THE GARDENING WORLD . 
A Letter 
TO THE 
Editor 
Rose. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
The Rose being so much in evidence just 
now in the columns of The Gardening 
World perhaps your readers would like to 
read a short “ Rose ” story of last year ? Well, 
here it is : — 
Rose. 
When the gentle spring was smiling 
Wandered I away, 
Slow the weary hours beguiling, 
Through the meadows gay; 
Shades of night were fast descending, 
Day had reached its close. 
Towards the village homeward wending, 
Then I met with Rose. 
When the summer shed its splendour 
Over hill and dale, 
Manly hearts to maidens tender 
Told the ancient tale; 
When the birds were homeward flying, 
Seeking night’s repose, 
With soft words of love undying, 
Then I courted Rose. 
When the autumn leaves were falling, 
And the winds blew chill, 
Loud the merry bells were calling 
Lovers up the hill; 
By the pretty altar pressing 
’Neath the smiles of those 
Anxious to impart their blessing, 
Then I married Rose. 
F. F. 
The Double Rocket. 
(Hesprris mnlronaiis fl. pi.) 
To the Editor of The Gardening World 
Sir,—This is one of our most beautiful bor¬ 
der plants, and also one that, unless well 
cared for, has the unfortunate habit of mys¬ 
teriously dying off. 
I have a letter from an amateur friend who 
has made a special study of this plant, and he 
urges me to give your readers, who may be 
interested in the matter, a hint, or timely 
warning concerning one of the reasons at least 
for the° Rocket’s untimely dying off. It is 
this: When cutting over the plants after 
flowering, great care must be taken to leave 
a few leaves on the stems: in other words, 
do not cut too low down. My friend informs 
me that if no leaves are left on the plants 
they invariably die. 
I may add that long experience has taught 
me that the best method of keeping up the 
stock of these plants is annual propagating 
in August. C. Blair. 
Tying Dahlias. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir. —I have no desire to find fault with 
“ C. C.’s ” admirable notes on the “ Flower 
Garden and Pleasure Grounds,” and I trust 
he will not take it unkindly of me to differ 
from him where he states that “ tar twine 
will be found most reliable for tying Dahlias, 
etc.” My experience, sir, is that wherever 
tarred twine touches the stem of a plant the 
stem is eaten into by the tar or pi'ckling, and 
is considerably damaged thereby ; indeed, I 
have several times seen even strong Rose- 
shoots so weakened that a slight wind has 
broken them just at the weakened point. On 
this account I have discarded tarred material, 
and wherever raffia is not strong enough I 
use the tough string such as farmers use on 
their self-binding reapers. This T find cheap, 
strong, and, after a few days’ exposure, it 
becomes inconspicuous. Heather Bell. 
THE “G. W.” 
. . Enquire Within. 
Supplementary Replies by our Readers. 
Silver Box Dying. 
Probably the present unsatisfactory condi¬ 
tion of “ W. W.’s” Box tree is due to “too 
loose planting ” at the time of replanting. 
I am afraid this is a common error made 
by the inexperienced when replanting trees 
or shrubs. Too often the operation is hurried 
through to avoid the roots getting dried by 
the air, and, conseciuently, the soil is thrown 
in round the tree and not given the proper 
“ ramming home ” which it should have, with 
the result that all after-waterings do not pro¬ 
perly saturate the ball of the tree, but pass 
away too quickly through the loose soil 
around. I would advise “ W. W.” to see if 
this is the case with his tree ; if so. give the 
soil which is from 1 ft. to 21 ft. from the 
tree a thorough good ramming with a wooden 
rammer, about 4 ft. long, and about the size 
of a breakfast cup at the bottom. Ram with 
the top of the rammer, leaning from the tree, 
finally making a good “ bay ” round the stem 
and giving several gallons of water. 
H. Morris. 
The Gardens, Turkey Court, Maidstone. 
Onion Maggot. 
I would strongly advise T. Weir to treat 
his Onions with “soot” for the maggot. I 
have seen the good effect of soot being placed 
close round the bulbs in beds which have been 
badly affected with the maggot. The amount 
of dry soot to each Onion should be about 
‘ a quarter of a pint, put close up to the bulb. 
T might say that I am seldom troubled with 
the maggot, mainly or solely because I take 
preventive measure® by giving a thorough 
good dressing of soot direct into the seed 
drills after the seed has been sown and pre¬ 
vious to its being covered in. This practice, 
it is beyond doubt, is a good thing in two 
ways—it prevents maggot and acts as a 
manure to the crop. At the present time, 
the 7th inst., T have Onions over 6 in. in cir¬ 
cumference, which were sown in the open 
ground the second week in March. Soot and 
wood ashes were used in plenty in nreparing 
the bed. H. Morris. 
