(318 
the gardening world 
August 5, 1905. 
OUR . 
• • 
Northern Gardens. 
If this operation is done at the potting time, 
for the purpose of making a large specimen 
the whole may be potted in the usual way in 
the same pot. 
Where it is desirable to increase the stock 
I would advise taking off the leading growth 
when rooting, and removing it from the older 
portion of the plant without disturbing the 
roots of the older growths more than is abso¬ 
lutely necessary. The young growth may be 
potted up in the usual way. Fill in any 
blank space made in the old plant by the por¬ 
tion removed, and in a few weeks new growth 
will make its appearance, which quickly ad¬ 
vances, and when rooting should be repotted 
with the old growths attached. 
This class of Cypripediums must not be 
allowed to remain in a dry state at the root 
for any lengthened period at any season of 
the year, but a great deal more moisture will 
be necessary when the plants are in vigorous 
growth than is required when less active. 
Other species, such as C. lawrenceanum, C. 
barbatum, C. callosum, C. superbiens, and 
0. ciliolare, are all desirable and useful 
kinds for the purpose. Among the hybrids, 
perhaps C. harrisianum superbum, although 
one of the oldest, will be bad to beat, but 
almost the whole of the hybrids that have 
been obtained from the influence of one or 
more of the above species in the parentage 
will be found suitable, and require rhe same 
conditions and treatment, Thrips are the 
worst insect pests. Spraying when the out¬ 
side conditions permit of fumigation is the 
best means of holding these pests m check. 
H. J. Chapman. 
MALMI50N CARNATIONS 
IN THE OPEN AIR 
For many years I had a large clump of r,he 
beautiful Carnation Miss Joliffe, which 
flowered freely annually, and nearly every 
bloom opened well out, few splitting, and only 
in very wet weather did any rot or damp off. 
Unfortunately, it fell a prey to one of the 
many Carnation foes, and has finished its 
good work—before, too, I was able to take 
layers or cuttings to replace the old stool; 
and not being a Carnation enthusiast, I never 
gave it very much attention beyond cutting 
off faded blooms, well watering, and pinning 
the long shoots into the ground and scattering 
some good soil over them (layering them being 
quite unknown to me, worse luck). I used 
to gather large handfuls of the lovely bright 
pink blossoms, which were everyone’s envy. 
Perhaps the position suited it so well it faced 
due south, and was in front of a raised bank 
about 2 ft. high, and used to grow down over 
the rockwork front or edge. The bank is well 
drained, but rather poor soil, but is enriched 
with ordinary stable manure every autumn, 
and can have liberal water supply. All car¬ 
nations do well here, and I am going to try 
some ordinary blush Malmaisons as soon as 
I can make room, but at present it is full of 
Uriah Pike and Germania ; but these grow 
so much taller than Miss Joliffe used to that 
variety having short, stout stems and grand 
foliage. I have tried the deep red Malm aison 
(I forget the name) for a few seasons, but it 
soon went off. D. ^ . E. 
Bracken as Food. —A correspondent, who 
has tried a dish of Bracken cooked as Aspara¬ 
gus, says it was very unpalatable, s 5 imy, and 
tasteless. 
Flower Garden and 
Pleasure Grounds. 
Pegging Down. —Attention should be given 
to the pegging down of such bedding plants 
as Verbenas, Tropaeolums, and Petunias. 
Carnations. — Continue to layer as the 
plants go out of bloom. We are getting the 
best results, from a decorative point of view, 
from second year plants in the mixed her¬ 
baceous beds, the plants being literally 
smothered with bloom. Our varieties include 
Duchess of Fife, Salamander, Dundas’ Scar¬ 
let, Redbraes (Picotee), Baby Castle, Crim¬ 
son Clove, etc. 
Violets. —Keep clear of runners, especially 
the plants intended for frames. If this is 
neglected the best results cannot be obtained. 
Water in dry weather, and keep the Dutch 
hoe going. A sprinkling of soot occasionally 
will prove highly beneficial. 
Hollyhocks. —Attend to tying up where 
necessary. Do not tie too near the point, or 
the plants will get strangled. Plant young 
seedlings in nursery lines. 
Conservatory and Greenhouse. 
Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums. —These should 
now be propagated. Cuttings can either be 
inserted in single 2^-in. pots or in batches 
in well-drained pots or pans of light sandy 
soil, and placed in a frame with the sashes 
raised back and front by means of two light 
cross-bars. The following are all excellent 
sorts.-—Leonard, Souvenir de Chas. Turner, 
Ryecroft Surprise, Baden Powell. Claudine, 
The Queen, Mr. J. G. Day. 
Zonals should be similarly treated. To 
specify varieties would be a hopeless task, 
but nothing poor or even mediocre should be 
tolerated. "Those intended for winter flower¬ 
ing will be in the open air, and should still 
have their embryo trusses picked off. 
Roman Hyacinths. —Preparations must be 
made for potting up the first batch. When 
potted, plunge behind a wall so as to keep 
them as cool as possible. C. C. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Onior. s. —It- is well to get the ground for 
the principal sowing of autumn Onions pre¬ 
pared a few days before it is necessary to sow 
the seed. Dig "deeply, but only give a small 
quantity of manure, as the chief aim is to in¬ 
duce sturdy, healthy growth, so that the young 
plants may pass safely through the winter. 
It is much better to sow on comparatively 
poor soil and transplant to rich soil in the. 
spring, than to sow on very heavily manured 
land and allow the crop to mature where 
sown. Where it is possible to spare a border 
of fairly light soil with a western exposure 
for this crop success is almost certain. The 
next best position is on an open quarter of tire 
garden where the full benefits of air and 
sunshine can be utilised. Trebon s, and Cran¬ 
ston’s Excelsior I find to stand the winter 
well, if sown about August 12tli. 
Peas. —These are Joins: remarkably well 
this season, notwithstanding the drought. 
Now is a good time to take notes of the dif¬ 
ferent early varieties. I tried the new Irish- 
raised variety, the Pilot, this season, and 
am most favourably impressed with its merits. 
Sown on same date as William I., it was 
ready for the table a week in advance of that 
variety. It carried an excellent crop, and the 
quality is good for a first early. Gradus is 
still the best second early, although I rather 
fancy Exoniam, which matures several days 
in front of the former. In Scotland, I should 
explain, we must treat even the hardiest of 
the wrinkled Peas as second early. I had 
only a very small sample of the new Edwin 
JBeckett, and so can hardly pass an opinion 
on it yet. What I have seen of it, however, 
points to its being the coming second early 
variety. I will sow in greater quantity next 
season. 
General Work. —Harvest crops as soon ns 
they are ready. Shallots and Potato Onions 
should never be left in the ground after they 
are ripe, or more than likely they will start 
to grow again or else rot. Sow more Water¬ 
cress in a well-manured, shady trench. This 
grows very rapidly at this season, and the 
fresh sowing is of much better quality than 
can be cut from the spring-sown trench. See 
that the soil among growing crops of Lettuce, 
Broccoli, etc., is constantly stirred with the 
Dutch hoe. Keep weeds well under at this 
season. C. Blair. 
Preston, Linlithgow. 
Hardy Fruit. 
This is now the busy season, when fruit- 
picking of all kinds is in full operation, and 
will require constant attention to all the 
various sorts. To have everything sent into ihe 
house in the best of condition is the great 
study of a good gardener. 
Strawberry layering for forcing, if not 
already attended to as advised, had better be 
put in hand forthwith. The season being too 
dry, the runners have been slow to form. 
See that constant attention is given to water¬ 
ing, and any which are ready for their fruit¬ 
ing pots, as advised in an earlier calendar, 
would better be seen to at once, to give all 
the time possible to prepare and strengthen 
good crowns, potting them in a mixture of 
good friable loam with a little leaf mould 
and a dash of rough sand added to keep all 
porous, as the early batches are easily over¬ 
watered in the early forcing season. 
Old forced Strawberries, which were planted 
out in breaks, and which give excellent re¬ 
turns the following year, will require fre¬ 
quent soakings of water and a little liquid 
added occasionally. That from the farmyard, 
when it can be had, I much prefer for this 
crop. . 
Get in readiness pots for potting up -tie 
whole batch of Strawberries. Take advan¬ 
tage of a wet day, and set the labourers to 
have them all washed, as plants thrive so 
much better in clean pots ; and also remem¬ 
ber to pot firmly, using a dash of soot on 
the moss over the crocks, which helps to keep 
out worms while standing outside. Better 
still, use one of Porter’s patent crocks mr 
J. Fraser Smith. 
