4-2 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 23, 1909. 
PRIZE LETTER COMPETITION. 
Readers are invited to contribute to this 
column short letters, discussing any 
gardening subject. 
Letters should not exceed ijo words 
each in length, and must be written 
on one side of the paper only. 
Two Prizes of ss. bd. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the 
best. 
Dwarf Tre«s. 
A little fresh green foliage in the depth 
of winter is always welcome, and it may 
not be generally known that this may be 
had in the form of small Oak trees, only a 
few inches high, which can be grown 
without any greenhouse. Collect some 
ripe Acorns from under the trees, and next 
get a bowl or any other receptacle and 
put in it a small quantity of soft water 
and fill up the rest with clean pebbles, 
placing a few Acorns just under the sur¬ 
face and stand it in a warm room. In a 
short time they will commence to grow 
and soon make a pretty bowl. Small¬ 
necked bottles may be used to hold one 
Acorn and filled with water. Of course 
the bottles should not be unsightly ones. 
Nr. Canterbury. A. DENNETT. 
How to grow Exhibition Onions. 
An Easy Way to Ripen Tomatos. 
Gather the green Tomatos when of a 
fair size, and place them m light wooden 
boxes. The size of box most convenient 
is about 15 inches long, 9 inches wide 
and 6 inches deep; this would take two 
layers of Tomatos. Place on the bottom 
of the boxes one inch of dry bran and 
then pack close together a layer of 
Tomatos, covering them well with a layer 
of bran; then on this again place another 
layer of Tomatos, and '/finish off with 
bran. Place the boxes on any dry, warm 
shelf. In about ten days’ time they will 
be found well coloured, plump and fresh 
as if just newly cut from the plants. This 
way of treating them is to be preferred to 
drying and ripening them on shelves, and 
being shrivelled up as they are when ex¬ 
posed to the sun and air. 
Wilton. J. SCAMMELL. 
truding three-eighths of an inch above t 
soil, afterward giving a good waterir 
It is an advantage to cover the crow 
after potting with Sphagnum moss, 
moving this little by little each day 
growth proceeds. Stand the pots in 
temperature of 60 degrees to 65 degree: 
Sheffield. J. W. WATSC 
Pentstemon Newberry Gem, the Pi 
and White Varieties. 
It is quite evident that Pentstemon Ne 
berry Gem has come to stay, for some til 
at any rate, and no wonder, it is 
bright, so floriferous, and so eas 
managed. I saw a bed this last sumn 
that had been allowed to remain for 
second season, and it was simply gop 
ous. 
The two varieties recommended he- 
are quite equal to the type, in hardim 
and floriferousness, and they are true 
their colour descriptions ; the pink varic 
is of a delicate shade, and the white, 
not absolutely pure, is yet purer th 
many so-called white flowers.. All t’nr 
can be raised from cuttings, more read: 
even than the ordinary run of Pents 
mons. Old plants can also be lifted ai 
planted thickly in cold frames a: 
planted out a second year, and as alreai 
indicated, they may under faVourat 
conditions be left undisturbed for tx 
years. C. C. 
The ground should be trenched to a 
depth of at least thirty inches in autumn, 
mixing some manure and lime with the 
soil. Leave the ground in a lumpy con¬ 
dition during the winter and only com¬ 
mence tilling in spring. All lumps of 
soil should be broken up, and the worker 
should use boards to stand upon while 
on the Onion bed. Seed should be sown 
during the first week in January under 
glass. The plants are pricked off into 
other boxes when they are large enough, 
using, a light rich compost. The plants 
must be carefully hardened off before 
being planted out. Exhibition Onions 
should be planted twelve inches apart. 
After three weeks mulch with two inches 
of spent manure and every ten days or so 
a soaking of liquid manure should be 
given. F. ROBINSON. 
A Timely Note. 
