28 o 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 25, 1908. 
PRIZE LETTER COMPETITION. 
Readers are invited to contribute to this 
column short letters, discussing any 
gardening subject. 
Letters should not exceed 150 words 
each in length, and must be written 
on one side of the paper only. 
Two Prizes of ?s. bd. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the 
best. 
and appear like one large patch after a 
few months of successful growth. In 
after years sufficient young plants may 
be obtained by lifting a piece in spring 
and carefully dividing it with roots to 
each piece. ' Our illustration was pre¬ 
pared from a photograph taken in the 
rockery at Kew at the beginning of July 
last after the plant had been some little 
time in bloom. 
-f+4- 
Fellows of the R.H.S. 
Eighty-two new Fellows were elected 
at the 'general meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society held on March 31st, 
making a total of 456 new Fellows elected 
since the beginning of the present year. 
Scottish H.A. 
Upwards of ^450 in prizes will be 
offered for competition at the Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Exhibition of the Scottish Horticul¬ 
tural Association to be held in the Waver- 
ley Market, Edinburgh, on November 
19th, 20th and 21 st next. The secretary 
is Mr. A. D. Richardson, 19, Waverley 
Market, Edinburgh. 
Winter-Flowering Carnations. 
There was a great crowd at the R.H.S. 
Hall, Westminster, on April 1st, to in¬ 
spect the excellent show held by the Win¬ 
ter-Flowering Carnation Society. This 
Society is only in its second year of ex¬ 
istence, but it has already done much to 
encourage the cultivation of winter-flower¬ 
ing or American Carnations among ama¬ 
teur gardeners. One of the most beauti¬ 
ful exhibits in the hall, which represented 
almost every variety of this popular flower, 
was that of Messrs. Hugh Low and Co., 
which was awarded one of the Society’s 
gold medals. Other professional growers 
represented were Messrs. Veitch and 
Sons, Messrs. Bell and Sheldon, Messrs. 
Cutbush and Sons, Mr. W. H. Page, Mr. 
C. F. Waters, Mr. H. Burnett, Mr. C. 
Engelmann, and Messrs. Morres, of 
Guernsey. One of the most attractive fea¬ 
tures of the show_ consisted of Carnations 
arranged in vases or baskets, for table 
decoration or for bouquets, and Mr. W. 
P. Haywood, of Kingston-on-Thames, was 
awarded first prize for a magnificent 
bouquet of pale pink Carnations, - the 
blooms being of high quality and the ex¬ 
hibit most artistically arranged. For Car¬ 
nations in vases Lord Howard de Walden 
was successful in winning six first prizes 
with specimens of Robert Craig, Crimson 
Glow, Winsor, Enchantress and Lady 
Bountiful. Mr. H. Burnett secured a 
gold medal for a splendid group of cut 
Carnations, and award of merit for a 
beautiful specimen of the Mikado, a hand¬ 
some Carnation of a curious faded purple 
shade. A first prize for the best basket 
of different coloured varieties was awarded 
to Mr. A. F. Paskett, of Groombridge, 
and silver-gilt medals to Mr. A. F. Dut¬ 
ton and Messrs. Bell and Sheldon, for the 
best group of Carnations. The exhibits 
numbered at least 100 more than in 
March of last year, and the show in every 
way indicated that the Carnation is 
rapidly growing in popularity. The Win¬ 
ter-Flowering Carnation Society, under 
the able hon. secretaryship of Mr. Hay¬ 
ward Mathias, is making great headway, 
and to it the numerous admirers of this 
charming flower are much indebted. 
Mowing Machines. 
These are probably as numerous and 
indispensable as sewing machines, and 
the time being close at hand for their use 
again, they should forthwith have a 
general “rub up,” so as to be ready for 
the first suitable mowing day. 
It is a good plan for the will-be user 
(or at least his superior) to make him¬ 
self thoroughly familiar with every detail 
of his machine. Such a knowledge will 
stand him in good stead as the season 
advances, for it rarely happens but that 
some little thing gets out of place, and 
so being able to adjust the various screws 
and chains, etc., is very helpful. Draw, 
clean, and replace all principal screws. 
