December 31, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
1059 
French Beans. —This, of course, is the most trying time 
during the whole year for these, and to keep up a continuous 
supply the greatest care will have to he exercised in their man¬ 
agement. A temperature of from 55 to 60 deg. will have to 
he maintained, and at the same time a moist atmosphere must 
be allowed them to ward off attacks of red spider. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. E. Beckett. 
Hardy Trees and Shrubs. 
The exceedingly sharp frosts which we are experiencing at 
the time of writing will render the ground unsuitable for re¬ 
planting shrubs, and the work in this department will not be 
very pressing providing the fallen leaves and rubbish have been 
removed, as advised in a previous calendar. When the surface 
of the soil is in a hard, frozen state no attempt should be made 
at transplanting, it beihg far better to wait until a mild spell 
will render the ground in a workable condition, as the frozen 
lumps have a very detrimental effect upon the shrubs if they 
are filled in round the roots, and take a long time to become 
thawed underground. One will do well to carefully look round 
and see that all shrubs which are likely to be injured by frost 
are well protected and made secure, for, in spite of the fact 
that we have for several seasons experienced very mild winters, 
one never knows when a severe spell may set in, and it is 
best to be well prepared for it. Many shrubs which will stand 
25 deg. of frost are likely to be killed should the glass fall to 
zero or below, and such as Pittosporums, Elaeagnus, Garryas 
and Veronicas will be rendered practically safe if a mat is 
placed round them and some bracken or similar material laid 
over the roots. I well remember some large specimens of 
Veronica Traversii being killed outright in the sharp winter of 
’94-’95, when we had 34 deg. of frost. I mention this merely 
to show that by giving the plants a small amount of protection 
much disappointment may be averted. 
Making New Shrubberies. —Where it is intended to form 
and plant fresh shrubberies, one will he able as soon as the 
ground is in a suitable condition to make a commencement by 
getting the site ready. If any trees or other wood known as 
scrub are already occupying the ground, and it is desired to 
have them removed, this can be done without delay. The 
larger trees can be sawn down and the undergrowth taken off 
with hooks, but the roots will have to be taken clean out by 
grubbing or stocking. 
After the ground is clear and in a suitable state, the trench¬ 
ing can be done, and should the surface be covered with grass 
or turf this is best removed. The trenching should be done 
one or two spits deep, as time will allow, breaking up the 
bottom well with a fork and adding a liberal amount of manure 
or well-decayed leaf-soil. If satisfactory results are to be looked 
for after planting, it is most important that the ground be 
treated in this way, but, unfortunately, far too many people 
when planting will not go to the little additional expenditure 
at first, with the inevitable result that whatever is planted does 
not succeed half so well as is expected. 
To obtain any success with flowering trees and shrubs of 
evergreen or deciduous nature, the ground must be broken up 
to allow the roots free action, and the value cf doing so will 
quickly make itself apparent. Of course, when planting speci¬ 
men trees on grass in parks or similar places, it is impossible 
to break up all the ground, but a good hole should be taken 
out all round where the tree is to stand, so that for several 
years it may have ample space to root and become thoroughly 
established. Planting a shrubbery is just the same as plant¬ 
ing an orchard, and everyone is well aware how much better 
Apple trees, for instance, grow and thrive if the ground has 
been well worked. It may appear to some that I lay too much 
stress upon this detail, but knowing as I do so well the im¬ 
portance of carrying out this part of the work in a thorough 
manner I may, perhaps, be pardoned for dealing at some 
length with what is, after all, the most important part of 
shrubbery formation. It should also be seen that the drainage 
is in a perfect state, as few shrubs succeed when the ground is 
in a water-logged condition which it is sure to he unless the 
water can pass freely away. A. E. Thatcher. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
The Stove and Greenhouse. 
Myrsiphyllum asparagoides. — The value of this elegant 
twining plant for the decoration of rooms and other present- 
day floral arrangements is now so well known that I need not 
dwell upon its merits, except to say that no gardener can 
afford to be without it. By sowing a packet of seed twice or 
thrice at intervals of a few weeks during the spring months it 
is possible to maintain a supply of fresh green trails for use 
the greater part of the year. 
The plant is a perennial, but I prefer to treat it as an 
annual, because I And the growth is much more compact on 
young plants than upon older ones. 
The method I adopt is as follows. The seed being hard 
should be soaked for a few hours before sowing. Prepare a 
compost of equal parts loam, leaf-soil and peat, with sharp 
sand added, and pass it through a |-in. sieve. The pan or 
pot should be clean and well drained, and filled to within 1 in. 
of the rim with soil. Press lightly and make level, then sow 
the seed thinly and cover with g-in. of soil. Afford a 
watering and cover with a sheet of glass and place on a shelf 
in a warm pit or house. Keep moist but not too wet, and 
when the seedlings attain 2 in. in height pot off two or three 
together in thumb pots and keep near the light in a genial 
temperature of about 65 deg. As these pots become tilled 
with roots repot into 3-|-in., using a similar compost to that 
recommended for the seeds, with the exception of omitting 
the peat and substituting ivell decomposed farmyard manure, 
add a sprinkling of bone-meal, and use in a lumpy state. The 
final shift is into 7-in. pots, and in these they remain for the 
season. When the trails are all cut the plants are either de¬ 
stroyed or planted into restricted borders or boxes against 
bare walls in temperate houses to form a green screen in the 
following year. The first batch should be sown in the first 
week in the new year, and if grown on freely they will yield 
abundance of trails early in summer, when those raised late 
last spring for providing growths for winter use are over. 
Subsequent cultural details will be given in a later calendar. 
The Propagating Pit. —A well-appointed propagating pit 
or house is absolutely essential to a well-ordered garden, yet 
one frequently meets with gardeners who have to do all the 
propagating in a make-shift structure. This is to be deplored, 
as it handicaps a man who has to maintain a constant supply 
of flowering and foliage plants for decorative purposes 
throughout the year. 
One of the chief factors to success in propagating is cleanli¬ 
ness, and whatever the structure utilised, it should be well 
cleansed and otherwise prepared at an early date. With the 
advent of the new year much seed sowing and insertion of cut¬ 
tings will have to be done ; therefore it will be obvious that we 
must be well prepared to cope with it. 
Looking Ahead. — It is a truism that the gardener who 
would be up to date must practise forethought, and at no time 
in the year does this apply with more force than now. A few 
days lost early in the year will lead to disappointment and 
often disaster later on. As the days lengthen so the work in 
all departments of the garden increases : and at such a pace 
that if we are not well in advance it throws us behind the 
whole season through. The requirements of establishments 
differ considerably, but the above remarks apply to all in a 
lesser or greater degree. All work that can reasonably be 
performed now should be done, such as the cleaning of plants 
for, generally speaking, there will be but little time for such 
work later on. 
Take stock of the various plants and ascertain approxi¬ 
mately how many of each kind will be required to be worked 
up, and make notes thereon for future guidance. Compile 
