THE GARDENING WORLD. March l6 > W 
COLD FRAMES. 
1620. Raising Zinnias. 
Last year I haid not great success with 
my Zinnias because many did not come up 
and others damped off. Could you give me 
any hints as to how I could overcome this 
difficulty? (M. Woodhouse, Yorks.). 
The Zinnia is a Mexican plant which likes 
a little heait to start it in spring. During 
March the temperature of this country is 
seldom sufficiently high to give it the neces¬ 
sary vigour to germinate in a cold frame. 
If you cannot secure a bottom heaf of 60 
degs. to start the seedlings, you could, by 
a slight contrivance, make a little hotbed 
Seed fan of Zinnias covered -with a fane 
of glass. 
that would give the necessary heat. Get a 
large box, fill it with rank stable manure, 
press it down firmly and cover with a layer 
of soil. The pots or pans containing the 
Zinnia seeds could be plunged in the soil 
to the rim if possible, and the fermenting 
manure will give quite an appreciable 
amount of bottom heat and enable the seeds 
to germinate freely. Cover the seed pans 
with a pane of glass as shown in the ac¬ 
companying illustration. The glass may 
be removed when the seedlings are up. 
1621. How to Raise Pinks from Seed. 
I have got some seed of Pinks and would 
like to know what treatment to give them. 
Do they require heat to start them ? I have 
only some cold frames, but could make a 
hotbed if necessary. (H. M. F., Kent). 
You should have no difficulty in raising 
the seeds of Pinks by means of a hotbed. 
This would enable you to hasten germination 
of the seeds and get the plants to some 
size before planting them out in May. They 
may be raised and treated in the same way 
as Carnations from seed. During the first 
year they will only make growth, but will 
be ready to bloom next June if you give 
them good treatment. After the seedlings 
are well i.~> they should not be coddled in 
any way, but well ventilated during the 
day- to keep them dwarf and sturdy, and 
prevent them from damping. In May you 
should plant them out a foot apart each 
way and encourage growth by keeping the 
soil of the bed well loosened or hced duTing 
the summer. 
1622. Treatment of Seeds. 
I have some^seeds of Polyanthus, Linum 
grandiflormm rubrum, Indian Pinks, Pent- 
stemons and Gaillardias. What treatment 
do these require, and will they stand out 
all winter? (A. M. R.^ Lancs.). 
The Linum may' be sown in the open 
garden about the beginning of April in 
well-prepared soil. It is merely an annual. 
Polvanthus may be sown in a slight heat 
-now" or in a cold frame at the beginning of 
April. When they have made a rough leaf 
they may be transplanted into boxes 2 in. 
apart each way and encouraged to grow in 
a cold frame." If you are scarce of room 
thev may be planted out in a bed of well- 
prepared soil in a shady situation after 
thev have made three or four leaves. Here 
thev may grow until the end of September, 
when you can plant them in their flowering 
positions. Indian Pinks, Penlstemons and 
Gaillardias may be treated much in the same 
way during the early stages, or if you can 
give the advantage of a hotbed it will 
bring them on earlier and enable you to 
flower them .sooner. This is particularly 
necessary in the case of Indian Pinks, which 
are treated as half-hardy annuals and bloom 
best the first season from seed. Getting 
them well advanced in spring is therefore 
highly^ advantageous. The Indian Pinks 
are not worth preserving a second year, and 
you should take cuttings of Pentstemons in 
September and keep them in boxes in a cold 
frame during winter. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
1623. Tree Spoiled Garden. 
What would you do with a border like 
the enclosed? It is roughly about 18 yds. 
long and 4 ft. wide, has big Sycamore trees 
most of the way along and a few EldeT 
bushes. All the ground is bane and horrid, 
fit for nothing but cat promenades. A few 
Crocuses grow at each end, where they get 
a little sun either morning or afternoon. 
London Pride once flourished at the edge, 
but this winter’s frosts have exterminated 
it. Whenever there is any wind it sweeps 
a’xng here with terrific force and the ground 
is dry. (A. M. Methley, Yorks.). 
