December 28, 1907. THE GARDENING WORLD. 
815 
perature of 60 degs., and they will soon ger¬ 
minate. When in full growth the tempera¬ 
ture may gradually be raised at night, al¬ 
lowing it to rise still higher by day until 
it reaches 80 degs. with sunshine. Ventila¬ 
tion should be given when the temperature 
reaches this stage, otherwise the Beans will 
get drawn if the weather is bright. Even 
before this stage is reached it would be well 
to give a little chink of air at the top, as it 
keeps the Beans short jointed and sturdy. 
They should, of course, be well exposed to 
sunlight at all times by being near the glass. 
Syringe in the morning to keep down red 
spider and as the temperature rises later on 
in spring it would be necessary to syringe 
twice a day and to damp down all the paths 
and bare places of the houses in order to 
keep the atmosphere well charged with mois¬ 
ture. The ventilation during the day will 
allow the foliage to get dry, but that, of 
course, is an advantage, and the foliage 
should be dry for an hour or two every day. 
When the plants commence bearing you 
should top dress the pots with rich soil 
mixed with well decayed, but good, cow 
manure. You may also feed them once or 
twice a week with liquid manure, making 
it rather weak at the commencement. If you 
are- successful in following out this treat¬ 
ment, you should be able to gather pods 
within two months of the time of sowing. 
Of course, if the weather is cold and sunless, 
you will have to count upon that, as that 
would help to retard progress. 
2478. Temperature for Chinese Primu¬ 
las. 
I have been keeping up my greenhouse to 
a temperature of 45 degs. at night, but by 
morning it falls to 40 degs. Is this sufficient 
to flower Chinese Primulas, or ought I to 
keep it higher? (Primula, Durham.) 
The Chinese Primula could be flowered 
under treatment such as that you mention, 
but the plants will develop slowly and not 
attain a very large size. They would flower 
more freely if you kept a night temperature 
of 50 degs., but it should not be allowed to 
fluctuate much during the night. If you can 
study your heating apparatus so that it will 
keep up a regular temperature, that will go 
a large way towards success. When in full 
bloom, we have seen the temperature much 
lower than this, and they keep well enough, 
but if your plants are small at the present 
time it would be well to urge them to make 
good growth by keeping the temperature at 
the figure above hinted. 
2479. Primulas Damping Off. 
Some of my Primulas have damped off at 
the neck without any reason apparently. I 
keep the house at 40 degs. and water very 
carefully. Can you suggest any reason? 
(W. Jack, Warwick.). 
We should suspect there is something 
wrong in the treatment. The figure at which 
you keep them by night is not very high, so 
that possibly you may have over-watered 
them. This is usually done with a low tem¬ 
perature. It might, however, be the fault of 
potting. Some cultivators, with the object 
of getting the plants steady in the soil, pot 
them rather low, but do worse than that by 
leaving the centre of the pot hollow, conse¬ 
quently all the water runs down that way 
when the plant is watered, and it is apt to 
lodge there for some considerable time after¬ 
wards. This is a vital cause of the plants 
rotting off at the neck. You should see if 
this is the case, and also turn out a pot or 
two to see whether the drainage is in good 
condition or otherwise. 
FRAMES . 
2480. Early Violets. 
I want to get some early Violets, and for 
that purpose I intend using a frame. Would 
I require to make up a hot-bed for them, and, 
if so, what quantity would I require? The 
frame is 6ft. long and 4ft. from back to 
front. (E. Fenwick, Gloucestershire.) 
