34 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 19, 1907. 
them as hardy as possible. Long jointed 
plants generally mean weak and drawn- 
up plants, and this should be guarded 
against at all hazards. 
A batch of the early out-of-door Chry¬ 
santhemums should be struck without de¬ 
lay, if they have not already been started. 
Work of the Moment. 
Every 7 bit of garden lying idle should 
be dug over and left rough when weather 
permits. The frost then will do 
thoroughly 7 its great and good work in 
sweetening, pulverising, and penetrating 
the soil. 
F. Norfolk. 
-- 
thejmghiKG- 
THE WORK 
DESCRIBED. 
The seasons of late autumn and early 
winter are particularly suitable for the 
work of trenching, as, if thoroughly car¬ 
ried out, the soil will receive the full bene¬ 
fit of exposure to Nature’s manifold forces 
during the time which follows. It is not 
here proposed to dwell in-detail upon the 
chemical changes resulting from this 
operation, so I will merely remind 
readers that “weathering,” i.e., exposure 
to air, combined with the winter round of 
rain, snotv, frost, thaw, and other atmos¬ 
pheric influences affects the soil so greatly 
as to make constant cultivation essential 
to successful cropping; without deep 
trenching and surface forking and hoeing 
such exposure cannot properly take place. 
Manuring. 
At the time of trenching further im¬ 
provement in the texture and fertility of 
the soil may well be carried out by some 
kind of manuring. This will vary accord¬ 
ing to the nature of the soil, e.g., a stiff 
soil w 7 ill benefit by a dressing of lime, and 
a poor soil by an application of good 
stable manure. The kind of crops to be 
growm must also here be considered. The 
question as to complete or only partial in¬ 
version of soils in trenching will be de¬ 
cided by 7 reference to their condition ; the 
usual requirement, however, will be found 
to lie in continual deepening of the tilth 
by 7 allowing it to assimilate with the barren 
subsoil at the bottom, and in improving 
this by the gradual exposure of a portion 
at a time. 
A Few Remarks. 
By trenching is, of course, understood 
digging the ground to the depth of at least 
two spits. For vegetable plots, trenching 
three spits deep is desirable ; this should 
be carried out thoroughly once during each 
year. Herbaceous borders must be 
trenched two spits deep every third year 
at least, and this will give an opportunity 
for the division and re-planting of peren¬ 
nials. The directions below give the 
method of trenching when this is carried 
to a depth of two spits, suggesting also, 
as examples, some materials for putting 
in during the operation. 
How to Do the Work. 
Mark out a trench eighteen inches wide 
across the surface of the plot, using the 
edge of the spade to do this. Cut the soil 
downwards perpendicularly with the mark¬ 
ing lines, and then commence digging 
out. Stand in the trench as soon as there 
is sufficient space, working backwards 
from end to end. Remove in barrow loads 
all soil taken out of this trench, placing 
it where it is desired to finish off. Loosen 
the soil at the bottom to a depth of six 
inches. Lay in green garden refuse or 
manure. Mark out a second trench and 
turn in, cutting down the top spit. Give 
a sprinkling of Vaporite—against wire- 
worm—over the now equal surfaces of the 
two trenches. Take out the remainder of 
the first spit of second trench, placing it 
on top of that already turned into first 
trench. Give a good sprinkling of basic 
slag along the surface of this. Take out 
second spit of second, trench, and fill up 
the first with the soil dug out. 
Repeat these processes until the entire 
plot or border has been worked, taking 
care to keep an even surface as each 
trench is filled up. 
In spring a light forking will break up 
afresh the surface soil, and" render it fit 
for sowing. 
Middlesex. Helen Colt. 
- 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,i 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 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 papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “H. Hall” for his article on 
“ American Blight,” page 21. 
In the Prize Letter Competition, a prize was 
awarded to “A. Dennett” for his article on 
“ A Substitute for Seakale ” ; and another to 
“A.Y.M.” for his article on “Parsnips for 
Exhibition,” page 20. 
Chrysanthemums. 
Notes on 
Propagation. 
As the season has again arrived for the 
propagation of these beautiful flowers, per¬ 
haps a few hints may 7 not be out of place. 
The method generally adopted is to 
select stiff sturdy 7 cuttings about three 
inches long as far from the stem as pos¬ 
sible, where this can be done, avoiding 
cuttings with buds, and making a clean 
cut with a sharp knife below a joint. 
Shallow boxes or 3J4 inch pots may be 
used with a compost of equal parts of 
light loam, leaf mould, one-eighth of 
coarse sand, and one-eighth of wood ash, 
the whole mixed well together. An impor¬ 
tant point is to allow good drainage. Then 
fill the boxes or pots, pressing the soil 
slightly firm, and sprinkling the surface 1 
with a little silver sand. Use a blunt stick 
(with which to make the hole for the cut¬ 
tings, making sure they reach die bottom 
of the holes. Press the soil around, mak¬ 
ing it firm, and give a thorough watering, i 
after which great care -must be taken not < 
to over-water, especially during dull damp 
days. Place the bo|xes or pots on finely 7 
sifted ashes in a shallow box in a light 
airy greenhouse or a frame, maintaining 
a temperature of about 45 deg. The 
boxes should be covered with glass which 
can be tilted or removed as required for 
the puqjose of g'iving air. Shade from 
sunshine till the cuttings are rooted, each 
day wiping the moisture off the underside 
of the glass with a sponge. When the 
cuttings begin to root gradually give a 
little air, increasing it as they will stand 
without flagging, and very soon the glass 
may be removed for an hour or two each 
day with great benefit to the rootlets. 
When found to be nicely rooted they 
may be transferred into 6 o’s; extra strong 
varieties may be given a size larger. The 
compost should now be three parts fibrous 
loiam, one part leaf-mould, one part well 
rotted manure, one-sixth of wood ashes, 
and a similar amount of sharp silver 
sand, the whole well mixed, and passed 
through a coarse sieve. This compost 
should be used moderately moist, and the 
plants potted firmly without damaging the 
rootlets. When re-potted return them ta 
a frame, keeping them close for a day or 
two, again increasing the air as the in¬ 
mates will stand without flagging. Avoid 
cold draughts, and protect them from 
frost, keeping them as cool as possible. 
Syringe on fine bright mornings and early 
afternoons so that they may become dry 
before nightfall 
F. G. Wr 
Swamp Potatos.— The Swamp Potato, 
Solanum Commersoni, somewhat recently 
introduced to this country from South 
America, and specimens of which grown 
in Sussex were exhibited at the last 
National Potato Society’s show, has the re¬ 
markable quality that it never needs re¬ 
planting, multiplying itself by means of 
the long tubers which it throws out in all 
directions. The flavour is, unfortunately, 
somewhat bitter, and experiments with the 
object of combining disease-resistance 
with palatable baste are now being made. 
