THE GARDENING WORLD. 
831 
August 24, 1901. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
This is an exceedingly busy time just now with the 
men in this department of the garden as propagating 
is going on in every direction, and putting in cuttings 
and attending to them in the propagating pits takes 
almost all the time available. 
Crotons and Dracaenas should now be 
put into the pots in which they are to remain through 
the winter and given all the sun possible to harden 
their wood and to increase the colouring. Those 
which have their pots full of roots should be given a 
small quantity of soot water occasionally. This 
will be found to give tone to the colours, and is not so 
liable to stimulate the plants into growth as is other 
manures. Except in those which were struck late, 
and it is desired to grow them on, they should be 
stopped from making any further growth as much 
as possible and encouraged to ripen what they have 
made by giving a mere liberal supply of air and as 
much sunshine as possible. By properly ripening 
the growth during the autumn they are better 
enabled to withstand the evils attending fire-heat and 
the long periods of sunless weather which they have 
to experience during the winter. Keep the syringe 
well to work while you can, as this will save days 
of sponging later in the year, and will keep the 
plants in a good condition. Those Crotons or 
Codiaeums which have the narrow twisted leaves, 
such as Warreni, should be well looked alter to keep 
them clean, as when once they are allowed to get 
scale on them they may almost as well be thrown 
away, as they are generally disfigured in cleaning, 
and nothing looks worse than a decorative plant with 
disfigured foliage. 
Stove Creepers. —Those which will bear 
such treatment should be thinned out now, so as to 
allow those shoots which are to remain to have a 
better chance of ripening before the dull weather. 
All root climbers should be induced to stop growing 
now, as growth made after this time seldom 
ripens. 
Cleaning.— During the coming months the 
houses in all establishments are more or less crowded, 
and like all other places where crowding takes 
place, if not clean, things soon get in a bad state, 
and disease makes ravages in all directions. It is 
difficult to find time for such work, but to be on the 
safe side, and to give the plants every possible 
chance, it should not be neglected. There is also a 
great advantage to be gained for the plants in the 
washing of the glass, as it admits a greater amount 
of light. In the neighbourhood of large towns, 
London especially, it is necessary for the welfare of 
the plants to wash the glass on the outside every 
month, as the deposits of carbon and other matter 
with which the atmosphere of towns is laden soon 
make a heavy shade. 
When washing a house from the inside, always 
take pains to thoroughly wash out and disinfect all 
corners and brush out the matter between the laps 
of the glass. If these little details are neglected the 
house might as well not have been washed as far as 
disinfecting is concerned. The walls should have a 
good scrubbing and be given a fresh coat of lime- 
wash. When the glass is clean and the walls are 
nice and white, the interior has a bright appearance 
even if the weather is dull and the stages are over¬ 
crowded. 
In the stove especially, the tops of the pots very 
soon become covered with a mass of the lower forms 
of vegetable life, very interesting botanically, but 
not desirable where higher orders of plants are in 
favour. This should be picked off with a label or 
something similar, a budding knife handle perhaps 
being more used than anything for the purpose. If 
the surface of the soil is kept pricked up for about a 
quarter of an inch deep, these Mosses and Algae 
will not be able to grow. It is not an undertaking 
which will occupy a long time, and will be of great 
benefit to the plants, as it affords a better aeration of 
the soil, and the roots are thus preserved in a more 
healthy condition. 
Ferns.— These should now have completed 
most of their growth, and the fronds may be hardened 
by a judicious exposure to more light and air. 
Discontinue giving stimulants except a weak dose of 
soot-water occasionally to keep up the colour in the 
foliage. Nothing, I believe, is more conducive to 
the deepening of the colour in Fern fronds than 
soot water; indeed, this is, in my opinion, 
unrivalled as a producer of colour in foliage. 
Freesias. —There are many bulbous plants 
which require potting at this time of the year, aDd 
it is time now that these, the sweetest of all our 
bulbs, should be potted up. Half-a-dozen in a 
48-size pot will be quite sufficient if the 
bulbs are good. If they are home saved they 
should be carefully sorted and all the largest ones 
potted by themselves. Give them a rich, light soil, 
and allow them to come along naturally, always 
keeping them as close to the glass as possible, and 
as soon as the blades reach a height of about 2 in. 
four light sticks should be put round them and a 
strip of bast put round as neat as possible. If the 
precaution of putting the sticks in early is taken 
there will be far less fallen, unsightly pots of plants 
to be seen, as if they are neglected and once 
allowed to fall they can never be righted again. 
Mignonette. —This fragrant flower should be 
had in bloom throughout the winter. This can 
easily be done by making sowings at intervals of 
about a fortnight and thinning the plants out to 
about five in a pot as soon as the best can be 
selected. Always use a rich soil and keep the plants 
within a few inches of the glass; a shelf in the 
greenhouse is where they are generally brought 
along. Later in the season they may be transferred 
to the warm fernery if there is a shelf available for 
them. 
Calceolarias.— The young plants of these 
must be watched and potted on as soon as they 
require it. 
Cinerarias.— Keep these in a cool, moist pit, 
and as their pots fill with roots shift them on into 
larger sizes, but never more than one size at a time. 
They will be greatly benefited by a syringing in 
the early part of the afternoon when the weather 
will permit. Always remember that prevention is 
better than cure, and as they are very susceptible to 
the attacks of insects they should be fumigated once 
a week. 
Cyclamen. —They should be dipped periodi¬ 
cally to ensure their being free from mites and other 
injurious pests. Those which have filled their pots 
with roots and are not to be potted again should be 
helped by frequent applications of very weak 
manure—sheep dung diluted with water when 
obtainable. 
