December 2, 19t)5. 
THE QARDEMNQ WORLD . 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may cover 
any branch of gardening. Questions should be as 
brief as possible and written on one side oj the 
paper only; a seoarate sheet of paper should be 
used for each question. Headers are invited to 
give their fellow gardeners the benefit of their 
experience by sending supplementary replies see - ^ 
Prize Competitions. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans.— Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to prepare 
and forward to us a rough outline dra ting or plan 
of their gardens, indicating the position of beds 
and lawns , the character und height oj the jence 
or wall; position of vegetable garden , orchard, 
etc.- The north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It should 
also be stated whether the garden is flat or on a 
declivity, and all large trees should be marked. 
Particulars of the nature of the soil will also 
help us to give satisjactory replies. When such 
plans are received they will be carefully filed, with 
the name and address of the sender, and will be 
consulted by the Editor whenever an enquiry is sent. 
B °ok on Roses and Carnations. 
Can you tell me in your next week’s issue 
of The Gardening World where I can pro¬ 
cure a book on Hose and Carnation culture ? 
(Hawkswood). 
We are not aware that any one book is de¬ 
voted to those two classes of plants only, there 
are large books which contain those subjects, but 
they also contain many others. The following 
we think would, however, suit you :—“Roses and 
Rose Culture,” by William Paul, F.L.S, tenth 
edition, published'by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamil¬ 
ton, Kent and Co., London, price Is.; “Roses 
and Their Cultivation,” by T. W. Sanders, pub¬ 
lished by H. W. and L. Collingridge, 148 and 
149, Aldersgate Street, London, price 2s. 6d. ; 
“ Pictorial Practical Rose. Growing,” by Walter 
P. Wright, published by Cassell and Co., Ltd., 
London, price Is. ; “ The Carnation Manual, by 
several writers, under the auspices of the 
National Carnation and Picotee Society, pub¬ 
lished by Cassell and Co., London, price 3s. 6d. ; 
and “ The Book of the Carnation,” by R. P- 
Brotherston, published by John Lane, The 
Bodley Head, London, price 2s. 6d. 
Fruit Trees and Vegetables. 
To what extent can a newly-planted orchard 
he utilised for winter Greens, Peas, Beans, Pars¬ 
ley, etc., that is, what radius of spare ground 
would you allow for each Apple, Pear, or Plum 
tree. I have just planted out a row of Wall¬ 
flowers within a foot of a row of thickly-planted 
Cordons on a wall. (W. W.). 
You can plant anything in quite close proximity 
to the stems of such trees you mention, pro¬ 
vided the plants are very dwarf. You must 
always remember that the very worst thing you 
can do with fruit trees is to plant or sow any¬ 
thing that would shade the foliage on the lower 
part of the trees. This is where the greatest 
danger would come in. For instance, you might 
plant Wallflowers, Violas, Pansies, or Parsley 
quite close up to the trunks. It would be a 
mistake, however, to sow Peas within 3ft. or 4ft. 
of the trees, as they would be more or less 
shaded, and young trees would be more likelv 
to be injured than the older ones. This refers, 
of course, to bush or pyramid trees. In the case 
of orchard trees, we presume they will have 
a stem of 5ft. or 6ft. high. ' In that case the 
crops might be sown or planted quite close to 
the trunk of the trees, though we do not think 
it very good policy to plant or sow crops that 
would impoverish the ground. Peas and Beaus. 
" as well as winter greens, require a good deal 
of nourishment, and to get them good the ground 
would have to be dug so deeply as to iniure the 
roots of the trees. Under such conditions we 
should keep the winter Greens, Peas, and Beans 
in the middle area between the two rows, as you 
could then more safely dig or trench the ground, 
otherwise these vegetables will not prove very 
profitable. In the rows themselves you may 
nlant lower-growing subjects, such as Wallflowers, 
Parslev or bulbs. Indeed, we think the most 
profitable crop you take off the ground clcse up 
to the trees would be from bulbs, which need net 
be lifted annually. You could, however, keep 
the ground in good condition by top-dressings of 
manure once or twice a year, this being lightly 
turned in by means of a fork, and so counteract 
the exhausting effects of the other crops grown 
in proximity to the trees. 
Self-climbers for Converting a Wall. 
The gable under my neighbour s house over¬ 
shadows the side entrance to mine, built of 
rubble stone and colourwashed. This is very 
objectionable and a great eyesore to the house 
and grounds. What would you suggest in self¬ 
climbers to relieve and improve the appearance? 
The aspect is westerly. (Geo. Cartledge). 
The self-climbing plants that would thrive 
under the conditions you mention are not very 
numerous in kind, although the variety is great. 
The Ivv furnishes the greatest number of varie¬ 
ties that will thrive in shade, and we would 
suggest some of the broad-leaved sorts, such as 
Hedera Helix canariensis, or Irish Ivy, also H.H. 
dentata, H.H. algeriensis, or even H.H. palmata. 
There are several variegated ones of great beauty, 
but we do not think they would colour well 
under the shade. The Japan Ivy, better known, 
perhaps, as Ampelopsis Veitehi, is another self- 
climber, and would very quickly cover the wall 
of your house if the ground is properly prepared 
to give them a good start. We are afraid, 
however, that this last-named subject would not 
take on its beautiful autumn tints in the shade. 
