July ii, I 9 oS - 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
461 
1 
р. potting Cyclamen. 
Autumn sown Cyclamen will now be fill- 
i their three-inch pots with roots, and if 
с, wn near the glass and allowed plenty of 
a should be sturdy little plants ready for 
inediate shift into five or six inch pots, in 
v ich they will flower during the coming’ 
,iter and spring. Thefcr will be suited by 
.-ompost of loam and leaf-mould in equ^l 
dntities, and, as in the case of the 
■mums,” plenty of broken crocks should be 
nvided for drainage, although, unlike 
tise plants, no manure should be included 
j the potting soil. Spread the roots out 
cnly, and when finished the root-stock or 
cm should be about half-covered with soil, 
ailst doing this, examine the leaves, and 
Duld they show a tendency to curl up, it is 
sure sign that insect pests are at work. 
' ese must be exterminated either by fumi- 
1 ing or by immersing the plants in a pail 
soapy water, which may be afterwards 
11 rinsed or syringed off. Cyclamen plants 
it have flowered once and had a rest may 
w be re-potted in fresh soil, the old roots 
ing shortened with a sharp knife. They 
11 probably bloom earlier the second sea- 
11, although the blossoms will be of in- 
rior quality. 
irnations for Present Blooming. 
It is a good plan to retain some of the 
oicest of the outdoor Carnations in pots 
r the greenhouse, as more refined blossoms 
5 doubtless obtained under glass. If speci- 
■n flowers are desired, disbudding must be 
;orted to, and liquid fertiliser of some sort 
diciously applied. Should they show signs 
“ bursting,” it may. be necessary to 
; pring ” the calyx on the opposite side, 
d should this fail, then rings must be 
;d. 
G. A. F 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
iported Orchids. 
From circulars and advertisements that 
ve reached me, there appears to be exten- 
•e importations of various kinds of Or- 
ids. I have no doubt some of the plants 
their general distribution will reach tb r 
uds of some of my readers, so that a r r 
their treatment may be acceptable a. —e 
esent time. 
The plants as soon as received may either 
potted up at once or placed on the staging 
r a few days, in a house that is reasonably 
fist, but not too warm. Plants that have 
sn recently unpacked from the cases in 
lich thev have been imported should not 
submitted to too bright a light for a few 
ys, especially so in the case of Cattleyas, 
they will be liable to turn yellow and 
obably drop off. I prefer to pot up the 
ants as soon as they are received. The}’’ 
ould be carefully examined and any dead 
decaying pseudo-bulbs or roots cut away, 
le pots or pans selected for them should 
ly be sufficiently large to contain the plant 
mfortably. Fill the pots to about two- 
irds their depth with clean drainage, and 
2n place the plants in position. Some neat 
ikes sufficiently strong to secure the plants 
] position will add to their appearance. 
)is having been done, fill in the remaining 
ace with clean crocks, leaving only a 
allow space on the surface for a thin 
yer of potting compost or chopped sphag- 
im moss. When plants arrive at this 
ason of the year the saturated condition of 
e atmosphere in our Orchid houses is al- 
pst ample moisture, therefore as little 
■ ater as possible should be given, but 
Uhtlv spraying the pseudo-bulbs and foli- 
;e in bright, warm weather will assist them 
keep their normal plump state and also 
courage the young growths to start. It 
equently occurs that new rcots will make 
eir appearance,' where plants root in "this 
way some of the crocks may be carefully re¬ 
moved and some ordinary potting compost 
used to replace them, which will give the 
necessary encouragement, until growth has 
developed,, and when the new roots appear 
from the base of the home-made pseudo¬ 
bulbs the plants should then be repotted in 
the ordinary way. These remarks will ap¬ 
ply generally to all warm or intermediate 
house-,.mported Orchids. 
In the case of the cool house Odontoglos- 
sunjs I’would prefer to receive plants either 
in the spring of the year or after the hottest 
months, but of late years the season of im¬ 
porting has not appeared to be so detrimental 
as many good growers at one time antici¬ 
pated, and the different methods of treat¬ 
ment now generally practised seem to suit 
O. crispum even when received at our hot¬ 
test season of the year. I advocate potting 
the plants as soon as they are received, 
filling the pots to about one-half their depth 
w ith chopped bracken roots and the remain¬ 
ing space, after the plant is in position, 
with a compost consisting of equal portions 
of broken Oak or Beech leaves, fibrous peat 
and chopped sphagnum moss with sufficient 
sand added to render the compost porous. 
The plants should be watered as soon as pot¬ 
ting is completed ; and if kept gently sprayed 
daily, little more will be necessary to enable 
the pseudo-bulbs to regain their normal con¬ 
dition, encourage root action and aid the 
developments of growth. 
