106 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 4. 1905. 
but especially in shady places. You might also have early dis¬ 
plays in the boxes, consisting of Wallflowers, Daffodils, Tulips, 
Crocuses, or any other bulbs winch you might prefer. Tins? 
latter would pass out of flower in time for the summer occu¬ 
pants. You can, of course, use various oilier plants if you so- 
desire in the baskets, but we think that a good Fuchsia would 
not only be a change, but highly effective. 
Fog in Plant Houses. 
If fog gets in the houses in autumn we can dispel it by 
raising the temperature and leaving a little air on at the top, 
but with winter fogs it would hardly do to leave air on, especially 
a.t night. Would it be advantageous to maintain a high tem¬ 
perature during foggy weather? (W. J.) 
We should not consider it any advantage, but rather other- _ 
wise, to maintain a high temperature during foggy weather. 
The greater the difference between the inside and the outside 
temperature, the greater will be the exchange of air througn 
the laps of the glass, and that alone serves to bring in the im¬ 
purities of the atmosphere, which are really the cause cf the 
evil. When fog consists merely of moisture, that could be dis¬ 
pelled, and does little, if any, harm. If you are anywhere near 
a town, however, and get the smoke from the same, there are 
always in tired hilts in the form of gas which are injurious to 
plants. During' such periods it would therefore he advan¬ 
tageous rather than otherwise tc maintain a somewhat mwer 
temperature than usual, so as to avoid causing an inrush of 
the outside air with its impurities. The higher temperature 
also seems to do the plants more injury, but probably we must 
couple with that the greater amount of impurities brought in. 
Preparing Lilacs for Forcing. 
Large bushes of Lilac flower abundantly every year in the 
shrubberies and grounds here, but for forcing in pots we under¬ 
stand they require special preparation. What would be the 
best way to prepare small plants? (A. Reeves.) 
Lilacs do require special preparation to make it worth while 
forcing them in pots. Without this preparation you would 
probably get little else than leaves. For small plants it would 
foe necessary to begin with young ones, rooting them as cuttings, 
as layers, or grafting them on the roots of the common Lilac. 
For pot work it is found a great advantage to have them grafted 
or budded upon the Oval-leaved Privet. Plants* so worked 
never attain a large size, and would therefore be useless for 
planting in the shrubbery, but for pot work they are service¬ 
able, inasmuch as they keep dwarf and flower abundantly if 
properly treated. Lilacs to flower well must always be con¬ 
fined to a single stem, rigidly cutting away all shoots or suckers 
that come from below the stock. The plants should be put out 
in nursery lines in a fully exposed and sunny position. It 
will also be necessary to go over the plants several times during 
the course of a season, removing all suckers and cutting away 
weak sideshoots, and occasionally some of the strong ones if 
they are at all crowded. This will direct the energies of the 
plants into making sturdy main shoots, which will ripen well 
and plump up their flower-buds in the autumn, owing to the 
thorough exposure given them and the thinning. Before lift¬ 
ing these plants it would he necessary to gO' over them about 
the middle of August, and put the spade well down round about 
the ball, so as to cut the long roots and prepare the plants for 
lifting. This latter may be done early in September, and the 
plants put in pots according to the size of the ball of roots. At 
lifting-time you can determine which of the plants are best set 
with flower-buds. Other people grow on these young plants in) 
pots, and therefore restrict their roots from the beginning. The 
pots containing the plants should be plunged in soil or ashes for 
the summer. When the shoots are fully developed., and yon think 
they are in a condition for checking, you can lift out the pots 
and leave them fully exposed, thereby inducing the plants to 
become fully matured before winter. In forcing Lilacs the 
cooler you can bring them on the better it will be for the flowers 
and the plants alike. The latter require two or tliree years 
to recover before they are fit to force again if they have been 
hard forced. 
Sowing Rhubarb Seed. 
\Ye saved Some .seed of' a veryfine' variety of Rhubarb last 
summer,, and it Seems good. Would there be any advantage in 
-sowing it early in heat ? (T. W. G.) 
