166 
3674. Freesia refracta alba. 
Would you please tell me ■when to sow 
and how to grow Freesia, refracta alba? 
(C. H., Northampton.) 
August is the best month to sow Freesias, 
so that they can be grown during the cold 
weather throughout the winter, which is 
their proper season. If you are successful 
they should flower in the following spring. 
The method of dealing with them is to sow 
thinly in well-drained 5 in. pots and then 
to thin out the seedlings, leaving only five 
of the best. Keep growing them on in cold 
frames till cold weather makes it convenient 
to put them in a greenhouse on a shelf close 
to the glass, where they will get plenty of 
light and air. Keep growing them until 
they flower or ripen off. The bulbs may be 
kept in the pots until August, when they 
may be shaken out and repotted. The best 
plan is really to sow the seeds as soon as 
they are ripe. If you have the seeds by you 
you could make a sowing by way of experi¬ 
ment either during this month or the next. 
The pots may be stood in a cold frame and 
when the weather gets warm turn the frame 
round to face the north. Give plenty of ven¬ 
tilation at all times when the weather is 
favourable both summer and winter. 
3675. Culture of Abutilon hybridum. 
Will you kindly tell me the cultural treat¬ 
ment of Abutilon hybridum? (Nemo, North¬ 
ampton.) 
The compost for these greenhouse shrubs 
should consist of loam, peat and leaf mould 
in equal parts with a good dash of clean 
sharp sand to ensure porosity. Drain the 
pots well, as they require an abundance of 
water when in full growth, especially 'in 
warm weather. If you begin with small 
plants and require a large one or two, keep 
them growing and shift into larger sizes 
before the roots become potbound. When the 
flowering pots are well-filled with roots you 
can give them weak liquid manure once or 
twice a week with advantage. In winter the 
plants should be kept fairly dry if in a 
resting condition, but if you wish them to 
grow, then a temperature of 50 degs. to 52 
degs. would answer and a little more water 
would be required under those conditions. 
If the plants are only intended to be rested 
during winter a temperature of 40 degs. to 
45 degs. by night would be quite sufficient. 
The usual plan with these plants is to en¬ 
courage growth in the spring and summer, 
and to allow them to go to rest late in the 
autumn. In this condition they may remain 
at rest through the winter and be repotted, 
if necessary, when they commence to grow 
in spring. See under “Fruit” for your 
other question. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
3676. Seedling Tree Lupins. 
I obtained and sowed a packet of seed 
of the tree Lupin last year, but they only 
made low plants about 1 ft. high and have 
not flowered. What would vou advise me to 
do to get them to flower? (J. Lorimeu, 
Bucks.) 
The tree Lupin being a shrubby plant re¬ 
quires a longer time to come into bloom than 
annual Lupins. You should, therefore, exer¬ 
cise patience. During the coming summer 
you can either keep the ground frequently 
hoed around the plants or you can mulch 
them to encourage vigorous growth, giving 
a good soaking of water after the mulching. 
This may be removed early in September so 
as to allow the plants to lipen off and be 
better able to withstand the winter. They 
may flower a little during the coming Au¬ 
gust if vigorous, and if so, they would con¬ 
tinue to get larger and give more flowers 
in succeeding years. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
3677. Violas in Chalky Soil. 
As I would like to grow Violas in my 
garden, would you recommend me to get 
seeds or plants ? Which would be the most 
easy to establish in a light and chalky soil 
liable to get dry in summer ? They would 
not get much shade as there is only a fence 
to the garden. Is any particular treatment 
of the soil necessary? (C. Harding, Surrey.) 
What you require is to improve the soil 
with the view of making it retain moisture 
during the summer months. You should, 
therefore, trench it or remove the whole of 
the good soil on the top and then thoroughly 
break up the subsoil or chalk underneath. 
The good soil can then be returned on the 
top of it. At the same time use plenty of 
well-decayed cow manure to mix with this 
soil. Even leaf mould would be an assist¬ 
ance in helping to retain moisture during 
the summer. In a soil of this kind you can 
either raise from seeds or get plants. The 
latter would be the best way of securing 
good varieties of any desired colour. The 
secret of establishing Violas is to plant 
them early, and in your soil it should be 
done some time during this month as early 
as possible. They may not make much 
growth until well into April, but the root 
system will be getting established, and that 
is the secret of success with Violas, by get¬ 
ting them well forward in advance of the 
warm weather. At the beginning of June 
mulch the ground with something that will 
help to retain the moisture. A good water¬ 
ing occasionally over this mulch will be of 
immense service. 
3678. Plants for Chalky Soil. 
Please give me the names of some flowers 
that would be easy to grow in such a soil 
as mine and say if seeds or plants are the 
best to get. (C. Harding, Surrey.) 
If you prepare your soil as advised for 
Violas you can grow a great variety of 
plants in such a soil as yours. You should 
get plants of Pinks, Carnations, Lychnis 
coronaria and Antirrhinums, the last-named 
may also be reared from seeds. Other 
flowers that would grow freely in chalky 
soil are Wallflowers, single or double Pe¬ 
tunias, Sweet Williams, Gaiilardias, 'Can¬ 
terbury Bells, Chrysanthemum carinatum 
burridgeanum, Scabiosa atropurpurea, Lii- 
num grandiflorum rubrum, and pot Mari¬ 
gold (Calendula officinalis Meteor). You 
should get seeds of the last-named lot of 
plants. 
