December 19, 1903 THE GARDENING WORLD. 
1049 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
Stopping Chrysanthemums. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,— Mr. J. C. Peebles should not allow himself to believe 
that only moneyed amateurs can hope to grow the “ ’Mum ” 
blooms that professionals do. 
There is many a man, with liis little pigeon-cot greenhouse 
and small amount of time, that can put up blooms that shame 
many professionals with every facility. 
I myself am acquainted with a young man whose house only 
takes sixteen plants, yet he can put up a dozen that wins a gold 
medal, besides gaining a. certificate for the best bloom in the 
show. 
This occurred this season, and, had there been a dozen open 
classes, he would jiave won, for no professional in the district 
could equal them. Moreover, he took his blooms to a second 
show the next day, and repeated his previous success, gaining 
first and award for best bloom, and this occurred last year 
also. Cal. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,— In reading your issue of The Gardening World of 
November 28th I came across an article by J. C. Peebles re¬ 
ferring to the Autumn Queen. I fancy “ J. C. P.” is not a 
great exhibitor, or he would have to time his plants a little 
better if he wanted to have them in flower at a certain time. 
While'reading his article it struck me that J. C. Peebles is like 
some more' gardeners that I know, that stop their “ ’Mums ” 
on a certain date and have them flowering at any time from 
the beginning of October until the end of January. I .see he 
gives the time fdr .stopping a few varieties, but they are all 
of easy culture. Perhaps at some future date lie may let me 
know if lie stops such varieties asi Mine. R. Cadbury, Mrs. H. 
Weeks, Dorothy Pywell, Florence Molyneux, Donald McLeod, 
etc., in the first week of June, and what time he has them in 
flower. I fancy it would not be in the same year that they 
were pinched. Trusting this letter may meet the eyes of 
J. C. Peebles, and thanking the Editor for an insertion. 
Aberdeenshire. G. B. 
Onion Culture. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —Mr. J. Bethel’s note bears out my remarks some time 
since as to the possibility of making Onion culture pay by up-to- 
date methods. Generally speaking, his plot consisted of 23 
rods, from which lie gathered 330 lb. of veiy fine bulbs. This 
works out at 2,295 lb. per acre—assuredly a fine crop for the 
market grower. 
In a previous article I endeavoured to show that the Ameri¬ 
cans have already found that it pays: to grow Onions by this 
method, and it. is surprising that home growers do not invest a 
little money and grow large bulbs. The public purchase 
Spanish-grown Onions at 7 lb. for 6d., and there is no reason 
that I see to prevent English bulbs getting a similar price. I, 
however, am acquainted with one small grower who cultivates 
glass-sown Onions, and sells them first hand at lid. and 2d. 
each. His bulbs average 1 1 lb. to 2 lb. each. Cal. 
Root Pruning. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —In his note upon root pruning Mr. Penton omits to 
warn would-be primers against tackling old trees, as one would 
young trees. 
It would be not a. little dangerous to work upon the whole 
of the roots of a long .standing tree at one time. In such 
cases it is advisable to spread the operation over two> seasons, 
taking one-half at. a time. Respecting young trees, if they are 
on the right stocks, and lifted the first year after planting, they 
will not make much attempt at tap rooting. 
Growers of nursery stocks know the value of lifting, and 
never allow the young trees to remain undisturbed until selling 
time, and that lifting will induce more fibrous roots than an) 
knife. ^ AL ’ 
Orchids at Dundee Horticultural Association. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —At the monthly meeting of the above association on 
the 3rd inst, an. exhibit of Calanthe Yedtchii, single bulls in 
5-in. pots, and Cypripedium insigne, m 6-in. pots, was made, 
illustrative of a paper that was read in the spring on these 
and a few other Orchids, when the above-named Orchids weic 
not in flower. The pseudo-bulbs of Calanthe Y eitchii measured 
in circumference at the thickest part 7 in. to < \ in.; length oi 
bulbs, 9 in. to KH in. ; length of flower spikes, 3 ft. 5 in. to 
3 ft. 7 in., with still flower buds to develop and increase the 
height, with thirty or thirty-two flowers and buds that could 
be distinctly counted on each flower spike ; the flowers were of 
good colour and the plants healthy. The Cypripediums had 
from thirteen to fourteen large well-developed flowers to each 
plant, and the foliage was clean and healthy. 
This exhibit was described to a meeting, a large proportion 
of whom knew little about Orchids, by a member who was asked 
to examine them, as “ an exhibit without any merit.” The 
exhibitor would like the opinion of Orchid growers and readers 
of The Gardening World, to say how much leeway had to be 
made up before the exhibit could claim a little merit. 
Semi-Darkness. 
On the Editor’s Table. 
Strawberries from Broadstairs. 
In proof of the mildness of the season a correspondent, Mi 1 . 
G. West, gardener to Captain E. H. Adcock, Redlands, Broad- 
stairs, Kent, sends us a box of Strawberries in all stages from 
the flower buds to the ripe fruit. These -tr usses were mostly of 
large -size, bearing from twelve to 'twenty buds-, flowers, and 
fruit. These were gathered on the morning of December 1st 
out of doors from a. border fully exposed to the east, very 
bleak, and not more than fifty yards from -the sea bank. Many 
of the plants are showing bloom, and others have set fruits 
"similar to those sent us. The gardener has never seen the like 
before, and sends them in the hope that they will be interest¬ 
ing to readers of The Gardening World. The cold weather in 
the early part of the season must have had a retarding effect 
upon the growth of the plants', and some would explain it in 
this way, but we are inclined to believe that it was due to tire 
mild autumn and heavy rainfall, which caused the plants to 
make a second growth. YVe should be afraid the plants will 
not flower so freely next spring as they ought, judging from 
experiences with fruit trees under similar circumstances. 
Flowers from Weetwood Grange, 
Now that the Chrysanthemums are practically gone', flowers 
become doubly valuable. A boxful of those grown for ordi¬ 
nary decorative purposes and cut flowers at this season of the 
year comes to us from Mr. T. W. Dollery, gardener to Sir A. T. 
Lawson, Weetwood Grange, Leeds. The Maidenhair Fern 
consisted of Adian-tum cuneatum, and was very fine, the fronds 
and stalks together measuring close upon 2 ft. in length. The 
fronds were also of a. bright green colour and fine texture, in¬ 
dicating excellent cultural treatment. 
Other flowers in good form were Eucharis grandiflora, of 
good texture and -sweetly scented. Narcissus Snowflake is one 
of the Paper White section, and, with the exception of the 
golden-yellow anthers, the whole flower is pure white and 
-sweetly scented. Very choice als-o were the Roman Hyacinths, 
so admirably adapted for cut-flower purposes. Cyclamen per- 
sicum was represented by a, number of very fine varieties-, ; n- 
cluding -a crimson, carmine-crimson, carmine-purple, rose, pink, 
and striped with white, salmon, white with a crimson base, 
and pure white, the last named being the largest flower of 
