TUB GARDEN IN a WORLD. 
August 29, 1908. 
562 
We do not quite see the force of the argu¬ 
ment not to water if the ground was getting 
dry, and this it was almost certain to do 
during the long spells of dry weather which 
we have had this summer. The treatment 
of the soil was good enough, but we should 
have watered them down with the rosed 
watering pot as soon as they were inserted 
in the soil. We should then refrain from 
giving them any more water till the soil is 
getting dry again, when they should have 
sufficient to penetrate to the base of the cut¬ 
tings. Out of doors the treatment may be 
quite different from that under glass. Even 
cuttings of Carnations will take a fair 
amount of water without injury, and, in¬ 
deed, moisture is necessary to the process of 
rooting. We do not mean that you should 
keep them soddened with water, as it is a 
matter for your discretion, but whenever the 
soil is getting dry it is a proof that more 
water is required. Carnation cuttings take 
some time to root, and we can only advise 
you to keep them moist and exercise patience. 
The tips of the leaves may look withered, 
but if the base is alive and green there is 
still hope for them. The withered tips oould 
be cut away when the plants are lifted to be 
put into their flowering positions. It might 
have been that the leaves you had were long 
and rather sappy at the time. This would 
account 'for their withering at the tips un¬ 
der the conditions. If we had had any 
doubts about their being in a suitable con¬ 
dition we should have cut off the tips of the 
leaves before inserting them, and that 
would have prevented flagging. 
3149. Seedling Campanula. 
Could you tell me what a Campanula pyra- 
midalis compacta alba seedling looks like 
when it comes up ? I have sown some in a 
box, and it seems full of weeds only. (Mys¬ 
tery, Somerset.) 
The leaves of this Campanula are heart- 
shaped and of a bright shining green. You 
would, therefore, be able to recognise it at 
a very early stage, even when it has made 
the first rough leaf. Weeds do come up in 
plenty in most seed pots and pans, and it is 
advisable to go over them occasionally so 
as to root out all those things that you know 
are weeds at an early stage, and thus pre¬ 
vent them from choking up the real plants, 
and likewise avoid rooting up the Cam¬ 
panula seedlings. 
3150. Plants for Present Sowing. 
Would you kindly give me information 
on the following points? I have no glass. 
(1) What seeds should be planted now in the 
open? (2) Do Pansy plants continue till 
next year? (3) Should Wallflowers be sown 
now or plants purchased ? (4) When is the 
best time to purchase seedlings of Holly¬ 
hocks for planting? (R. G. E. H., Hants.) 
( 1 ) Seeds of hardy annuals are the most 
suitable for sowing at the present time, but 
you would have had a better chance of full 
success if the seeds had been sown at the 
beginning of August. Nevertheless, you 
can still sow seeds of Erysimum perofskia- 
num, Collinsia hicolor, Clarkia elegans, C. 
fulchella, Godetias in variety, Myosoitiis al- 
pestris Victoria, M. sylvatica, Coreopsis 
tinotoria, annual double Larkspurs, Lava- 
tera trimestris, Malope trifida grandiflora, 
Nemophila insignis, Iceland Poppies, Shir¬ 
ley Poppies, Candytuft in variety, Corn¬ 
flower, Virginian Stock, Scabiosa atropur- 
purea (double varieties), and Saponaria 
calabrica. (2) Some of the Pansies might 
live and flower well next year, but it is al¬ 
most certain many of them will die and 
leave gaps long before spring. Your best 
plan, therefore, is to sow seeds in boxes, 
keeping the latter in a cold frame or elevat¬ 
ing panes of glass over the boxes, so 
as to keep off wet. If you wish to preserve 
the same varieties, you should take cut¬ 
tings and insert them in boxes of light sandy 
soil and leaf mould. They should be pro¬ 
tected in the same way, so as to keep off 
rain and snow during wet times in winter. 
This is only necessary because they are in 
boxes where the rain does not so readily 
run away, as when they are dibbled into the 
soil of the garden. You might even adopt 
that plan, selecting a slightly shady border 
and mixing a good quantity of leaf mould 
and sand with it, digging it over and then 
pressing it down firmly. In your district 
this plan ought to answer admirably. (3) 
Wallflowers should be sown in April, May 
or June, and we think May is really a very 
good month for. the operation. If you de¬ 
sire to have them in bloom in spring you 
will have to get plants frjm the florist in 
September or October and plant them 
where you intend them to flower. (4) 
Seedling Hollyhocks may be purchased 
and planted in September or October, 
or again in March, those three months 
being the most suitable times for get¬ 
ting them established when transplanted. 
The earlier they are planted the better, pro¬ 
vided the soil is suitably moist to enable 
them to get a good start. That is the reason 
why we advocate doing it in September if 
possible. 
3151. Propagating Variegated Alyssum. 
I have a variegated variety of the Sweet 
Alyssum, which has done well as an edging 
to a bed of Begonias. Would you please tell 
me if it is an annual and how I can preserve 
it for another year. Is it difficult to rear ? 
((R. Drummond, Worcestershire.) 
The Alyssum which you mention is really 
a perennial, but is liable to get injured in 
winter if the weather happens to be severe. 
