THE GARDENING WORLD. 
1060 
December 26, 1903. 
Readers' Competition—continued. 
young growing shoots taken from plants in March and April, and 
inserted in sandy soil with a temperature of 55 degrees. It is 
very easily struck. In a fortnight the cuttings will be ready 
for potting in 2-in. pots. When sufficiently long, these may 
have the tops pinched out and inserted for stock. Propagate 
and repot the plants as roots admit, growing them in a moist 
pit, not over warm, with occasional syringings till the middle 
of June. You can remove them to cold frames. Keep these 
close for a day or two, when gradually inure to full exposure. 
Give the plants vigorous syringings in good afternoons, and 
abundance of water to the roots. This must be carried out if 
we want the subjection of the red spider, so evident in Salvia 
cultivation. By August month the cuttings will have attained 
the flowering pots—6 in., 7 m., and 8 in. 
The lights can be entirely removed from them at night, to* 
have the plants cool and gather the falling moisture. Timely 
pincliings should be clone up to the latter end of July, using 
discretion, so that you have evenly-balanced plants with four 
to five shoots, and flowers accordingly. Confine one cutting to 
a pot. Salvias are strong rooters, so a rich and heavy compost 
is commendable-—the larger the pot, the rougher the soil. Apply 
stimulants when the plants show flower. Before frost sets in, 
take indoors for the brilliant effect for two months. Merely 
jiick off the flowers when past, and store the pdants in a cool and 
dry place till February month, when you may introduce into 
more congenial quarters for the production of cuttings. We 
find difficulty sometimes housing them in winter, as they are 
so susceptible to extremes of over-watering and dryness. Ex¬ 
perience alone can remedy this. It is unpractical to grow on 
old plants, when cuttings produce such specimens. 
A. Y. Main. 
Seasonable Notes. 
It is only the half-hearted gardener who will sit still, think¬ 
ing there is nothing to do, during the short days of December, 
while the diligent man will be up and doing, planning and 
looking forward, turning past experience to good account. Great 
and important is the work which now needs attention. The 
first item to be considered is the preparation of various sub¬ 
jects required for forcing, such as pruning, cleaning, and tying 
Vines, Peaches, and Nectarines in the successional houses. 
The man who is fond of and has a love for his work, and is not a 
Saturday night gardener, will pay great attention to tidiness 
in whitewashing the walls, painting pipes, and, above all, take 
great care and interest in the training of his Peach and Nec¬ 
tarine trees, laying in all the growth straight and at regular 
intervals. Shelves should be fixed, if not already done, for 
the reception of Strawberries in pots for forcing, which should 
be allowed to come along quietly with the Vines, etc., where 
a house is not wholly set apart for them. 
Boot pruning will command attention during the general 
clean-up of the houses previous to starting the trees into 
growth ; any trees found unsatisfactory as regards fruit-bearing 
growth should have a trench carefully dug out at a distance 
from the stem in proportion to the strength of the tree ; and 
thoroughly examine the roots, replacing fresh soil where needed. 
Any trees worn out and exhausted by hard forcing, or inferior 
varieties should at once be discarded and replaced by young 
and choice varieties, selecting those best suited for the various 
requirements, early or late. 
Thoroughly soak any fruit borders, if found in a dry state, 
using rain-water, as this is considered more beneficial than cold 
spring water. A few seeds should now be sown for the early 
supply of the kitchen, such as Tomatos and Cucumbers, using 
a light sandy soil, and placing them in a nice growing tem¬ 
perature. A pinch of Golden Queen Lettuce may be sown, and 
will prove useful to the salad-bowl if grown on beds where 
Asparagus has been forced. 
