THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March i6, 1907. 
1 88 
time it was supposed to be S. Camposii, 
but is now admitted to be a garden hybrid 
which originated in a garden at Edin¬ 
burgh. The flowers are about the size 
of a shilling, but in their natural form are 
not spread out to their full capacity. 
Nevertheless, the plant flowers with the 
greatest freedom, and a patch of it as 
represented by the accompanying illus¬ 
tration is a conspicuous feature in the 
rock garden, and effective from a great 
distance on account of the size and num¬ 
ber of the pure white flowers. The leaves 
are larger than those of either of the 
above mossy-leaved species, and though 
the stems grow freely, the plant never 
gets untidy. 
All of the above mossy-leaved Saxi- 
frages are very easy to propagate by 
means' of cuttings during the summer 
months. Indeed, in those parts of the 
country, having a plentiful 'rainfall dur¬ 
ing the year, it is merely necessary to 
pull these plants to pieces, inserting each 
rosette of leaves as a cutting with or with¬ 
out preparation. Indeed, some gar¬ 
deners have utilised them freely for car¬ 
pet bedding purposes, by dibbling the 
crowns into the soil singly and straight 
away from the old patches. In the south, 
where the atmosphere is drier, the stems 
get wiry at an early period of the year, 
but, nevertheless, no difficulty is found in 
rooting them when inserted' in pots of 
sandy soil and placed in a cold frame. 
All of these plants are also admirably 
adapted for cultivation in pots or pans, 
so that as soon as the cuttings are rooted 
thev may be potted up separately and 
grown into plants of respectable size to 
flower in the following year. 
If pans are employed it is merely neces¬ 
sary to put in a few of the crowns at 
suitable distances apart and the pans will 
get covered by fresh growth during the 
course of the season. 
-- 
Mr. W illiam Carr, overseer at Gran- 
tully Castle, Aberfeldy, Perthshire, has 
been appointed by Lady Stewart to take 
charge of the gardens in succession to 
Mr. John M’Meeking. 
To Encourage Fruit-growing.—W ith 
the object of encouraging fruit-growing. 
Lady Algernon Gordon-Lennox is about 
to establish a bottled fruit industry at 
Broughton Castle, Banbury. 
Native Vegetables of Britain.— The 
Cabbage, Carrot, Parsnip, Turnip, Sea- 
kale, and Celery are among the native 
vegetables of Britain. The Romans grew 
Cabbages during their occupation of these 
islands. Turnips were not grown as a 
field crop in England until about 1690, 
nor in Scotland until 1764. Only until 
comparatively recently has Celery been 
cultivated for food in this countrv. 
The Gardener’s Dialect. —Among ex¬ 
amples recently given in a daily contem¬ 
porary of the twisting bv gardeners of the 
botanical and popular names of flowers, 
and plants are the following: — The 
“ Hanky Panky" Lily (Agapanthus), the 
“Hammer Alice” (Amaryllis), the ‘'Rose' 
of Cast Steel,” “Jack A.' B.,” for a well- 
known variety of Geranium, named 
Jacoby, and “Krypto Man-” for a variety 
of the pretty genus of hardy Conifer, the 
Cryptomeria. 
Garnsitions. 
. . Work for March. 
Border Carnations. 
Those who have preserved seeds of fine 
varieties which they may have crossed dur¬ 
ing the past summer should now sow those 
seeds with the object of getting them to 
bloom next year. The seeds may be sown 
in any light sandy soil in seed pans or 
pots and pricked off into boxes when they 
have made the first pair of rough leaves. 
Place the seed pans in a temperature of 
60 degs. until the seedlings are well up, 
when they should be removed to a well- 
lighted position near the glass where the 
temperature will be lower and the light 
good to prevent the seedlings from getting 
drawn. The seedlings should be ready 
for planting in their flowering positions in 
the open air about the end of May or be¬ 
ginning of June. 
