942 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 14, 1903. 
WORK OF THE WEEK. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Cucumbers. —Extreme care will now have to be exercised 
during the next two months to maintain an unbroken supply of 
fresh-cut Cucumbers, and without the aid of plenty of hob- 
water pipes it. will be almost impossible to do, so, and even 
then constant attention will be required to keep the plants 
in a, clean and healthy condition. The glass should be kept 
scrupulously clean, .so that as much light as possible can be 
given them. All insect, pests must be kept at bay, such as 
thrip, green and black a.phis, a.nd red spider. Constant mild 
fumigations with XL All vaporiser will effect, this, as regards 
aphis and thrip, and a. moist atmosphere will successfully ward 
off attacks of the latter. The evaporating pan should be kept 
well charged with farmyard liquid, and the walls and paths 
kept constantly damped down with the same. Apply often 
slight top-dressings to the roots, but. before doing SO 1 it. should 
he thoroughly warmed. The root® should have a free run, 
and no plants of any kind stood on the borders. Dust the 
foliage frequently with black sulphur to prevent mildew making 
its appearance. Carefully regulate and train the young 
growth as it is made, removing any of the old foliage which 
shows signs of decay, and all young fruit© should be cut. when 
of a fair size, a© these will keep 1 quite fresh if kept, in a warm 
temperature, and the plants will not become distressed. On 
no account must the plant® become dry—a sure cause of bitter¬ 
ness, which is often noticeable, especially in winter Cucumbers. 
The old Syon House i® still one of the very best to grow for 
mid-winter use; it has a splendid constitution, is of fine 
quality, and veiy prolific. Young seedling plants which were 
sown last, month must now be nursed .along carefully. These 
should be elevated near the glass over the hot-water pipes, and 
potted on in the house in which they are growing, using a, light 
porous compost. The pots should be well drained, and do not 
pot. firmly, and place both the pots and compost in the house 
the night before, so that no. chill be given them. The plants, 
should be allowed to make quite 12 in. of growth before plant¬ 
ing in their permanent, quarters. 
French Beans. — Some difficulty will now be experienced in 
keeping up a. supply of these, and, like Cucumbers, these re¬ 
quire plenty of artificial heat, at this season. Grow on the 
plants as near the glass a® possible in, the forcing house; 
thoroughly syringe the foliage with tepid water on bright, 
mornings, a.nd use warm water for watering purposes. Those 
in bearing should be given weak manure. Make another good 
sowing of Canadian Wonder in 5-in. pots; and pot on into two 
sizes larger when ready. The pots should be well drained, 
a.nd a suitable compost for this time of the year will be three 
parts leaf-soil, one light loam, and one road sand, which should 
be thoroughly warmed before using. 
Rhubarb. —Introduce to the Mushroom bouse some fresh, 
clumps about, ©very fortnight; these answer much better to. 
forcing when placed in whole as dug up. Now is a. capital time 
to make fresh plantations, care being taken to select reliable 
varieties, ais there are so many kinds cultivated which are' 
practically worthless when compared with the better sorts, I 
have found the somewhat new variety named the Sutton to be 
one of the very best, and worthy of a place in any garden. It 
has a very fine, taking appearance, and 1 the quality is all that 
can be dusired. Rhubarb enjoys .a deeply-cultivated soil; con¬ 
sequently, it should be trenched to the depth of 3 ft., and plenty 
of farmyard manure should be incorporated. The old ©tools 
may be divided into single crowns; and planted a. distance of 
4 ft, from plant to plant a.nd 5 ft, between the rows: On very 
heavy, cold, retentive soils the ground should now be prepared, 
hut on that of a light, porous nature planting may be pro¬ 
ceeded with at. once. A stout stick should be placed close to 
each plant to denote its whereabouts, and the surface well 
mulched with ha.lf-decayed stable manure. 
Take every favourable opportunity for getting manure and 
other suitable ingredients wheeled on to the land, so that dig¬ 
ging and trenching can be proceeded with. Free the surface 
of all weeds a.nd rubbish, which should be burned and the ashes 
returned to the ground. Be prepared for severe weather, and 
have everything in the way of protecting material ready at 
hand, so that it can be applied at any moment, if required, and 
bear in mind that extra precautions will have to be taken this 
winter owing to the heavy rainfall. E. Beckett. 
Aldenha.m House Gardens, Elstree. 
Among the Orchids. 
Dandrobiums —The bulk of the. deciduous section of Den- 
drobiums will now have reached the stage of complete rest. 
For several weeks to come the plants will need careful attention 
to enable them to retain their normal condition, which, in due 
course; will have its effect apparent, in the quantity and quality 
of the flowers when they have expanded. It is not the easiest, 
operation for a. cultivator to- meet in the withholding or afford¬ 
ing root, moisture to 1 plants when in a practically dormant state, 
when the conditions under which the plants have' to be cul¬ 
tivated are altogether artificial; the changeable conditions pre¬ 
vailing outside, the amount of atmospheric moisture contained 
in the house, have all to be taken into consideration. Such 
seasons as have prevailed this year, where the practically sun¬ 
less summer and autumn, makes the resting period of light- 
loving plants all the more difficult., and the improperly ripened 
growths need more than ordinary care at the present season. 
Excess of moisture brings with it spotting, and oft-times the 
growth recently made will decay and rot off at the base where 
immatured. On the other hand, it. is necessary to prevent 
undue shrivelling. Where bulbs of Dendrobium are permitted 
to shrivel the effect will be apparent, in the diminished quality 
of the flowers. To, know exactly how to treat plants of the 
deciduous section of Dendrobiums is an art, that can only be 
acquired by the careful cultivator who studies minutely the 
various peculiarities characteristic of the subject to be treated 
-with. I regard the resting period by far the most, interesting 
and critical season, as the whole future welfare of the' plant 
depends on the treatment' afforded during the dormant season. 
Pleiones. —This interesting section of wintqr-flowering 
plants; which are now removed to' the genus Coelogyne, are 
not nearly soi extensively cultivated as then 1 merits deserve. 
The two best, kinds are 1 P. macula,ta, and P. lagenaria. These 
two varieties present so' many differences from a, horticultural 
point off view that for garden purposes it is small wonder 
that the name Pleionei seems preferable among gardeners to 
the botanically correct name Coelogyne. Where an inter¬ 
mediate house is procurable the necessary requirements of the 
plants are easily provided. There are certainly no more de¬ 
sirable subjects, worthy of the attention of amateurs than these 
■two kinds. They are deciduous plants, the leaves falling 
immediately after the pseudo-bulbs reach maturity, and after 
a, few weeks of inactivity the flower-scapes make their appear¬ 
ance, and flowering while the plants are denuded of all foliage 
they have obtained the common name of “ Indian Crocus,” 
The cultural requirements, are simple. As soon a,s the' 
flowering season is past the pseudo-bulb,s should be turned out 
of their pots. After all the old compost, and decayed matter 
has been removed from about the roots the plants should be 
placed at intervals of about 1 in. apart, into shallow, well- 
drained pans. The potting compost should consist of fibrous 
loam and leaf soil in, about, equal parts; to which a. liberal 
sprinkling of finely-broken crocks and rough sand should be 
added. Tire compost should be made moderately firm, and 
the surface covered with a layer of chopped sphagnum moss 
Water with rain-water as soon as potting is, complete. Careen 
application of root moisture is necessary until in full growth | 
when more liberal treatment is necessary. They do bed 
suspended near the roof glass; where they may obtain ample 
light. H. J. 
