46 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
Ceierv— - 
FOR BEGINNERS. 
To grow Celery to perfection needs a 
great deal of attention. First of all the 
soil wants digging two spits deep. Then 
a good trench sixteen inches deep should 
be made, at the bottom of which can be 
placed any burned refuse from the gar¬ 
den, and on top of this six inches of well- 
decayed stable and cow manure, finally 
covering with three inches of light, rich 
soil. These preparations should be made 
a fortnight prior to planting out. 
Sowing-. 
. The seed should be sown in a light rich 
soil in boxes, and placed in a hotbed in 
February, and when the seedlings are 
large enough to handle they should be 
pricked out into a well-manured frame in 
a warm situation. If a succession is de¬ 
sired sow in March and April and treat as 
above, and as the plants grow they should 
be well watered, ventilating freely as the 
warm days approach, so as to keep the 
plants sturdy and bushy, for they must 
never be allowed to become overdrawn. 
Planting Out. 
The plants should be well hardened off 
before they are planted out in June, 
choosing rainy weather for this operation. 
Set them about twelve inches apart, either 
single row or double row suiting admir¬ 
ably so long as they are a foot apart. 
Watering and Feeding. 
- After the plants are firmly established 
and have started to grow, they should be 
fed with weak liquid manure, taking care 
it does not touch the foliage, as this tends 
to produce aphis (greenfly). Apply the 
liquid manure after rain or after an ap¬ 
plication of clear' water, and feed about 
twice a week while they are growing fast. 
Earthing Up 
Should be done with care, never allow¬ 
ing any soil to fall into the heart of the 
Celery, as by this means large, beauti¬ 
fully-blanched Celery, solid and of a fine 
colour and flavour will be obtained. 
Exhibition. 
A clean, well-blanched Celery carries 
far more points with the judges than 
larger, coarser Celery improperly 
blanched. Many prize-winners grow their 
Celery in cold frames in a light, rich com¬ 
post, by which means they can hasten or 
retard the plants; also slugs and the 
Celery leaf miner can be kept away with 
less trouble. 
About five or six weeks before the show, 
blanching should be taken in hand. 
Wrap thick brown paper closely and se¬ 
curely around the outer stems, so as to 
exclude all light; by this method they 
are kept clean and well blanched, and are 
free from slugs. For exhibition, blanch 
with brown paper. For that sweet, nutty 
flavour, blanch with soil. 
Joseph Floyd. 
- - 
Chrysanthemum Salad. 
In both China and Japan the petals of 
Chrysanthemums are served up in the 
form of salads in differing colours. 
Crystallised Flowers. 
Crystallised flowers are becoming in¬ 
creasingly popular for winter table de¬ 
coration. 
Presentation. 
The members of the Standish (Wigan) 
Gardeners’ Society recently presented to 
the treasurer a solid silver inkstand beau¬ 
tifully chased, with two ornamental glass 
inkwells with silver tops, on which was en¬ 
graved :— “Presented to John Dean, Esq. 
(treasurer), November 30th, 1907, by the 
committee of the Standish Cottage Gar¬ 
deners’ Association.” In handing this to 
Mr. Dean, Mr. Bailey, who presided at the 
meeting, said, “ I have great pleasure on 
behalf of the committee of the Standish 
Cottage Gardeners’ Association in asking 
your acceptance of this small token of 
their appreciation. We hope you will 
long be spared to continue the good works 
you are doing, and that when you see and 
use this inkstand you will be reminded of 
the many friends you have in the so¬ 
ciety. ” 
- G. W. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL OONDITIONS;— Competitors must 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. Tbe name and ad¬ 
dress 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 wayj any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care¬ 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN 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 considered in 
making *-he award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
follr wing date of issue. Entries received later 
thin Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
the following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
160 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ F. A. ” for the article on 
“Autumn Sown Peas,” page 31. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize 
was awarded to “Joseph Floyd,” for the 
article on “ Onions ” : and another to 
“ J. M. T. ” for the article on “ Amasonia 
punicea,” page 32. 
January 25, 1908. 
Clerodendrons. 
- ■ 
CLIMBING AND 
SHRUBBY VARIETIES. 
This genus of plants contains a large 
number of stove and greenhouse species, 
some of which are climbers others 
shrubby; therefore they can be divided 
into two classes, shrubs and climbers. 
The climbers, when planted out in the 
border and allowed to grow up to a pillar 
or upon the roof of a stove, look very 
ornamental when in flower, but grown in 
pots and trained on wire in the shape of a 
fan or balloon is a better plan, as when 
in flower they can easily be removed to a 
house of lower temperature; by so doing, 
the flowering period is greatly prolonged. 
Cuttings of the climbing species aie 
best taken after the flowering period. 
Take the young growing shoots and insert 
them in sandy peat and loam and plunge 
in bottom heat of about 75 degs., when 
they will root freely; these, if potted on, 
will make nice plants the following 
spring. 
The climbers take a compost of equal 
parts of peat and loam, with an addition 
of charcoal, sand, and cow manure. 
They should never be pruned back (but 
take out the old, useless wood), as they 
flower on the previous year’s growth. 
Copious supplies of water when growing 
are beneficial, but in winter keep them on 
the dry side and in a temperature not 
lower than 60 degs. In the spring shake 
them out and repot them; keep the 
syringe about them, and give a higher 
temperature, when they will then produce 
a fine lot of flowers. 
C. Balfourii is one of the best stove 
climbers, bearing flowers of bright crim¬ 
son disposed in large panicles, the calyces 
being pure white. It is a native of old 
Calabar, and is no doubt a species widely 
cultivated owing to its free flowering 
nature and beautiful colour. C. specio- 
sum, a garden hybrid of which splendens 
and Balfourii are parents, is a very showy 
climber • the flowers are a deep rose, 
suffused with red, and it is very free 
flowering and stiffer in habit of growth 
than Balfourii, while the blooms hang 
much longer. 
The shrubby species like a more lasting 
compost, as they are gross feeders. Two 
parts of loam, with one each of peat, char¬ 
coal and cow manure will be found to suit 
them, and they also like plenty of liquid 
manures. 
After the flowering season is over cut 
the plants fairly hard back and keep them 
on the dry side, starting them into growth 
in early spring and propagating from the 
young side shoots, leaving a little bit of 
the old heel attached. Insert these in 
same soil as mentioned for the climbers, 
and place in a similar temperature, when 
they will root freely. 
Seeds of C. fallax sown in sandy soil 
about February and placed in a tempera¬ 
ture of 70 degs. will germinate in a few 
weeks, and grown on in the same tempera¬ 
ture will make fine plants by about the 
month of August. If flowering plants are 
required earlier sow seeds as soon as 
ripe or propagate from cuttings. C. fal- 
