December 16, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
351 
season. Last year’s cuttings should be cut 
back within 10 in. or 12 in. of the ground 
level. James Mayne. 
Bicton Gardens, Devonshire. 
-» — - ■ — 
The Stove and Greenhouse. 
Work in General. —At this season of the 
year the gardener is not unduly pressed with 
work in this department, yet where good 
results are to follow there must be no relaxa¬ 
tion of his efforts. Every day brings its work, 
and by assiduously devoting one’s efforts to 
forwarding the work now, it will be facilitated 
later on. Now is a good time to overhaul and 
cleanse the interiors of greenhouses, and, where 
necessary, to paint them. Should the weather 
be severe when the work is taken in hand the 
plants should be placed thickly at one end of 
the structure, and moved back as the work 
proceeds, but if mild it will facilitate the work 
if they are removed to another house. It 
should be borne in mind that sudden changes 
of temperature are most harmful to stove- 
plants, and these should not be exposed to the 
elements at this time of year. When the 
cleaning or painting is completed a general 
rearrangement of the plants should take place, 
and any unhealthy ones thrown out, always 
bearing in mind that these require as much 
attention as the best. 
Constant attention should be given to 
destroying insects and their larvifc, for, generally 
speaking, they are comparatively inactive at 
this time, therefore are the more easily ex¬ 
tirpated. 
Introduce fresh relays of various bulbs, 
hardy shrubs and plants into warmth every few 
days, so that there may be no break in the 
supply of flowers for making a display during 
the winter months. 
A judicious use of the water can is a very 
important matter from now onwards, for I am 
convinced that there are far more pot plants 
lost, or become unhealthy, through over-water¬ 
ing in winter than from any other cause. 
Plants resting and stored away must be 
examined occasionally to see they do not 
become too dry or too wet. In bad weather 
when part of the outdoor labour is transferred 
to the glass department the dormant corms of 
Caladiums, Gloxinias, Begonias and the like, 
may be shaken out and placed in boxes of dry 
sand until the time arrives for potting up 
again. At such times flower sticks and labels 
may be sorted and tied up neatly in bundles 
for future use. K. M. 
Hardy Herbaceous Border. 
Christmas Roses. —The early-flowering sec¬ 
tion of Helleborus, or, as they are popularly 
called, Christmas Roses, are deserving of in¬ 
clusion in every garden, and they are always 
much appreciated at this season of the year 
when there are so few flowers in the open 
borders. The flower stems are now appearing, 
and it is an excellent plan to place a hand- 
light or, failing this, a sheet of glass over a 
few plants, which will keep the blooms quite 
clean and white, and also produce longer 
stems, thus rendering them more serviceable 
for all cutting purposes. These plants do not 
succeed well if fully exposed to the sun, so 
that a shady place should be chosen when 
planting, and under trees, where few subjects 
would grow, is an admirable position. The 
ground should be deeply dug and well en¬ 
riched with manure, and as they are particu¬ 
larly fond of decayed leaf soil, plenty of this 
valuable ingredient should also be incor¬ 
porated. A suitable distance to plant would 
be 2ft. 6in. apart each way, and, as these 
plants resent being disturbed, they can be 
left for years in the same position, but a 
liberal top-dressing of leaf soil should be given 
annually about the end of November. Christ¬ 
mas Roses respond well to gentle forcing, and 
a good supply of pure white flowers can be 
had through the coming festive season by 
carefully lifting a few plants and placing them 
in large pots in an open compost. A cool 
greenhouse will be an excellent place in which 
to stand them, and when the flowering season 
is over these can be returned to the open 
ground when the weather will permit, but the 
same plants should not be lifted two years in 
succession. Although many good varieties 
exist, few are more serviceable than the old 
Helleborus niger. 
Plants in Frames. —Every encouragement 
should be given these to maintain a healthy 
growth by giving plenty of air on all favour- 
General Conditions.—C ompetitors must 
write on one side ot the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to The Gardening World, 
or other gardening journals, are debarred 
from entering, but occasional contributors 
may comDete. The name and address of the 
competitor must appear on each article sent 
for competition. The Editor's decision is 
final, and he reserves the right to reproduce, 
in any «a*, any article or photograph sent 
for competition. The conditions applying to 
each competition should be car. fully ft ad. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES 
A Prize op Ten Shillings will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, 
but value rather than length will be con¬ 
sidered in making the award. Mark enve¬ 
lopes “Competition," and post not later than 
the Monday fol'owing date of issue. Entries 
received later than Tuesday (first post) will 
be left over until the following week. 
