January 25, 1908. 
57 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
botanist Hasselquist. Linnaeus named it Al¬ 
lium ascalonicum, as if he had it from Asca- 
lon in Palestine. Decandolle has given a 
considerable amount of attention to this 
plant, amongst others, and, after all, his re¬ 
searches he fails to find that it is really wild 
in any country. He believes it is merely a 
cultivated variety of the Onion originating 
about the beginning of the Christian lira. 
Bulbs have been collected in various parts of 
Europe and Asia, possibly also both sides of 
the Mediterranean, but they simply appear 
to be escapes from cultivation. He substan¬ 
tiates this theory by mentioning the fact 
that most of the varieties of the Shallot do 
not produce flowers, or only do so at rare 
intervals. 
2546. Rearing Indian Corn. 
Do you think it is possible to rear a few 
Indian Corn cobs fit for cooking ? If so, give 
some details of the method of doing it. Does 
it require much heat to rear it? (Novice, 
Sussex.) 
Indian Corn being a grass, germinates very 
readily, but if you wish it to come along 
fairly quickly you should treat it much in 
the same way as you would the half-hardy 
annuals, by placing the seeds in a tempera¬ 
ture of 60 degs., if you can command this. 
Even if you have no means of raising the 
temperature like that in early spring, you 
could still hasten germination by filling a 
box with manure, standing a frame over it 
or covering it with a sash or with large 
panes of glass. Some soil could be placed 
over the manure and the pot of seeds plunged 
in this. This could be done about the middle 
of April and the seedlings potted off sepa¬ 
rately when they have made the first two 
leaves. If you want them to grow freely, 
they might be potted once again about the 
middle of May. This would keep them mov¬ 
ing in the early spring, even if the weather 
happens to be rather cold. Harden off the 
seedlings in a cold frame, then plant them 
out in the open at the end of May. In the 
meantime you can prepare the soil for them 
by deep digging and manuring. Give an 
abundance of water in dry weather, so as to 
keep the plants growing strongly till their 
cobs have reached their full size. They 
should, of course, be cut before they become 
in any way hard, as they make the best eat¬ 
ing while still tender. 
2547. Growing- Early Lettuce and 
Radishes. 
Will you please inform me the best way 
to grow Lettuce and Radishes under glass? 
I have some Lettuce on a bed which had 
Cucumbers on, but are not growing much. 
I keep the house cool and ventilated when 
fine. I have no cold frames, manure or 
leaves suitable for making a hotbed for 
them. I have a bed of soil around the green¬ 
house which had Tomatos on, and I am now 
using it for a forcing house. Would that 
do? The soil is over the top of the hot-water 
pipes. (G., Blackpool.) 
Even fairly hardy things like Lettuce and 
Radishes cannot make much progress if the 
temperature is too low, as it evidently is in 
your Cucumber house. We should think, 
therefore, that the Tomato house ought to 
answer the purpose if a gentle heat, say, of 
"45 degs. to 50 degs., is maintained. A good 
plan would be to sow the seeds in pots or 
seed pans and to Drick them out into boxes 
6 in. apart. Stand these boxes on a staging 
near the glass, and whatever temperature 
you maintain above 45 degs. it will be neces¬ 
sary to give ventilation about the middle of 
the day during fine weather. Lettuces and 
Radishes that are kept too close and warm 
would run away to leaves of thin texture 
without the quality desired in those vege¬ 
tables. We think that boxes would be much 
better than the soil in which Tomatos grew, 
unless that soil is well disturbed, so as to 
loosen it up before planting, and to see that 
the drainage is good. Another plan, entail¬ 
ing less labour, would be to loosen up the 
soil in which the Tomatos grew and to sow 
the Lettuce in lines 6 in. apart on that bed 
of soil. Even if the Lettuces were left for a 
time at 3 in. apart you would be able to get 
some young Lettuces that would be useful 
for making salads. It would be economical 
to get Lettuce for that purpose by using thin¬ 
nings, leaving the plants ultimately at 12 in. 
apart, so as to get two of a useful size. The 
Radishes may be sown on the other part of 
the bed, not too thickly, but just leave room 
for the leaves to develop properly without 
getting crowded. Your object should be then 
to sow thinly and evenly. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
2548. Draining- Heavy Soil. 
I have an Irish Yew about 10 ft. high 
which does not seem to be thriving. I believe 
the soil is too damp for it and wants drain¬ 
ing. It is very heavy and lies rather low. 
Would you recommend a deep or a shallow 
drain in such a soil ? Do you think trans¬ 
planting would do any good? .(Charles 
Taylor, Middlesex.) 
Deep drains are only suitable fcr gravelly 
subsoils, or at least for those soils which are 
readily permeable by water. Heavy soils, 
on the other hand, should only have shallow 
drains, otherwise it takes too long a time for 
the water to ooze through the heavy soil. 
In your particular case we should put in a 
drain on the rising ground above the tree and 
another 9 ft. away on the side of the tree 
where the ground slopes. If you can secure 
a proper outlet for the water, the best plan 
would be to run the drains somewhat diago¬ 
nally across the slopes, so as to tap any layer 
of water that may be in it and in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the Yew tree. These. drains 
should not be deeper than 3 ft. The exact 
direction that these drains take must be de¬ 
termined by the possibility of an outlet for 
them. The tree need not be lifted, because 
if these drains take proper effect the soil in 
which the tree is planted will become drier, 
warmer, and may then thrive satisfactorily. 
If the drain gives no satisfaction, then trans¬ 
planting can be resorted to. 
