January 5, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
*3 
Address: The Editor, The Gardening 
World, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
cover any branch of gardening. Questions 
should be as brief as -possible and written on 
one side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
of paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans. —Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens , indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac¬ 
ter and height of the fence or wall ; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden , orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
-flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully filed, with the 
name and. address of the sender, and will be 
consulted by the Editor whenever an enquiry 
is sent. 
/ rrrrrrrrrrrrrr^ 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
1390. Heating a Greenhouse. 
I have a greenhouse 8 by 9 by 9 ft., and 
I want to heat it, so I thought of having 
two-inch pipes all round and having an 
elhow built into a fire box which I propose 
to build in the potting shed at the side of 
the greenhouse. I cannot afford a boiler, 
and I can get this done very cheaply. Do 
you think it will answer satisfactorily? 
(Amateur, Hull.) 
Your greenhouse is quite moderate in size, 
and what you propose we think could be 
done with a slight alteration of your pre¬ 
sent plans. The angle of a 2 in. pipe built 
into a fire box would give you very little 
heating surface, and consequently much of 
the fire heat would be lost. Instead of 
carrying the 2 in. pipe through the fire box, 
we should recommend you to get an angle 
piece of a 4 in. pipe, "with joints, in which 
you could fix the 2 in. pipes. A 4 in. pipe 
run through the fire near where the smoke 
and flame ascends, so that the fire would 
have to pass under and over it, would give 
you greater heating surface than the 2 ,in. 
pipe. At the same time, there are many 
small boilers that would be economical of 
fuel, .and you may ultimately decide to get 
one of them. 
1391. Feeding Hyacinths. 
I am growing some Hyacinths in pots, 
and I find worms in the soil. I found a 
long, red, thin insect, which could run very 
quickly. How can I get rid of them ? When 
should I feed the Hyacinths for show, and 
how? Some of them are up 1 in. The shew 
is cm 7th March. (Amateur, Hull.) 
Worms can often be got. rid of by care¬ 
fully turning out the ball of soil in your 
hands, when the worm will be found clcce 
to the sides of the pot, or else at the ’bottom. 
Sometimes they are half hidden in the soil, 
but by grasping them quickly and firmly 
you can withdraw them. If, when turning 
out the pots, you do not find them, you can 
water the plants with lime water, and they 
will scon appear on the surface. For a 
few plants, you can make up seme lime 
water over night by putting a lump of un- 
idacked lime, about the size of your fist, in 
a tub for each gallon of water. After stand¬ 
ing for twenty-four hours, you can then use 
the clear liquid. If your Hyacinths are 
sound, we do not think that the long, red 
insect you mention will trouble them. Most 
likely it is one of the centipedes (Geophilus 
electricus). This and all of its kind usually 
hide away amongst the drainage, so that 
you can readily get rid of them when look¬ 
ing for worms. When your Hyacinths are 
about 2 in. high, and the leaves beginning 
to grow freely, you ca.n give them weak 
liquid manure once a week at first, but twice 
a week afterwards, when they are in full 
growth and dependent, of course, upon the 
weather. We believe that Hyacinths, and 
all other bulbs for.show, are fed to their 
utmost capacity, but until you get thoroughly 
acquainted with their ways we should advise 
you" to be careful, and feed them on 'the 
weak side rather than on the strong. Your 
flower show is early, but if the Hyacinths 
are likely to be late, you can raise the tem¬ 
perature as the show time approaches, al¬ 
though we should counsel you to keep them 
growing steadily all along, so that little or 
no forcing will be required. 
1392. Sweet Peas in Window Box. 
Can I grow Sweet Peas in a box and let 
them grow downward from a bedroom win¬ 
dow ? If so, what is the best method as 
regards soil and manure? (Doctor, 
Cheshire.) 