3679. Plants for a Copse. 
There is a copse or belt of trees on one side 
of our garden and the ground beneath is 
bare and unsightly. Could you suggest any- 
thing that would grow underneath the trees 
that are 30 ft. or 40 ft. high, consisting 
of Elms, Sycamore, Ash and other things 
of that sort? (J. Mason, Hants.) 
The roots, of most of those trees you men¬ 
tion tend to keep the ground in a very dry 
condition. You can improve it, however, by 
top dressing more or less every year with 
well-decayed cow manure or leaf mould. 
Such things as the Greater Periwinkle 
(Vinca major), the Lesser Periwinkle (V. 
minor), Hypericum calycinum or St. Tohn’s 
Wort, single and double Daffodils and Cro¬ 
cuses may be planted with a reasonable hope 
of success, even if there is a fair amount of 
shade. If the shade is not great a great 
many other plants could be grown, such as 
Primroses. Polyanthuses and Anemones, in 
considerable variety. If any spots are fairly 
mcist, you could plant hardy Ferns. 
HEDGES. 
3680. Hedge to Turn Cattle. 
One side of mv garden faces a field in 
which cattle are kept in summer, and they 
March 6, 1909. 
reach over the fence and eat plants wthi 
their range. I would like to plant a hed<; 
along -that side, but I fear they would e; 
the hedge while growing up, unless you ca 
suggest something they would not eat. 
should be pleased to have your opinio 
about this. (J. Golman, Hull.) 
The common Hawthorn or Quick makt 
the best hedge against cattle, which do no 
as a rule, molest fully grown hedges of th: 
tree. If driven, however, by lack of foddc 
they might do harm to a young hedge. T 
guard against this, however, you could pr 
wire netting along the top of the fence, an 
by the time this has rusted away the hedg 
will have grown up. Before planting prt 
pare a site by deeply digging or even trend 
ing the soil, keeping the best material oj 
the top. 
ROSES. 
3681. Colour and Quality of Roses. 
I bought last autumn thirteen Rose tree 
and ten of them were said to be dwarfs an 
three of them climbers. The names of tl 
dwarfs are Victor Verdier, Ulrich Brur 
ner, Mrs. J. Laing, A. K. Williams, Whit 
Scotch, Reynolds Hole, Horace Vernet, Di 
puy Jamainand Paul Neyron. The climber 
are Charles Lawson, Longworth Ramble 
and Polyantha Simplex. I should like t 
know the quality and colours of them, es 
pecially the" last-named climber as to it 
thriving and blooming qualities. Also 
should like to make two arches. Could 
get one Bose from the ten which are sail 
to be dwarfs to add to the three I alitad; 
have for this purpose? Would Mr*. J 1 
Laing serve this purpose? Also, may 1 as! 
if the three already named are suitable? 
have plenty of boards and timber of variou 
sorts and would like your advice as to how 
I could build those arches. (G. F. Yorks.) 1 
The Roses you mention are all gccd 
varieties provided you have got them trut, 
to name. The following are Hybrid Peri 
petuals :—Victor Verdier (cherry-Rose) • 
Ulrich Brunner (cherry-red); Mrs. J. Lain; 
(pink); A. K. Williams (carmine-red): 
Horace Vernet (scarlet-crimson); Dupuy Ja 
main (cerise); and Reynolds Hole (deep 
maroon). On the other hand, Paul Neyron 
(rose) and Longworth Rambler (light crimi 
son) are Hybrid Tea Roses. The White 
Scotch is, of course, a Scotch Brier. 'Charles 
Lawson is a hybrid China with rose flowers. 
Polyantha Simplex has large clusters of 
small white flowers and is the parent of the! 
Polyantha Roses. The climbers you mention, 
would be suitable for covering arches. We! 
do not think that Mrs. J. Laing would be' 
very suitable, because although it might be* 
grown as a pillar Rose it is really best as 
a bush and would not make a good climber 
We should advise you to get Dorothy Per¬ 
kins (shell-pink) or Lady Gay (cherry-pink 1, 
which would be superior to two of the] 
climbers you already have and would make 
a good match for Longworth Rambler. For 
the making of arches you must have 
four pieces of wood, which would be suit¬ 
able for corner posts, two on each side of 
each arch. The rest of the wood employed 
should not be square timber, but preferably 
branches of trees of various shapes either! 
with or without the -bark. If you can get 
arebinsr or bent pieces that would go from 
one pillar to another over the top, that would 
be a good foundation on which you could 
build on crosspieces of the same sort' of 
material, so as to join the four pillars, 
firmly together and serve as a sort of rough 
trellig work on which to train the Roses.; 
If you have seen any rustic arches, which 
are usually plentiful enough in different, 
parts of the country, and have some skill in' 
the fastening of wood together, you could- 
