490 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 25, 1908. 
Strawberries. 
Owing to the recent very hot spell of 
weather, the berries have, all too soon, 
ripened; the later-formed berries did not, 
in many gardens, swell up and ripen as they 
otherwise would have done if rain had fal¬ 
len in sufficient quantity. But owing to the 
early ripening of the crops the gardener has 
had an opportunity to get all weeds cleared 
off the beds. Layered runners will soon be 
fit to remove from the parent plants, but in 
the meantime they must be well watered, and 
any younger runners which may be forming 
on the ones layered removed forthwith. 
Black Currant Bushes. 
Directly all the fruit is gathered give the 
bushes a thorough syringing every day for 
a week in order to cleanse the leaves. 
Very old specimens which are crowded 
with branches may be greatly improved by 
the cutting out of many old branches forth¬ 
with. The young wood will then receive air 
and sunshine, gain in strength and ripen 
better. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Tomato Plants. 
This has been a better season than we had 
last vear for Tomatos. But in order to ob¬ 
tain the best results from plants growing in 
the open air it is a wise plan to cut off the 
tops as shown at A in Fig. 3, just above the 
last-formed flower truss, as shown at B. 
The young fruits set at the present time will 
mature, later-formed fruits will not ma¬ 
ture, and if the plants be allowed to con¬ 
tinue to grow the growth formed after this 
date is not only useless, but robs the fruits 
of much nourishment. 
Cucumbers and Vegetable Marrows. 
Cut each Cucumber or Vegetable Marrow, 
as the case may be, as soon as it is fit, and 
so relieve the plants of their burden; they 
will bear more fruits all the sooner and re¬ 
main in a fruit-bearing condition for a 
longer period than would be the case if al¬ 
lowed to bear too many fruits at one time. 
Apply another rich top dressing to these 
plants, using loam and manure in a lumpy 
state. Before putting on the top dressings 
water the beds thoroughly. 
Winter Greens. 
Carefully examine the plants recently put 
out and at once make good any failures. 
Some plants may have died and others be 
found to be blind. There is no better time 
than the present for filling up gaps. 
Manure Water. 
Cauliflowers, Cabbages, Brussels Sprouts 
and similar plants, also Celery and Leeks, 
should receive copious supplies of manure 
water. They are all gross-feeding plants; 
mere surface waterings are useless. Dilute 
the liquid manure and well soak the ground. 
Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Shading and Feeding. 
The heavy thunder showers we have re¬ 
cently experienced may have rendered the 
shading somewhat thin, and such being the 
case, a little more should be applied at the 
first available opportunity. The greenhouse 
becomes unbearably heated by mid-day un¬ 
less the. sun-blinds are pulled down quite 
early in the morning; nine o’clock is none 
too soon during bright weather. Quite natur¬ 
ally, some subjects are greater sufferers from 
this cause than others, the Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums, Begonias, Petunias, and such like 
plants, for instance, being able to withstand 
a great deal more sun than the shade-loving 
Fuchsias, which accordingly must be placed 
on the sheltered side of the structure, but, 
of course, these things the amateur will soon 
learn from his own observations and will act 
accordingly. Many plants now in bloom 
require a little feeding, but when intended 
for indoor or conservatory decoration, it 
will perhaps be noticed that most artificial 
manures emit an unpleasant odour, whim, 
therefore, makes their use undesirable, but a 
little soot-water judiciously applied will be 
found a splendid stimulant and does not 
possess this failing. 
Ericas or Heaths, 
When potting on young Heaths, or their 
near relatives the Epacris, it is the best plan 
to shorten all the more lengthy shoots, which 
will cause them to throw out side-growths 
and so form shapely, bushy plants, which, 
of course, should be the object aimed at. 
1 hey are a peat-loving race, and peat should 
form the chief constituent of their potting 
compost, one-fourth part of silver sand being 
added. Some gardeners stand them outside 
during the summer months, and in this case 
they will require watering daily,, but be 
careful not to overdo this, as excessive mois¬ 
ture is extremely harmful. If they are re¬ 
tained in the greenhouse, plenty of air 
necessary, the ventilators being open both 
night and day, at any rate whilst the p; e- 
vailing weather shall last. 
Increasing: Aspleniums. 
Many Ferns, including some of the dainty 
and indispensable Aspleniums, may be easily 
propagated to almost any extent at the pre¬ 
sent time, if the small bulbils or plantlets 
(as we may, perhaps, call them for want cf 
a better term) which appear on the upper 
surface of the more matured fronds are care¬ 
fully removed and inserted in pots or pans 
of finely-sifted peat, leaf-mould and silver 
sand. Keep the tiny growths in a cool, 
shady situation or the sun’s rays will 
quickly dry them up, and if watered fre¬ 
quently and very lightly they will soon form 
perfectly-rooted plants and may be potted 
off singly. Ferns in general like plenty ol 
pot-room, and abundance of moisture; in 
fact, they do well if totally immersed occa¬ 
sionally, the water, of course, being not 
too cold, and if they are allowed to become 
quite dry at the roots they receive a check 
from which it takes them quite a time to 
recover. 
