THE QARDBNINQ WORLD. February 15, 190S. 
Secde to SoWi 
A pinch of Lettuce seed should now be 
sown in a sheltered spot outside; also a few 
rows of l’arsley seed. Early Milan Purple 
Top Turnip may also be sown, and a few 
more rows of Spinach. 
Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Fuchsia and Heliotrope Cuttings. 
By making a start in striking cuttings now 
some nice little plants for pots or beds may 
be ohtained ; they will be smaller than those 
struck in autumn, but often grow away 
better and make more thrifty plants in the 
end. If plants are wanted for bedding out, 
cuttings may be inserted thickly in well- 
drained pans of sandy soil. They should 
be stood in a warm, moist corner and kept 
quite moist both at top and bottom, when 
they will emit roots in a few days. The 
cuttings should be made of young shoots 
which have formed on old plants cut back, 
as before advised. If none such are avail¬ 
able, use the tops of old but green and grow¬ 
ing plants. The cuttings should each go 
into a small pot as soon as rooted, and be 
pinched once or twice before bedding-out 
time arrives. 
Repotting Achimenes. 
Most growers winter their Achimenes in 
the pots in which they flowered, and the 
plan is a very good one. All such pots 
should be overhauled now, before the con¬ 
tained bulbs, corms, or tubercles — 1 believe 
they are really scaly stolons or underground 
stems — eh! Mr. Editor?—-start to make new 
growth. This they soon do on any provo¬ 
cation in the way of heat or mositure, and 
they are then difficult to handle without in¬ 
jury. Shake them all free of soil and sort 
them into three sizes, the largest of which 
may be regarded as sure flowerers. These 
should be laid flat in pans, pots,-or baskets, 
about it in. apart and covered with soil to 
the depth of an inch; the smaller roots can 
be planted more thickly to grow on into 
flowering size. Stand all in the warm end 
of the house, and water carefully. 
Dirty Vine Rods. 
Grapes which were attacked by mealy bug 
last year will be so again this unless special 
precautions are taken. The winter scrub¬ 
bing and dressing were good in their way, 
but are not enough. An accession of fire 
heat, or a few genial sunbeams, will entice 
any of the pests which escaped the winter 
dressing out to play, and the grower should 
be on the watch for this. Unfortunately, the 
mealy bug does not make so much noise in 
its gambols as do escaped school children, 
so the grower must trust to sight alone for 
their detection. A bottle of turpentine or 
methylated spirits is the best companion on 
these detective expeditions. It should have 
a small bunch or stick in it, and with this 
a little of the liquid should be brought into 
contact with Mr. Mealy Bug’s epidermis; 
the particular part does not matter ; it is all 
the same to the bug. 
Striking Croton Cuttings. 
Taking them day by day, week by week, 
and month by month, no plants contribute 
more to the gaiety of the well-warmed green¬ 
house than the Crotons. Old stagers are 
often splendid in their vivid colouring, but 
they lack the portability of youngsters, and 
so are not available for house and table 
decoration. A few of the old tops may well 
be sacrificed now to give young ones, and 
the best and brightest coloured tops should 
always be selected. Cut off the lower 
leaves, place each top in a small pot with 
plenty of sand and peat in the compost, 
make firm, and stand in the propagating 
case. If one of these useful appliances is 
not to hand, place the cuttings in a warm, 
shady spot, and syringe and water them 
well. The secret in striking Crotons is to 
keep the soil always well wetted. 
Sowing Begonias and Gloxinias- 
It is high time that this work was finished, 
and it should be pushed on without delay. 
I like to sow Begonias early in January, as 
then one gets very good bedding plants for 
planting out the first week of June. Those 
raised now will -flower later. Use a well- 
drained pan, mix the seed with a wineglass¬ 
ful of silver-sand, and scatter the whole 
thing on the surface of the soil. Cover 
with a pane of glass, and pinch out the 
young seedlings as soon as they can be 
lifted with a cleft match. 
Potting and Cleaning Ferns. 
The general stock of Ferns should now 
be reviewed for repotting. If any are badly 
infested with brown or white scale cut off 
all the fronds and burn them, waiting until 
new fronds start before repotting ; it is only 
by such drastic treatment that this pest can 
be effectually got rid of. If any of the 
Ferns are already sufficiently large, but yet 
need repotting, they may be divided to make 
'two or more with a chopper; a slice may 
also be cut off the bottom of the old ball 
of roots if necessary. In potting Ferns, 
always use a stout potting lath to firm the 
new soil well round the sides of the pot. 
Starting Late Roses. 
Plants to give blooms a few weeks ahead 
of those outdoors should be pruned and 
started now. The method has been so often 
described that I need not repeat it now. A 
little new and rich soil as top dressing 
should follow pruning .and cleaning, and 
the syringe will be found very helpful now 
in starting growth and helping away green¬ 
fly. Look out for Rose maggot on the 
earliest started plants. Sunnyside. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Cool House Orchids. 
