THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 14, 1908. 
liquid manures of all kinds must be with¬ 
held, and all surplus water wiped up 
after the daily watering has been done. 
Care must also be taken that no plant is 
given water at the roots until it really 
requires it, and that none, are allowed 
to flag before receiving attention, it 
being most necessary at this time to 
guard against excesses of all kinds. 
Shading 1 . 
Shading will be needed in sunn)' 
weather, and this is best provided by 
means of roller blinds. Where these 
cannot be provided a good substitute may 
be arranged by tacking scrim-,shading 
on to battens at each end of the outside 
of the roof on the sunny side, and rolling 
them up from end to end by turning the 
battens over and over when shading is 
not required. A simple way of securing 
these temporary blinds is to drive a 
screw half-way into each batten in a con¬ 
venient place, and a corresponding screw 
half-way into the end woodwork of the 
greenhouse. When these two screws are 
tied together by the heads the blind is 
immovable. 
Ventilation. 
As to ventilation. It is advisable to 
keep the top lights open a little at all 
times, and when the house is gradually 
warmed by sun heat, increasing the ven¬ 
tilation just as gradually, thus prevent¬ 
ing, as much as possible, quick changes 
of temperature 
Manipulating Blooms. 
As show time approaches, some growers 
are exercised in their minds as to whether 
they should or should not reflex the 
petals of some of their Japanese blooms. 
The axiom “ when in doubt do nothing ” 
appears to apply in these cases, as a 
large Japanese bloom is seldom improved 
by manipulation other than the removal 
of hard centres, crooked, deformed, or 
“damping” florets. These latter should 
be cut out with a scissors before the 
damage has time to spread. 
Exhibitors should get everything in 
readiness some days before the show they 
intend to compete at, so as to have a free 
hand and plenty of time for arranging 
their exhibit, well-grown flowers often 
losing points through indifferent ar¬ 
rangement. It is sometimes difficult with 
a limited number of blooms to keep the 
yellow shades far enough apart, but it 
should be borne in mind that a flower 
of a pink or purplish shade placed near 
a yellow one is decidedly helpful to both 
colours. 
Blooms Shown in Vases. 
Where blooms are to be shown in 
vases, the foliage must be stripped off 
each flower-stem, which latter must be 
tied to an extra stem with good foliage. 
Every stem should be extra long when 
cut from the plant, as i< can easily be 
shortened after being tried in the vase. 
A supply of good moss will be found use¬ 
ful for wedging the stems in the neck of 
the vase, and so keepinsr each bloom in 
the most desirable position. 
Regular attention should be paid to 
stools that have been kept for stock, as 
cuttings taken from stools that have been 
re elected and allowed to become too dry 
are difficult to strike,'and produce in- 
Ventilation of Greenhouses 
The builder is not always the best man 
to trust with the planning and arrange¬ 
ment of plant houses. It requires the 
keen eye and skill of a gardener to de¬ 
termine what is the best form of house 
for the successful cultivation of plants. 
Even in the matter of ventilation it is 
possible to make a mistake, as many 
have found to their cost afterwards. 
Fig. 1 of the accompanying illustra¬ 
tions shows a three-quarter span house 
Fig. /. Flow to ventilate, showing correct 
method. 
with the top ventilator opening on the 
front side of the house. A three-quarter 
span house usually means that it has 
been built against a wall and that, as 
a rule, facing the north. The house is 
built on the south side of it, but in con¬ 
structing ventilators the mistake should 
be avoided of placing it on the north 
side of the ridge. Fig.*i shows the cor¬ 
rect method where the top ventilator is 
on the south side of the ridge of the 
house. 
The explanation of this is that during 
winter when storms prevail the wind may 
come from the east, north or north-west 
and in all these cases, if allowed to blow 
directly in by a ventilator on the north 
-side, the plants would feel the effect and 
suffer according to the kinds being grown 
for the time being. The ventilator 01 
the south side is in the most shelterec 
situation it could be placed, because 
the air gets heated with what sunshin< 
there may happen to be, while at thi 
same time the wind cannot blow directh 
into the opening and the least harm 
under the circumstances, would be done 
In turning to Fig. 2 the same sort ol 
house will be seen, in which the venti¬ 
lator has wrongly been placed on the 
north aspect of the ridge and therefore 
open to the quarters from whence we get 
the coldest of winds. This is a plan of 
ventilating to be avoided. The arrows 
show the direction in which the opposing 
currents of .wind get into the interior of 
the house, but the wind coming by the 
back ventilator would always be stronger 
and more hurtful than when it enters by 
a part of the house that is'already shel¬ 
tered by the building. 
-- 
Fruit Growers’ Conference. 
A Fruit Growers’ Conference will be 
held at the South-Eastern Agricultural 
College, Wye, Kent, on November 27th, 
when insecticides, spraying, the packing 
and grading of fruit, etc., will be dis¬ 
cussed. 
The Blue Rose. 
Experts in plant breeding hold that a 
true blue Rose is impossible. Had there 
been blue in a wild Rose there would have 
been no difficulty in breeding a good 
garden Rose of that colour, but as there 
is no known instance of blue being bred 
from any other colour, we are forced to 
look upon the desire for a blue Rose as 
unattainable. 
The Perpetual Flowering Carnation Society. 
The above Society's fifth show will be 
held in the Royal Horticultural Hall. 
Westminster, on December qth, and the 
schedule of prizes may now be obtained 
from the hon. secretary, Mr. Hayward 
MathiaSj Stubbington, Fareham, Hants, 
' or of the Exhilrition Superintendent, 
Mr. E. F. Hawes, Royal Botanic Gar¬ 
dens, N.W. We may add that the prize 
list has been increased, and, in Section 
D, amateurs and. gentlemen’s gardeners 
are particularly well catered for. In 
addition to a number of special prizes 
by the members, three are offered by 
American growers. A scheme for the 
registration of new varieties has been for¬ 
mulated, and a new scale of points for 
judging adopted. 
National Sweet Pea Society. 
This Society will hold its London Show 
in 1909 at the Royal Horticultural Hall, 
Westminster on July 23, and the Provin¬ 
cial Show will be held at Saltaire, in con¬ 
junction with the Saltaire Horticultural 
and Rose Society, on July 13. The an¬ 
nual meeting of the Society for 190S will 
be held at the Hotel Windsor on Decem¬ 
ber n, at three o’clock. Arrangements 
have ffhen made for holding trials of 
Sweet Peas in the gardens of the Univer¬ 
sity College, Reading, in 1909, and it is 
proposed to make a charge of 2s. 6d. per 
variety sent for trial, and to receive 
varieties only from the raisers, or original 
distributors. Any information respecting 
the forthcoming trials will be given 
gladlv by the hon. secretary, Mr. Chas. 
H. Curtis, Adelaide Road, Brentford. 
