The Gardening World, October 20, 1907. 
CONTENTS 
Amateur's Letter to Amateurs, An ... 685 
Apple Bismarck (illus.) . 690 
Apple Cockle’s Pippin (illus.) . 687 
Apple Lord Derby (illus.) . 687 
Carnations (American Tree) and 
Their Culture . 686 
Competition Awards . 686 
Competition, Prize Letter . 688 
Enquire Within . 694 
Flower Garden, The . 692 
Fruit, Exhibition of British-grown ... 697 
Fruit Garden, The . 692 
Godetia Marchioness of Salisbury 
(illus.) . 689 
Greenhouse, The Amateur’s . 693 
Heating Apparatus ... 693 
Kitchen Garden, The . 693 
Pear Doyenne du Comice (illus.) ... 691 
Pentstemons and Their Culture ... 686 
Potatos at Wye College . 689 
Strawberry, New Perpetual . 68 7 
Sweet Peas in October . 691 
tVork of the Week . 692 
-- 
What you’ll be in time we know 
By the stock on which you grow, 
As by Roses we may see 
What in time the buds will be; 
So in flowers, and so in trees. 
So in every thing that is; 
Like its like does still produce. 
As ’tis nature’s constant use; 
Grow still then till you discover 
All the beauties of your mother; 
Nothing but fair and sweet can be 
From so sweet and fair a tree. 
-- 
1 Strain of Scabious. 
The most popular of all the species of 
Scabious is the annual Scabiosa atro- 
mrpurea, which is grown in a great num- 
<er of gardens, large and. small. It is 
Iso sometimes grown in pots for the de¬ 
oration of the conservatory in winter 
nd spring. A very fine strain of well 
'rown plants was shown by Messrs. 
)obbie and Co., Rothesay, at the meeting 
f the R.H.S. on October 1st, and ac- 
orded an Award of Merit for the strain, 
’he varieties were numerous, including 
lose with rose, flesh, wffiite, black, brick- 
id, cherry-red and white, blackish 
urple, lilac and other hues. When well 
rown it is handsome for cut flower pur- 
oses. 
CXIV. 
Autumn Sown Sweet Peas. 
I suppose no one doubts the fact that 
seed sown in autumn produces a more 
enduring and often a more profuse crop 
of flowers than plants that are reared in 
the spring. Anyway, with seed so in¬ 
expensive, it seems rather foolish not to 
put in a line or two now and let them take 
their chance. The soil should be pre¬ 
pared for them by deep digging, and the 
incorporation of the material from an old 
hot-bed. For spring sown Sweet Peas I 
always recommend that the seed be sown 
in a trench so that when covered it shall 
be some four inches in depth; with 
autumn sown seed this is not desirable, as 
it encourages too much moisture to settle 
lound the seedlings. Another point is 
the character of the soil. For spring 
sowing it may be rich and moist; for 
autumn sowing a lighter compost is ad¬ 
visable. A few years ago some writers 
were advising deep sowing, but the trend 
of opinion seems to have worked round to 
the opposite idea, and it is not recom¬ 
mended nearly so frequently as formerly. 
I never did like it myself, and think half 
an inch, or even less, quite sufficient, 
especially if the ground is in good work¬ 
ing condition and properly settled when 
the seeds are entrusted to it. I suppose 
we all have our colour fancies, but there 
are few who will not agree that a line of 
t: mixed seeds” is many times less beauti¬ 
ful and pleasing than is one in which the 
colours are kept separate. My own 
fancy is, even when this is done, that a 
few well selected pale, dainty, and deli¬ 
cate colours are lovely, but that the ad¬ 
dition of dark blues and very dark purples 
among these destroys much of their 
charm and dainty beauty. I know quite 
well many will not agree with me, but 
there are others somewhat doubtful, and 
I do wish these would try the result of 
stern restraint in their selection of colours 
and the banishment of very dark tones for 
once, and see the effect. In blues my 
darkest tint is the lovely Romolo Piazzani, 
for pure white I -would choose Dorothy 
Eckford, for pinks and rose colour 
Countess Spencer, John Ingman.Coccinea, 
leading, perhaps, to King Edward and 
Queen Alexandra. One of the most 
beautiful rosv pinks is Enchantress, but 
so far I have only seen it on the show 
table. Frank Dolby and Lady Grisel 
Hamilton will lead up to the deeper 
Romolo Piazzani if desired, being of paler 
shades. All these Peas are beautiful, 
and it is difficult to omit a single one of 
them. 
The Acanthus. 
I have just been planting 
Acanthuses, which plant, we remember, 
was used frequently on the old Greek 
carved pillars. It is exceedingly hand¬ 
some and desirable, especially in a large 
garden, where it can be allowed to grow 
into large, bold clumps. All the same, 
so far as flourishing goes, it may be grown 
to the pink of perfection in the heavy 
moist soil of London suburban gardens. 
A single clump in such a garden may be¬ 
come highly decorative, and when in 
flower it is delightful; the rigid up-stand¬ 
ing flower-stem has a quaint formality, 
and it requires no staking nor tying ex¬ 
cept in very exposed positions. A semi- 
shady position suits this plant, though it 
is perhaps more certain to produce flowers 
in an open one. 
Some Hints on Rose Planting, 
I am afraid it is not the first time, and 
I hope it will not be the last, that I plead 
for Roses as permanent bedding plants, 
and bv that I mean absolutely turning the 
beds formerly devoted to Geraniums and 
other tender bedding plants into a Rose 
garden, where necessary enlarging them 
somewhat, but that is easy enough, and 
it may be, that with a little planting and 
drawing of designs on paper, two or three 
small beds even can be thrown into one. 
But where these P.oses take the place of 
brilliant dwarf bedding plants I must 
confess I do like a selection of Roses to 
be made that shall consist of clear, vivid, 
and radiant colouring; thus, a whole bed, 
say, of Mrs. W. J. Grant, is grand, Lady 
Battersea, Liberty, and Marquise de 
Salisbury may be generously used, and 
where a loosely-made, somewhat thin 
Rose is not objected to, Gruss an Teplitz 
which provides a splendid bit of colour. 
Among the Carnations. 
This is a late year for many things, 
but not I think for Carnations that were 
layered in anything like reasonable time, 
so that the sooner now they are planted 
out the better, if the work has not already 
been done. Some of the best Carnations 
I ever saw were grown in wonderfully 
heavy clayey soil, but it had been pre¬ 
vented from souring by securing sufficient 
drainage by reason of a plentiful supply 
of mortar rubble pieces about the size of 
a cob nut, and many even smaller were 
incorporated with the soil to the depth of 
a foot, and it seemed as if the Carnations 
rejoiced in getting their roots among 
them. And talking of mortar rubble, I 
do not think we value it half as much as 
we should, of course we do not bring it 
near any of the Ericas or other plants 
that dislike it, but there are far more that 
take to it most kindly. Even in potting 
soil it may find a place with advantage, 
especially if we find ourselves at any time 
