50 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 26, 1907. 
foliage seems suitable to mix with many 
varieties of flowers. It is often a convenient 
plan to train a plant to some spare piece 
of greenhouse, vinery, or conservatory 
wall. They are long lived, and when well 
grown are handsome. I find them hardy 
enough to stand cold house treatment, if 
kept dry during the winter months. By 
the way, the old method of keeping 
Fuchsias as dry as dust for months is not 
in great favour now-a-days. 
F. Norfolk. 
-*++- 
HOSES 
AMATEURS. 
Now is the time in which to select your 
Roses for next summer and to plant 
them. The points which an amateur 
has to consider are so often overlooked 
that it is no wonder that so many Rose 
growers are disappointed. 
Reading catalogues will not help you 
much, as with a few exceptions the glow¬ 
ing accounts therein given—whilst true 
enough in themselves as far as they go — 
do not tell you anything about points 
that should guide you in making a selec¬ 
tion. I spent much time and money in 
finding out these things. 
If you only want to grow exhibition 
Roses, then select that kind, but remem¬ 
ber that most of them are exceedingly dis¬ 
appointing when grown in a garden—as 
they are often shy bloomers, very deli¬ 
cate, and by no means satisfactory for 
amateurs, who want a continuous free dis¬ 
play early and late on hardy, vigorous, 
well-shaped plants. 
Garden Roses often include good exhibi¬ 
tion varieties, and vice versa, but it is 
well to investigate as to suitability' of any 
kind before vou purchase it. Height is 
an important point ; it does not look well 
to see a row of standards all of different 
heights. 
Colour you can judge of better from 
a display in a garden than from any cata¬ 
logue description. 
If you want a globuler flower, you will 
be disappointed by having one pointed or 
cupped. Always select standards with a 
good bushy, well-trained head, and 
dwarfs of artistic shapes, or ask your 
nurseryman to select them for you. 
Constitution: Some Roses are terribly 
delicate, others are quite hardy, some are 
very' liable to mildew, whilst some are 
quite proof against it. 
The habit of the plant is a very' im¬ 
portant point. Some Roses have their 
flowers in clusters; others have long stems 
and hold their blooms well above the 
leaves, while some have weak stems, 
which let the blooms hang down out of 
sight among the leaves. 
Some Roses only bloom early, some 
only r bloom late, and others bloom con¬ 
tinuously'. Some are suitable for 
bouquets, some for buttonholes, and some 
for display in the garden. Some have 
enormous flowers, others only very small 
ones. 
Roses are expensive luxuries, but no 
garden is complete without them, and 1 
would strongly urge my brother amateurs 
to consider well what kinds are most suit¬ 
able for their requirements, and to get 
good healthy, well-grown specimens. 
A little study of these points and a con¬ 
sultation with your nurseryman thereon, 
will enable you to secure for next y T ear 
a good and grand display'. Plan your 
garden before you plant it if you wish to 
make the results a success. 
J. G. Taylor. 
Somerset. 
-- 
The Round-leaved Royal Fern. —On 
p. 849 for November 24th we illustrated 
and described a variety of the Roy'al Fern 
having roundish pinnae. This was Os- 
munda regalis concinna. In the “Fern 
Bulletin” for October an American 
variety has beten described and illustrated 
under the name of O. r. orbiculata. In 
this instance the pinnules are remarkably 
rounded, but there are only five to seven 
pinnul/es to each pinna, so that the Ameri¬ 
can variety is quite distinct from the 
Irish one, which has a much greater 
number of pinnules on the elongated 
pinnae. 
- G. w. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS.— Competitors must 
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¬ 
dress 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 ,4 anj r article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care¬ 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN SHILLiNCS 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 each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best pipers in this competition 
are too long, an 1 we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “ F. G.W.” for Ills article on 
‘•Propagation of Chrysanthemums,” page 34. 
In the Prize Letter Competition, a prize was 
awarded to “H. W. Wakely” for his article 
on “ A Good White Chrysanthemum ” ; and 
another to “J.C.” for his article on “Corn 
Salad or Lamb’s Lettuce,” page 36. 
SPIRAEAS. 
NOTES 
ON 
FORCING. 
The culture of various plants suitable 
for forcing into bloom eariy in the year 
has received much more attention of late 
years than was the case previously, and 
none has responded to the call better than 
Spiraeas. Most deservedly do they claim 
recognition, as they' are fairly easy' to 
grow and have a wide range of form and 
flower. 
The plants should be potted up as soon 
as received from the nursery, or, if any 
are in the open ground, as soon as they 
are dug up for that purpose. To allow 
the roots never to become dry is a most 
important point to be observed with 
Spiraeas. They' are all moisture-loving 
plants, and dryness is fatal to their well¬ 
being. To have them to perfection they 
should be potted firmly' in fairly rich soil, 
and the pots plunged out of doors in leaves 
or other protecting material. If wanted 
early' in bloom they should be removed 
to a pit and plunged in a mild hotbed of 
leaves and stable litter, syringing them 
daily, and after a week or so closing the 
frame in the afternoon. Care should be 
taken that they are. not unduly forced at 
first; they' should be brought along 
steadily until they have made growth, and 
are well rooted. ’ When this is apparent 
they may be removed to the forcing 
house and a temperature of 70 or 75 degs. 
provided by day and 60 or 65 degs. by' 
night. At all times the house should be 
kept well syringed and damped, and the 
floor moistened with some diluted farm¬ 
yard liquid every' evening. The ammonia 
rising from this is very' beneficial, pro¬ 
viding it is not too strong. Water the 
plants with clear water until the flower 
spikes can be seen, and then give them 
weak manure water twice a week, and oc¬ 
casionally, by way of a change, some 
weak Clay’s fertiliser. This is a most 
excellent manure if used judiciously. 
Where they can be had it is a good plan 
to stand the pots in saucers of water, but 
this is not needed if the house is kept 
mloisit day and night. 
When the flowers begin to expand the 
,plants should be removed to a cooler 
house, as they will then last much longer, 
and only clear water should be given. 
After flowering, remove the flower stems, 
and plunge the pots up to the rims in the 
garden soil, where they can obtain plenty 
of sun to ripen the growths. They must 
still be watered if' the weather be very 
hot, and a mulching of short manure 
placed round them will help to check 
evaporation. 
The best varieties suitable for forcing 
are Spiraea astilboides, S. multiflora com- 
pacta, S. Washington. S. Gladstone, S. 
Aruncus, and S. japonica. The last 
named has been quite superseded by 
those before mentioned, but still well- 
gpoiwn specimens will bear comparison 
even now with some of the newer varie¬ 
ties. 
R. Thatcher. 
