20 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 12, 1907. 
PRIZE LETTER COMPETITION. 
Readers are invited to contribute to this 
column short letters discussing any gar¬ 
dening subject. 
Letters must not exceed 150 words each in 
Don’t Coddle Your Plants. 
A great mistake is often made by those 
first attempting to keep some plants over 
the winter. They have a frame or green¬ 
house and some tender plants, therefore 
as soon as frosts come the latter must be 
kept close, and no air allowed to r’each 
them. Fires must be started, or some 
means of supplying warmth be used. A 
costly proceeding very often, not only 
causing needless expense, but sometimes 
entailing loss of many subjects which, 
with hardier treatment, might have sur¬ 
vived. Instead oif doing as above, on 
every possible occasion give plants in 
frame or greenhouse as much air as can 
fairly be admitted, only closing quite 
down in case of frost or heavy rain. 
Damp kills more subjects than cold, the 
latter only checking growth, while the 
former somewhat encourages weak 
growth, which will probably succumb to 
the first attack of disease. 
Wilts. Albert A. Kerridge- 
How to Make a Herbaceous Border. 
The above, if carefully made and laid 
out, constitutes one of the most pleasant 
features of the flower garden. in mak¬ 
ing the border, dig out a trench 2 feet 
deep and the same width, to be half filled 
with refuse from the rubbish heap, such 
as old flower stems, Cabbage runts, Arti- 
cho'kes; Asparagus, Bean and Pea stalks, 
etc. The rougher the refuse the more 
valuable, as it contains manurial pro¬ 
perties. The soil from the next trench 
should be placed on top; continue the 
work in this manner. It must be allowed 
to lie till the beginning of March, then 
clear off all refuse with wooden rakes, and 
wheel on a good quantity of stable manure 
and leaf mould. Then dig one spit deep. 
Also break up the soil well, and rake 
level, and it will be ready to receive 
plants. The key to success is to have 
the soil in good tilth, so as to render it 
free from being water-logged. 
Wishaw. J. W. Forsyth. 
Purity and Grace Refined. 
•In the newer forms of Chrysanthe¬ 
mum maximum, we get purity and 
grace, but we step forward another 
degree when we handle Chrysanthemum 
Leucanthemum robinsonianum. A terrible 
mouthful to be sure, but we can afford to 
overlook the sore trial of pronuncia¬ 
tion when we are cutting the blooms of 
this beautiful Oxeye Daisy. Being of the 
Leucanthemum type, it is less vigorous 
and less tall than the maximum varieties, 
but nevertheless it increases rapidly by 
division. Plant single growths on ’well- 
manured ground, and they become good: 
clumps in one season. If varies in 
height, and I have seen it over 3 feet, but 
single divisions do not rise above 2 feet 
the first season. The flowers start in. 
length, and must be written on one side 
of the -pafer only. 
T wc Prizes of 2 S. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the best. 
July, and never finish until frost compels 
them. The last blooms last season were 
cut on November 12th. In form thtey are 
light and feathery, the petals being 
fimbriated, and the blooms about 3 
inches in diameter, pure white, with a 
bright, yellow disc. Truly a garden de¬ 
light. 
Oxford. ’ A. C. T. 
A Substitute for Seakale. 
To those who are fond of Seakale and 
have not the means to grow it, the follow¬ 
ing hint may be useful. Get some 
swedes from the farmer and put them in 
•a dark place with a temperature any¬ 
where between 50 and 60 deg. Stand 
them in a single layer, with the crown 
uppermost, and if the floor is damp they 
will need no soil around them; all that 
it is necessary to do is keep them per¬ 
fectly dark. In a few weeks they will 
have long shoots on them similar to Sea¬ 
kale, and may be cut and cooked in the 
same way. If a few roots are 'brought 
in each week a succession may be kept 
up throughout the winter months, and 
when properly prepared is not unlike 
Seakale in flavour. White turnips mav 
be treated the same way. 
Kent. " A. DENNETT. 
Parsnips for Exhibition. 
