THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 5, 1904. 
204 
expressed, the society is brought into direct touch with the 
rising generation of gardeners, a generation that is to maintain 
unimpaired in the- future the proved supremacy of British 
horticulture. Do- not let it for a moment- be assumed that I 
think the society should recommend only those who have suc¬ 
cessfully passed in the examinations. Much as this form ol 
laudably endeavouring to improve the gardener'’s position is 
to be heartily commended, on the other side of the picture it 
must always be well borne iu mind that- some of the best men 
in gardening practice to-day have never passed through the __ 
examination -ordeal. 
Here is another tender po-int that I will only gently t-o-uch 
upon. It is the crucial wa-gesi question. Considering what is 
required of him, is not the gardener deplorably paid? In 
tliese day®, par excellence, of the undoubted rights of labour, 
the gardener deserves- a monetary consideration that he has 
not, up to- the present, received. If, in—let us all fervently 
hope—the good time; soon coming, the ll.H.S. will still further 
take him under its wide, influential, and protecting wings, it is 
n-o-t too much to assert that the grand old society will see 
that he gets a- living wage, and with this truly pressing matter 
accomplished, a rolling away of the mist-s which have long 
sadly clouded the heights, prospects and valleys of the gar¬ 
dener's career. I would much like to see some of your many 
correspondents interested in these highly important matters 
all too briefly t-o-uched upon—for I dread the editorial shears! 
-—in this letter, express their opinions upon them -in your 
widely-read paper. Discussion of such matters cannot- but- do 
good. J - R 
Chiswick, February 26th, 1904. 
Roses in Pots. 
I think a note at this season about Boses in pots would 
not be out of the wa-y, but rather interesting to the readers of 
The Gardening World. We might just take the Tea and 
Hybrid Teas- (dwarfs) which can be had from most nurserymen 
if not on hand. I would recommend these being -in 7-in. or 
8-in. pots, and kept- outside all the autumn in an open place 
where they can, get as much sun as possible, keeping the plants 
rather on the diy side, but not in any wa-y too diy, just 
sufficient waiter that the growth may ripen off. 
As soon as the frosts appear the p-lant® should be removed 
under a wall and the pots covered with leaves and kept- there 
till about the second week in January, when, they may be 
taken into' a house with the temperature ranging from 50 deg. 
to 55 deg. The pruning must be done at onc-e-, shortening 
back all strong shoot® to- five -or six eye®, medium shoots to 
three or fo-ur eyes, and all weak and prematurely ripened wood 
should be cut clean away. When pruning, select as many eyes 
as possible looking outwards. The plants should be syringed 
every da-y to help them to break, but no- water should be given, 
at the roots at this stage, if possible, the syringing is, generally 
speaking, sufficient-. 
When the growths are about an inch long, the plants, if nece-sr 
sary, should'be repotted into a size larger*, or as much of 
the o-ld soil taken away without injuring the roots and fresh 
added, taking great care to see that the crocks are in perfect 
order,’that the^soil may be kept sweet and the plants healthy. 
The compost -should 1 be three parts lo-a-m of a sticky nature, 
one part l-eiaf-soil, one part well decayed c-ow manure-, with a 
good sprinkling of bone meal a-ndj silver sand ; do' not pot- too 
firmly, using the fingers rather than a potting stick. The 
temperature may be raised to 60 deg., keeping the plants 
syringed every day to, keep off green fly, and the atmosphere 
moist, taking care that- the plants do not suffer at- the roots- for 
want o-f water. 
