626 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 6, 1904. 
Hardy Herbaceous Border. 
Border,Carnations When well grown few plants are more 
admired or more useful for making a beautiful display either 
in the border or for cut' flowers than these, and with the great 
diversity of colour one is now able to 1 make an excellent selec¬ 
tion. They are undoubtedly s:een to the best advantage when 
planted in a border by themselves, but are also very useful for 
associating with perennials in the mixed border, and batches 
of one sort, such as Baby Castle or Old Clove* two of the best 
and most useful varieties, can be used with very pleasing 
results. In spite of the long spell of drought these have made 
good headway, and are flowering well tills year, and the stems 
will need to be kept loosely supported to the stakes. Bass 
is best for the purpose, and this should not be twisted round 
the stick, as by so doing the stems are liable to become buckled, 
and are unable to develop naturally. A good dusting of soot' 
in showery weather will prove beneficial. Layering can be 
done at any time during the present month ; immediately the 
flowers have faded is perhaps the most suitable. The 1 bed 
should have -all weeds and rubbish removed, and the surface 
lightly forked up. The leaves should be picked off cleanly 
where it is desired to make the cut, and three to four inches 
of growth will be sufficient to form the young plant. A good 
heap of. soil, consisting of loam and leaf soil, should be placed 
round each plant for inserting the layer. A cut should be 
made in the stem about two inches long, the shoot bent 
upright, and then pegged firmly down, either with layering 
pins or pegs cut from old brooms or bracken. Damp over 
every evening in dry weather. About six weeks after layering 
the plants should be well rooted and ready for taking off either 
for planting out or potting up and wintering in cold frames. 
On light soils these can be planted, but on heavy land it is 
advisable to pot them or many will succumb to the winter. 
For this purpose well drained 60-sized potsi will be large 
enough, using a. light, porous soil. Where autumn planting 
is practised the beds should be prepared some time before by 
being well dressed with manure and deeply dug. Plant- in 
rows about 15 in. apart, and press the soil firmly round the 
roots. 
Pinks.—These can be propagated now the flowers are over, 
and these should be removed so that the plants present a, more 
tidy appearance. Pinks can be increased by layers, treating 
them in the same way as Carnations or from cuttings, which 
are generally known as: pipings. These should be taken off 
close to the base, with the lower leaves removed and a clean cut 
made immediately below the bottom joint. These should be 
inserted fairly close together in sandy soil in a frame, and left 
till the spring, or planted out as the soil may determine. The 
dwarf sorts are excellent for edgings to the garden path, in 
which position they are commonly used, but the taller and 
lesser-known varieties are equally as good asi Carnations for 
border plants, and quite as useful for cutting. 
Pentstemons.—The present season has: been most favour¬ 
able for these, and seldom have they appeared in better 
condition. The terminal spikes are now making a fine display, 
but the profusion o>f lateral growths will be even better in a 
fortnight. These should be loosely tied to the stakes, and a 
dusting occasionally of artificial manure will add colour to the' 
foliage and flowers.. The surface soil should be kept well stirred 
with the Dutch boo, and unless one wishes to save seed the 
spikes which are over should be removed. Some very 
fine new varieties appeared this year, some of the 
best of which will be found among the following: — 
Crimson Gem, a . remarkably fine variety, intense 
crimson-scarlet with a- broadly-marked cinnamon throat; 
John Jennings, a very pleasing shade of rose, throat 
pure white—a very telling colour; Edwin Beckett, 
flowers of immense size, reddish, scarlet in colour with a pa 
cinnamon throat; Lord Rothschild, rosy pink, throat marrin,- 
with crimson ; Dr. Barrie, very large purplish crimson, thro 
pure white; 'Miss Talbot, a veiy conspicuous colour for massk 
white throat, and the remainder rich crimson; Mrs. 0. In<d' 
beautiful rosy scarlet, veined throat; Mrs. Jennings, inunec. 
flower, pale rose margined with chocolate; and Einile Rodhc 
an intense scarlet, with pure white throat and flowers of \ - 
mense size. 
When used for bedding purposes or planted in a border - 
themselves there are no plants which excel Pentstemons i- 
giving a wealth of blossom ; they also last well into the autun 
and no other flowers remain in better condition durin°- b| 
weather. A. E. Thatcher. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
Hardy Fruit. 
Raspberries.—On poor, dry soils these have proved prel 
nigh a failure, the fruit being very small, and the young car 
or growths weakly, owing to the drought during the past c 
or eight weeks, while canes growing in a good deep loam a] 
well mulched early in the summer have done remarkab 
well, finishing up fine fruit. As soon as the fruit is all clear, 
cut away all canes that have carried the crop and the sml 
young shoots where anything like crowding is likely to oc-c, 
so that the canes for next year’s fruiting may have the f 1 
benefit of the sun. Strong growths are wont- to bend -rr 
after th-ei old canes have been removed, so should be loosr 
tied up by running a. piece of tar string either side of the rr 
and tying it back every 10 ft. or so. This will keep them frd 
shading each other so much, also the wind from twisti* 
them at the base. Autumn fruiters require some such s - 
port to prevent the fruit getting splashed with dirt, anci 
net put on in good time to baffle the birds. The lovely mi- 
fall during the last week of July has had a marked effect n 
these, and where farmyard drainings are available and put a 
while the ground is moist, the fruit will be very much fir-. 
Keep the ground clear of suckers and weeds by frequent e 
of the flat hoe in dry weather. 
The Peach Wall.—The trees have made clean growth id 
will require another look over, and the shoots secured to e 
wall after cutting away any laterals, which are always plentiil 
on healthy trees that are not carrying much fruit. It is w 1. 
while going over the trees at this date, to expose the fruit s 
much as possible to the sun’s rays, although the syringef 
garden engine may free much of the foliage again, unle&s t 
is tied aside. Small pieces of lath or Privet, as used for key¬ 
ing the shoots in place, are useful for this as well. Tr s 
carrying full crop-s should have the mulch set aside, the grou 1. 
if hard, pricked up a bit, and either a little artificial man e 
scattered on, or diluted farmyard drainings, and the bord-s 
given a thorough watering as soon as they show the led 
signs of dryness. Fruits of Amsden June were gathered lie 
on the 20th of last month of fair size and excellent Have 
This variety ought to be more largely planted than it t 
present is, as I consider it much in advance of Early Alexan t 
as regards flavour, also cropping. Should mildew appear, d’t 
the affected parts with flowers of sulphur while the foliager 
fruit is moiisto, washing it off twenty-four hours afterwais. 
The variety Royal George is much subject to: this in so e 
garden®, but scale has been our worst enemy this season-. T:is 
we have removed with the thumb and finger, the best fd 
safest remedy during the summer while the trees are in ill 
growth. It is on the old w-oo-d where these fat customers - e 
to- be found, consequently they are easily dislodged by rubb g 
the wood as described. 
Apricots.-—Although most of our trees flowered freely f-J 
were protected with double netting and a glass coping abok 
our crop is the worst we have had for years-, a fact I can at 
account for;'but there are a great many Apple trees in e 
orchards around here without- a fruit, while the trees w'e 
a mass of bloom in early spring. Where there is a crop, 
