November 14, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Address : The Editor, The Gardening 
World, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. -Questions 
should be as brief as -possible and written on 
one side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac¬ 
ter and height of the fence or wall; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
■flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully flled, with 
„the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an 
enquiry is sent. 
'rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
3367. Building a Greenhouse 
Have you in vour past numbers ever given 
any hints on building a greenhouse, some¬ 
thing that would help an amateur? (H. 
Dowsett, Sussex.) 
We have on several occasions given hints 
relative to the alteration or improvement of 
a badly built or badly ventilated greenhouse. 
We presume you have some knowledge of 
carpentry, otherwise it would be impossible 
to give information that could be followed 
in our pages. To give the whole of the de¬ 
tails relative to the building of a greenhouse 
would take up a considerable amount of 
space, but probably you refer only to certain 
particulars, and these particulars you might 
have asked. In this week’s issue we can only 
give a few general hints; for instance, glass 
for a greenhouse should weigh 13 ozs. to 
21 ozs. per square foot, the last-named being 
the best glass for houses of any importance. 
Then, again, there is the shape of the green¬ 
house, which should vary according to con¬ 
venience, needs, or to your likings. Very 
frequently these are built against a wall, 
and such a house would be termed a lean-to. 
If you intend to have a staging, the lower 
part of the greenhouse could be constructed 
of wood; that is, solid boards close up to 
the level of the staging. In this lower por¬ 
tion you should have two ventilators, so that 
the fresh air would come in under or imme¬ 
diately over the hot water pipes, if any, in 
the house. On the top of this wooden por¬ 
tion there should be a beam dipping 
slightly outwards so as to carry off the rain. 
From this beam to the eaves of the house you 
should have glass. Then, if the house is of 
any . width you would require rafters to 
carry the roof. If the house is a narrow one 
the sashes alone would be sufficient, the 
upper end resting upon a beam fixed to the 
wall or house. The roqf itself would, of 
course, require a frame-work, mortised or 
i strongly braced in some way or other at 
each corner. This frame-work would, of 
course, support the rails which carry the 
glass. The lower edge of the frame-work 
should overlap the eaves of the house so as 
to carry off water. If the house is more than 
6 ft. long it would be well to have two ven¬ 
tilators along the roof, or the ventilator 
might run from end to end of the top of the 
roof, which would make quick work when 
ventilating the house. The ventilators in 
either case should be hinged to the top beam. 
If you desire to have a span-roofed house an 
open situation should be selected for it, 
where it could be built so as to run north 
and south. You would then get the morning 
sun on one side and the afternoon sun upon 
the other. The ridge of the roof may be at 
any angle varying from 35 degs. to 45 degs., 
but there is no necessity for having so sharp 
an angle as the last named, except for the 
sake of appearance. In the case of a lean-to 
structure the path should go along the back 
of the house. In the case of a span roofed 
house the best plan is to have staging all 
round the sides of the structure if the house 
is a wide one, with a central staging of 
some form or other to be determined by the 
kinds of plants you intend to grow upon it. 
If the house is to be of moderate width the 
most convenient way is to have a path run¬ 
ning along the centre with a stage on either 
side of this going close up to the glass. 
There is a book entitled “ Greenhouse and 
Conservatory Construction and Heating," 
by Paul N. Hasluck, and sold by Messrs. 
Cassell and Co., La Belle Sauvage, Ludgate 
Hill, London, at 2s. You- would find de¬ 
tails of construction in this with illustra¬ 
tions accompanying the text. 
3368. Preserving Old Marguerites. 
Would you be kind enough to give me 
through the medium of The Gardening 
World some advice in regard to the follow¬ 
ing question? In the spring of this year I 
purchased some young Marguerite plants, 
which I placed in the open border. During 
the summer they have grown into large 
plants, and I am desirous of obtaining from 
them some young plants for the border next 
year. The "chief questions which cccur to 
me, and on which I seek' your advice, are 
(1) can I save the old plants until next 
_ spring; if so, how? and (2) by what means 
can they be propagated so as to have a good 
supply of young plants next year? I might 
add that I have only an unheated green¬ 
house. (H. Bockett, Middlesex.) 
