December 19, 1908. 
shown in Fig. 2. A shows the vine rod; 
B the side, or fruit-bearing branch; and C 
the eye, or bud to which the branch should 
be pruned. All the pruning ought to be 
done about the same time, then the new shoots 
will break evenly next spring; and, owing 
to this timely pruning, there will not be any 
undue bleeding. 
Mulching Fruit Trees. 
Newly-planted trees should have a mulch 
of half-rotted manure placed over the roots 
forthwith. Raspberries must be attended to 
in the same way; these are surface rooting 
plants, and a top dressing is highly bene¬ 
ficial. The best way to apply the mulch is 
to first put on the littery manure and then 
partially cover it with lumpy, fibrous loam. 
The latter keeps the manure in position, 
and by the end of next spring both the 
manure and the loam become well mixed 
and form an excellent medium for the new 
roots to permeate. 
Prunings. 
Gather up all prunings and burn them in 
the garden fire. Do not, in any case, bury 
the prunings, however small they may be. 
If buried in the soil they will, in time, 
cause a fungus growth which will be highly 
injurious to other plants.. The prunings 
from .the fruit trees, with other wood, will 
assist in the consumption of general garden 
refuse, which should, in due course, be re¬ 
turned to the ground in the form of ashes. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Garden Paths. 
The paths in the kitchen garden have to 
withstand heavy traffic. There is more 
wheeling of soil, manure and other material 
on these paths than on others, and so the 
wear and tear tells in time. At .this season 
it is a good plan to turn over the top gravel 
and mix with it a few pebbly stones passed 
through a 1^ inch mesh sieve. Fig. 3 at A 
shows how you should break up the surface, 
and then mix with the old gravel some of 
the new. Then well roll the gravel, and the 
surface will appear as shown at B ; C de¬ 
notes the lower layers left undisturbed. If 
the surface of badly worn paths be treated 
as here advised, the latter will look well and 
be serviceable for a number of years. 
The Herb Borders. 
Allot a day this week to the work of clean¬ 
ing the herb border thoroughly. Both the 
border soil and the plants are often ne¬ 
glected. Do not allow them to remain in a 
rough state any longer, but weed, hoe and 
clean them thoroughly, and make the paths 
surrounding them clean, too. 
Onions. 
If you possess any wood ashes scatter a few 
between the rows of autumn-sown Onions, 
but first clear the soil of weeds. 
Stored Vegetables. 
Examine these in the daylight and remove 
any decaying specimens: 
Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
The Beginning and the End. 
This .month will see about the last of the 
Chrysanthemums, but it is also the com¬ 
mencement of a new season, so that the en¬ 
thusiastic “’mummer” is never without his 
favourite plants in one stage or another of 
their growth requiring his attention. Early 
j struck cuttings always have an advantage 
1 over late ones, as the longer period of growth 
I before flowering commences allows naturally 
| of the more perfect development and better 
i maturity of the plants. This specially ap-' 
plies to exhibition or show plants, on which 
j the largest and finest blossoms obtainable are 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
desired, although for bush specimens, in¬ 
tended only for the decoration of greenhouse 
or conservatory, or for cut flowers, there will 
be time enough when the New Year is a week 
or two old. 
Taking the Cuttings. 
Stem cuttings should always be avoided 
if possible, and those from the base of the 
old plants chosen. Take them about three or 
four inches in length, and strip off the bot¬ 
tom-most leaves after cutting cleanly 
through just beneath a joint. It is much 
better, then, to place each singly into a 
small pot, a “ thumb ” or “ sixty ” will do, 
than to .insert several together in one of 
larger dimensions, as the undue disturbance 
of the tender young roots when shifting 
later on cannot do them any good. 
Still another point in potting is to select 
deep, narrow pots in preference to wider and 
more shallow ones, as the rootlets invariably 
strike straight down into the soil, and more¬ 
over such do not require so much valuable 
space in the propagator. 
Bottom-heat is not essential at this early 
date to strike them, and so long as they are 
kept in a frost-proof greenhouse no' fear 
need 'be entertained as to their safety. Loam 
and deaf-mould with plenty of silver sand 
intermixed is a good compost, and a pinch 
of coarse sand sprinkled into the hole pre¬ 
pared for the reception of the cutting- will 
greatly assist in the emission of roots. 
Water them carefully and place the pots 
under a hand-light, the top of which should 
be raised occasionally, and all superfluous 
wet carefully wiped off. Treated thus a few 
weeks should give clear indications that 
rooting has actually commenced. 
Marguerite Carnations. 
