654 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 19, 1905. 
| OUR . . . 
| Northern 

Flower Garden and 
Pleasure Grounds. 
Bedding Plants. —The propagation of 
Pelargoniums must niow be proceeded with, 
taking the foliage varieties in hand first, and 
these winter best in earthenware, but ordi¬ 
nary wooden propagating boxes suit the zonals 
admirably. A compost of equal parts of 
loam, leaf soil, and sand passed through a 
A im sieve suits them very well. Place the 
rough portion of the compost over the 
drainage, and make all quite firm before 
dibbitig in the cuttings. The zonals should 
be stood oh a plank or platform in the open 
air to root, but bronzes, tricolors, and the 
golden-leaved varieties should be rooted in a 
frame with the lights tilted up back and front. 
V'ater sparingly. Violas for spring planting 
should also be propagated without delay. If 
the cuttings are placed in boxes these should 
be stood behind a wall or hedge to shade them 
from the sun till rooted. 
Narcissi. — Where purchases of these are 
to be made they should be bought soon, as 
they begin to emit roots early, and should be 
in the ground by the end of September if 
possible. 
Carnations. —If the weather is dry attend 
to watering the layers. Seedlings should 
now be ready for pricking into a nursery bed 
to stand the winter. 
Hollyhocks. —Seedlings should now be 
ready for treatment similar to Carnations. 
Conservatory and Greenhouse. 
ilignonette. —A batch of this popular 
annual should at once be sown in 5-in. pots, 
firmly filled with a compost of two parts loam, 
one part horse droppings, and one part leaf 
soil, adding some mortar rubbish. Place in 
a cold frame. Sow thinly. 
Schizanthus —'Seeds of these, if not. 
already done, should be sown in pans at once 
and placed in a cold frame. 
ocabious. — A pan of this should also be 
sown for early flowering. 
Hydrangeas. — Admit air gradually as the 
cuttings root. 
Begonias. —Assist with a weak stimulant, 
and save seed of good varieties as it ripens. 
Hard-WOOded Plants —Any of these re¬ 
quiring repotting should be attended to. 
Mums must have stimulants now. Begin 
weak, and increase in strength as time goes 
on. Every grower has his own preferences, 
but a reliable stimulant for general purposes 
can be had by placing a few spadefuls of 
horse-droppings and a spadeful of soot in a 
coarse bag and place it in a barrel or tank 
filled with water. The bag should be poked 
from time to time with a blunt piece of wood 
to cause it to emit its fertilising properties. 
Bud-taking must now be closely attended to 
for the production of large blooms. Early 
varieties, such as the Desgranges family, 
should have their flower-buds thinned when 
fit to handle. C. C. 
Gardens. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Cauliflower.— It is almost time that a 
small sowing of some good hardy Cauliflower 
be made. Select as exposed a position as can 
be spared, for it is essential to have the little 
seedlings as sturdy as possible before prick¬ 
ing into cold frames in October. From the 
15th to the 25th is a good time for this sow¬ 
ing, and I find that none stand the winter 
better than Early Dwarf Erfurt. 
Lettuce. —For early use it is a good plan 
to sow at the same time as advised above for 
Cauliflower. Prick out into cold frames 
when large enough, and these will be fit to 
cut very early in spring. Sutton’s Winter 
Cos and Hardy Green Hammersmith are very 
reliable. 
Onions. — It is now time to go over the 
Onion beds and give the tops a twist, at the 
same time laying the tops over towards the 
north. This induces the bulbs to swell 
freely, and also by admitting the sun helps 
at the same time to mature the crop. This 
crop is particularly fine in this locality this 
season. Even on the earliest soils the 
autumn sowing of Onions must now be made. 
Many gardeners rely solely on the Tripoli sec¬ 
tion for this sowing, but for my part 1 find 
that such superior varieties as Cranston’s 
Excelsior and Trebon’s stand the winter 
equally as well, and when transplanted in 
spring yield much finer crops than the Italian 
kinds. 
Prickly Spinach. —This is none the better 
of -being too early sown. About the 15th is 
a good time in most localities. Sow rather 
thinly in an open position. If it can be 
spared, a border facing west is a good place 
for this crop. 
