22 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January n, igo8. 
less than is required, some means of increas¬ 
ing the stock must be adopted. If a few of 
the old plants were lifted from the beds last 
autumn, nothing is more simple than to take 
off and strike the tops of these ; I have even 
used the tops of the shoots of winter-flower¬ 
ing plants when very short. Failing other 
means of increase, the tops of cuttings struck 
last autumn can be utilised as cuttings if a 
start is made thus early in the year. Only 
the very strongest of the cuttings should be 
thus beheaded, and there are two reasons for 
this. One is that weakly cuttings can ill 
spare their tops, the other is that weakly 
tops are not likely to grow into plants by 
bedding-out time. Good tops, of any de¬ 
scription, will strike freely if placed in 
sandy soil and kept in a moist, warm place. 
Potting Young Pelargoniums. 
Young Pelargoniums struck in the sum¬ 
mer or early autumn should now be ready 
for their flowering pots, that is, if they are 
to be flowered in the useful 5-inch si ze - I 
always like to use a hard-baked pot for these 
plants, as they do not do well in a soft, 
porous pot that is always moist. A mere 
trifle this, some may say, and a trifle it is, 
but it is one of those trifles the observance 
of which enables a man to win prizes in 
strong competition. Use the best obtainable 
yellow loam, with plenty of sharp sand and 
a little old mortar rubbish, or a few crushed 
oyster shells, as compost, and make this nice 
and firm. At potting time the plants should 
be divested of superfluous shoots, for if too 
many are left on all will be weakly and un¬ 
satisfactory. If any shoots are growing 
long and spindly, their tops should be 
pinched out a week or so after potting. 
Strawberries in Pots. 
Space should now be found, on a shelf or 
somewhere where the plants can get plenty 
of light, for a few pots of Strawberries. 
It is quite likely that the soil in the pots 
will be frozen, or parted from the side of 
the pot as a result of previous frosts, so 
that it is well to stand the pots on the floor 
until the soil thaws, and then press it well 
round the sides before putting the pots on 
a shelf where the surface of the soil is not 
likely to be seen. I have known' much un¬ 
necessary labour to be expended on watering 
through neglect of this simple precaution. 
Look well under the leaves for green cater¬ 
pillars, and in the drainage holes of the 
pots for slugs, before placing the plants in 
position. 
Forcing Chicory. 
I wonder how many of my readers acted 
on the advice which I gave them last year, 
and grew a nice lot of Chicory in their gar¬ 
den during the summer ! Those who did 
can now reap a rich reward by placing a 
few roots in the greenhouse or in an out¬ 
house. Of course, the roots could have gone 
in much earlier, but there has been no short¬ 
age of salad so far ; the difficulty has been 
rather to eat the Lettuces, Endive, and 
Celery before they spoiled. Any deep box 
will do to put the Chicory roots in, provid¬ 
ing that it allows of soil or leaves being 
placed around the heads of the plants. 
Leaves do excellently for packing the roots 
in, or old soil from the potting shed may 
be used. Place the receptacles in a dark 
corner of the greenhouse or shed, or invert 
an empty box over the roots to keep them and 
the young leaves dark, when they come. 
Raising Vines from Eyes. 
Ihe eyes "or dormant buds of the Grape 
Vine afford a capital means of raising young 
plants for various purposes. Even if they 
are not required for fruiting, the plants are 
sufficiently elegant to warrant a place being, 
given them in the greenhouse, while they 
are excellent for clothing bare walls or posts 
outdoors. Each bud should have about an 
inch of wood attached to it, and should be 
buried under half an inch of soil and kept 
in the warmest spot available. The eyes or 
buds are found on the portion of t£ie vine 
shoot removed in pruning, viz., the part 
which bore the Grapes last year. 
Diaries and Note-taking. 
The receipt of the “ G.W.” pocket diary 
for 1908 reminds me what a very useful 
habit to cultivate is that of note-taking, 
especially to the novice. I remember in my 
youthful days that I used to make a point 
of jotting down something in my garden 
diary every day, whether important or 
trivial, and I used to find the notes thus 
made of great assistance in the next, and 
sometimes subsequent years. And we then 
had nothing half so good at the price as 
the “ G.W.” diary, which, without doubt, 
improves from year to year. To every 
reader I would say : Buy it 1 
Sunnyside. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Seasonable Notes on Odontoglossums. 
In the cool house the bulk of the Odonto¬ 
glossums will be in full growth, the plants 
must therefore have every encouragement to 
assist them in growth development. A few 
years ago writers of Orchid calendars ad¬ 
vocated a low temperature for Odontoglos¬ 
sums. It was quite common to advocate a 
temperature of from 40 to 45 degrees for 
these plants during the winter season. This 
has long since appeared to me to be contrary 
to nature. In the case of all plant life, the 
season at which they are in the most active 
stage of growth is a season when they can 
best accommodate themselves to the facilities 
to encourage such growth. There can be no 
doubt that the result of low temperatures 
during the growing season produces .alpine 
conditions of growth, in the dwarfed and 
stunted pseudo-bulbs, which cool conditions 
of culture generally produce. 
