The Flower Garden. 
How 'time does fly ! Nearly another year 
gone, making, I believe, the third since the 
“ G.Wv” took on its present guis*. I dare say 
there are a goodly number of readers who 
are unfamiliar with the old “ G.W.,” but so 
fax as I am aware the present-day journal 
suffers in no way by comparison. Changes 
are essential at times, and therefore I would 
urge some small change in the garden for 
the coming season. 
Avoid Sameness. 
There is no reason why there should be a 
sameness. When you go into a railway bar 
you expect to find the same old sandwich, 
and same old bun, but that is no reason why 
there should be the same old everything in 
the garden. Just hustle a bit, and try to 
make things a little different. As the poet 
says : 
l -‘ If you’re leading an army, or building a 
fence, 
Do the best that you can with, your own 
common sense.” 
Be ur> and doing, mind you ! If your 
neighbour plants his beds with Geraniums 
and Calceolarias, don’t follow him blindly. 
Just plant yours with Calceolarias and 
Geraniums ! Show originality ; that’s the 
ticket. Of course don’t work oppositely for 
the sake of doing so. It’s not sense to build 
a greenhouse by fixing up the roof first. Nor 
would I advccate trenching by underground 
methods instead of top working. Just use 
common sense, that’s all. 
Rose Planting. 
If all the Roses are not planted and the 
weather is mild and looks like keeping so, 
then plant away, unless the ground is heavy 
and liable to lay wet. Spring planting, or 
rather late February planting, is safer under 
such circumstances. 
Protecting Roses. 
Respecting the protection of Roses, I have 
never myself found plants very seriously in¬ 
jured by frost, but where weather is likely 
to be severe it is sound sense to make sure 
of the basal buds by protecting them. A 
simple method is to earth up 'the plants some 
five or six inches. Then if the growth is cut 
back by freezing the lower buds will be safe. 
Standards, of course, must be protected by 
straw or some such material. It is obviously 
useless to earth up these. However, the 
severe weather usually comes after Decem¬ 
ber is out, so there is time to prepare. The 
prophets were certainly right off with re¬ 
gard to last month, and I hope they will be 
completely astray, despite the plentiful 
supply of berries on the trees, and other gim- 
crack notions that get abroad. 
Violets in Frames. 
Violets in frames need watching at this 
time, for the damp atmosphere quickly sets 
up decay. All unhealthy foliage should he 
removed as soon as seen. Sitir 'the 9oil occa¬ 
sionally, and give plenty of ventilation. 
Violets do not suffer much .through cold, but 
t dampness pauses trouble very quickly. If 
mildew shows, dust affected parts with sul¬ 
phur. 
Planting Shrubs. 
Shrubs, especially deciduous sorts, may 
still be planted if the weather be favourable. 
Sweet Peas Out of Doors. 
Sweet Peas out of doors should be fre¬ 
quently dusted with soot or lime to ward off 
slugs. Do not thin out any plants until the 
spring. A little stra/w litter, etc., shaken 
over the plants will prove useful in very 
frosty weather. 
Sweet Peas in Pots. 
Those sown in pots must be kept in frames, 
and marts 'should be used -to keep off severe 
weather. Keep- rthip plants dry, as soddened 
soil coupled with frost will kill off Sweet 
Peas in pots. 
Sweet Pea Novelties. 
There promises 'to be an enormous influx 
of novelties again this year. I have already 
heard of three dozen or so, but I hesitate to 
say they will all prove first-class. Person¬ 
ally, I think 'it is time raisers left off sending 
out second -raters. There are plenty of -really 
good things in -being, if only the raisers 
would take more time in fixing -them. Still 
more specialists are arising, and of course 
all have novelties. Those who -intend to go 
in for Sweet Peas strongly will do well to 
send their orders in early. Many varieties, 
especially the best of the new sorts, are in 
very short supply. The past season was a 
wretched one for seed saving, and late 
comers will assuredly fail to get what they 
want. Mrs. Har-dcasitle Sykes is again a 
very short crop ; Marquis and St. George are 
also insufficient to meet the demand. The 
White Spencer (Etta Dyke) and Cream 
Spencer are being bought up rapidly. As 
one who knows which way the wind is blow¬ 
ing, I would urge early orders and avoid¬ 
ance of very cheap seed. Hitherto cheap 
seed has been mostly Californian, but the 
crops out there, as elsewhere, were very 
short, so that old seed may be going the 
rounds. 
