THE GARDENING WORLD, 
June 29, 1907. 
438 
lions in the treatment of pot-bound plants. 
L would advise, where plants do not re¬ 
quire to be annually turned out of their 
pots, that they should be carefully examined 
to see that drainage! is in good order, for 
unless there is free outlet for the large quan¬ 
tities of water which must necessarily be 
given, stagnation quickly causes not only 
decay of what remaining compost there 
may be, but the roots are even more injuri¬ 
ously affected, and so the plant suffers. The 
dead and decaying matter should be removed 
from the surface of the compost and about 
the base of the pseudo-bulbs. The old com¬ 
post should be resurfaced with fresh com¬ 
post ; this always adds to the appearance of 
the plants. In repotting care must be taken 
to detach the roots from the sides of the 
pots, to which they usually become firmly 
adhered, so that as little injury as possible 
may be done to them. After the old com¬ 
post has been shaken off, any leafless back 
bulbs may be cut away. The pots used 
should be fairly large in comparison with 
the size of the plants to permit ample root 
room for a season or two, and they should 
be clean and filled to about one-third their 
depth with clean broken crocks, placed in 
such a manner as to allow free drainage. 
The plant may then be placed in position 
in the centre of the pot, allowing the base 
of the growth to be slightly below the level 
of the rim of the pot and just level with 
the surface of the compost when potting is 
completed. The compost should consist of 
equal portions of turfy loam and fibrous 
peat with a little sphagnum added and suffi¬ 
cient sand and finely-broken crocks to render 
the whole porous. Press the compost firmly 
among the roots and about the base 
of the plant, and surface with some living 
sphagnum. Water with rain water as soon 
as potting is completed, after which, with a 
liberal amount of moisture in the atmosphere 
and constantly damping, no more water will 
be required until the surface gets in a dry 
state. Shade carefully from strong light 
until the plants become rooted in the new 
compost. I will deal with the suitable 
kinds to grow in a future note. 
H. J. Chapman. 
- f+4 - 
Gardening Operations.—Addressed to Ladies. 
Make up your beds early in the morn¬ 
ing ; sew buttons on your husband’s shirts ; 
do not rake up any grievances ; protect 
the young and tender branches of your 
family; plant a smile of good temper in 
your face, and carefully root out all angry 
feelings, and you may expect a good crop 
of happiness. 
Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society. 
At the last meeting of the above-named 
society, presided over by Lord Eversley, 
it was decided to introduce a Bill into 
Parliament to facilitate the making by 
the Board of Agriculture of Schemes for 
the Regulation of Commons in cases 
where unreasonable opposition was en¬ 
countered, on the understanding that the 
rights of the Lord of the Manor and Com¬ 
moners were fully protected. Much 
satisfaction was expressed by the com¬ 
mittee at the success of Mr. Ramsey 
MacDonald in securing the second read¬ 
ing of the Society's Public Rights of Way 
Bill, which had been backed by repre¬ 
sentatives of all political parties, and 
which was now awaiting consideration by 
Grand Committee “A.” It was stated by 
the secretary that the society was dealing 
with 140 cases affecting the preservation 
of rights of way, roadside waste, common 
land, and village greens in various parts 
of the country. 
The Holly 
Some Varieties 
to Grow. 
(Ilex). 
The Holly is so beautiful and hardy, 
and can therefore be used for so many 
purposes that it is strange it should be so 
much neglected in gardens at the present 
day. It is one of the finest, perhaps the 
finest, of our native evergreen shrubs, and 
planted in clumps or rough undipped 
hedges on the outskirts of a garden, it is 
unequalled for giving shelter from cold 
winds, while within the garden it is 
splendidly adapted for growing in hedges 
as dividing lines, or in clumps and single 
specimens for the sake of the beautiful 
berries in the autumn and the green 
leaves in winter. In the variegated forms 
one can have grand masses of silver or 
golden foliage all the year round. Hollies 
seem to flourish in all kinds of soil when 
once the newly planted shrubs have taken 
root, and they are found growing equally 
well in heavy clay and sandy loam. It has 
been abundantly proved that the best time 
for planting is in May, as then the shrubs 
seem to feel the shock of removal least, 
and often make healthy growths the fol¬ 
lowing summer. 
