February 20. 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
169 
with wet soil, manure, and even their enemies. It will help to 
keep away slugs as well as the spores of the Lily fungus which 
may happen to be in the soil. 
Tennis Court. 
Can you tell me the best plan for making a tennis court that 
will not feel hard to tire feet after an hour or two of playing on 
it? (R. Dawes.) 
The soil should be dug out to the depth of 8in. See that the 
drainage is sufficient to carry away the surface water which may 
drain into the area. Then put in a layer of clinkers, broken 
brickbats, etc., then, a layer of finer ashes. This should then 
be thoroughly beaten down with a rammer so as to make it per¬ 
fectly firm or solid. For a final coating you may place over the 
whole a layer of finely sifted coal ashesi This in turn should b > 
beaten down firmly so as to ensure solidity of the surface. 
Should you object to the black colour of the ashes you -oan place 
a layer of sea sand on the surface, and the shells in it will soon 
become quite small by treading, and form a smooth and agree¬ 
able surface. 
Rhododendrons for Rockery. 
I wish to plant the Alpine Rose anil some other small-leaved 
and slow-growing Rhododendrons on a rockery. Will they re¬ 
quire any particular kind of soil? (A. E. S.) 
Our experience is that moisture ini the soil is a matter of more 
importance than the composition of the soil itself. Provided 
the soil continues fairly moist throughout the summer most of 
the slowly-growing Alpine Rhododendrons will grow freely in 
any ordinary garden soil that is sufficiently drained for the sur¬ 
face water to readily run away. That would very largely depend 
upon the rainfall of your district. If, however, the rainfall is 
light and the soil inclined to become dry or baked in the summer 
time, it would be well to take the precaution of using a large pro¬ 
portion. of peat in the soil, or in the absence of that you could 
employ leaf mould for the same purpo.se. Such soils would 
have to be trodden down quite firmly after the planting of the 
Rhododendrons. A peaty sail is always a cool one, and peat 
or leaf mould tend to retain the moisture and never bake or- crack 
in the same way as <a heavy clay .sail. The position on the 
rockery, whether low down or on the top, will also materially 
affect the case. If the rainfall is usually good—that is to say, 
about 30in. to 38in. during the year -no special preparation of 
the soil would he necessary. 
Deducting Overtime Money. 
Could you give me an explanation of the following ? If the 
under gardener work overtime. at the rate of 4d. an hour and 
he happens to be half an hour l'ate in the morning, has the head 
gardener the right to deduct his overtime money at the end of 
the week to make up for the time that he lost in the morning, the 
under gardener being engaged as a weekly servant ? (Reader. ) 
The case is rather a complicated one, seeing that the unuer 
gardener has to work overtime, thus making him late and 
possibly over-worked. At the same time we suppose that the 
head gardener desires the work, and wishes it to be done. It 
! seems to ns to be a case of mutual arrangement. If the work 
1 has to be hurried on by doing overtime tlie gardener may have 
been aggravated at the loss of time in the morning. We may 
not be in possession of all of the facts, however, and possibly you 
might have been able to be up to time in the morning, and you 
might have been late on several occasions without, reasonable 
excuse. Possibly also you might have been warned and urged to 
keep up to time without making a real exertion to do so. On 
” the other hand, it is customary in some gardens to deduct time 
from any under gardener who may be late in the morning. You 
do not make it clear whether the whole of the overtime money 
was deducted or only a part of it. It is a custom to hold back 
the money for the number of hours that you may have been late, 
and in certain gardens it is the rule to stop a whole quarter of a 
: day’s work if you are late in getting into the garden in the 
morning. In the case of mechanics, if they are late in the 
morning, they would only be stopped for an hour, and the time 
deducted, but in gardening the rules have not been laid down 
so strictly with regard to that matter. It seems to us that if 
the money had been deducted just for the time that you were 
late it would have been sufficient to meet the case. We do not 
know what excuse he may have had nor what admonitions he 
gave you to be up to time. On the whole, we think the matter 
one for mutual and amicable arrangement. 
Seeds of Primula japonica. 
| I sowed some seeds of the white variety of Primula japonica 
, -ast spring, but none of them have yet come up. They were 
good seeds, for I saved them myself about nine months before 
sowing. Can I expect them to germinate in spring? (A. J. W.) 
