688 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 31, 1908. 
the ridge of soil in a neat manner so that 
the sides will not slip down. A great bulk 
of soil at the top of the ridge is not 
necessary; so long as there is sufficient to 
well cover the stalks, it will do nicely. 
Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
On Heat Preserving. 
The usual “tenant’s fixture” made in 
sections, as sold by the various horticultural 
builders, is a capital structure For the ama¬ 
teur enthusiast who indulges in gardening 
as a hobby and for his own amusement, but 
it is an undeniable fact that a more solidly- 
built affair, with a brickwork base reaching 
to the sidelights, preserves heat to a far 
greater degree, and is therefore preferable 
when every convenience for such exists. 
A rathefr ingenuous method of neutralising 
this defect came to my notice not long since. 
The match-lining of which the bottom was 
composed was supplemented by another row 
of the same material (good solid one-inch 
stuff) placed on the inside edge of the quar¬ 
tering which formed the framework, the 
intervening space of some three inches being 
tightly filled with sawdust, thus forming a 
practically solid five-inch wall in place of 
the one-inch woodwork previously existing. 
This will be found of great service in keep¬ 
ing out the frost, and the extra expense will 
soon be covered by the saving in fuel. 
Some Fine Acacias. 
These are not nearly so much grown as 
they deserve to be, considering what fine 
subjects they are for a cool house, that is, 
one from which the frost is just excluded. 
In such structures there is generally a 
scarcity of early spring bloom, and the 
bright yellow blossoms will prove most use¬ 
ful, both for cut flowers and decorative 
purposes. Though the wood ripens better 
and healthier growth is attained if the plants 
are kept out of doers during the summer, 
they should all have been re-housed ere this, 
and if affected by scale or other insect pests, 
care must be taken to eradicate them. 
Some good varieties are Acacia Drum- 
mondi, a fine dwarf shrub if well trained, 
blooming early in April in company with 
A. armata, which will attain a height of 
four or five feet if room can be spared for 
so large a plant. But, perhaps, the finest 
of the groups is A. riceana, which, loosely 
trained to a pillar or other support, produces 
early in May a profusion of golden yellow 
spikes which cannot fail to please. Do not 
coddle the plants, so long as a tempera¬ 
ture of 45 degs. to 50 degs. is maintained 
throughout the winter, they will do well if 
carefully watered when necessary. 
Rhubarb and Seakale, 
Some amateurs like to produce the useful 
as well as the ornamental in the greenhouse, 
and few vegetables can be more successfully 
forced with a minimum of trouble than 
Seakale and Rhubarb, either, or both of 
which, may be grown beneath the staging 
of the ordinary structures in deep boxes or 
large pots. The former are preferable, and 
the stools or crowns should be nearly covered 
with a mixture of soil, manure and dead 
leases, covering afterwards with a mat to 
exclude any great amount of light. 
Plenty of water must, of course, be given 
them whilst such rapid growth is being 
made, and for this reason it is not advisable 
to attempt more than one or two boxes in 
an ordinary small house, as they will cause 
excess of moisture, which at this time of the 
year, is harmful to many things. 
Time to Sow Cyclamen. 
These beautiful plants are now beginning 
to show colour, thus reminding us that it 
is time to start another lot of seed to provide 
a fresh stock for next year. 
Fill a shallow seed-pan with finely-sifted 
loam, leaf-mould, and sand in equal parts, 
and, having watered this thoroughly and 
allowed it to drain, scatter the seed very 
thinly, or should a small quantity only be 
desired, they may be pressed in singly, about 
one inch apart, covering sparsely with some 
of the same soil. If the pan is then placed 
in a temperature of 55 degs. to 60 degs. and 
covered with a sheet of glass, the seed will 
soon germinate, but the covering must be 
removed at least once a day, to allow of 
any superfluous moisture being wiped off. 
Water thie seedlings carefully when they 
appear, and prick off into boxes when large 
enough, growing on through the winter as 
near the glass as possible to ensure a sturdy 
habit of growth. The sooner Cyclamen seed 
is sown after ripening, the quicker it ger¬ 
minates, old seed proving rather troublesome 
in this respect. 
Cuttings in Cold Frames. 
Many of the summer bedding plants do 
not actually require greenhouse treatment 
during the winter, provided that a cold- 
frame is available, and every ’ gardener 
should surely possess one or two, in fact 
they are indispensable for hardening off 
tender subjects and other purposes. Cuttings 
of such things as Pentstemons and Calceo¬ 
larias should be taken without delay, and 
if cut off horizontally below a joint and 
trimmed of the bottom-most leaves, will soon 
emit roots if inserted in sandy soil, either 
in boxes or direct into the frames. Many 
novices make the mistake of putting them 
too far from the light, this tends to draw 
them up; leave a few inches only between 
the soil and the glass, paint white the inside 
of the frame, and a fine batch of useful stuff 
will be forthcoming in the spring. 
