88 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 8, 1908. 
The Flower Garden. 
The Fruit Garden. 
The recent very severe frost has given 
place to really mild weather, but frosts may 
soon come again, so we must not count on 
their being gone altogether, and so neglect to 
take precautions against them in the matter 
of affording protection to tender subjects. 
But we must do our best to push on with 
all speed open-air work, especially that 
which deals with the soil. 
Bedding Calceolarias in Frames. 
Probably you will find a few of the cut¬ 
tings damped off when you closely examine 
your stock. All such, and decayed matter 
found amongst the young plants, should be 
forthwith cleared away. Gently loosen the 
surface soil with the point of a stick or 
label, and pull off the glass lights alto¬ 
gether on fine days. It is really wonderful 
how rapidly the young plants will grow 
afterwards. Many persons keep their bed¬ 
ding Calceolarias too warm, and finally 
plant them in the flower garden too late in 
the season, with the result that some of them 
are lost, as they rot off at -the soil level. 
Harden your plants as much as possible 
without unduly exposing them to really bad 
weather. The accompanying sketch shows 
how you ought to treat them now in order to 
obtain nice bushy plants. . 
Those marked A in the sketch have bad 
their tops pinched off; the dotted lines show 
where the side shoots will afterwards grow. 
B shows those plants that have not been 
pinched. But all must be treated in this 
manner, and transplanted later, prior to 
their removal to the flower garden. 
Sowing Seeds. 
The days are visibly lengthening, and 
the sun’s rays are much stronger, so that no 
time should be lost in getting a batch of 
seeds sown, as the resultant plants will 
grow sturdily from this date. 
It is a far wiser plan to allow all seed¬ 
lings ample time to grow, and so become 
strong, than to delay the sowing and after¬ 
wards rush on the young plants in order to 
obtain stock of suitable size by bedding-out 
time. Sow seeds of Ageratum, Lobelia, 
Celosias, Petunias, tuberous and fibrous- 
rooted Begonias, Cineraria maritima, Pan¬ 
sies, single Dahlias, Browallia, Sweet Peas 
—the latter in small pots from which they 
may be transplanted. 
The Begonia seeds should be sown in a 
light, peaty, sandy compost in 6-inch pots, 
and the other kinds in boxes in a compost 
of fibrous loam, leaf mould and sand. Put 
some loose squares of glass on the boxes and 
pots, and brown paper on the glass, as seeds 
germinate better in darkness. A warm 
greenhouse, or a heated frame is the most 
suitable place wherein to place the seed 
boxes. 
Sweet Peas. 
There are many quite obsolete varieties of 
Apples and Pears still grown in amateurs’ 
gardens. Some of the trees are clean 
stemmed and very healthy, but the fruits are 
Bedding Calceolarias in a frame should 
be -pinched, then the plants will form nice 
sturdy specimens. 
small, of poor flavour, and practically use¬ 
less for market purposes. Why retain such 
trees in their present condition ? There are 
now many excellent varieties from which 
grafts are readily obtained. If you decide 
to graft better ones on the old trees cut off 
the branches as shown in the sketch in readi- 
Fruit trees which are to be grafted 
must have their branches sawn off. 
ness for grafting later on. Some plain 
hints on the work of grafting will appear 
in these pages in due course. Very old, or 
unhealthy specimens should not be grafted ; 
it is the best plan to uproot such and plant 
young trees. 
Walls for- Fruit Trees. 
Where fruit trees have been grown, and 
the branches fastened to walls by means of 
nails and tarred twine or shreds, for a num¬ 
ber of years, many holes in the mortar and 
bricks will be a result. Now, all such holes 
are lurking places for injurious insect pests 
and should be filled up at once. Though 
cement is good and lasting, do not use it, 
The young plants growing in pots have 
not made much progress since the end of 
December, because the weather has been too 
•cold. Forcing is harmful. Do not keep the 
plants shut up in a house or frame during 
fine weather, but admit air freely. Remove 
the lights altogether on very fine days, as 
the plants will do better so treated than 
when exposed to draughts through small 
openings caused by slightly tilting the glass 
lights. 
This sketch jhows how to fill a seed 
box with drainage and compost. 
but mortar. While engaged in stopping the 
holes with the latter sprinkle some dust-dry 
unslacked lime on the mortar as you use it. 
The dry, hot lime will soon kill the insects. 
Pruning-. 
Finish the work of pruning with all pos¬ 
sible speed and lightly dig in the rotted 
manure afterwards. 
Newly-planted Trees. 
Where it' has not already been done, put' 
on a mulch of littery manure, about 4 inches 
thick, over the roots, and then a sprinkling 
of soil to keep the manure in position. This 
material should be left on throughout the 
summer, as it will tend to maintain the soil 
in an even state of moisture and encourage 
the formation of new roots. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
The work in this department is now be¬ 
coming pretty general. Where the soil is 
naturally clayey, some of the earliest crops 
should be raised in boxes, then by the time 
the young plants are ready for putting out 
the ground will be much warmer and more 
easily tilled. 
Seed Boxes. 
The accompanying sketch shows how a 
seed box should be prepared. A, drainage, 
furnished by placing some broken crocks, 
clinkers, or cinders over the holes in the 
box; B, a good, rich compost of sifted loam 
and leaf soil; C, a sufficient space left to 
hold water. 
Seeds to Sow. 
Celery, a pinch of seed only, of an early 
variety of white, scattered thinly and evenly 
on the surface and covered a quarter of an 
inch deep. Brussels Sprouts, early Cauli¬ 
flowers, Lettuces, Leeks, and Cabbages. 
Place the seed boxes in a frame or on a 
shelf in a greenhouse. Sow all seeds thinly, 
and the resultant plants will be stronger. 
Spinach. 
Between the rows of early Peas a single 
drill of Spinach may be grown. Make the 
drill one inch deep and drop in the seeds 
about two inches apart, then it will be an 
easy matter to thin out the young plants 
later on. 
Potatos. 
Plant a few “sets” at the foot of a wall 
facing south, or on a sheltered border in 
rows where some protection can be given in 
case of late frosts. Myatt’s Ashleaf is a 
good variety to plant. 
Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Forced Strawberries. 
Is is quite possible that the early Straw¬ 
berries have received a visit from that 
most unwelcome pest, red spider. Even 
if its presence is not apparent the -leaves 
should be Carefully looked over, for it is 
fairly certain that the pest will ,put in an 
appearance where the plants are hurried 
along in heat. The best of all cures, or 
preventives for that matter, is a strong 
solution of quassia. I do not believe in 
troubling to make this, as I am con¬ 
vinced it does not pay with the small 
quantities the amateur needs. I use in¬ 
stead Bentley’s Quassia Extract, and can 
thoroughly recommend it, not only for 
this pest, but for most others which worry 
greenhouse plants. For a bad attack of 
red spider, I prefer to use it hot; as it 
then does its work much more quickly. 
Liberal watering will do much to keep 
down red spider, and a moist atmosphere 
will also assist. 
