September 10, 1904. 
729 ' 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Renovating the Rock Garden. 
Tkisi is a very necessary operation,, and 1 no time should be 
lost before taking note of what requires to be done and making 
preparations to carry it, out in am expeditious manner. If the 
garden lias been planted several years, the sod in some parts 
may be exhausted or washed away by rain or artificial water¬ 
ings'. Some plants may have proved unsuitable for the 
positions in which they were first planted. Others growing 
well and of a permanent- character may need more room, which 
cam only be given by removing others near them. Many of 
the commoner kinds of carpeting plants, such as the Arenaria®, 
Thyme®, Cerastiums, Acoenas, Aubrietias, Campanulas, Sedums 
and Veronicas grow and flower more freely if lifted and divided 
every two years,. A few birch twigsi will generally prevent 
the birds from scratching amongst them. Blackbirds are often 
very destructive in this way. 
Before any alterations are commenced, sufficient material 
for the purpose must be got together, viz., large stones if 
necessary, loam, well-rotted' cow manure, a lesser quantity of 
peat, a good ,supply of broken sand aud limestone, and plenty 
of sharp sand or grit. If 1 heaps of these are placed in a, con¬ 
venient spot, mixtures of them can be varied to suit different 
subjects. 
A supply of plants must not be forgotten:; there are sure to 
be some blank spaces that need refilling. Many of these 
should be supplied from the reserve garden, where propaga¬ 
tion by seeds, cuttings, or layers should be carried oni. Ini 
this way the commoner things can he gradually weeded out 
and their places filled with choicer plants'. There is also 
much pleasure to be obtained from the addition of new plants. 
Any that have been, noted at exhibitions or during visits toi 
nurseries asi desirable should now be ordered. Pay a fair 
price, and insist on good plants; bad ones are always dear. 
While most can be planted in early autumn, it may he better 
to retain, the more' tender in, cold frame® until the spring. 
Small shrubs and other permanent, occupants should be tied 
closer together, or staked back temporarily to avoid injury. 
In removing the soil from crevices, etc., near them, care must 
be taken, not to cut, or injure their roots. Fill up the crevice 
or fissure to where it is intended to plant ; them insert the 
plant afterwards, filling up, with more soil. A little chopped 
sphagnum, mixed with the compost will help to retain it in 
position. 
But beside-s replanting, much may be done at this season by 
top dressing, etc. Some alpine®—more particularly Ac are 
tholimon®, Armerias, Phloxes, and some Saxifragas—form 
huge cushions; these should be carefully parted from above 
with the left hand, while fine soil and small stones are intro¬ 
duced here and there with the right, closing up that parting 
by making a, fresh one, and so on over the whole plant,. By 
this means such plants may be kept in perfect, health for 
many years'. 
Rock walls should always have from two, to three feet, of good 
soil behind them. But should the plants on them cease to 
grow satisfactorily, the best plan is to pull down the greater 
part of the wall, and, mixing a, good' proportion of new soil 
with the old, build it up again:. In some case® building and 
planting can be carried on together, the plants being built in 
a,st the work proceeds. This will be found much the' best way 
of dealing with plant® having long roots'; it allows them to- 
be placed at once in the soil behind the stones. Watering may 
be necessary if the rainfall is insufficient. J. C. 
Large Hollyhock.—A self-sown, Hollyhock at New Cross,. 
London, S.E., has developed three fine stems measuring 
lift. 5gin., 10ft. 3in., and 7ft. Tin, respectively. 
What is a Weed? —Canon Vaughan, in giving a designation 
of whatl a weed is, says that it is a plant growing where it is 
not wanted. It is no particular plant nor species of plant, 
and, no matter how beautiful it may be or how interesting 
botanically, it is merely a plant which has trespassed on cul¬ 
tivated ground, and is injurious to the crop being cultivated 
there for the time being. It is merely a troublesome intruder. 
