76 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 24, lt)03. 
The Juniors’ Page and Correspondence. 
Renovating Rose Bushes (A. T. P.).—Your case is not a 
singular one, for Rose bushes, after a number of years and 
frequent pruning, are liable to get out of order. Numbers of 
roots die off, until the plants are supported merely by long 
rambling roots. The best method of dealing with such worn- 
out Roses is to lift them, renovate the ground by trenching, 
manuring, and the addition of fresh soil. Indeed, the addi¬ 
tion of fresh soil is of primary importance to the Roses in 
gardens where they have been long grown. When you lift the 
Roses cut back the long rambling roots, making clean cuts with 
a sharp knife. These roots may be cuit back to within a few 
inches of the stem. This operation had better be done some 
time in the early part of March, when the soil is in a suitable 
condition. 
Protecting Plants in Frosty Weather (H- Elliott). —In 
rooms where fires are not kept burning it is a good plan to 
remove the plants for the winter and stand them in some isolated 
position, where they can be covered with several layers of dry 
newspapers. The mere fact of their being covered with two or 
more layers of paper will keep away more frost than you are 
likely to get in the rooms of a dwelling-house, except in the 
very severest of winters. On the departure of frost the plants 
may be returned to their former position near the glass, where 
they will get all the light available. 
Fiery Thorn Making Only a Bush (,I D.).—The method 
of treating this Thorn much determines the height to which 
the plant will grow. When trained to a wall the tree makes 
fairly rapid headway, and attains to a height much greater than 
when planted in the open. If planted in the shrubbery or upon 
the grass, it will only make a bush not exceeding 3 ft. or 4 ft. 
in height for many years. So that if you want it to grow tall, 
you must train it against a wail. 
Wheeling Manure on Frozen Ground (H. Wills). —-During 
the prevalence of frost is the best time for wheeling manure on 
the kitchen garden ground, or anywhere else where the soil is 
soft. It will do little or no harm, even although the soil is 
somewhat frozen, because if the manure is left in heaps upon 
it, it will serve to thaw the ground. On the other hand, we 
should not advise you to wiieel manure on to ground that is 
more or less deeply covered with snow or ice, because the snow 
being covered and the ground frozen beneath, it serves to keep 
it in a sodden condition for a long time. 
Best Plan of Keeping Potatos (E. M. R.).—What we con¬ 
sider the best plan of keeping Potatos in the open is to make 
shallow pits upon the ground, not exceeding 6 in. in depth. 
The tubers lie level provided the ground is firm to receive them. 
Straw or turves should be laid over the tubers, and then left 
for a short time in the autumn to let the superfluous moisture 
pass away. The complete covering may be given at two dif¬ 
ferent times, but the whole need not exceed I2i in. in depth, 
and thejinal earthing up of the covering should he given before 
danger of frost occurs. Taking out the soil around the pit will 
leave a hole, hut no water must be permitted to stand in this. 
Provision should be made for draining the water away. 
Killarney Fern Losing its Fronds (H. A. R.).—It is almost 
impossible to grow filmy Ferns in any house unless they are 
immediately provided with a bell-glass, or Wardian case, to 
preserve moisture in the atmosphere sufficient to maintain the 
fronds in a healthy condition. In the meantime keep the Ferns 
well watered, or at least keep the soil moist, and during the 
present or next month make preparations for the protection of 
the Ferns by some of the methods above mentioned 1 . You will 
have no difficulty in the matter of temperature, but you must 
secure a moist condition of the atmosphere. This must not be 
over-done, however, as it will prove advantageous to have the 
cover removed occasionally in order to- wipe away superfluous 
and condensed moisture.' 
Native Country of Genista (L. M.).—The proper name of 
the plant you mention is Cytisus fragrans, a native of the 
Canary Islands. There cannot be much doubt, about this, and 
although the plant may not be very plentiful in the islands 
stated, the reason may‘be rather the inaccessible positions upon 
which the plant grows than that it is really scarce. We have 
heard the question put before, and answered, that the plant was 
unknown in the wild state, but we think that this may be merely 
a repetition of an error. 
