484 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 6, 1903. 
Zonal Pelargoniums. —If those plants required for winter 
flowering were treated as advised in a. previous calendar, they 
will now be ready for transferring into their flowering pots. 
^Thei compost for this shift should be rich, and composed of two 
parts loam, one of leaf-soil, and one of decayed horse or cow 
manure, adding plenty of sand or road grit, also a sprinkling 
of soot and bone-meal. We invariably flower them in 6 in. or 
7 in. pots, which should be clean and well drained; by this I 
do not' mean that a large quantity of crocks are to be thrown 
into the pots; a few well placed is what is wanted. Pot firmly, 
and replace the plants in. a cold frame raised upon bricks 
placed at the corners to allow of plenty of air pasing among 
them,-then gradually inure to full air and sun to mature the 
wood. If well watered with a rosed can when potted no more 
will be required for some days, beyond a slight syringing twice 
daily. 
Cyclamen. —The plants raised from seed sown last autumn 
and kept growing gently all winter should by now be fit for 
shifting into their flowering pots, viz., 6 in. A compost that 
answers admirably for this shift' consists' of equal, parts loam, 
leaf-soil and decayed manure, adding a. sprinkling of.soot, bone- 
meal and Clay’s fertiliser, sand, and nodules of charcoal. Use 
it in, a. moist state (not wet), and do. not pass it through a fine- 
meshed sieve, but use as lumpy as possible. Stand the plants 
on an, ash bottom of a, frame 1 or pit, and keep 1 close and shaded 
for a few days. These plants delight in frequent slight 
syringings, a,nd when the nights are safe from frosts and are 
warm the lights may be left off with marked results by the 
dew falling upon them. 
Watering and Damping Dawn. —Use the syringe freely in 
the stove at closing tune and in the early morning; also keep 
the evaporating troughs filled. A light wetting of the foliage 
at this season is not effectual ; ply the syringe freely, well 
wetting underneath the leafage as well as the top. Palms and 
Ferns and other moisture-loving subjects require abundance of 
water at this season if the roots are in. a, healthy state ; and 
when they are watered, it should be done thoroughly. The 
floors of the greenhouse and conservatory should also be well 
damped once or twice in the middle of the day when full air 
7s on ; this will cool the air, and at the same time the moisture 
can pass away before closing time. 
Feeding the Plants. —Fine-foliaged and winter-flowering 
plants' that are in active growth must receive some stimulant 
to impart vigour ; especially is it. necessary with plants grow¬ 
ing in small pots for furnishing purposes. As regards the best 
kind of manure, I advise a change of diet, so to speak : for 
instance, the drainings from pig yards and stable may be 
anplied in a diluted form twice a week for a week, and after 
giving clear water for two or three days, annly a slight dusting 
on the surface of the soil of Stan,den’s or Clay’s manure ; clear 
water should then, be given for a, week or nine days. K. M. 
Letters to the Editor. 
The Sale of Poisonous Compounds. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—A letter, of which, the following is a copy, appears in 
the Chemist and Druggist Journal for the 16th inst. : — 
“ Sir,—An experience of forty-four years in the drug trade 
has never given me the necessity to think chemists were not able 
to cope with the poisonous compounds used in horticulture, 
wheat dressing, etc. Neither have I ever known a town or 
village in which, as a rule, there are not four chemists to one 
seedsman. I therefore wonder on. what point Mr. Dobbs bases 
bis plea to be allowed with others outside the drag trade to get 
the- sale of poisons placed in other traders’ hands. Farmers go 
to the chemist for horse-physic, rubbing oils, and medicines 
for domestic use, and naturally order their wheat dressing or 
sheep dip. Why, then, all this fuss? Surely our legislators 
cannot have been properly informed upon the subject, other¬ 
wise I am sure no one sitting on the commission would have 
entertained a desire to alter the Pharmacy Acts.—Faithfully 
yours, “John S. Sykes.” 
“ Plum,stead, S.E., May 7th.” 