I presume that most people who win¬ 
tered their layers of border Carnations in 
frames will have planted them out by this 
time, except,' perhaps, in the far north, 
where snow and wet weather have delayed 
ground operations. Plant firmly just as 
thev should have been in autumn. There 
are still many amateurs who continue to 
patronise florists who sell plants of Car¬ 
nations from now right away till the time 
they come into bloom. That is certainly 
very bad gardening, as plants disturbed 
while throwing up their flower stems can¬ 
not develop their flowers properly, even if 
they open ,a single flower. Every Car- 
tion should be planted at least by the 
middle of March. 
Show Carnations and Picotees. 
The final potting should now be com¬ 
pleted without further delay. Indeed, 
they should have been potted by the be¬ 
ginning of the month in the southern part 
of the country at least. Pot firmly, using 
the compost recommended on p. 56 when 
giving instructions for the housing and 
preparation of the various ingredients 
necessary Firm potting should be the 
rule with Carnations which, in a wild 
state, maintain themselves in positions 
where the soil is very dry and hard. 
Under cultivation the conditions are, of 
course, different, and larger plants as 
well as larger flowers are required, but 
firm potting is essential to success. 
Those who have no Carnation honse 
should prepare a bed of ashes in the open 
in a situation sheltered from east winds,. 
The pots may be transferred to such a 
situation when the weather is sufficiently 
settled to encourage the grower to do so. 
Tree Carnations. 
Cuttings may still be taken for a late 
batch, and the rooting of them will be 
easier than during January when the light 
was so feeble. Those who have the con¬ 
venience for making up a propagating 
bed in the stove or a pit over the hot water 
pipes can make up a bed of sand and root 
the Carnations in that. Cuttings of a 
variety of subjects .will now be wanted 
and mav be rooted under the same condi¬ 
tions. A hotbed covered with a frame is 
also serviceable, but cuttings are a little 
more liable to damp on account of the 
moisture arising from the manure unless 
the frame is ventilated for a while during 
the day. 
Towards the end of the month the batch 
of cuttings struck in January may require 
another shift. This should be done when 
the roots are well round the sides of the 
pots, but the operator should not delay 
till these roots get matted. 
Malmaisons. 
With a supply of flowers from the 
American and the tree Carnations it 
is unnecessary and undesirable to urge the 
Malmaisons into bloom. Indeed, they 
succeed best when kept cool and allowed 
to come into bloom naturally during May 
and June. 
Marguerite Carnations. 
A batch of these is still found useful on 
account of their free flowering character 
and sweet scented flowers. Seeds sown at 
the present time in a greenhouse will 
flower in September in the south, hut 
further north it will be found a better 
plan to grow them in pots, keeping them 
in the open air during summer and hous¬ 
ing them again in September for the 
decoration of a greenhouse or conserva¬ 
tory. If not hurried forward they will 
prove very' acceptable in November as : 
change to Chrysanthemums. Those whr 
have no warm houses for raising them ir 
January or February will find them quite 
manageable now' in an ordinary green 
house. 
American Carnations. 
Those with plenty' of convenience wi! 
now be thinking of propagating a thirc 
batch of plants, and those who are unablt 
to strike cuttings in January or Februan 
will now be able to do so. Those whc 
would like plants to bloom earlier in the 
season and have no convenience for strik 
ing cuttings in January can do so ii 
August and September under more 
natural conditions. It is merely a que; 
tion of selecting cuttings sufficients 
matured to root in sandy soil in pots it 
a cold frame or under hand-lights. \\ hei 
rooted they can, of course, be transferret 
to the greenhouse and kept in a health] 
growing condition all the winter and to. 
wards autumn following they will hav< 
good flowering plants. 
J.D.F.W. 
-4-M-- 
The Strawberry. — Of all our commoi 
fruits, the greatest wanderer has been th 
Strawberry. This is really an Arcti 
plant, and originated probably in Lap 
land. A real gipsy, it was not man bu 
Nature which spread it wflld all ore 
Europe. Birds migrating southwards, 0 
the approach of winter, carried the seeds 
and the hardy plant grew and flourishei 
everywhere, till now it is cultivated fron 
Alaska to Florida, and Japan to India. 
