I 
742 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
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column short letters discussing any gar. 
dening subject. 
Letters should not exceed 150 -words each 
Hybrids of Statice sinuata. 
The sinuate-leaved Statice is well 
known to horticulturists, but it may not 
be generally known that wherever the 
flowers of the type are yellow a packet of 
seed of these hybrid varieties will give 
plants bearing flowers some white and 
others blue and yellow in various shades. 
The plants are graceful in habit, and al¬ 
though the flowers are not gaudy by any 
means, yet being everlasting, they form a 
valuable asset of the floral decorator dur¬ 
ing the winter months when fresh flowers 
are scarce. This is a half-hardy annual 
of vigorous habit, thriving in any soil, but 
a light soil will produce the best results. 
Pick the flowers with their long grace¬ 
ful stems as they open, and hang them up 
heads downward to dry. 
Chas. Comfort. 
Lachenalia. 
This is an elegant plant which is not 
quite hardy enough to be trusted in the 
open ground; but it is the easiest matter 
possible to grow it well in the greenhouse. 
The bulbs should be potted as soon as 
they begin to grow in the autumn, and 
several bulbs may be put into each pot. 
There can be no better soil than turfy 
loam alone, without manure or sand. 
One point of importance is that they 
should have an abundance of water, when 
they will produce leaves two inches across 
and spikes of flowers fully double the 
size of those commonly met with. An 
admirable use for these bulbs is to insert 
them all over the outside of hanging 
baskets, which they will cover with the 
most graceful display of aerial vegeta¬ 
tion imaginable, the flower-spikes turning 
upwards and the leaves hanging down. 
W. SHERRINGHAM. 
Dorchester. 
Storing 1 Old Geranium Roots. 
At the end of the season when all avail¬ 
able space under glass is taken up one 
often finds that they have a large quan¬ 
tity of old Geranium roots which they 
would like to keep, but for want of some 
place to put them in or because of lack of 
sufficient pots or boxes, they are eventu¬ 
ally thrown away. 
To keep old Geranium roots througk 
the winter they should be lifted, the soi; 
shaken from them, and laid out on a dry 
floor for a day or two to dry. They can 
then be tied in bundles, each bundle be¬ 
ing wrapped in a piece of brown paper of 
double thickness, and then hung on a 
wall, which should be dry, cool, and 
frost-proof. Do not use a damp cellar. 
When required, pot or box, place in a 
gentle heat, and they will then break 
nicely. 
Thomas Francis. 
Bromley Cross. 
in length, and must be written on one 
side of the paper only. 
Two Prizes of 2s. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the best. 
Cosmos for the Greenhouse. 
I have just made a discovery. On the 
appearance of frost, a few weeks ago I 
had a lot of Cosmos bipinnata growing in 
the borders, which owing to the cold sum¬ 
mer, had not flowered, but were full of 
buds. These beautiful flowers are natur¬ 
ally late, but this year have been later 
than usual. It would have been a pity to 
have lost them, so I lifted them carefully 
into pots and stood them in the green¬ 
house, where they are now making a 
lovely display. The colours are pink and 
white, and I consider them superior to 
single Chrysanthemums, for, in addition 
to their Coreopsis-like flowers, they have 
finely cut foliage which shows off the 
flowers to advantage. I should strongly 
advise anyone to cultivate them in this 
way, for they make a welcome change 
from the Chrysanthemum at this season. 
A. Dennett. 
Canterbury. 
Alyssum maritimum compactum. 
For the rock garden there is nothing to 
equal the above for filling up blank 
spaces where any specimen has failed. 
They may be raised from seed, and 
always prove a success. Seed should be 
sown early in the year in shallow boxes 
or pans in sandy soil and placed in gentle 
heat and treated as a tender annual. 
