560 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 29, 1908. 
seedlings so as to maintain a steady growth. 
In all cases give some water late every 
evening, then it will benefit the seedlings, 
fortifying them to withstand the heat of 
the following day. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Fruit, both on wall trees and those grown 
in the open quarters, is now being gathered 
in. The Plum trees, except the Damsons, 
are being rapidly relieved of their burdens. 
Apples and Pears are also receiving atten¬ 
tion. This is quite as it should be. It is 
not of much avail if we neglect to gather in, 
and make the best of all fruit crops after 
spending so much labour on the production 
of it. 
Grapes on Walls. 
The present is a good season for outdoor 
Grapes. In many parts of the country the 
outdoor crops are good. The variety, Black 
Cluster, being one of the best to grow where 
ripe fruit is the chief object in view. 
Too often we allow outdoor Vines to grow 
wild, as it were, while paying very close 
attention to indoor ones. Fig. 2 shows how 
to treat the lateral shoots on the Vines. At 
A, A, these laterals are shown stopped 
beyond the first leaf. B and C, being main 
leaves, growing from the same branch as 
the bunch of Grapes and the laterals. The 
judicious stopping of all lateral shoots 
results in the admission of plenty of light 
and air, which are necessary for the 
colouring and ripening of both wood, buds, 
and berries. 
Peaches and Nectarines. 
Directly the fruit is gathered from the 
branches, vigorously syringe the trees with 
clear water to cleanse them of accumulated 
dust and insect pests. The foliage should 
be maintained in a healthy condition in the 
autumn as well as in summer time and 
spring. 
Raspberries. 
Continue to thin out old canes as fast 
as they are freed from their burden of 
fruit. Autumn-fruiting varieties should be 
mulched and netted in due time. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Seakale, 
These plants commence early to run to 
seed, and all flower spikes should be cut off 
while they are quite small but where such 
work has been neglected, and, in con¬ 
sequence, the stems are now large and the 
flowers opening as shown in Fig. 3, no time 
should be lost in cutting off the flower stems 
as shown by the dark line in Fig. 3. Mark 
all such plants and do not select them later 
on for forcing purposes. 
Rhubarb. 
Carefully examine the Rhubarb bed and 
forthwith gather up all dead lea.ves and 
take them to the rubbish heap. It is now a 
good time to place a stick to the best crowns 
to denote which are the proper roots to lift 
for forcing in houses in the early, part of 
the winter. Do not break off forcibly any 
leaves. 
Turnips. 
Thin out the young plants when the 
latter are about inches high, or possess 
two or three rough leaves. The fly will 
not be very 'troublesome at this season, so 
early thinning is advisable in order to get 
strong plants and early bulbs. 
Potatos. 
Continue to lift and store Potatos. Let 
all the different varieties be quite matured, 
however, as they will keep better than 
those which are not ripe and have badly 
peeled tubers. Pick out any diseased ones 
now, as if left in the heap they will con¬ 
taminate sound tubers and create a greater 
loss. 
Weeds. 
Pull up all weeds found growing amongst 
such crops as Beet, Parsnips, Chervil and 
Cardoons, and prevent them seeding. 
“ Foxglove.” 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Miscellaneous Items. 
Although the greenhouse is still gay with 
Liliums, Pelargoniums, tuberous Be¬ 
gonias, and many other favourites, the 
amateur’s time must not be given entirely 
to these. 
There are other things requiring his at¬ 
tention, and the stock of plants for winter 
and spring decoration of the structure must 
be looked to constantly, as neglect of these 
at this time often spells future failure. 
The Solanums, for instance, must be care¬ 
fully watered, or the berries, which are 
their chief feature, and are now forming, 
will undoubtedly fall if the plants are al¬ 
lowed to become dry at the roots. 
The work of propagating will still be 
going on, and such things as Kleinias, 
Echeverias and Cotyledons may be increased 
to almost any extent. The great task of pot¬ 
ting up the various bulbs will also at this 
season help to occupy all the enthusiast’s 
spare hours, and it is as well when mixing 
the soil for this purpose to ensure its being 
insect free by the judicious use of Kilogrub, 
or some other insecticide. 
Sweet Peas under Glass. 
Sweet Peas are always in great demand 
for table decoration even in summer, but 
during the winter months they become almost 
invaluable, and, provided a good strain of 
seed is obtained and sown now, plants can 
be raised which will produce a plentiful 
supply of cut flowers early in December, 
continuing in bloom for a considerable 
period if all fading blossoms are carefully 
removed and fairly rich treatment be given 
them. Perhaps the best way to grow them 
is in large pots, six or eight plants in each, 
supported by a few canes and some raffia 
tape. The very tall growing sorts should, 
of course, be avoided, but the dwarf or 
bush varieties are particularly adapted to 
pot culture in the greenhouse. 