I do not like to see our Odontoglossum 
house fall below 50 degrees, our normal 
night temperature being 53 to 55 degrees. 
This affords the necessary facilities for the 
development of growth during the winter 
season, and in my opinion more satisfactory 
results are obtainable with such treatment. 
As the pseudo-bulbs develop, the flower 
scapes make their appearance, and small 
slugs and shell snails, which more often 
than not are brought into the house with the 
moss used in the potting compost, attack 
the flower spikes, 'and are most destructive 
also to young roots. In the case of the 
flower spikes, it is as well to wrap a piece 
of cotton-wool about the base of the pseudo¬ 
bulb, or around the leaf through which the 
spike is developing; although this does not 
actually prevent the, slugs climbing over, it 
is a barrier difficult to surmount. Small 
portions of bran or brewer’s grains placed 
about the stages form an excellent feeding 
ground for slugs and snails, and by search¬ 
ing round with the aid of a light they may 
be easily caught and destroyed. 
Advancing- Flower Scapes. 
All flower scapes that are now in a for¬ 
ward state should be placed in a position 
where they may obtain the full benefit of 
the available light. One can scarcely 
realise how great an effect light has in pro¬ 
ducing texture and colour in flowers: the 
light at the present season should be strength¬ 
ening to all advancing flower scapes, either 
by suspending from the roof glass or rais¬ 
ing them in such a manner from the stages 
that they may obtain full benefit of all avail¬ 
able light. Where a succession of flowering 
plants is desirable, some of the early-flower¬ 
ing sections of the deciduous Dendrobiums 
will now have their flower buds in a promi¬ 
nent state. Selections of the most forward 
of these should be made; the plants may 
then be gradually removed from their rest¬ 
ing quarters to a house where more grow¬ 
ing conditions of heat and moisture can be 
afforded. I would particularly point out 
the desirability of removal gradually, for 
if put direct from the resting position into 
heat there will be a tendency to produce 
young growths instead of flowers, and dis¬ 
appointing results will follow. 
Mexican Laelias. 
The Mexican section of Laelias, especially 
L. anceps in both the typical and white 
varieties, will last for several weeks in per¬ 
fection if they are kept in a house where 
there is little moisture in the atmosphere. 
It is not a bad plan to remove plants where 
grown among the Cattleyas to a cool, dry 
conservatory, or even to a living room, after 
the flowers are expanded. By so doing they 
last much longer, and are considerably more 
durable for cut flower purposes, if placed 
under cool conditions a few days before they 
are wanted for such purpose. 
H. J. Chapman, 
R.H.S. 
The Royal Horticultural Society’s next 
fortnightly exhibition of flowers and fruit 
at Vincent Square, Westminster, will be 
held on January 14th from 1 to 5 p.m. 
A lecture will be delivered at 3 o'clock by 
Mr. J. Gregory, on “R.H.S. Exhibitions.” 
Odontioda craveniana. 
The parentage of this bigeneric hybrid 
was C. noetzliana, crossed O. cordatum. 
The sepals and wavy petals spreading 
horizontally are almost of a scarlet-ver¬ 
milion colour, as shown by the dull light 
of a December day. The lip is orange- 
scarlet, and ornamented with a wavy 
creamy band near the apex. The crest 
is golden. Award of Merit by the R.H.S. 
on December 31st when shown by Messrs. 
Charlesworth and Co., Heaton, Bradford. 
Presentation to Mr. J. H. Parker. 
On the occasion of Mr. J. H. Parker 
leaving Messrs. Alexander Cross and 
Sons, after three years’ service, he got a 
very pleasant surprise in being asked to 
come back and receive a presentation 
from the staff of the firm. The meeting 
took place in the board room, and the 
chair was taken by Mr. Charles Walker, 
who presented Mr. Parker with a gold 
watch, bearing an inscription and Mr. 
Parker’s masonic mark on the back there¬ 
of. This shows how much he was appre¬ 
ciated by the staff. Mr. Parker is well 
known both in Glasgow and Edinburgh. 
He is now a partner in the firm of Messrs. 
Smith and Simons, 36 and 38, West 
George Street, Glasgow. He is also the 
hon. local secretary of the Royal Gar¬ 
deners’ Orphan Fund, for which, he re¬ 
cently collected ^5 5s. and sent it on to 
Mr. B. Wynne, 30, Wellington Street, 
Strand, London, W.C. 
Speaking recently before the members 
of the Leven Horticultural Society, Mr. 
R. C. Munro Ferguson, M.P., remarked 
that they in Scotland were noted all over 
the world for their horticultural abilities, ( 
and their gardens could compare with 
any. He did not know, however, that the 
practice of gardening was so general in 
Scotland as it was in England, and he 
thought a good deal might be done by 
societies Such as theirs in heven to render 
the practice of gardening more general. 
