February 29, 1908. THE GARDENING WORLD. 
and how the process is carried out. 
(J. F. M., Midlothian.) 
The verb, “ to fix,” is often used- in gar¬ 
dening phraseology and applies to various 
annuals besides Sweet Peas, which are an¬ 
nually raised from seeds. When a cross 
is made between two varieties of any annual 
the resulting seedlings generally give seve- 
lal different colours. Some „oi these are 
sure to be of a poor character, but the best 
one only is selected, and the rest thrown 
away. Seeds from the best one are sown, 
and the seedlings may again show some 
variation from the desired colour, but all 
these are weeded out—or i: rogued,” as the 
term is—and seed saved again from the de¬ 
sired colour. The same process - may 
be gone through again and the seedlings 
again rogued, but if there is only one colour, 
and that true to the type from which the 
seed was saved, then the grower considers 
that the variety has been fixed. In the case 
of Sweet Peas, seeds saved from new varie¬ 
ties are very liable to sport—that is, to give 
rise to other colours inferior to that which is 
desired. The inferior ones are pulled out 
as soon as they come into bloom and seeds 
only saved of those which have come true to 
the type. The process is, of course, .re¬ 
peated for a number of years until the de¬ 
sired variety ceases to sport. It is then 
said to be fixed. 
2640. Sweet Peas in Pebbly Soil. 
The soil in my garden is very gravelly, 
much of the material consisting of smooth 
pebbles. In the summer time it gets very 
dry and Sweet Peas soon go out of flower. 
How should I treat it to get the best re¬ 
sults? If water is given, it runs through 
very quickly. (T. S. Philpot, Surrey.) 
Your best and only plan is to set about 
improving the texture or mechanical con¬ 
dition of your 9 oil. To treat the whole 
garden would, of course, be expensive, but 
for the purpose of growing,a few rows of 
Sweet Peas you should take out trenches 
about 2 ft. deep, and then, in filling them 
in, mix a good quantity of well-decayed 
cow manure with it. This should have been 
done some time previous to sowing the Peas, 
but there is no time to lose now. The seeds 
should not oome into immediate contact 
with the manure, as the latter should al¬ 
ways be mixed with the soil, not laid on m 
solid layers. If you wish merely to grow 
the Sweet Peas in clumps, then you can pro¬ 
ceed in the 5/me way, but taking out only 
round holes 2 ft. deep and mixing in plenty 
of manure with the soil before returning it. 
During dry weather you can still further 
improve it by first loosening up the surface 
of the ground either with the hoe or a fork, 
then mulch it with about 2 in. in thickness 
1 of well-decayed cow manure. Water can 
then be given, -and the mulch will prevent 
it from running of£ by the surface, and also 
keep the moisture that is already in the 
soil. 
LAWNS . 
2641. Moss on a Tennis Court. 
Would you kindly give me a few hints as 
to the best treatment for a tennis court ? It is 
some years old, and specially made up as a 
court. The soil is apparently light, but 
unfortunately moss is very prevalent. 
Would you recommend Carter’s Lawn Sand ? 
Is soot any good? (J. Hilton, Glos.) 
In the first place, you- should set about 
ascertaining the cause of the moss being 
present. It might be due to the soil being 
badlv drained. On the other hand, it might 
be due to shade from trees, or it might 
chieflv be due to the heavy rainfall in your 
neighbourhood. If it is due to lack of 
drainage, you should see that the surface 
water is quickly conveyed away after rain. 
If too much shaded, some of the lower 
branches of the trees might be removed. 
The next thing to do is to improve the vigour 
of the grass by some means. The moss 
might be partly raked off with an iron rake, 
then you should give the lawn a good dress¬ 
ing of equal parts of well-decayed cow 
manure and rich soil that has been used for 
potting purposes. If that is not available, 
you can possibly manage to get it from some 
other source. Some lime might also be 
mixed with this compost. A good dressing 
of it should then bedspread over the grass, 
but not so thickly as to cover up the grass, 
otherwise it will lose colour. After some 
rain has fallen upon it, and it becomes fairly 
dry, you could then scuffle it with a broom 
or spread it about by means of a wooden 
rake. As the grass commences to grow this 
top-dressing will quicklv disappear amongst 
the roots- of the 'grass. Carter’s Lawn Sand 
will supply nitrogen, and, of course, is 
valuable from that point of view. Soot con¬ 
tains a small quantity of the same valuable 
element, and also acts as a stimulant. At 
the same time it would be more valuable 
for the grass if you added some bone meal 
at the rate of 2 lbs. to 3 lbs. to the rod, or 
7 lbs, of basic slag to the rod. The lawn 
sand nefed not be put on in a very heavy 
dressing at once, but a portion of it might 
be kept for another dressing after the grass 
has commenced to grow. Sow some grass 
seeds on the bare patches, if there are any. 
ROSES. 