With January here, Parsnips should be 
sown the first favourable opportunity. In 
an open aspect, take out a trench 4*4 
feet deep and as wide as will give the 
workman freedom. At the bottom lay 
3 inch pipes, with an outlet for water into 
a walk or drain. Fill in a few rough 
cinders. F ollow with a foot of manure, 
filling the remainder with fine sifted light 
soil, with wood ashes and soot incorpor¬ 
ated. Allow a week for this to consoli¬ 
date, and _then sow three seeds together 
at intervals of 15 inches. Cover with an 
inch of soil, and use pieces of glass as a 
protection to the seed, till they germinate. 
Thin out to one, as growth proceeds. 
Remove some of the mould from the 
neck of the Parsnip, and add sand. Trv 
this and let me know your position in 
the prize list. 
Wishaw. A.V.M. 
Watering Plants with Hot Water. 
In the case of Palms, Aspidistras, Dra¬ 
caenas, etc., in winter, that have been 
in rooms for any length of time, the soil 
often becomes sour, and has a certain 
poisonous quality. This toxical quality 
is due to the presence of organic acid in 
excess, and which in ordinary open 
ground conditions would have been re¬ 
moved by bottom drainage. Plants 
growing in pots in rooms are under dis¬ 
tinctly artificial conditions, and there are 
many causes which lead to the accumu¬ 
lation of acids. For instance, too deep 
planting, and particularly clogging of 
drainage. Water at the high tempera¬ 
ture of 120 to 130 degrees Fahr. can be 
applied, until it runs out in abundance 
from the hole at the bottom of the pot. 
The hot water will dissolve and wash out 
the poisonous acids. After the plants 
have been treated in this way, it would 
be well to give a slight application of 
liquid manure. 
Dorchester. H. W. Wakely. 
Double Potentillas. 
An outstanding feature of the borders 
last year was the persistent flowering of 
the double Potentillas, evolved from the 
yellow P. argyrophylla and the dark crim¬ 
son P. a. atrosanguinea. The flowers 
are large and double, of a velvety texture, 
and vary in colour, from bright yellow to 
deep crimson, almost black. The foliage 
resembles the Strawberry, but the flower 
stems are 2ft. or more in height. Staking 
is a particular item with these plants, 
and must be attended to early in the sea¬ 
son, one stake being required to each 
stem. If left till they commence to 
bloom, the stems become twisted, and 
never assume the strong growing habit of 
plants staked early. A sandy loam is 
best for preference, but any good garden 
soil will grow these plants. N/o doubt 
the drier climate of the South curtails 
their flowering period somewhat, but if 
they are planted in a partially-shaded 
position, they will give a good account 
of themselves. The plants are not un¬ 
like Strawberry clumps during winter. 
They are propagated by seeds, and by 
division. 
Stirlingshire. H. ARNOLD. 
Gift for Gardening Friends. 
May I through the aid of your valuable 
paper ask if there are any gardeners who, 
like myself, are wondering what will be a 
seasonable and acceptable gift to their 
gardening friends, remind them that they | 
cannot do better than choose one of the 
Gardening World Diaries, or a 13 
months' subscription so as to^ ensure them 
having the paper regularly. A word in 
season is a word in reason, and doubtless 
many will be glad to profit by the hint. 
Walsall. Young Gardener. 
Early Sweet Peas. 
I have discontinued the laborious prac¬ 
tice of sowing in pots for early blooming 
in favour of the following :—Procure front 
any grocer boxes of convenient size, re¬ 
move the lids and bottoms, and then re¬ 
place the latter by tying round each end 
with strong twine’ or w-hipcord. Fill the 
boxes with suitable compost, and after 
sowing the Peas the required distance 
apart, remove them to a cold frame or 
greenhouse to make, with due care, 
strong plants by planting time. When 
ready to plant out, dig a trench, slightly 
deeper and wider than the boxes; take 
the latter and place each in position in the 
trench. Then cut and remove the ties, 
slightly tilt the box, grasp and remove the 
bottom with a sharp pull, and then care¬ 
fully lift the remaining parts of the box. 
A gentle all-round pressure completes the 
operation. Culinary Peas and other seed¬ 
lings may be similarly successfully 
treated. 
Gloucester. Early Bird. 