In the cool house we have at the present 
season plants in all stages of growth, from 
the plants that have recently passed out of 
flower arid are commending to make new 
growth to the plants that are expanding 
their flower scapes. With such conditions in 
the state of -the plants, it will be obvious 
to anyone the impossibility of dealing with 
them by any hard and fast rules in the 
methods of cultivation, and where only a 
few are grown I would advise that the 
plants should be treated separately, as their 
requirements may demand, rather than to 
be taken collectively. This remark may be 
applied particularly to potting require¬ 
ments. I am frequently asked by amateurs 
as to when is the best time to Attend to any 
repotting requirements. I advise that the 
best time to attend to repotting Orchids is 
at the period when the mew roots are being 
submitted from the base of the recently de¬ 
veloped or .advancing growths and pseudo¬ 
bulbs. This may be taken to apply to prac¬ 
tically 'the whole of the species of Orchids. 
Is Repotting Necessary? 
There is one thing I think I ought to 
mention, and that is, I find that amateurs 
are far too anxious about repotting require¬ 
ments. I have frequently advised that 
plants should not be disturbed for repotting 
requirements more frequently than is abso¬ 
lutely necessary; so that if there is ample 
root space in a pot .and ithe potting compost 
is in a good state of preservation, there is 
nothing to be gained by repotting, or even 
if the surface moss and compost has com¬ 
menced to decay. It is 'better to remove the 
decaying portions .and top-dress with fresh 
material, than to disturb plants unneces¬ 
sarily. I have mentioned this matter now 
in approaching the cool house Orchids be¬ 
cause we find many of the plants in a suit¬ 
able condition for repotting, which, owing 
to their coming into flower in the autumn, 
prevented their being -attended to earlier. 
Where the compost has become sour and the 
plant requires more pot room, the present 
time .is a good season in which to attend to 
these requirements. Select .those plants that 
require to be repotted or top-dressed, as the 
case may be, so that 'they may be put to¬ 
gether after potting, in a moist position, 
where the light may be easily subdued dur¬ 
ing the brightest part of the day, by placing 
a slight covering over them, there is at all 
times a possibility of loss of foliage after 
repotting, so that dt is well to have them 
protected where necessary. 
Compost for Cool Orchids. 
The compost consists of equal portions 
of fibrous peat and chopped sphagnum moss, 
with sufficient sand or broken crocks to ren¬ 
der the compost open and porous. Some 
Beech or Oak leaves may be broken up and 
intermixed with the compost if desired, but 
unless some experience has been had dn the 
treatment of .plants in a compost inclusive 
of leaves I would advise .that they should 
not be used. The pots used should 
be clean and filled to about one-half their 
depth with chopped .bracken roots, the com¬ 
post being pressed moderately firm but not 
hard about the roots of the plants. 
Top-dressing. 
It will do no harm to top-dress plants 
carrying flower scapes, .providing they are 
not disturbed at the roots. In top-dressing 
it is advisable to use more in proportion of 
sphagnum than peat. All repotted plants 
should be watered .as soon as repotting is 
completed. Use rain water poured through 
a moderately coarse rose on the water can. 
Take care to wet the compost through. 
Damp freely between the pots and on the 
floors .about the .plants, and keep the portion 
of the house dn which they are arranged 
reasonably close for a time. This will en¬ 
courage root action, and they will quickly 
become re-established. H. J. Chapman. 
-- 
TRADE NOTICES. 
Fanciers’ Appliances and Horticultural 
Requisites. 
Those who keep pigeons or other fancy 
birds would find almost any useful re¬ 
quisite described and illustrated in the 
price-list issued by Mr. W. T. Pratt, 
Stoneware Works, Wellington Road, 
Dudley, Worcestershire. Here, also, are 
flower pots, hanging baskets, especially 
terra cotta baskets, Seakale pots, Rhu¬ 
barb pots, and tools of various kinds for 
the garden. 
Hothouse Construction. 
We have received from Messrs. W. Par¬ 
ham, Ltd., Northgate Works, Bath, a 
splendidly illustrated catalogue of repro¬ 
ductions from photographs of various 
types of hothouses built by the firm in 
various parts of the country. Some of 
them were ranges of complicated design 
photographed before being glazed and 
others when completed. Some of the 
illustrations show parts of the interior of 
the houses after they have been filled with 
plants. The designs are strikingly varied 
and show excellent workmanship, both in 
the construction of the houses and in their 
ornamentation or finish. Besides Palm 
houses and conservatories, there are also 
ranges of lean-to houses for cultivation of 
Vines, Peaches, etc. Accompanying the 
above is a price list of various houses 
shown in section or otherwise, garden 
frames, garden accessories, ornamental 
gates, railings, etc. 