With your convenience you could have had 
quite a stock of Marguerites if jt had oc¬ 
curred to you to take cuttings during Sep¬ 
tember. They are easily rooted, so that if 
you had inserted them any time during that 
month they would have rooted. We shall 
take your questions in their order. (1) The 
old plants may be lifted and have their roots 
slightly trimmed, so that you can put them 
into pots of moderate size. The longer and 
straggling branches may be cut off, so as to 
717 
make compact plants of less bulk for the 
convenience of storing. Use a rather light 
soil, consisting of loam, leaf-mould and 
sand. Pot them firmly and stand them in the 
greenhouse. Water down the soil imme¬ 
diately, using a rosed watering pot. After¬ 
wards" give water only when absolutely re¬ 
quired to keep them from flagging. As their 
roots musrt be very much cut up in lifting, 
it would be necessary to be careful in water¬ 
ing until young roots are formed. Mar¬ 
guerites are not delicate plants, however, 
if you give them fair treatment. (2) They 
are propagated by cuttings consisting of 
short side shoots that have not bloomed. \ou 
can pull them off with a small heel of the 
old wood, dress them with a sharp, knife if 
there are any pieces of bark at the end of 
the cuttings, remove one or two of the lower 
leaves, and the cutting is ready to insert 
in pots of very light sandy soil. Insert the 
cuttings firmly and water them down imme¬ 
diately. Then stand them in the greenhouse. 
Without a gentle heat we cannot assure you 
that they will root at this season of the 
year, although we think they can if you 
water just so as to keep them moist and no¬ 
thing more. If you had inserted the cut¬ 
tings in September you could. have rooted 
them nicely in a cold frame. That is really 
the time for taking cuttings of all soft 
wooded plants. Gardeners must look a long 
way ahead, and the cuttings are taken ofl, 
of course, a couple of months at least before 
the old plants are pulled up and thrown 
away. At present you can take the cuttings 
from the prunings of the old plants. Next 
spring if the old plants are alive they will 
give plenty of short side shoots which you 
can take off and have them rccted in the 
greenhouse, as the sun will furnish sufficient 
heat in March or April to enable you to pro¬ 
pagate them. A small frame in the green¬ 
house would be a great help in rcoting these 
cuttings, but a bell-glass placed over the pot 
would answer the same purpose. 
3369. Cinerarias and Primulas With¬ 
out Heat. 
Is it possible to grow Primulas and Cine¬ 
rarias with a greenhouse (unheated) during 
winter ? I do not want to go to any expense 
fitting up a boiler, as we intend moving in 
spring, and I hope to get a larger green¬ 
house which might require different fittings. 
(Old Reader, Hunts.) 
Except in very severe winters, Primulas 
might pull through if you are careful not 
to water them during the worst period of 
the winter. The plants would not be so 
large as if kept in a temperature of 45 degs. 
to 50 degs., but they may give you plentj- 
of flowers towards spring. Cinerarias are 
more tender, and a few degrees of frost 
would cripple them. The larger leaves if 
cut up would greatly disfigure the plants. 
At the same time, you could keep out a lot 
of frost by using a good clear-burning lamp 
in the house on frosty nights, and in very 
severe weather two lamps could be used if 
one was insufficient. Covering the plants 
with dry newspapers on severe nights would 
help them greatly. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3370. Transplanting 1 Seedlings. 
I have a lot of seedlings of Canterbury 
Bells, Sweet Williams, F or get - me - Not s. 
Polyanthus Primroses, Foxgloves, and 
Aquilegias. When is the best time to trans¬ 
plant these into beds and borders ? Do they 
require any manure, and if so, what kind 
should I use? By following your directions 
I have been very successful in rearing all 
of the above, as they are now fine plants. 
This is why I again encr-. ach upon vour 
space. (J. Walton, Cambs.) 
If the ground in which 3-ou intend to 
plant them was manured during the past 
