394 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 13, 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. 6d. each will be ’ 
awarded each week for the two Letters 1 
which the Editor considers to be the 
best. 
Beds and borders can be made to look 
beautiful if planted with plants of well 
established Hydrangeas. The ground 
must be -well prepared with manure and 
made up of good loam and be well 
drained. Planting should be done in 
November. They will require pruning 
annually, February being the best month 
for this. A good top-dressing can be given 
every year, and in the summer a good 
supply of water will be needed. Hydran¬ 
gea hortensis is the best for border work, 
and I have seen it at its best in the South 
of England near the sea. In one place 
where it was planted in a border it al¬ 
ways used to change its colour to blue 
in the course of two years, and made a 
beautiful sight. Given a little attention, 
Hydrangeas should be the means of beau¬ 
tifying every garden. 
Welbeck Gardens. A. R. GOULD. 
Manettia bicolor. 
- ~ ^ ~\ 
A Useful Greenhouse Shrub. 
The above beautiful subject, although 
neither new nor rare, is not so extensively 
cultivated as it deserves to be, nor is it, 
I think, so much grown as it was, say, 
twelve or fifteen years ago. It is difficult 
to account for this, seeing that it is one 
of the most valuable winter-flowering 
shrubs we have for conservatory or house 
decoration. It is easily propagated from 
cuttings at any time of the year (except 
when in flower). These should be inserted 
around the sides of pots in a sandy com¬ 
post. If young sappy cuttings are taken 
they may be rooted quickly in a propa¬ 
gating case, but if the wood is at all firm 
they may be rooted almost anywhere, pro¬ 
vided they are shaded and kept as close 
as possible for a time. 
If carefully potted on when rooted they 
soon develop’ into nice, sturdy plants, and 
commence flowering almost the first year, 
but large specimens three feet high and 
two feet through in nine or ten inch pots 
are of no mean value where large stages 
have to be kept filled, or as single speci¬ 
mens for the house. In the ordinary way 
they commence flowering about Christmas 
and continue in flower for at least eight 
or ten weeks. As soon as their beauty is 
past they should be returned to a warm 
growing temperature to encourage new 
plants, and also to be re-potted if neces¬ 
sary. hardening them off and plunging 
them outside in a sheltered but not 
densely shaded position in summer, or 
thev may be turned out of their pots and 
plunged in the ground and re-potted in 
autumn and returned to a cool bouse be¬ 
fore frosts occur, bringing them forward 
into gentle heat as they are required. 
When the pots are well filled with roots 
and in an active state frequent applica¬ 
tions of weak liquid manure and soot- 
water are beneficial, but this should not 
be overdone when in bloom, or the flower¬ 
ing season will be considerably curtailed. 
The flowers are a beautiful orange-yellow, 
somewhat resembling the flowers of that 
beautiful greenhouse trailer the Bignonia, 
they are both terminal and axilliary, and 
produced in great profusion. They thrive 
well in a good loamy compost. 
Elrxjge. 
Cauliflower v. Broccoli. 
All amateurs may not be aware of the 
exact difference between these two plants, 
as it is but slight. The Cauliflower is of 
a more slender growth and of a tenderer 
nature, and its heads of flowers of a more 
delicate flavour than those of the Broccoli. 
The heads are also whiter, but the plants 
are not so hardy, as they can only be 
grown outdoors in spring and summer. 
The other variety is of a stronger nature, 
and will withstand a hard -winter in the 
open. Its flavour is coarser and the colour 
of its heads varies from cream to a brown¬ 
ish purple. It is, of course, a member 
of the Cauliflower family, and when well 
grown only an expert can sometimes be 
able to detect the difference between it 
and its more aristocratic brother. 
Edinburgh. E. V. 
French Beans. 
The French Bean is a great acquisition 
where it is inconvenient to grow Runners, 
as they occupy very little ground and bear 
deliciously tender pods. For the early 
supply sow in boxes or pots at the end of 
April in a mixture of old potting soil. 