Planted out in clusters or otherwise this 
looks very effective during the summer 
and autumn months, with its white flowers 
resembling the Iberis or Candytuft, only 
much smaller. It flowers profusely, is of 
very dwarf habit, and should be grown 
in every rock garden, especially where 
the Arabis is extensively grown, as the 
above soon follows to maintain a succes¬ 
sion of blooms. Cuttings may be taken 
in the autumn, but I prefer sowing seed, 
and it is the least trouble. 
T. Preston. 
Wilminster. 
Insects: Enemies and Friends. 
Insect pests may, broadly speaking, be 
divided into three classes, i.e., as regards 
the remedies to be applied. 
I. B iting-mouthed Insects. — Wee¬ 
vils and beetles. These need poisoning 
—(Paris green, etc.). 
II. Sucking-mouthed Insects. — All 
moths and flies. These need suffocating 
— (petroleum-emulsion, or paraffin). 
III. Piercing-mouthed Insects. — 
Sawfiies. Dealt with chiefly by poison. 
If the above particulars are carefully 
borne in mind and the pests treated ac¬ 
cordingly much injury to crops will be 
averted. There is also another class of 
insects known as “Garden Friends” which 
are of great use. The most common of 
those are: — Lady bird, Ichneumon Fly, 
Lacewing Fly, and Devil’s Coachhorse 
Beetle. There is also a large slug known 
November 23, 1907. 
as the “Ear Shell” slug which is useful 
to us. These “Garden Friends” are use¬ 
ful on account of their insectiverous 
habits. For instance, an ichneumon fly 
is capable of eating as many as twenty 
to thirty eggs or small caterpillars in a 
week. 
Hortulanus. 
Walsall. 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. Wakefield. 
This is a bronze terra cotta decorative 
variety, and received an Award of Merit 
from the R.H.S. when shown by Mr. H. 
J. Jones, Ryecroft Nursery, Lewisham. 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. G. F. Costa. 
The above is a Japanese Chrysanthe¬ 
mum of an apricot-yellow and consider¬ 
able beauty. Award of Merit by the 
R.H.S. when shown by Mr. Silsbury, 
Shanklin, I.W. 
Cattleya labiata Augusta. 
In this we have another white variety 
with a clear yellow throat and a shade of 
pink at the edge of the blade. Award of 
Merit by the R.H.S. when shown by J. 
Bradshaw, Esq., The Grange, Southgate. 
-- 
SWEET PEAS 
.. In November. . ♦ 
Failure of the English Seed Crop. 
Although the past Sweet Pea season has 
seen some excellent flowers, yet, from the 
English seedsman's standpoint, it has 
been a failure, for the crops, in almost 
all districts, are exceedingly small. 
In the first place the flowering season 
was a fortnight late, and, when it did ar¬ 
rive, damp, cold weather prevented the 
seed from setting. The fine weather in 
September helped to mend matters, but 
the wet spell which followed was again 
unfavourable. 
If we had to rely wholly upon our Eng¬ 
lish harvests, the supply of seed would 
be totally inadequate to meet next sea¬ 
son’s demand, but, fortunately, we do not 
have to do so, for- even in an ordinary 
year, by far the greater part of the seed 
sold in this country comes from abroad. 
Californian Sweet Pea Seed. 
Probably more than three-quarters of 
the world’s supply of Sweet Pea seed 
comes from California, where enormous 
areas are given over to its cultivation. A 
writer in the 1906 Stveet Pea Annual gave 
a short description of the industry. The 
plants are grown without any support, 
but in spite of this reach a height of seven 
feet. Special machinery is used for 
threshing, although I believe that this is 
also the case with some of our largest 
English growers. 
The depth and richness of the Califor¬ 
nian soil and the sunny climate seem 
peculiarly suited to the growing and safe 
harvesting of the seed, and so much so 
that on more than one occasion an Eng¬ 
lish seedsman, wishing to obtain a sure 
crop of a scarce novelty in his possession, 
has sent the entire stock of it to Cali¬ 
fornia to be grown for him. 
