332 
have an unlimited root run between and 
behind the stones. 
The clump under notice is in the 
rockery at Kew, and the rockery is, of 
course, frequently watered overhead with 
the hose, and the Primula being at the 
lower end of the large stone, it follow's 
that the moisture over a considerable area 
would drain downwards towards the base, 
and thus keep up a constant supply of 
moisture. 
In selecting stones or boulders for 
Primulas, it would be well to select those 
of a porous nature, such as Portland, 
Bath, or other forms of oolitic limestone 
like that which occurs over a large area 
in their native home on the Alps. Stones 
of this character long retain the moisture 
and give it off gradually, while they do 
not get heated up with the sun to the 
same extent as more solid stones -ike 
granite and whinstone. Those who un¬ 
dertake the cultivation of alpines find out 
many of these peculiarities for themselves, 
and, if observant, they soon discover 
where certain plants are likely to grow' 
and succeed better than anywhere else 
in their garden. 
- - 
Caladiums. 
A Letter 
To the Editor. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 18, 1907. 
\ 
PRIZE LETTER COMPETITION. 
Readers are invited to contribute to this 
Column short letters discussing any gar¬ 
dening subject , 
Letters should not exceed 150 vfrords each 
in length, and must be written on one 
side of the paper only. 
Two Prizes of ss. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the best. 
Time Saving. 
Roses, and How to Treat Them -for 
At the present time, when everyone is 
so busy, a saving of time is well appre¬ 
ciated. When sowing seeds, the follow¬ 
ing method answers admirably in place 
of the usual pieces of wood so often em¬ 
ployed :—Make a rough sketch (no matter 
how rough) in your note book or diary of 
the border, bed, or frame where it is in¬ 
tended to sow the seeds, and afterwards 
indicate thereon the whereabouts of same, 
inserting the full name, etc. I need 
hardly mention that the names are always 
at hand, and, moreover, can easily be 
read, which is very often not the case with 
the old process. The same system can be 
applied to plants, etc., with equally good 
results. 
L. Payne. 
Camberwell. 
Bloom. 
Now is the time to look to our Rose 
trees, for they are beginning to grow very 
freely, and we must give them a good 
cleaning to keep down greenfly and the 
Rose grub. A very good plan is to get 
some soft soap, some tepid water, and a 
soft scrubbing brush, and proceed to clean 
all the soot, insect larvae, and other 
foreign matter off the stems of the Rose 
trees; after this is done, syringe With 
clean v r ater. This cleaning is essential to 
produce good blooms. Our mulching of 
manure, which we put around the Roses 
to protect them from the frost, should now 
be dug in, and a fresh supply of mulch¬ 
ing put on, so that the April showers will 
send the liquid manure to the roots and 
give them energy to bloom later on. 
Lancs. ' * Joseph Lloyd. 
Hints on Watering Plants 
Sir,—My thanks are due to H. Arnold, 
page 300. If I wrote winter, then I de¬ 
serve to be kicked. If, however, the 
printer man turned summer into winter, 
he deserves—perhaps, the Editor will 
oblige! 
Sunnyside. 
-- 
Narcissus Atalanta. 
The above is a new Trumpet Daffodil 
of the same type as Mme. de Graaff, with 
creamy white segments and a somewhat 
more creamy trumpet. The flowers are 
graceful, but droop more on the stalk 
than Mme. de Graaff. Award of Merit 
to Miss F. W. Currey, Lismore, Ireland, 
when shown at the meeting of the R.H.S. 
on 16th April. 
Sweet Violets. 
The time will soon be here to commence 
operations for next winter's supply of Vio¬ 
lets. Where the old flowering plants are 
getting worn out and produce very small 
flowers a change of stock is desirable. By 
striking cuttings that are healthy in boxes 
or under handlights in some nicely pre¬ 
pared sandy soil (putting them three to¬ 
gether to obtain size), a fresh start can be 
made. La France is a good single dark 
blue, standing a cold, damp situation 
better than the long stemmed Princess of 
Wales, which is very beautiful where the 
situation is nice and dry. Victoria Re¬ 
gina is also a very free growing variety 
for out of door culture, standing cold and 
damp very well. Of course Marie Louise 
takes some beating for a double blue, 
with De Parme for a paler colour, and 
Comte de Brazza as a double white. Mrs. 
J. J. Astor is all right where variety is 
wanted, being a purplish shade, but the 
sorts named answer all purposes. 
A. Wells. 
Those who have large numbers of pot 
plants to manage will find it economy of 
labour, from the middle of March, to do 
the bulk of the watering in the afternoon, 
by this means one watering is sufficient 
instead of two a day. When watering is 
done in the morning, if the day be bright, 
it will need to be done again in the after¬ 
noon, Whereas, at the end of the day the 
soil will dry but little ip the night, when 
only the necessary syringing in the morn¬ 
ing will be required. This method will be 
found much the best for summer, but 
morning must be selected for watering in 
winter, as this allow T s for moisture to dry 
up before night. No plant should be 
watered before the pot rings when tapped, 
or the soil crumbles under the fingers, and 
then sufficient to thoroughly moisten. 
G. Waller. 
Surrey. 
Beautifying a Wall. 
A pretty plan of beautifying a wall that 
is too new to begin wall gardening upon, 
and that is occupied with fruit trees too 
small to cover the wall is: Get a number 
of boxes not more than two inches high, 
and about the width of your wall, boring 
holes in the bottom of thd boxes. Get 
some stout nails, place the boxes at even 
distances from each other, hammering the 
hails through the bottom of the boxes into 
the top 1 of the wall at the four corners. 
Place broken bits of pot in the boxes, and 
then fill with good earth. Then get the 
seeds-of one or more kinds of .climbing 
annual, Canary Creeper, Convolvulus, or 
Nasturtiums, plant two inches apart, cover 
with light soil. Keep the soil moist till 
the seedlings appear. V hen they are 
long enough, train and nail the shoots 
down the wall, but do not be too vigorous 
in training, as the more natural the better. 
Katherine Curtis. 
Useful Crotons. 
A few old cut-down plants planted in 
a box, and kept in stove temperature, will 
soon throw out side shoots, which, when 
about three inches long, make into cut¬ 
tings, insert in small pots of sandy soil, 
plunge in a propagating case in strong 
bottom heat, and w'hen well rooted, pot 
on into 4%-in. pots in a rich peaty soil, 
and place in a house of high temperature 
well up to the glass. Well .expose to the 
sun—shading, prevents “ colour ” coming 
into the foliage, and is unnecessary—and 
keep the syringe going among them in a 
moist atmosphere, and a little feeding 
when well growing. Plants furnished by 
this plan are exceedingly useful for house 
decoration, and serve to save the finer 
plants of both Crotons and other stove 
plants, besides furnishing plants foi 
“ringing” the tops of next spring. 
The Can-ot. 
To grow Carrots to perfection, one 
should adopt the “ridging method-' 
Trench and manure heavy soils in autumn 
and leave rough. Light and medium soils 
should be dug and manured in spring- 
Level soil in February, and give gooc 
dressing of salt and any good fertiliser 
Towards end of March or beginning o 
April, run up ridges with rake or hot 
about 9 inches high, and about 18 inche 
from crest to crest. The soil between th< 
ridges can be utilised to transplant Let 
tuces, etc., being shady and easily watered 
Make a slight depression in top of ridg> 
with rake handle, and sow seed evenl 
and thinly. Cover with about % inch fin 1 
soil and a little soot. One thinning 1 
sufficient, as each root has about a 3-foo 
depth of soil to draw its nutriment from 
Try it, the results are astonishing. 
1 - F. W. D. 
Chard. 
