74 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 24, 1903. 
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How to Make an Apple Room. 
Gardeners and amateurs who do not possess a good Apple¬ 
keeping room should take advantage of the present spell of hard 
weather and make on©. Most gardeners can do a bit of rough 
carpentering, so it would not be a difficult task, provided the 
necessary wood could be procured. The one I am in charge 
of was made by the late owner himself, which I will now describe 
xii the simplest manner I can. Let the reader imagine a huge 
wooden 1 box, without a lid, turned upside down, and occupying 
one end of a large tool shed—inside the shed, of course. The 
lieight of this so-called box is 8 ft., and not quite so high as 
the side wall of the shed. The doorway is in the centre. The 
shelves run all round the room, commencing on one side of the 
door and terminating at the other, leaving a space down the 
centre for storing, etc. ; a hole is made through the wall at each 
end for air. Apples keep remarkably well here ; also seed 
Potatos, Dahlia roots, etc., underneath the shelves, without any 
covering whatever. When frost sets in I simply have to block 
up the airholes and keep the outer shed door closed. To make 
a room similar to above commence by putting in the uprights 
(deal posts 2g in. by 3 in. are strong enough), arranging them in 
four rows, so that the shelves can be secured to t/tiem. One 
row of these should be fastened to the wall. Next the cross¬ 
bars, which need not be so thick as the uprights. The top or 
roof can then be nailed on ; § in. boards are thick enough for 
this purpose. If the outhouse at command is underceiled, this 
would be a great help. The sides and shelves are then easily 
managed. Do not forget the airholes. G. Bailey. 
Clerodendron. 
A genus of the natural order Yerbenacese contains about 70 
species, many of which are the most beautiful stove flowering 
plants we cultivate. The best known, and doubtless the most 
beautiful species, is Thomsonse (Balfouri), a native of West 
Tropical Africa. 
It produces its flowers in! early summer, and the beauty of the 
scarlet corolla is greatly enhanced by the inflated calyx, which is 
pure white, and which exists and is an object of attraction for a 
considerable time after the corolla has fallen. 
It should be borne in mind that the flower is produced from 
the lateral buds of strong young growths of the previous season ; 
therefore any strong shoots from the base of the plants should be 
encouraged to lengthen by cutting out old wood, and removing 
flowering shoots as soon as the bloom is past. Splendens, also a 
native of West Tropical Africa, is a beautiful plant, but is not so 
Auriferous as Thomsonse, and does not possess the beautiful 
showy calyx so prominent in that species. Its flowers are scarlet. 
C. speciosum is a garden hybrid between the two species men¬ 
tioned, and is the most floriferous of all. Its flowers are rose- 
coloured, the calyx being persistent, and also of a pretty rosy 
colour. I have seen this plant start flowering in spring and re¬ 
main, an object of beauty the whole of the summer, the calicos 
lasting for months before appearing at all shabby. 
C. umbellatum (scandems) is also an African species, which is 
valuable on account of the pinky whiteness of its flowers ; it also 
has the additional attraction of blooming in mid-winter (De¬ 
cember and January). 
These four plants mentioned will be found to be a great acqui¬ 
sition to the cool stove as climbers, and if possible should be 
planted in a border, when strong growths will be produced, which 
will flower well if suspended from the roof. 
C. fallax, native of Java, is the best of the shrubby species. 
Its scarlet flowers are produced in a terminal corymb, and the 
plants last in bloom for a considerable time in. a warm greenhouse. 
C. fragrans, a Chinese species, is a delightful plant, well worth 
cultivating for the sake of the delicious perfume of its white 
flowers, which may be truly said to rival that of the famous 
Stephanotis, The. variety flore pleno, a double variety, also 
possesses the sweet perfume of the type. 
All the above mentioned species may be propagated by cuttings. 
A suitable soil should consist of half ’cpm. and the remainder 
peat leaf soil, and sand. 
C. fallax I would recommend to be propagated by seed sown, 
in spring. These seedlings if potted on will fill 6in. pots, and 
flower much later than cuttings ; in fact, I have seen excellent 
batches in flower in October and November from seed sown in 
spring. 
