734 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 21, 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 2s. bd. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the 
best. 
Helonias bullata. 
This is essentially a moisture-loving 
plant, thriving well in a good peaty loam 
in a partially shaded position. Although 
perfectly hardy, I find sometimes after a 
very wet winter that the plants show a 
tendency to decay, evidently the cause of 
excessive moisture at the crown during 
the dormant season. The way I arrest 
this is as follows: In the autumn I 
thoroughly clean off all the decayed 
foliage and place a little peat around 
the crown, as this will not only protect 
them from damp but benefit the plant, 
and there is no need to remove it in the 
spring, as the crown will easily push 
through it, and it will form a nice bed 
for the new leaves to rest upon. Under 
the treatment I can truthfully say I have 
had flower-stems varying in height from 
16 to 18 inches. 
H. Stevens. 
Woodbridge, Suffolk. 
Potted Bulbs 
Often require a little artificial moss 
or some artificial “ trimming’’ to add to 
their attractiveness, and amateurs may 
easily score a point by dibbling in tiny 
rooted plants of Lycopodium or Helxine 
directly the pots of bulbs are taken from 
their plunging quarters. Three or four 
of these rooted plants may be put in, and 
by the time the bulbs are in bloom, they 
will have completely covered the top of 
the pot, and even be trailing over the 
sides. If a good stock of these little 
trailing plants has been worked up in 
the summer they come in wonderfully 
useful instead of delicate ferns in small 
pots for table decoration, etc., during 
the winter, and as they are quite hardy 
(they will grow in a cold frame or 
glass-covered box') the merest amateur 
or the tiniest of dark greenhouses, will 
be able to grow them successfully. 
Worthing. D.V.E. 
Watering Pot Plants. 
In the operation of watering pot 
plants persons not practically familiar 
with plant culture are apt to make serious 
mistakes. Cultivators find by experience 
that an excess of water at the roots is 
very injurious to almost all plants, and 
hence it is usual to direct that great 
caution be used in the application of 
water, especially in the winter. The 
result is that frequently the opposite 
extreme is fallen into, to the great in¬ 
jury of the plants. From the moment 
that the soil becomes so far dried that 
the fibres of the roots cannot absorb 
moisture from it, the plant begins to 
suffer. Some plants can bear this loss 
of water with more impunity than others. 
Some, again, and the Erica family among 
the rest, are in this way soon destroyed, 
The object of watering should be to pre¬ 
vent this stage of dryness being reached, 
at least during the time the plant is 
growing. 
King's Lynn. . S. E. GENT. 
Dahlia Propagation. 
To those who have hew and expensive 
Dahlias, and who would like to increase 
their stock, it is not too late to propagate 
by taking cuttings. The most seasoned 
wood is the most suitable, and should 
be cut off immediately below a joint, the 
lower leaves being removed. Afterwards 
the cuttings may be planted in four-inch 
pots, fine sandy soil being the best for 
this operation. They must be carefully 
watered to encourage root formation. 
When frost arrives and cuts the foliage 
down it will be found that small 
tubers have been formed in the pots. 
These must be shaken out and stored up 
for next planting-out time. For a further 
increase of stock, the old large tubers 
can be started in heat in February or 
March when new growth will actively 
begin. These new growths, with a 
moderate-sized piece of the tuber attached, 
should be cut away from the parent 
tuber and potted up separately. 
Westhoughton. JOSEPH FLOYD. 
Loasa aurantiaca. 
The choice of annual climbers is rather 
limited, so that anything really good in 
this way should prove welcome. Loasa 
aurantiaca is by no means new, but it is 
little known. Hailing from Chili it will 
be readily recognised as half hardy. The 
books speak of it as prostrate in habit, 
but so are all climbers where they have 
nothing to cling to. This, however, is 
rightly described as a climber of 
moderate height, suitable also for a 
hanging basket or vase. The flowers 
are of a pleasing orange-red, and such 
is their structure that viewed by the aid 
of a powerful magnifying glass, they are 
objects of entrancing beauty. To those 
who have not grown it I would say “Give 
it a trial next season.” 
C. C. 
Lobelia Cuttings versus Seedlings. 
Why gardeners adhere to the old 
method of raising their Lobelia stock 
from seed it is difficult to comprehend. 
Personally I have dispensed v.*th seed¬ 
lings years since, plants from cuttings 
being more floriferous. Flowerless cut¬ 
tings should be taken about one-and-a- 
half inches long during autumn, before 
they are ruined by frost, and inserted 
thickly in pots filled with sandy soil. 
Place them in a propagator, and keep 
close till rooted, then gradually inure 
them to the temperature of the house. 
During winter place the pots on a shelf 
in a temperature of from 45 to 50 degrees. 
During January or February take off 
their tops for cuttings, inserting them in 
pots as before advised. When well rooted 
and growing freely, transfer them into 
shallow boxes, two inches apart. Pinch 
them twice to make them break, and the 
results by bedding out time will be large 
plants full of bloom. 
Beckenham. L. S. Small. 
Saxifragas. 
Among this favourite genus of rock 
plants there are several distinct forms 
which stand out by themselves as being 
suitable for those whose accommodation 
is of a limited character. In my 
opinion, pride of place should be accorded 
S. Hostii, belonging to the encrusted sec¬ 
tion of rockfoils. It is a free grower, 
without being at all weedy, having beau¬ 
tiful silvery leaves toothed at the edge, 
whilst its creamy white umbellate in¬ 
florescence is borne on stout stems fully 
18 inches high. For second and third 
choice in this section I should take S. 
longifolia, and S. Aizoon. All the en¬ 
crusted varieties seem fond of lime in 
some form. Turning to the mossy sec¬ 
tion, notwithstanding that it is very 
commonly met with, I think that S. 
Wallacei cannot be left out, be oneL 
collection ever so small, w'hilst S. Rheii 
is an extremely pretty variety, having 
bright rosy-pink flowers, and making 
dense growth. 
Sheffield. J. W. Watson. 
-- 4 -f 4— 
R. H. S. Exhibition. 
The next fortnightly exhibition of flow¬ 
ers, plants, etc., of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society, will be held on November 
24th, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., admission. 
2s. 6d. A lecture will be delivered at '3 
o’clock by Mr. Joseph Cheal, on “ Italian 
Gardens.” 
FLOWER POTS—FLOWER POTS. 
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(returnable), and put on rail for 7s. 6d. 1908 New Illus¬ 
trated Catalogue, Flower Pots. Saucers, Peed-pans, Rhubarb 
and geakale Pots, Vases, etc., post free.—W. PRATT, 
Pottery, Dudley. 
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