, they 
will now have become a source of great pleasure. 
Although very early in the year we haveseveral very 
beautiful plants flowering at this season, the chief 
amongst them being the lovely Pasque Flower, 
Anemone Pulsatilla, which cannot fail to be admired 
by all. Being of easy culture it should be grown 
more extensively, but as yet it is far from common. 
The Hepaticas or Anemones, as they are sometimes 
called, are too well known to need description. These 
are flowering very profusely, and the double forms 
are especially good; they are best when not disturbed. 
Anemone fulgens is a very bright scarlet, and worthy 
of a place in every garden. The Pulmonarias, of 
which there are several varieties, with their pretty 
drooping flowers and beautifully mottled leaves, 
which last all through the summer, are not the least 
interesting. The best varieties of these are P. 
sibirica, P. saccharata, P. officinalis, and the white 
variety alba. These make a much better show when 
planted in batches instead of singly, and increase 
readily by division of the roots. The hoe will have 
to be frequently applied, but great care must be taken 
that the young heads of the summer flowering peren¬ 
nials which are just coming through the ground are 
not cut off, which is often done by the inexperienced. 
— A. E. Thatcher, Aldenham, Elstree. 
CANKER IN THE MARECHAL NIEL 
ROSE. 
Many a lover of this sweet Rose has experienced 
profound regret because their favourite Rosebush 
has been attacked by that dreaded disease canker, 
which at first commences on one side of the stem, 
where a puncture is made by some fly, to lay her 
eggs in, and in about a week after, the canker begins 
to appear, as the larvae now are hatched from the 
deposited eggs, and are already able to gnaw through 
the soft tissues of the bark, and live on the sap for 
about three weeks. Then crawling out they pupate 
in the soil close to the stem of the plant, and in 
fifteen or sixteen days, the fly comes forth and acts 
the same way as the parents have done. A new 
generation deposits their eggs in the same place, 
which causes the ulceration to increase rapidly. 
As early as possible I take a knife and gently pare 
off the swollen part, keeping a careful look out for 
any of the intruders. They are very small and of a 
creamy yellow colour. I next take a small camel 
hair pencil, dip it into spirits of camphor, and paint 
as it were the newly pared surface, repeating it next 
day. The soil in the pot or border is then top- 
dressed with a mixture of freshly slacked lime and 
soot in equal parts, I syringe the plants once a 
week or so with Gishurst Compound. I have found 
this most effectual, as the Rose, that I have tried the 
operation on, is now doing well, and set with a fine 
show of flower buds, and pushing out fibrous roots 
from the pared canker nob into the lime and soot, 
etc., mixture.— J. W. Graham, The Gardens, Inver, 
alien, Corstorphine, Midlothian. 
■ I< - 
SWEET PEAS. 
To grow Sweet Peas to advantage I would advise 
readers of The Gardening World to do as follows: 
—Get a trough made from ro ft. to 15 ft. in length, 
6 in. deep and 6 in. broad. Cut fresh turf in arm 
lengths, lay it upside down in trough, and lay on some 
good loam and sow Peas, covering them with good 
loam about ij in. Place the trough or troughs in 
a vinery passage and water thoroughly. When the 
Peas are about 2 in. or 3 in. in height place them out 
in a well manured trench. Earth up at once but be 
careful not to spoil the Peas in the act of lifting out 
of the trough. Discretion must be used on account 
of the weather.— A. G. Ross, The Gardens, Terregles, 
Dumfries. 
--§•-— 
CHEMISTRY FOR THE GARDEN. 
XII.— Soils [Continued). 
According to the research of our chemists, a good 
soil should contain the following minerals, or their 
oxides rather :—Alumina, silica, lime, potash, soda, 
magnesia, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, peroxide 
of iron and traces of chlorine. Along with these 
there also prevails organic substances in a humic 
form, which largely consist of carbon dioxide, nitro¬ 
genous matter and water. Water is as we all know 
not the least important of all these, and the value of 
a soil very much depends on its capacity for retain¬ 
ing a due proportion of moisture. Drainage is an all 
important matter in preserving a garden soil in good 
going condition. We do not think that this matter 
receives the attention it ought. From our observa¬ 
tions we infer that it is considered to be sufficient to 
dig out a drainage system, when a garden is formed, 
and unless something approaching a partial sub- 
mergency takes place, the drains are never 
examined. 
Nothing can be more injurious to a soil than thus 
leaving the drainage to look after itself. Anyone 
who has had experience in this work knows how 
soon the drainage gets silted up with the fine soil 
which finds its way down. We are too ready to 
consider drainage in its primary aspect, that of 
taking away super-abundant moisture. The 
secondary one does not always receive the atten¬ 
tion it deserves, that is, the aerification of the soil. 
It is a well known fact that where water can pene¬ 
trate, air will follow, and consequently, heat follows 
both. There is no difference between the drainage 
of a good garden and that of a pot plant. As a 
plant after it is watered only retains a quantity 
equivalent to the absorptive nature of the soil in 
which it is potted, the rest passes out by the drainage. 
The same ought to take place in our gardens. If it 
does not, as we are afraid it seldom does after heavy 
rain, or a succession of heavy rains, the excessive 
moisture percolates but slowly, to a level somewhere 
below the surface, and perhaps may remain for 
months in that position. Some soils require more 
drainage than others, but we are of opinion that all 
soils, whatever their nature, ought to have a drainage 
system. In light or very light soils the drains 
should be put farther from the surface. 
Soils are grouped into classes, and each receives 
its name from the form of ingredients that predom¬ 
inates, such as argillaceous, calcareous, arenaceous 
and humic. In these the percentage is often so 
great that they require other material to be added to 
make them productive. Clay soils require sand; 
sandy soils require clay; and peat soils may indeed 
require both to make them not only fertile, but 
workable. Again as will be apparent, soils are 
classed into sub-divisions of the above, for it is the 
exception, and not the rule to find soils, wholly or 
nearly so, consisting of any one substance. There¬ 
fore, we have sandy loams, vegetable loams, clay 
loams, marly loams. These loams may be con¬ 
sidered very much the same as a compost we prepare 
artificially. We find them to contain due propor¬ 
tions of finely divided clay, lime, sand and decom¬ 
posed organic matter. Such soils are always very 
productive, free and are adapted for all kinds of 
plants. Ordinary garden soil should be of this 
character, if possible. Much, however, can be done 
