* September 23, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
?43 
season. Those with plenty of accommodation 
may now sow a pinch of seed 'of Sutton’s 
Winter Beauty or other good winter variety. 
Unless much care and .attention can be paid 
to these early sowings it is useless to expect 
success. Very few people rely on cuttings 
nowadays, but should it be deemed expedient 
to try this meitlhod now is a good time to 
insert the cuttings. Select nice healthy, 
short-jointed side shoots. Use thumb pots, 
and do not give too much heat, or the 
chances of success are small. 
General Work.. —Continue to remove all 
spent crops. In taking out pea stakes it is 
generally useless to store any but spn'uce or 
larch stakes. All the others usually last but 
the one season, so they had better be burned 
along with the pea straw. Burn all rubbish 
that will burn, as by doing so hosts of vermin 
aro destroyed that would other-wise escape to 
torment us next season. C. Blair. 
Preston, Linlithgow. 
Hardy Fruit. 
The picking of fruit will require daily atten¬ 
tion at this season, looking over early varie¬ 
ties to- get the fruit stored before they drop, 
yet not gathering as long as they will stay on 
the branches. The longer one can leave them 
on the tree, the better do they keep. Such 
varieties as Early Julian and Early Margaret 
are all quite ripe, as are also Lady Sudeley, 
Langley Pippin, Duchess of Oldenburgh, and 
Red Astrachan. Kitchen sorts also requiring 
attention are Lord SufBeld, Lord Grosvenor, 
Cellini, Keswick, and Potts’ Seedling. 
The fruit room should be thoroughly cleaned 
before the storing of fruit begins. Great care 
should be exercised in packing fruit, and also 
in laying them out carefully. If possible, 
they should be placed in an upright position 
on the shelf, and only one layer deep. This 
enables one more readily to look over the fruit 
from time to time later in the year. 
Raspberry quarters will at this stage be 
greatly benefited by having all the old canes 
cut away at once to give air to the young 
canes to get them ripened. These must be 
removed with great care, so as not to injure 
the young rods which are left for next year’s 
crop. J. Fraser, Smith. 
A Late Flowering Catchfly. 
(Sttene Schafta ) 
Amongst the neat growing, late blooming 
species of Catchfly suitable for the rockery, 
none is more interesting or prettier than the 
subject of this note. The flowers are of good 
average size for the genus and of a rich rose 
colour. The flower stems are slightly 
branched, bearing several flowers, but only 
rise to a height of 3in. or 4in. above the soil. 
It is a native of the Caucasus and perfectly 
hardy in this country, but to get it in its 
finest form and to flower best it must be 
planted in a moderately damp situation upon 
the rockery. Indeed, if not planted on an 
elevated and dry situation it will thrive 
admirably. If planted on a dry ledge, growth 
is limited, and the number of flowers par¬ 
ticularly so. In a pocket near the base of the 
rockery it is happy and flowers quite pro¬ 
fusely in August or into September. 
Mr. Geo. Bustard, V.M.H., has forwarded 
to the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institu¬ 
tion a donation of £5 18s. 6d., being the 
amount received by him for naming fruit for 
non-customers and the trade. 
VEGETABLES ALL TMEYEAR R0UND - 
This beautiful plant is considered by many 
growers to be the first salad. The leaves are 
handsome, and the roots, when properly 
grown, are very substantial-looking and 
attractive. 
The Soil and Situation.— A deep, fine loam 
is the best, because evenly-shaped roots may 
be grown in such. Lumpy soil is responsible 
for malformed roots, also t|be addition of 
fresh, strawy manure just before the seeds 
are sown. It is while the plants are young 
that they become ill-shaped ; the tender roots 
touching obstacles turn aside, or grow fork¬ 
shaped. 
Therefore attend first to the preparation of 
the ground. Have it deeply trenched and the 
lumps found thoroughly broken up. Select 
ground which has been heavily manured the 
previous year, but where roots of a 
similar kind have not lately been grown. 
Furthermore, the site should be an open one, 
and in a dry part in preference to a naturally 
damp one. 
THINNING BEET-ROOT. 
The central plant is not lifted from the soil, and 
is the one to retain. The others are partially raised 
out of the ground, which fact generally proves that 
the roots are crooked. 