Oleanders after Flowering. 
The Oleander or Nerium as some prefer 
it, will now have finished flowering, and 
should be allowed a well-earned rest. This 
may be brought about by gradually with¬ 
holding water, of which, at other times, 
the plants require a plentiful supply. After 
their rest they may be cut back to preserve 
their shape, and an occasional syringing 
will soon cause them to restart into actual 
growth. 
G. A. F. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Selenipedium. 
This genus is best known in gardens under 
the name of Cypripediium, and consists of 
several species and hybrids of what is really 
the American section of the so-called Slipper 
plants. They are with \ery few exceptions 
robust and vigorous growers and can be suc¬ 
cessfully cultivated in an ordinary plant 
stove or in an intermediate house tempera¬ 
ture where the normal conditions during 
winter months are about 55 degrees. They 
require a liberal supply of water and a 
moist atmosphere at all seasons of the year. 
The potting compost may consist of equal 
portions of fibrous peat, turfy loam, and 
chopped sphagnum or fibrous peat and sphag¬ 
num moss alone, sufficient coarse sand or 
finely-broken crocks being added to render 
the whole open and porous. The drainage 
must be clean and the pots filled to about one- 
third their depth. The compost should be 
made moderately firm and where a thin 
layer of chopped sphagnum is laid on the 
surface of the potting compost it will add 
to the appearance of the plants. The 
greatest. trouble with this class of plants is 
that owing to the vigorous nature of their 
growth in most cases they quickly grow into 
large specimen plants and then require con¬ 
siderable space, so much so that in large 
specimens it is often found difficult to find 
house room for them. I have rarely found 
a specimen plant of any of the strong-grow¬ 
ing section of Selenipediums that wiil flower 
at all satisfactorily; it will generally be; 
found that where there are a quantity of 
growths developing on the same plant, they 
will very rarely indeed be found in the same 
stage of development. Some of the growths 
will be developing their flower scapes, while 
others will not be in a condition to flower, 
perhaps, for months, so that they rarely 
make a satisfactory display of bloom, and 
there is little advantage derived from large 
specimens, especially so when smaller plants 
flower more freely and in the smaller state 
are more easily accommodated. I would 
never hesitate to advise breaking up speci- 
■mens, that is, making divisions of the rhi¬ 
zomes between the growths and making them 
into smaller plants, for I am quite certain 
that is the only means of obtaining satis¬ 
factory flowering conditions. 
What to Grow, 
The most desirable among the species are 
S. ca.udatum, S. c. Walliisii, S. Roezldi, in; 
its varied forms, S. caricinum, S. Lindenii. 
and the dwarf-growing S. Schlimii. To 
these may be added such prominent hybrids 
as S. Dotruimiii, S. grande, S. niitidiissimum. 
S. Sedemii, S. candinalis, S. calurum, S. 
leucorrhodum and numerous other primary 
and secondary hybrids of merit. The whole' 
belong to a class of plants that are not 
fashionable in Orchid collections, so that 
they are by no means expensive and are pro 
curable at prices well within the means of 
the most humble amateur. In all cases the* 
flowers last a long time in perfection, and 
in the case of most of the hybrids above- 
mentioned they produce flowers in succession 
on the same flower scape and are thus 
flowering over a period of several months. 
Insect Pests. 
The worst insect pest to be contended with 
'is thrips. If there is a black thmips in the; 
house they appear to find an advancing 
flower scape among the Selenipediums. The 
best means of keeping these pests in check 
is to spray at regular intervals with some 
safe insecticide, and where they have become 
established on the plants nothing better can 
be done than to dip the plants head down¬ 
wards in a pail of insecticide, taking care 
that the insecticide may properly drain from 
the leaves without getting among the potting| 
compost. 
H. J. Chapman. 
- +++ - 
TJulbs uv ^oxes. 
The time is once more at hand for 
commencing to box bulbs. Bulbs when 
in bloom are among the choicest of 
spring flowers. The boxes do not require 
much drainage, a covering of old farm¬ 
yard manure in the bottom being suffi¬ 
cient. A compost as follows will suit 
bulbs very well, namely, two parts loam, 
one part leaf mould, and half a part of 
sand. Fill in the boxes with the pre¬ 
pared soil to within one inch of the top. 
The bulbs may then be placed firmly in 
the soil, leaving one inch between each 
and being careful that they are not alto¬ 
gether covered. After the bulbs are 
boxed give them a good watering and| 
then plunge them among ashes outside. 
Once the bulbs commence to grow they 
may be lifted and put into a cold frame. 
Keep the frame dark for about a week. 
Admit air gradually and pay strict, 
attention to watering as the boxes soon 
get root-bound. 
Wm. Smith. 
