5 68 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
September 5, 1908. 
Variegated 
picas elastica 
cr 
In the Dwelling House. 
This is an excellent and noble foliage 
plant suitable for the amateur’s dwelling 
house, but during winter the variegated 
variety would require the greenhouse as a 
hospital, owing to it not being so hardy 
as Ficus elastica, the rich green-leaved 
variety, although it may be successfully 
cultivated during winter in the dwelling- 
house, provided it is carefully attended 
to and placed in a fairly light position. 
The bane of plants kept in the dwelling- 
house is the dry atmosphere, and the dust 
which settles on the leaves. To counter¬ 
act this they should be thoroughly 
sponged once a week in tepid water. 
Drawing the finger across the leaves will 
leave a distinct impression in the layer 
jf dust, which, of course, chokes up the 
pores, so to speak, the plants dying pre¬ 
maturely. Very often the amateurs’ 
plants fail through having been drawn up 
m heat; they have been raised to sell. 
In the flower market those plants are seen 
with a fresh and glossy appearance, and 
very attractive to lovers of those beautiful 
foliage plants. After the buyer selects 
his fresh, polished leaved plant, going 
home full of glee, this glossy plant soon 
vanishes after the plant ha§ been in the 
room for a week or two. It is natural for 
the market grower to obtain saleable stock 
quickly, and so he forces along the plants. 
So it is for the buyer to watch number one, 
as very often that healthiness does not last 
in the dwelling-house, and plants growing 
thus require careful treatment afterwards. 
Cold currents of air should be avoided, 
and no more water be given than is abso¬ 
lutely necessary. A feature in their beauty 
is that large specimens of about 3 ft. high 
can be grown in a five or six inch pot, but 
in such cases food must be given, especi¬ 
ally during the spring months ; also, when 
re-potting, it is generally necessary to 
place the plants in the greenhouse to re¬ 
cover the check, as it is like the Aspidistra, 
and does not recover quickly after a dis¬ 
turbance. 
The Ficus is a little difficult to propa¬ 
gate, but those wishing to increase their 
stock should fix on a plant of about one or 
two years old, as the older the plant the 
more difficult to propagate. After secur¬ 
ing a good stem, cut it up into lengths of 
about two inches, leaving about the same 
amount of wood at the top with a pair of 
leaves, as the topping soon forms a good 
plant. Insert these into pans of sandy 
soil, and plunge into a gentle bottom 
heat. Of course this plant must be propa¬ 
gated under glass. 
J. W. Forsyth. 
Caladium Duke of Teck. 
The leaves of this dwarf variety are of 
a violet-crimson with carmine veins, the 
whole leaf being nearly of a uniform rich 
shade and glossy. Being of dwarf habit, 
it is highly suitable for decorative pur¬ 
poses, independently of exhibition. A 
well coloured plant of it was shown by 
Messrs. John Peed and Son, West Nor- 
Wood. London, at the R.H.S. meeting of 
the 18th August. 
National Dahlia Society. 
The annual exhibition of this society 
will be held on Thursday, September 3rd, 
at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Vincent 
Square, Westminster. 
78 Years in One Garden. 
Mr. Wilfred Ashley, M.P., has sent con¬ 
gratulations to his Hampshire home to a 
gardener who has been in the employ of 
the Ashley family for seventy-eight years. 
This is believed to be a record service. 
The old man, who celebrates his 90th 
birthday, is still active in the garden. 
Poisonous Plants. 
Writing to the “Daily Telegraph,” a 
correspondent says he traced a very severe 
attack of influenza to the acrid aroma of 
Hyacinths and Narcissus blooms which 
had been standing too long in water in his 
sitting-room. “For years,” he adds “I 
have noticed the scourge following hard 
on the heels of the flowers, and, person¬ 
ally, I avoid them like plague. I may 
be quite wrcng in my view, but wait until 
December, and observe for yourself—first 
the flowers, then the scourge. 
- a. w. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL 0GHDITI0N8. —Competitors must 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any way,', any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be oare- 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN SHILLIHC8 will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making the award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
following date of issue. Entries received later 
than Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
the following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
160 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
A prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ A. R. Gould" for the article 
on “ Tomato Culture for Amateurs,” page 558. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize 
was awarded to '“Wm. Smith," for the article 
on “ Layering Carnations ” ; and another to 
“Penzance” for the article on “Some New 
Primulas," page 556. 
Treatment of 
The Soil. 
Some Hints. 
A few hints on the treatment of land 
under cultivation may not be out of place 
at this season of the year. The ground 
generally lies fallow after the removal of 
the crops in September, but it is a serious 
mistake to leave it vacant so long. The 
growing of certain green crops with the 
object of turning them in is a well-known 
practice, and as a matter of fact the soil 
is often richer in nitrogen after a legu¬ 
minous crop has been treated in this wav. 
These facts were at first extremely 
puzzling, but have now been explained. 
If, for instance, we examine the roots of 
the Lupine or Pea we shall find numerous 
small swellings or tubercles which are 
filled with very small unicellular bod^ 
called bacterioids ; these bacterioids have 
the power of making use of the free nitro 
gen of the atmosphere and bringing it intc 
combination, these compounds of nitrogen 
being then absorbed by the roots. 
Certain experiments carried out at Roth 
ampstead a few years ago, with the object 
of ascertaining how much nitrogen could 
be obtained by this means, showed an in¬ 
crease of 500 lbs., including that used b} 
the crop. An experiment conducted at the 
Louisiana Experiment Station, U.S.A. 
showed that a certain kind of Corn Pea 
had stored up in the soil 289 lbs. of nitro¬ 
gen per acre, in this case the crops having 
been treated as green manuring. In East 
Prussia, where Lupines are gTown to re¬ 
claim the poor heath lands, it was founc 
that in one field where Lupines had beer 
grown since 1865 to 1891, that the nitro 
gen had increased from 0.027 P er cent, tc 
o. 177 per cent., or equal to a ton and a 
half of nitrogen per acre, or seven and 1 
half tons of sulphate of ammonia, anc 
no other manure had been used excep 
phosphate and potash, and the crop ha< 
been removed every year. The decayinj 
of leguminous and non-leguminous plant 
and their roots tends to increase thehumu 
in the soils, and this is most desirable ii 
very light sandy soils, while it is of noles 
value in heavy, clayey, water-logged soils 
as it makes them lighter, the less densit 
of texture permitting the air to enter th 
soil, and helping to drain away the sur 
plus water. 
Another advantage is m the saving n 
animal manure, as it is obviously no 
necessary to apply any when this practic 
is resorted to. The green manuring cro 
derives most of its food from the subsoil 
especially in very dry weather, and whe: 
the crop is turned into the soil, plant foO' 
has been transferred from the subsoil t 
the surface soil, where it wili be of mor 
value. If a sowing of such plants as th 
Leguminosae, or tap-rooted plants lik 
the Cruciferae, is made in the autumn c 
each year, say for three years, it wil 
greatly improve the fertility and mechan 
cal condition of the worst soils. 
W. Glover. 
- +++ - 
Some novel and attractive “ button 
holes” have been seen recently in London 
consisting of bunches of bright-coloure' 
Crab Apples about the size of Cherries 
with their own leaves. 
