72 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February I, 1908. 
start, although they will germinate in a 
lower temperature. They may be 
pricked off in the same way as half- 
hardy annuals and grown on till the end 
of May. when they may be hardened off 
and planted in the open air. These 
should flower about September if the 
grower has treated them fairly, and about 
the end of September the stems may be 
cut down, the roots dug up and planted 
in boxes or potted up, and then trans¬ 
ferred to a cold frame for the winter. 
“ My Garden Diary for 1908.” 
For several years past we have been 
pleased with a neat and unique garden 
diary sent out by Messrs. Sutton and 
Sons, Reading. ' This year it is quite 
equal to its predecessors, and even sur¬ 
passes them in several respects in the 
artistic representation of flowers, especi¬ 
ally those reproduced from paintings of 
red, white, and pink Daisies on the 
covers. The left-hand page is fully occu¬ 
pied by reminders of what to do in the 
garden during each month of the year. 
On the right-hand sides of the calendar 
space is left for making memoranda of 
garden operations, etc., made during 
1908. It runs to thirty-one pages, and is 
a neat and timely got-up book of re¬ 
minders. 
The Culture of 
- Gannas. - 
These beautiful plants have been 
greatly changed.and improved during the 
last few years, so that now we have some 
new and really fine varieties of high 
quality of flowers and foliage. Every 
amateur should have some of these pic¬ 
turesque plants in his collection, as their 
culture is so easy. 
Propagation by seeds is commenced 
very early in the year, the middle of 
January or early in February being the 
most suitable time for sowing. The seed 
of Cannas is very hard, and to assist ger¬ 
mination, they should be placed in tepid 
water for a day or more, so as to absorb 
plenty of the moisture to make them soft. 
Use boxes or pans with plenty of crocks at 
the bottom for drainage, and these should 
be filled with a light rich compost. Keep 
them in a warm place and never allow 
them to become too dry. The seedlings 
do not appear all at once, but like a bad 
shilling, turns up now and then. How¬ 
ever, as they appear, pot them off singly 
into little pots filled with a rich compost. 
Warmth is necessary at this stage, and 
as the plants grow they should be changed 
to larger pots, and being gross feeders, 
a rich light soil is required, and they 
may be given occasionally a small dose 
of weak liquid manure; never, however, 
give them cold water, but water of about 
the same temperature as the greenhouse. 
If these few simple rules are carefully 
followed, the amateur can rely on success. 
Joseph Floyd. 
Points which Puzzle the Notice. 
BY AN OLD HAND. (Continued). 
Feeding Old Fruit Trees in Winter. 
The advice to do this not only puzzles 
the novice, but even experienced gar¬ 
deners will sometimes contest the wisdom 
of it. All that I can say is that the prac¬ 
tice of feeding old trees in winter is a 
thoroughly sound one, and only wants 
testing to convince anyone of its effi¬ 
cacy. There is method in the system, 
too, for most people who have made pro¬ 
vision for the collection of liquid manure 
from stables, piggeries, or cow sheds 
know that the winter accumulation is 
often a menace, and difficult to dispose of. 
This is where the old fruit trees come 
in. In summer every spoonful of liquid 
manure is snapped up by Vines, Peaches, 
Chrysanthemums, Roses, etc., and none 
is left for the fruit trees, while in winter 
practically none of the pensioners of the 
manure tanks make demands upon it. 
How many among my readers have felt 
qualms of regret when the good wife has 
in winter queried : “Where shall I put the 
house slops now, John?” and received 
for answer: “ Oh! put ’em down the 
drain ! ” Next time the question arises, 
have the slops poured round the old fruit 
trees, and they will thank you with in¬ 
creased crops. 
Pinching Calceolarias and Plants in 
General. 
Just now, or it may be a fortnight 
hence, the Calceolarias in the cold frame 
should be “pinched.” Now, a gardener’s 
definition of pinching is essentially his own 
and differs considerably from the bur¬ 
glar’s, or the little boy’s who stands next 
to the little girl in the Sunday school. 
