362 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 30, 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 ■pafer only. 
Two Ptizes of ps. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the 
best. 
Sweet Violets from Seeds. 
As seeds of sweet Violets take about 12 
months to germinate, the present is the 
best time to sow them. Sow in boxes of 
sandy loam and cover with a thin coating 
of fine soil, and finish off with a sprink¬ 
ling of sand or powdered charcoal tupkeep 
down moss. Give a good watering and 
cover the box with a sheet of glass or 
slate. They may be put in any odd cor¬ 
ner and covered with a thin turf. Ex¬ 
amine them occasionally and see that the 
soil does not get too dry. At the begin¬ 
ning of winter put them in a cold frame, 
and when the seedlings appear in spring, 
keep a sharp lookout for slugs, etc. 
Prick them out into fresh soil as soon as 
large enough. 
W. C. 
Muchalls. 
How to Make a Basket Bed. 
Mafk out the space to be occupied, and 
cut out the turf. Then build the sides of 
the “basket” by standing walls made of 
turves (split in half is generally deep 
enough). Make this secure either with 
fine- wire netting or pegs and twisted 
twine. The grassy side may be turned in¬ 
wards, and then the earthy side can have 
Ivy or a Rose or Clematis pegged over 
it and turned round the handle, which 
looks well made of.rustic twigs, etc., or 
wire will do. Small plants of Echeveria 
planted all over the outside of a basket 
filled with succulent plants looks very 
quaint, but whatever is used with which to 
fill the basket should have suitable soil, 
and contrast sufficiently to emphasise the 
idea. 
D. V. E. 
An Artificial Method of Growing Bog 
Plants. 
Every garden does not possess the 
essential quality for growing bog plants, 
namely, moisture, hence artificial pre¬ 
paration is necessary, and I will endea¬ 
vour to give a few practical remarks re¬ 
garding the method. Place a large 
wooden tub, or pan, about six inches be¬ 
low the surface of the soil, and fill it with 
stones, bricks, and water, and finally fill 
in with a good peat compost, or that suit¬ 
able to your requirements. The margin 
may be surrounded with stones, or tiles, 
so as to resemble a small bog. Here in 
this bed, with occasional waterings, all 
strong-growing bog plants can be grown 
to perfection, while the cause of their 
vigour will not be apparent. I append 
what I consider the more suitable plants: 
Osmunda gracilis, O. regalis, Cyperus 
longus. The Umbrella Grass and even 
the magnificent Gunnera may be placed 
with advantage. 
H. Stevens. 
Slug Trape. 
It was quite by accident I found my 
slug trap, and it s just ripping. I was 
carrying some Cauliflower leaves to my 
hens, when something made me throw 
them down in a heap, and I forgot all 
about them till the next day, and when I 
took them up there was a perfect nest of 
slugs. I used to put Cabbage leaves 
singly about, and once in a way caught a 
grub, but now I find that they love Cauli¬ 
flower leaves best. To catch them at a 
late hour, about 10 in the morning, they 
must be put in heaps, so as to keep the 
cold and light from them. Every two or 
three days put a fresh leaf on top, as 
the under ones are being eaten. I often 
catch them in hundreds by this very 
simple means. 
Clontarf. Katherine Curtis. 
A Little Wrinkle. 
With Sweet Peas and other plants in 
cold frames where it is impracticable to 
“ knock” the pots without taking them out 
from amongst the others every time, it is 
convenient to know which have been re¬ 
cently watered. If the labelled sides of 
the pots watered are all put to face one 
way one day, say, east, and those on the 
next day another way, say, north, and so 
on, it does away with the necessity of 
handling evefy pot each day, and further 
shows which should have the surface soil 
“lightened” to prevent evaporation, and 
let air into the soil, so essential to the 
growth of most plants, particularly Sweet 
Peas. Again, this method has the advan¬ 
tage of securing a frequent turning of the 
plant (as the label should not be moved), 
thereby ensuring a symmetrical growth. 
Worcester. R. J. T. 