Leaves and the Lawn. 
Leaves are useful for mixing with soil, 
but they make a dreadful (Litter -in the gar¬ 
den. Thank goodness most of -them are al¬ 
ready down, but the shifting winds will stir 
them out of odd corners where they have 
been reposing unseen. However, leaves ren¬ 
der a service to the lawn, for they conr-f 
sweeping, which might not be done other¬ 
wise. By sweeping one breaks up worm 
oasts. Get the roller following -the broom, 
and real good week will be done. 
Turf Laying-. 
Get -the last of -the turf laying done as soon 
as possible. As I have said before, turf 
must be well beaten after laying. Some¬ 
thing better than a carpet beater must be 
used. There is nothing to equal a good thick 
lump of wood with a handle set on the 
slant. Lift the beater well up, and bring it 
down with a thump. 
Look over Begonias and other such bulbs. 
Do not store until thoroughly dry. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Pruning. 
Pruning work may be pushed on with. 
All small fruits should be dealt with first. 
Treat Loganberries, Wiueberries, etc., like 
Raspberries; cut away old wood 'that has 
fruited. These fruits are tremendous 
growers and need careful tying in, or they 
soon become unmanageable. Good gloves are 
a real necessity, by the way. 
761 
Planting. 
Soil and weather permitting, finish up 
planting as -soon as possible. Always fix 
standard trees to a stake which has been well 
hammered prior to the tree being planted. 
Old fruit trees will benefit by being heavily 
mulched with manure. Never mind what 
experimenters say about fruit trees requiring 
no manure. As well go without your din¬ 
ners and expect to feel fit for work day after 
day. 
Black Currants. 
Remove all big buds showing on Black 
Currants. 
Strawberries. 
Keep Strawberry beds free from weeds, but 
do not dig deeply between the rows. 
Wall Fruit. 
Tender fruits growing on walls will need 
a little protection in cold districts. 
The Fruit Store. 
Frequently examine fru-it in the store and 
remove all showing the slightest sign of 
decay. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
There is not much to be done here. Rub¬ 
bish should be cleared up and burnt. 
Seakale. 
Seakale roots may be taken up for forcing 
indoors. Permanent beds should be cleared 
of dead foliage. 
Manuring and Trenching. 
Frosty mornings should he taken advan¬ 
tage of for manure carting. A bit of trench¬ 
ing work will -give one a good appetite. 
The Potato Clamp. 
Make sure that Potato clamps are suffi¬ 
ciently covered before severe weather comes. 
Endive. 
See that Endive and the like is not suffer¬ 
ing from damp in frames. Large Endive 
plants outside may be blanched in a cellar 
if taken up- with a good ball. 
Turn over manure and rubbish heaps. 
“ Horti.” 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Protecting Cold Frames. 
In the winter the cold frame should al¬ 
ways face due south, or at all events 'in the 
direction whence it receives most sun. 
Around all its sides a 6in. layer of quite dry 
ashes from the furnace should be banked, to 
keep out injurious ground draughts and 
frosts, which are always most severe near the 
ground. The ashes should be well patted 
down with a shovel, and slope sharply out¬ 
wards from -the frame to throw off rain. A 
few Archangel mats, sacks, or pieces of old 
carpet should be kept -in readiness for cover¬ 
ing up with- on very cold nights. Mats are 
best as they are sufficiently long to overlap 
each end of -the frame, a most important 
point as Frost frequently enters a frame be¬ 
tween the light and the woodwork at the 
en-d. I have frequently seen gardeners tuck 
the ends of the mats in here, but this is a 
mistake, as this often increases the opening. 
Lilies of the Valley. 
If breaking u-p and replanting a bed of 
these in the flower garden try and spare a 
few crowns for growing in pots. Only 
single crowns should be selected, and of 
these only such as have fat and rounded 
tops; crowns that are thin and pointed only 
produce leaves. Home-grown crowns thus 
cursorily prepared cannot be expected to give 
flowers as- fine as -the Imported Berlin crowns 
do, but they will yield a useful lot of sweet- 
scented spikes. They should be potted rather 
more thickly than the imported crowns. The 
latter are well worth growing in quantity, 
half-a-dozen crowns making quite a nice 