It would be advisable before planting to take 
out- a f.airlv wide trench along tne foot of the 
wall and 18in. deep, loosening up the soil with 
the fork even beneath that. Put some good soil 
into the trench, and make the roots perfectly 
firm in filling up the trench. 
Chemical Manure. 
I am anxious about chemical manure'for the 
garden. Is it possible to have a chemical mix¬ 
ture that will suit the whole of the following: — 
General vegetables, fruit- trees, forest trees, fancy 
evergreens, Thuya. Holly. Yew, Retinospora, etc.? 
Must the above kinds have special treatment, 
and if so, what treatment? Enclosed are two 
recipes, one- for vegetables and the other for fruit, 
which I found in a book. Would one of these do 
for the whole, and which recipe? (W. W.). 
No doubt, the manures mentioned are excellent 
in their way, but we should not think of having 
a general mixture of the ingredients for any¬ 
thing. For instance, the nitrate of soda would 
be liable to lose if mixed with superphosphate 
of lime, as it would give off its most valuable 
constituent in the form of ammonia. Further¬ 
more, we should never recommend the use of 
nitrate in the winter time, as it would be liable 
to become dissolved and get washed away in 
the drainage, especially in wet- winters, before 
it. could be utilised by the plants.' The three 
other manures might be mixed together and 
applied to the soil near the roots of the trees 
not later than February. The nitrate w» should 
spread on the ground in April, when the trees 
929 
are recommencing active growth. If you find 
it inconvenient to keep a number of separate 
manures on your - establishment, the best plan 
would he to order an all-round manure from your 
sundriesman, just when you were about to use it. 
and then apply it to the ground at once. Nitrate 
in its various forms is a very quick-acting 
manure, and in the case of fruit trees and vege¬ 
tables we should apply it in the form of two 
dressings, the first when the trees or vegetables 
are beginning to be active, and the second dress¬ 
ing three or four weeks later. The forest trees 
and ornamental trees which you mention we 
should deal with differently. These artificial 
manures are unnecessary for them if the ground 
has been properly prepared before they were 
planted. An annual top-dressing of leaf-mould 
or well-rotted farmyard manure would be more 
beneficial in several respects, for, besides supply¬ 
ing nutriment, they serve to retain the moisture 
in the ground during the hot period of summer. 
This is really of more importance than artificial 
manures for such ornamental subjects. Thus, by 
ordering what you really want at the time you 
are about to use it, it will save the trouble and 
inconvenience of keeping the same on the pre 
mises. 
Saving Leek Seed. 
I would be pleased if you could give me your 
system of saving Leek seed. It has been tried 
here for several years, and has not been success¬ 
ful. We have the heads all right, but we never 
get them to ripen. We are trying some of them 
by hanging them on the back wall of a vinery, 
and we have some in a cold house. We cut 
three of them a few weeks ago and' put them in 
the Peach house, but they are still keeping 
green, and show signs of making a fresh start. 
(Francis Hunter). 
We are aware that Leek seed is rather difficult 
to ripen if planted in too rich soil and in exposed 
situations. The best plan would ba to grow the 
Leeks in poor, sandy soil, or that of a chalky 
nature. Should these not be at hand, then plant 
the Leeks at the foot of a south wall, where the 
heat will urge them to mature at an earlier 
period. Plant out the roots early, say in Febru¬ 
ary, or early in March. If, under these condi¬ 
tions, they do not reach maturity in the open 
air before winter, you might . pot them up, 
and put them in a dry, airy house until they 
mature. We presume from what you say that the 
seeds were not properly filled up or matured when 
you were obliged to cut them. By adopting some 
of the means we suggest you can then cut the 
heads with short stalks when it is too unsafe to 
leave them in the open any longer. Possibly 
you have cut too great a length of green stem 
already. In the second place, you are keeping 
them in too cool a place. If you can give them 
a hotter house, with plenty of air, and could 
place them on shelves close to the top ventila¬ 
tors, we think yon should have no difficulty in 
ripening the seed. The chief point is to have 
the seed well advanced by the beginning of Sep¬ 
tember, and if the seeds are once well filled 
you can get- them to dry up by using plenty of 
heat and air. 
Renewing Pinks. 
Some years ago I bought a box of rooted cut¬ 
tings of a white Pink, and planted them as an 
edging. They have now grown too large, and are 
straggling, and some of them have died. How 
could I renew them? (Dianthus.) 
If the plants you have are in fairly good form 
the best plan would be to lift them, then to 
thoroughly dig the soil, using manure to enrich 
it at the same time. Then take the old plants 
and pull them into small pieces with a few roots 
if possible. The long stems will have to be 
buried, so that the soil will come up close to the 
base of the lowest fresh leaves. It is somewhat 
difficult to make a tidy edging out of the old 
straggling plants like these, hut if you are an 
experienced planter this can he done. The old 
stems will throw out young roots close up to the 
leaves if buried in the soil. The easiest plan 
would he to manure and dig the soil level, then 
tread it firmly all over. Level it, and lay the 
