664 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 12 , 1907. 
Tree Carnations. 
Early varieties will now be coming 
freely into bloom if they have been grown 
with that object in view, and not stopped 
too late. While the present high tem¬ 
perature continues, artificial heat will be 
unnecessary, but as the temperature de¬ 
clines, any varieties which have a diffi¬ 
culty in opening freely should have the 
aid of fire heat. Low temperature and 
a moist atmosphere may be counteracted 
by raising the temperature of the house 
to 50 degs. or 52 degs. Those who do 
not have two houses to give them separate 
treatment should place those varieties at 
the warmer end which may have a diffi¬ 
culty in opening regularly. ' 
Malmaison Carnations. 
All the plants should now be safely 
housed to protect them from rain. Stage 
the plants close to the glass in a cool, 
airy house without fire heat. A free play 
of air night and day will conduce to their 
welfare. This will strengthen the tissues 
and harden the leaves, making them less 
liable to disease during the dull days of 
November and December. 
Marguerite Carnations. 
Keep a watch upon late batches of this 
class of Carnation in pots. Green fly 
will soon show a desire to increase after 
the plants are placed under the shelter of 
glass. Keep the flower stems neatly 
looped up. Should the proper house for 
these not be ready for their reception, 
cold frames or pits will suffice for a time, 
but the sooner they are put in a span- 
roofed house the better they will be at¬ 
tended to for their requirements. Their 
varied colours and sweet scent are wel¬ 
come during November, when a good 
batch will vie with Chrysanthemums 
either in the conservatory or for cutting 
purposes. Late batches in the open air 
flowered well during September, but we 
may presently get heavy rains with leaden 
skies, and Carnations of all kinds soon 
fail under those conditions. It is well 
then to be able to fall back upon pot 
plants for a late display. 
American Carnations. 
Those who have insufficient conveni¬ 
ence for taking cuttings during January 
and February will find the present month 
very suitable for striking cuttings for an 
early batch to bloom during late summer 
and early autumn next year. If inserted 
now they will root more readily than if 
the work is delayed till the light is bad. 
In the case of this year's plants, the ad¬ 
vancing flower stems should be disbudded 
as soon as this can l^e done without injury 
to the terminal bud. This applies where 
there is a desire to get large flowers, and 
at present most people have that end in 
view with this particular class. Keep the 
plants close to the glass and ventilate 
freely. 
J. D. F. W. 
Sophrocattleva Antiochus. 
The parentage of this hybrid was C. 
Warscewizii x Sc. Cleopatra. The 
sepals and petals are of a rich purple 
with a violet shade. The lip is rich 
crimson-purple with a large yellow blotch 
in the throat. The flowers are of fine 
size for this type. Award of Merit by the 
R.H.S. on September 17th when shown 
by Messrs. Charlesworth and Co., Hea¬ 
ton, Bradford. 
The Flower Garden 
Nicotiana affinis. 
One of the most charming things with me 
this season is the new Nicotiana affinis. A 
few years ago we were only familiar with 
the white sweet-scented Tobacco, which 
poured out its delicious perfume at eventide. 
Often had I sighed for new forms of this 
old-fashioned garden flower. 'When N. San- 
derae came into being I hailed it with plea¬ 
sure, but, alas ! it possessed no scent, whilst 
its mighty growth did not make it suitable 
for ordinary purposes. I, however, opined 
that it might be used for bringing colour in 
N. affinis. Whether such has been done I 
know not, but the coloured N. affinis is here. 
I sowed seed in a cold frame in April, and 
in early September the plants were bloom¬ 
ing. And they are still doing so. There 
are purples, both light and dark, carmine, 
mauve, blush-red, and one or two other in¬ 
termediate shades. 
They are not all beautiful, but neverthe¬ 
less I welcome them with delight, for they 
possess the perfume of the old white form. 
The flowers in some oases are larger than 
the white; one, a lilac pink, being nearly 
three inches across. Now that we have 
started I fully expect to see great advances 
made with this charming flower. I have a 
vase full upon my table, and right well do 
they look by the light of the lamp. 
