August x, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
505 
ixi condition to produce tiheir flower scapes, 
peases where the plants root after their 
g wth is completed, the flower scapes will 
a 1 be advancing at the same time, but 1 
d not consider it then practical to repot 
t) plants as the strain of flowering alone 
i 5 i sufficient tax on their strength. Such 
p ats, in my opinion, should have their 
p ring requirements attended to as soon as 
tly have regained their normal plump 
sle after flowering. The bulk of the Odon- 
triossums will be in the stage of growth 
w:n new roots are emitted in a few weeks’ 
tie, when I hope to refer to them again. 
0 :idiums. 
-here are numerous species of Oncidiums 
w ch are producing their roots at the pre- 
s<t season. These should now have potting 
a-nded to without delay. The larger 
e wing kinds of the O. macranthum sec- 
t: 1, that have recently passed out of flower, 
■w 1 now have their new roots advancing 
f m the base of the new growth. Other 
k ds, that have recently passed out of 
fUer, that have their roots in an active 
s ;e, should also be examined for repotting 
r uirements. Repotting should not be done 
f the jftke of potting. Only in cases 
v« >re the plants have outgrown their potting . 
s ce, or where the compost is in an ad- 
v .ced state of decay, should the plants be 
Cturbed. For the strong growing kinds, 
v 1 drained pots are the most suitable, but 
p is may be used for the dwarfer kinds. 
1 3 compost we find suitable consists of 
e lal portions of fibrous peat, broken leaves 
a 1 chopped sphagnum moss, with sufficient 
sld added to render the compost porous. 
r is is pressed moderately firm about the 
1 ts and the surface covered with a layer 
< chopped sphagnum. H. J. Chapman. 
-- 
lw.S. Outing. 
I'he annual outing of the National. 
1 rysanthemum Society this year took 
] ice on July 27th, when a visit was paid 
■ the Royal Gardens at Frogmore. Other 
: ttures of the outing included a trip by 
am launch up the river. The Secretary 
: Mr. Richard A. Witty, St. James’ 
11 a, Swain’s Lane, Highgate, London, 
1 erries. 
Cherries deserve special notice because 
: is still asserted in school books that 
■y were introduced to this country b} 
“fruiterer” or greengrocer of Henrj 
II., says a writer in the “Cornhi 11 
igazine ” ; also that they were not 
■ nmon for a hundred years after thal 
re. It is a surprising error. Mr. 
lomas Wright found the name in ever) 
<;e of the Anglo-Saxon vocabularies 
ich he edited. So common were they 
d so highly esteemed, that the time foi 
thering them became a recognised fes 
al-=“ Cherry fair” or “feast.” Anc 
s grew into a proverbial expression oi 
: eting joys. Gower says the Friar; 
ight that “life is but a cherye- 
I ''re,” and Hope “endureth but 
throwe, right as it were a cherye 
te.” There is more than one 
cord of the purchase of trees for the 
ngs garden at Westminster, centuries 
fore Henry VIII. was born. But Plim 
ntradicted the fable, as if in prophetic 
s>od. After telling that Lucullus firs' 
1 ought Cherries to Rome (from Pontus 
080 A.U.C.), he adds that in the course 
a hundred and twenty years they have 
read widely, “ even passing over sea tc 
it aim” 
Address: The Editor, The Gardening 
World, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
should be as brief as -possible and written on 
one side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac¬ 
ter and height of the fence or wall; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully filed, with 
the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an 
enquiry is sent. 
/ rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
3061. Stopping Lobelias and Begonias. 
Could you, through The Gardening 
World, tell me when Lobelia tenuior would 
flower? They were stopped on July 4th 
and are about eight inches high; also fibrous- 
rooted Begonias, and tuberous-rooted Be¬ 
gonias, which were stopped on July 4th. 
They are all in a cold greenhouse. (Novice, 
Ruabon, N. Wales.) 