Marguerite Carnations. 
These useful Carnations should be 
grown from seed sown in heat early in 
January. When the plants are large 
enough, prick them out and keep them 
growing fast until May, when they should 
be 1 planted out in good soil in a sunny 
bed, and they will flower continuously all 
August and September. But this by no 
means exhausts their possibilities. When 
the frosts come, take up the best varie¬ 
ties, pot them, and place them in the 
greenhouse, and you will have a succession 
of blooms from soon after Christmas until 
the following summer. The advantage of 
these Carnations over show varieties con¬ 
sists in their extreme hardiness. The 
merest amateurs can grow them success¬ 
fully. Also they are most floriferous, do 
not burst the calyx, and are as sweet- 
scented as the old-fashioned Clove Car¬ 
nation. Allowance must, however, be 
made for a good percentage of singles. 
L. M. B. 
Westerhanr. 
Herbaceous Lobelias. 
For the decoration of the flower gar¬ 
den in autumn, few plants are of greater 
value than herbaceous Lobelias. 
Although practically hardy, they will 
not stand the winter in the open ground, 
and the wintering of them is not usually 
~so successful as it might be. Were the fol¬ 
lowing plan adopted, a plan I have found 
to be a perfect success, after many years’ 
trial, there would be fewer failures. 
When lifted from the open ground, cut 
back all flower stems to an inch or two, 
then pack them tightly in boxes, using a 
little soil between the plants. Stand 
them in a warm house till they make a 
bit of growth, then remove to a ‘cool house, 
breaking them up in March and lining 
them in a cold frame; the result is grand 
strong plants. 
D. Chapman. 
Nairn, N.B. 
Bare Walls. 
Thrre is no excuse for anyone having a 
foot of bare wall on their premises. It 
is always an eyesore in a well-kept gar¬ 
den. Flowering creepers are so easily 
cultivated and yield such glorious results 
that it is a pity we do not see more of 
them. Two of'the simplest to grow, and 
yet the most beautiful in bloom, are tall 
Nasturtium and Sweet Peas. The latter 
in white and the former in crimson makes 
a grand show, lasting until frost. Even 
though the ground at the foot of the wall 
be hard and uncultivated, break it up and 
enrich it with well-decayed manure, add¬ 
ing a little sand. Sow the seeds, and 
when three inches high, thin them out, 
reserving the strongest. Fix wire netting 
to the wall, which brings up the plants 
higher and quicker than string. Keep 
them well watered, applying liquid ma¬ 
nure, well diluted, once a week. A little 
soot at the roots occasionally is very bene¬ 
ficial. The climbing Hop is another suit¬ 
able creeper, and very prolific. The 
Canary Creeper is another, but needs a 
sunny aspect. 
Mrs. Vyner. 
Roslin, near Edinburgh. 
- +++ - 
Blossom-Time. 
Go down to Kew in Lilac-time, in Lilac¬ 
time, in Lilac-time; 
Go down to Kew in Lilac-time (it isnt 
far from London !), 
And you shall wander hand in hand with 
love in summer’s wonderland ; 
Go down to Kew in Lilac-time (it isnt 
far from London !)-, 
The lilt of Alfred Noye’s song, an in¬ 
cident of his ballad of “The Barrel 
Organ,” haunts one just now -with 'ts 
light-hearted and melodic reminiscences 
of the days when the world was young. I 
turn up the page in his remarkable early 
book of verse, all lyrical and splendidly 
spontaneous, and read the song with just 
that joy which spring itself tvas meant to 
give us. Lilac-time ! Not yet quite due ; 
but still, as old Herrick finely has it, one 
may — 
Write of youth and love, and have accesse 
By these to sing of cleanly wantonesse. 
Blossom-time is here once more. Do 
we ever make enough of it ? One of the 
dainty customs of our friends the Japan¬ 
ese is to devote a holiday to it; they have 
just had their festival of the Cherry-blos¬ 
som. You may be very sure that among 
Woodbridge. 
