THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 22, 1908. 
,i 4 8 
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- 
COLD FRAMES. 
3121. Seedling Solanums. 
I have some seedling Solanums which are 
growing very slowly, but show no signs of 
dowering. Do you think they will dower 
and produce berries this season ? 'Can I do 
anything to hurry them on by applying- 
some stimulant, or giving them some special 
treatment? Any information will be thank¬ 
fully received. I have them in pots in a 
cold frame. (D. Bentley, Berks.) 
The ordinary greenhouse Solanum when 
raised from seeds does not fruit so early 
as plants raised from cuttings. A cold 
frame is not a place to hurry them on, and 
to get them to fruit the same season they 
would have to be sown in a house with a 
temperature of 60 degs. by night early in 
March. We think they are scarcely likely 
to fruit with you this season as the summer 
is far spent. The best plan would be to 
pinch the leading shoots now to make them 
bushy. If you have no greenhouse, take 
them inside in a window till the end of 
March; then place them in the frame to get 
hardened off somewhat and commence grow¬ 
ing. You could then prepare a piece of 
ground for them in the open garden in a 
sunny situation and plant them out about 
9 in. to 12 in. apart with a foot between the 
lines. Here they will make good growth 
during the course of next summer, bloom 
and set their fruits much better than they 
would in a cold frame. You can lift them 
about the middle of September, pot them 
firmly, water them and place them in a 
frame which should be kept closed for a few 
days till the roots take to the fresh soil. 
Here the berries will gradually ripen and 
colour. 
ROOM PLANTS. 
3122. India-rubber Plant Not Growing. 
Being a regular reader of The Gardening 
World, I would like your advice about my 
India-rubber plant, which made no growth 
at all last year and does not look as if it is 
going to move yet. It is in a 7 in. pot and 
3 ft. high. The window faces east and gets 
sun up to 10.30 a.m. (G. Hinds, Essex.) 
In all probability your plant wants a 
shift into a larger pot. The soil may be 
exhausted, but what is equally likely, some 
of the roots may be in a bad condition. 
This may arise from a variety of causes, 
such as being injured by frost in winter. 
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. 
by being over-watered or by being neglected 
for some time and then stood in a pail to 
soak. Be careful in watering to give a full 
supply when the soil is just beginning to 
get dry and then let it alone until it again 
requires water. As it is late in the season, 
we should not advise you to shift it now, 
but to wait till the end of March or the 
beginning of April and repot it. Use a 
clean pot with a compost of two parts loam, 
half-part leaf soil and a good dash of sand. 
Some growers use peat, but this is not really 
necessary. When turning it out shake away 
all loose soil not held by the roots and 
that will get rid of any bad material which 
may be in the pot. If you have reason to 
suppose the roots are bad when repotting it 
the same-sized pot may be used, or you could 
give it a slightly larger one, potting it 
firmly. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3123. Everlasting- Peas from Seed. 
Do } r ou think it possible to raise Ever¬ 
lasting Peas from seed ? I sowed some in 
spring, but not one has yet come up. Please 
tell me why this is? Any information will 
be acceptable. (S. Freeman, Surrey.) 
Everlasting Peas take a long time to come 
up if they are allowed to get dry by keep¬ 
ing over winter before sowing them. It 
is just possible, however, that they may have 
met with some accident or slugs might have 
eaten them in the early stages. Your best 
plan would be to sow seeds in a box of 
sandy loam and leaf mould as soon as they 
are ripe. Keep the box in a frame all the 
winter. Another plan is to dig some of the 
same compost into a spot in the garden and 
sow the seeds there. Mark the spot with a 
stake or label to make sure that the seeds 
do not get dug down in winter. They often 
come up when allowed to sow themselves in 
the garden after having lain all the winter 
and you should have no difficulty in sowing 
them now. 
3124. Sowing East Lothian Stocks. 
"What is the best time to sow East Lothian 
Stocks to stand out the winter on a shel¬ 
tered border ? Can I sow them outside now ? 