And the following is a copy of a letter I have received from a 
“ Farmer in Wales ” : — 
“Sir,—In last week’s ‘ C. and D.’ Mr, Sykes’ letter is mis¬ 
leading. I live in a country district; the nearest chemist’s shop 
to me where I can obtain poisonous sheep-dip is 12 miles" am- 
direction, which I consider very inconvenient, and I have to m- 
non-poisonous dip, when I would prefer poisonous. A "am I 
can prove to you where a chemist charged me for six 20 "rain 
nux vom. powders 7s. 6cb, when it cost about lOd. to Is? 3d 
per lb. I am only pointing you these facts to. contradict Mr 
Sykes’ experience in agricultural trade. Sheep dip is used very 
largely in our district, and is yet in. the hands of chemists, when 
really a grocer or ironmonger near home could supply me 
equally as well. I hope we shall have more freedom in business 
matters. “Farmer in Wales.” 
In the interest of the agriculturist and horticulturist it is ad- 
visable they should take a greater interest in the movement 
now on foot to get the Pharmacy Acts amended, makiim it 
lawful for traders to have the right to sell poisonous compounds 
in sealed packages under proper restrictions according to regu-j 
lations to be laid down by the Privy Council, as? well "as 
chemists, and I shall be obliged if any of your readers will 
kindly inform me of any experiences they may have had 
similar to that of the “Farmer in Wales,” so that I may use' 
the information to their interest. 
You will note that not only has the “ Farmer in Wales ” experi- 
enced difficulty in obtaining poisonous sheep dips, but he 
makes an allegation against the chemist of charging him very 
extravagant prices. 
Thanking you in anticipation for the insertion of this Utter 
in your next issue, Thos. G. Dobbs. 
Dandelions and the Sun. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, I should like to ask if it has ever come under the 
observant and critical eye of your would-be severe and expert 
people that Dandelions, common as they are, apparently dislike 
shade, and seemingly luxuriate in full exposure to- the blazing 
sun? This was particularly noticeable on a lawn in Newpon 
last week. The lawn in question was cut for the first time this 
season on Friday, and is situated on sloping ground facing due 
north. The ground at Newport on the south side of the^river 
rises rather sharply from the water, so therefore the sun strikes 
down somewhat obliquely on the gardens there. On the south 
side of this lawn is a close upright wooden fence, which gires 
practically the same shade as a wall, and it was particularly 
noticeable that the Dandelions all over the lawn in full ex¬ 
posure to the sun were growing strongly and flowering freely 
right up to the shade line of the fence, but inside the shade 
line not a single Dandelion is to be seen. The fence, owing to 
its elevated position and the sloping nature of the ground, 
shades a space of about six feet right across the lawn inside, 
and inside the shade line the obnoxious and ubiquitous weeds 
are conspicuous by their absence. J. C. Peebi.fs 
St. Fort. 
My Critic. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I notice by last week’s issue of The Gardening World 
that our friend “ T. S.” has broken out again. This time he 
fairly eclipses even bis own earlier effusions in the matter of 
vagueness. He has posed in succession as a badly-used person, 
an avenger of his own wrongs, a humourist, and now as a literary 
giant, \e gods ! How he hurls his “ lang nebbit ” words at. my 
poor head. I he unfortunate thing is, the mighty array of 
words are so arranged that a poor ignoramus like me can make 
little out of them. In future it would be well if “ T. S.” would 
send his meaning attached to his epistles, and let one whose 
education has been somewhat, neglected have a chance of bene¬ 
fiting somewhat by his wonderful (?) grasp of the English lan¬ 
guage. I am deeply grieved that my using parenthetically 
“that bracketed, ill-shaped, little-dotted s” has hurt oui 
friend. I vould be obliged, however, if he wouldn’t gauge lib 
opponents’ intelligence by his own. It may relieve his mind tc 
know that I use no word or point without fully understanding 
its meaning, so that this shot has missed badly, like the res! 
of his would-be heavy volleys. In conclusion, if “ T. S.” has 
a grievance, why cannot he put his meaning in plain language, 
and not laboriously string together a lot of vague sentences? 1 
am sure, Mr. Editor, you must have had about enough of this 
personal squabble, seemingly so dear to the soul of “ T. S..’ 
and when all is said and done, what benefit, has he obtained ; 
My remarks did him no harm if he had held his tongue, and 
certainly I had no personal animus in making them. 
C. Blair, 