New Grafting Compound.— Mr. William Herring, gardener 
to Mr. H. Clarke, of Hollybank, Wootton, Oxon., has patented 
an “ improved grafting compound,” the special feature of which 
is that the hands are not soiled in using. 
* * * 
Strawberries in Sweden. —In Sweden Strawberries are 
grown in pots. In the autumn, after they finish bearing, the 
pots are kept in a sheltered place untill the winter is over. In 
the spring they are taken out again and set in the garden. 
* * * 
Loss on Tasmanian Apples.— Over £100,000 has been lost 
over the Tasmanian Apple trade in England this season. High 
prices at the commencement tempted many firms to reckless 
gambling, and later consignments arrived in such quantities 
as to glut the market. 
* * * 
Dublin Apple Show.— It has been decided by the Department 
of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland to hold 
an Apple -Show and Conference of Fruit Growers in Dublin on 
October 18th and 19th next. Papers will be read at the con¬ 
ference dealing chiefly with the packing and sale of fruit. The 
prize schedules are in preparation, and will 'be issued shortly. 
* * * 
Notable Mulberry Trees in London. —Perhaps the most his¬ 
toric Mulberry tree that ever grew in London was in the garden 
of the vanished Upper Flask, or Upper Bowling Green Inn, 
at Hampstead, where the Kit-Kat Club held their summer 
meetings. Beneath that tree Pope and Steele and Arbuthnot, 
and many another whose name still lives, had what Dr. Johnson 
called “ good talk.” Famous, too, is Hogarth’s Mulberry tree 
at Ohiswic'k, which still stands, though the worse for time and 
tempest. Wonderful stories are told of an exceptionally fine 
tree in the gardens of Carlisle House at Lambeth, which was 
once the town residence of the Bishops of Carlisle. Its shade 
is said to have covered a circumference of “ nearly ” fifty yards. 
* * * 
Poisonous Peas preferred by tile Public. —A grocer was 
recently fined for selling Peas and Beans which had been treated 
with sulphate of copper to preserve their green colour. At West 
End restaurants the customers decline to ©at Peas which may be 
devoid of the green: colour even when cooked with Mint. Some 
years ago a quantity of Peas, guaranteed to contain no> colour¬ 
ing matter, was imported, but they remained three years' in 
stock, as customers, declined to eat them. In like manner milk 
has to be treated with amatta, a vegetable dye 1 , otherwise buyers 
think .it inferior, whereas, the' reverse is the case. Education 
has still abundant, work to accomplish to show how people lay 
themselves liable to 1 be injured by letting themselves be deluded 
by the eye instead of trusting more to the sense of taste. 
* * * 
OAisuia 
_-tt-LX kJAIJl IT A1DH. ----* ^_^ ^ 
life is propounded by a Cumberland reader, who: writes: — 
“ During the great gale of February, 1903, the high tides washed 
up large numbers of stones to the grass banks here, and they 
lay for weeks an unsightly landmark, showing the highest part 
reached by the waves. Then they were collected and carted 
away, leaving still more unsightly bare patches, showing by their 
shape exactly where the collections of stones were. During last 
summer they were still bare patches. But now, though there is 
still little grass there, the patches are very distinctly evident, 
since they are now covered with millions of Daisies. ’Tis true 
other parts, off the bank have Daisies in large numbers/ but even 
the casual observer can easily distinguish where the hare 
patches of last year were, in consequence of the much greater 
abundance o,f Daisies there. We have been trying to find a 
reason for it. Do you mind assisting as to the correct reason ? ” 
The reason, no doubt, is that the thick underground crowns of 
the Daisies' roots were able to retain vitality under the condi¬ 
tions, which destroyed the fibrous roots of their rival the grass. 
Under the heaps of stones there was the double disadvantage 
■ot sea-salt deposited from the stones whenever the rain washed 
rem, and absence of light. Botli are fatal to vegetation, but 
thick, fleshy underground roots and sterns are often able to 
retain vitality for a long time under the worst conditions. 
Dow nearly even the Daisies were killed is shown by the 
fact that the places where the heaps of stones had been remained 