The chief enemies of these plants are thrip and red spider; 
frequent syringing will, however, keep these in check. 
K. B. E. 
Propagation. 
In selecting cuttings preference should always be given; to those 
of moderate strength. It will be found that these strike more 
freely than the grosser shoots, which often shrink considerably, 
causing them to become loose in the soil. 
Cuttings from hollow stemmed plants and those with a large 
pith should be taken; off with a slight heel. 
If care is taken, that very little sap is evaporated some of it 
finds its way to the base of the cutting, and forms what is known 
as a callus, and it is the treatment afforded which decides 
whether this shall speedily enlarge (as it does by tiny ruptures of 
the small whitish cushions), and eventually emit roots or turn 
brown and decay away. 
It must be borne in mind that hardwooded plants, such as 
Ericas, etc., form a callus slowly, and this must be preserved in 
a healthy state until the cutting above begins to grow and 
demands food. 
Then it is that the difference between the healthy and unhealthy 
callus becomes, apparent. In the former case it responds quickly, 
sending out its small foragers, but in the latter the cutting may 
grow slightly, but exhausts itself in doing so, and withers away— 
in fact, dies of starvation. 
Cuttings that are known to occupy a longer time in rooting 
should always have a frame or case to themselves ; as a rule they 
require a drier treatment and much greater care in keeping the 
soil sweet; many ingredients, are used for mixing with soil to 
attain this end; pounded charcoal is one of the best, as it 
absorbs impurities.—J. C. 
The Preparation of Soils. 
We had an excellent article by Mr. Dick the other week on 
the evils of “ working by time-table.” I would like to say 
a few words regarding another evil that a great many gardeners 
fall into, and that is the habit of treating all soils in the same 
way. In last week’s issue' a very able article on the kitchen 
garden was given. I endorse most of the writer’s ideas, but 
at the same time it is very apparent that When he advises the 
trenching of heavy soils, in spring, he has never had ex¬ 
perience of really heavy clay land. I had charge for seven years 
of a garden which consisted of heavy clay, with a subsoil of 
very stiff yellow clay. The only advantage, this garden had was 
that it had a tine southern, exposure. Now, to trench or even 
dig this so 1 in spring was simply to court disaster. My method 
(which proved in every way satisfactory) was to manure with 
leaves and stable dung in autumn as early as possible, and dig 
up rough. Ridging was of no use, as when you came to level 
the ridges for cropping the- centres were in lumps which simply 
refused to be broken up. This, it may be argued, was an extreme 
case, and it was foolish to put a garden on such soil. That may 
be, but I have worked in at least other two gardens in different 
counties very little, if any, better than the one mentioned 
Although so difficult to work, all of these gardens carried 
splendid crops. In fact, one seldom sees finer Strawberries, 
Black Currants, Plums, Peas, Cauliflowers, Sprouts, Roses, 
Carnations, Mignonette, and many other crops. Of course, root 
crops were not always a success, and to use cow manure was 
simply to poison the soil. 
My successor was one of those with trenching on the brain ; 
what was the result? Nearly everything was a failure. It may 
be advanced that at some future time the advantage of th i 
trenching may be sesn. In this case I rather doubt it, but even 
if it is so few employers will wait for years to reap the benefit 
of their servant’s theory. 
I had charge of another garden of an entirely different kind. 
It was good light, loam on. gravel. The soil was very shallow, 
and to have trenched this 3 ft. deep would have been to turn 
the garden into a gravel heap. The only method for this soil 
was very toavy .coatings each year of cow manure. Spring 
digging was most successful, as, the locality being very rainy, 
if dung was applied too early most of the virtue was washed 
away befon crops could benefit from it. Other gardens I have 
worked in where the soil was a. deep loam. These were greatly 
benefited by deep working. I could -add many more cases 
that have- oome under my notice, but I think enough has been 
said to prove that although theory in gardening is very useful, 
still, if not well blended with practical knowledge, it may lead 
to serious failure. Charles Blair. 
Preston, Linlithgow. 