As soon as the buds appear a little air may be given on 
favourable days, as it will do much t-o make the blooms more 
solid and lasting. 'When the blooms are past, cut each growth 
that carried a bloom back to t-h-e first eye, and as soon as the 
eye is -started, give a, little liquid manure (cow) once or twice 
a week. When the second crop is over, put- the plants out-side ; 
keep well watered to encourage as much growth as possible 
before, September, then commence to rest the plants ready for 
forcing again. I will just, mention six good Tea Rose® for the 
above purpose, a-lso s-ix hybrid Teas. Teas: Francisca Kruger, 
Bridesmaid, Niphe-tos, Safrano-, Sunrise, Ernest Metz. Hybrid 
Tea : Grace Darling, Liberty, W. F. Bennett, Bessie Brown, 
ill's. Robert Garrat, Caroline T'es-tout. W. J. R. 
Sweet Peas. 
What is a garden without these popular and beautiful 
flowers 1 
They find a place in the nobleman’® garden and in the 
cottar’s- yard. This is not to be wondered at when we consider 
their easy cultivation and the charm, grace and elegance of 
the flowers to be had in unlimited quantities from even a few 
pence worth of seed. 
The interest and pleasure derived from growing a repre¬ 
sentative collection of varieties repays the- expenditure, and 
while they will do very well with ordinary treatment-, they 
will a hundredfold repay careful cultivation with liberal treat¬ 
ment. 
Where time and accommodation are at the gardener’s dis¬ 
posal, Sweet Peas c-an be had for at least eight months of 
the year; but, a® tliisi article isi intended rather to deal with 
their cultivation in -the o-p-en, I will give an outline of our 
practice, which is- always followed with excellent results. 
A box for early supply isi always sown about the middle of 
January, and is grown in the greenhouse, and usually allowed 
to- flower there until it is safe to transfer it to, the open -about- 
the middle of May; without a check they usually continue to 
flower, even after the ordinary sowing ha® commenced. 
Our collection of varieties is- usually sown ab-o-ut the middle 
o-f March, and for this purpose we use 6-in,, and 7-in. p-o-ts, filled 
to within 2 in. of the top 1 with light loamy soil, to which some 
wood a-shes has- been added. From ten to fifteen 
seeds,, are sown in each pot and covered with about § in. of 
soil. After the seedlings have pushed through, an additional 
handful of soil is given to, each pot-. The pots are kept near 
the glass in a, warm frame, with a. sufficient temperature to 
keep them growing, giving a-ir -on favourable occasion® until 
they are finally hardened off in, the usual way. Planting takes 
p-laoe about the- end of April or beginning o-f May; each pot is 
carefully turned -out with- the ball intact and planted 5 ft. 
apart to serve as a clump- or pyramid. I may here state that 
we have grown Sweet Pea® on the same border for the past 
twelve years, a-nd' find that, the only precaution necessary to do 
s-o successfully is to sow in pots a,s described, -and at planting 
time give a liltt-lei fresh soil with the addition of some woo-d 
ashes. Of course, the border is a-lways dug deeply in the 
early spring, and liberally manured with farmyard manure. 
Immediately the c-lumps are planted a- few twigs of Spruce 
branches are placed round each, and when these have: served 
their purpose of protection longer ones are used by way of 
stakes., Three good branches, 8 ft. high, with smaller ones 
between, will be sufficient for each clump. We use either Lime 
or Beech for stakes'. They look neater than Spruce, but only 
last the one year. A piece of stout string is tied round each 
clump to keep it in position-, and the whole has a- neat- and 
pleasing effect throughout- the summer. Some use wire net¬ 
ting coile-d round -each clump as supp-ort-s. I notice, however, 
that -the tendrils do not- cling t-o this so' readily, and it is also 
more difficult to get- the- flowers all pulled. 
I find that- Sweet I’eiais are always benefited by a. mulch of 
farmyard manure and copious supplies- of water during the 
summer months. - Immense quantities of flowers are plueke-d 
here every -alternate da-y from clumps of up-to-date varieties, 
receiving the treatment recorded in this article. 
Lack of space prevents my giving liint-s a,s to successful com¬ 
petition with Sweet Pea®, or giving an opinion on. the varieties 
most suited for such. I only add the name of a few special 
favourites which we cannot dispense with. 