The Gardens, Turkey Court, Maidstone. 
Plants for Shady Window-Box. 
Instead of planting Pelargoniums, Mar¬ 
guerites, and Tobacco plants, your enquirer 
“ C. N. S.” would have ensured more success 
and interest had he filled his window-boxes 
(as suggested by the Editor) with British 
Ferns. Two crested Athyriums and Osmunda 
regalis would make a splendid background, 
while two Scolopendium vulgare crispum and 
a Polysticlnim angular© proliferum would 
make 'a good front row. A couple of 
Dracaena australis in pots plunged in the 
centre, to be removed as house plants in the 
autumn, would enhance the effect. The fore¬ 
going list of plants could be purchased from 
any local nursery, costing from 9d. to Is. each, 
and with proper attention would be yearly im¬ 
proving. An edging of Ampelopsis, Peri¬ 
winkles, common Musk, mossy Saxifraga, or 
Ivy trailing over the front of the box would 
be a pleasant addition. 
There are a number of dwarf shrubs and 
conifera, which are usually sold for town 
window-boxes, chiehy for the winter and 
spring seasons. A very good idea is to have 
the plants in 5-in. pots, and plunge in the 
box amongst moss or coooanut fibre, when a 
plant is easilv changed at will. Tn this way 
a number of house plants can be turned out 
to the open in summer, and by having suit¬ 
able zinc linings made to fit the boxes, shrubs, 
bulbs, etc., can be permanently planted f »r 
winter and spring, and a change easily 
effected. J. B. 
Possibly the plants are now imnroving, root 
action having recommenced. Tf the soil is 
rather poor give a slight dressing of Olay’s 
fertiliser, covering with a. little more soil. 
If the nlants appear thin fill up between them 
bv dibbling in small seedling Violas, obtain¬ 
able at a cheap rate, cuttings of Lysimachia 
Nummularia, or Tradescantia japonica or T. 
zehrina. If the boxes must be refilled at the 
present time, do so with green Euonymus and 
golden Lysimachia, or golden Euonymus and 
Ajuga reptans purpurea. J. C. 
ON THE EDITOR’S TABLE. 
CARNATION RICHNESS. 
A bloom of a very beautiful variety of fancy 
yellow ground Carnation has reached us from 
Mr. Chris Leeson, 4. Cooper Street, Hvde 
Park, Doncaster, under the above name. The 
bloom was of moderate size, but had not been 
disbudded, and though not suitable in this 
state for exhibition, it is. notwithstanding, a 
very beautiful and attractive variety, which 
might be used in many ways for decorative 
nurposes, either in the garden or the cut state. 
TVe may state, however, that he has only 
just procured the; variety, and bloomed it for 
the first time. The same plant carries half-a- 
dozen similar flowers. The calyx is very 
strongly formed, and seems to burst regularlv, 
so that the flower maintains its shape. So 
far the plant has given great satisfaction in 
its manner of growth, grass and blossom. 
The variety was accorded a certificate of merit 
bv the National Carnation and Picotee So¬ 
ciety (Southern Sectionl in 1903. We may 
describe the variety as having a rich vellow 
ground, with a heavy scarlet edge, the centre 
portion of which often runs down the centre 
of the petal, but otherwise the colour is fairlv 
confined to the margin. The bloom was 
pleasantly scented when we received it. 
The New Zealand Cotton Tree. 
(Plagianthus Lyallii.) 
The above New Zealand shrub is very often 
grown upon walls and seldom flowers with the 
freedom of some other shrubs which we cherish 
in the shrubbery borders. It has bloomed 
splendidly this year in the pleasure grounds 
at Kew. " The flowers are widely bell-shaped, 
or saucer-shaped, snow-white and produced 
in clusters in the axils of the leaves. In 
many cases, when this blooms the flowers are 
produced singly, but this year they are in 
good-sized clusters, and each bloom is about 
f in. in diameter. The bush is 6 ft. to 8 ft. 
high, well furnished with heart-shaped leaves, 
and in this form very handsome. In its 
native home—New Zealand—it is known as 
Whau-Whi. It.is often recorded in books as 
a handsome greenhouse plant, but this is in 
the open air, and has had no protection. It 
is a member of the Mallow family. 
