January 9, 1964. 
THE GARDEN / N O WORLD. 
3i 
young stool of soft-wooded plants in summer, for winter bloom¬ 
ing. These early in October are filled with double Violets, 
having been grown in the open ground. Asparagus, Turnips, 
and many other crops may be brought on in turn. They are 
also used for starting Strawberries, bulbs, such as Hyacinths 
and Daffodils', according to the material the beds are made of 
and the beat in them. Lettuce grows rapidly in them. 
It will be seen by the above that two or three crops are ob¬ 
tained in one year from a frame; but attention to airing, etc., 
must be given as cautiously as with other glass. But all this 
is obtained with no 'expenditure for heat, etc., and many other 
uses could be named did space afford. Con. 
Garden Refuse. 
Garden refuse of all kinds is most useful to the gardener 
when properly made into a fertilising manure. The ordinary 
everyday routine of work give® rise to the accumulation of 
this refuse, as few days pass without cleaning taking place in 
some part or other, whether in the' kitchen garden or outside 
of it, so that really there is no trouble or extra labour involved 
in the gathering of it together. Walk edgings, flower-bed 
and border edgings, and all such like can be added with the 
best possible results. All primings, the trimmings of shrub¬ 
beries, all the decayed growth of the herbaceous borders and 
weeds should be burned, these enhancing the value of the 
compost in a, high degree. There is nothing but can be 
utilised with much advantage and convenience' to the gar¬ 
dener. Every gardener can make this excellent compost with¬ 
out having to bestow any great care or labour 1 in its manufac¬ 
ture. All this refuse, as the work goes on, must be carried to 
a, place by itself out of the way, where, if it is regularly put 
and the heap at convenient times dressed up, the materials it 
is composed of will in time heat and decompose. 
Short' grass sweepings throughout the •summer, and rough 
leaves at the close of the season, should be added; indeed, 
everything that can be brought together as cleaning goes on. 
W here ga,slime can be had, it may be mixed with the compost. 
This process should go on methodically until the end of the 
year, when, the work should be turned and carefully mixed, 
and a® the work goes 1 on, all scrap® of wood and stones should 
be picked out. to' make the whole, as clean a mould as can be 
made in that way. Tills isi usually done in a time of frost, 
or when the ground is too wet to work on from heavy rains, 
so that no time is taken up with it in good weather. This 
compost ought to lie a year to give it time to make thoroughly, 
and then, it can be used in many wa.ys with advantage. 
This- compost will be found useful in many ways in the 
flower-garden, where Pelargoniums and other soft-wooded 
things are planted, for, if the soil is in any way heavy, a 
dressing of it helps to make the surface' fine, and as planting 
goes on, it mixes with the soil and gives the plants a start. 
It is also most useful for planting all half-hardy cuttings in 
frames or otherwise. Cuttings of all soft bedding plants strike 
readily in it. It suit® all manner of seedlings; then, with 
vegetable seed it is a great help to vegetation, keeping the 
surface of the ground from running close together, which it is 
apt to do' if the weather should be wet in the spring. Onion 
and Carrot ground should have a dressing of it in the early 
'part of the winter, so: that at sowing time it would make a 
fine mould for the seed. Violets do exceedingly well in it 
either in frames: or out in the open; indeed, there is no end 
to the many things it can be applied to with the best possible 
results. I have proved this over a series of years, and would 
urge a.ll who have not. done so to adopt the same practice. 
J. W. J. 
Shiploads or Prunes. —Large shipments of Californian 
Prunes are now being made in Europe, via New York. The 
other week the following quantities were handled from three 
shipments Hamburg, 1,928,650 lb. ; England, 1,404.457 lb. ; 
Rotterdam, 353,410 lb. ; Germany, 154,061 lb. ; Holland, 45,329 
lb. ; Belgium, 20,004 lb. ; Lubeck, 17,000 lb. The total ship¬ 
ments for the week were 3,922,911 lb. 
Sutton’s Supreme Cabbage Lettuce. 
I would like to recommend a trial of this variety of Lettuce 
for early summer, mid-season, .and autumn supplies. It is of 
giant strain, being one of the largest I have grown, making a 
grand, solid heart, crisp, of fine colour and excellent flavour, un¬ 
equalled as a drought resister, and remains a long time fit for 
use before bolting. F or early supply, sow a pinch of seed in 
the. middle of February; prick out when large enough into 
boxes; sow again in the middle of March. This -sowing may 
be pricked out into- a cold frame; plant out when ready. Sow¬ 
ings should then be made outside every five or six weeks from 
the first week in April, part of each sowing being transplanted, 
and the seed row thinned out. This extends the time that each 
sowing remains fit for use. Treated in this manner, and 
planted in soil that ha® been liberally dressed with farmyard 
manure, well turned over, there is little else required except 
a good watering when they are transplanted, and some shade 
for two or three days at, that time if the. weather is- very hot 
and sunny. John 
Auchento'shan, Dalmuir. 
Lilacs for Forcing. 
There are no more effective plant®, when well grown and 
carefully treated in the matter of forcing, than the Lilacs for 
conservatory and greenhouse decoration, during early spring. 
A most suitable place to grow them would be a. aeep pit, having 
a single 4-in. pipe running round it. A mixture of long stable 
litter and leaves should be placed in the frame to- the depth of 
3 ft. or 4 ft., thoroughly shaken up together, and well trodden 
down. 
In the meantime the plants, if in, the open ground, should 
be got up carefully, taking care not to break the young roots, 
and potted into suitable sized pots, well drained and washed 
perfectly clean. A compost of two parts fibrous loam, one part 
leaf soil, and one part old decayed manure, with a little road 
sand added, will grow them well. When the heat of the hotbed 
is on the decline, which may be tested by plunging ,a stake in 
and examining it every day, the pots: may be plunged to the 
rims in it, allowing plenty of head room, so that the buds do not, 
get broken. Very little fire: heat will be needed at first, a tem¬ 
perature of from 45 deg. to 50 deg. being suitable for a start. 
Air freely on all favourable days:, and if bright remove the 
lights altogether for the first week or two-. Keep the syringe 
going among the: plants, using tepid water always, as this- helps 
to make them break evener, and keeps them clean .and healthy. 
The plants will not require much water a,t this period, espe¬ 
cially if they be fresh potted, but when doing so give a good 
•soaking, using clear water, unt.il it is ascertained there are 
plenty of roots ) then diluted manure water may be given 
twice a week. 
As soon as the flowers show signs of opening, syringing 
should be discontinued, .and the plants may be removed to the 
flowering house. They should be placed in .a fairly dry posi¬ 
tion if possible, as they are liable to- damp and lose their 
beauty and fragrance. When they have ceased flowering 
gradually inure them to withstand outdoor accommodation by 
removing to a coo-l house, thus ensuring gradual and perfect 
ripening of the: wood, without which good bloom cannot, be 
expected the following season,. 
During summer stand outdoors in a -shady position, and when 
the wood is sufficiently ripened prune them back to within two 
or three: buds of the previous, year’s growth. A piece of re¬ 
serve ground should be utilised in the garden, and on this 
plunge the pots to the rims in the soil, and if the weather be 
very hot and dry, soak them well now .and then with clear' 
water. Plants that have been forced one season should be 
allowed to stand the next in, the: o-pen ground, a,nd in order to 
have a supply of plant® for forcing every year two batches 
should be grown, forcing the one and resting the other alter¬ 
nately. The plants do much better treated in this manner 
than if forcing continually every year, the wood being stronger 
and consequently producing much finer blooms. I do- not think 
