December 23, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
981 
fair satisfaction a second time in the same 
material, even when grown in pots. If potted 
up now, they would liower some time in April 
under the conditions you mention. It is not at 
all necessary to keep them in the dark, although 
it would be advantagous to place a cover of cocoa- 
nut-fibre or something of that sort over the bulbs 
until they commence throwing up their leaves, 
showing that roots have also been produced. 
The practice of covering with coconut-fibre is 
done with the intention of keeping the bulbs 
from forcing themselves out of the pots owing 
to the bulbs being so near the top, and usually 
the soil in the bottom of the pots is too firm, 
and the top soil too loose. You could guard 
against both of these contingencies, and! by 
pressing down the soil if there is any inclination 
to rise when the roots are being formed you could 
manage growing them without being covered with 
anything. When using moss fibre, one crock 
over the hole of the pot usually makes sufficient 
drainage, as the fibre is very open and porous. 
For the same reason it usually holds the water 
well, so that you must wait until it gets fairly 
dry before repeating the watering, but more 
particularly in the early stages of growth. 
Culture of Kidney Beans. 
Being an old reader, I should be greatly obliged 
for your informat : on as regards the cultivation 
of Kidney Beans. Would the ground be better 
for the same if deeply trenched with layers of 
manure and soil now, than if done next spring or 
early summer? Is 3 ft. too deep, and 3 ft. to 
4 ft. too wide? Would a layer 2 in. thick 
(for the top layer) of pure fowl manure be of 
any benefit when I have prepared the trenches? 
The bottom layers would have rotten horse 
manure 4 in. or 5 in. in thickness. Should 1 
put a mulch of manure from the pig-sty now, s j 
as to keep the moisture in before warm weather 
comes? To what do you account for the blossoms 
dropping off? (C. W.) 
It is always of great advantage to trench the 
ground intended for Kidney Beans. If the sub¬ 
soil is bad it should not be brought up to the 
top until it has become improved by frequent 
trenching and manuring. Trenching 3 ft. 
deep would not be too deep, provided the soil 
is good, but 2 ft. would usually be quite 
sufficient. If you intend planting in a piece of 
ground that lias been trenched, 3 it. wide 
would usually be sufficient, but your question is 
not very clear in this instance. If you refer to 
the distance between the lines of Kidney Beans, 
we should have a distance between the rows 
equal to the height of the plants. In the case 
of Scarlet Runners, it is a good plan to sow them 
in a single line between plantations of much 
dwarfer vegetables. Dwarf or Kidney Beans 
would usually be far enough apart at 18 in. or 
2 ft. in small gardens. We should not use 
a layer 2 in. thick of fowl manure, as that 
would very likely burn the plants. A good sprink- 
ling would be more near a safe limit. The manure 
should be chopped or broken up very fine before 
spreading it upon the ground. The soil really 
should not be hidden by this manure, as it is 
very strong. Neither should we place the horse 
manure in layers 4 in. or 5 in. thick. 
This quantity ought to be divided so that a 
portion would lie on the top of the first spit which 
has been turned into the trench, and the rest of 
it placed on the top of the 6econd spit. It 
would also be a mistake to mulch the ground at 
this season of the year with manure from the 
pig-sty, as it would serve to keep the ground 
too wet, and prevent it from getting into proper 
condition for sowing. We consider that the hoe 
kept going on the soil during dry weather would 
be of more advantage than covering the ground 
with manure. The dropping of the blossoms is 
often due to a spell of very dry weather and to 
the crowding of the stems, but you can avoid this 
by sowing sufficiently apart to prevent crowding, 
and by a little timely watering in very dry- 
weather. 
Sweet-scented Flowers. 
Will you please give me a short list of sweet- 
scented annuals for cultivation in a small town 
garden ? There is a wonderfully fragrant 
Matthiola I used to grow, but I have forgotten 
the first name of the flower, and shall be obliged 
if you can help me. (Suiikky.) 
The Stock you refer to is the night-scented 
Stock (Matthiola tristis), best known in the 
seedsman’s catalogue as M. bicornis. The Ten 
Weeks Stock has numerous varieties that are 
very sweetly scented. The night-scented Tobacco 
should not be forgotten. Other sweet-scented 
annuals are Martynia fragrans, Sweet Sultan 
(Centaurea moschata) in white, yellow, and 
purple colours, Sweet Peas, Mignonette, etc. 
