2 4 * THE GARDENING WORLD. A P ril 10 * 9 ° 9 - 
contemplate the successes .and failures at¬ 
tending his efforts, taking careful note of 
each, nor resting content till the cause of 
the latter is determined, with a view to 
avoiding its repetition another time. All 
the stutf intended for outdoor work must 
be thoroughly hardened off in the cold- 
frames, closed at first, with air admitted by 
day, then gradually increased till the lights 
can be dispensed with altogether. 
With the advent of mild weather, but 
little fire-heat will be required, although, 
where the pipes run through the propagator, 
and tender seedlings are being raised, it is 
as well to light up a little each night to 
keep up the necessary bottom-heat. 
Unobtrusive but Useful. 
This aptly describes that fine greenhouse 
plant Primula kewensis, which appears to 
be less known to amateurs than its merit 
deserves. All who grow Primulas should 
certainly include this almost perpetual 
blooming variety, the flowers of which are 
a beautiful clear chrome yellow, and are 
produced in whorls, sometimes two, some¬ 
times three, each with many blossoms 
thrown out from the central upright scape, 
on stalks some two inches or so in length, 
supported by leafy bracts which tend to 
throw them out in bold relief. 
A little manure water should now be 
given to all plants in blossom or showing 
bud, and the blooms should be removed as 
soon as they cease to be ornamental, in 
order to prolong the flowering period, or, 
if desired, the best may remain' for seed, 
which may, when ripened, be dried and 
sown, treated in fact as ordinary Primulas. 
Calceolarias and Greenfly. 
Those who- grow their stock of young 
Calceolarias in the greenhouse will often 
find about this time that the plants become 
more or less infested with aphis or greenfly, 
and this being the case, the amateur should 
take immediate steps to eradicate the pest. 
This may be done either by fumigating or 
bv the use of one of the many advertised 
insecticides, whilst a good home-made 
remedy can be obtained by making an in¬ 
fusion of any common strong tobacco and 
soft soap, but it must be borne in mind that 
such delicate young foliage cannot with¬ 
stand too strong a decoction ; half-an-ounce 
of shag will be sufficient for nearly a gallon 
of water, and it is better, if the first appli¬ 
cation is not effective, to repeat the dose 
rather than increase its strength. 
The infested plants may be held upside 
down and immersed, whilst the larger must 
be gone over with a camel-hair brush, and 
in both cases a good syringing will remove 
the mixture after its work is done. 
Fuchsias for Summer. 
Fuchsias are to be found in every green¬ 
house during the summer months, and to 
obtain the best results, the necessary train¬ 
ing must be given during the spring. Re¬ 
pot young plants when the roots become 
visible through the ball of soil, and induce 
them to grow into summetrical form by turn¬ 
ing the plants round occasionally to enable 
all sides to obtain equal advantage of light. 
For standards all the lower side-shoots 
should be removed, leaving only sufficient 
at the top to form a good head, whilst same 
must be trained as pillar, plants in the 
conservatory, the old Fuchsia fulgens being 
particularly lovely treated thus. When in 
•growth, they require liberal supplies of 
moisture, and some shade will be necessary 
from the direct rays of the April sun. 
Two Fine Greenhouse Shrubs. 
The peat-loving Leschenaultias, both L. 
formosa, and the grand blue-flowering L. 
biloba major, are -amongst the most excel¬ 
lent of this class of plants, and should be 
allotted a warm corner in the house, free 
from any suspicion of draughts, for, though 
somewhat resembling the heaths, they re¬ 
quire a few degrees more heat to grow them 
to perfection. If necessary, they should be 
repotted now, as it is very noticeable how 
much better they do if allowed plenty of 
root-room. Good sound peat, with a plenti¬ 
ful addition of ,s,ilver-sand, firm potting, 
thorough drainage, and, above all, it is 
essential that the stems be not buried with' 
soil in the operation. Care in these little 
details ■ should, all .other things being equal, 
ensure success, whilst if it is desired to in¬ 
crease the stock of plants, cuttings may be 
taken now of any fairly-ripened shoots, 
which will strike if placed singly in small 
pots of sand and peat, placed beneath a 
bell-glass and introduced to a genial tem¬ 
perature of about seventy degrees. 
Starting- Achimenes. 
Amateurs have done well who have 
started early batches of these beautiful 
plants, which, as pot or basket plants are 
really superb. Those who have not already 
done so, may purchase bulbs or tubers and 
start at once by placing them, in shallow 
boxes of leaf-mould and sand, after the 
manner of Begonias. 
A moist heat of about seventy degrees will 
soon cause them to emit new growths, and 
when these are about one inch in length, 
the plants may be shifted into pots, baskets 
or pans. Loam, peat, old manure and sand 
in equal quantities form a good compost, 
and after keeping them close for. a time, 
gradually introduce them to more light and 
air to ensure the stems growing thick and 
strong, and capable of bearing many fine 
flowers. 
