164 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 9, 1907. 
PROPAGATING.. 
SHRUBS 
FROM CUTTINGS 
AND SUCKERS. .. 
Many amateurs, consider the propaga¬ 
tion of shrubs a difficult matter, and quite 
put of their range of practical gardening-; 
others again make a hobby of it, and are 
not behindhand with professionals. For 
the latter this article is not, of course, in¬ 
tended, but often the former class would 
like to increase their stock of shrubs at 
present occupying their gardens, and are 
at a loss' as to how they should proceed. 
Of all methods of vegetative propaga¬ 
tion, that by means of cuttings is the 
most commonly practised, and one by 
which a large number of useful shrubs 
may also be increased. There are four 
kinds of cuttings to be considered under 
the above heading (1) Those which are 
struck under a handlight in summer, and 
consist of sideshoots in a growing state ; 
(2) ordinary ripened cuttings which are 
inserted in the open in autumn, and have 
two or three joints below the level of the 
soil and one or two above; (3) ordinary 
ripened cuttings that require a heel or 
part of the old wood at the base, in order 
to give a larger surface to form a callus, 
and (4) those which require- a portion of 
underground stem attached, not neces¬ 
sarily roots, and which are termed 
suckers. 
A bed for these last three kinds of cut¬ 
tings should be made up in a sheltered 
position, but not a shady one, as the 
cuttings are to form a callus. During 
the winter they want all the light they 
’can get. Work in plenty of sand, road 
grit, and some leaf soil, tramp- the bed 
'evenly, level off with a rake, and cut a 
notch across the bed about 8 inches 
deep. Insert the cuttings from 4 to 8 
inches apart according to vigour, fill in 
and well firm-up with the foot. If there 
is one item that means failure more than 
another if neglected it is this: See that 
the base of the cutting rests on the 
bottom of the notch before filling in, 
and no harm can happen, no matter how 
hard the soil is banged with the foot. 
Then level up, cut another notch from 6 
inches to a foot away from the last, and 
continue the process until the required 
number of cuttings are inserted. 
Ordinary ripened cuttings may be in¬ 
serted now of Ribes (Flowering Currant), 
Corn us (Dogwood), Lonicera (Honey¬ 
suckle), Salix (Willow), Diplopappus, and 
Ligustrum (Privet). Examples of cut- 
ings with a heel are ornamental Briers 
and Weigelas. Suckers: Sea Buck¬ 
thorn, Philadelphus (Mock Orange), Rosa 
rugosa, and Berberis. 
The first kind of cutting mentioned 
should be inserted in a bed of sandy soil, 
made up in a shady spot in summer. 
Make the cuttings as for soft wooded 
plants, such as Geraniums, and insert 
with a dibber. Over the cuttings place 
a handlight and keep close till rooted. 
Examples : Olearia and Viburnum. 
There are numerous other shrubs that 
may be rooted by one or other of the 
foregoing methods, and the selection here 
given will serve to show that best adapted 
for the various forms. H. Arnold. 
The liens are in the garden, 
It makes me smile with glee, 
It’s Tohnson’s garden they are in 
And the hens belong to me. 
A Bio “ Kill ” of Queen Wasps. — 
Recently, while felling a Poplar at the 
farm of Mr. George Ward, at Tydd Fen, 
a colony of wasps was discovered hiber¬ 
nating within its hollow trunk, and a mug¬ 
ful of plump queens was destroyed. Each 
queen is held responsible for some twenty 
to thirty thousand wasps, and this big 
“ kill ” may well have saved the fruit gar¬ 
dens from at least a million of these 
winged depredators. 
Do Plants Throw off .Heat? — I t 
appears that many do. A remarkable in¬ 
stance is offered by the alpine Soldanella. 
Its flowers actually bore, or, rather, melt, 
their way through the hard snow. Some¬ 
times, indeed, the flower opens before it 
reaches the surface, so that it actually 
blooms in a little hole in the snow. Usu¬ 
ally, however, it reaches the surface and 
hangs out its pretty violet bells above the 
snow, looking as if stuck into it. Grow¬ 
ing through the snow is due to the heat 
developed by the vegetative process. 
-- (I. W. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS.-Competitors must 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING- 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any way,l any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be care¬ 
fully read. 
- ♦++ ~ 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN SHILLINGS will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making the award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
folk wing date of issue. Entries received later 
thxn Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
je following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to ;t Saltaire ” for his article on 
“ Sweet Peas for Exhibition,” page 142. 
GROWING 
ANNUALS. ; 
«•' " 
HARDY and HALF HARDY. 
Our gardens would be very badly off 
without these very useful plants. The 
hardy kinds should be sown in the open 
ground in March, and the soil should have 
been dug in the previous November. 
Hardy annuals are generally supposed to 
look best when sown in clumps of one or 
' two feet in diameter. Break up the pre¬ 
pared soil, make it firm, and rake over. 
Sow the seeds very thinly and press them 
in, and cover with finely sifted soil. 
There are some seeds which should be 
covered with about twice their own depth 
of soil (Nasturtiums and other large seeds, 
but most of them only require to be sown 
about their own depth. The soil should 
be kept moist and shaded until the seed¬ 
lings are well up, and when they have two 
or more leaves, thin the plants' out well, 
leaving them about three inches apart, 
afterwards thinning out again to about 
twelve inches apart. 
If artificial manure is available, a few 
dressings will greatly assist the plants. 
The half-hardy sorts are very beautiful, 
but to grow them well they require heat 
to start them and protection in their early 
stages. It is best to raise them in heat, 
in pots or pans or shallow boxes; I think 
boxes about fourteen inches by ten by 
two, are to be preferred. February is the 
best time to sow. The compost should 
consist of equal parts of fibrous loam anc 
leaf mould, to which should be added a 
dash of silver sand. The soil should be 
in a fairly moist condition when sowing. 
Sow the seed very thinly, press in lightly 
and cover with finely sifted soil. If the 
seed is very small, do not cover it, bu 
press in lightly. Place a sheet of glass 
over each pot or box, and take care tc 
wipe it dry every morning. 
When the plants are large enough te 
handle, prick out into boxes, and final!} 
harden off and plant in the flower bed: 
when ready. They may also be sown h 
the open border in May, but the soil mus 
be carefully prepared, following the direc 
tions advised for hardy annuals. 
Walter Deverell. : 
-- 
Verbena Koepenick Captain.— It i| 
stated that a London suburban florist ha: 
raised a Verbena with a bloom of a nove 
tint which will next season be put on th< 
market with the name “Koepenick Cap: 
tain.” 
The First Fig Tree in England.-) 
Thomas a Becket was the first to grot. 
Figs in England. The tree which b 
planted is still to be seen at West Tarring 
a village near Worthing, and is shown 
to visitors, but it is, of course, dead. 
A Famous Fig Tree.— The death i 
just announced of John Wallis, of Woore 1 
Staffordshire, one of the best-known hoi 
ticulturists and show judges in th 
country. For many y^ears he was hea' 
gardener at Keele Hall, the residence o 
the Grand Duke Michael of Russia. I 
was here, in 1879, that he planted th 
famous Fig tree, upon which seven diffei 
ent kinds of Figs now grow. It is th 
biggest tree of the kind in England. 