At this season many amateurs are buy¬ 
ing newly imported Lily bulbs for out¬ 
side culture, and when they have received 
them are rather anxious to know the best 
possible method of culture to adopt, so 
probably a few remarks on their subse¬ 
quent requirements will prove helpful 
and profitable. When the bulbs are re¬ 
ceived from the nurserymen, unpack im¬ 
mediately and expose them to the air foi 
a day. Having been thus treated, care, 
fully examine them, and cut away all 
diseased or bruised scales that might 
have been damaged by packing, and dust 
with sulphur. Subsequently place them 
in shallow boxes, covering them above 
and beneath with sand or cocoa-nut fibre, 
the former being preferable, and place 
them in a nice dry shed where frost is 
excluded and eventually plant out in 
early spring. By following the above 
directions success can confidently be anti¬ 
cipated. 
H. F. Stevens. 
Monarch of the East. 
Not so much for its worth as for its 
originality, this bulb is well worth grow¬ 
ing. It will grow and bloom without 
water or soil, but those I have grown I 
have always planted in soil in pots the 
same as other plants. I grew two in my 
cold greenhouse and very interesting and 
novel they were, first sending up a pecu¬ 
liar Lily-shaped flower and then dying 
away apparently, only to send up a 
strange Palm-like plant, its stem covered 
with black blotches, with leaves of bright 
green. It is extremely easy to grow and 
I expect in a heated greenhouse would 
come to great perfection. In my small 
unheated house it had a good effect, form¬ 
ing quite a contrast to all the other plants 
around, with its long straight stem and 
its Palm-like, leaves. I can recommend 
it to anyone as a novelty and an interest¬ 
ing plant to grow. 
Wimbledon. B. B. 
Lily of the Valley. 
By the use of retarded crowns of these 
it is a comparatively easy matter for the 
average amateur with glass accommoda¬ 
tion to obtain a good supply of' these 
beautiful flowers during the dull dark 
days of winter. Most nurserymen retail 
these retarded crowns in bundles of 
twenty-five, and it is better to buy in 
these small quantities at intervals as re¬ 
quired where a succession of a few pots 
only is desired extending over several 
months. 
To purchase larger quantities and keep 
them in hand to pot as required will not 
do, as unless potted up within a day or 
two of their being taken from cold stor¬ 
age deterioration will take place and 
failure will probably result. 
In potting put about eight crowns in a 
five inch pot, using a fairly light soil, 
and leave the tips of the crowns pro¬ 
The Collecting of Fallen Leaves. 
What has 'been termed the “leafii 
season” is with us once again, so I thii 
a few words on this subject will not 1 
out of place. 
Nature seems to have arranged that h 
leaves should fall, and in decaying r 
plenish in some measure mother ear 
for what their previous growth took fro 
her. But many people—especially 
smaller gardens—have the leaves cartt 
away- altogether, or "else burnt. Of ti 
two practices the latter is the best, b 
there is a better way. Let there be a ho 
dug somewhere in the garden, varying 
size according to the quantity of leav 
likely to be dealt with, and into this the 
can be put from time to time. When doii 
so let there be an occasional liberal sprin 
ling of soot or lime thrown over them I 
the hole; this will kill insect life and ac 
to the value of the leaf-mould for futu 
use. All greasy water and house-slo] 
can be thrown in too, to aid. decompo: 
tion of the leaves, and'a “forking ovei 
now and again will also be beneficial. , 
In 12 months some of this wall be read; 
for use, but two years would find it in 
better condition. C. T. 
-- 
Before Cabbages were Introduced. 
Before the era of kitchen garden 
scurvy was one of the diseases by whit 
the English population was kept doxv 
Cabbages were not known in Englar 
until the period of Henry VIII. 
Oncidium blcallosum Sander’s var. 
The flowers of this Oncid. are of lap 
size and handsome colour. The tran 
verse blade of the lip is of a bright yelloxj, 
The sepals and petals are of a deej. 
shining brown, with a narrow yellow edg;. 
Award of Merit by the R.H.S. whe| 
shown in December by Messrs. F. Sandt 
and Sons. 
Woodbridge, Suffolk. 
