January 5, 1907. 
9 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
and placing them in 9 mall pots, using light 
soil. The protection of a frame is neces¬ 
sary. Get soil ready by mixing and placing 
under cover. It will 'be needed for seed sew¬ 
ing ere long. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Apples, Pears, etc. 
The novice with space to spare will be 
wanting fruit, of course, and orders for 
trees should at once be sent to the nursery- 
man in order to make sure of good stuff. 
Too many varieties are a mistake, and I my¬ 
self should foe quite content to grow the fol¬ 
lowing :—Apples, kitchen sorts : Bramley’s 
Seedling, Warner’s King, Lane’s Prince Al¬ 
bert, Newton Wonder, Ecklinville, and Bis¬ 
marck. Dessert varieties : Cox’s Orange Pip¬ 
pin, Worcester Pearmain, Allington Pippin, 
Blenheim Orange, Beauty of Bath, and 
King of Pippins. Pears : Williams’ Bon 
Chretien, Catillac, Doyenne du Comice, Pit- 
m.aston Duchess, Beurre Superfin, and Marie 
Louise. Other useful fruits are :—Plums : 
Cox’s Emperor, Grank Duke, Early Rivers, 
Jefferson, and Victoria. Raspberry : Super¬ 
lative. Strawberries : Royal Sovereign, 
Bedford Champion, Laxton’s Latest. Nec¬ 
tarines and Peaches are best on walls, and 
of the former Lord Napier and River’s 
Orange are goed. Waterloo and Princess of 
Wales are good Peaches. Gooseberries : 
Crown Bob, Green, Gage, Whinham’s Indus¬ 
try, Cousen’s Seedling. Currants : Boskcop 
Giant (black), Raby Castle (red), Versailles 
(white). Cherries : May Duke, Black Eagle, 
Noble. 
Pruning Newly Planted Trees. 
Opinions differ as to cutting back newly 
planted trees, but I prefer to allow the trees 
a full run the first season. Market men 
never cut back, and what pays them must be 
the best to my mind. Pruning of established 
trees should be well nigh finished. 
Birds and Fruit Bushes.- 
Keep' birds off Currants and Gooseberries. 
Some advocate plaster of paris, but I have 
found it a failure owing to it peeling off 
after frost. A market grower’s recipe is to 
boil equal parts of lime and sulphur, using 
1 lib. pf each to 5 gallons of water. A hand¬ 
ful of salt should also foe added, and the 
liquid sprayed over the bushes. Get all 
digging completed, especially if new trees 
are to be planted. Bastard trench the 
ground, and allow it to settle before plant¬ 
ing. Firm and careful planting must be 
the rule. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Necessary Vegetables to Procure. 
Here again the seedsman’s list will see 
have to be consulted. Owing to tl 
majority of firms having their own special 
ties, it is impossible to make a definite s 
lection, but every kitchen garden shorn 
contain Herbs, Rhubarb, Potatos, Pea 
Beans in variety, Carrots, Parsnips, Parsle 
Beet Cabbage, Cauliflower, Onions, Brc 
coli, iSeakale, Asparagus, Celery, and Kal 
ihere are numerous other varieties th 
might be included. Seakale and Aspara 
are usually bought as roots, but they may 3 ] 
raised from seed if desired. 
Digging and Manuring. 
. Digging is the most important thin® that 
is going on in this department, and “every 
opportunity should be taken to get it in 
trim for the coming season. We are sure 
to get some severe frosts, and by gettin® the 
ground broken up, it has a charuce of get¬ 
ting sweetened. Do not dig if very wet, 
however, and always remember that deep 
digging pays.. 
Manuring is an important item, and for 
most crops it is essential. Fresh manure 's 
undesirable for roots such as Carrots, etc. 
Select a piece of ground that has] been 
manured previously for such crops. Failing 
this, use artificials. A good general mix¬ 
ture is made up by using four parts super¬ 
phosphates, two parts nitrate of soda, and 
one part sulphate of potash. Three or four 
lbs. to the .rod give most things a fillip, es¬ 
pecially if used in conjunction with dung. 
Horti. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Cacti and Succulents. 
The mild weather that continued so late 
into the autumn dried up the soil of these 
so much that one felt compelled to give 
water later than usual. With the prevalence 
of colder weather, especially wet cold 
weather, the supply cf moisture should be 
entirely discontinued, or the plaints will not 
obtain sufficient rest. The soil may be al¬ 
lowed to ge.t quite dust dry without fear of 
injury resulting, and some of the more suc¬ 
culent kinds will stand several weeks of 
such pronounced drought without shrivel¬ 
ling. Some of the Mesembryanthemums, 
however, soon shrivel, and I frequently have 
occasion to water such as M. formosum, M. 
striatum roseum, M. Brcwnii, and similar 
sorts in the dead of winter. The curious 
aqd interesting M. felinum and M. tigrinum 
I find take no harm from a fair amount of 
shrivelling. When, water must be given, it 
should be used quite warm, and not allowed 
to touch the foliage. Another interesting 
point is that very' firm potting prevents 
shrivelling, and generally suits Cacti. I 
should like to strongly recommend the cul¬ 
ture of these fascinating plants to amateurs 
who have a warm greenhouse. I know of 
nothing which gives the same amount of in¬ 
terest, taking the whole year round. 