Rhubarb, being perfectly hard-y, may be sown in the open in 
April. In moderately small quantity you would have con¬ 
venience for bringing it on early under glass, and the plants 
would attain such a size during the first season that they would 
show whether .they had anything to recommend them. The 
jierfectly worthless ones could then be thrown away, and the 
plantation given more room d you decide to grow on a large 
number of the plants for another year’s trial. In face of these 
facts, then, it would he an advantage to get the plants in early, 
so that you can the sooner determine their value, or whether 
any of them present new and desirable features or recommenda¬ 
tions for garden use. 
Laying Pebbles. 
We can get any quantity of pebbles from sea beach not far 
away, and think they would be very suitable for paving in 
front of the doors of various houses. What would be the best 
way of laying them to prevent them kicking up when walked 
upon? (H. R. D.) 
If the pebbles are only 1 in. to 2 in. in diameter, the best 
way would be to prepare the space, making out a level and 
solid bed. for them, and lay the pebbles in cement. If the 
pebbles are 3 in. to 4 in. in diameter, they could be bedded in 
sand on a level and solid foundation. Pebbles of this latter 
size should be laid upon their edges, so that the thinner por¬ 
tions only are exjiosed. Their size will give them sufficient 
grip in the sand to stand a deal of walking upon, provided 
you edge them with something so firmly embedded in the soil as 
to prevent the pebbles from sliifting when trodden upon. While 
you are about it, the pebbles might be arranged in ornamental 
designs, not necessarily complicated, but at the same time they 
might be made ornamental as well as useful. Before com¬ 
mencing you can think out what designs you intend to make. 
A rough sketch of them would be a guide to those laying the 
pebbles. 
Nitrate for Tomatos. 
There are some bare spots on the fruit-tree walls, where we 
intend placing Tomatos reared under glass. At present we are 
putting some fresh soil in those places, and some artificial 
manures require to be applied in win ter. Does that include 
nitrate? (G. W. D.) 
Artificial manures that require to be sown in winter are 
basic slag and kainit, which contain potash. Superphosphate 
of lime and muriate of potash, which contain phosphoric acid, 
might also with advantage be applied at least as early as 
February, so as to give them time to reach a more soluble 
state before the Tomatos are planted. Nitrate, of soda or sul¬ 
phate of ammonia, being more soluble, should not be applied 
until the Tomatos are ready to make use of it, otherwise these 
manures would be liable to get washed away in the drainage if 
we get much rain before planting time. The fact of using fresh 
soil would be sufficient for the Tomatos until they have set 
at least the first bunch of fruit. It has been found a good prac¬ 
tice to hold back the nitrate until the first bunch has been set, 
as that helps to steady the plants and prevents the nitrate from 
lushing them into stems and foliage with long joints and few 
bunches of flowers. 
Size of Pelargonium Flowers. 
Many times have I seen flowers and trusses of zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums of very large size, but, even in trying to grow the same 
varieties, they have seldom come up to the size expected. Is 
there any secret in growing large blooms? (T. B. AY.) 
There is a secret, as you hint, but it is rather an open one, 
and employed by those who desire to get specially large blooms 
for any given purpose or to please the employers. The season 
has much to do with the size of the flowers. The plants must he 
well grown, as you are well aware, and thoroughly exposed to 
light. If particularly large blooms' are desired, you should 
keep removing the trusses, of blooms until the shoots on the 
plants are fairly strong. Then, when the trusses of bloom give 
evidence of being vigorous, the point of the shoots could be 
nipped out well above this truss of bloom, in order to avoid 
injury to* it. The plants, we presume, by this time would have 
well filled their pots with roots, so that you could resort to 
feeding with weak liquid manure. There being no leaves or 
flowers beyond the truss you have left, tire energies of the 
plant would be directed to the production of a large truss at 
the end of each shoot. Owing to the great vigour of the plant 
under such treatment, the individual blooms would also be 
unusually large. You can ,aim at getting large b.lpqms in 
winter as well as summer, though the conditions in summer are 
always more favourable to the same: 
Names of Plants. ri . 
(J. G.„ Lancs.) 1, Coelogyne massangeana ; 2, Cypripediuni 
villosum Boxallii; 3, Cypripediuni villosum ; 4, Cypripedium 
villosum Boxallii ; 5, Dendrobium aureum.—(J. S. L.) 1, Juni- 
perus virginiana ; 2, Thuya japonica; 3, Abies concolor; 4, 
