The Gardening World, January 26, 11C7. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
It is a profound error to presume that everything has been discovered.” -Lemierre. 
AN AMATEUR’S LETTER 
TO AMATEURS. 
CONTENTS. 
Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs, An ... 49 
Apricots, The Culture of . 60 
Aster, An Uncommon (illus.) .. 53 
Carnations, Work for January . 56 
Competition Awards . 5 ° 
Competition, Our Grand . iii 
Competition, Prize Letter . 52 
Enquire Within . 61 
Fern, The Royal (illus.) . 51 
Flower Garden, The . 57 
Fruit Garden, The. 57 
Fruit Growing for Amateurs . 60 
Fruit Trees, Pruning (letter). 56 
Greenhouse, The Amateur’s . 57 
Kitchen Garden, The . 57 
Lily of the Valley (illus.) . 55 
Orchids for Amateurs . 5 ^ 
Potato, A New Seedling (iiilus.). 53 
Roses for Amateurs . 50 
Saxifraga Fortunei . 52 
Spiraeas for Forcing . 50 
Sweet Pea Annual (Editorial) . 55 
Wall Gardening (illus.) . 59 
Work of the Week . 57 
-f+4- 
SU Sas&ew in 
When winter fringes every bough 
With his fantastic wreath. 
And puts the seal of silence now 
Upon the leaves beneath : 
V hen every stream in its pent-house 
Goes gurgling on its way, 
And in his gallery the mouse 
Nibbleth the mead hay: 
Methinks the summer still is nigh, 
And lurketh underneath, 
As that same meadow mouse doth lie 
Snug in that last year’s .heath. 
Thoreau. 
LXXVI. 
Garden Trees. 
These links between the landscape and 
the sky are an important matter for con¬ 
sideration in all but small gardens. We 
have to think of them as suitable and fit¬ 
ting backgrounds, as objects for isolated 
groups, and as single specimens. There 
are, of course, trees that are pre-emi¬ 
nently fitted for decorative use in the gar¬ 
den. There is the Fern Beech with its 
beautifully serrated foliage, and its grace¬ 
ful and uncommon appearance. More 
than most trees does it seem to claim that 
title — “decorative.” Even in their winter 
bareness, these Beeches have their own 
marked beauty with their long nervous 
throngs whipping the wind. The Moun¬ 
tain, Ash (Sorbus) is another charming 
subject for garden planting. Its charac¬ 
teristic growth is always marked and dis¬ 
tinct. And twice during the year is it a 
striking object, when the creamy blos¬ 
soms are beautiful; and later, when the 
red berries have ripened. For a small, or 
a suburban, garden, I look upon this- as 
one of the best subjects that can be chosen. 
In the very small garden, where, perhaps, 
even one tree is almost one too many, the 
Mountain Ash will still commend itself as 
the one to choose. 
In a garden of fair size, a “weeping 
tree ” makes a picturesque object. The 
most frequent form of weeping tree ap¬ 
pears to be the Ash, but for e'xtreme 
gracefulness both the “Weeping” Elm 
and the “Weeping” Beech are, I think, 
to be preferred. One word of caution as 
to the planting of these trees—invariably 
they should be used as isolated specimens, 
if their character is to be maintained. I 
should have supposed this caution super¬ 
fluous had I not noted weeping trees 
planted in close proximity to others. 
The pink and crimson flowered Thorns 
add very much to the general beauty of 
the garden. They' seem to be curiously 
typical of our English gardens. Paul’s 
Double Scarlet is an excellent and in¬ 
tensely vivid variety. 
There is still time to plant garden trees, 
but the sooner they' are established now the 
better so long as the weather is open. 
Rose Work. 
Where recognised authorities are agreed 
to differ, lesser folks dare scarcelv venture 
on debatable ground. In this instance 
the question is — Should Roses be 
manured in the autumn or early in the 
year? Without attempting to discuss the 
merits or the demerits of either method, I 
would remind those who did not manure 
their Roses in the autumn that the present 
is a very general time for supplying it ; 
that is to say, early in the month of 
February. Under heading for this month 
Mr. Foster Melliar, in his “Book of the 
Rose,” thus writes: “If farmyard manure 
is used in the soil, now is the time to> dig 
or fork it in, but be sure it is thoroughly 
decomposed, or, in my opinion, it will do 
more harm than good. Still, it supplies 
the vegetable matter of humus, and if 
the soil in the beds be raw and lignt 
coloured, such an addition is desirable, 
not necessary', but the upper portion of the 
beds should originally have been supplied 
with humus in old garden mould or the 
like.” 
Yet, after all, Roses are accommodating 
subjects, and flourish under any' number 
of methods, and sometimes, in spite of 
them. In an old fashioned garden I know 
that boasts of the most beautiful Rose 
garden I have ever seen, a most generous 
top-dressing of stable manure is put on 
early in November, and manure, raw, 
hot, and fresh, such as would frighten 
most people. It lays until the end of 
March, when it is forked in. I should 
add the soil is a cold wet clay. I am not 
defending this method, but simply stating 
bare facts. This I know, that such a pro¬ 
fusion of Roses I have never seen in an¬ 
other garden. 
Cyrtonffuni falcatum. 
There are few plant lovers who are not 
glad to hear of really' serviceable room 
plants — plants, that is to say, that, like the 
ubiquitous Aspidistras, may be kept in the 
house for years, and, at the same time, 
flourish and look as if they liked it. In 
Cyrtomium falcatum we have a veritable 
treasure ; in its small stages it may often 
be bought potted up like the thousands 
of little Pteris Ferns that are sold for 
about fourpence. With seasonable re¬ 
potting these small plants grow to hand¬ 
some proportions. The fact that their 
foliage is of a glossy nature enables them 
successfully' to combat the evils of dust, 
etc. The plant grows rapidly, and the 
effect is graceful, and makes grand variety' 
among the heavier leaved India-rubber 
plants and Aspidistras. An annual re¬ 
potting in April, in good Fern compost 
and division, if necessary, will be the best 
treatment; they cannot stand lack of 
water to the extent of Aspidistras, but, on 
the other hand, the nots should not be 
allowed to stand in saucers of water. 
Pelargoniums. 
The Oak-leaved Pelargoniums may not 
be particularly showy, but how we should 
miss them if we were without them, as 
they' come in Tor many purposes. In 
winter, when fragrant flowers are very 
scarce, these scented leaves are always 
prized as foliage for table decorations. 
And even in summer a few leaves mixed 
with flowers are a great addition. X>'3 