Dahlias and Begonias. 
Each morning I expect to find the Dah¬ 
lias, Begonias, and other tender plants cut 
down by frost; but happily these things 
seem quite immune to the little snaps that 
we are being treated to. As I have before 
stated, I am a nocturnal sort of animal, and 
during recent preambles I have observed a 
pronounced parkiness 1 in the! jatmosphere 
after the midnight hour. However, we hone 
that severe frost will steer clear of us for 
a while longer. 
Should Dahlias, etc., be badly frost-bitten, 
no benefit will accrue by leaving the roots 
in the ground. Begonias should be taken 
up as soon as the leaves are blackened, as 
the tubers are very sensitive, being, as they 
usually are, very near the surface. The 
stalks should not be broken off, however. Tf 
allowed to lay under cover the stalks will 
part naturally after a few days, when thev 
may be stored in boxes of dry sand or earth. 
Dahlias require thoroughly drying before 
storing. 'Thev do not need anv soecial store¬ 
house, for if kept from frost they will re¬ 
main sound. Small roots, however, must not 
be kept too dry or they may shrivel up. I 
have kept Dahlia roots quite safelv in 
a damp out of doors. The roots should be 
well covered with straw, .and when severe 
weather threatens earth should be piled over 
them six inches or more in thickness. Do 
not adopt this method if mice abound, or 
the roots will suffer severely. 
Planting Bulbs. 
The clearing of ground where bulbs are 
to be planted should take place as soon as 
possible. Never dig in fresh manure for 
bulbs. Tf manured in the soring, simple 
digging is sufficient, as bedding plants do 
not exhaust the soil very severely. Make 
the soil as friable as possible, but well firm 
it before planting the bulbs. 
Burning- Rubbish. 
Garden fires should be started as soon as 
there is enough material to keep them going. 
Pile on every bit of rubbish, and never allow 
a blaze. Once it gets a fierce bottom to it, a 
fire will consume anything, and a watch 
should therefore be kept upon it. 
Planting Out. 
This is a good time for planting out 
spring and summer flowering plants, such 
as Wallflowers, Sweet Williams, Canterbury 
Bells, etc. If they have been well tended 
they should now be fine stuff. Arabis always 
shifts well at this season, and it is only 
necessary to pull off a few pieces and insert 
them. The double form needs no more at¬ 
tention than the single. Border making is 
an item to think about, and it is generally 
better to get the planting done before winter 
comes. That is, if one is dividing one’s own 
plants. If plants have to be purchased, 
spring planting is safer, as the plants are 
generally rather small. 
Pentstemons and Calceolarias. 
Hurry up with the final batch of Pent¬ 
stemons and Calceolaria cuttings, so that 
they may have a chance to settle before 
winter comes. 
Seed Collecting-. 
Collect all ripening seed late in the day, 
as the pods are usually very wet in the early 
morning. I myself have found birds a great 
trouble, as they destroy Poppy heads and 
other large seed capsules -by pecking out the 
seeds. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Trapping Winter Moths. 
Where trees of any size exist, bait for win¬ 
ter moths in the shape of grease bands 
should be got into position early. A great 
deal less damage to fruit would occur if 
this old trap were used more generally. 
Never allow the grease to touch the bark. 
Planting. 
Push on with the digging, if planting is 
to he done within the next month. Bush 
fruits may be planted any time. Give them 
plenty of room, and do not cut away any 
but damaged wood. Always remove a broken 
root, and use a sharp knife to do the job. 
The Kitchen Garden 
Digging Potatos. 
Potatos should all be out of the ground 
by this- time, and if the soil is not heavy, 
clinging loam, it may be thoroughly dug 
over. 
Celery and Leeks. 
Celery should be all earthed nn now, m 
case of frost. Leeks, too, should be well 
hilled up. 
Winter Greens. 
It is as well to look through the Winter 
Greens to see if any have failed or gone 
blind. Fill the gaps with an odd plant or 
two from the seed bed. if any remain, or 
fall back on spring Cabbages. 
