THE GARDENING WORLD. January 26, 1907. 
! Carnations: ! 
Work for January. 
56 
These crowns may either he imported or 
home grown, according to the preference 
of the cultivator. In either case the pots 
containing the crowns may now be placed 
in a hotbed where a bottom heat of 65 
clegs, to 70 clegs, can be maintained. If 
the pots are plunged in cocoanut fibre and 
also covered with a frame the forcing of 
the Lily of the Valley is comparatively a 
simple operation. As the crowns ad¬ 
vance a lower temperature would be 
sufficient, and the pots may even be 
placed in the light for the benefit of the 
foliage. 
The earliest forced Lily of the Valley 
generally consists of the flower spikes 
only, but most people like to see green 
leaves as well as flowers, and this means 
that forcing must not be so severe, and 
if the flowers are wanted -at any given 
time, then they could be put into heat 
earlier accordingly, and given a low tem¬ 
perature rather than a high one, so that 
tKr plants may grow more naturally and 
produce leaves as well as flowers. 
—- 
PLANTING fruit trees. 
A Letter to the Editor. 
Sir,—An article appeared in the “ G.W 
January' 12th issue under the above 
heading. In it the writer, “A. V. M.,” 
proceeds to give what I suppose he con¬ 
siders practical advice to the amateur 
planter. He says it is a good plan to 
“ Put a layer of manure at the bottom, 
cover with slates or flags of stone. He 
then makes this astounding statement: 
“ Put a layer of manure at the bottom, 
cover with soil, and plant your trees on 
this.” A. V. M. then endeavours to 
clench his remafks with the assertion that 
“with this system root-pruning is reduced 
and more control of the roots is secured.” 
Now, I would like to ask A. V. M. if he 
has practised this “system,” or if he has 
had any practice at all. I have nothing 
to say against planting the trees over 
flags or slates, this being an old practice, 
and tends to check “tap-rooting,” but to 
put manure underneath a tree to avoid 
coarse roots is indeed a wonderful theory ; 
I say theory, advisedly, for surely it is 
naught else. 
My experience, extending over a con¬ 
siderable period, has taught me that the 
nearer the roots are to the surface, the 
more fibrous they become, and conse¬ 
quently the necessity for root pruning is 
greatly lessened, and the only way to 
bring and maintain the roots in this state 
is to plant as shallowly as possible, and 
feed from the top, not the bottom. This 
also is the view taken by all successful 
cultivators with whom I have come into 
contact ; therefore to put manure under a 
tree to obviate root-pruning would be like 
pouring oil over a fire to try and quench 
the flames. 
E. T. Lawrence. 
- —- 
Fruit Culture in the United King¬ 
dom. —There are over 3,000 more acres of 
orchards in the L'nited Kingdom than 
there were twelve months ago. Over 
80.000 are devoted to small fruit, which 
is a considerable increase over a year ago. 
Border Carnations. 
Almost the only thing that can be done 
with Carnations in frames at present is to 
keep them clean and well ventilated. De¬ 
caying leaves or plants that have died 
should be removed. Rain and snow 
should be excluded from the frames at all 
times where the plants are being wintered 
in pots. Except in the very severest 
weather, however, the sashes should be 
tilted up at the back to admit air. It 
should be remembered that Carnations are 
perfectly hardy provided they are kept 
dry overhead. 
Show Carnations and Picotees. 
These are almost invariably grown in 
pots and wintered either in frames 
or in a greenhouse constructed on 
modern principles for Carnation grow¬ 
ing. Even here light and air - are 
of the greatest importance to the well¬ 
being of such Carnations. Some of them 
are naturally of weak constitution, and oc¬ 
casionally a dead plant may be found 
whether the reason for its death is ap¬ 
parent or otherwise. Such should be re¬ 
moved from the general collection. 
