THE GARDENING WORLD 
23 7 
April 4, 1908. 
the Hawthorns or keep them very much in 
check is that the Poplars grow very quickly, 
and thus shade the Hawthorns unduly. If 
in deep shade, they could not possibly make 
such good growth as if fully exposed to 
sunshine. A better plan would have been 
to have planted Lombardy Poplars alone, or 
else to have made a double hedge, putting 
the Lombardy Poplars next the wirad and the 
Hawthorns in a single line inside. You 
could then regulate the Poplars every year 
if they showed any inclination to overgrow 
the Thorns. It will take a number of years 
for the Hawthorns to reach the same height 
as you may allow the Poplars to be, and 
even then we do not see what you would 
gain by having the two trees mixed in one 
fine. We think it a better plan to move 
the Poplars back to form an outer hedge 
and fill up the gaps in the Thorn hedge with 
young plants of the same kind. After the 
Thorns have reached the desired height the 
Lombardies could be removed if you liked. 
At the same time you could leave them for 
shelter and top them at a suitable height. ~ 
ROSES. 
2744. Pruning a Climbing Devonien- 
sis. 
I have a climbing Devoniensis Rose tree 
which was planted last year out in the opan 
ground, as I had no available space for 't, 
and it was pruned severely to o in. last 
April. During the season-i it sent up three 
shoots about 3 ft. high, but no flowers, i 
have again replanted it by some trellis work 
this autumn, and since then two of the 
shoots have made r in. of growth, while 
the other is just starting. Is it advisable 
to prune these shoots or not? I thought if 
I left them, two, if not three, of the shoots 
might reach the top of the 6 ft. trellis work 
during this season and form a basis for next 
year. (Perplexed, Somerset.) 
It was a mistake not to get that combing 
Rose into its permanent position at first, 
because, having lifted it again last autumn, 
you are very much in the same position as 
when you started, car not very much advan¬ 
ced. Pruning to 6 in. was rather severe 
in the first instance. The reason why climb¬ 
ing Roses are cut down when planted is to 
give them a season to get established, to 
make plerty of roots and develop strong 
young shoots from the base. They cannot 
support long stems the first year after plant¬ 
ing, and usually linger on for some time. 
We. doubt very much whether it will reach 
the top of the 6 ft. trellis during the forth¬ 
coming season. We should cut those shoots 
back to 18 in., to encourage growth from 
the base. You cat* scarcely expect to get 
Roses upon it this year under the condi¬ 
tions. All Roses, even those in the wild 
state, require to get thoroughly established 
before they send up those long suckers from 
the base. We have seen Gloire de Dijon 
making stems 16 ft. in length during a 
season, but, of course, it had been well 
Established before that was possible. 
2745. Pruning- J. B. Clark. 
I bought two Rose tree's named J. B. 
Clark last autumn. Each has five or six 
stout stems from 4 ft. to 1; fit. high. Each 
stem, I presume, has onlv borne one P.ose 
it the top, and is now beginning to send 
>ut stout shoots-. Surelv these stems have 
rot finished their work ? I shall be glad 
■o know how to prune these Roses. Also a 
few pruning notes will be very acceotable. 
Perplexed. Somerset.) 
Those being bush Roses, vou can now 
irurv> them with the exoectation of getting 
mod Roses from them during the forthcomi¬ 
ng summer, especially seeing that vou plan¬ 
ed them last autumn. Each of those stems 
C^. 4 ft-’ to ' ft. in height, we presume, 
irise from the ground. Then vou should 
-ut them back to 12 in. These shoots will 
then produce stout shoots near the top and 
will bloom an July. After blooming, you 
can cut off the flowers with a small portion 
of stem, cutting to a good side bud. You 
may get Roses again in autumn df you water 
them well to encourage a good second 
growth. You speak about the stems not 
having finished their work. You would get 
Roses from them, no doubt, if you left them 
full length, but those Roses would be poor 
and the bushes would be getting out of hand 
by another season. Next year you will have 
side shoots from them to prune back to 
3 fin. or 4 in., according to their strength. 
Possibly, also, during next year—that is, 
1909—you will have some strong shoots from 
the base. They should, of course, be cut 
back to 12 in., and you will get Roses from 
them in due time. When the bushes get 
crowded, stems that have already bloomed 
onfce or twice could be cut away to the base, 
leaving the strong young ones from the 
bass to take their place. Thus, you see, 
pruning is a very - simple matter fif you 
follow it out systematically from year to 
year. 
2746. Treatment of Marechal Niel. 
Could you kindly give me some of your 
valuable and much appreciated hints as 10 
how to manage a Marechal Niel Rose in the 
greenhouse planted last season for trailing 
along a roof. It seems fairly healthy at 
present, but some of the leaves are dropping 
off. Whether this is right at this time.of 
the year I am not sure, but I -Wish it to do 
well. (H. E. Dimsdale, Leicestershire.) 
