•The Gardening World, January 12, 1907. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“ Our misfortunes are often lightened by relating them.' 
-Corneille, 
AN AMATEUR’S LETTER 
TO AMATEURS. 
CONTENTS. 
Amateur's Letter to Amateurs, An 
... 1 7 
Birds and Fruit Buds . 
... 19 
Birds and Fruit Buds. 
... 17 
Blamcard Fund, The . 
... 27 
Calceolaria, A Yellow (illus.) ... 
... 23 
Chrysanthemums, Big Blooms of 
26 
Chrvsanthemums for January ... 
... 27 
Climber, A Splendid (illus.) 
... 19 
Colour Scheme ? Why a . 
... iS 
Competition Awards . 
... 18 
Competition, Prize Letter . 
... 20 
Crocus Balansae (illus.) . 
... 27 
Daboecia polifolia alba . 
... 28 
Editorial . 
... 23 
Enquire Within . 
... 29 
Escallonias at Bournemouth 
26 
Flower Garden, The . 
... 24 
Fruit Garden, The . 
... 24 
Fruit Growing for Amateurs ... 
... 26 
Gooseberry Mildew, American ... 
... 26 
Greenhouse, The Amateurs’ 
... 25 
Kitchen Garden, The . 
... 25 
Lilac Marie Legraye (illus.) 
... 21 
Orchids for Amateurs ... ••• ... 
... 25 
Pruning, Some Lessons on 
... 28 
Snowdrop, The Double (illus.) 
... 23 
Toma.tos, A Remarkable Crop of 
... 32 
Walks, Garden . 
... l8 
-+++- 
?lanVuM£ 'Sms. 
In outdoor planting, this operation is 
sometimes conducted in a slip-shod 
fashion. To get good returns, we must 
firstly take pains to plant thoroughly, to 
make fruitful trees. A good plan is to 
take out a pit for the reception of the 
roots, 4 feet in diameter and 2 ifeet deep. 
At the bottom, cover with slates or flags 
of stone, with a gradual slope on either 
side to run off water; failing that, a mix¬ 
ture of building lime and ashes will 
make a splendid foundation. Put a layer 
of manure in the bottom, cover with 
garden soil, and tread firmly. Plant 
vour tree and give the roots a nice spread. 
If the soil is unduly clammy and stub¬ 
born, add quantities of sand and light 
soil to fill in the crevices. With this sys¬ 
tem, root-pruning is reduced, and almost 
certain of good crops, as we have more 
control of the roots. 
A. V. M. 
Wishaw. 
LXXIV. 
Cinerarias. 
As we can hardly expect to enjoy 
flowers in the out-of-door garden during 
this month, we turn to our conservatories 
and greenhouses. What an interesting 
plant the modern Cineraria is to be sure ! 
A well-grown specimen with bold hand¬ 
some foliage and rapidly getting to its 
flowering stage is an object so full of pro¬ 
mise, so aspiring, that it claims our 
attention. Cinerarias do not need a 
high temperature, the "lower the better, so 
long as frost is excluded, if they are to 
be as vigorous as they' may be. As soon 
as the flower buds show, liquid manure, 
or one of the concentrated feltilisers may¬ 
be given. On the whole Cinerarias mav 
be called gross feeders at this period of 
their grow-th. If touched with frost they- 
look very miserable, but recover entirely 
if covered over, and allowed to thaw out 
in the dark. If the plants are found in 
this condition, they should never be taken 
into a high temperature; they require to 
thaw slowly and gradually. Some 
novices make the mistake of over-potting 
therm, but where manure is freely- given 
in-a liquid state, six inch pots are amply 
large enough. The variety C. stellata 
delights me; there are exquisitely delicate 
shades of pale mauves and blues that are 
really beautiful; and the old objection— 
that Cinerarias were stiff and ungraceful 
—can no longer be raised while C. ste_- 
lata is to be had. I have heard of Ciner¬ 
arias being used as bedding plants in 
somewhat sunless positions in the South 
of England with great success. In this 
experiment in districts considerably 
farther north, much interest should lie. 
What a fund of enjoy-ment might be ob¬ 
tained from some late batch of seedling 
plants ! I hope to make the experiment 
myself during this coming season, even 
here in East Anglia, and hope others will 
feel tempted to do the same. 
Chrysanthemum Cuttings. 
I am thinking of the out-of-door 
varieties, and these should be taken with 
as little delay as possible; if a little heat 
be available well and good, they will root 
the quicker; if not, they will still root 
quite successfully- in a cold house, though 
they will take’ longer, and therefore 
should not be longer delayed. Use 
plenty- of sand in the potting compost, 
and dibble in round the sides of pots, and 
afterwards place as near the light as 
possible. Of large flowered double 
varieties, Horace Martin (yellow), Carrie 
(yellow), Goacher’s Crimson (crimson 
with gold reverse), La Parisienne (white), 
Polly (deep yellow), Elsie Overclen (terra 
cotta), and Crimson Marie Masse (terra 
cotta) are hard to beat. Every year, 
too, the single-flowered varieties are 
growing in favour, and they-, too, may be 
flowered in the open. Cuttings should 
be put in at once, and the following are 
all grand varieties : — Mary Anderson, 
Framfield Beauty, Ladysmith, Earlswood, 
Edith Pagram, and Kitty- Bourne. 
Carnation Cuttings. 
I have lately- had rather a curious ex¬ 
perience. Some pieces were broken off 
in transplanting some year old plants 
rather late in the season — far too late it 
seemed to me to be any- good to put in 
the pieces as cuttings in the open ground. 
I took them with me into a cold green¬ 
house and thrust them into an empty pot, 
meaning to attend to them later. I for¬ 
got them, however, and they remained 
until the other day, when I took them 
up to throw -them away. The whole six 
had rooted round the pot. and the roots 
were nearly an inch long. 
Some Miscellaneous Hints. 
The novice is a little too prone to. for¬ 
get the names of his plants. Now, in 
planting such things as Roses, for in¬ 
stance, it seems to me a great loss to have 
no guide to the names of the varieites 
purchased, after the paper labels have 
been reduced to illegibility. Zinc labels 
should take their, place, attached firmlv 
to the several bushes by wire. The names 
should be plainly written in a large hand¬ 
writing, with some indelible ink, ) 4 oz. 
of verdigris, Jjoz. of lampblack, } 4 oz. 
sal ammoniac, finely- powdered, and 
slowly and gradually mixed with fivfe ozs. 
of water, will supply enough of this ink 
to last for years, at a cost of about four- 
pence. F or growing carlv seeds, I find 
nothing more useful than a hot bed 
made up in a cold house. Of course 
there must be a bricked-off portion to 
hold it, but it is much more comfortable 
to have this dry surrounding while at¬ 
tending to the seedlings during cold, wet 
weather than an out-erf-door frame 
affords. It helps, too, to keep a cold 
house a few degrees warmer than other¬ 
wise it would be, and that just when most 
needed, as the vitality of the plants is very 
low ait this time, 
in early seed 
display in the 
January may be rather too soon to begin 
operations, it is none too soon to buy the 
seeds, and make plans and preparations 
for sowing them. And in addition to 
its usefulness in rearing seeds, this hot 
bed is invaluable as a means of propagat¬ 
ing cuttings of Zonal Pelargoniums and 
other bedding- plants. 
F. Norfolk. 
I am a great believer 
sowing for the summer 
garden: and though 