We should scarcely expect the seedlings to come up in the 
spring of the second year instead of the first. We are inclined 
to think that by this time they have perished. The original 
mistake was in keeping the seeds so long before committing them 
to the soil. None of the Primula family, as far as we know, like 
to be kept long out of the soil. Your best plan would have 
been to sow the .seeds in a box or pan as soon as they were 
gathered, at the same time standing the box in a cold frame. 
No heat is really necessary, but the principal point is that the 
seeds should be committed to the soil before they get dried up. 
The embryo is very small .in proportion to the size of the seed, 
and the reserve matter which is large. When the seed gets dry 
both this, reserve matter and the skin get very hard, and in all 
probability the embryo perishes. When the 'seeds are sown at 
unce and treated as we indicate above, they will germinate freelv 
in the foliowung spring. 
Mountain Parsley Fern. 
I planted a good specimen of this on the rockery about two 
years ago, but it lias been gradually getting smaller. Previous 
to that it was m a pot m the greenhouse, and seemed quite happv, 
\\ bat is the reason for it dwindling away? (T. B. Walt act t 
, 3 10 j^ntam Parsley is a native of hilly countries at fairly 
U « h altitudes, where the atmosphere is always relatively cool 
aiid moisture plentiful both at the roots and in the atmosphere 
By this we do not imply that the roots are actually in bo^v 
situations, but rather that the soil in which they grow remains 
cool and moist throughout the summer. To plant such a Fern 
in a warm position facing a south or any other aspect on which 
the sun would slime for several hours together would be courtiim 
failure, because the fronds do not like continued sunshine, and 
the dry atmosphere and the roots also suffer to some extent. 
In its native habitats some of the finest specimens are found 
with roots and crowns well under the edges of large boulders 
of rock, so that a cool situation is thus ensured, and the plant 
thrives beautifully. A warm, dry atmosphere in the south is 
very detrimental to its welfare, just as in the case of .many 
other alpmes that are liable to suffer from heat and drought. 
i" 1S being the case, you should select a cool situation facin° 
the north, so that very little or no sunshine will strike upon 
the plant at any period of the day. If planted so that the roots 
could grow under the edges of porous stones, that would also 
serve to keep the roots cool and moist. 
Hybrid Sweet Briers. 
Yould you please name six of the best varieties of the hybrid 
Penzance Sweet Briers? (Rose.) 
-4 very good selection would be Lady Penzance, coppery 
yellow ; Anne of Geierstein, dark crimson ; Flora Mclvor, white- 
edged rose ; Lucy Bertram, rich crimson and white centre ; 
Rose Bradwardine, clear rose; and Janet’s Pride, white-edged 
crimson. The above will give- a good deal of variety, and are 
amongst the very best of the numerous varieties now in culti¬ 
vation. 
American Weeping Willow. 
Could you tell me how to get. the American Weeping Willow 
to produce a long clean stem before the head commences to 
branch out? (C. -N. W.) 
In same cases we have seen Weeping Willows planted close 
against a wall and the main stem trained up against the same 
and kept straight until the desired height was gained. We do 
not think it a very good plan, however, and the stems have a 
tendency to be ffexuous even under the most careful system of 
nailing, and, as a rule, they are not very strong, and require 
staking for many years before they became sufficiently strong to 
support the head. A better plan of raising stocks for this would 
be to use either the White Willow (Salix alba) or the Goat 
Willow (S. Caprea). These could be planted as cuttings, and 
in a few years’ time they will have made good stocks of the de¬ 
sired height. You can then graft the American Weeping Willow 
on the top of this straight Stem at any height which you may 
desire. The stronger the stock is before the head is put on 
the less staking will be necessary afterwards. 
Couve Tronchuda. 
It is said that a kind of Cabbage named Couve Tronchuda is 
used as a substitute for Seakale. What part of it is used, and 
what advantage, is there in using it? (P. C.) 
The plant you name is a very distinct kind of Cabbage, having 
light green foliage and very strong nerves to the leaves. These 
nerves are unusually thickened and fleshy by comparison with 
those of Cabbages generally. The thin portion of the leaves 
being removed, the ribs are boiled and used as a substitute for 
Seakale, as you say. This Cabbage may be sown in spring, 
planted out, and grown on like other summer Cabbages, and 