You need not be alarmed at leaves drop¬ 
ping off Marechal Niel at an}' period of the 
year. Rose leaves are relatively short-lived, 
especially those produced during winter and 
those oa the lower part of the stems. They 
may keep dropping at any time of the year, 
but so long as they are clean and healthy 
you need not be alarmed about that. The 
leading stems should be tied in almost their 
full length along the roof where you wish 
it to go. If there are side branches that 
can evidently be laid in, do so. Badly 
placed shoots, and those where too crowded, 
may be cut away. During the season, how¬ 
ever, you -may expect the shoots to grow out 
loosely into the house, but as you may ex¬ 
pect flowers from them, they may be tied in 
loosely with matting. After they have 
flowered you can out them hack to the main 
stems, and fresh shoots will be developed 
that will fin time bloom. In a cool house, 
however, the best way is to let them ail 
grow during the season) for which there is 
room, and then fin the autumn, when they 
have ceased blooming, you can cut them all 
back regularly. Other shoots will then push 
out and grow more or less rapidly, accord¬ 
ing to the weather, until thev reach the 
flowering stage i^ the following spring. 
Sometimes you w-ill get strong suckers or 
shoots from the base, and you should alwavs 
make a point of saving some of them as the 
main shoots for future years. Marechal 
Niel is very liable to canker on old stems, 
and if you have young ones to put in their 
place it does not signify much if you have 
to cut the old ones. Unless your greenhouse 
is meant for a warm one, the temperature 
during winter should not be much, if anv, 
higher than 40 degs. This makes sure of 
the frost being keot out till the fire can 
be stirred again in the morning. The rflants 
rest better when keDt under cool conditions, 
and start away regularly in spring with the 
rise of temperature. 
VEGETABLES. 
2747. Rhubarb that has been Forced. 
A number of us have been arguing this 
week on Rhubarb growing, and we should 
like you to answer the following in your 
paper. After forcing Rhubarb, is it better 
to plant out the old roots in a plot of land 
for three years, allowing the Rhubarb to die 
down each year, or to put the roots in a 
heap, just icovering them with soil and 
leaving them for the same length of time ? 
From which plan are you likely to get the 
best Rhubarb when you come to force them 
agairi at the end of three years? Some of 
us who have tried planting them out say 
that this is the best plan, while others who 
have tried placing them in a heap argue that 
theirs is the best. (Enquirer, Lancs.) 
Me have seen Rhu'barb roots thrown in a 
heap, we presume to rot. In any case, that 
was what happened. In the course of three 
years only the plants on the top would be 
alive, and possibly not. When Rhubarb 
roots have been forced by lifting them out 
of the ground and putting them in a warm 
house they are very much weakened. Three 
years is a long time to wait for crowns to 
be again in a condition fit for forcing. We 
should rather advocate the lifting of crowns 
that have not been forced and separating 
them finto small pieces for making new plan¬ 
tations. In well-prepared and manured land 
these crowns should be fit for forcing after 
one season’s growth, and certainly after two. 
The roots that have been forced we should 
throw away, as ’t could not pay to grow 
tnem for three seasons before they were 
again fit for use. We should say that in 
this argumer/t the planting out of the crowns 
would be the better way of dealing with 
them. Rhubarb can only improve when 
it has plenty of space to send down ; ts 
roots fin the soil and spread out its leaves on 
the top. Strong Rhuharb should have 4 ft. 
between the lines and 3 ft. between the 
plants. 
2748. Mushrooms in Cellars. 
Being a reader of your paper, I take the 
liberty of asking you for information. Be¬ 
neath our house we have three very fine 
•cellars, and I have been informed that I 
could grow some splendid Mushrooms there¬ 
in-. If this is so, would you be kind enough 
to give me full particulars, such as soil, 
best spawn, attention, water, etc. Also 
where, near Liverpool if -possible, I could 
get the spawn? (B. Langton, Lancs.) 
It rs qu't© possible to grow Mushrooms in 
the cellars beneath the house, but whether 
you would be allowed to by the sanitary 
authorities of your district it would be as 
well to ascertain. This plan is often adop¬ 
ted, but usually sanitary authorities inter¬ 
fere when the cellars are beneath dwelling 
houses. You should collect horse manure, 
shaking out the rougher material and throw¬ 
ing the rest in a heap to ferment. It should 
be shaken up into a heap and then turned ; n 
the course of two or three days, and then 
again after a similar -interval. The turning 
is necessarv to prevent the manure from 
burning. This is the more likely to happen 
if the manure gets -rather dry. In that case 
a little watering would be necessary, by 
means of a rosed watering-pojt. At the same 
time, too much water would spoil the fer¬ 
mentation. There is nothing particular 
about the soil, because after the manure has 
been prepared by fermentirg you should 
spread it on the floor, treading it down 
firmly until it makes a bed 1 ft. in depth. 
Small pieces of spawn should be put in at 
intervals of 4 in. or so apart all over the 
surface. Before doing so, vou should ascer¬ 
tain whether the heat is rising or falling. 
About 90 degs. is the highest temperature 
that may be allowed, but even this should 
be falling at the time vou spawn the bed. 
Indeed, 8; -degs. would be a safer figure, to 
avoid spoiling the spawn. You should be 
able to get spawn from Bees, Ltd., Wap-ping 
Buildings, Liverpool. See axsswer to next 
question for other detail's. 
2749. Growing- Mushrooms. 
I shall feel greatly obliged if you will 