Rockery in a Shady Corner (A. S.).— It is all a mistake to 
believe that kettles, meat tins, pails, and other rubbish form 
a good foundation for rockeries, as they cannot be of any material 
good to the plants whatever, and may be harmful, by draining 
away the moisture from the roots of the plants, and in other 
w'ays keeping the soil in an unduly open condition. Soil is 
really the best material of which you can build a rockery, and 
you can generally contrive to get a sufficient quantity from 
another part of the garden for the purpose. Failing this, how¬ 
ever, you can always excavate a site on which to build a rockery 
and pile up the soil upon the higher ground. By such means 
you can always get height and depth, and a variety of aspects, 
by a careful use of the building material, and later on by plant¬ 
ing trees or bushes in order to hide any undesirable objects, or 
even the artificial nature of the design of the rockery. 
Keeping Tuberous Rooted Begonias (P. D.).—Very little 
heat is really necessary in order to keep tuberous rooted Begonias 
during winter, the chief object being to keep them fairly dry 
and protected from frost. Too. much drying up would certainly 
be. detrimental, so that the safer plan in the case of p-ot plants 
is to keep the corms or tubers in the soil in which they had 
grown until the plants commence growing afresh, when they 
should be repotted. Tubers which have been grown in the open 
are best preserved in cocoa-nut fibre after having been dried off. 
Those which have been grown in pots may be treated in the 
same way, provided you cannot spare them sufficient room in 
the house. The cocoa-nut fibre and tubers should always be 
stored in boxes and kept in a frost-proof greenhouse or other 
place. 
Trenching Heavy and Light Soils (R. Bextly). —In the 
case of light soils autumn is certainly the best time for carry¬ 
ing out trenching operations, because it has time to settle down 
firmly before planting time or sowing time arrives. Such soils, 
when planted in autumn, give more satisfaction 'in droughty 
weather than those that have been trenched late in the spring. 
Heavy soils that are trenched in the autumn are liable to get 
sodden during winter, but that experience depends very much 
upon the character of the soil and the district in which it occurs. 
Most cultivators get good results by trenching heavy loam or 
clay in the autumn, turning them up to the frost, by which they 
are pulverised and broken down to a fine tilth before seed-sowing 
time arrives. 
Chrysanthemums for Winter Blooming (Chakles Wood).— 
Very suitable varieties for your purpose are L. Canning. Niveus, 
Princess Victoria, Lady Lawrence, and possibly some of the 
newer ones of more recent introduction. Concerning these, you 
could get information from week to week by consulting the pages 
or columns of The Gabdexixg Would. The late ones just 
mentioned are reliable, wliibe-flowered varieties which you ought 
to have in the first place. Others could be added from time to 
time. Propagation of these late varieties can be carried on even 
up to May, June, and July. 
Evergreen Climbers for the Wall of a House (T. Davis).— 
Some weeks ago we gave the names of a number of wall-climbers 
which should meet your requirements, and you might consult 
our pages for the end of November and Imginning of December. 
Anyway, a good half-dozen would include Azara mierophylla, 
Cotoneaster mierophylla, Crataegus Pyracantba Lalandi, Garrya 
elliptic®, Osmanthus Aquifolium, and Elaeagnus pungens, or 
some of its variegated forms. Many of the Ives, both green and 
variegated, are also very pretty. None of the above-named 
species are actually climbers, but they are often grown for such 
a purpose by being trained upon walls, and they prove highly 
suitable. They do not attain a great height, but their foliage 
is dense, and hides the. brickwork effectively, as well as lending 
a warm and sheltered appearance to the doorway. 
DELAYS in the post may be avoided if you will, 
at once, alter the address of THE GARDENING 
WORLD in your books to 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, 
London, E.C. 