Have the knives sharpened by a com¬ 
petent hand, or procure a “sharpener” 
and do the work yourself. Cleanliness 
and sharp knives are the two most im¬ 
portant points if you wish an easy work¬ 
ing machine. 
Highgate. C. J. 
A Sweet-Scented Hanging Plant. 
The choice of really good hanging 
plants is none too great, and of sweet- 
scented, there are very few. One, there¬ 
fore. the more readily recommends a 
really choice one to be found in Micro- 
meria Do.uglasii. Like most of the mem¬ 
bers of this genus, there is nothing strik¬ 
ing about the plant; it is evergreen, and 
reminds one somewhat of Lysimachia 
Nummularia. The flowers are insignifi¬ 
cant, and the charm of the plant lies in 
the sweetly scented foliage. The scent 
is unique, but when I say that for aroma, 
this graceful trailing plant can vie with 
••he sweet-scented Verbena (Aloysia citrio- 
dora), I have said enough. The plant is 
suitable for conservatory or window cul¬ 
ture. It is not particular as to soil. 
C. C. 
Carrots for Exhibition. 
In growing Carrots for exhibition, two 
of the important points are good shape 
and size. I find a very good plan is the 
following, viz., when the seedlings are 
ready to transplant from the seedling bed 
to the permanent quarters, prepare that 
bed as follows : When trenching the bed, 
put all the nutriment into the bottom spit 
and the top sandy and indifferent. Plant 
the seedlings 1 ft. apart all ways, and 
keep well watered and hoed. The rea¬ 
son for putting all the nutriment at the 
bottom of the bed is obvious, as the tap¬ 
root of the Carrot goes straight down and 
forms a good shaped and sited Carrot. 
On the other .hand, if the top spit and 
bottom spit are equally good, the Carrot 
is likely to fork, that is, have several.tap- 
roots, which, of course, spoils it for ex¬ 
hibition. 
Rvde. G. W. W, 
Good Fern for a Room. 
One of the most distinct Ferns for a 
room is the miniature tree fern Lomaria 
gibba, a handsome plant even when quite 
small, and this Fern will grow in a room 
from year to year if carefully watered and 
kept free from blights. Thrip is its 
greatest insect enemy, and this pest is 
likely to attack it if its roots are kept too 
dry, especially in a hot, dry atmosphere. 
The pot should be immersed for a few 
minutes in a pan of lukewarm water once 
a week to ensure a thorough soaking of 
the roots, and also supplied with tepid 
water whenever the surface soil is dry. 
The fronds may be sponged with warm 
water, to which a little soft soap or in¬ 
secticide can be added if there are any 
signs of blight, for the flat fronds are 
more easily trashed than the lace-like 
fronds of the Maidenhair Fern. 
Hamilton, N.B. J. M. T. 
A Useful Shelter. 
After having lost my outdoor Cucum¬ 
ber plants year after year through the 
cold weather soon after they were planted 
outdoors in the early summer and not 
having any handlights to protect them 
with, I have at last found a good way to 
protect them which I hope may be of use 
to other amateurs. This is the plan I 
adopt. Scoop out a hole in the earth 
about 4 in. deep and lay the soil, which 
is scooped out, around the edge of the 
hole also about the depth of 4 in., mak¬ 
ing 8 in. in all. Now get a piece of glass 
large enough to lay right across it. It 
should be so arranged that the glass 
slopes gently to the south in such a man¬ 
ner that the plants beneath get the full 
benefit of the sunshine. Air should be 
given on hot days and the glass entirely 
removed as the weather becomes warmer. 
Canterbury. E. Miles.* 
Artificial Manures. 
Many articles appear in the gardening 
journals recommending the use of some 
artificial manure to be applied either pre¬ 
vious to planting or during the growing 
season. Amateurs who wish to get tip¬ 
top returns readily go to their local seeds¬ 
man, who, unless he be a fully competent 
and careful person, may in a moment of 
distraction, or through the agency of an 
ignorant man, supply quite another thing 
to that asked for, which the purchaser, 
not knowing one from another, readily 
applies, only perhaps with injurious, in¬ 
stead of beneficial results. 
Having suffered from such an incident 
I thought it would be well to append a 
slight description of the chief artificials 
sufficient to enable them to distinguish 
one from another. 
Basic Slag. — Very fine, the colour of 
