The Gardening World, March 20, 1909. 
An Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
My inheritance how wide and fair! 
Time is my seed field, to Time I'm heir. 
— Goethe. 
CONTENTS. 
Amateur's Letter to Amateurs, An 1S5 
Calico Bush, The (Ulus.) . 187 
Carnations : Work for March . 18S 
Competition Awards .. lS6 
Competition, Prize Letter . * *94 
Enquire Within . 
Flower Garden, The (illus.) . * 9 * 
Fruit Garden, The (illus.) . J 9 2 
Gladioli, The Culture of (illus.) ... 189 
Greenhouse, The Amateur’s . J 9 2 
Hedges, The Making of . J 9 L 
Herbaceous Borders . J 86 
Kitchen Garden, The (illus.) . x 9 2 
Lilium japonicum (illus-:) . ’8/ 
Odontioda Bradshawiae Cookson's 
var. (illus.) . * 9 r 
Orchids for Amateurs .. *93 
Primulas, How to Grow Chinese 
(illus.) .■••••.. I 9 ° 
„ , .. .... 186 
oedums . 
Seed Sowing in Cold Frames . * 9 ° 
T 90 
Shrubs for Forcing .. 
Work of the Week . 1C)I 
:k or Daffodil. 
in attempt is being made by some 
Led Welshmen to rob- St David of 
Leek, and to substitute the Daffodil 
: St Peter's Leek” in Welsh—which, 
- s “ The Daily News,” they claim to be 
• proper emblem of the Principality, 
t the Daffodil seldom blooms so early 
St David’s Day outside the Scilly isles 
ile the Leek can be found growing wild 
several spots on the sea coast of Sout 
lies No doubt the Leek, bereft of 
•plus leaves in a greengrocer’s shop, 
isents a prosaic appearance; but b . 
.vid’s plant looks quite pretty m a gar- 
q, and is by no means so malodorous 
Pistol libellously asserted, to his sor- 
v. It is incorrectly stated that the 
ek has received no recognition at Court 
rce the time of George II. _ Our present 
teen, when Princess of Wales, always 
re the Leek at Court functions that 
1 on St. David’s Day. 
CLXXXVII. 
Treatment of Young Seedlings. 
We will suppose that these have been 
raised on a hotbed in pots, pans and 
boxes. I like to get them off the bottom 
heat as early as possible, and to give them 
a place as near the glass as may be in a 
greenhouse that has a night temperature 
—well, not lower than 42 degs., and pre¬ 
ferably rather higher. The great thing is 
to prevent the little seedlings from becom¬ 
ing drawn up and weakly, and to prevent 
this plenty of light and air are essential. 
Of course, I know it often happens that 
there is no greenhouse to which to trans¬ 
fer the seedlings; then, the best must be 
done without it; yes, and can be done by 
many a makeshift and contrivance. All 
we have to do is to aim steadily at grow¬ 
ing the seedlings forward without a check 
and to prevent their becoming drawn up. 
We can always remove or raise the lights 
on warm, sunny days and still be glad of 
a certain amount of bottom heat for the 
night. Cold draughts and cold, cutting 
winds must be avoided, and the frame 
should be placed to get all the sunshine 
possible. I had my Petunias, Phlox 
Drummoncli, and certain other seedlings 
all well up during the third week in Feb¬ 
ruary. That is early, but I have a great 
fancy for getting the half hardy annuals 
sown and up as soon as possible, because 
they flower over an immense time, and I 
desire to get their full value. Besides, I 
object strongly to seeing weedy little bits 
of seedlings that make no show at all 
when the time comes to plant them out. 
Another reason for getting them up early 
is that they can be grown forward in 
a comparatively hardy manner and make 
far better plants than when pushed for¬ 
ward in a great hurry in half the time in 
a much higher temperature during April 
and earlv May than will be needed for 
plants that are well forward. 
Shasta Daisies. 
Besides the annuals there is a pan of 
Shasta Daisies, which flower well the first 
season if raised in good time, and they are 
a grand stand-by. Some old plants that 
have been in the same border for some¬ 
thing like five years have flowered there 
better than anything else during times of 
summer drought. The flowers last a great 
while, whether cut or left to bloom on 
the plants. I find, too, that these Shasta 
Daisies make a good item in a collection 
of hardy perennials at the local show. 
Why am I raising fresh seedling plants 
while I have already well established 
plants? Why, for this reason: To see 
if I can get a letter strain. This is a 
matter that should be considered by all 
keen amateur gardeners. It costs only a 
few pence to rear a batch of seedling 
plants of this, or that, or the other, and 
it is well worth while. Then we can make 
critical comparison, and often gain a good 
deal of knowledge and experience in this 
way. I do not say my old plants are not 
a good strain, but what I would urge is, 
that it is well to find out if improvements 
have not been effected since their time. 
Perpetual Flowering Pinks. 
I am raising, too, some perpetual 
flowering Pinks. Those who do not know 
what has been done among our Pinks of 
late years might well be advised to raise 
a batch of these Dianthus hybrids; but, 
again, I say, secure good reliable seed. 
You do not want to make the discovery 
one day that you have expended care and 
attention on poor, inferior plants that are 
not worth the growing, or, what is almost 
worse still, to go on growing these in¬ 
ferior plants without knowing that they 
are inferior. 
Cuttings and Frost. 
After this long spell of frost the soil 
will be very “ rotten”—that is, too loose 
and disintegrated and raised. This state 
of the soil is dangerous for cuttings of 
Roses and other shrubs that were inserted 
during the autumn. Attention should be 
given, and the soil made firm about them. 
Neglect to do this after a spell of frost is 
one of the few causes of failure. The 
cuttings become loose in the soil, and it 
is essential that this be remedied. 
Azalea mollis, that most useful of cold 
house plants, because it is absolutely 
hard}-, and of course flourishes out-of- 
doors, will have their flower buds begin¬ 
ning to swell. It will be a good plan to 
syringe or to water overhead (where they 
are being grown in a greenhouse), as this 
overhead moisture is decidedly beneficial. 
No hard-wooded plant should be allowed 
to become dust-dry, but, on the other 
hand, they should not be overwatered. 
The Azaleas have wonderfully fine, small 
roots, and specimens should not be potted 
in pots a good many sizes larger than is 
necessary. Azaleas will by no means need 
re-potting every year. W here it is neces¬ 
sary, it should not be undertaken until 
after the flowering is well over. 
F. Norfolk. 
-♦++- 
• k 
. fi¬ 
ll. H.S. 
The next fortnightly exhibition -of 
flowers, plants, etc., of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society will be held on March 
23rd, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. WR- 
Lloyd Praeger will lecture at 3 < ' 1 
on “Rock Gardens, Natural and Ai 
cial.” 
Horticulture in Ireland. 
A story comes from Ireland of an in¬ 
heritor of land, who - planted his newly- 
got estate with fruit and flowers. The 
neighbours and labourers were enchanted, 
and loudly sang the praises of the new¬ 
comer, who was to revive the prosperity 
of the district. But when the trees came 
into bearing, and the parterres began to 
bloom, the people of the revivified neigh¬ 
bourhood ate all the fruit and stole all the 
flowers. 
