66 
THE a A RDEHINO 
WORLD. 
February 2, 1907. 
makes a grand wall subject. 1 have seen 
the end of an old country house covered 
from ground to roof with nowhere an inch 
of wall visible. For some feet in the 
centre amid the green that was trained 
to the very ground level and close about 
it appeared the trunk of the tree—all else 
was leafy profusion—and ever}' year it 
bore a large crop of fruit. 
And, as a field for experiment, let us use 
our walls. There are plants that are so 
nearly hardy that in favoured districts 
they may be said to be so. And if we 
happen not to live in such, let us use 
our wall to tempt these would-be-hardy 
subjects to flourish with us. Let me give 
an example. In a garden north of the 
Tweed, a keen amateur had the courage 
to try to grow Habrothamnus elegans in 
the open—and succeeded. 
F. Norfolk. 
-- 
The Flower Garden. 
Are we going Sweet Pea mad? I really 
begin to think we are! Several local gar¬ 
dening societies have been worrying me to 
give them lectures on how to grow Sweet 
Peas. I am disposed to think that such 
information could easily be gleaned from 
the “ G. W.” But there; I have always 
been willing to help, and so I have fallen 
in with their wishes. 
Sweet Peas. 
Sweet Pea lovers will have great chances 
with novelties this year. Up to the time of 
writing I have 37 novelties besides half-a- 
dozen or so trial lots as yet unnamed, al¬ 
though the parentage of each has been 
given me. One has heard a great deal 
about its being essential to keep secret the 
parentage of Sweet Peas, but I find that 
the best raisers set no store on secrecy, when 
once their seedlings are fixed. The present 
is an excellent time to make a sowing in 
pots for general purposes, exhibition or 
otherwise. If seed is plentiful, it is, of 
course, advisable to save a portion in case 
the first sowing turns out badly. Do not, 
however, make a very late sowing for the 
purpose of getting late blooms. The great 
Thos. Jones relies on one sowing, and keeps 
his plants going by cutting back. This re¬ 
minds me that Mr. Jones has written a 
little book on “ Sweet Peas -. The Secret of 
Success.’’ It only costs three penny stamps 
and I believe it is selling like hot cakes. 
When sowing in pots, place the seed 
thinly. I myself plump for three seeds in 
a small pot. Th# pots may have a little 
moss at the bottom. The soil should be 
fairly light and not too poor, as the seed¬ 
lings make tremendous roots, by planting- 
out time. 
Making up Borders. 
Outdoor work is now becoming extremely 
brisk- I have been making up new borders 
and to do so have had to split up the bulk 
of my plants. It is not at all necessary to 
be ultra careful with coarse growing plants ; 
indeed, I use a small axe for cutting all 
plants, including Paeonies. Phloxes, "Del¬ 
phiniums. Such vigorous things as Bol- 
tonias, Asters, Heleniums, Rudbeckias, etc., 
one may hack at without compunction, a 
mutilated shoot or two is nothing to grieve 
over. 
Ranunculuses. 
The present is a good time to plant 
Ranunculuses. They are odd little roots, 
and should be planted fairly thick or they 
will have a rather dejected appearance. 
Give them three inches apart and plant two 
inches deep, claw downwards. 
To Make Circular, Oval, and Other Beds. 
At one time and another, amateurs eager 
to make a fancy bed upon their lawn have 
come to me for information as to how they 
can make a perfect circle, oval, crescent, 
etc. A circle is simple to make, for a stake 
driven in the ground will act as the centre. 
A piece of string is looped over it, the other 
end being attached to an iron rod or stake. 
By keeping the string taut, a perfect 
circle is assured. The longer the string, of 
course, the greater the circle. Ovals are 
made by driving in two stakes in line with 
each other, the length of the oval governing 
the distance apart. A long piece of string 
that will go right round the two sticks, and 
a bit over, should be joined at the ends. 
Pass the string over the stakes and catch 
it up with an iron rod. Pull tight and 
walk round, keeping the rod hard against 
the string, at the same time marking the 
ground. A pretty bed is the trefoil, which 
is made by placing three stakes at equal 
- Q. 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,t any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care¬ 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN SHILLINGS 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 iu 
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 overuntil 
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 papers in this competition 
are too long, an I we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awa-ded to ” J. G-. Taylor” for his article on 
“ Roses for Amateurs,” page 50. 
In the Prize Letter Competition, a prize was 
awarded to “Adiantum” for his article on 
“ A iantum formosum ”; and another to 
“Chas. Ben tail ” for his article on “ Myos’otis 
in saucers of water,” page 52. 
distances apart, say 4ft. A two-foot piece 
of string should be used as for making a 
circle. By treating all three stakes simi¬ 
larly, one gets three circles overlapping each 
other. The outer lines give the shape re¬ 
quired. The crescent is also very simple. 
Drive in two stakes, say 2ft. apart. Use 
the string as for making circles. The result 
will be that the points meet before the circle 
is completed. A little experimenting will 
soon give one an idea as to the length of 
string required for marking a bed of a cer¬ 
tain size. 
Roses. 
Lose no time in getting new Roses into 
position. I have previously pointed out 
that 1 prefer to prune right back when 
planting. The check through shifting will 
stop the plants starting too early. , 
The Fruit Garden. 
Look lively must be the order here. All 
planting must be got through as soon as 
possible. This does not apply to Straw¬ 
berries, however, as it is safer to wait a 
month or so before planting this fruit. 
Planting Strawberries, etc. 
There are only two good times for plant¬ 
ing Strawberries, namely, September or 
early October, and late March or early 
April. 
Pruning of Fruit Trees. 
Respecting the planting of fruit trees, 
many argue for and against pruning ai 
planting time. I myself do not hold with 
pruning trees at planting time, save small 
bush fruits. Fruit Trees, unlike Roses, 
have to carry something more than flowers, 
and if pruned when planted, only the basal 
buds are left. These are slower and entail 
more labour on the part of the tree to start 
them. Unpruned, the trees break away 
from the topmost buds, the basal buds re¬ 
maining dormant. These, after the tree is 
pruned the following season, form fruit buds 
or spurs. Fruit should not be expected the 
first year. 
Black Currant Mite. 
One will soon see, if not already noticed, 
the big buds forming on mite-infested Black 
Currant bushes. Pick off the buds as much 
as possible, and spray later with the sul¬ 
phur solution. A note upon this will follow 
at the right time. 
Tree Cleaning. 
Make every effort to free trees from 
canker, by cleaning the wounds and paint¬ 
ing with copper sulphate solution, which is 
not quite so caustic as hydrochloric acid. 
Old or dirty trees should be sprayed with a 
caustic solution before the buds commence 
to move. The new fluid made by dissolving 
2lbs. of caustic soda in hot water in a 
wooden vessel, and afterwards mixing it 
with i^lbs. of soft soap, which has been 
boiled in water with 5 pints of paraffin 
added, is much the best spray or wash. 
The paraffin should be added to the hot 
soap liquid, and well beaten before adding 
the soda fluid. The whole should be made 
up to 11 gallons. Use at once, and be 
sure to well vaseline the hands and other 
exposed parts, as the soda is very caustic. 
Gooseberry Caterpillar. 
Now is the time to cope with the terrible 
Gooseberry' caterpillar. This pest live- 
over the winter in the soil, and by apply¬ 
ing soot at the rate of -lbs. to the rod now 
and stirring it in, the pest will be destroyed. 
Another dressing of soot should be given 
when the fruit has been gathered. 
Old trees to be re-grafted must be cut 
back at once. Make the ends quite smooth. 