Sowing the Seeds. —Some persons sow the 
seeds early, with the result that the seedlings 
appear in patches ; they become rather stunted 
in cold weather, and, later, develop into very 
coarse plants, the roots resembling Mangolds. 
Amateurs will thus see that there is really no 
advantage gained by early sowing. The first 
week in May is quite soon enough. The seeds 
germinate quickly, and grow rapidly into nice 
plants and well-shaped roots possessing a rich 
colour. 
After raking over the surface soil, taking 
away the largest stones and any sticks 
found, lay down a garden line and draw out 
drills 2 in. deep, and from 15 in. to 18in. 
apart. Drop two or three seeds at intervals 
of 8in. 4 or so in the drills. If you possess some 
wood ashes, scatter a small quantity in the 
drills before closing in the seeds. 
The work of thinning out should be done 
fairly early, and the method of sowing will 
facilitate it, as there will be the two extra 
plants, sometimes only one, to pull out of each 
clump instead of seedlings all along the rows. 
Leave the best-shaped specimen in every 
instance. 
The Summer culture is very simple. See 
that the crop is kept quite free from weeds, 
of course, and even when there are not any 
weeds to be seen ply the Dutch hoe at times 
between the rows to maintain the surface soil 
in a loose state; the plants will make better 
progress if this is done. 
Lifting and Sorting the Roots. —All the 
plants should be harvested before severe frost 
has injured them. A few early white frosts 
will not do much harm, but still it is better 
to avoid any risk. 
Use a garden fork to raise the roots with; 
do not forcibly pull them out by seizing hold 
of the tops. The aim should be to preserve 
all the juice, as when this is retained the Beet 
has a richer appearance when cooked. To this 
end also twist off the tops instead of cutting 
the latter with a knife. Choose a cool place 
for storing the roots in. Pack them with 
sand, dry soil, or ashes; and if there is not 
any shed available, store them in a shallow 
trench or dry ground near a wall 01 - 
fence. Place the roots in an upright position, 
well pack them in sand, and finally cover with 
straw in frosty weather. 
Varieties —Cheltenham Green-top, dark 
roots of good quality ; Dell’s Black, Pragnell’s 
Exhibition, Nutting’s- Dwarf Red, and New 
Red Globe, an improved Egyptian Turnip- 
rooted variety, with a good rich colour. 
In season from August to the following 
May, ten months out of the twelve. G. 
P-iH*-P-P-i—PHH**i—P-5—P -P-P-P-P-P-H 
■•i—p-p-p-p-p-r 
— THE — 
Suburban Front Garden. 
A Wealth of Shrubs and Climbers. 
The taste of the owners or tenants of sub¬ 
urban villas does not always run to flowers. In 
many cases they exhibit a decided preference 
for shrubs, and not all of the gardens which 
are devoted to shrubs contain the same class of 
plants. There is now a great wealth of variety, 
and evidently the suburban dweller is becom¬ 
ing aware of the great variety at his command, 
and the selection of those particular things 
which he admires would indicate a cultivation 
of taste for beautiful vegetation quite apart 
from flowers. 
The particular garden to which I refer in 
this instance is situated at the corner of two 
streets ; the small lawn is triangular, and has 
a simple edging of Pelargoniums and Lobelias 
next the pathway in front of the house. More 
attention has been given to the borders suited 
for planting with shrubs. Very prominent 
are uncut bushes of the golden Privet and 
Euonymus japonicus aureo-marginatus. which 
form dwarf bushes. Intel-mixed with these are 
standards of the variegated Box Elder, Labur¬ 
num, Hawthorns, and other trees of that 
character, which are valuable for the sake of 
their flowers of foliage, as the case may be. 
The narrow borders immediately surround¬ 
ing the house are similarly planted with un¬ 
pruned shrubs, regelated in the usual way. 
The brick front of the house is covered with 
Japanese Ivy (Ampelopsis Veitchii), which 
commenced assuming its beautiful bronzy hue 
before the end of August. This early colour¬ 
ing probably indicates a dry or sandy sub-soil. 
A broad ledge over the side door had been 
used for a disrplay of pot plants, including 
white Marguerites, pink Ivy-leaved Pelargo¬ 
niums and Fuchsias, all of which had evidently 
been attended to in the matter of watering, 
for they flowered splendidly for weeks 
together. Q. 0. R. 
