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THE GARDENING WORLD . 
March H, 1903. 
WORK OF THE WEEK. 
Fruits under Glass. 
Cucumbers.—Plants that have been in bearing since Novem¬ 
ber will be getting exhausted, and should be dispensed with 
immediately the succession plants begin to fruit. I like to sow 
a few seeds about the middle of December. These are ready to 
plant out in four weeks’ time, and begin to crop the second 
or third week in March. Where the bine has a run of 5 ft. or 
6 ft. up the trellis no stopping should take place until they 
reach the top, but lateral growths may be pinched at the second 
or third joint. Do not crop heavily or the plants soon get 
stunted, and when in active growth pinch each shoot the first 
leaf above the fruit. Apply a rich top-dressing of fibrous loam 
and fresh horse droppings, with a little soot or wood ashes, as 
often as the roots appear on the surface. An inch and a half of 
soil is sufficient, and better than double that quantity at any 
one time. With some of our modern houses, and large panes 
of glass aie used, it may be found necessary to 1 lightly shade the 
plants from 11 a.m. to closing time. Syringe the foliage 
before 9 o’clock in the morning, and where shade is afforded 
little or no ventilation will be required, or, if it is, let the 
temperature reach 80deg. before so doing, closing about 2.30 
with plenty of atmospheric moisture about the house. The 
night temperature ought not to fall much below 70deg. at this 
date. Sow Iiollisson’s Telegraph, or other approved variety, 
in small 60 pots for planting on hot-beds next month, but shift 
the seedlings into 5-in. pots before getting pot-bound. 
Melons, sown about the middle of January, will be fast tilling 
their allotted space, though no stopping of the leading shoot 
should be practised until it has reached within a foot of its 
limit; but, as in the case of the Cucumber, the bottom laterals 
ought to be pinched. Then the secondary growth often produces 
female blossoms about the same time as the laterals nearer the 
top do. As soon as three or four are open on a plant, fertilise 
about midday, when the air is dry as well as the pollen. This 
is done by plucking a male blossom, denuding it of its 
petals, and inserting it in, or rather impregnating, the fruit or 
female blossom, using a fresh one in each case. Syringing 
overhead must be discontinued while setting the flowers, which 
must be practised two or three days in succession, or until from 
three to six fruits are seen to be swelling away together, when 
the point of the lateral should be pinched at the first or second 
leaf above the fruit. To keep up a supply, sowings must be 
made every three weeks up to the middle of July, which is 
best done in small pots singly. Melons delight in a bottom 
heat of 80deg., and if pots are used for early crops, see the 
plants do not get too dry after once the fruit begins to swell. 
Good turfy loam, with a little wood ashes and mortar rubble, 
made veiy Ann, will grow good Melons.. 
Figs.—Those growing in pots will require abundance of water 
at the root, diluted with manure water or a sprinkling of arti¬ 
ficials twice or thrice weekly, and well soaked in. Permanently 
planted-out trees should be freely disbudded, and unless exten¬ 
sion of the shoots is a necessity such should be pinched at the 
fifth or sixth leaf, the shoot emanating therefrom carrying a 
second crop of fruit, and this stopping will assist the first crop 
to swell as well. The night temperature should read 60deg. 
to 63deg., with an advance of lOdeg. or 15deg. on bright days 
with full ventilation, closing with plenty of atmospheric mois¬ 
ture about 2.30 p.m. Unlieated houses should be now started, 
husbanding all the sun heat possible from 3 p.m., syringing the 
wood twice daily. 
Strawberries in pots, with swelling fruit, will require daily 
attention, seeing the plants do not suffer for water, which may 
be lightly coloured with guano at each watering until colour¬ 
ing of the fruit begins. Succession batches should be thinned 
in good time, leaving six to twelve fruits of as even size as pos¬ 
sible, supporting these with forked sticks before the stalk gets 
bent. A night temperature of 65deg. to 70deg. will suit, re¬ 
moving to cooler quarters when nearly ripe. Fertilise daily 
with a camel-hair brush. For those in flower, a shelf near the 
glass, with a night temperature of 50deg. to 55deg., is the best 
place for them. 
Pineapples.—Suckers put in last autumn should be trans¬ 
ferred to other pots; those standing in 7 in. and 8 in. will re¬ 
quire 11 in. and 12 in. in diameter; smaller plants in 5 in and 
6 in. may be placed in 9 in. and 10 in. pots. To good turfy 
loam, with the finest particles taken away, add a 10-in. potful 
of bone meal, soot, and small charcoal respective!}" to each 
barrow load of loam, thoroughly mixing together, which should 
be made warm before using. Pot moderately firm, and see 
that the plants are fairly moist before re-potting, so that no 
water is required for several days after this work has been done 
and plunge the plants as advocated in a previous calendar. 
Bict.on, Devonshire. James Mayxe, 
Among the Orchids. 
Thunias.—The deciduous Thunias are a race of plants 
which are seldom seen well done or represented at all in many 
of the prominent collections in this country. Their desirable 
characteristics recommend them for more extensive cultivation. 
The plants lay resting and in a dormant state for the greater 
part of the winter, and will at the present season commence to 
produce growth from the base of the last season’s stems. 
Where this is the case', the plants should be turned carefully 
out of their pots ; the old potting compost should then be re¬ 
moved from among the roots. If the young growth has 
advanced to the length of 2 in. or 3 in., new roots will be 
emitting from their base; care should therefore be observed 
that, while picking away the compost, the tender roots do not 
get damaged. When cleared of the material all dead and 
decayed matter should be cut away. Carefully examine the 
base of the old stems*, for scale and other insect pests find pro¬ 
tection under the vegetable matter that frequently collects 
about the base. 
When ready for repotting, a stick sufficiently large to secure 
the plants should be attached to each stem. This will hold 
the plant in position until such time as. the new roots get hold 
of the compost and the plant becomes re-established. The pots 
should be sufficiently large to contain the number of stems it 
is desirable to place together in each pot. They should be 
drained to about one-third of their depth with broken crocks. 
The compost should consist of good fibrous loam, peat, leaf 
soil, a little dried cowdung, and sufficient sand or broken crocks, 
to render the compost porous. Tire surface of the pot may be 
covered with sphagnum as well as a little added to the com¬ 
post. The plants should be fixed in position so that the base 
of the old growth is just below the rim of the pot; press the 
compost veiy firm. After potting is completed, give the plants 
a good watering with rain-water. Arrange in a fairly light 
position of the stove or warm house ; water with discretion 
until the growth gets well away and the roots get. hold of tlrel 
potting compost. A sharp look-out will be necessary for red 
spider, which pests are sure to attack Thunias if the atmo¬ 
spheric conditions are at all dry. The: plants may be freely 
syringed when growth has become vigorous. 
Cattleya citrina.—It is rarely that one sees, this species re¬ 
taining its normal vigour for many years after the plants have 
been imported, but there are exceptions to the rule, and there 
are a few places in which I have found the plants continuing 
in a satisfactory condition for many years. One of the greatest 
faults cultivators make with this species is that they are 
generally subjected to* the conditions of the Cattleya house 
throughout the year. In summer the temperature of the: 
above-mentioned structure is far too hot and dry. During the 
warm months of the year—May to September—the plants 
will do best in the Odontoglossum house, or even under the! 
shade of the Vines in an early vinery from which the fruit 
has been cut. At the end of September, while growth is 
developing, the plants should be removed to a temperature 
ranging from 60 deg. to 65 deg.,' where they will complete 
their growth and produce their flowers in due course in the 
following spring. Little repotting will be required if, whet: 