Flowering Winter Plants for Window 
Boxes. 
What flowering evergreen shrubs for a window 
box in a suburban London district could I obtain 
from the nurseryman? Would it be late to 
plant now ? (G. B.) 
Your suspicions are quite correct. We should 
certainly dissuade you from planting or trans¬ 
planting winter flowering plants at the present 
season. Most of the winter flowering plants 
suitable for boxes are, however, shrubs and not 
hardy perennials, with the exception of Christmas 
Roses and Snowdrops, which are now in bloom, 
or very soon will be according to the varieties. 
Snowdrops should have been planted in the boxes 
in September last. Christmas Roses, being 
perennials with fleshy roots, do not like disturb- 
Now that the winter is coming on and our 
thoughts are turned to protecting plants in 
frames, perhaps the following method of 
making mats will prove useful to those who 
cannot afford to give the nurseryman’s price 
for these articles, and will certainly keep out 
more frost. All that is necessary is long 
straw, or bullrushes from swampy grounds 
serve the purpose admirably. A good handful 
should be gathered together, straightened out, 
ance when coming into bloom. Some small 
pieces should be potted up in spring and grown 
on for the purpose of winter flowering. As the 
plants get larger they should be repotted into 
larger sizes in March, or when they have finished 
flowering. Thus, you see, gardening goes on at 
all seasons, the potting or planting taking place 
a long time in advance of the flowering season. 
Evergreen shrubs that bloom in winter are not 
very numerous, and consist chiefly of the 
Laurustinus and Jasminum nudiflorum, the latter 
being considered evergreen purely on account of 
its green bark. The first named would be most 
suitable for window boxes, provided you get 
small plants, especially in pots, from the nursery¬ 
man. Daphne oleoides flowers in winter, but 
is a scarce plant, and possibly you might get it 
from the nurseryman under the name of D. 
fioniana. Others flower in spring rather than 
winter. 
Prunia| Currants. 
When should Black Currants be pruned, and 
the method of pruning? Also Red Currants: 
(Cam.) 
Black Currants may be pruned now or at any 
time between this and the end of February, pro¬ 
vided the weather is open. If your bushes are 
old, the best plan is to cut away some of the 
oldest stems to the very base if the bushes are 
in any way crowded. The young shoots should 
not be pruned away, but merely have a small 
piece of the top cut off. If in any way crowded 
the weakest ones might be cut down to the lowest 
bud. This variety of Currant flowers upon the 
wood made during the past summer, hence the 
reason for leaving the young shoots, and merely 
cutting off the slender tips. It is not necessary 
to cut away all the old wood at once, the best 
plan being to look over the bushes every year 
and remove certain portions or certain stems to 
prevent overcrowding and encourage the young 
shoots to come up from the base. Red ( urrants, 
on the other hand, flower and fruit chiefly on 
short spurs. The bushes should consist of a 
certain number of stems just sufficient for the 
leaves to be fully exposed to light and air and 
prevent crowding* in any way. Then proceed to 
cut the side shoots away to within i in. of the 
MATS. 
tied about 6in. from top and bottom and 
again in the middle. The ends of the strings 
should not be cut, but left as in No. 1. Then 
another handful is placed up close, tied, and 
the work proceeded with till the mat is 
finished. No. 2, about the size of two lights, 
will be found enough. If care is taken to dry 
these in spring when no longer in use they 
will last many years. Alfhed Gakdxeb. 
Steglitz, bei Berlin. 
base, these forming spurs from which flowers are 
produced. You must, however, make provision 
for the increase in size of the bushes or the 
length of the main rods by leaving the upper 
shoot about 6 in. or 8 in. long. If the bushes 
are occupying the whole of the space at command, 
the leaders need not be allowed to extend. It 
is advisable, also, in the case of Red Currants 
to see that no suckers are coming up from the 
base, because while such are permissible iu Black 
Currants they are not permissible in Red 
Currants. 
Beech Tree Dying. 
At the end of my garden is a fine Beech tree 
which has lately suddenly commenced to die. 
The sap in one whole branch has evidently ceased 
to flow, for there were no leaves on it this vear 
NOVEL . . 
-HjC (Sh arpen Q evices. fa* 
GARDEN 