Watering- Melons. 
Though in their earlier stages these lus¬ 
cious fruits require plenty of water, yet 
whilst the crops are ripening, little or none 
should be given them,,, or they will become 
tasteless, flavourless and useless. If grown 
in frames, the fruits should be raised to¬ 
wards the glass, and inverted flower pots 
placed beneath them, so that they may at 
this stage obtain the full benefits of light 
and sunshine. As they become ripe (and the 
sweet odour arising from them will doubt¬ 
less announce the fact) they may be cut and 
placed on a dry shelf or staging in the 
greenhouse for a few days to mature, before 
being sent to the table. 
Tradescantia zebrina. 
This, is quite a handsome little plant for 
pot culture, and being fairly hardy does 
well mixed with Fuchsias, Petunias, or the 
like in wire baskets which may be suspended 
out of doors during the summer. Any that 
have developed straggling growth should be 
shortened without compunction or delay. 
The pinched off extremities, however, need 
not be thrown away, for if inserted, say, 
six or eight together in a five-inch pot, con¬ 
taining loam, leaf-mould, and sand in equal 
parts, they will soon take root, and come in 
very handy for replenishing baskets which 
have contained Achimenes, or other plants 
which'will'soon be past their best. 
Starting Early Bulbs. 
There are few better Tulips for forcing 
than Due van Thol, which, in company with 
the early white Roman Hyacinths, are 
grown by nearly everybody who owns a 
greenhouse. Nothing is more disappoint¬ 
ing when'growing them in pots than to find 
some of the bulbs flowering far in advance 
of the others, thus spoiling altogether the 
effect. This can easily be avoided, however, 
if they are first started in shallow boxes, 
from which they can be safely removed at 
a future period to the pots in which it is 
intended to flower them. The bulbs may 
be placed fairly close together, and just 
covered with soil, after which the boxes 
containing them should be plunged in fibre 
or ashes for a month or so. When the 
flower spikes are well forward they mav be 
carefully raised and potted without undulv 
disturbing the roots, selecting for each re¬ 
ceptacle those in about the same state of 
growth, thus ensuring an even and regular 
display of blossom. 
Treatment of Poinsettias. 
The young plants resulting from cuttings 
struck in the early part of the summer as 
advised in this column should now be fine 
sturdy stuff, and if re-potting and watering 
has been carefully attended to, will soon 
be ready for a further shift, when richei 
soil may be used, a good sprinkling of well- 
rotted cow dung being added to the original 
compost. 
The old plants from which they were 
taken will have made new and strong 
growths, and if they have been placed out 
to ripen, the new shoots will produce in 
abundance during the ensuing autumn and 
winter months, the scarlet bracts which sup¬ 
port the flowers and which make such a 
brilliant display. They will last for quite 
a long time if the plants are placed in a 
light warm situation in the greenhouse and 
kept plentifully supplied with water, and 
their beauty will be enhanced if a pinch of 
Clay’s Fertiliser is stirred into the top soil. 
Liliums after Flowering. 
It is safe to assert that more of these beau¬ 
tiful flowering bulbs are rendered useless 
by wrong treatment after blooming than bv 
previous faulty culture. As soon as the 
flowers fade and shed their petals, they 
should be removed, and, water being gradu¬ 
ally withheld, the tops will naturally 
wither and die. Then the pots should be 
placed upon their sides to allow the bulbs 
to dry gradually, after which they can be 
shaken out and trimmed up in readiness for 
reDOtting in fresh compost at a future date. 
G. A. F. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Cool House Orchids. 
Towards the end of August and during 
September, providing the outside conditions 
are moist and the hot weather passed, the 
bulk of the Odontoglossums will be found in a 
suitable state to undergo any necessary re¬ 
potting. I always consider the best time to 
re-pot is just as the pseudo-bulb is forming 
at the base; in this state of growth it will 
usually be found that the new roots are 
being emitted from the base of the advancing 
growth. It is best to attend to any repot¬ 
ting before the young roots have advanced 
too far, for there is always a greater pos¬ 
sibility of damage in the process of re-pot¬ 
ting or top dressing, as the case may be, 
when the roots have advanced to any length. 
A still greater advantage maj' also be 
claimed for re-potting at this stage of 
growth, namely, that the new roots get 
away into the new potting compost rapidly, 
and the plant becomes again re-established: 
with the least possibilit}' of check. The 
outside conditions have a very considerable; 
