February 2, 1907. 
differs by being better in colour and much 
more productive. 
The plant is of strong, upright habit 
and does not exceed 3 ft. in height, while 
it produces numerous clusters of six to 
eight fruits of a brilliant red colour and 
quite close to the ground. This fruit is 
f lobular in shape, very solid, of excellent 
avour and furnished with but a scanty 
number of seeds. This dwarf habit is of 
advantage to the cultivator since the plant 
requires less attention in the way of stop¬ 
ping than most other varieties, which 
seem to be of continuous growth and even 
when stopped require a lot of attention 
to prevent them from sprouting afresh in¬ 
stead of ripening their crop of fruit. 
The variety is equally suitable for in¬ 
door cultivation, where it fruits freely and 
may be employed for a summer o:r winter 
crop. The shelter produced by glass has,, 
however, the effect of encouraging greater 
length of stem with longer joints, but that 
is only what might have been expected. 
By comparison with other varieties, how¬ 
ever, its peculiar habit is readily discern¬ 
ible even under those conditions. 
We have selected this noveltv as we 
think it peculiarly suitable for gardens 
where space is limited and where the 
plants require to be of the easiest culti¬ 
vation, and to get the best results from 
them during our summer. With -the aid 
of quite a small hotbed any one can raise 
his own plants. Those who have the con¬ 
venience of a greenhouse need not be told 
that their facilities are also sufficient for 
raising their own T-omatos. For outdoor 
culture seeds should not be sown earlier 
than March. The variety under notice 
secured an Award of Merit from the 
R.H.S. in 1905. 
-- 
Australian Pepper Tree.— On rare 
occasions the fruit of this tree (Schinus 
Molle) appears in our markets about 
Christmas, but evidently it is more abun¬ 
dant in the United States, because the 
tree grows well in California, where it is 
planted as a shade tree. 
Carnation Aristocrat. — American 
Carnations have now found their way to 
Australia, and an illustration of the above 
variety is given in the Australian Garden 
and Field for December. In this it is 
stated that it was raised by a Cincinnati 
grower, who disposed of his rights in it 
for ylS,ooo or £ 2,000 more than was paid 
for Mrs. Lawson. 
Moraea bicolor.— The soft blue of 
this plant with a yellow blotch in the 
centre of the falls reminds one very much 
of Iris japonica without the fringes. Of 
course, Moraea is closely allied to Iris. 
A beautiful coloured plate of it is given 
in the Revue de /'Horticulture Beige for 
January. 
Early Sweet Peas. — The Rev. Edwyn 
Arkwright, of Telemly, Algiers, in grow¬ 
ing Sweet Peas, found that Blanche 
Ferry was always early with him. One 
rear a slight sport or precocious variety 
bloomed in February. He saved seeds, 
and in the following year they bloomed in 
January, and so on, until noW he can get 
a number of varieties resembling well 
known ones here which flower from 
Christmas to May. This shows what can 
be done bv selection. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
87 
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 lawyis, 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 piled, with the 
name and address of the sender, and will be 
consulted by the Editor whenever an enquiry 
is sent. 
mrrrrrrrrrrrrri-? 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
1477. Solanum. 
I have a couple of Solanum Capsicastr-um, 
which, since buying a month cr six weeks 
ago, have been kept indoors. They are now 
dropping their leaves and shedoing their 
berries. I have now given them a good 
watering by standing them in water for an 
hour or two and -stood out of doors in a 
sheltered position. Is this the correct treat¬ 
ment? I thought, perhaps, that gas affected 
them. Can I take cuttings from them If 
so, how and when? (A. J. W.„ Kent). 
Possibly the gas did affect the leaves of 
j'c<ur plant, but that together with the low 
temperature would in time cause them to 
shed their leaves and drop their berries. 
We suspect, however, that you have been 
watering them irregularly and that they were 
too dry at one time and possibly too wet at 
another. To stand them in water at this 
season of the year is certainly a mistake as 
the plants should never have been so dry as 
to require it. What is necessary with these 
evergreen plants is to keep the 9 oil nicely 
moist at all times, but never sodden at any 
time, and least of all in winter. Your best 
plan no\v would be to let the plants get 
fairly dry and prune them back within a 
couple of inches of the base of the shoots. 
If ycu have heat they should presently be 
placed there to cause them to make fresh 
growth. You can then take cuttings w'hen 
they are about 2 in. long and insert them 
firmly in pots of sandy soil. Keep these 
pots in a warm place, and if you have a 
hotbed plunge them in that. If carefully 
looked after and potted on as they require 
it, and in June, when the weather is fine, 
planted out in some well-prepared soil in 
the garden, they will make growth and set 
their berries better than they would under 
glass. These plants you can lift about the 
beginning of September, potting them up 
and placing them indoors. The old plants 
may also be planted out in the same way. 
These plants are not hardy and will not 
stand outside in winter. 
1478. Greenhouse in Bad Order. 
I have a small, cold greenhouse not in very 
good order. The roof is not watertight and 
consequently when it rains it penetrates into 
the house. I want it to last the summer out 
as it -is. Will you kindly say what is the 
best thing to do to stop mildew. Some of 
the plants damp off. (A Two Years’ Sub¬ 
scriber). 
You should get some putty and have all 
the cracks and broken pieces closed up so 
as to keep out the rain. Cold w-ater and 
melting snow will destroy most classes of 
plants, whether hardy or not. To check 
mildew you should use sulphur, dusting the 
affected plants or leaves with it. You can¬ 
not prevent the plants from damping off 
unless you keep the water from dripping into 
the pots. You can at least observe where the 
drips are falling and shift the pots to one 
side so as to escape the drip. 
1479. Mixed Orchid Seed. 
I have got some mixed Orchid seed and 
I am at a loss how to grow them. Will you 
kindly reply and tell me (1) how I can 
grow them, (2) what compost to use, (3) how 
to distinguish the different kinds, both the 
seeds and the plants ? I should like to grow' 
them at home, where they will be more under 
my care, for my hothouse is rather a dis¬ 
tance away. (John C. Maclaren, Yorks.). 
In most oases no compost is made up for 
Orchids at all, although a few have been 
reared in a fine compost. The most success¬ 
ful plan of rearing Orchids from seed is to 
sow the latter on the surface of pots con¬ 
taining living Orchids, and failing that the 
plan is to put some drainage in pots, fill 
them with sphagnum and put a piece of 
canvas over the top of the sphagnum, pres¬ 
sing it down and pushing the ends of the 
cloth into the sphagnum so as to retain it 
firmly there. The cloth should be well wetted 
and the seed grown on the top of this. If in¬ 
clined to get dry at any time the pots may 
be stood in water so that the moisture will 
soak into the sphagnum. To water the top 
would wash the seeds away. You should 
have a temperature at least of 60 degs. by 
night for this purpose and a higher tem¬ 
perature w'ould be necessary in summer. In 
a dwelling house you would require a heated 
glass case. You cannot distinguish the 
seeds cf Orchids from one another as they 
are too small and too much alike. If you 
know Orchids you will get some idea of 
most of them after they have made some 
leaves, but you w'ill have to wait until they 
flower before all of them can be determined. 
1480. Richardia Leaves Spotted. 
I have seven pots of Richardias, or, as 
they are called, Callas, on the leaves of 
which are appearing large browm spots, and 
I am at a loss to know' the cause or the 
remedy. The house temperature is 45 degs. 
at night and 50 degs. to 60 degs. by day, 
if sunny. The atmosphere is rather dry, if 
anything. The plants are growing vigor 
ously and appear to be in good health other 
w'ise. (Gardener. Haddingtonshire!. 
