THE GARDENING WORLD 
Aidtdress : The Editor, The Gardening 
World, 3; and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
should be as brief as -possible and written on 
one side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan-of their gardens, indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac¬ 
ter and height of the fence or wall ; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
■flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully filed, with 
the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an 
enquiry is sent. 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
257 2. The Pansy as a Pot Plant. 
Will you kindly say if the Pansy can be 
grown as a pot plant in a greenhouse? If 
3'ou could give a series of articles on the 
Auricula in your valuable paper it would 
be much appreciated. (T. H-. Hart, Bir¬ 
mingham.) 
If you have seedlings sown about July last 
year and which are now plants of some size, 
you could pot them up and place them in 
some well-lighted place in the greenhouse, 
close to the glass, where they would get 
an abundance of light and the advantage of 
ventilation. If you have cuttings that were 
rooted in September they could be potted up 
singly in March and grown on' in the same 
w.ay. If we resolved upon pot culture we 
should grow the plants to the flowering stage 
in cold frames, where they could be kept 
relatively cool, almost close to the glass and 
freely ventilated. Nothing, scarcely would 
go sooner off condition than Pansies if in 
any way kept close or coddled or shaded 
by other plants. They get drawn, weakly, 
and soon cease to be ornamental. When the 
plants come into bloom in the cold frame 
you could transfer them to the greenhouse, 
using those most fully in flower and leav¬ 
ing the rest in the frame for a succession to 
be introduced later. 
2573. Condensation in Greenhouse. 
Will you kindly give me your valuable 
experience in a little matter which is caus¬ 
ing me a source of worry? Last year I had 
erected a small span-roofed greenhouse 8ft. 
by 5ft., and I find that condensation takes 
place inside so much at night that the water 
runs down the glass and rests on the ledges 
inside. Also, the sides underneath the stage 
get quite damp. Some Fuchsias which 1 
have had underneath put away for the win¬ 
ter have been very badly attacked by mil¬ 
dew. The house is situated on what was a 
large flower border. I took all the mould 
out for a considerable distance down. This 
was filled up with bricks, stones, etc., after 
that a layer of coal dust, and last a layer of 
stone chippings were put on. I burn a small 
oil stove in it during frosty or damp nights. 
It is situated so that ;it gets the sun always. 
I have been a constant reader of your paper 
for over two years, and have received much 
assistance from the same. I should be much 
obliged if you could assist me. (Leta, 
Surrey.) 
With the cold weather that we lately had 
there is almost certain to be condensation 
on the glass during night. It would have 
been well if you had arranged for the water 
to run away outside the house by making a 
groove in the beam supporting the roof. You 
can prevent it, however, to some extent. 
You have evidently taken plenty of pains 
to make the floor dry, but possibly you have 
been watering the plants too much, or spill¬ 
ing water in the house, thus causing vapour 
to arise. We do not know what temperature 
you keep up, but very frequently this is 
kept too high in small houses. That en¬ 
courages tlie soil to get dry in pots, then 
watering is necessary, and some of it gets 
spilled about. There will not always be 
such an amount of condensation, but chiefly 
when it is cold and you are endeavouring to 
keep the frost out, and perhaps keeping the 
temperature rather higher than it ought to 
be. When the air outside is less cold, there 
will be less condensation inside. You might, 
however, put on someone to mop up the 
water, either in the morning or when closing 
the house for the night. Concerning the 
Fuchsias, we presume that the leaves have 
been decaying and possibly also the tips of 
the young shoots are decaying, and the com¬ 
mon mould is growing upon the decayed 
shoots. This, of course, is not a disease, but 
is merely the fungus finding suitable ma¬ 
terial on the decaying shoots. It would 
have been well to have kept them rather dry 
about the end of September to induce the 
leaves to fall and the wood to ripen. After 
that there would be less danger of mould 
upon them, unless actually in contact with 
the wet floor of the house, and you should 
see to that. See also that water does not drip 
upon them from the stages by laying the 
pots on their sides. 
