400 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
June 13, 1908. 
quire mulching. The roots of these bulbs 
penetrate the soil to a great depth, but they 
also permeate the soil near the surface when 
assisted with a top dressing, and later feed¬ 
ing will be more beneficial. 
Salads. 
Plant out young Lettuces, sow seeds of 
Radishes, and Mustard and Cress-on a cool 
border... 
Ridge Cucumbers. 
Train the shoots of the plants evenly and 
peg them down to prevent injury from 
winds. Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Staking and Shading. 
The enthusiast will now find his spare 
moments congenially and profitably em¬ 
ployed in staking and tying up all such pot 
plants as Bouvardias, Plumbagos, Helio¬ 
tropes, Fuchsias, and Mignonette, and this 
should be done carefully, making the sup¬ 
porting canes or sticks as inconspicuous as 
possible by a judicious arrangement of the 
foliage, and should extreme neatness be de¬ 
sired, the stakes may be painted green, and 
the tinted raffia-tape used in lieu of the old- 
fashioned bass. 
Where blinds are not used for protecting 
the contents of the greenhouse from the sun’s 
fiercest rays, the heavy showers we some¬ 
times experience at this time of the year 
often partially wash away the shading on 
the glass, and it will be advisable to give it 
another coating of “ summer cloud ” or what¬ 
ever substitute may be used, or at the least 
to touch up any weak spots, aS the summer 
sun is very penetrating and damaging. 
A Beautiful Clematis. 
Whether grown in pots or planted out into 
the greenhouse border (which is perhaps the 
better plan), some of the more tender varie¬ 
ties of Clematis are almost indispensable for 
its decoration, and loosely trained up the 
walls or under the roof, their graceful habit 
and delicate blossoms are much admired by 
all. Of the early-flowering greenhouse 
varieties none can excel the April-blooming 
Clematis dnd.ivisa lobata, and any undue 
growths should be carefully removed to pre¬ 
vent overcrowding. Those to whom time is 
no object can increase most of this family 
by layering. This is done by bending down 
the selected trail, and, having scraped the 
bark slightly to disturb the flow of sap, peg 
it down firmly into a pot of sandy soil. 
Then comes a long wait, for nearly twelve 
months must elapse ere it is safe to sever 
it from the parent plant, after which the 
usual treatment will soon cause it to make 
rapid growth. 
The Partridge-breasted Aloe. 
Of the many species of Aloe which may 
readily be grown in the amateur’s green¬ 
house, providing the atmosphere be not too 
moist, none is more interesting than the 
curious little variety known as A. variegata. 
Its quaintly-arranged triangular leaves are 
queerly veined and spotted like the markings 
on a partridge’s breast, and from this fact 
doubtless it derives its name. It is well 
worth growing on this account only, apart 
from its somewhat striking flower, which is 
deep salmon-pink in colour, and is borne 
hyacinth-like upon a sturdy erect stem. The 
present is a good time to increase it by 
means of the offsets it produces freely, which 
have only to be detached and potted singly 
in a compost of sandy loam and brick rub¬ 
ble. Established plants will increase in 
strength and vigour if placed out of doors 
during the summer months in a sunny situa¬ 
tion. 
Treatment of Cucumbers. 
The ever-useful syringe should be brought 
into use night and morning, care being 
taken to apply only water that has stood in 
the house, and thereby acquired a suitable 
temperature. It is essential also that the 
plamtsjae shaded,'or the foliage is likely to 
become scalded. Train and tie out all lateral 
shoots, thinning at the same time where ne¬ 
cessary to admit light and proper ventila¬ 
tion, though draughts must be carefully 
avoided. Examine the mounds carefully, 
and when the roots protrude through the 
soil cover at once with more of the same com¬ 
post. To those who have not the proper 
facilities for growing the large-fruited va¬ 
rieties to perfection, I would recommend the 
Stocbwood Ridge Cucumber, which is both 
prolific and hardy, though somewhat small, 
and succeeds well in a cool greenhouse. It 
is not too late even yet to purchase plants, 
which may be grown in very large pots, but 
this method requires more care and attention 
than the mound system. 
Repotting Salvias. 
The most popular varieties of this large 
family are undoubtedly S. splendens and S. 
patens, the former a fine scarlet winter- 
flowering plant, and the latter one of the 
most distinctive blue subjects in cultivation, 
which may be planted out now to bloom dur¬ 
ing late summer, or potted on for greenhouse 
use. Both sorts delight in a rich soil, es¬ 
pecially when grown in pots, and two parts 
fibrous loam to one of well-decayed manure 
is a most suitable compost. In potting it is 
well to note that firm potting means a more 
robust growth and stronger flowering shoots, 
and this more especially in the case of S. 
patens. 
Vallota purpurea. 
The well-known Scarborough Lily well 
justifies its great popularity, and the present 
is a good time for starting a fresh stock. 
