April 17, 1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
= 30 
should not be allowed to become root- 
bound in their early stages, as that hin- 
ders the building up of strong bushy 
plants. Those rooted in the early part of 
the year are now ready for the first sttip- 
Hardening off Plants. 
During this week it will be advisable to 
make some preparations for the due harden¬ 
ing off of various kinds of bedding-out 
plants. With the work of propagation go¬ 
ing on apace there will be very little spare 
room in the frames, and cultivators may be 
tempted to ‘‘turn out” some of the occu¬ 
pants too scon. It is a pity to do this, as 
if means a very serious check to growth and 
loss of many beautiful and valuable leaves, 
as it should be remembered that nice, bushy 
plants scon fill up the beds in the flower 
garden. 
However, space must be found in the 
frames very shortly, and so it will be ad¬ 
visable to nail together a few rough boards 
to form a temporary frame, over which mats 
and similar protecting material can be 
readily placed. The earliest, or first-potted 
plants will be quite safe in such a frame 
at the end of this month, and if they are 
then carefully attended to they will make 
splendid stock for the flower beds; much 
better than if they were unduly coddled in 
a warm frame. 
Pruning Climbing Roses. 
Many lovers of Roses are often at a loss 
as to how they should prune their climbing 
Roses such as Dorothy Perkins, which is a 
general favourite. It is unwise to prune the 
plants too early, because they make new 
shoots so quickly, and these^are liable to be 
sadlv crippled by late frosts; but all the 
pruning necessary'- must be quickly done 
Fig. 1 shows how to -prune a Dorothy 
Perkins or similar climbing Rose; A, branch 
to be cut off; B, B, branches to be retained. 
ping, or at least those which are 6 in. high. 
Not all the plants need to be stopped at 
the same time, but only tho=e that are 
ready. 
J. D. F. W. - 
now. The right method of pruning to fol¬ 
low should be to cut out the oldest branches 
to make room for the young ones; and the 
severity of the pruning must depend upon 
the number of branches growing in a given 
space. So thin out the shoots so as to avoid 
overcrowding. 
In Fig. 1 I give an example of the prun¬ 
ing of climbing Roses. The old branch A 
should be cut off, leaving room for the three 
younger shoots marked B, B, 
It is always a sign of good health when 
a number of young shcots grow strongly 
from the base, and these sturdy shoots should 
be retained. 
Sweet Peas. 
Plants growing in small pots should be 
hardened off as soon as possible now, ready 
Fig. 2 shows how to protect the blossom 
on wall fruit trees; A, A, wires fastened to 
pegs; B, B, strings from canvas fastened to 
pegs also. 
for planting out in rows and clumps. All 
the pots'must be removed from the frames 
and placed in a sunny position in the open 
air in front of a fence, wall, or a frame, 
or anything that will afford a little pro¬ 
tection from the cold winds. Each night 
lay a few branching sticks over the plants. 
"Make an effort to get in all the seeds that 
are to be sown in the garden borders. Al¬ 
though the soil is rather cold as yet, it will 
get warmer each day and germination will 
soon take place. It is a mistake to leave the 
sowing of the seeds until very late in the 
spring. 
Pot Bedding-Out Plants. 
As fast as the cuttings root sufficiently put 
them in pots. It is not necessary, however, 
to use large 6o’s now : small 6o’s will do, 
as by the time the latter are filled with 
roots, the bedding-out season will have 
come. 
Of course, it is not absolutely necessary 7 
to place all rooted cuttings in 'flower-pots; 
many kinds may be grown in boxes. Lo¬ 
belias, Ageratums, Alternantheras, Aly r s- 
sums, and similar plants are easily grown in 
boxes. 
A Special Potting. 
For the filling up of certain flower beds, 
window boxes, tubs and vases, make a se¬ 
lection of such plants as those of Helio¬ 
tropes, Zonal Pelargoniums, Marguerites, 
and Petunias, (and place them in larger 
pots. This will mean two spring pottings of 
plants, but splendid specimens will result. 
Fig. 3, Sow \ egetabLe Marrow seeds now; 
A, shows soil half filling a 5 in. pot. Two 
seeds are sown, and then the pot is filed 
with more compost as shown at B. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Protecting Fruit Tree Blossom. 
There is every probability of a good crop 
of fruit on Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, 
Cherries, Plums, and Pears on wall trees, 
if the blossom be properly protected from 
frosts. One of the objective points in the 
covering of fruit blossom is, to keep the 
latter dry as well as safe from frosts. 
A nice shower of rain helps to set the 
fruits, but it is during the night that the 
damage is done by frosts when the flowers 
are moist. By all means fully expose the 
trees in 'the day time, but be equally careful 
to cover them at night until the young 
fruits are well formed. There are various 
ways of protecting the blossom. Herring 
nets doubled, and screen canvas are the two 
best materials to use as they keep off ordin¬ 
ary frosts and admit a fair amount of light 
to" the trees. Fig. 2 shows how to fix the 
nets or canvas. Wires are fastened to the 
wall under the coping and also to pegs 
driven into the ground at a distance of 3 ft. 
from the base of the wall as shown at 
A, A. 
The covering material is permanently 
fastened to the wall near the top. Then 
it should be unrolled at night and made 
secure to other pegs as shown at B, B, by 
strings attached to the bottom part of it. 
The canvas or nets, should come almost to 
the ground. In the sketch it is shown partly 
let down with the strings B, B left loose. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Vegetable Marrows. 
These should be grown in every garden. 
.There are few persons who do net like 
Marrows, and where a good batch of plants 
are grown and well cared for, a supply of 
Marrows are always available for the table. 
Very 7 early raised plants do not, as a rule, 
do the best. They are tender and any check 
to growth proves serious. Sow seeds now 
for "the main crop of Marrows. 
The compost at A in Fig. 3 should be 
good. Half fill the pot with it, then sow 
two seeds and afterwards fill up the pot as 
shown at B, with similar compost. The two 
resultant plants need not be separated but 
planted intact. Place the pots in a warm 
frame. 
The Flower Garden. 
