March 28, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
217 
The Flower Garden. 
Sedding Calceolarias. 
It is not often that one sees good beds of 
die old dark-flowered Calceolaria now; but 
:he yellow-flowered variety is still a great 
favourite, notwithstanding the fact that, 
luring some seasons, the plants die suddenly 
soon after they are put out. The cause of 
the plants dying is a simple one. There are 
several causes, in fact, but the chief one is 
the burying of the stem of the plant too 
deep at the time of planting. Fig. 1 shows 
1 good sturdy plant. The portion of stem 
to which the arrow points should not be 
covered with soil at any time, and as- it is 
now advisable to transplant Calceolarias in 
:a temporary bed in a cold frame for several 
weeks, I think it right to draw special at¬ 
tention to the manner of planting. The 
soil in the bed should be of good quality, 
seven inches deep on a base of ashes, then 
the plants may be finally lifted with a large 
ball of soil adhering to them. Overdryness 
at the roots and surface watering only', and 
very late planting, are other causes of these 
plants dying in the flower beds. 
Sticks for Sweet Peas. 
In the course of a few weeks many thou¬ 
sands of plants will be turned out of flower 
pots and planted in the open borders. These 
young plants will vary in height .from about 
four inches to one foot. Have you secured a 
nice stock of suitable sticks for your plants, 
as it is advisable to put sticks to the rows, 
or clumps, directly the plants are put out? 
When the sticks are placed into position 
and some soil is drawn up to the row's, or 
clumps, of plants the latter always grow 
more rapidly and stronger than when they 
are neglected for several weeks an this re¬ 
spect. You will require sticks quite seven 
feet high, and also some dwarf, well- 
branched sticks for the young plants to 
cling to forthwith. 
Sowing Sweet Peas. 
No time should be lost in getting ground 
ready for Sweet Peas which are to be raised 
entirely in the open air. It is a capital plan 
to sow a row of seeds on the north side of 
a low fence, or wall, as the roots of the 
resultant plants are protected from the direct 
rays of the sun. I have grown Sweet’ Peas 
in the position here referred to for several 
3'ears -with great success, cutting blooms 
.from the plants regularly twice and thrice 
every week from Mav to October—nearly six 
months. 
Annuals. 
Young seedlings growdng in pots or boxes 
should be duly transplanted. Old sieves 
make splendid receptacles for the seedlings, 
or for sowing more seeds* in, as there is 
ample drainage. Where any kind has 
failed to germinate, sow more seeds at once. 
Dahlias. 
Propagate these freely, do not allow the 
stems to become too long before you sever 
them and insert them as cuttings. 
Hollyhocks. 
Old plants which have been wintered in 
frames, or temporary --shelters, should be 
planted in the borders at once. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Peach Tree Blossoms. 
How very beautiful these are in their dif¬ 
ferent stages of development. It seems a 
pity to ruthlessly remove them from the 
trees, but where there are branches over¬ 
crowded with flowers, as shown in Fig. 2, 
it is certainly a wise plan to pinch off a few, 
as those remaining will be stronger and set 
more freely. Three blooms on a space six 
inches long should be sufficient to leave. 
Those marked with crosses must be removed. 
Badly placed, and weakly flower buds, are 
the ones to pull off. 
Figs. 
It is a mistake to cut away many branches 
from Fig trees, as the act will induce still 
stronger shoots to grew, and all such are 
quite worthless for fruit bearing. Fruits 
are borne, and mature on short-jointed, hard 
wood ; not on thick, long- jointed, pithy 
branches. Where there is overcrowding of 
branches, cut out the very weakest now, and 
in summer stop the new shoots freely. In 
the southern counties very fine crops of Figs 
may be grown every year in the open air. 
Grafting. 
Cut down at once any trees which are to 
be used as stocks for grafts of good varieties, 
where this has not been done. In next 
week’s Work of the Week some sketches 
will appear showing how grafting is done. 
In the meantime, make due preparations for 
the work. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Vegetable Marrows. 
If you sow seeds at the end of this month 
the resultant plants will be strong for plant¬ 
ing out about the middle of May. This 
allows of the plants being grown slowly in 
a suitable temperature, which is far better 
than sowing seeds late in a great heat, push¬ 
ing on the plants unduly in the same way, 
and then suddenly exposing them to the out¬ 
side elements. Sow one or two seeds in 
each pot, and raise the plants in a frame 
quite safe from frost. 
Planting Jerusalem Artichokes. 
The tubers should now be planted without 
delay. They should be planted just like 
Potatos, in rows about two feet apart and 
one foot asunder in the rows. 
Fig. 3 shows the mode of planting. A 
represents soil turned over; B, soil to be 
turned over to cover the tuber ; C, manure 
well mixed with the soil. The line being 
placed into position, strike down the side D 
with the spade, plant the tubers, and then 
cover them with soil from Then measure 
a space of two feet from the last line and 
repeat the operation, and so on, -until all 
the Artichokes are planted. 
Peas. 
A larger sowing of main-crop varieties 
should now be made, taking care to allow 
sufficient space between the rows according 
to the respective height of each variety. 
Also put sticks to other rows. 
Broad Beans. 
Long-pod sorts may now be "sown for use 
when the early short-podded varieties are 
over. Where exhibition pods are required 
the ground must be very deeply dug and 
well prepared. 
Brussels Sprouts. 
Transplant strong seedlings raised in 
boxes in frames, and sow a few more seeds 
in an outside border. Deeply dig and 
manure a plot of ground for the earliest- 
raised plants, selecting for this purpose a 
situation well open to the south, or south¬ 
west. 
