January 31, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
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Forcing Sweet Peas 
These deservedly popular flowers may be easily forced, and 
yield a supply of blossom from the end of April, or even earlier, 
quite two months before any can be gathered from outside. 
At a time of year when the gardeners’ resources and ingenuity 
are taxed to supply a variety of decorative material nothing 
is more highly prized than Sweet Peas. We grow a quantity for 
market, and find them profitable. We sow in November, four 
or more seeds in a 60-sized pot, in a cool house or frame, 
and when tall enough, or, rather, when space permits—that 
is, when the Chrysanthemums are cut—we plant out in an 
unheated house, and train them up twigs in the usual way ; 
some we grow in pots—24’s — and train them up the back wall 
of a lean-to house, and we usually pick blooms from the end 
of April till .Tune, and find a ready sale. There is no great 
skill or care required. They must not. suffer from want of 
water, however, when in bloom, or the unexpanded buds will 
drop. If extra fine blooms are required, they may be liberally 
fed with manure-water, or such fertiliser as Clay’s; we use 
both with satisfactory results. 
We only grow a few varieties for this purpose. Emily Hen¬ 
derson, Blanche Burpee, and Mont Blanc for whites; and 
Countess of Radnor, Lady Mary Currie, and Miss Will mbit are 
the varieties we grow this year. A few good colours in quan¬ 
tities suit our purpose better than too large a variety. A. P. 
Propagation of Bedding Lobelias. 
The “bedding-out” system has undergone several changes 
or modifications during the past thirty years or so, involving 
a good many changes among the plants employed for this 
work, but during the entire period the Lobelia has main¬ 
tained a high popularity, and at the present time there are 
no indications of any waning of its popularity. One very plain 
reason for this is that up to the present time it lias no serious 
rival. Another reason for its prolonged popularity is its 
adaptability to the varying styles that have been adopted, from 
the stiff preciseness of the “ carpet ” system to the free and 
easy “ promiscuous ” system of the present day. 
In these circumstances it seems superfluous to sav anything 
about the propagation of the Lobelia, and yet I feel that I am 
justified in offering a few hints on the subject. 
From personal observation, I know that many gardeners 
fail, or, at least, often fail, to raise the necessary stock from 
cuttings, and have therefore to' fall back upon seed. I do 
not condemn propagation from seed (I am not now dealing 
with the raising of new varieties). For some purposes seed¬ 
lings are quite admissible, especially with a variety like Bar¬ 
nard’s Perpetual; but where uniformity of colour and habit is 
requisite, one must depend upon stock raised from cuttings. 
The chief cause of failure is the want of looking ahead. Next 
season’s supply is not thought of till some time in the early 
autumn, when a few plants of each variety are lifted from the 
beds or borders here and there where they ar e least likely to 
j be missed. These are potted or “ boxed,” the result frequently 
being that 50 per cent, to 1 75 per cent, of the plants never 
see the spring ■ in fact, they die off before they have had time 
to make fresh roots. 
I have for many years pursued the following simple method 
of propagation, and cannot remember having lost, more than, a 
single plant of any one variety in any one season. 
At planting-out time I set aside a sufficient number of strong, 
healthy plants of each variety, and as promptly as possible 
pot them up into 4-in. pots, using good turfy loam moderately 
enriched with any manure that comes handy. The pots are 
then stood on a hard bottom where they can get the full sun¬ 
shine, and here they remain till the general housing time, 
when they are transferred to a shelf near the glass in a vinery 
at rest. 
To prevent flowering, the plants are cut or clipped over two 
or three times during the summer, this operation being per¬ 
formed for the last time about the middle of September. In 
January the plants are introduced into heat preparatory to 
taking cuttings in February and March. Of these there will 
be abundance, and there are no cuttings more easily 
rooted. Charles Comfort. 
A Chat about Alpines. 
Possibly one of the greatest charms of the alpine garden or 
rockery to the enthusiastic owner is that his garden is never 
complete. There is always room, even within the narrow scope 
of a small rockery, for addition, alteration, and improvement. 
The formation of a rock garden is not begun and completed 
in one task in the manner we would plant an avenue or build 
a greenhouse. 
The first completed plan of the rockery is but laying the foun¬ 
dation for future development ; the first consignment of plants 
is a nucleus of the future collection, for the love of Alpines 
grows, and the enthusiast is ever on the look-out for fresh 
treasures in the form of new or rare plants wherewith to add 
beauty and value to his collection, and each new plant intro¬ 
duced alters, more or less, the aspect of the wfiiole place. From 
time to time, as the available space becomes occupied, other 
pockets must be formed by the addition of a few more stones 
and fresh soil, or, if the dimensions of the rockery have reached 
the utmost limit, provision for newcomers must be made by 
other methods, such as by diminishing the stock of older in¬ 
habitants, or by dividing the larger pockets into several small 
ones. All this work affords much pleasure to the Alpine 
gardener, and, if executed in artistic manner, will add to the 
interest of the place for those who visit it. 
The first inhabitants of the rock garden are generally plants 
of fairly easy culture and rapid growth, for it is desirable to 
“furnish” the rockery quickly for appearance sake. For this 
purpose Saxifragas, Sedums, Aubrietias, and plants, of that 
order are deservedly popular, many rockeries, indeed, being 
wholly occupied with these old favourites. 
Rocks plants are, however, procurable in endless variety, and 
nothing delights the enthusiast more than obtaining something 
rare. A few plants that may well be sought and procured as 
opportunity presents itself are the following : — 
Menziesia caerulea, that charming little hard-wooded plant, 
erstwhile found growing wild in Scotland, is now rarely met 
with, even under cultivation. It makes a fitting companion 
to the choicer Ericas, and thrives under similar treatment. 
Eveiy rockery should possess some varieties of Heaths, perhaps 
the choicest of all being Erica maweana. 
Bryanthus erectus is another plant that associates well with 
the subjects under notice, while the space between these hard- 
wooded plants forms an ideal home for the beautiful little 
Dalibardia repens. 
In the sunnier parts of the rockery should be got together a 
collection of HeManthemums, which may be obtained in many 
beautiful colours, and in both single and double flowering forms, 
a most pleasing variety being that which bears double chocolate- 
coloured flowers, sent out, I believe, by Messrs. Barr & Sons. 
Androsaces should not be forgotten, especially A. camea, which 
is both showy and easy to grow, while the chaste little A. 
coronopifolia should be freely sown in small patches here and 
there. Seeds germinate freely, and although the plant is but a 
biennial it establishes itself by means of self-sown seeds. A 
plant that associates well with Dodecatheons is Uvularia grandi- 
flora, and a hunt may also be made for the pink-flowered 
Trillium. Incarvillea variabilis is a nice plant for the rockery, 
and with me is hardier than I. Delavayi, which is, however, a 
plant I would not be without. 
The subjects I have named are not new, although some are 
rare. I may mention, however, a new plant of some promise 
which came under my notice last season, it being a Lychnis 
in the way of L. clialcedonica, but with flowers of a peculiar 
terra-cotta shade, and of sufficiently dwarf habit to lender it 
admissible to the rock garden. Heather Bell. 