2642. Liquid Manure for Roses. 
Could you kindly give me some advice re 
the following :—I am a novice at Rose grow¬ 
ing, and in doubt re manuring. So far as 
1 can gather, liquid manure is the most 
approved method of feeding, but I continu¬ 
ally read the advice, “Do not give liquid 
manure to newly-planted Roses.” What is 
the shortest period after planting one may 
safely give liquid manure? I may mention 
my soil is very clayey, and in planting I did 
not put manure in the holes, but dug holes 
2 ft. deep, crocked the bottom, refilled with 
ordinary soil to within 4 in. of the top. I 
then finished with good top soil. My liquid 
manure will have to bb horse-droppings 
soaked in water. As to strength, how much 
liquid manure of the required nature to 
apply is represented by one pailful of horse 
manure? (Briar, Middlesex.) 
It is quite useless, to apply liquid manure 
to newly-planted Roses, because their 
damaged .roots are net in a condition to take 
it up, and even if they did take it up they 
could hardly be in a position to properly 
utilise it. If liquid manure is given to re¬ 
cently planted Roses, the recently-disturbed 
soil would be liable to become sodden, and 
therefore prove not only useless, but in¬ 
jurious to the Roses. You could feed the 
soil at this stage by having it mulched with 
manure of some sort, but it is unadvisable 
to apply liquid manure until the plants- are 
in full growth at least. By that time tfiev 
will have made some roots. As your soil 
is very heavy, that is an additional reason 
why you should not apply more liquid to 
it artificially than it gets by rain. It would 
have done the Roses no harm if you had 
mixed some manure with the soil while 
trenching it. Horse-droppings do not as a 
rule make a very strong liquid manure. 
Cow manure is more valuable in this re¬ 
spect. You cannot actually tell how mucb 
you can get from a vessel in which you have 
placed one pailful of the droppings, be¬ 
cause it varies so in character or quality 
Liquid manure is of no definite composi¬ 
tion, however, and gardeners regulate it 
by examining to see what colour it is when 
a small quantity is raised in the hand. If 
you desire to use it weak, it should be much 
lighter in colour than brown ale. This is 
regulated by diluting it with water until 
the colour is a very light brown. It is not 
necessary to take all this trouble to dilute 
it, however, if you apply the liquid manure 
soon after rain, or when the ground is wet. 
For a rough calculation, you might get 30 
gallons of fairly good liquid manure from 
that pailful during the course of a week. 
The plan, however, is to put in only half 
the quantity of water and then dip it out 
for use, refilling the tank afterwards. It 
is most convenient to put it in a rough bag 
or else have a bag sunk in the tank, so 
that the liquid may be dipped from the bag 
instead of from the tank. This is to keep 
out the solid material which would serve to 
choke up the surface of the soil. 
2643. Best Stock for Roses. 
I have read several rather harsh criticisms 
re the Manetti by recognised authorities 
(Rev. Forster-Melliar to wit). On the other 
hand, I have a catalogue from a well-known 
nursery of one hundred years’ standing, who 
proclaim the Manetti to be far and away 
the best for general purposes. Could you 
give me an opinion on this point? (Briar, 
Middlesex.) 
We presume that those who offered the 
criticism -concerning the Manetti also gave 
their reasons. The Manetti is a garden 
variety of Rose which has been selected as 
proving a suitable stock on which to graft 
or bud Roses. It is very liable, however, 
to throw up suckers from the root, and if 
the Rose is overlooked the slock very soon 
gets the master}'-. For this reason most 
people prefer the Brier stock, and also be¬ 
cause the Brier stock is more hardy and 
proves suitable for a variety of Roses when 
grown in the heavy soil which gives the best 
Results. The Manetti may, however, be used 
with advantage in the pot culture of Roses, 
as it is more directly under the eye and 
not so likely to be overlooked when it throws 
up suckers from the root. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
2644. Pruning Rose of Sharon. 
Kindly inform me whether a Rose of 
Sharon bush should be cut down each year. 
The branches appear to me to have died oft. 
Or should it be pruned? (Delta, Beds.) 
Rose of Sharon is not always applied to 
the same plant, but we presume you refer 
to that usually named St. John’s Wort or 
Hypericum calycinum. If that is so, then 
it is the rule for the stems and leaves to 
die down in winter. You can, therefore, 
remove all those portions of the stem above 
ground, and the plant will shoot up again 
in spring' from the stock beneath the soil. 
This could be done in autumn, or it could 
be left in the natural condition until towards 
spring. It can be done now. 
2645. Grafting Clematis. 
In your answer to a subscriber (2586), 
February 8th, you mention cuttings of Cle¬ 
matis. Should the scion have the bark rub¬ 
bed off before pushing it-into the root of C. 
Vitalba? Also, is it the straight wood of 
the scion that is inserted into the root, or 
the joint just where they breakaway? When 
potting them up to go into the propagator, 
should the graft be above or below the soil? 
(M. Fage, Middlesex.) 
We should not rub off any bark whatever. 
It may not do any harm if the rough outer 
bark comes away, but the inner bark con¬ 
tains the cambium layer just beneath it, and 
should not be injured. The best plan is to 
cut the scion in a wedge-shaped fashion with 
a sharp knife, being careful to retain the 
hark around the sides. Then the root of C. 
Vitalba should be split with a knife and the 
scion carefully pushed home. Usually the 
scion consists of only one pair of buds and 
a short piece of stem. It would, therefore, 
be the straight wood, as vou call it, that 
is inserted info the root. When you put the 
newly-grafted specimens into the propagator 