H. J. Chapman. 
-- 
English Tomatos Supreme. 
The demand for English Tomatos has 
from the start of the season been, it is 
stated, little short of phenomenal. The 
quality of this year's crop is of the very' 
best. ^ The efforts of British growers of 
Tomatos are among the most successful 
throughout the whole range of horticul¬ 
ture, it being an acknowledged fact in all 
countries that there are no Tomatos grown 
in any part of the world to surpass those 
cultivated in these islands. — “Daily Tele¬ 
graph. ” 
Awards for Carter's Tested Seeds. 
At the recently held horticultural show 
at the Franco-British Exhibition, the pro¬ 
duce of Messrs. James Carter and Co.’s 
tested seeds was awarded a Gold Medal 
and two First Prizes in the Vegetable 
Section. 
The produce of Carter’s Tested Seeds 
also made an imposing exhibit at the show 
of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng¬ 
land held this year at Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
In addition to a magnificent display of 
purely agricultural produce there were 
massive arches of Carter's Sunrise and 
Duke of York" Tomatos. shown in their 
natural state of growth; whilst near by 
were seen numerous dishes of new and 
seedling varieties of Peas, produced on 
Carter's Trial Grounds, noticeable 
amongst which were massive pods of their 
world-renowned Pea, Carter’s Quite Con¬ 
tent, the winner of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society’s Certificate the first year of 
introduction. Very attractive displays of 
beautiful flowers were very tastefully ar¬ 
ranged upon pyramid “Islands,” sur¬ 
rounded by charmingly green borders of 
grass, grown from seeds as supplied for 
the extensive gardens and lawns at the 
great French "Exhibition at Shepherd’s 
Bush. We are informed that Carter’s are 
the onlv seed firm to which two Medals of 
the Royal Agricultural Society have been 
awarded. 
“ The French Garden.” 
During the past year so much has been 
said about French gardening that a litera¬ 
ture on the subject has sprung up and a 
book or books must necessafily follow, so 
that readers may have the information 
close at hand when required for reference. 
The above is the title of a book written 
by Mr. C. D. McKay, F.R.H.S., and pub¬ 
lished by “The Daily Mail.” The writer 
says that a large French garden is a mis¬ 
take, because even a small one requires 
an enormous amount of care and close at¬ 
tention. For many years the people of 
this country considered that the Jr rench 
climate was better than ours, but the 
writer endeavours to prove that this is a 
fallacy, and that some districts of Eng¬ 
land can give the environment of Paris 
points in the matter of climate. 
The French gardeners have ' practised 
the system of growing Lettuces in quan¬ 
tity under small “ chassis” or frames, as 
well as cloches, and they are likely to 
stick to a custom in which they have suc¬ 
ceeded. Mr. McKay thinks, however, 
that the French system can be improved 
upon, and that it remains for some enter¬ 
prising person to heat these small frames 
by means of hot water pipes and thereby 
save a considerable amount of labour in 
the employment of fermenting manure to 
get the desired heat. He also suggests 
glasshouses instead of frames. 
About two acres of ground is sufficient 
for a French garden of this style, and 
June is the best month to make a start 
to be ready by August when the cultiva¬ 
tion of vegetables should begin. The 
writer evidently has a good grip of his sub¬ 
ject, and shows a beginner, who has a 
capital of £ 200, how to make a good start 
with a French garden. He deals with all 
structures and costs and then furnishes 
information on what to grow and how to 
grow it. The book runs to 62 pp., and is 
well worth the 6d. asked for it. 
-- 
National Sweet Pea Society. 
The eighth annual metropolitan exhibi¬ 
tion of the N.S.P.S. will be held at the 
Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster, 
on Friday, July 24. The committee fully 
recognise the fact that this is a late date, 
but found it impossible to obtain any date 
between July 3 and July 24, and the latter 
was chosen as most likely to suit the 
majority of members. In connection with 
the Royal Horticultural Society of Ire¬ 
land. an exhibition will be held in Dublin 
on August 5th. which date should suit 
Northern growers, and will, it is hoped, 
be the means of increasing the society’s 
membership in the Sister Isle. Both for 
London and Dublin, a valuable schedulg 
of prizes has been prepared. The sche¬ 
dule of prizes, together with the report 
and balance-sheet for 1907, may be ob¬ 
tained from the hon. secretary of the 
N.S.P.S., Mr. C. H. Curtis. Adelaide 
Road, Brentford, Middlesex. 
The Mystery of Flowers. 
Speaking at the “Country in Town” 
Exhibition at Whitechapel, Mr. Alfred 
Austin said they had only to look into the 
heart of one wild flower and try to 
fathom its mystery to find that it was 
more mysterious than all the discoveries 
of all the - • race. 