2574. Starting Old Fuchsias. 
In last week’s issue, page 54, re “ Start¬ 
ing Old Fuchsias,’’ mine have been in a 
cellar all the winter and are just showing 
white shoots. Is it too early to start them? 
I have only a cold greenhouse, and we may 
get .some hard frost yet. (Harringay, 
Middlesex.) 
The note you read concerning the starting 
of Fuchsias is only dealing with the matter 
for a Certain purpose. Fuchsias are often 
started early by putting them into heat in 
order to get fresh cuttings for propagation. 
It is not really necessary to start Fuchsias 
in any but the natural way. By having them 
in the greenhouse they will commence grow¬ 
ing naturally when the temperature rises in 
spring. Then you have to attend to the 
matter of ventilation if the temperature is 
likely to get high at any time. Evidently 
■ r 
February- 8, 1908. 
your plants are starting too soon, and that, 
would indicate that the temperature in the 
cellar is too high for Fuchsias that should 
be resting. The best plan under the circum¬ 
stances would be to put them in the green¬ 
house, otherwise the young shoots will get 
bleached owing to the absence of -light. If 
you have no room there, you might have an 
outhouse where the temperature would be 
lower, so as to keep the plants resting. 
When young shoots- are pushing away and 
cannot produce green leaves for want of 
proper temperature and light, they are de¬ 
teriorating or wasting their energies; that 
is the reason why we advocate a low tem¬ 
perature in winter for them, to prevent them 
from starting before you can place them 
under proper conditions for making good 
growth. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
2575. Border Carnations. 
Kindly give me the names of two of the 
best Carnations that can be grown outside 
all the year round. I should like them 
large; also seifs of popular colours. I have 
a Carnation named Grenadier (a Marguerite, 
I believe), all -mixed, pink stripes. Is it 
an annual, and could I get cuttings to root 
if they were placed in a hotbed in a cold 
greenhouse? Is it possible to increase the 
size of the flowers by giving liquid manure? 
(Novice, Somerset.) 
Two of the most suitable Carnations for 
growing outside would be Raby Castle (rosy 
pink) and Gloire de Nancy (white). We ad¬ 
vocate -them for you as they produce a large 
number of flowers over a long period. If 
you really want large flowers you will have 
to remove some of the buds while they are 
yet quite small, so as to encourage the 
others. Two with naturally large flowers 
are Herbert J. Cutbush (scarlet) and Hilde- 
garde .(white). The Carnation you name 
ought to be spelled “ Grenadin,” a scarlet, 
early-flowering variety, usually raised from 
seed, but we are afraid you have only got 
Marguerites as you suppose. They are a 
mixed strain, but different from Grenadin. 
They are not annuals, but they give most 
satisfaction when grown as annuals by 
raising them from seeds every year. You 
can get a packet of seeds and sow them, say, 
half of them in February and the other half 
in March for a succession. No doubt you 
could root cuttings upon a hotbed, but it 
would take time and trouble, and we do not 
think they would give satisfaction by that 
method of treatment. They are quite dif¬ 
ferent in their nature from tree Carnations 
and American Carnations. You can feed 
Carnations in pots, and also those out of 
doors, by giving them weak solutions of 
liquid manure twice a week. 
2576. Dahlias Spoiled, 
Can you tell me if my Dahlias are 
spoiled? I have kept them 9tored in a dis¬ 
used room in the house, where I have stored 
them for several years successfully. Look¬ 
ing over them since the frost, I find many 
of them are quite dark beneath the skin of 
the tuber, although they are sound and hard. 
I have broken one or two and find them dark 
right through, but not rotten. Has the frost 
spoiled them, or are they likely to shoot in 
the spring? (G. Walker, Berks.) 
Tubers of Dahlias are naturally rather 
dark inside, even if you might only describe 
that as cream or yellow, but some of them 
are darker and inclined to get more so when 
getting old. It is just possible that they 
may have been frozen, as the frost just after 
Christmas was very severe and water pipes 
got frozen inside houses. Another year, if 
you could remember it, when frost occurs, 
you should lay some mats or dry brown 
paper, or even newspapers, over the tubers, 
leaving the coverings there for some time 
