June 22, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Hums. 
Keep down aphis on Plum trees and look 
,ut for rust disease. Bordeaux mixture will 
j:heck its ravages. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Compared with the flower department, 
hings are much more forward in the.kitchen 
garden- 
Peas. . 
Peas are doing extremely well, and in 
some places good pickings are already being 
made. On dry soils a heavy mulching of 
manure should be given the later sorts. 
Where space is available it is worth risking 
a sowing of an early Pea, such as Daffodil. 
If well looked after a crop of good pods will 
come in after all the others are gone. 
Lawns. 
Grass as cut by the mower also acts as a ■ 
drought resister. 
Tomatos. 
Tomatos are growing strongly, and they 
should be staked and tied securely. Remove 
all side growths. 
Marrows and Cucumbers. 
Marrows and Cucumbers should be well on 
the move now. It is not too late to set out 
plants from pots. 
Keep a bright look out for the Asparagus 
beetle. 
Turnips. 
Turnips should be frequently sown now, 
choosing moist weather if possible. Grass 
clippings will stave off the flea to a great 
extent. 
Potatos. 
Potatos are fit to dig in the more forward 
districts, but it is poor policy to lift roots 
unless they are showing signs of ripening. 
The foliage generally gets smoother and 
glossy when Potatos are swelling. See that 
all late sorts are earthed as they require it. 
Brussels Sprouts, etc. 
Get out Sprouts and other winter greens 
as soon as possible. Leeks and Celery also 
want similar attention if they are to make 
first-class stuff. 
Keep the hoe going incessantly, and see 
that all root crops have been thoroughly 
thinned. 
Some things will be needing water. Cauli¬ 
flowers especially. They like something in 
the water, by the way. 
11 Horti.” . 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Vines. 
Attention should be given to the stopping 
of all new growths at least once a week; un¬ 
less this is kept well in hand a lot of foliage 
is made for no other purpose than to be sacri¬ 
ficed. After pinching out the end of the 
shoot beyond the bunch of Grapes, it will 
be found that new shoots will issue from the 
axils of the leaves. These should be pinched 
back to one good leaf each, as soon as 
enough growth is made to grasp between the 
finger and thumb. The final tying in. posi¬ 
tion of all main shoots or laterals should 
also be done, using strong material for this 
purpose in view of the fact that it will ulti¬ 
mately have to support—we will hope— 
gigantic bunches of berries. Most keen 
Grape growers have their favourite manure, 
but I know of nothing safer and better than 
Thomson’s Vine manure for amateurs’ use. 
Placing Genistas Outdoors. 
If well looked after since cutting back, 
Genistas should now be fit to go out of doors, 
and will be better out than in. They stand 
plenty of sun when their pots are plunged in 
ashes, otherwise they should have a position 
where the full rays of the midday sun do 
not reach. Syringing should still be done, 
say about four or five o’clock in the evening; 
not later than the latter hour, or the plants 
will remain wet too long. Young plants, es¬ 
pecially seedlings of this season, must be 
kept cut in until a good foundation is 
formed. Old plants that are growing in the 
same sized pots as they occupied last year 
will require no further pinching or stop¬ 
ping. 
Cucumbers in Frames. 
As soon as the white roots show through 
the mound of soil on which the plants were 
planted, new mould must be added. There 
is nothing better for this purpose than the 
decayed top spit from a common or meadow. 
If this is poor in quality or sandy, mix 
with it one-third of its bulk of thoroughly 
decayed manure. The loam—as the top spit 
is called—should not be chopped up too 
finely, lumps as big as a duck’s egg being 
small enough for the bulk of the compost. 
Stir up the surface of the bed with a hand- 
fork, and work the new compost well round 
the plant. If the latter has nearly reached 
the sides of the frame, the points of the 
shoots should be pinched out. This will 
originate side shoots, on which the Cucum¬ 
bers will be borne. Each of these side 
shoots must be pinched at one leaf or two 
leaves beyond the fruit, according to the 
room at command. 
Herbaceous Calceolarias. 
These are the gorgeous, large-blossomed 
plants which ar^ grown in pots, and which 
make such a blaze of colour at the Temple 
Shows; the garden or bedding Calceolaria 
is called shrubby. Seeds of the former 
should be sown within the next fortnight, a 
cold, shady frame being the best place for 
the raising at this season. The seed pan 
should be well drained, and filled with a 
mixture of equal parts of loam, peat or leaf- 
mould, and coarse sand. Sift this through a 
lin. square meshed sieve, fill the pan three 
parts full with the compost that remains in 
the sieve, and then place on a layer of the 
fine portion. On this sow the seeds very 
thinly, first mixing them with an eggcupful 
of fine silver sand to ensure even, sowing. 