Those who have a large number of Car¬ 
nations in pots should at once set about pre¬ 
paring a quantity of compost if they have 
not already done so. A dry shed, even if 
it has no sides, is an excellent place for 
the preparation of the compost, as it can 
be kept dr) 1 or even spread out on the floor 
to enable it to get sufficiently dry to be 
workable before -potting time arrives. A 
very good compost for show Carnations 
and Picotees is three parts of good fibrous 
loam and one part of leaf mould, sand 
and cow manure in about equal propor¬ 
tions. Lime is of great benefit to Carna¬ 
tions, and it can be used in a variety of 
forms. Sea sand, if of the shelly or lime¬ 
stone kind, can be used. Oyster shells 
can often be procured, and these should be 
pounded up just prior to mixing them with 
the soil. All these ingredients should be 
thoroughly mixed together and laid up in 
a heap or spread out if it is too wet for 
immediate potting. 
Tree Carnations. 
The propagation of this class of Carna¬ 
tions may now be commenced. The short 
side shoots should be taken from the main 
stem, and if pulled off between the finger 
and thumb very little, if any, preparation 
will be necessary except the removal, per¬ 
haps, of the lowest pair of leaves. The 
usual method in this country is to fill pots 
of light sandy soil, but pure or clean sand 
will answer admirably, and the cuttings 
in it will be less liable to damp than in a 
loamy compost. The pots should be 
plunged in a bottom heat of 60 degs- 
though the body of the house need not be' 
higher than 50 degs., and certainly. not 
higher than 55 degs. by night. Only one 
variety should be inserted in a pot as. 
some of them vary in the length of time 
they require to form roots. As soon as 
rooted the pots should be removed and 
placed in a light position close to the 
glass. 
American Carnations. 
These may be treated precisely in the 
same way as Tree Carnations. Some may 
be tempted to use large cuttings from near 
the base of the plants. This is quite a 
mistake, as such plants very frequently 
fail to flower well, if at all, particularly in 
the case of some varieties. Shoots of 
moderate length from the middle of the 
flower stem are the best. On bright days 
the cuttings may be lightly sprinkled with 
the syringe to keep them fresh, but other¬ 
wise ’little water will be necessary if the 
cuttings were thoroughly watered down 
with the rose immediately after insertion. 
At this time of the year no- shading will 
be necessary, and the pots should be re¬ 
moved from the plunging material as they 
get rooted. Most of the modern varieties i 
will root in the course of a month if the 
cuttings were in the right state of 
maturity. J- D. F; W. 
-+++-- 
Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund.— 
The Lord Mayor, Sir William Treloar, 
has kindly consented to preside at the 
next annual dinner in aid of this charity, 
which will take place at De Keyset s Royal 
Hotel, Victoria Embankment, E.C., on 
Thursday, May 23rd. Further particu¬ 
lars may be obtained from the Secretary, 
Mr. Brian Wynne, 30, Wellington Street, 
Covent Garden, London, W.C. 
Rambler Rose Rubin.— The above 
variety was raised on the Continent, and 
appeared as a novelty in 1905, but it has 
already reached this country, and it would 
appear that some one has been giving it 
the name of Ruby. Such changes should 
not be permitted, as the correct and 
original name was Rubin. It is one of 
the climbing polyantha or rambler Roses, : 
and closelv allied to Crimson Rambler, 
■from which it differs 'by having larger, 
more fully double flowers of a brighter 
colour. 
“Seasonal Botany.” —The above is 
the title of a small book or pamphlet on 
botany running to 56 pp. It is not in 
the form of the usual text-book, but is 
meant for the instruction of students who 
desire to get a knowledge of the structure 
and physiology of the plants, quite apart 
from the form "of the flower, though that is 
also included in the scheme of teaching. 
Miss M. O’Brien Harris, D.Sc., is head¬ 
mistress of a London County Council 
Secondary School. Part 1 deals with 
a general syllabus of instruction for 
a two years’ course in botany, and 
Part 2 is devoted to physiological 
work chiefly in ‘ the carrying out of 
experiments with seeds, seedlings, plants 
or some portion of them. It is, therefore, 
quite up-to-date for the work for which it 
is intended. 