Not “instead of,” but “in conjunction 
with ” the choicer varieties should these be 
grown, and plants raised from seed sown in 
the early part of August will already be 
full of buds. Keep the plants as near the 
glass as possible at the present dull season, 
in order that .they unay obtain full benefit of 
both light and air, and if large, full blooms 
are desired, which will prove most useful 
for table decoration and other purposes, dis¬ 
budding must be resorted to, and the plants 
be fed up a little with Tather weak liquid 
manure now and again, or if preferred, a 
pinch of Clay’s Fertilizer may be stirred 
into the top soil and watered in. 
Early Cucumbers. 
A few early Cucumbers are always wel¬ 
come, and seed .may be inserted any time, 
providing, of course, sufficient artificial heat 
is available for the purpose. It is better, 
perhaps, to place two seeds together in a 
thumb pot, as some few may fail to ger¬ 
minate; at any rate the weaker seedling can 
very easily be removed. Place the .pots in 
fibre under h bell-glass, or in the propagat¬ 
ing frame, directly above the hot-water 
pipes, and when large enough a liberal shift 
will keep them growing rapidly, and wide 
and somewhat shallow boxes, resting on the 
staging at the warmest end of the green¬ 
house, will be found .the best place to fruit 
them, the heat beneath pushing them on 
more rapidly than if situated on the cool 
ground below the level of the pipes. 
Greenhouse Climbers. 
As a general rule climbing plants, whether 
in the greenhouse or conservatory, make 
better and more perfect growth if planted 
out in the border, than when their naturally 
spreading roots are confined to flower-pots, 
however large. 
In many cases it is inconvenient to have 
such a border inside the structure, owing to 
the floors being tiled, or lack of space, and 
then the climbers are planted outside, and 
the stem introduced into the house beneath 
the surface of the soil. 
This fact must be borne in mind at the 
783 
present time of the year, when we may rea¬ 
sonably expect severe and more or less pro¬ 
longed periods of frost, otherwise it may be 
that whilst the tops of the plants are enjoy¬ 
ing the congenial protection of a warm 
greenhouse, the roots outside are frozen. 
Cover the border then at once with sufficient 
depth of litter, dead leaves or stable 
manure, .to preclude any such possibility, 
then, in the spring, when danger is past, 
this may be forked in and will prove of 
great benefit to the soil. 
G. A. F. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
After writing for so long on Orchids for 
amateurs I am, in the absence of direct in¬ 
quiries, frequently at a loss to know what 
particular points or difficulties my readers 
would like me to deal with. I should, there¬ 
fore, much appreciate it if those who peruse 
this column from week to week would occa¬ 
sionally submit questions to me indicating 
any special cultural troubles with which 
■they may have to contend or asking for in¬ 
formation respecting special classes of Or¬ 
chids. Such queries would serve as a valu¬ 
able guide to me in my endeavour to be of 
service to amateur Orchid growers and 
afford a convenient text for me. In helping 
me in this way readers will thus be materi¬ 
ally helping themselves. 
Preparing Soils. 
At this season of the year, when there is 
little to be done in the houses except the 
usual daily routine of watering and clean¬ 
ing the plants, we may occupy our time in 
preparing potting composts ready for mixing 
after the turn of the days, when so many 
things will call for one’s attention almost 
at the same time. Peat, Polypodium or Os- 
munda fibre, whichever may be considered 
desirable as the best ingredient, may now be 
picked into suitable sizes according to the 
purposes for which they may be required. 
We usually grade into three sizes^that is, 
such as will be required for large plants, 
medium size ones, and that which may be 
saved by sifting away the fine through a 
3- in. sieve, which we find useful for small 
pots and seedlings. If this is placed in bags 
and duly labelled, it is always at hand ready 
for use. A stock of turfy or what is gene¬ 
rally termed fibrous loam, should always be 
at hand ready picked for use. I find it a 
good plan to keep a box in one of the warm 
houses during the winter months, filled with 
picked loam. This often proves a consider¬ 
able advantage duning frosty weather, a 
time that frequently is found advantageous 
for attending to re-potting requirements in 
our greenhouses. The loam is thus warmed, 
and there is little risk of chill to the plants. 
Securing Leaves. 
Where leaves are used as a medium in the 
potting compost the present is a good season 
to secure them. Oak or Beech leaves are the 
best for the purpose. I would point out here 
that there is a great deal of difference be¬ 
tween what is termed leaves and decayed 
leaf soil. We select our leaves by procuring 
them as free from foreign matter as possible 
and they are then placed in a shed where 
there is ample air passing through them, 
and thus they remain dry and whole. Before 
using them we put the leaves in bags and 
dip them in a copper of boiling water ; they 
are then dried and broken up ready for use. 
Sphagnum moss should also be secured and 
picked. It is always advisable to get a stock 
of moss on hand while the weather remains 
open,^ for there is likely to be a difficulty in 
securing it when the weather sets in frosty. 
If the moss can (be washed before use, it 
will greatly assist in the destruction of 
various insect pests, which are at all times 
undesirable. 
H. J. Chapman. 
