2 34 tm GARDENING WOiZLb. April , 0> 1909. 
Looking Ahead. 
♦ 
Hints for the Amateur. 
“ Look before you leap” is a motto that, 
if observed, may save a person a great 
deal of difficulty, and it is quite as ap¬ 
plicable in flower growing as in anything 
else. For instancy, it is a good plan to 
look ahead when you are sending for seeds 
and plants. Do not order the entire con¬ 
tents of the catalogue, because the seeds¬ 
man has no anxiety to sell out, and you 
couldn’t possibly take care of so many 
flowers, even if he should give them to 
you. Therefore, if you find that your 
order amounts to about £40, cut it down 
to a pound or two, and content yourself 
with that. The chances are that if you 
are a beginner you will get along much 
better with the pound collection than with 
the other, unless you can devote all your 
time to gardening or hire an assistant or 
two. 
One of the first things that every flower 
grower must learn is that he cannot cul¬ 
tivate every flower that grows, even 
though he would sincerely like to. If he 
attempt it he will meet with flat and 
unqualified failure. It is much better to 
select a half a dozen or so of varieties 
for which we have preference, and with 
which we know we shall succeed, than to 
choose at random, plant at random, 
and care for at random. Another thing: 
One single plot of well-grown and well- 
tended plants is worth one hundred times 
one plot full of one-sided specimens, 
among which one thousand weeds choke 
the life out of the poor, wondering 
flowers. 
It also pays to buy first-class seed, first 
or second-sized bulbs, and plants and 
bushes that have reached their second 
year. We gain nothing in the long run by 
buying bargain counter mixtures, unless 
we are of an experimenting nature, and 
in that case we will undoubtedly realise 
large quantities of experience, though as 
to flowers, I would rather not say. (P.S. 
— By “ bargain counter mixtures ” I don’t 
mean the mixed collections sent out by 
reputable dealers). 
It is the gardener’s privilege, delight 
and duty to look ahead from three to six 
months of the year, all through. He 
must do this, too, if he would have his 
gardening operations entirely successful. 
It is necessary to exercise quite a bit of 
care, forethought and common sense in 
planning for one’s flowers and flower gar¬ 
den. When you enter into a large real 
estate you generally do a great deal of 
thinking before taking the final leap, and 
when you enter into the gardening busi¬ 
ness you also want to think extensively, 
because the latter is of much more im¬ 
portance than the former. The one fills 
the pockets of somebody with £ s. d., but 
the other fills the soul of somebody with 
happiness; therefore there is no question 
as to which deserves the most thought. 
While the playful spring breezes are 
endeavouring to lift the roof from your 
humble abode, do a judicious amount of 
looking ahead, and later on you will not 
have a great many vexatious mistakes at 
which to look backward,. 
Thos. Francis. 
French Gardening. 
Lecturing before the students of Swan- 
ley Horticultural College on the French 
system of intensive culture, Mr. Thos. 
Smith, superintendent of Mr. Fels’ model 
small holdings at Maryland, Essex, said 
the produce from one-sixth of an acre of 
ground had realised by sale ^850 gross 
in six months. 
Poisoning by Honeysuckle. 
Dr. Olav Hanssen, of Christiania, has 
recently published in the Nordiskt Medi- 
ciniskt Arkiv a case occurring in the 
practice of Dr. Engh, of Volden, in which 
a little boy two years old was poisoned 
by the flowers of Lonicera Periclymenum 
(common Honeysuckle). The child, after 
being in the garden playing with the 
flowers, became tired and drowsy and 
then complained of thirst. Clonic spasms 
and opisthotonos occurred and then diar¬ 
rhoea, some of the flowers being found 
in the evacuations The eyes were calm 
and steady but set, the face was first red 
a.nd then livid, and the pulse and respira¬ 
tion were very rapid. When the spasms 
abated profuse perspiration occurred, 
after which the child fell asleep. He 
made a good recovery. 
- a. w. —— 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS:—Competitors muBt 
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- 
dresB 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 eaoh competition should be oare- 
fnlly read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OF TEN 8HILLINC8 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 eaoh 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OP 
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. B. n„” for the article on 
“The Culture of Large Onionss,”page 218. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize 
was awarded to “ F,. Vyner ” for the article 
on “Winter Violets”; and another to “ W. 
H. SDelgrove,” for the article on “ Liliums 
and their Cnltur page 232. 
Garden Peas 
And Their Culture. 
Of all vegetables grown in Britain 
the most nutritious and, with the excep¬ 
tion of the Potato, the most popular is 
the Pea (Pisum sativum). It is supposed 
to have come to this country from the 
South of Europe about the time of Henry 
VIII., but it is of uncertain origin, and 
probably the early home of the species 
was Western Asia. It is one of the best- 
known of leguminous plants, and one that 
has been in cultivation since remote ages. 
Soil and Culture. 
To get successful crops of Peas it is 
necessary to have the soil well drained, 
rich, and of a medium consistency, with 
plenty of chalk and lime incorporated. 
Trench all ground deeply where it is in¬ 
tended to grow Peas. Bastard trenching 
is always resorted to where ground has 
not been previously trenched three times. 
By deep culture the roots, which are deep¬ 
rooting, do not suffer in dry weather. This 
is of great importance in summer, as the 
roots require plenty of moisture. If this 
was insufficient mildew would probably 
attack the leaves and the pods fail to fill 
up satisfactorily. Manure is best applied 
at the time of trenching, using well-de¬ 
cayed farmyard dung, land placing it 
at a depth of one foot below the surface. 
Some cultivators prepare trenches, and 
place the manure at the bottom, filling 
up with the soil previously taken out, for 
sowing Peas. This method has been 
known to be very successful with mid and 
late season Peas, but early ones scarcely 
require as much nourishment. The chief 
object is to get a good rich soil. By this 
means bacteria action will take place and 
take free nitrogen from the air in the soil, 
and build up this nitrogen into compounds 
which are passed on to the plant. Early 
varieties require a sheltered position with 
a sunny aspect, with soil somewhat lighter 
and warm. Effective drainage is the 
greatest of all promoters of soil warmth. 
The seed should be sown in drills 2 in. 
deep and 6 in. wide, the distance between 
the rows being determined by the height 
of the variety grown. The rule is to have 
the rows twice as far apart as the plants 
grow high. The height is always influ¬ 
enced by a dry or otherwise season 
and the nature of the soil. A great 
mistake is often made by sowing too 
thickly, especially mid and late -season 
varieties. To prevent mice taking the 
seed, trapping must be resorted to. Slugs 
will take, off the young shoots just push¬ 
ing above the ground, and a dressing of 
lime is good to check them, but in severe 
cases hand picking with a lantern at night 
should be advised. Birds must be guarded 
against, as they destroy the young plants. 
Galvanised wire guards are the best for 
this, or cotton thread spread along the 
rows will act as a preventive. Staking 
must be done before the young plants 
show a tendency to fall over. Good stakes 
with ample side shoots should be used, so 
that the plants may cling. Wire netting 
is coming more to the front nowadays for 
training Peas up. It is much quicker to . 
put up, looks neat when finished and lasts 
longer than stakes. It is also cheaper to 
