312 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 9, 1908. 
PRIZE LETTER COMPETITION. 
Readers are invited to contribute to this 
column short letters, discussing any 
gardening subject. 
Letters should not exceed 1 50 words 
each in length, and must be written 
on t one side of the -pafer only. 
Two Ptizes of ps. bd. each will be 
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which the Editor considers to be the 
best. 
if any superfluous water has collected in 
the bottom. This is important, because 
no more water should be given than just 
sufficient to keep the fibre continuously 
moist. This method of growing bulbs, 
besides keeping the furniture perfectly 
dry, saves a deal of labour in frequent 
watering or wiping up the moisture in the 
case of ordinary earthenware pots. The 
latter are so porous that they get 
more or less green and unsightly in a 
short time. The ornamental vases con¬ 
sisting of impervious stoneware never get 
green nor dirty beyond a little dust that 
may collect on them. 
This Daffodil was grown by a reader of 
The Gardening World at Ilford, Essex, 
but he has many other varieties. 
-- 
Artificial Manures. 
♦ 
In populous localities, or where the 
garden is only a few square yards in ex¬ 
tent and within a stone’s throw of busy 
thoroughfares, it is not always possible 
or convenient, I should say, to procure 
stable manure or such material of bulk. 
The price is a little prohibitive, it is in¬ 
convenient to store it, and the offensive, 
smell and mess of it make stable and 
byre manure unhandy for the suburban 
and town cultivator. 
By continual cropping the ground be¬ 
comes impoverished, so plant food of 
some kind is essential. As a substitute, 
therefore, we must fall back upon arti¬ 
ficial manures, which are advertised in 
Thij Gardening World. Such popular 
manures as Cross’s, Thomson’s, Clay’s 
and Canary guano have a good reputa¬ 
tion. These manures should be stored in 
a dry place, and they will be found handy 
and cleanly to use. Where limitation 
of ground prevents winter digging, a 
dressing of this manure can be applied 
when cropping commences. Occasional 
dustings of these fertilisers will prove 
beneficial between the rows of crops on 
a showery day, and also in a liquid state. 
For forking into flower beds or stirring a 
tablespoonful into the surface of house 
plants, window boxes, and greenhouse 
plants, artificial stimulants of this char¬ 
acter are most satisfactory. When the 
first truss of Tomatos is set, the Grapes 
thinned, and all fruits in general formed, 
it is then time to apply a dressing of 
artificial manure. In their application, 
the w'ise maxim is weak doses, little but 
often, not a burst and a starve. 
A. V. M. 
- +++ - 
Hinging Fruits Before Eating. 
A well-known scientist states that im¬ 
mersion of fruits in water removes from 
them millions of micro-organisms ; and 
the cleansing is better if they are sub¬ 
jected to a stream of running water. 
They are exposed to all kinds of dirt, 
both before and after they are gathered, 
and often even to infections of disease. 
We ourselves have long been accustomed 
to wash Apples, Grapes, etc., under a 
spout or faucet of water — the Grapes in 
a wire container through which water runs 
freely.— “Science Siftings.” 
Cultivation of Peas. 
In the cultivation of Peas the best way 
is to dig the ground a good depth in No¬ 
vember. Let it lie till February, and 
then take out trenches about 10 in. deep 
and fill it with manure. Then dig it in. 
Leave a shallow trench about 5 in. deep, 
and make trenches according to the 
height of Peas. Early crops should be 
sown in March in the trenches. The 
best kinds to grow are Sutton's Green 
Gem and Early Marrowfat, New Second 
Early Marrowfat, and Superlative. 
J. Brenchley. 
Appledore. 
Bare Walls in the Greenhouse. 
