April 3, 1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
The Flower Garden. 
The Bulb Borders. 
Owing to the recent cold weather, the 
growth of bulbs has been very slow indeed, 
but they will soon make good progress if 
the weather becomes milder, and warmer 
showers fall. 
Advantage should be taken of fine days 
to get the surface of the soil cleaned among 
the growing bulbs. Simply loosen the sur¬ 
face soil and remove all weeds that are 
found. If rain comes and pans down the 
soil after it has been loosened with the Dutch 
hoe, use the latter tool again directly the soil 
is dry enough. The hoeing of the ground 
lets in the sun-heat and promotes growth. 
Where the bulbs are growing in a carpet of 
Aubrietias, Arabis, or other plants of similar 
habit, hoeing cannot be done, of course. 
Planting Montbretias. 
These are lovely border flowers, and are 
extremely useful for cutting. By planting a 
number of bulbs at the present time, the 
cultivator may reap a rich harvest of bloom 
during the latter part of the summer. But 
stiong bulbs should be put in ; weakly ones 
do not succeed very well, and, of course, 
they take up as much space, and require as 
much labour being spent on them as strong 
bulbs do, and the latter give a splendid re¬ 
turn more quickly. 
Fig. 1 shows how to plant these bulbs in 
lines, but of course, if the cultivator grows 
them in the herbaceous border (which is a 
very suitable position for them), clumps of 
?b~ut seven bulbs, put in 3 in. deep and 
3 in. from bulb to bulb, look best. The 
clumps, should be about 2 ft. apart. In 
Fig. 1 the bulbs are shown planted in rows 
3 in. deep and the same distance apart. 
Where they are specially grown for the 
supply of cut flowers, growing them in 
rows is a very good method. 
Sweet Peas. 
If the ground has not already been pre¬ 
pared for plants which are now growing in 
pots, no time must be lost in getting it ready 
for them. 'Mere surface digging will not be 
sufficient. Dig down quite 2 ft., 3 ft. if 
possible, and put in a good dressing of rotted 
manure nearly the whole depth of the 
loosened soil. Sweet Pea plants give excep¬ 
tional^ good crops of flowers when the roofs 
are able to permeate the soil to a consider¬ 
able depth. When a spell of dry weather 
comes the plants remain vigorous and are 
not as likely to be attacked with mildew as 
those growing in shallow-tilled soils. 
Furthermore, strong plants bear big 
blooms; weakly ones poor flowers. 
Sweet Peas in Pots. 
Tt will soon be time to put out these plants, 
and so the cultivator must give all the air 
possible to them now'. On every fine day 
remove the gk ss lights. The plants like 
plenty of air and do not thrive satisfactorily 
if kept in a too close, warm structure. 
Border Carnations. 
Where the soil is of a light nature, rooted 
layers of Carnations that have been kept 
throughout the W'inter in cool frames may 
be transferred to their summer quarters 
forthwith ; but where the soil is of a clavey 
nature defer the planting until a later date 
in this month. In the meantime, remove all 
Fig. i. Plant Montbretias in lines in. 
deep and j in. asunder, or in clumps the 
same depth, 7 in a clump, the latter 2 ft. 
apart. 
lights or other protecting material, so as to 
harden the plants properly. 
Annuals. 
Continue to sow seeds of half-hardy 
annuals in pots and boxes, and transplant 
Fig. 2. Fruit trees should now be grafted. 
A shows a scion or graft uncut; B, the lop 
cut off; C, tlie basal portion cut wedge¬ 
s/raped; D, the two scions placed in the 
stock ; and E, the position for a third. 
the seedlings which have resulted from the 
first sowings. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Grafting- fruit Trees. 
Throughout this month the grafting of 
fruit trees should be carefully attended to. 
Fig. 3 shows how to grow Cucumbers on 
a hotbed, with frame facing the south; A, 
Cucumbers on bed B; C, the hotbed. 
225 
In the southern counties the work should be 
taken in hand somewhat earlier than in the 
northern, on account of the early flow of 
sap and bursting of buds. 
The barks of the scions and stocks should 
always meet at least on one side. *In the 
case of young stocks, which are not much 
thicker than an ordinary lead pencil, there 
is no difficulty in so cutting both stock and 
graft that the barks of both meet on each 
side. 
But where several grafts are put on large 
branches cut back for the purpose, the ope¬ 
rator must be satisfied if he gets a junction 
of barks on one side. 
Fig. 2 shows how to graft .large branches. 
A shows the scion, or graft, uncut. B shows 
it with the top cut off. C shows how to 
cut the lower part. At D two scions are 
shown placed in the stock, and E the posi¬ 
tion for a third. 
Having duly fixed and secured the scions ■ 
in position w'ith some strands of soft matting, 
cover the wffiole of the cut portion with graft¬ 
ing wax, to exclude air. 
Fruit Trees on Walls. 
Finish the nailing or tving of all shoots 
at once. The blossom of Peach, Nectarine 
and Apricot trees should be dulj' protected 
from frosts by scrim, herring nets doubled, 
or Fir branches. Keep the flowers as dry 
as possible, then a few degrees of frost will 
not injure them. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Early Cucumbers. 
These plants are never satisfactory if they 
are chilled while in their young stages 
of growth. In the early part of the 
spring, cold east winds are usually 
prevalent, and so we must guard the 
tender young plants against them. Keep 
the heat steady in the hotbeds by putting on 
linings in good time, and be careful in ad¬ 
mitting air, avoiding draughts. 
A, in Fig. 3, shows how to plant the Cu¬ 
cumbers in a large frame; B the compost,- 
1 ft. deep ; C the hotbed. 
Asparagus, 
Prepare the beds for both seeds and plants. 
The soil should be deeply trenched and 
thrown up to form beds 5 inches above the 
ground-level >in cases where the soil is of a 
retentive nature. But where a sandy soil 
obtains there is not an}' necessity for mak¬ 
ing raised beds. 
Sticking Peas. 
These plants must be sticked before they 
fall over. It is not always an easy matter 
to get the sticks, but every effort should be 
made to procure them for the due support 
of the plants. 
Sow more seeds this week 
Carrots. 
A few rows, of the intermediate varieties 
should now be sown. 
T urnips. 
Sow more seeds this week. A few at a 
time and often will ensure tender bulbs in 
an unbroken supply. 
Potatos. 
Protect the haulm of early sorts and plant 
main-crop sets. 
Foxglove. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Weather and Work. 
Up to the time of writing the weather has 
been so uncongenial that it has not permitted 
ot anything like economy in stcking, but 
this state of things cannot last for ever, and 
when we get some real sunshine the fire may 
be allowed to die down for a few .hours 
