September 5, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
575 
The Flower Garden. 
The Dry Weather. 
The recent long spell of dry weather has 
had a bad effect upon undershrubs, the 
awns, and certain kinds of bedding plants. 
During a recent visit to a noted garden 
.vhere undershrubs, especially Rhododen- 
Fig. 1 shows how to sow the first Sweet Pea 
seeds in -pots; A, the seeds ; B, a good 
compost half filling the pot. 
drons, are a striking feature, I was much 
surprised to see how distressed the plants 
were through lack of moisture. 
Specimen shrubs, and those growing in 
borders by themselves, do not suffer as much 
as others which are situated under trees. 
The latter take up much moisture; their 
roots permeate the soil to a greater depth 
than those of shrubs, and so the latter 
are robbed of nourishment. Undershrubs 
grown on a large scale cannot be treated, 
at such times, as generously as those in 
small gardens. A few canfuls of water,, 
judiciously given to each shrub, would pre¬ 
vent the withering of the leaves, generally, 
and their entire loss in some instances. 
Also, in the evening, use the garden engine 
or syringe freely and refresh the foliage in 
fhiS way. Even when rain comes, watering 
should be done, as the soil is dust dry in 
uany places to a considerable depth, and 
large quantities of water will be necessary 
before such a dry soil is well saturated. 
which the fine weather obtains. BuKevery 
effort should be made to prolong the display 
of flowers by applying a neat mulch of 
cocoa-nut fibre, where mulching has not been 
done, and plenty of water, forthwith. 
Staking Plants. 
Liliums, and sub-tropical plants, which 
have not been duly supported with neat 
stakes, should have the necessary support 
forthwith. If the stakes be painted dark 
green and judiciously placed behind the 
stems and leaves of the plants, they will 
scarcely be noticeable, and will yet serve 
their purpose well. 
Sweet Pea Seeds. 
Where early flowers are required next 
year procure some new seeds as soon as 
possible and sow three in a pot. Fig. 1 
shows a flower pot 3^ inches across. Three 
seeds A, are placed on the soil B, which 
half fills the pot. Fill up with compost, 
give water and place the pots in a cool 
frame or shaded position outside. Fibrous 
loam, rotted manure, and coarse sand forms 
Fig. 2 shows how to prune Peach Trees 
before the leaves have fallen; A, branch to 
be cut out; B,B, branches to be retained. 
Climbers. 
These plants suffer from lack of moisture 
sooner than many other kinds of plants on 
account of the borders being so sheltered 
under walls where they do not get the full 
benefit of rains when they do come. More¬ 
over, these sheltered borders get the 
benefit of the sunshine where they are fav¬ 
ourably placed, and this is another factor 
in the drying-up process. 
Give water freely to such borders. Neg¬ 
lect to do so now will have a prejudicial 
effect later on. 
Bedding Plants. 
? BU ! n ^ las ^ >een ideal weather for the 
° na l Pelargonium. Never before have I 
seen these plants so flourishing, thriving in 
every way namely : good, clean, healthy 
tiage, and large trusses of clear coloured 
iT S ’- ^guerite Daisies, too, are 
?im?il’ S1I ? gle Petunias , Heliotrope, and 
RniK 1 ^, ants are a Ho most satisfactory. 
olus b anH ^°T enng Subjects . such a s Gladi- 
of thei pl mms, are coming to the climax 
last b 7 much soor ‘ ar than they did 
garden wili^ S ° lover of a beautiful 
r eap the benefit of the display 
a suitable compost. In due time, further 
hints will be given about the treatment of 
pot-grown Sweet Peas. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Strawberries. 
Continue to plant Strawberries where it 
is necessary to make new beds of these 
plants. Rooted layers in flower pots will 
grow freely and not show any signs of dis¬ 
tress, but runners taken direct from the 
beds whence they have been uprooted, will 
require careful treatment for several weeks 
after they are transplanted. The object 
should be to get ripened leaves and plump 
crowns before the autumn frosts come. 
Gathering Fruits. 
As these ripen gather them very carefully. 
A few minutes of rough usage will practic¬ 
ally undo the whole season’s work. Place 
Apples at the coolest end of the fruit room 
and Pears at the warmest, but ventilation 
during fine weather is most essential. The 
room may be kept darkened, indeed, it is 
better so, but a close atmosphere is not de¬ 
sirable. 
Peach and Nectarine Trees. 
As soon as the fruits are gathered com¬ 
mence to thin out some of the shoots. There 
are, no doubt, many shoots in each tree that 
are not required for next year’s crop, apd 
the sconer such shoots are cut away the 
better will it be for others retained, and 
which are needed for fruit-bearing next 
year. Fig. 2 shows how this pruning may 
be done. The branch A is more than one 
year old. Other branches, BB, are grow¬ 
ing; these are shoots of the current ybar ; 
it is better to retain these than such as the 
one shown at A, so the latter must be cut 
out at the dark line, then the shoots, BB, 
will fill up the gap 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Earthing-up Celery. 
The time has now come when the earth¬ 
ing of the main crop of Celery must be 
attended to. I am strongly in favour of 
this work until as late in the season as 
possible, consistent with the welfare of the 
plants as regards the safety of the leaves. 
The plants should be kept quite clean and 
be fed judiciously before any earthing-up 
is done. But the first layer of soil must 
now be placed to the plants as shown in 
Fig. 3. As the soil, AA, is taken from the 
ridges, BB, the latter will be reduced in 
height, and as further supplies of earthing 
soil are required, care should be taken that 
the roots of the Celery plants are not dam¬ 
aged. Keep the soil from falling into the 
hearts of the plants as the work proceeds. 
Peas. 
Exhausted rows should be cleared away, 
the ground hoed, and winter greens' put in 
forthwith. 'Burn the Pea haulm; do not 
place it in some odd corner to decay. Ear¬ 
wigs find a good refuge in the curled-up 
leaves from whence they go forth and do 
damage to other crops. 
Broad Beans, Dwarf Beans. 
The haulm of these should also be burnt, 
except some of the soundest of the Broad 
Beans which should be used as traps for 
earwigs elsewhere. 
Endive. 
Continue . to blanch the plants under 
slates, tiles or boards, or lift them and 
replant in a cool frame. 
“ Foxglove.” 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Cleansing the Greenhouse. 
About this time of the year the green¬ 
house should undergo a thorough cleaning 
to prepare it for the reception of the Chry¬ 
santhemums, and other winter occupants. 
Fig. 3 shows earthing-up Celery ; A,A, new 
soil taken from the ridges, B, B. 