Fruiting: Tomatos. 
Tomatos will now require more liberal ap¬ 
plications of liquid fertiliser, either Ich- 
themic guano or superphosphate, both of 
which are good, and the result of the treat¬ 
ment the plants have received will now be 
apparent in heavy crops, or the reverse as 
the case may be. 'Care should be taken to 
keep the plants and their surroundings scru 
pulously clean, as neglect in this important 
detail invariably encourages pests and dis¬ 
eases of all kinds. Perhaps the most dreaded 
and uncombatable scourge which attacks To¬ 
matos, whether grown indoors or out, is that 
known as the Black Spot, which, hidden deep 
in the flower, finds its way into the very 
heart of the fruit. No varieties seem to be 
immune from it, but, of course, the nearer 
the approach to perfect culture the more 
likely they are to escape. Pick off immedi¬ 
ately any fruits that show signs of it and 
keep the plants as healthy and vigorous as 
possible, and if dull or cold spells set in, 
do not close the house, as this deprives them 
of the indispensable ventilation, but rather 
give a little artificial heat to keep the tem¬ 
perature at the proper standard. 
Choice Double Petunias. 
Petunias, and especially the double ones-, 
have been so much improved upon of late 
years, that what was once a simple bedding 
plant now holds it own with many of the 
choicest subjects in the greenhouse, some 
of them, indeed, having earned distinct 
names. 
These, of course, must be perpetuated by 
means of cuttings, but grand plants may bi 
readily raised from seed. The double 
fringed varieties are particularly worthy o 
careful pot culture, and in order to obtan 
large plants to bloom next summer the seec 
should be sown without delay. Ordinan 
leaf soil and silver sand will do to star 
them in, and as soon as the resultant seed 
lings are large enough to handle, the_\ 
should be pricked oft into boxes, and i"i 
placed two or three inches apart, may re 
main there until “ potting off” t’.me arrives 
Keep them growing throughout the winter 
giving them slightly larger pots when the 
roots protrude through the ball of earth 
and 'by March they will be ready for the 
five-or-six-inch pots in which they may be 
flowered. A fine bushy habit of growtl 
may be induced by judiciously pinching of! 
the extremities of the main shoots, as weli 
as any premature flower buds that may ap 
pear. Then a little feeding as the plant- 
come into bloom and they will continue t- 
make a fine display throughout the entire 
summer. 
G. A. F. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Seedling: Orchids. 
Orchids raised from seed are found ir 
most cases to be far more easily grown thai 
many of the imported species from whicl 
they have been obtained. Amateur Orchic 
growers may, therefore, look with confidenci 
to the successful cultivation of many of thi 
hybrids, where they have failed, after a fev 
years, to retain the normal state in the culti 
vation of the species. 
I have on previous occasions describee 
different methods of sowing Orchid seed 
and will now add a few further notes. 
Seed of Cattleyas, Laelias, Dendrobiums 
etc., that were sown early in the year, i 
they have received proper treatment, wil 
now have completed their first seed leaf a 
least, and the new roots at the base of th 
seediing will be in a more or less advancet 
state, and the seedlings should be in a suit 
able stage for transplanting. This, may b 
done singly in small pots. I prefer pottin; 
singly as 1 consider the sooner a plant cai 
become self-supporting the better we ar 
enabled to provide conditions suitable to 
the individual plants, and I consider greate 
progress is thus made. It frequently cccur 
that owing to want of space necessity oblige 
the pricking out of the seedlings several tc 
gether in a pot. Many of my prominen 
Orchid friends prefer this method of prick 
ing out their seedling Orchids, rightly con 
tending that where a greater bulk of pottin 
material is present less watering is required, 
and with less drying the plants are not s 
liable to become overgrown with vegetation, 
nor are they so liable to damp off. Howeven 
I consider this a debatable point, the tru 
success will depend on the conditions al 
forded to the plants after they have bee 
pricked off. 
The pots used should be drained to abor 
one-third their depth with clean materia. 
The potting compost we use consists Oi 
finely-chopped fibrous peat, broken Oak ol 
Beech leaves and chopped sphagnum mos 
in about equal portions. Sufficient sand an 
finely-broken crocks should be added to rer 
der the compost porous. This should bj 
pressed firm, but not hard, the aim bein 
to permit of a free circulation of air threug: 
the compost. Water as soon as the seedling,, 
are pricked off, taking care to wet the con 
post through at the first watering. 
In dealing with seedlings of a more mt; 
tured age, the fact must not be overlooke. 
that we are dealing with seedlings, and a 
in the case of all other plants raised froi 
seed, they must be kept in an active stat 
of growth until they reach the flowerin 
