THE GARDENING WORLD. January 23, I909. 
the light much better. You should have a 
cold frame to put the plants into when they 
reach a certain stage, and that is usually 
when the cotyledons are fully formed or 
the seedlings have commenced to make 
leaves. Just when it may be done depends 
upon the plants themselves and your 
management of them, but if there are any 
signs of damping the seed pans or pots 
should be removed to the cold frame imme¬ 
diately, keeping them always as close to 
the light as possible. Seedlings do not all 
germinate at the same time, and this is an¬ 
other reason why you should have at least 
one spare frame to put the seedlings into 
.when the heat becomes too much for them. 
You can also give the necessary amount of 
ventilation in a cold frame, whereas you 
would lose the he.at by giving the germina¬ 
ted seedlings sufficient ventilation while still 
on the hotbed. 
3556. Drip in Cold Frames. 
I am troubled with drip in two of my cold 
frames, and where the drips fall they make 
holes in the soil, and the cuttings of such 
things as Pentstemons and Calceolarias die 
off there. How can I stop this? (E. J. 
Brooks, Lancs.) 
You should examine both surfaces of the 
frame, but especially the outside face, to 
see if any of the putty is cracked or broken, 
and have it repaired. Very frequently 
frames are set at too low an angle to throw 
off the water or snow freely, and if there 
happens to be wind, it is an easy matter for 
it to blow the water in between the laps of 
the glass. That sometimes happens even in 
the case of glass roofs at a good high angle, 
but is more likely to happen in a cold frame 
where the back is not much higher than the 
front. If this is the case with your frames 
you should have them elevated somewhat at 
the back by placing a tier or two of bricks 
under them and having the bricks cemented 
together. 
ROOM PLANTS. 
3557. Flowering- a Scarborough Lily. 
For some years past I have been growing 
Yallota or Scarborough Lily in a window 
facing east, and it has not yet flowered, al¬ 
though it makes a fine tuft of leaves every 
year. Can you say how I can get it to 
flower? Just now it has lost a good many 
leaves, though the bulbs look healthy. \ our 
advice will be esteemed. JVallota, Beds.) 
Your plants would seem to be suffering 
for lack of a sufficient amount of sunshine 
and air. Bright sunshine is necessary to 
ripen and plump up the bulbs and to de¬ 
velop the flower stems which should be pro¬ 
duced in the following year. Very fre¬ 
quently the light in windows is rather 
feeble, and if you have no greenhouse you 
could stand the plant out of doors in a 
sunny, sheltered position, about the middle 
of June if the weather at that time is fairly 
settled. Stand the pot on a bed of ashes 
or on a hard path where worms will' not be 
likely to get into the pots. Water freely 
once or twice a day during dry and hot 
weather, and if the bulbs do not flower next 
season they should be in a position to do so 
in the following year. We think, however, 
that they should flower at the proper time 
during this year. Although we advise a 
sunny situation it should not be too hot and 
dry owing to the vicinity of walls which 
accumulate the heat of the sunshine. A posi¬ 
tion may be found where the plants can get 
sunshine in the morning and afternoon, but 
not at midday, and in such a position they 
should thrive. When the plants are on the 
point of flowering you can take them in¬ 
doors and stand them in the window. In 
the meantime the plants should never be 
allowed to go very dry as they are really 
evergreen. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3558. Name and Character of Plant. 
Herewith I enclose a portion of a plant, 
a great number of which have come up in a 
portion of our garden. Will you kindly 
tell me- what it is and if it flowers? It 
grows about a yard high without any 
branches. I should like to know if it is a 
weed, or if it is worth taking care of, and 
oblige. (II. S. P., Essex.) 
The specimen you sent was Euphorbia 
Characias, a native of Europe, and often 
grown in this country by people who take a 
fancy to it. A plant may be regarded as a 
weed or a flower, according to whether it is 
growing in its proper position, or if it 
comes up in a bed amongst something else. 
It would, for all practical purposes, be a 
weed, although it might not be right to 
describe it as weedy unless it proves a 
nuisance on account of the numher of seed¬ 
lings which come up from it. In our ex¬ 
perience it does not seed very freely, or, at 
all events, does not scatter them about the 
grounds in such a way as to become a 
nuisance. The flowers are greenish yellow 
and by many are considered ornamental on 
account of their number, their early ap¬ 
pearance and the evergreen habit of the 
plant. While it is an evergreen herbaceous 
plant, it has the appearance of a shrub on 
account of its dark green foliage through¬ 
out the year. Whether it Is worth keeping 
under these circumstances will depend upon 
your taste and liking for particular 
kinds of plants. Some growers place a high 
value upon it. The proper place for it 
would be in the herbaceous border, or in 
spaces between shrubs, or on the top of a 
rockery if you have a large one. Your 
largest plant should flower this year, but if 
not it should be a sign that the plants are 
growing in too shaded a situation and will 
ripen their growths and flower better in a 
more sunny situation. 
ROSES. 