Hot-beds must be made from now onwards, and should be 
composed of fresh leaves and long litter frcm the nag stables ; 
those used for forcing Asparagus will prove useful after the 
roots are cleared out for forcing early Potatos, Badishes, and 
early Carrots. Towards the end of the month a few seeds of 
Melon may be sown for early supplies ; the fruit of these are 
always appreciated. Chrysanthemum cuttings of most varieties 
should now be put in, with the exception of those known to> 
produce the best blooms from cuttings taken in January, of 
which Mme. Carnot and her sports are examples. Make a 
careful selection of varieties for the supply of bloom next 
season, doing away with inferior sorts, and looking over notes 
taken at the several shows visited duiing November of new 
varieties worth growing or giving a trial. Those who have not 
been so fortunate as to be able to visit an exhibition of the 
autumn queen may fall back upon the many gardening 
periodicals, and consult the leading prize lists for varieties 
worth growing ; this would be good employment by the fireside 
during the long dark evenings, and time well spent. 
The warm border will command attention, for early work 
during fine open weather, by digging in leaf mould and manure ; 
soil from the potting bench will be found useful, as this border 
cannot be too light or too rich. 
Late Endive will now prove valuable, and should be blanched 
as required, in cold frames, or, better still, the Mushroom 
house, taking in plants every few days to keep up a regular 
supply ; exclude frost from the batch the plants are drafted 
from. 
Parsley must not be overlooked, or the cook will soon make 
herself heard. In cold districts it is wise to have plants in 
pits or frames. A few plants in pots will prove useful ; these 
should have been potted during Sejitember. No time should 
be lost in putting a frame over a few rows in their open quarters, 
rather than risk the loss of all in the event of severe weather ; 
it is an important item to have Parsley at hand when wanted. 
Growing plants will want constant observation kept upon 
them, allowing plenty of room for growing, with a free circula¬ 
tion of air and exposure to the sun, or serious will be the con¬ 
sequence if overcrowded. Attention to small matters by the 
diligent man at this season will be the commencement of success 
in the future. Wm. Jas. Penton. 
Studley Castle Gardens, December 9th, 1903. 
Schizanthus wisetonensis. 
I make only a few remarks concerning this useful spring 
flowering plant. Froim seed bought from nurserymen it is very 
seldom that all the seeds germinate*—perhaps out of 30 seeds one 
may come uji—but if seeds* are saved at home they will be much 
more easy to germinate. Out of every 50 seeds one may die if 
seeds are saved at home. Another way to increase stock is, when 
the plants are large enough, say 7in. thigh, pinch the top out of 
them, and also keep the tops. Prepare and make into cuttings 
by cutting clean art a joint, and placing them in small pots of 
leaf mould, sand, amid a little peat, teased fine, and place them 
under a hand-glass and keep close for a few weeks, when the 
glass may be lifted off altogether, and the cuttings gradually 
brought into a cooler temperature of 55 to 60 deg. When, the 
pots are nearly filled with roots give them a shift into a com¬ 
post of leaf mould, sand, and loam, and a* few pieces of lime 
rubble to keep the soil open. When the plants are in bloom 
select the finest blooms and Colours, and on bright days fertilise 
with a feather or something soft to be sure of a good set of seed, 
and it will pay for the trouble taken. 
Walter Staward. 
War lies Park, Waltham Abbey, Essex. 
A Fine Bunch of Wallflowers was picked from one of the 
gardens in Yeovil on the 28th ult. In, another a number of 
Primroses and Snowdrops are in bloom, whilst in a third some 
Ranunculi are in flower. “Jack Frost,” being just now much 
in evidence, will probably put a check on these unseasonable 
performances. 
Scarcity of English Potatos. —Owing to the frost and the in¬ 
clemency of the earlier months of the year, England has pro¬ 
duced barely one-tenth of her usual crop of Potatos, and were 
it not for the foreigner there would hardly be any Potatos at 
all. Within the past few days Germany has sent us 246 000 
bags, Belgium 77,000, Holland 47,000, and France 40,000 ; 
wherefore prices have not risen—are, indeed, low—a hundred- 
weiglit selling for about 4s. A continued frost, however, would 
]iut a stop to these imports, and then Potatos would vie with 
the black Tulip and the Orchid in price and rarity—or there¬ 
abouts. 
*** prize last week in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “Mons Meg” for his article “Salvia splendens," 
page 1043. 