The Lobelias should come into bloom 
rather in advance of the Begonias, perhaps 
in August. The Begonias are scarcely likely 
to come into full bloom before September 
unless we get a good deal of sunshine. It 
is not the usual plan to stop tuberous-rooted 
Begonias as the shoots they produce are 
smaller as well as the flowers. When you 
require to have them in bloom late, a better 
plan is to delay starting them in spring and 
then allow them to come along slowly, 
merely removing the flower buds till within 
six weeks of the show. This will encourage 
a strong growth, and after they have been 
growing some time in their flowering pots 
you could feed them with weak liquid 
manure. The fibrous-rooted Begonias really 
bloom all the season and usually make 
bushy plants, so that we should prefer start¬ 
ing them rather late for late show’s and 
merely removing the flowers to get good 
growth_into them. The greenhouse should be 
kept well ventilated to induce a sturdy short- 
iointed growth. If the sun happens to be 
very bright, you can shade them with some 
thin material such as tiffany on the outside 
of the glass roof. This will enable the fo¬ 
liage to assume a fine green colour and the 
flowers will last longer when they do come. 
The Lobelias should not be shaded, but kept 
as near the glass as possible in a sunny 
position. 
3062. Growing Cacti. 
I have just started growing Cacti plants 
and should be greatly obliged if you could 
give me any information as to the best kinds 
of plants to get and how to water and pot 
them. Would they grow all right in a 
greenhouse which faces north and which gets 
the sun early in the morning and late in the 
afternoon ? AJso give me the names of any 
books on growing Cacti, the price and pub¬ 
lishers. (E. F. Blaze, Lines.) 
You will have to be guided largely by 
the species of 'Cacti which you find in nur¬ 
series or mentioned in their catalogues. In 
course of time, however, you may be able to 
drop across a good many of them. The best 
plan is to begin with a few until you get ac¬ 
quainted with them. We do not like the 
north aspect for your greenhouse as Cacti 
are natives of warm countries, w'here they 
get plenty of sun. They can be grown, how¬ 
ever, if you keep frost out, although we 
cannot guarantee that the} 7 will flower very 
freely. Some of the kinds which are not¬ 
able for their flowers can be stood in a 
sunny sheltered position out of doors during 
the summer months, and this will ripen the 
wood and prepare them for flowering. Some 
of the kinds you may get are Mamillaria 
Deserti, M. elongata, M. casiacantha, M. 
missouriensis, etc Several of the species of 
Cereus would succeed in such a house in¬ 
cluding C. flagelliformis, C. peruvianus and 
C. p. monstrosus. There are many fine forms 
of Phyllocactus which have been raised in 
gardens and you should consult catalogues 
for the names end descriptions. You should 
be able to grow Epiphyllum and any of 
its varieties which you can procure. Some 
of the species of Opuntia grow in a low 
temperature,, including O. vulgaris and O. 
mesacantha, better known under the name 
of O. rafinesquiana. The above are only a 
few of the possible ones which you may 
grow, and if interested in other fleshy-leaved 
plants, you could get some of the Echeverias, 
Mesembryanthemums and Canary Island 
Houseleeks (Sempervivum). All of these 
will take a fair amount of water when mak¬ 
ing their growth during the summer time, 
but in the winter time they may not require 
any water for weeks or even months in your 
cold north aspect greenhouse. In a general 
way, the compost for them may consist of a 
little loam, then a good part of sand, a 
good sprinkling of finely-broken soft red 
bricks and a little leaf mould. The book 
we mention below will give details for dif¬ 
ferent kinds. A good book on the subject is 
“ Cactus Culture for Amateurs,” by W. Wat¬ 
son, and published by Mr. L. Upcott Gill, 
Bazaar Buildings, Drury Lane, London, 
price 5s. 4d. post free. 
ROOM PLANTS. 
3063. Castor Oil Plants Losing- Leaves. 
Can you tell what the reason is that the 
lower leaves of my Castor Oil plants turn 
yellow and die, leaving only a tuft at the 
top? I have them in a window facing east. 
I would like them to flower as I am told 
they tear white flowers. (A. C. R., Surrev.) 