Your .greatest difficulty in getting flowers 
to grow in the border sketched our consists 
in the presence of so many trees. In sum¬ 
mer the shade must be dense, not only' ob¬ 
structing the daylight, but throwing the 
rain right away off the border. We pre¬ 
sume you have planted the trees for the 
sake of shelter, but if you desire to grow 
plants under them it wiill be necessary to 
prune the branches to a certain height, and 
apparently- they could be pruned to the 
top of the wall without in any way desfroy'- 
ing the shelter which they may give. Be¬ 
sides throwing the rain off the ground, the 
trees absorb so much moisture, giving it off 
by the leaves, so that the border must re¬ 
main drv .always. The London Pride did 
not die on account of the frost, but be¬ 
cause it has been starved out for want of 
light and nourishment. There is scarcely' 
anything that will grow under the trees 
where the branches come lew down, but if 
you prune them high up you should grow 
Stonecrops (Sedum), also Hypericum caly- 
cinum. Vinca major, Y. m. elegantissima, 
V. minor, strong-growing Daffodils, Wood¬ 
ruff, Saxifraga umbrosa, S. Geum, etc. If 
the border is tco much permeated with roots 
we should advise you to make up some 
rockeries cn the surface of the ground, 
using good garden soil, and some stones to 
produce a .rustic appearance. These rock¬ 
eries could then be planted with hardy 
Ferns. We advise the making of rockeries 
on the .surface because the Ferns would 
grow in the fresh soil, and you could more 
easily keep this dampi by artificial means 
than you could the soil of the border. After 
a number of years the trees may find their 
way into the rockeries, but you should then 
dig down the ’rockeries and make them up 
afresh after removing the tree roots you 
may come across. 
1624. Crossing Flowers. 
In an issue of The -Gardening World 
y-ou informed me that by putting the pollen 
of one flower in the flewer .of another a 
new kind of plant could be got. Will you 
kindly tell me where it is put in your next 
issue, and please tell me where I could 
get a book on the subject. (Experimenter, 
Gloucestershire). 
Before you can become expert in fertilis¬ 
ing flowers you will have to become ac¬ 
quainted with the structure of a flow, a.s 
the different kinds vary' greatly in form, 
but after you get a knowledge of the vari¬ 
ous parts there will b<_ no difficulty- in re¬ 
cognising them, although the size, leng 
ana shape of the various parts may' differ 
each case. Your best plan would be to g 
an elementary' book of botany and stuc 
flowers by pulling the various parts 
pieces till you get an acquaintance wi 
them, after which you will have no dil 
culty. In looking at a Poppy you will fii 
two green scales on the outside of the flowt 
which are known as sepals. Inside of th 
you get four large petals, usually high 
coloured; inside of these you get anotb 
set of organs known as stamens, being li 
pins with a thickened head or anther. The 
anthers contain the dust named polle 
which is the material you place in the flow 
of any other with which you desire to e 
periment. There is still another set of c 
gans in the flower, the seed vessel, with 
various parts, and in a Poppy the poll 
would be applied on the top of this. In 
Carnation you will find two long thread-li 
arms in the centre of the flower and t 
pollen should be transferred to them. T 
subject of fertilisation in books is wide 
scattered through a great variety of boo 
dealing with different subjects. You c. 
learn something about Orchids by gettii 
a book named “The Various Contrivanc 
by which Orchids are Fertilised by I 
sects,” by Charles Darwin, and publish 
by John Murray, Albemarle Street, Londo 
price 9s. You, can learn something abo 
the crossing of Carnations by getting “ S 
lect Carnations, Picotees and Pinks,” pu 
lished at this office, price 2s. in cardboa 
covers, and 2s. 6d. in cloth covers. 
LAWNS. 
1625. Lawn Looking Dark. 
I wish to ask your aavioe. I laid dov 
some grasis turf in November and form- 
a small lawn about 40 ft. by 10 ft., and 
seems to look dark and murky. Do y< 
think it will revive later on, or is the 
anything I can do to it. I have only' roll 
it "at present. My garden faces east ai 
has the sun all day. (W. Cooper, Midd) 
sex). , 
Youir lawn should assume its proper colo 
presently, when the grass commences 
grow. It is seldom in so backward a co 
ddtPion at this time of the year as it is 
present. We presume, however, that, t! 
turf laid in November was not kept in 
rolled-up state until all the grass was kill 
out of it. If the grass was . only kept 
the dark for a reasonable time the roc 
and crowns should be alive, and will pi 
sently commence to grow when the temper 
ture rises. It may be merely discolour* 
owing to the lack of fresh growth and tl 
amount of walking, beating and rollin 
that has been effected upon it since it w. 
laid down. 
1626. Daisies on a Lawn. 
In your issue of 13th October last yc 
gave a remedy for destroying Daisies whol 
sale, namely, lawn sand. As there are . 
many lawn sands advertised, I should 
glad to know what particular kind vou r 
commend to be applied. Cam I apply son 
fertiliser to the grass at the same time ; 
I am destroying the Daisies, or should 
wait a little before doing so? (Lawn 
Kent.) I 
No doubt lawn sand is advertised und 
many' different names, but we are of opink 
that in composition they are very much tl 
same; at all events, the portion of tl 
material which kills the Daisies is probab 
the same in all of them. What you show 
do is to get some lawn sand from some r 
liable sundriesman and spread it at tl 
rate which they recommend. It is in tl 
form of a dry powder, and all you have 
do is fo take" it in handfuls and scatter 
equally over the grass. If the Daisies a: 
very' plentiful in any one particular pa 
