354 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
May 23, 1908. 
cool. Dig plenty of leaf mould and sand 
into it. Then break up your plants into as 
many pieces as you can geit with roots to 
them, planting them in lines 12 in. asunder 
and 6 in. from plant to plant. Water them 
till they get established, and the plants 
will commence growing freely. You cou.ld 
then take off cuttings and insert them in 
boxes of light, sandy soil, and place them 
in a cold frame or under a hand-light. The 
plants in the open ground may furnish an¬ 
other lot of cuttings by the beginning of 
September, when, of course, you could take 
off another lot of cuttings. If the rooted 
cuttings in frames produce shoots of any 
length, you may get cuttings from them. 
2 86 7. Leaf that the Greeks Copied. 
Some time ago I got a plant of Acanthus 
mollis, which is said to be the leaf which 
the Greeks copied on columns of stonework 
so much. I have it in a pot in the green¬ 
house, but it does not seem to get on very 
fast. Does it require any special treatment ? 
(S. Longman, Lancs.) 
Acanthus mollis is perfectly hardy, and 
likes a fairly deep, rich and well drained 
soil. Under Itihose conditions it will, of 
course, make strong growth. It is by no 
means difficult to satisfy in the matter of 
soil, and any good garden soil will answer 
the purpose. It could, of course, be grown 
in a greenhouse, but the roots would be too 
much confined in a pot to make good growth. 
Your plant may he a weak one, but in any 
case it does not make much growth early in 
the season. It is a plant that starts rather 
late into growth, and although not getting 
on very fast at present, it may do so. The 
best plan, we think, however, would be to 
get it established in the garden before win¬ 
ter by planting it out while the weather is 
still warm enough to encourage the produc¬ 
tion of roots. 
LAWNS. 
2868. Birds and Seeds. 
1 sowed some grass seed a week ago on 
a newly made lawn, and birds are frequently 
upon it. Do you think they are likely to do 
it harm? If so, what would you advise me 
to do to keep them off? (D. Shepherd, Sus¬ 
sex.) 
Birds are very fond of grass seeds, and 
more particularly so if there are Clover 
seeds amongst ithem. They would eat suffi¬ 
cient of them to make the grass tlh.in if the 
seeds have not been carefully covered. There 
are several ways of scaring away birds, and 
you will find some methods for doing this 
on p. 332. A very ready means would be 
to fix a black cotton thread all over the 
ground at intervals until the seeds germi¬ 
nate. Scares of several kinds are employed, 
including (those on' the page mentioned. 
Sometimes pieces of glass have been found 
to be effective. Any broken pieces will be 
sufficient, and all that is necessary is to tie 
a piece of string round them and suspend 
them on stakes over the ground. Some of 
the pieces might be hung in pairs, which 
make a clattering noise when shaken 'by the 
wind. Where the seeds may not be properly 
covered, you could scatter some old potting 
soil over them, and that will hide them 
from the birds. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
2869. Creepers for Houses. 
I should be much obliged if you would 
give me advice as to creepers for a house. 
The house front faces south-west, and is 
exposed to very strong winds from south, 
south-west, west and north-west. I should 
like to know what you would recommend 
for all the walls. The house is only half a 
mile from the sea, and gets a lot of salt 
spray. I particularly want to grow Wis¬ 
taria. Do you think it is too cold here? 
At the same time the climate is so mild that 
many things will grow that would not live 
in colder places. Please give me the names 
of some of the best Ivies. (G. H. Coles, 
Cornwall.) 
Your climate would ibe perfectly suitable 
for Wistaria if .it were not for the gales of 
wind to which you are subjected. If closely 
fastened to the house, it would probably 
succeed, and it might bloom at a time when 
you had not much wind. 'Several beautiful 
climbers, which are valued chiefly for their 
foliage, would succeed on the more northern 
aspect of your house, and include such 
things as Cotoneaster microphylla, C. buxi- 
folia, Euon.ymus japondcus latifolius al.bo- 
varlegatus and Elaeagnus pungens aureo- 
maculata. The Euonymus -has very broad 
leaves, and is handsomely variegated with 
light yellow, changing to creamy white. 
Flowering plants for either aspects of your 
house, and which succeed close to the sea, 
are Escallonia macrantha, E. illinita, 
Fuchsia Riccartoni, Garrya, elliptica and 
Buddileia .glabosa. The Garrya flowers dur¬ 
ing the winter months. We think that Jas- 
minum nudifle.rum would succeed well with 
you, as it loses its leaves in winter, at which 
time it blooms. Some of the .prettiest of the 
greein-leaved Ivies are Hedera Helix algeri- 
ensis, H.H. palmaita, H.H. digitata, H.H. 
caenwoodiana, H.H. donerailensis, H.H. 
Emerald Green and H.H. .himalaica. Hand¬ 
some variegated Ivies are H.H. aurea, H.H. 
palmata aurea, H.H. ch ry sophy Lla, H.H. 
variegata alegantisskna and H.H. variegata 
argerutea. The first three have yellow varie¬ 
gation and the two last have a very hand¬ 
some silvery variegation. It it were not 
for the wind, you would be able to grow a 
great many climbing Roses on your house. 