Place the boxes or pots in a frame, which 
must be duly hardened off prior to plant¬ 
ing them out in May in rows 30 inches 
apart and- 6 inches in the rows. The 
ground for French Beans should be 
deeply dug and well manured some time 
previous to planting out. Other sowings 
should be made outside during May and 
June for succession. If thickly mulched 
and well watered during dry weather, it is 
not an exaggeration to say that by this 
means double the produce is obtained. 
The Canadian Wonder has no equal. 
Beckenham. W. EDGEWORTH. 
Deutzia discolor grandif lora. 
Lovers of flowers are indebted to M. 
Lemoine, of Nancy, for raising and dis¬ 
tributing quite a number of hybrid 
Deutzias of considerable merit during re¬ 
cent years, but the variety giving the title 
to this letter is undoubtedly one of the 
best, if not the best of the batch. It is a 
hybrid between D. gracilis and D. dis¬ 
color purpurescens. 
In habit it exhibits more of the latter 
parent’s characteristics, the stems being 
stout, but not stiff. They are well spread 
out, and thus show off their wealth of 
bloom to advantage. 
The outside of the petals is white, 
suffused with rosy pink, giving the unde¬ 
veloped flower buds a very pleasing ap¬ 
pearance. The inside of the petals is 
pure white. This beautiful Deutzia is 
very floriferous. I have just been feast¬ 
ing my eyes on a plant in a 9 in. pot 
measuring 3 ft. across and smothered with 
bloom, the wretched season of 1907 not¬ 
withstanding. 
A Good Plant to Cover an Exposed Bank 
In many gardens are banks which hav 
been left when the garden has been level 
led, and either through want of soil c 
protection from winds are seen barrer 
Such a bank should never be seen now 
since there are so many things to cove 
them. Amongst these the one which rani 
high is the Perennial Sunflower. Th 
seeds of this plant should be sown in th 
open and well thinned, as it is a rapidl 
spreading plant, or they may be treate 
as Delphiniums. The plants grow abo; 
five feet high, and make a grand j<tw t 
yellow flowers which vary fratfi u,o ' 
four or live inches across. 
Cleekheaton. A. E. HlRsT. 
Turnips for Exhibition 
Well grown Turnips are a most impo 
tant addition to a collection of vegetabl 
during summer. To be crisp they me 
be grown quickly, therefore it is essenti 
to deeplv dig and heavily manure tl 
ground some time previous to sowin 
working in plenty of soot as the diggii 
proceeds, as a preventive against wii 
worms, which damage the tap roots, ma 
ing them useless for exhibition. The fii 
sowing should have been made at the I 
ginning of April in drills 18 in. apa 
thinning out the resultant plants 8 i 
apart. May is a good month to sow h 
August shows and July for autumn shov 
Should the weather be dry when th - 
make their appearance keep them W'. 
supplied with water and mulch with la - i 
grass or long, manure, which will bei 
great saving in labour. For exhibitk. 
retain tap root at full length. 
Beckenham. L. S. Small. 
Tha Vegetable Marrow. 
In this short article it is my intentu 
to explain how Vegetable Marrows nv 
be sown and grown out of doors with s 
least amount of trouble and expense, :i 
I trust it .will prove useful as well as ’ - 
couraging to those less fortunate persis 
who have no garden frame or glasshov. 
In the portion of ground the Mnriv 
plants are to occupy dig out hc;S 
eighteen inches deep and three feet aero, 
fill in with warm horse manure with whh 
has been mixed a fair quantity of lean, 
and cover with about half the amounm 
-oil taken out; this will form a geie 
hotbed that will last until the n 
supplies sufficient heat. The middle)^ 
May is a very good time to comme e 
operations. As soon as the sou r 
settled down sow three seeds on each * 1 
and cover with a fairly large flowet 1 • 
with a small piece of.slate over the he 2 - 
The pot m» : * be removed during the •■) 
as soon as 0 ;■ seed has germinated, 
several beds- are to be made near •) 
another they should be at least three .- 
