December 12, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
10-23 
Cymbidiums. —Such kinds as C. tracyanum and C.-gigan- 
tium, now advancing their flower buds, will need every en¬ 
couragement. Afford all the light possible, and keep the tem¬ 
perature' as even as possible, and as soon as the flowers expand 
keep them in a fairly dry position. This will prevent the 
flowers becoming spotted, and give them greater durability. 
The Stove and Greenhouse. 
Propagating Chrysanthemums.— Those who intend growing 
these on the large-bloom system for exhibition and home dis¬ 
play will now be making preparations for inserting the cut¬ 
tings. I do not think it well to commence much before this 
date, and it may be followed up as the cuttings become ready 
until the end of January. It is well known how shy some 
varieties are in producing strong, sucker-like cuttings, and 
these should be at once placed in a warm, genial temperature 
to induce them to do so. Plants with plenty of good cuttings 
upon them must be kept in a cool pit near the glass until all 
that are wanted are taken. Cuttings that are produced at 
a little distance from the stem of the plant, and about 3 in. 
long, are the best. A clean cut should be made immediately 
below a joint in the half-ripened wood; such a cutting will 
emit roots much quicker than those that are sappy. Insert the 
cuttings singly in thumb-pots, and filunge in cocoa fibre Or coal 
ashes to within 6 in. of the glass. The compost should consist 
of two parts loam, one of leaf-soil, and half a part each of wood 
ashes and spent mushroom-bed manure, with plenty of sharp 
silver-sand added. The whole should he passed through a. 
J-in. sieve and used in a medium moist condition. The best 
place for striking the cuttings is a pit, having a 2-in,, or 3-in. 
hot-water pipe running round. Failing this, they do well in 
liandlights on the stages of the greenhouse, provided they are 
kept close. Fire heat should only be applied when 'exception¬ 
ally severe weather occurs; rather keep the pit well covered 
with mats or litter to exclude, frost. When fine mild weather 
prevails a light shade may be. necessary, and a chink of air for 
two or three hours in the middle of the day may be admitted 
to dispel damp. 
Arum Lilies. —To ensure early flowering of these invaluable 
plants, they must be grown in small pots containing one or 
two strong crowns. Such plants can now be 2 daced in a warm 
house, such as an early forced Peach house or Vinery, and 
brought on into blossom by syringing twice daily and applying 
a little weak guano' water once or twice a week. I do not 
advise the use of stimulants before the first spathes show, as; I 
find over-luxuriant. stems and leaves are produced. If some 
decayed horse or oow manure; be used in the potting soil, it 
will suffice until the spathes appear. The plants may be in¬ 
troduced to the warm house in batches of a dozen or two at 
intervals of about ten days, as then a succession can easily be 
maintained, or, if a larger number are required for a given 
date, a larger batch of the forwardest plants may he brought in. 
Freesias.- —A few pots of the strongest of these may be in¬ 
troduced into a slightly warmer structure than was advised for 
them when first housed from the frames. A temperature that 
can be maintained in the day at about 50 to 55 deg. without, 
much fire heat will suit them well; a weekly application of 
well-diluted guano-water will now assist the plants materially. 
Temperatures. —Now that wintry weather has set in, much 
attention must be paid to firing and ventilating. The cool 
‘ greenhouse should be kept, as near 45 deg. in the day as pos¬ 
sible, allowing 5 or 7 deg. fall in the night. Open the top 
ventilators a little as early in the morning as it is safe', in order 
to dispel accumulated fire heat and stop the fire. As regards 
front air, much watchfulness is necessary; as a matter of 
fact it is much better to. err on the side of closeness during 
sharp spells than to admit keen frosty air at the front. Tlrei 
stove should not fall below 58 deg. at night, and not he higher 
than 65 deg. in the day. " K. M. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Rhubarb.— Though it is always advisable to depend on the 
earliest supplies from that lifted and placed in beat—and, ot 
course, where large breadths are grown when plenty ot space 
in the kitchen garden is at command, it is undoubtedly the 
simplest method to practise this for some time to come—yet, 
as this means practically wasting the stools, and tins cannot 
always, especially in small gardens, be carried out, means 
should be taken to force it on the ground with fermenting 
material, consisting of one part long litter and three parts 
fresh leaves—Oak, Beech, or Spanish Chestnut for choice— 
lisinn- sufficient only to create a gentle heat. Pots specially 
made for the purpose, or, better still, large tubs, may be used 
for the purpose, carefully taking out the ends, one of which 
should be ledged together to form the lid. These will last for 
some years if taken care of by placing them under cover after 
they are done with. Immediately the crowns have produced 
a fair crop, the material and tubs should be removed to otheis, 
so that the plants do not become too much exhausted. ^ Place a 
small layer of litter over the forced crowns and fork up 
between them, and if no further stalks are pulled from these 
during the spring and summer they will be none the worse 
for next season’s use, and will be quite in a position to force 
again. 
Preparation of the ground for new plantations should now be 
accomplished as speedily as possible, choosing a good open 
site. The ground should he well enriched with good farm¬ 
yard manure—in fact, it is hardly possible to give too much 
Bear in mind that Rhubarb is a very deep-routing subject, and 
the land should be broken up to a depth of at least 3 ft., and, 
better still, 3 ft. 6 in., leaving the surface in a rough state 
to allow frost to penetrate as much as possible. A portion for 
very early work should always be grown when a place can be 
found for it. on a south border, as by so doing it will perfect 
its growth much earlier, and consequently lend itself much 
more readily for starting away quickly. February or early in 
March is a good time for planting, and care should be exer¬ 
cised in making a. good selection of varieties. 
During recent years some very much improved kinds have 
been introduced, and probably the best at the present day is 
the Sutton. It is of very handsome appearance, of excellent 
quality, and, in my opinion, the best main crop variety, also 
grand for exhibition purposes. Royal Albert, though not new, 
is one of the best for forcing. Kershaw’s Paragon is a. good 
all-round kind—seldom if ever shows any signs of flowering. 
I have never once seen a flower spike on it; the quality is also 
good. 
Seakale, being nearly always in much request, from ( hrist- 
mas onward, small quantities should be introduced weekly into 
heat, care being taken to exclude all light. Though this can 
be forced on the ground as advised for Rhubarb, it entails such 
a large amount of labour that in mid-winter it is scarcely worth 
the trouble, when means can be found for bringing it forward 
under cover. Wlien digg'ing up the crowns select, all the small 
rootlets. 
Cuttings.—Prepare these into, lengths of about 6 in.., tie 
in bundles of twenty-five, place in boxes in an upright position, 
working in some fine soil between each bundle, and place them 
under the greenhouse stage or in a oo-ld frame. These will 
then form eyes or buds, and be fit for planting out early in 
April on well-prepared ground, and will be found to make good 
crowns for forcing by next winter. 
Lettuce. —Seedlings which were sown last month or late in 
October will by now, if they have been carefully tended, be 
nice sturdy plants in boxes, and in another month’s time, or 
even less, if required, make very useful salad material, grown 
on in a light position in an intermediate house, affording them 
as much light as possible. Carter’s Harbinger is a very ex- * 
cellent kind for this purpose; indeed, I know of no other 
variety to equal it. Make another good sowing of several 
varieties, both Cabbage and Cos ; raise them in a gentle heat, 
and prick out into other boxes while in the seed leaf. Autumn- 