A 'steady supply of moisture after the 
weather gets warm will be of great service 
to Sweet Peas in boxes. You can help them 
in this respect by getting boxes 6 in. deep 
to allow for draining. Place some well 
rotted cow manure over the drainage, and 
this will retain moisture as well as any¬ 
thing. Good substantial soil should also be 
employed, consisting of two-thirds fibrous 
loam and one-third cow manure and leaf 
mould mixed together. Sand, of course, 
will also be necessary to ensure the porosity 
of the soil. We are not so certain that 
Sweet Peas in boxes will 'be a great success 
if you want them to grow dewnwards. You 
can see this for yourself by observing the 
sowings of kitchen Peas in market gardens 
that are not staked, but are simply allowed 
to lie on the ground. The haulm is always 
shorter than when they get the assistance 
of stakes on which they can climb. Sweet 
Peas behave much in the same way, and 
when hanging downwards they may give a 
fair display of flowers, though they may 
not last long owing to the shortness of the 
stems. ^ If you planted them rather thinly, 
you might furnish them with stakes, so that 
they could grew upwards and yet not darken 
the window, 
WINDOW BOXES. 
1393. Sweet Pea Audrey Crier. 
(a) Could you give me the address of 
Meisrs. Stark and Son? (b) Is Sweet Pea 
Audrey on the market, if so, who by? (c; 
The name of some American growers of 
Sweet Peas? (d) Also the best novelties of 
1907. (C. Grosvenor, Surrey.) 
(a) The address you require is Messrs. G. 
Stark and Son, Great Ryburgh, Norfolk, 
(b) Sweet Pea Audrey Crier is not yet 
properly fixed, ^and we do net think it is 
likely to be put on the market this year. 
The raiser is Mr. Charles W. Breadmore, 
Winchester, Hants, (c) American growers 
of Sweet 1’eas are little known in this 
country, except the wholesale trade growers, 
but anything new that is worth having is 
certain to find its way to this country and 
to be listed by every home grower of Sweet 
Peas, that is, seedsmen, and after you have 
scanned their catalogues you may calculate 
that you have found everything on the mar¬ 
ket worth growing. (d) We shall give a 
list of novelties in a few weeks, and if you 
keep' your eye on our pages you will find 
the best of everything to be put into com¬ 
merce this year. 
1394. Tassel Flower. 
What is the scarlet Tassel Flower? Can 
it be grown outside in the garden, or does 
it require a greenhouse? (A. M., Beds.) 
The plant to which the name scarlet Tassel 
Flower is most frequently given is Cacalia 
coccinea, a half hardy annual that may be 
treated in the same way as Asters and 
Stocks and planted out in May. There are 
other flowers in gardens, however, to which 
the same name may be given, as Tassel 
Flower is not adopted by everyone. For in¬ 
stance, there is Acalypha hispida, which is, 
properly speaking, a stove plant. 
1395. Snow in Summer. 
I want to make a thin line of Snow in 
Summer (Cerastium) as an edging to 
Pansies. At present it forms an edging to 
a garden walk, but it has grown tco wide. 
If I take off small pieces of root and plant 
them in a line, will this be sufficient, or is 
it necessary to propagate young plants every 
year? (T. Robertson, Lancs.) 
Snow in Summer is easy to propagate, 
and may be rooted at various times during 
the summer, but in your district it would 
hardly be necessary to propagate it at any 
other time than in spring. The method of 
planting a line of pieces of root as you pro¬ 
pose would probably answer well enough. In 
your district, however, where moisture 
would be fairly plentiful in the early part 
of the season, you could take the garden 
'shears in March and clip off the tops. 
Then, after the site is prepared, take out a 
shallow trench and lay in the tops just as 
if you were laying an edging of Box. By 
this method you can make as thin a line as 
you like, setting the tops level or clipping 
them with the shears to nip off any strag¬ 
gling points after you have properly firmed 
the cuttings in their places. If "done in 
March, the cuttings will be well rooted be¬ 
fore the heat of summer affects them. Be 
sure you do not delay this work, as Pansies 
and \ iola.s should be planted in March. 
1395. White-leaved Ccntaurea. 
For some years I have grown Centaurea 
candidissima for planting in beds of flowers 
for contrast, but it is rather miffy cr slow 
growing. Can you mention any ether that 
is more easv to grow and preserve in winter 
(Charles Fox, Sussex.) 
The proper name of the Centaurea you 
mention is C. ragusina candidissima", a 
variety that is frequently used for bedding 
purposes. It is of slow growth, but is whiter 