Asters.— Those which are grown in pots should 
be well fed with manure, especially at the time 
when they are forming their flower buds. Abun¬ 
dance of water should be given as they soon lose 
their leaves if allowed to get dry. The dwarf species 
of Aster are not nearly so much used for pot culture 
as they deserve. 
Palms.— See that these do not suffer from lack 
of moisture either at the root or in the atmosphere, 
as they soon show the ill effects of a deficiency 
either way. As they are generally grown in small 
pots, in comparison with the size of the plant, they 
should be fed at intervals with a good Palm manure. 
barelp fruit Garden. 
The work of gathering the various fruits is still the 
chief work of the day, and will be until the end of 
autumn. Be sure that fruit which has to be stored 
is dry, and wherever possible store it in single layers, 
as all fruits keep much better under such conditions. 
Fruits ripening.— Every gardener knows 
that for wall fruit and for most other fruit abundance 
of sunshine is the cbiief thing for producing well- 
coloured fruits, and not only giving them a better 
colour, but also a far better flavour. With this 
fact in mind the gardener should frequently go over 
his trees and thin out or dispose the shoots in such a 
manner as to allow t.he fruit all the light and air 
possible. If the trees are dry at the root they 
cannot be expected to produce juicy fruit and should 
therefore more than at any time be supplied with 
sufficient root moisture during the time the fruit is 
making its final swelling. When it has finished 
swelling it may not be so easily affected by dryness 
at the root, but it is a fallacy which ought to be 
expelled as soon as possible that the roots should be 
kept dry at this period. It must be borne in mind 
that there are the next season's fruits tc be pro¬ 
duced on the same tree-and that the rudimentary 
buds are at this time forming and the sap is being 
elaborated for their next year’s development. 
Summer pruning. —Trees will not make 
much more growth this season, and those shoots 
which are to be retained should have all the room, 
light and air possible. Nature, left to herself, 
corrects herself, but when trees are grown uoder 
purely artificial conditions, such as those afforded 
by wall culture, man has to supply the place of 
Nature in many ways and regulate the growth so 
that a well-balanced tree is maintained. It is at 
this time of the season that trees are apt to make 
here and there gross sappy growth. This must be 
watched for and checked immediately, as it robs 
the other shoots, and if allowed to grow will spoil 
both the shape and the constitution of the tree.— F.J. 
©leanings fttrnt ffje Duvrlti 
of Science. 
The subjects described below were brought up to 
the Scientific Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society on the 13th inst. 
Iris Leaves Diseased. — Mr. Wilks brought 
leaves of a German Iris thickly bestrewn with brown 
spots, which become confluent, and eventually bring 
about the death of the plant. Dr. Cooke identifies 
the fungus as Heterosporium gracile, and recom¬ 
mends spraying with sulphide of potassium or 
ammoniacal solution of copper. All diseased leaves 
should be forthwith burnt. 
Banana Disease in Egypt.—Mr. Lionel Saun¬ 
ders made some enquiries about this, but, in the 
absence of specimens, the committee could not pro¬ 
nounce an opinion. 
Ceropegia debilis.—Mr. Odell exhibited speci¬ 
mens of this curious stove climber from the Zam¬ 
besi. 
Lycoris squamigera, and other Flowers.— 
Mr. Worsley showed flowers of this species which 
turn of a slaty-blue when exposed to the light. He 
also showed flowers of a Hippeastrum with rosy, 
acute, perianth segments, traversed by veins of a 
deeper colour. The leaves are produced some 
months after the flower is expanded. The filaments 
are more exserted than in H. stylosum, to which it 
is nearly allied. From the same gentleman came 
flowers of the single and double varieties of Zinnia 
haageana, and of Tagetes patula nana. Seeds from 
this latter form, known as Cloth of Gold, produced 
pure yellow flowers, and some had, except in their 
dwarf habit, reverted to the large African Marigold. 
Both single and double forms were observe!. Mr. 
Worsley also alluded to the variation in the Dahlia. 
Seeds of a white-tipped variety produced 70 per cent, 
of self-coloured flowers, and 30 per cent, of flowers 
varying in colour from red and yellow to white. 
Diseased Crocus Corms.—Mr. Bowles showed 
diseased corms r which were referred to Dr. Cooke 
for examination. 
Proliferous Aconite.—Mr. Bowles also showed 
flowers of an Aconite, in which the stamens and 
carpels were absent, and in their place were 
secondary flower buds, each with fine green sepals, 
no petals, numerous stamens, and generally no 
carpels. 
Plantago major.—Mr. Bowles exhibited fine 
specimens of the so-called Rose Plantain, in which 
the bracts are replaced by tufts of leaves. 
Mandragora officinalis. — The egg-shaped 
fruits of this species were also shown by Mr. 
Bowles. 
Osmunda regalis.—Mr. Druery exhibited fronds 
of an entirely new type of Osmunda regalis recently 
found in Co. Kerry by M. M. A. Cowan, of Peui- 
cuick, and W. Boyd, of Melrose. Nine plants in all 
were found, six of which were fertile, and three barren, 
the latter being more finely cut than the former, and 
apparently forming the plumose type of the species. 
In both forms the usually simple pinnules, with 
quite smooth edges, are deeply lobed on the edges 
on the lower and larger divisions, which, towards the 
upper part of the frond, merges into a distinct and 
thorough tertiary pinnation, rendering the frond 
extremely handsome. The fertile spikes consist 
also of rows of bead like sporangia, while normally 
these are only slightly lobed. Mr. Druery his named 
Mr. Cowan’s form O. r. decomposita, reserving the 
naming of Mr. Boyd’s find until its distinct character 
is confirmed. 