The pan should be closely covered with a 
pane of glass, and kept shaded from sun¬ 
shine. 
Primula obconica. 
Seedlings raised as before advised should 
be pricked out before they crowd each other 
in the seed pan. Place them 2in. apart in 
other pans, water them in, and keep well 
shaded until established. Care should be 
taken that the leaves do not come in contact 
with a cut or open wound on the hand, or 
unpleasant results will follow. Old plants 
which have become shabby and insect in¬ 
fested may be planted out in the garden for 
the summer ; under this treatment they re¬ 
cuperate in a wonderful manner. Flowers 
should be kept picked off, and the plants 
repotted before severe frosts are experienced. 
Chinese Primulas. 
These, or at least the earlv ones,_ should 
now be ready for placing singly in 2m. pots. 
Half loam,, half peat or leafmould, and a 
liberal sprinkling of coarse sand should 
make up the compost, and this should be used 
in a fairly dry state so as to firm it well in 
the pots, the fine roots of this Primula refus¬ 
ing to work freely in a loose compost. The 
leaves are so easily broken that they should 
be handled with great care, and neither their 
stems nor the crowns of the plants should 
be buried. Stand the pots on moist ashes in 
the shady part of the house, and keep them 
gently syringed twice daily. Water must be 
carefully given, and should the surface of 
the soil become at all hard or green, prick it 
up gently with a sharply pointed stick. 
Forced Boses in Pots. 
The last of these will now have finished 
flowering, and should go outside to ripen 
their wood for the next display. Rub 
flowers of sulphur into any mildew spots, or 
spray the plants with Mo-Effic, a proprietary 
preparation which is a marvellous mildew 
cure. There must be no pretence at drying 
the plants off until the autumn, as though 
they are wanted to ripen, it is essential that 
they do this as gradually as possible. If 
any weak and intercrossing shoots are car¬ 
ried, cut them cleanly away now, as they can 
do no good, and only crowd better wood and 
obstruct sun and air. Syringe the plants 
every dry evening until the leaves fall, and 
collect and burn these if insect or fungoid 
pests have been troublesome. 
Sunnyside. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Thunias. 
The species and hybrids of this genus will 
now be advancing their flower scapes from 
the apex of the new growths. The pots hav¬ 
ing become practically full of roots, the 
plants will necessitate liberal supplies of 
root moisture to induce them to produce their 
flowers in a satisfactory manner. The plants 
should also be placed in a position where 
they may have the benefit of strong light, 
shading only when there is a danger of the 
foliage becoming scorched, there can be no 
question but that the more matured the 
growths become before the flowers expand, 
the finer the quality of the flowers when they 
become expanded. \\ hen the flowers are 
fully opened the plants should be removed 
to a cool, shady house, such as the Odonto- 
glossum house, under which condition the 
flowers last in perfection for a longer period. 
I find they are exceedingly useful when used 
for decorative purposes for the house; they 
last well and are much appreciated. As 
soon as the flowers are passed, place the 
plants again into an intermediate tempera¬ 
ture, and expose to plenty of lights which 
will help to mature the growth. As soon 
as the leaves show signs of decay, gradually 
withhold root moisture, and place in a cool, 
sunny position in the greenhouse or vinery, 
if such is at command ; this will provide the 
necessary requirements for the dormant 
season. 
Odontoglossum grande 
And its allied species C. Insleayi being 
now in full growth, every encouragement 
should be given to induce free and rapid 
growth. Like many other Orchids having 
the thick-leaved leathery substance, they re¬ 
quire but little root moisture during the 
dormant season, and the foliage being of 
such a nature that they are capable of with¬ 
standing a great amount of sunlight without 
injury at all seasons of the year. It is 
only natural that when the plants are in 
active growth they require a liberal amount 
of root moisture; in fact, where plants are 
thoroughly established and the pots full of 
roots daily waterings are necessary in bright 
weather. The flowers are produced later in 
the season, and the flower scapes can gene¬ 
rally be found advancing, just at the period 
of growth when the pseudo-bulbs commence 
to form, and are usually expanded about 
the months of September and October. The 
bulbs finish their development almost im¬ 
mediately after the flowers are passed : root 
moisture must then be gradually diminished, 
and only sufficient water is necessary during 
the resting season to prevent the pseudo- 
bulbs from shrivelling. 
Repotting 
Need not be annually done, but when re¬ 
quired the best time to repot is when the 
new roots make their appearance. Well 
drained pots’ should be used, and a compost 
of equal portions of fibrous peat and chopped 
sphagnum moss is most suitable for this 
class of plants. Leaf soil may be included, 
but I would always advise discretion in the 
use of leaves in the potting composts and 