Two Prizes of Two Shillings and Six¬ 
pence each will be given for the best supple¬ 
mentary replies to questions asked in “ The 
G.W. Enquire Within” column. These re¬ 
plies should be brief. 
A Prize of Five Shillings will be given 
for the best novel device for saving labour, 
protecting p'ants, or a garden utensil whica 
reaches us during any week. A rough sketch 
must accompany the brief description. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S COMPETITIONS 
We have now a large number of articles on 
hand in the “Readers’ Competition,’’ and 
desire our correspondents to wait a few weeks 
before sending more articles for this compe¬ 
tition, until we can find space to publish those 
already sent us. We shall remind readers when 
they can send more competitive articles. The 
other competitions are still open. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition last 
week was awarded to “J. W. J.” for his 
article on “ Asparagus,” p. 912. 
A prize for a supplementary reply was 
awarded to <? Herbert Morris ” for his article 
on “ Should Lachenalias be Plunged,” p. 911 ; 
and another to “D. V. E. ” for liis article on 
“ Wintering Dahlias," p. 912. 
able occasions, and to keep tlie soil sweet 
stir the surface occasionally, and add a little 
fresh silver sand. The decaying leaves should 
be kept picked off. Preparations should be 
made for sharp weather by placing some long 
litter or bracken round the frames, so that it 
is ready for use when required. 
A. E. Thatcher. 
Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree. 
Hardy Trees and Shmbs. 
Bamboos. —Few shrubs have become more 
popular during recent years than these, and 
none are more valuable for producing a beauti¬ 
ful effect during the winter months. 
Although they undoubtedly produce the best 
effect when planted by the water, they also 
succeed well in the shrubberies as single 
specimens, or when used for grouping, to 
which they lend themselves admirably. For¬ 
tunately, they are not fastidious as to soil, pro¬ 
viding it is well worked, but, being gross 
feeders, plenty of well-decayed manure should 
be incoi’porated, and in dry weather copious 
supplies of clear and liquid manure should be 
given. After these have been planted for 
some years, they are apt to loose their vigour 
unless well cared for, and, when this is 
noticed, means should be taken to restore 
them. Now is a good time for attending to 
them if the weather is open, and the best 
method is to take out a trench round the plant, 
taking care not to injure the roots, and fill 
this in with a mixture of decayed cow manure, 
leaf soil, and good, turfy loam, pressing the 
whole firmly down. It is also a good plan to 
give at this season a thorough soaking of 
diluted farmyard manure, and the stimulus 
which they receive will amply repay one for 
any extra trouble lies towed on them. 
The decaying leaves and other rubbish 
should now be removed from the shrubbery, 
if not already done, and, if no more trans¬ 
planting is contemplated, the surface soil 
should be lightly forked over, taking care not 
to injure any roots, which gives to it a neat 
and pleasing appearance. A. E. T. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
The Cool Houte. — The Odontoglossum or 
cool Orchid house has a few of its attractive 
species either in flower or have their flower 
scapes in various stages for the production 
of their expanded flowers in due course. 
Sophronitis grandicora, with its vivid scarlet 
flewers, is one of the most attractive of our 
cool-house winter-flowering Orchids. One 
almost feels a degree of wamith when enter¬ 
ing a house where there are a number of 
flowers of this species expanded, especially 
so when the outside conditions are dull and 
cheerless. They blend well with other Orchid 
flowers, and are most useful* for mixing when 
grouping for effect at exhibitions and decora¬ 
tive purposes. The plants are of miniature 
structure, and should be grown, several to¬ 
gether, in shallow pans or baskets. In this 
manner they form tufts, and they may be 
grown suspended near the roof-glass, which 
is also the position to enable the plants to 
display their flowers to the best advantage. 
Producing their flowers with the developing 
growth immediately the leaf is unfolded, the 
plants are practically in an active state of 
growth during the greater portion of our 
winter, and are therefore dormant at the 
hottest season of the year. Some care, there¬ 
fore, is necessary to provide the best pro¬ 
curable position to meet their requirements 