General Work _Weeds grow at an alarm¬ 
ing rate at this season, and a strong endea¬ 
vour must be made to keep them well in 
hand. Clear off all spent crops, such as 
Peas, Beans, Cabbage, and Cauliflower. Not 
only is this conducive to the tidy appearance 
of the garden, but many crops continue to 
draw large supplies of food from the soil, and 
so are distinctly harmful. None of this 
material should be wasted. Where it is im¬ 
possible to dig it in at tire moment, it is a 
good plan to place in a heap and allow to 
decay, when it may at some future time be 
returned to the garden as vegetable mould. 
Preston, Linlithgow. C. Blair. 
Hardy Fruit. 
Pear Walls had better be continued with 
for pruning breast wood and nailing in 
headers. In the case of young trees careful 
attention to the training is most essential at 
all times, and more especially just now in 
the formation of a. tree by pinching and train¬ 
ing. At the same time see to the thinning of 
fruit on the young trees, and not to leave more 
than they can well bear without doing them 
any injury. 
The same treatment holds good to Apples 
on wall or trellises, and also standards where 
time can be afforded to go over and shorten 
the growths. It helps to swell the present 
crop of fruit and to swell and increase the 
fruit buds for next year and future crops 
better than pruning at any other season of 
the year, being always careful not to shake 
the trees to bring down the fruit. They seem 
to be specially tender this year with the dry¬ 
ness at the roots, and I find in many cases 
they are drooping badly, especially Lord 
Suffield and Ecklinville. Cherries on walls 
where fruits are not picked had better be left 
until the trees are clear and nets can be taken 
off. Morellos will need more work, but by 
using small twigs or willows, inserted at the 
back of branches to keep in the young growth, 
it will save a deal of nailing, and also time 
can be saved by so doing, but be careful not 
to lay in more wood than is required, because 
the more air the growths can get there is a 
better chance of them getting well ripened, 
and well-ripened wood of any kind of fruit 
always gives the better returns the following 
season. J. Fkasee Smith. 
Cullen Gardens. 
OTHER PEOPLE’S GARDENS. 
III.—Culham Court. 
This charming place, owned by W. H 
Barber, Esq., lies about two miles distant from 
Henley-on-Thames. It is approached through 
a well-timbered spacious park, across which 
the footpath toMedmenham Ferry forms a very 
pleasant walk. Soon after entering the park 
a footpath strikes off on the right hand side 
of the road and leads direct to the head 
gardener’s house, bothy, and other buildings. 
This was my rendezvous, and the head gardener 
(Mr. William Turnham) was soon found, and 
with him I walked round the range of houses 
and vegetable garden. There are a number of 
small glasshouses in which were Carnations, 
Crotons, and other foliage stuff, Ferns, 
Fuchsias, and a mixed collection of plants. 
The Carnations made a grand show, their 
dark well-curled foliage being almost as pretty 
as the flowers. Leaving these, we passed 
through the Melon houses, where plants and 
fruit were in all stages of growth, the earliest 
batch being just ready for cutting. Peaches 
and Vines were also doing well, some of the 
earliest trees of the former being nearly cleared 
of their fruit. The Peach house is to be rebuilt 
this year, and made much wider, in order to 
give more room for the trees. This work will 
be done by the carpenters and bricklayers on 
the estate. 
The herbaceous borders were well filled with 
all kinds of flowers, Canterbury Bells making a 
brave show. There were great breadths of 
Violets planted out in the open, for Mr. 
Turnham is a noted grower of this favourite 
flower and makes quite a speciality of it. 
Chrysanthemums were there in great numbers 
also. Passing on from the kitchen garden we 
visited the lawns and terraces, which were 
surrounded with Bose borders on trellises, 
posts and chains. The upper lawn has cut-out 
flower beds, which were very bright with the 
yellow bedding Calceolaria and Pelargoniums, 
edged with Echeverias, with dot plants at 
intervals. Only to keep the lawns of this 
place in order must entail a deal of work, the 
sloping banks adding much to the difficulty. 
The mansion is a fine, solid-looking building, 
of red brick, well situated on one of the emin¬ 
ences in the park. Fine views of the Thames; 
valley and of the surrounding country can be 
obtained from all points. Till a few years ago 
all water for garden use had to be pumped by 
hand, but now the whole of it is raised by 
means of a small gas engine and stored in 
tauks for use as required. 
A cup of tea proved very refreshing at this 