There are many varieties of Holly now 
in cultivation, though the one most often 
seen and the best for general use is the 
wild Ilex Aquifolium; for growing in 
towns where the foliage is likely to be 
Sowing- 
Grass Seed 
With Lime. 
It is no uncommon practice for gar¬ 
deners and others to have to annually sow 
small patches—sometimes large areas—of 
grass seed where the lawn has become 
bare or otherwise unsightly. The birds 
are usually a source of real trouble where 
this has to be done; and, in spite of 
various devices employed to scare them 
off, they generally get a portion of the 
coveted seed. My reason for writing this 
brief article is to tell of a simple and effec¬ 
tual way of keeping them at a distance. 
The note may be rather late for this 
season, but at the same time it may prove 
helpful to some, and it will pay for be¬ 
ing remembered by all who may not have 
tried the experiment before. 
I believe ‘‘cottoning ’’ is the most widely 
adopted plan; this is fairly good, and 
may still be done, but, in addition, let 
there be a liberal sprinkling of lime over 
the ground after it is finished off, and the 
birds will fight shy of the grass seeds. 
The writer sowed some seed a little later 
this year than usual* and was much an¬ 
noyed by the sparrows (although the sown 
places were well cottoned), until the fore¬ 
going idea occurred to him, and which I 
have since carried out with most satisfac¬ 
tory results. 
Of course, I do not claim to be the first 
who has used lime in this particular way, 
but tbe writer has never seen the advice 
given in any other gardening paper or 
book. Hence I pass it on to the readers 
of the Gardening World. 
C. Turner. 
affected by smoke Ilex Hodginsii is th< 
best, while for places near the sea coast 
the most satisfactory is Ilex Scotica. lie; 
Milkmaid Yellow Berry has yellow berrie: 
instead of the usual red, and Ile'x Hender 
soni has spineless leaves. Of the vane 
ties having varegiated leaves the mos' 
distinct are Ilex Silver Queen and Ilex 
argentea marginata with silver foliage 
and Ilex Golden Queen and Ilex water 
eriana with golden leaves. Three weep¬ 
ing forms are the green Ilex pendula, the 
silver variegated Ile'x pendula argentea 
and the golden variegated Ilex pendula 
aurea. 
Provided patience is exercised, Lex 
Aquifolium can be easily grown from seed. 
The berries are collected when ripe and 
placed in sand until the spring, when the 
seeds should be sown out of doors, and 
in the following spring a good many wil 
make their appearance, though some will 
remain dormant until the second year. 
The young plants can remain in the seed 
bed for two years and then be trans¬ 
planted. The varieties are usually in¬ 
creased by budding on to the wild stock 
in July or August in the same manner as 
Roses are budded, and sometimes - by 
grafting, which is done during March. 
A. C. D. 
A Suggestion for a 
Flower Support, 
Perhaps the description of a new and, 
as far as I know, a better and easier way 
that I use for supporting and displaying 
flowers on the plants that I m,ay show, or 
in the greenhouse, and which is less in 
evidence than flower sticks, may be of 
some use to your readers, as they could 
make these Supports for themselves. 
All they want to do is to buy some thin 
w’ire, zinc for preference, as it is more 
lasting and would not rust. Bend one 
end thus i _ J, then |T>, and cut 
to the lenglh required, so that when the 
end is inserted into the flower pot, the 
flower stem is supported in the curved 
portion. Bend the stem of wire until the 
flower is in the position required, and then 
gently press the curved part of the wire 
together without damaging the flower 
stem, but at the same time saving it from 
falling out. 
G. N. Stone. 
-<►++- 
Birmingham Flower Show. 
The second flower show of the season 
organised by the Botanical and Horticul¬ 
tural Society of Birmingham will be held 
in the Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston, on 
\\ ednesday, July 3rd. Intending exhi¬ 
bitors are invited to make early applica¬ 
tion for space so that the necessary ar¬ 
rangements may be made. The exhibi¬ 
tion will open at 12.30 and close at 7 p.m. 
The City of Birmingham Police Band (by 
kind permission of C. H. Rafter, Esq., 
Chief Constable), will perform between 
3 o’clock and 6.30 p.m. 