2870. Pruning Evergreens. 
I am a very old subscriber to The Gar¬ 
dening World, and have benefited many 
times from your letters to others, and now 
I venture to ask if you will kindly fell me 
in your next issue when the following shrubs 
ought to be cut :—Laurels, Aucuhas, Hollies, 
Retinospora plumosa and Portugal Laurels. 
(Doncaster, Yorks.) 
It depends very much upon what you in¬ 
tend as to when these things should be 
pruned. For instance, if you wish to cut 
down Laurels .severely, so .as to make them 
form a close, bushy mass, then they should 
have been cut .some time in March. If you 
merely wish .to trim them into shape, that 
could still be done. We should not recom¬ 
mend you to cut them hard back .at this late 
period of the year, because the young wood 
would not .have sufficient time to ripen 
properly before winter, and they would be 
liable .to be cut by frost in winter. Aucubas 
are not, as a rule, very much pruned, the 
chief pruning given them being to cut back 
straggling shoots, so as to make the bushes 
more compact. That could be done now, al¬ 
though it does not give them a very good 
chance of maturing their growth before win¬ 
ter. It takes some time for the buds to de¬ 
velop and grow into shoots. That is the 
reason why we should hesitate from cutting 
the plants much about at this season of the 
year. If you had told us what was your 
object in pruning, we .should have .had a 
better opportunity of answering your ques¬ 
tions directly. Evergreens, as a rule, do 
not .require .pruning beyond the cutting back 
of straggling shoots to make the bushes more 
compact. In the case of Hollies, we presume 
you merely want to trim them into shape. 
That might be either pyramidal, conical or 
dome-shaped. It is late, however, for giv¬ 
ing severe pruning, because the amount of 
young growth produced would scarcely have 
sufficient time to complete its growth before 
winter. A slight trimming would not hurt, 
however. Retinospora looks best in the form 
of a conical bush, and you should mere! 
shorten back any shoots which may be ma' 
ing the tree irregular in form. Here, agaii 
we should not advocate anything like hai 
cutting back at this late period of the yea 
Portugal Laurels only require pruning whe 
it is desired to -make them more dense] 
bushy. If you intended that, the best tin 
to cut them would be in. March, as the 
would then 'have time to make good grow 
before the approach of winter, while trir 
ming in each case is merely to regulate tl 
form of the tree. 
2871. Increasing- Butcher’s Broom. 
I .have one good plant of Butcher’s Broo 
and would like to increase it. Could yc 
say how this is done ? Does it have a flowe 
and if so, can you tell me why mine do 
not bloom? It was in this garden before 
had it. (J. S. Drew, Yorks.) 
Butcher’s Broom being an evergreen, t] 
present .is a very good time to take c 
suckers or pieces well supplied with roo 
and have them planted immediately. Tret 
the ground firmly, and give a .good wate 
ing, so that the roots will be moist uni 
the plant commences growing. By using 
fork, .so as to .take away the soil, you \vi 
be able to get at .these rooted pieces witho 
cutting'the roots more than is actually nece 
sary. When you find the .roots on the shoo 
you wish to .transplant, cut the main, ste 
below them. It is just possible your pla 
may -have flowered every year, although y. 
overlooked the fact that it does flower. Tl 
flowers are very small, green and attach, 
to ithe middle of the flattened and spii 
pointed .branches, which you probably tai 
to be leaves. Examine them carefully abo 
now or a little earlier, and you will proba.b 
discover these small flowers. They have : 
decorative value. 
VEGETABLES. 
287 2. Chicory for Forcing. 
A sowing of Chicory I have made has ecu 
up well, but I think it is too thick to inal 
good plants for forcing. Do you think 
will .be good enough for forcing next wi 
ter? Any information will oblige. (J. 
Drew, Yorks.) 
You have not mentioned the width betwee 
the lines. In the other case you can easi 
rectify it by thinning. Chicory, to ma’ 
good growth, should have 12 in. betwei 
the lines and 8 in. to 9 in. from plant 
plant at least. This .would allow for 
strong growth of leaves, and that being s 
cured the plants would -be suitable for fc 
cing. They have still sufficient time to ma] 
good .roots if you thin, them out to the d: 
tance we name and keep the ground cle; 
and .loose all .through the summer by fr 
quent hoeing. If the summer should pro: 
a dry one you could assist the, plants ! 
giving them a good watering occasional! 
As a rule, however, if .the garden ground 
good, .all that would be necessary is to ke 
it loose by frequent hoeing. Even if t 
plants only make one strong .crown, tl 
would prove suitable for forcing. T 
roots could be dug up after the leaves c. 
down and planted in light soil in boxes ai 
kept in a cold frame or some other cc| 
place until you -wish to force them. T 
boxes could then be taken into a warm hou 
at intervals, and if you have a mushroc 
house or other dark place, you should co 
trive some means of keeping them in t 
dark. A ready means would be to invt 
boxes over them, so as to keep the crow 
in the dark. 
2873. Growing; Chives. 
What is the best way to get Chives to gre 
strong"? Do they require any manure? . An 
information on the subject would be co 
sidered a favour. (C. Dunlop, Monmouth. 