Bulbs may be purchased from many reliable 
firms from one shilling upwards. When pot¬ 
ting use a compost of loam, leaf mould and 
silver sand in equal parts, and it is a good 
plan to surround each bulb with sand, as 
this allows the moisture to drain away, and 
so lessens the risk of rotting. Pot firmly 
and somewhat deeply, and they should then 
not require shifting for several years, as 
they flower more abundantly when well es¬ 
tablished. Plants out of flower will greatly 
benefit if placed on a shelf in the greenhouse 
to ripen and mature. 
G. A. F. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Seasonable Notes. 
The prevailing conditions outside during 
the past two or three weeks has been of con¬ 
siderable advantage to Orchid cultivators. 
In most of the various divisions of our Or¬ 
chid houses, and especially in the warm 
section, considerable advancement in the 
growth of the plants is apparent. With the 
warmer and drier conditions outside, every 
means must be used to provide the necessary 
moist conditions to assist the plants in de¬ 
veloping their growths satisfactorily. In 
the warmer divisions frequent dampings of 
the floors, on the staging, between the pots, 
etc., will be necessary to maintain humid 
conditions of the atmosphere necessary for 
the successful development of growth. In 
'bright, warm weather, gently syringing or 
spraying overhead will be found of con¬ 
siderable advantage to the plants. Such 
generic species as Dendrolbiums and the 
Mexican Laelias may be frequently syringed 
throughout the day in bright weather where 
the plants are exposed to strong light. Ven¬ 
tilation must also be afforded with diiscre- 
tion, and this must necessarily be governed 
by the prevailing outside conditions. Open¬ 
ing the ventilators early on hot days will 
very considerably lessen excess of tempera¬ 
ture during the hottest parts of the day. In 
tihe afternoons every advantage should be 
taken of the sun heat by closing the venti¬ 
lators sufficiently early, thus enabling us 
to dispense with a considerable amount of 
artificial heat, although it may be desirable 
to -have a gentle heat in the hot-water pipes 
during the cooler hours of the evening and 
throughout the night. In mild weather 1 
find considerable advantage in haying the 
ventilators opened the last thing at night, 
vihen there are likely to be stagnant condi¬ 
tions of the atmosphere; slightly opening 
the roof ventilators will help to counteract 
these conditions, ventilating from the lee¬ 
ward side. The roof and lower ventilators 
should never be in use at the same time, or 
direct draughts, playing on to the plants, 
will probably ; be the result. Direct draughts 
such as we get when side lights are opened 
must in all cases be avoided, and lower ven¬ 
tilators should always be placed in the brick¬ 
work opposite or slightly above the hot-water 
pipes, in such a position as to prevent these. 
In the cool Masdevallia and Odontoglos- 
sum houses the difficulty is to keep the tem¬ 
perature as near as possible to the normal 
conditions required. Ample shading, free 
ventilation and humid conditions of the at¬ 
mosphere will all assist to maintain the tem¬ 
perate conditions suitable for these plants. 
It is always a great strain on the Odonto- 
glossums, when carrying their flower spikes, 
if, in addition to this, they are immediately 
exposed to drying conditions either at the 
roots or in the atmosphere, and they are 
liable- to shrivel. The detrimental! effects 
of shrivelling will generally be apparent in 
the diminished strength of the following 
season’s growth and less vigorous pseudo- 
bulbs. Fire Heat may now practically be 
dispensed with, and when the outside tem¬ 
perature does not fall below 45 degrees' the 
tower ventilators should remain open during 
the might. Frequent dampings and gently 
syringing overhead once or twice a day in 
hot weather is beneficial to the cool house 
Orchids. H. J. Chapman. 
Gardening Disagreeables. 
Seedling time is the gardener’s novi¬ 
tiate. He is led on by promise of deeper 
mysteries, yet deterred by immediate dis¬ 
comforts-slaying all except genuine en¬ 
thusiasm. Now is the time to make war 
on slug and snail and wireworm and the 
rest of the horrid tribe, dismissed by the 
gardening-book in one vital and repulsive 
chapter. He must stoop to lay traps of 
greasy Cabbage leaves or succulent Potato 
slices. He must build in obscure places 
refuges of broken flower-pot and tiles, be¬ 
neath which his enemies may find-shelter. 
Night after night, with a flickering 
candle, an aching back, a pot of salt and 
water, and an absurd sense of guilt, he 
must make his rounds, to find the glut¬ 
tons at their work. He must become used 
to the silent activity of Brother Worm, 
out by the thousand under cover of the 
darkness on errands which reason says 
are harmless but prejudice still deems 
malevolent. He must overcome a univer¬ 
sal objection of human nature to creeping 
things with too many legs or not enough. 
He must learn to immolate his victims 
without a shiver. And when it has all 
been done, and springtime is passed into 
summer, and the spindlings are sturdy 
plants, he must begin a sterner testing¬ 
time, and wage war with new foes. Gar¬ 
dening disagreeables, like garden joys, 
are endless.—H. L. in the “Manchester 
Guardian.” 