3559. Roses for the Walls of a House. 
I have a wall facing north, which I should 
like to have covered with'some creeper or 
Rose trees, and also another wall facing 
•south,-which might be utilised in a similar 
manner. AYould you kindly say what are 
the names of the best varieties for such posi¬ 
tions and the proper times to plant? (S. P., 
Herts.) 
Several of the Roses succeed on a north 
aspect wall if not too much shaded by trees 
or houses in the neighbourhood. If freely 
exposed to light you could plant such Roses 
as Gloire de Dijon, Bouquet d’Or or Feli- 
cite Perpetue. Other shrubs that would suc¬ 
ceed on that aspect are the common Jasmine 
(Jasminum officinale), the winter-flowering 
Jasmine ij. nudifiorum) and Golden Bell 
(Forsythia suspensa). For the south aspect 
of your house very suitable Roses are Long- 
worth Rambler (crimson), Mme. Alfred Car- 
riere (white with a vellow base), and Reve 
d’Or (buff-yellow). The latter half of Oc¬ 
tober and the first half of November would 
have been the best time to have planted these 
subiects, but you can commence planting 
again in February. Tt should, at least, be 
completed by the middle of March. 
3560. Pruning Poses in Pots. 
When pruning Roses to bloom in pots how 
much should I take off? Should they be 
pruned as bard as when growing them for 
exhibition, or only take off the.tips? My 
greenhouse is only a cool one and I only 
give fire heat to keep out frost. . T do not 
want to force them, as I think they will 
come on early enough for me with the heat 
of the sun presently, as they come much 
stionser. (D. B., Surrey.) 
Without knowing the names of the varie¬ 
ties we can only give you general directions. 
If they are H.P., H.T. or T. Roses yot 
should prune the weak growers pretty hard 
As the growths made are shorter in pot: 
than when planted in the open, it is the rub 
to prune harder in the case of pot plants evei 
than for exhibition. The weak shoots shoub 
be cut to one or two eyes and the stronge 
to three eyes, unless in the case of stron} 
shoots coming up from the base, which ma- 
be left a little longer—say, 4 in. to 6 in 
Strong growers may have three or four eye 
left, while the weaker shoots are cut to twi 
eyes. In all cases, the very weakest and no 
likely to flower may be cut out altogether 
This keeps the plants dwarf and encourage 
stronger growth. 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
3 5 61. Shrubs Damaged with Frost. 
- Several of my shrubs have been mucl 
damaged with the recent frost, especial! 
such things as Golden Privet, Laurustinu 
and Rose trees. Do these things need prc 
tection, or should I cut them back? IE. J 
Brooks, Lancs.) 
As the storm was so brief, it may be ths 
only the leaves of Privet and Laurustinu 
are injured. If that is the case the leave 
will presently fall and the shoots will gro\ 
again when the temperature rises in spring 
In any case we should not advise you t 
cut them back till towards the end of March 
and by that time you will see whether th 
wood is dead or not. In the case of Ro:c 
it does not signify if the top buds get kil’e< 
as they will have to be removed in any cas 
at the proper pruning season. It would b 
woith your while protecting Roses by mean 
of bracken at the base or by throwing th 
soil up in hea.ps about 6 in. deep aroum 
them if frost threatens to be severe. Tha 
would guard them against its effects. Dui 
ing the recent storm the snow was an ex 
cellent protection. 
3562. Propagating- Erica carnea. 
At various times I have got hardy Heath 
of different kinds, but Erica carnea is th 
only one that does at all well in my so! 
that is inclined to be heavy. AYould yo> 
kindly say how this is propagated as I wisi 
to make an edging of it to a flower border 
(T. B. Rose, Leicestershire.) 
Any of the hardy Heaths can be props 
gated by means of cuttings and layering 
The last method is the most convenient i 
you have not some experience in the rootim 
of cuttings. You can also get larger plant 
in a shorter period of time by the use o 
layers than if you were to root cutting; 
which should be about 1 in. long. In Marc! 
you can proceed to layer your plants bi 
taking off some of the natural soil aroum 
the Heaths, but particularly from beneat’ 
the branches which you intend layering 
Then if you have peat you could put a littl 
sand in this and place it in the hollow 
beneath the branches of the Heath. If yo 1 
cannot readily get peat you might get leai 
mould, and, if so, about an equal quantit 
of loam and leaf-mould with a far 
sprinkling of sand will make a compost tha 
will encourage rooting. Lay down the shoot 
in this compost and place some more ove 
them until only the tips of the shoots ar 
left exposed. If some of the branches ar 
inclined to rise up use wooden pegs to fat, 
ten them down securely. During the cours 
of the summer the layers should be wel 
rooted, and if on examination they prov 
to be so, you could sever them from th 
parent plants and make up the edging abov 
the end of September. If the roots are nc 
sufficiently numerous, leave them in positio: 
until March or April following. 
3 5 63. Evergreen Shrubs. 
AA 3 * * * 7 hen at Eastbourne last summer I net, 
ticed man)'- shrubs that appeared evergree- 
and to have been out a number of years- 
