164 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 7, 1908. 
The Flower Garden. 
The season has once more come when work 
in the garden becomes more urgent every 
day. In the autumn, and during the winter 
months, it is possible to put off certain work 
if it happens to be inconvenient to attend 
to the matter at once. But it is very unwise 
to put off the doing of work at the present 
season, as, although there may not be any 
ill-effects through delay in autumn and win¬ 
ter, there would be now. 
The best way to cope with the work is to 
attend to the most important first, and do 
it thoroughly, instead of leaving such work 
until the last. A good system of dealing 
with the work is as necessary as it is to 
know how to do it. 
Tuberous Begonias. 
The best results do not follow the very 
early starting of the tubers. I have seen 
grand plants spoiled through being kept in 
pots and overcrowded in houses for a longer 
time than was necessary. Hardily-grown 
Tuberous Begonias make the best display in 
the flower garden. One can easily pick out 
plants which have not been overforced dur¬ 
ing their sojourn under glass; they are 
sturdy specimens with massive leaves, which 
hug the soil in the bed, and bear magnifi¬ 
cent blooms on stout stems. 
The tubers should be carefully cleaned, 
that is, freed from the greater portion of 
soil and old roots, and then placed almost 
close together in boxes. 
It is better to start them in boxes than 
pots. Use a light compost and three-parts 
fill the box, as shown in Fig. 1. The crowns 
of the bulbs should be exposed. In Fig. 2 
A shows the crown, and B the bottom part 
of the tuber. The crown is hollow, and the 
base rounded. A novice may easily make a 
mistake and put in the tubers the wrong 
side upwards. Place the boxes in a warm 
greenhouse, then the new growths will soon 
appear. 
Border Chrysanthemums. 
It is now time to put in the main batch 
of cuttings of early Chrysanthemums. They 
soon emit roots at this season, and the 
plants, if grown in boxes, will be nice and 
strong when required for planting. 
In the meantime, the borders should be 
prepared by deeply digging the soil and 
putting in some rotted manure. This is 
better than waiting and then adding the 
manure in a green state. The roots of the 
plants take more readily to the soil when 
the manure is well decayed. 
Figs. 1 and 2.—Starting Tuberous Begonias 
in boxes. — A, Crown of Tuber; B, Bottom of 
T uber. 
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Fig j .—Flow to -plant cordon Gooseberry 
Trees. 
Sweet Peas. 
Young plants growing in pots must not 
be kept too warm at this season. The pro¬ 
tection of a frame is not needed. Place the 
pots on ashes‘in an open position, sheltered 
on the north and east sides, then you will 
have some very strong plants to put out 
early in April. 
In a light, open soil a sowing of Sweet 
Peas may be made at once. The seeds will 
soon germinate, and the resultant plants 
prove very useful about midsummer. 
Michaelmas Daisies. 
Old clumps should be divided now the 
young shoots are commencing to grow 
slowly, and replanted in good soil. They 
luxuriate in such material as road grit. Not 
only are these delightful flowers useful at 
Fig. 4.—Two ways of transplanting Celery- 
the right and the urong. 
the back of herbaceous borders, but a row 
of plants by themselves, it may be in the 
kitchen garden, if space permits, will fur¬ 
nish great quantities of flowers for cutting 
purposes next autumn. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Cordon Gooseberries. 
Not only on low walls, but on anywhere 
there are vacant spaces, cordon Gooseber¬ 
ries may be planted. These trees, as shown 
in Fig. 3, should be planted about r8 inches 
apart in good, but firm, soil, and trained in 
the same way as a cordon Pear is; the fruits 
from them are usually very large and are 
splendid for exhibition. Spurs will form 
at intervals on the stem of each tree; if 
they are closer together than six inches all 
intermediate spurs must be cut out. By 
planting these cordon Gooseberries on walls 
with different aspects the crop will be a pro¬ 
longed one, and it is a very easy matter to 
protect the fruit from birds. 
Black Curi'ants. 
The buds of these are now swelling 
rapidly, and if, on close examination, you 
find any that are abnormally large and 
rounded instead of being pointed, send a few 
to the Editor of this Journal for his inspec¬ 
tion. The bud mite is very destructive, and 
measures should be taken to stamp out the 
pest where found. 
Raspberries. 
The last batch of plants should be put in 
forthwith. It is really very late to plant the 
canes now, but with care they may be suc¬ 
cessfully grown. Do not forget to put on a 
good mulch of manure. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Celery. 
The earliest batch of seedlings will now 
need attention. Fig. 4 shows how the young 
plants should be transplanted in boxes. The 
latter must be at least 7 inches deep, so as 
to allow space for drainage material at A 
and a good depth of compost at B. Be¬ 
tween the drainage material and the com¬ 
post place a thin layer of well-rotted manure. 
The roots of the plants will quickly find the 
manure and receive much benefit. The re¬ 
sult of close planting, is shown at C, and the 
advantage of allowing ample space between 
the seedlings at D. They should be qr:'* 
4 inches apart, then a sturdy growth will 
be assured, especially if the plants be grown 
in a medium temperature close to the glass. 
Staking- Peas. 
In suburban gardens Pea sticks become ex¬ 
pensive items if they are injudiciously used, 
and where very sparsely put in the Peas 
suffer and you incur a loss in that way. 
Secure nice branching sticks of good average 
height ; cut off some of the longest ends and 
use them for sticking in close to the young 
Peas. Then put in the large sticks so that 
they just touch each other. This plan will 
prove efficient but economical, as the smaller 
sticks will support the growing Peas until 
the latter reach the branching parts of the 
others. 
Carrots in Frames. 
On all fine days take off the glass lights 
and fully expose the Carrots, as these vege¬ 
tables do better so treated at this season than 
if kept too close. 
Salads. 
In the open border make sowings of 
Racjishes and Lettuces; and of Mustard and 
Cress in frames. Prepare ground for seeds 
of Winter .Greens. 
Foxgi.ove. 