G. A. F. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Deciduous Dendrobiums. 
This class of Orchids are not so exten¬ 
sively cultivated at the present time as was 
the case a few years ago. Like many other 
beautiful kinds of Orchids, they have to 
give way to- those sorts which are, what 
may reasonably be termed the prevailing 
fashion. There can be no doubt as to their 
claim to- more general -cultivation, and where 
amateurs are in possession of a plant stove 
and a cooler house in which to place the 
plants during the resting period, they may 
be successfully grown. As in the case of 
nearly all Orchids that drop for a period 
out of popular favour, they are procurable 
for a modest outlaj-, well within the limits 
of the most humble amateur, and perhaps 
while I am on the subject an enumeration 
of a few of the most easily grown among 
the species, and hybrids of. this section of 
Dendrobiums may be of service. 
Among the species are D. aureum, D. 
wardianium, D. nobili in its varied form, 
D. crassinode. and D. primulinum. The 
hybrids possessing robust constitutions and 
free-flowering characteristics are D. Cassi- 
ope, D. Cybele, D. A-insworthii in its vari¬ 
ous forms [I do not think there is any 
Dendrobium with a wider range of varia¬ 
tions than the last named and it is fre¬ 
quently met with under the name of D. 
splendissimum —some variety or another] 
D. Doris, D. eusomum, D. Euryalus, D. 
melandiscus, D. Sibyl, D. Venus and the 
varied forms of D. Wiga-niae. These Den¬ 
drobiums give a good succession of flowers 
from January until the end 1 of April and 
are particularly attractive and useful. 
Where the pliant-s have been extensively 
cultivated previously to this note appearing, 
those that have passed out of flower will 
also have advanced their new growths to 
some extent, so much so that new roots 
will be showing at the base of the new 
shoots. Such plants shonld have any re¬ 
potting requirements necessary attended to 
without delay. I do not consider it neces¬ 
sary or advisable to re-pot this class of 
Dendrobiums annually, but every plant 
should be carefully gone over and examined 
to- see that the potting compost is in a 
satisfactory state of preservation. It will 
be found in most cases that the sphagnum 
moss; on the surface of the compost will 
have died during the prolonged resting 
season. Where this is the case, the dead 
material should be -replaced with living 
sphagnum, chopped into Suitable length. 
The plants- should also be examined to see 
that they are free from insect pests, as they 
are much more conveniently cleaned at 
this period than when the new growths be¬ 
come infested. 
Where plants require re-potting turn them 
out of their receptacles and remove the 
whole of the old potting compost and de¬ 
caying matter about the plants. Shallow 
pans, pots or baskets may be used, which¬ 
ever may be the most convenient, but these 
should be large enough to contain the plants 
comfortably. Give plenty of good drainage 
and, above all things, avoid the use of too 
great a bulk of potting compost. This may 
consist of good fibrous peat or Osmunda 
fibre and chopped sphagnum in about equal 
portions, sufficient sand or finely broken 
crocks being added to render the compos; 
porous. Press this firmly about the plants 
and secure the pseudo-bulbs by fixing suit¬ 
able stakes. The plants should be well 
watered after re-potting and placed in a 
warm, growing temperature of about 70 de¬ 
grees and every encouragement must then 
be afforded to induce free and rapid growth. 
H. J. Chapman. 
4 —♦++—: 
Mr. F. W. Ashton. 
We are informed that Mr. F. W. Ash¬ 
ton, who has been in the service of Messrs. 
Hugh Low and Co., Bush Hill Park, 
Middlesex, since 1905, left them on March 
31st, and now ceases to represent them in 
any way. 
The Late Mr. Roupell. 
The late Mr. William Roupell, a 
former M.P. for Lambeth, the story of 
whose remarkable life has recently been 
recorded in the Press, was the founder, 
and at the time of his death president, 
of the Streatham and Brixton Horticul¬ 
tural Society, the members of which sent 
a very beautiful wreath to his funeral or. 
March 29th. 
^ Fruit Tree Spraying.— At Messrs 
T. H. Wood and Son’s Fruit Farm. Swan 
ley, Kent, some interesting demonstra¬ 
tions have just been carried out by 
Messrs. Merryweather and Sons with their 
steam driven spraying machinery. The 
plant employed consists of a portable 
boiler with high pressure steam pump, in 
conjunction with a system of light port¬ 
able piping through which the wash is de¬ 
livered. As many as eight jets can be 
operated at the same time, and larger 
sizes are also made. The special features 
of the plant are its extreme portability 
and -economy in use combined with the 
highest efficiency, as evidence of which -it 
may be mentioned that 750 Plum and 
Apple trees were thoroughly well sprayed 
in four hours by six men, using 400 gal¬ 
lons of wash per hour. It is the only 
system of power spraying suitable for 
cases where bush fruit is planted under¬ 
neath orchard trees, and should certainly 
claim attention at the hands of all fruit 
growers who have extensive plantations 
to spray. 