The best plan, therefore, is to take cuttings 
about the beginning of September and put 
them in boxes to stand the winter. Use a 
light soil consisting of equal parts of loam, 
leaf mould and sand. If it is sufficiently 
moist you need not water it until after the 
cuttings have been put in. If, on the other 
hand, it is dry,, you should water it and 
allow it to get settled for a few hours before 
you commence inserting the cuttings. That 
is merely to prevent it puddling while mak¬ 
ing the cuttings firm in the box. If kept 
fairly dry at the roots and quite dry over¬ 
head during the winter months a cold frame 
would answer the purpose in preserving 
them. 
315 2. Sweet Peas with Long Stalks. 
The Gardening World has been very 
helpful to me many times, and I shall be 
very much obliged if you will kindly answer 
the enclosed questions in your next issue. 
How can I treat Sweet -Peas to grow very 
long strong stems? (A Many Years’ Sub¬ 
scriber, Yorks.) 
There are several ways of getting Sweet 
Peas to grow strongly, and having secured 
this it means that they also produce long 
and strong stalks. One plan is to sow the 
seeds singly in small pots in September or 
October, and to grow these plants on in a 
cold frame during the winter. When they 
require repotting—say, in February during 
mild weather, give them a size or two 
larger, and this keeps the plants growing 
and progressing slowly. By the middle of 
April, whenever the weather is suitable, you 
can plant them in the open ground. In the 
meantime you should prepare the ground 
for their reception by trenching at least 2 ft. 
deep and using plenty of manure while the 
process of trenching is proceeding^ The 
plants will require staking as saoh as you 
have planted them out. and the ground 
should be kept clean and loose on the top 
during the season to encourage growth. If 
dry weather sets in it is a good plan to 
loosen the surface of the ground, cover it 
with a layer of half-rotted manure, and 
then give a good watering at intervals. An¬ 
other plan is to take out trenches 2^ ft. 
deep or simply holes 3 ft. in diameter and 
2^ ft. deep. The soil should be well mixed 
with manure before it is turned back into 
the holes or into the trench as the case may 
be. Before completely filling up the holes 
Sweet Peas may be sown thinly on the top 
of these trenches or holes and then slightly 
covered with soil to encourage rapid ger¬ 
mination. This should be done at the begin¬ 
ning of 'March. The holes, of course, may 
be completely filled up afterwards. Another 
plan is to plant out in these positions Sweet 
Peas which have been sown in pots in autumn 
as above recommended, or, say, in January. 
Either - of these plans will encourage a 
vigorous growth of the plants. You should 
at least leave a foot between every two 
plants raised in pots. Some people give 
18 in. to 2 ft. between the plants in a row, 
that is, when plants have been reared in 
pots as above described. They should be 
planted in April when the weather is genial. 
3153. Geraniums Damaged. 
I enclose leaves of Geraniums. Our neigh¬ 
bours next door have some spite toward^ 
my garden and they threw some spirits on 
them. Will you kindly inform me what 
the enclosed leaves have got on them? (C. 
Punter, Middlesex.) 
It would be rather difficult to say what 
had been thrown upon your Geraniums, but 
it would appear to have been something 
strong. There are many things that would 
injure leaves of plants, so that unless the 
leaves are examined immediately after the 
liquid had been thrown upon them, it would 
be difficull to say what had been used. The 
liquid would appear to have been thrown in 
small quantity or at least widely distri¬ 
buted in small drops, because these have just 
managed to kill small spots on each leaf. 
Paraffin would very quickly destroy them, 
but we think it would be more inclined to 
run over a greater portion of the leaf. It 
might have been sulphuric acid, also known 
as vitriol. 
3154. Points of Pompon Dahlias. 
It may prove interesting to others as well 
as myself if you enumerate the points to be 
looked for in a Dahlia for exhibition. (II. 
Staddon, Essex.) 
On this occasion we shall take the Pompon 
section of Dahlias for discussion. The race 
is a miniature of the show Dahlia, not being 
of the same regular and rounded outline. 
We sometimes see growers encouraging size 
in the blooms of a Pompon Dahlia by prun¬ 
ing so as to reduce the number of flowers 
on a plant to get size. This is a mistake, 
however, and no attempt should be made to 
get them as large as possible. In prepar¬ 
ing for exhibition they should be 'shown in 
bunches of six or ten according to the num¬ 
ber allowed by schedules. Usually they 
have their stalks wired so as to face all one 
way in triangular form. For instance, if 
six are desired the bottom row should con¬ 
tain three blooms, the middle row two and 
one bloom should be placed in the middle 
at the top of the bunch. Large numbers 
may be arranged in the same way and ac¬ 
cording to the number so should the breadth 
of the bunch be at the base. Great attention 
is paid to the neatness with which they are 
put up at good shows. Form is another 
point. The bloom should be small with 
proportionately small, densely-arranged 
petals. The outline of the whole bloom 
should be circular and neat. The various 
colours should be attractively distributed 
over the stand or box in which they are 
put up. The dark and bright colours should, 
of course, be regularly distributed amongst 
the lighter coloured ores, because the one 
shows the other up. The blooms should, 
of course, be in their prime. Another point 
is that the centre should be full and on a 
level with the rest of the florets if not above 
them, 