Your best plan would be to make up a hot¬ 
bed, otherwise you are not likely to get suffi¬ 
cient heat to stimulate good growth until 
March. It largely depends upon the weather, 
however. You should get a quantity of cow 
or stable manure and about one-third of 
leaves, if dry Oak or Beech leaves so much 
the better. This will cause steady fermenta¬ 
tion and keep up the heat for a much longer 
period. You would require to get as much 
manure as would make a bed about 3ft. deep 
when trodden down. W T hen you get the 
manure and leaves together, shake them up 
loosely in a conical heap, placing manure 
and leaves alternately. After two days or 
three days, according to the heat that is tak¬ 
ing place, a new heap should be made up by 
shaking up the manure a second time. If 
there is much rank material, possibly a 
third shaking up would be necessary, but if 
you have only one frame the width of the 
bed would be 50 narrow that violent heat¬ 
ing could scarcely take place after it has 
been shaken up twice. Make up the bed in a 
dry place where the liquid from the manure 
can run away, and commence building it up 
in layers, treading each layer firmly. Place 
about 6in. of good soil on the top of the 
manure after the frame has been put on. 
Leave it for a day or two to ascertain 
whether the bed and the soil have become 
warmed up. You can then plant the Violets 
firmly. It will probably be necessary to 
leave a little air on for a night or two to 
allow the rank steam to get out. 
ROOM PLANTS. 
2481. Fronds of Maidenhair Going 
Brown. 
I have two fine pots of Maidenhair in the 
house, and they looked fine till this month, 
but now all the fronds are all going brown. 
Do you think it is the cold? (W. Jack, 
Warwickshire.) 
It is more likely the dry atmosphere of 
the house has done the damage, because the 
fronds of Maidenhairs being very thin, are 
liable to get dried up and brown sooner than 
they would under more congenial condi¬ 
tions. If the cold has had anything to do 
with it, it would indicate that the plants 
were not properly hardened off before tak¬ 
ing them out of the greenhouse.’ You do 
not, however, state when this was done. If 
the plants have been some months in the 
house, they could not have got so well har¬ 
dened as they would in a greenhouse exposed 
to light. The best plan, indeed, is to re¬ 
turn the plants to the greenhouse to make 
fresh growth before putting them in the 
house. When re-potting them, you can 
break them up to make several plants, so 
that you can take them into the dwelling 
rooms in relays of one or more at a time, 
keeping them only there for a fortnight or 
so and replacing them by two taken from 
the greenhouse. This will enable the foliage 
to keep better. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
2 48 2. Treatment of Plants. 
Last spring I had some plants sent me to 
make up an order, but as they did not bloom 
I am not sure whether I am treating them 
properly. They were named Aquilegia hy- 
brida, Veronica Andersoni and Statice pro- 
fusa. Some I ordered were greenhouse 
plants, and others for the borders, so I 
planted out the above. (C. W. D., Lines.) 
The Aquilegia is hardy, and may be left 
in the border. The other two are greenhouse 
plants, so that you should lift them im¬ 
mediately and pot them firmly in good 
fibrous loam, with one-third part of leaf 
mould and plenty of sand. Do not water 
them until they show that they really want 
it, and you will have to water them care¬ 
fully until the roots commence to grow and 
take hold of fresh soil. It would have been 
better if you had lifted them in the autumn, 
say, in September. The Veronica may be 
grown in the open air with advantage in the 
summer time as a bedding plant, but it 
should be always taken indoors about the 
third week of September. The Statice 
should be kept in pots always, and not 
planted out. 
NAMES OF PLANTS. 
(T. West) 1, Jasminum nudiflorum : 2, Cra¬ 
taegus Pyracantha; 3, Euonymus japonicus 
aureus; 4, Lonicera japonica aureo-reticu- 
lata. 
(W. R. S.) 1, Pteris cretica albo-lineata; 
2, Asplenium obtusatum lucidum; 3, Pteris 
Wimsettii; 4, Nephrolepis Duffii; 5, Dory- 
opteris palmata; 6, Pteris serrulata; 7, 
Adiantum Ghiesbreghtii. 
(W. Herd) 1, Cyparus alternifolius; 2, 
Begonia fuchsioides ; 3, Begonia parviflora ; 
4, Ficus stipulata minima. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Henry Eckeord, Wfem, Shropshire.—Eck- 
ford’s Novelties. 
Robert Bolton, Warton, Carnforth.— 
Bolton’s Giant-flowered Sweet Peas. 
Mr. J. Unwin, Histon, Cambs.—Cata¬ 
logue of Giant-flowered Sweet Peas. 
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