2549. Book on Onions. 
Have you a book of anybody’s on Onion 
culture, and, if so, will you kindly reply? 
(B. Kilner, Yorks.) 
A small -book on Onions may be obtained 
from the Agricultural and Horticultural As¬ 
sociation, 92, Long Acre, London, price igd. 
post free; !! Practical Hints on Fruit Farm¬ 
ing,” by James Udale, and sold by Mr. John 
Murray, Albemarle Street, London, W., price 
is. id. post free, gives some useful hints on 
Onions; “ The Book of Vegetables,” by G. 
Wythes, is obtainable from Mr. John Lane, 
The Bodley Head, London, for 2s. pd. post 
free. This gives some information on 
Onions. 
2550. Packing of Narcissi. 
I shall be especially obliged if you can 
let me have an answer to the appended ques¬ 
tions in your next issue of The Gardening 
World re packing of Narcissi by growers. 
(1) What kind of box is used to send bv 
rail ? (2) Where are these boxes obtainable? 
(3) How much per dozen are they? (4) How 
many Narcissi flowers are put in a bundle? 
(5) How many bundles in a box? (6) Any 
information as to the structure of the box 
and dimensions will be most acceptable. 
(March Brown, Anglesey.) 
(1) Boxes to be sent by rail are of two 
leading types. What are described as “no 
charge ” boxes would be about 4d. each—that 
is, 4s. doz. They are of a slender character 
and of no particular value, consequently 
they are not returnable when they have once 
been used. The better boxes are made of 
deal. (2) Several firms are engaged making 
boxes of this class, but two very good firms 
are Messrs. G. Ellis and Co., Saw Mills, 
Hackney Wick. London, N.E., and Messrs. 
A. Bridgman and Co., box makers, City 
Road Bridge, London, E.C. (3) Boxes vary 
greatly in price according to quality and 
durability, from 4s. to 8s. per doz. The 
cheaper ones would be boxes that only carry 
flowers once and are not returnable, thereby 
saving considerable on their carriage. Deal 
boxes are sometimes banded with wire, and 
in some cases have iron clamps at the corners. 
Others, again, have the name and address of 
the sender, otherwise it is impossible to get 
them returned, as no one could determine to 
whom they belonged if no name was branded 
on them. We believe these boxes that are 
banded with wire and have the names 
branded on them are about 8s. per doz. (4) 
Twelve flowers of Narcissi are tied in each 
bundle. (5) The number of bundles that can 
be got into a box all depends upon the length 
of the stems and the size of the individual 
flowers, which, as you know, vary greatly in 
the different varieties of Narcissus. For in¬ 
stance, of the early, short-stemmed flowers of 
the Tenby Daffodil you get about twenty- 
four bunches in a box. In the case of Em¬ 
peror and Empress, on good soil the stems 
would be so long that you could only get 
fifteen to eighteen bundles in a box, packing 
them in two rows or sets, one layer deep. 
This, then, will have to be determined when 
the flowers are cut. You should remember, 
also, that the longer the stems are the more 
value is placed upon them for decorative 
purposes. (6) We had a Daffodil box mea¬ 
sured, and this.proved to be 25 in. long, in¬ 
side measurement, 15^ in. wide and 35 in. 
. deep. Only one layer of flowers would be 
put in such a box. This- box, if simply 
wired, would be 6d. each, or 6s. per doz., 
but you must remember the difficulty in get¬ 
ting them back if they have not been branded 
with the name of the owner. Branded boxes 
would be 8d. each, or 8s. doz. Some class 
of flowers may be packed more deeply in the 
boxes, and such boxes might be 4 in. or 5 in. 
deep, -inside measurement, while the length 
. and breadth would be as above given. 
NAMES OF PLANTS . 
(J. W., Perth.) 1, Sedum sarmentosum car- 
neurn variegatum; 2, Lygodium scandens, a 
climbing Fern. 
(R. M. Wilson) 1, Hyacinthus orientalis 
albulus, or Roman H) r acinth; 2, Scirpus cer- 
nuus; 3, Senecio Petasites; 4, Ophiopogon 
Jaburan variegatus; 3, Clivia miniata; 6, 
Aloe mitriformis. 
(A. D. Ward) 1, Selaginella Braunii; 2, 
Selaginella smiliana; 3, Calathea zebrina; 
4, Senecio Kaempferi aurea - onaculatus; 5, 
Chlorophytum medio-pictum. 
(E. D. R.) 1, Cupressus obtusa; 2, Cupres- 
sus nootkatensis ; 3, Juniperus virginianus; 
4, Juniperus chinensis. 
(C. W.) Winter Heliotrope (Petasites fra- 
grans); 2, Asparagus Sp.rengeri. 
TRfiDE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Amos Perry, Hardy Plant Farm, Enfield, 
Middlesex.—Special Offer of Seeds; also 
27,300 Japanese Lilies. 
The Florist Co., Wellingborough.— A Se¬ 
lect Up-to-Date Descriptive Catalogue of 
Chrysanthemums. 
Barr and Sons, ii,_i2 and 13, King Street, 
Covent Garden, London.—Barr’s Seed Guide. 
Geo. Coot.ing and Sons, Bath.—Catalogue 
of Garden Seeds. 
Thomas S. Ware (’02), Ltd., Feltham, 
Middlesex.—Vegetable and Flower Seeds; 
also Ware’s Begonias. 
Herd Bros.. Seed Merchants. Penrith. — 
Specialities in Garden Seeds, Garden 
Manures, Garden Tools and Requisites. 