Warm Water for Watering. 
We used at one tirfie to hear a geed deal 
of the need cf warm water for watering in 
winter, but the subject has either been worn 
threadbare or dropped. In the heyday of 
the controversy respecting the advantages 
of warm water, I think the Scottish verdict 
of “ not proven ” was returned, and I am 
not. going to insist on the benefits of warm 
water , in the avoidance of chills to roots 
of warm, sensitive plants. What I do know, 
and would emphasise, is that warm water 
goes a lot further than cold, that is, a given 
quantity will water a greater number of 
plaints, and do the work more quickly and 
pleasantly. In houses where a sufficiently 
dry atmosphere is only maintained in win¬ 
ter with difficulty, warm water, just un¬ 
pleasantly hot to the back of the hand, 
should be a real boon, as only about half the 
quantity need be used. 
How to Get Hot Water. 
Warm water can always be obtained by 
taking a small pipe from the flow hot-water 
pipes through the water cistern, connecting 
it again with the flow pipe on its exit from 
the tank. In a small house, I have found a 
length of stout gas piping sufficient. A 
larger structure would require a 2in. pipe, 
and I have even known the 4im. flow pipe 
itself led through a cistern with good re¬ 
sults. But this will only give warm water. 
To get hot water, a tap should be fitted into 
the flew hot-water pipe, an ordinary water 
tap, beneath which a water-can can be held 
for filling. Of course, the fire must have an 
extra stir up to compensate for the with¬ 
drawal of water. 1 can commend this tap 
idea to anyone whose boiler is well up to its 
work. When the air taps which are usually 
fitted at the bends of the pipes empty into 
the house, and not through a piece of lead 
piping outside, water can always be got, 
after a fashion, from them, after the air 
has been discharged. 
The Cold Greenhouse. 
As a nice little change from so much hot 
water, let us look in at the cold greenhouse 
for a while. Here there are no warm pipes, 
and as a consequence Jack Frost often 
manages to effect an entrance when he takes 
to the warpath in deadly earnest. If the 
plants in the house are such as should be 
found in such a structure, Mr. Frost may 
find his stinjg drawn, in other words the 
plants will not be harmed. But, then, who 
ever saw a cold greenhouse that was content 
to pose as such? The enormous wealth in 
plants possessed by its warm (brother so dis¬ 
turbs its serenity that it is sure to covet and 
get hold of a few, and it is just these few 
plants, things' that h.ad no business in the 
cold house, that give the owner premature 
grey hairs and fall victims when frost is on 
the prowl. 
When Frost Gets in the House. 
The presence in a house is scon betrayed, 
without a glance at the thermometer; the 
glass will be opaque through a covering of 
icy lacework, and the foliage of the affected 
plants will betray an unusual affection for 
the stems. The thing .to do when this occurs 
is to lay seme mats, sacks, or carpet on the 
roof, and well syringe the plants with water 
that is at freezing point; some from an out¬ 
side tank is best. It has been often said 
that it is not the fall that hurts one, but 
the sudden stop. So it is not the frost that 
harms plants, but the thaw. A sudden thaw 
ruptures the tender tissues, and if a 
gradual thaw, on the lines suggested, can 
foe arranged, probably not the slightest harm 
can be done. 
Calceolarias in Frames. 
One often sees the advice given to pinch 
shrubby Calceolarias in frames about this 
date, hut a pinch of salt should be taken 
with such advice. If the plants or cuttings 
are growing freely and have made roots, 
then pinching is permissible; but if no roots 
have formed, pinching can only result in 
their appearance being longer delayed. I 
always like to pulil up a cutting or two and 
examine its base. If only a callus, that is, 
a hard, roundish knob, is formed at the 
bottom, I replant firmly, and defer pinch- 
ing for a week or two. The surface soil 
should be pricked up with a pointed stick 
to let in air. 
SUXNYSIDE. 
-- 
Pink Flowered Dogwood. —Most, if 
not all, of the species of Dogwood have 
white flowers, but a variety with pink 
flowers is in commerce, and was dis¬ 
covered in Virginia and sent out by 
Messrs. Parsons and Sons. “The Flor¬ 
ists’ Exchange’’ states that the variety has 
been found again more recently in South 
Carolina. The same or something 
similar has reached this country under the 
name of Cornus florida flore rubro. 
Pear Bf.urre dAnjou.— Pears are now 
rather few compared with those still 
in season during November. Beurre 
d’Anjou ripens naturally in December in 
the fruit room, and therefore comes in 
handy for Christmas. The fruit is of 
large size, turning rather bright yellow at 
this season with a red cheek. The flesh 
is juicy, melting, and very agreeable. 