When a gardener pinches a plant he takes 
hold of the end of one of its shoots be¬ 
tween his finger and thumb and pinches, 
or rather nips, it right off. It may be 
that he only pinches one shoot — the 
longest and strongest—on a plant; it may 
be that he pinches all the shoots. 
Pinching — which is identical with stop¬ 
ping, and sometimes called by that name 
— is performed for, at least, two definite 
purposes. One, and the most general, is 
to cause the shoot pinched to push 
growths or shoots from dormant buds 
lower down the stem; this makes plants 
bushy and keeps them dwarf. A variant 
of this pinching is nipping the points out 
of the longest shoots in order to bring 
them on a level with shorter ones, and 
thus secure a symmetrical or well 
balanced plant. 
Pinching, or stopping, is also practised 
in order to retard exhibition plants, or to 
get them into bloom at a later date than 
would be the case if they grew naturally. 
A Fuchsia is a splendid plant to practice 
pinching on, both for inducing bushiness, 
securing symmetry, and retarding the 
flowering period. 
The second great purpose of pinching 
is to concentrate the energies of a plant 
upon a given part of itself. Thus Cu¬ 
cumbers are pinched at one leaf or two 
leaves beyond the young fruit; Melons are 
similarly pinched at one leaf beyond the 
fruit immediately the latter is nicely set; 
C' ^ Vi zv/'l of r\T tVl 
Grapes are pinched at two or three leaves 
beyond the bunch, and all subsequent 
growth is pinched back to one leaf as it is 
made. The object in each case is to con¬ 
centrate the flow of sap on the fruits and 
enable them to grow to a greater size 
than otherwise would be the case. There 
is hardly a plant grown under glass but 
what is pinched, more or less, at some 
time, so that pinching is really a most im¬ 
portant operation. 
(To be continued.) 
The Influence of Soil 
on the Flavour of. . 
Pears. 
After much observation I say yes. 
Everyone appreciates a good Pear; but a 
great many that are used are far from 
good in this respect. I am aware some 
kinds have but little flavour compared to 
others. But even the poor Beurre Clair- 
geau, Grosse Calebasse, and many others 
are influenced by soil, etc. 
During my experience I had only eaten 
that large kind Pitmaston Duchess, but 
once good till this year, when a friend 
gave me fruit of it to taste. When it 
came on to my table I remarked to my 
wife that I had but little opinion of it, 
and had previously given it a bad name. 
W’hen it was cut I had to confess it was 
really good, surpassing any I had eaten 
previously. 
On inquiry of my friend where it grew, 
I was told in the light soil around Wind- 
lesham, in Surrey. From trees in that 
village I have had fruit in past years of 
Beurre Diel and Durandeau, both very 
fine, and nothing finer have I ever had 
than that fine sort Beurre Superfin. I 
have come to regard that fruit from this 
light soil and dry air as most productive 
of high flavour. From bush trees I have 
seen some of the highest coloured Blen¬ 
heim Orange and other Apples I have ever 
seen. I found the same thing in a Nor- | 
folk garden on a soil of a similar nature. 
J. C. F., Camberley. 
-- 
Reliable Garden Helps. 
We are in receipt of a pamphlet from 
the Boundary Chemical Co., Ltd., in 
which their various specialities are de¬ 
scribed. Here, the reader is informed 
when to apply “Climax” Weedkiller, 
“Climax” Lawn Sand, “Alphol,” 
“Demon ” Insecticide, Killet’s Earthworm 
Destroyer, etc. Several different manures 
prepared by the firm for various purposes 
in the garden are for feeding lawns, 
Vines, Roses, Chrysanthemums, Fruit, 
Strawberries, etc. We note the firm has 
changed its address from Royal Arches, 
Luton Street, Liverpool, to 25, 27, and 
29, Cranmer Street, Liverpool. 
