une 20, 1903. 
lm Gardening World 
GENERAL NOTICES. 
nr eamfistlv uree secretaries of societies to notify us as far in advance as possible as to dates of meetings, shows, etc. We degire to do all in our power to have these 
lequately represented in th! columns of The Gardening World. 
w resnectfully request our readers, when they write to persons or firms advertising in this paper, to mention that their advertisement was seen in The Gardening World 
hey wih thereby not only oblige this paper, but the advertisers. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
As Dr Boteler said of Strawberries: “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.”— Walton. 
c 
Weekly Prize 
FOR j 
Short Articles. 
The Proprietors of The Gardening World N 
will give a cash prize of Ten Shillings for ; 
THE BEST PARAGRAPH, OT SHORT ARTICLE, sent 
by readers during the week. The Editor s < 
judgment must be considered final, and he will \ 
be at liberty to use any of the contributions ) 
sent in. The paragraph, or article, must not ) 
EXCEED ONE COLUMN IN LENGTH, but the Value, ' 
rather than the length, of the article will be ( 
considered in making the award. Competitors S 
may send in items’ of news or comments on ) 
news; hints of practical interest to gar- < 
deners or growers of plants, fruits, or flowers; ( 
successful methods of propagating plants ( 
usually considered difficult; or contributions ) 
ON ANY SUBJECT COMING WITHIN THE SPHERE j 
of garbening proper. Letters should be / 
addressed to The Editor, marked “ Competi- < 
tion,” and posted not later than Friday night ( - 
to ensure insertion in the issue of next week. ; 
The following Coloured ■ 
Plates have appeared :— 
March 14.-NEW CHINESE PRIMULAS. \ 
March 21.— A GROUP OF DAVALLIAS. ( 
March28. —TEA ROSE “ CHAMELEON,” ) 
and COOMBE CLIFFE GARDENS. 
April 4.— COLEUS THYRSOIDEUS. 
April 11— PITCHER PLANTS. > 
April 18.— CESTRUM SMITHII. \ 
April 25 — JAPANESE PIGMY TREE. \ 
Mav 23.-Coloured Plate of SAXIFRAGA ; 
GRISEBACHII and A GROUP OF ALO ) 
casias. : 
I Mav30.—Coloured Plate of DENDROBIUM 
NOBILE ROTUNDIFLORUM and D.n. 
NOBILIUS, ( 
June 6.—Monochrome plate of CALADIUMS. \ 
June 13.—Half-tone plate of the ROCKERY ; 
AT KEW. ) 
Back numbers mav be obtained from the ( 
• publishers, price 2-Jd. post free. 
> With the PRESENT ISSUE we present a \ 
> Half-Tone Plate of ZENOBIA SPECIOSA , 
PULVERULENTA. 
/ NEXT WEEK we shall present a Half-tone ■ 
< Plate of AZALEAS AT GHENT QUIN- I 
QUENNIAL. j 
Views and Reviews. 
Hints from a Retired Florist. 
In his modest little book of fifty-four pages 
Mr. James Debbie gives many valuable hints, 
chiefly cultural, relating to the many plants, 
which he has, grown successfully during the 
past, sixty years. Though lie' was the- founder 
of the firm of Messrs. Dobbieand Co., he lias 
now retired from active business for some 
years; but his house is his castle, and his 
garden continues to furnish him both amuse¬ 
ment, pleasure, and exercise. Wei have seen 
his book before, hut it is now in its. fourth 
edition, proving that, many gardeners' find it 
full of useful instruction. From first to last 
Mr. Dob.bie has been a veiy successful cul¬ 
tivator, and in times gone by. was also a very 
successful exhibitor, so. that many gardeners, 
in the north were fully acquainted with him 
during his active career, and still have a 
kindly remembrance of him. It gives us 
surprise that his, instructions assume so 
modest a form, each chapter being really 
very short. 
Turning to a valuable discovery anemt 
Cabbages, we find this information relates to 
a. very dwarf Drumhead Cabbage* that was 
wont to produce a, number of smaller heads 
among the outer leaves. Although dwarf, it, 
attained large size, and the reason for this, 
behaviour had taken, him some years to dis¬ 
cover. By making some other discoveries, 
and comparing the difference between dwarf 
and tall Cabbages,, he came to the conclusion 
that the superior vigour was due to, the habit 
of the 1 plant growing close to' the ground, and 
thereby finding’ shelter against wind. He 
found, in fact,, that, this variety would grow 
where taller ones could scarcely live, and 
he even goes so far as to say that the dwarf 
variety would produce, a, better crop' with less 
than half the manure supplied to the tall- 
stemmed sorts, which also require support, in 
the way of earthing upmnd'dtherwise. He 
does not think that this behaviour was due, 
to any varietal distinction ; but if such had 
been" the case, the tall-stemmed sorts, if 
Practical Instructions to Procure Shelter for the 
nimal and Vegetable Kingdom i y James JJobbn. 
,urth Edition. Price Is. Hot tesay : Irinted at the 
P.uteman ” Office, Castle Street. 
properly supported with stakes and other¬ 
wise sheltered, ought to, give an increased 
quantity of material, either in the form of 
heads or leaves. This is a. point that is well 
worthy of further experiments, to see what 
increased production could he encouraged by 
staking the taller kinds of the Brassica, 
family, thereby preventing their roots from 
getting damaged bv the wind. 
The author also deals with a new method 
of blanching Leeks,, which we are afraid 
would hardly recommend itself to gardeners 
whose place is in any way undermanned. His 
idea is to draw the plants to the full length 
of the stern intended to be blanched, in pots, 
previous, to planting in the ground in order 
to get size. His plan of procedure is to make, 
and put paper collars round the neck of the 
Leeks in order to induce these to- lengthen. 
That plan is, of course, acted upon by some 
gardeners after the Leeks are planted in the 
ground. The method is to plant the Leeks 
in trenches and surround the base of the 
Leeks with brown paper collars, these being- 
tied simply with a piece of matting in order 
to shade the neck of the Leeks. The shade 
thus produced has the effect of causing the 
necks to lengthen, when a, little soil may 
he put to the base of the same, after raising 
the collar to the base of the blades. This 
process is repeated until the desired length 
of neck is procured. The author considers 
that 12 in. is quite sufficient blanch for a 
well-proportioned Leek. We, are afraid that, 
some cultivators are not satisfied with that 
length of neck to their Leeks, although we 
quite admit that the appearance of the Leeks 
is greatly improved when the thickness has 
some relation to the length. He also speaks 
of some remarkable Leeks, including one 
which measured 10 ft. from tip to tip of the 
leaves. The author does net, state wliat this 
Leek cost, but we should think it a, record 
rather than an example that, could he fol¬ 
lowed by any gardener, even for exhibition 
purposes. The soil must, have been very 
rich naturally, or an abundance and variety 
of manures 'must, have been supplied. In 
the matter of moisture, no doubt the Island 
of Bute has an advantage over that of many 
ether parts of the country. 
Some' short chapters' are also given deal¬ 
ing with Potato*. In order to get good 