(A. M. D., Midlothian.) 
In your mild locality it is just possible to 
succeed by sowing them out of doors now, 
but we should prefer to make a sowing in 
pans or pots, transplant them into boxes 
and pot them up after they have attained a 
height of in. They should keep well i 
a cold frame, especially if you keep thei 
sturdy by giving abundant ventilatic 
during 'mild weather. No doubt the 
would keep better in pots than they woul 
' in boxes, because Stocks do not like a de; 
of moisture in the dull days of winter, ; 
it makes them liable to damp off, especial! 
in the early stages. If the winter is fair] 
mild they will make a considerable amoui 
of growth by the beginning of March whe 
you could give them another shift, thereb 
enabling them to get some size before plan 
ing them out. By dealing with them in th. 
way you will get them much more advance 
than if you sow them outside at presen 
Next year you could sow outside in Jum 
and they would get well established and 1 
fit for planting out in September after yo 
get rain. 
3125. Old-Fashioned Sweet-Snrcellini 
Plants. 
We are all fond of flowers, but I hav 
a hankering after the old-fashioned swee 
scented plants which used to be freely mixe 
with almost every handful of cut flower: 
The botanical names I do not know, but v. 
knew them well as Costmary, Old Mai 
Balm of Gilead, Thyme, etc. If you ecu’! 
name a number of them I should be muc 
obliged. (W. Hunter, Surrey.) 
The plants you name are : Costmar 
(Chrysanthemum Balsamita); Old Man c 
Southern Wood (Artemesia Abrotanum) 
and Balm of Gilead (Cedronella triphylia 
The last-named may not and probably 1 
not the plant you mean, although it is th 
correct name. Your plant may be only th 
common Balm (Melissa officinalis). Ther 
are variegated forms of this plant, namel) 
a silver variegated and golden variegate: 
form known respectively as M. o. variegat 
and M. o. aurea. The round-leaved Min 
used to do duty sometimes for Balm. Thi 
is Mentha rotundifolia with its variegate' 
variety M. r. variegata. The common Thym 
is Thymus vulgaris and Lemon Thyme I 
Serpyllum citriodorus. Then there is Laven 
der (Lavendula Spica), Hyssop (Hyssopu 
officinalis) and Rosemary (Rosmarinus offi 
cinalis). The woolly-leaved Thyme is dis 
tinct in its way and has sometimes bee 
employed in the cut state, the name bein 
Thymus Serpyllum lanuginosus. Then w 
have various species of Marjoram (Ori 
ganum), Summer Savory (Satureja horten 
sis) and Winter Savory (S. montana' 
Several of the above at least you will b 
able ter secure either in the form of plant 
or seeds. 
3126. Points of a Dahlia. 
It may prove interesting to others as wel 
as myself if you enumerate the points to b 
looked for in a Dahlia. (H. Staddoi: 
Essex.) 
As there are several distinct, classes c 
Dahlias it will be necessary to conside 
them separately. Show and fancy Dahlia 
are very closely allied and may be discusse 
in one note. Show Dahlias are the original 
or oldest type of Dahlia raised to the dig 
nity of a florist’s flower, and they are of tb 
formal type. The blooms should be pei 
fectly circular in outline, even and a 
regular as possible. The florets or petal 
should be rounded at the edge, fluted 01 
hollow like a shell and very compactly ail 
ranged. The opening should not be wid 
and coarse-looking. The centre of th 
bloom should be well raised up, not flat no 
concave, as that would indicate that th 
flower was not fully developed or was fault 
in the centre. Show Dahlias are mostly sell 
coloured, either white, yellow, scarlet of 
other colour, though there are what ar 
known as edged flowers. The florets in thi 
case may be of some pale hue at the bas 
with an edging of some darker colour. Th ! 
edge of the petals of a show Dahlia ar- 