In the greenhouse of the amateur or 
professional, and of whatever dimensions 
it may be, you come across bare, unsightly 
walls or partitions that could well be 
clothed with flowers and foliage, without 
much expense or cultural skill. Where 
there is a fair amount of space and light 
at your disposal you could not do better 
than plant the fine double scarlet Gera¬ 
nium “ Raspail Improved” that will 
bloom continuously from spring to No¬ 
vember. A large pot, box, or even 
planted in the border with some turfy 
soil, decayed manure, rough sand, and a 
sprinkling of bone meal are all its wants. 
Take some old plants for this purpose 
and give them a trial by adding the new 
compost. With plenty of water at the 
roots and trained into its abode, it will 
convert an ugly place into a thing of 
beauty and profit. 
A. V. M. 
The Gardens, Pinehurst, Almonte, On¬ 
tario, Canada. 
Window Boxes. 
All window-sills should contain a box 
of flowers outside, whether overlooking 
a garden or not. Properly managed, 
they are a thing of beauty and a joy all 
the summer. Make a box to fit each 
sill, and paint it dark green or face it 
with bark. Put a layer of broken crocks 
in the bottom, then a thin layer of moss, 
and fill up with good soil. Plant the 
edge with Daises or white Lobelia, or sow 
Virginian Stock. Behind put two or three 
Geraniums or Begonias, and between 
these some Marguerites or Calceolarias, or 
sow pinches of gaily-coloured annuals of 
the dwarf kind. At the edge one or two 
roots of Creeping Jenny, and in warm 
windows single Petunias may be put in 
among the Daisies ; their graceful trails 
hanging over the box giving a very pretty 
effect. Watering morning and evening is 
necessary in hot weather, as the boxes 
quickly dry; and soot water may be ap¬ 
plied twice a week with excellent results. 
E. Vyner. 
Leith, N.B. 
The Lawn. 
A very good and simple method of mak 
ing slugs quit a lawn is to procure som 
good soot and give the greensward 
severe dusting with it; just before 
shower of ram is the best time for th 
operation, as soot being a valuable fert 
liser, is then washed down to the root: 
Not only does soot eradicate slugs, bt 
it improves the texture and brightness ( 
the pretty green shining blades. A fe 
days after an application shows its bener 
wonderfully. Once a month is otte, 
enough for this process, and a law 
treated thus will show a beautiful coi 
trust to one not so treated. 
Joseph Floyd. 
Westhoughton. 
Echoveria. 
The amateur gardener and those wt 
have not much glass cannot do betti 
than use the beautiful Echeveria for edj 
ing the beds in summer. When plantir 
them out about the middle of May it 
best, if the bed is high, to plant them 
little on their side, so as to make the: 
look more prominent from a distanc 
and help to keep the soil from washir 
down. When taking them up in autum: 
the side growths should be taken off. ; 
it will enable one to pack them clos< 
together and increase the stock. A got 
way to store them is against a wall, 
warm one preferable, putting them so 
to form a half circle at the bottom, the 
bringing them up to a point, working ti 
large ones at the bottom, the chief thin; 
in storing them being to keep the wat 
from rotting the crowns and to throw 
mat over them in frosty Weather. 
J. M. Stevens. 
Wichuraiana Roses. 
The varieties now in commerce belon 
ing to this section are not by any men- 
so well known as they deserve. Th 
are of a class which is rarely seen 
advantage at an exhibition. The re 
beauty leaves the Wichuraiana Rose 1 
soon as it is made to grow unnatural! 
Most of us with a garden know of a pin: 
in it which might be made a little me 
cheerful, where a few logs or stones has 
managed to get, or a wall partly in rail, 
possibly a heap of stones, a scrubby, un¬ 
sightly bank, or any rough ground whij 
needs making both picturesque al 
beautiful. _ 
There, I say, plant Wichuraianas, a 
thev will ramble away over mound al 
stone, and when not in flower, provide - 
ways a mass of green. Beside the ty- 
and its variety rubra, a plant of Re- 
Andre will find many admirers ; also Pi 
Transon and Gardenia. 
DEBUTANT,- 
Worksop. 
