45 ° 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 6, 1907. 
Chrysanthemums. 
WORK FOR JULY. 
Feeding. 
The present is, generally speaking, 
about the time exhibitors begin to feed 
their plants with weak manure water, but 
in many places the growth will no doubt 
be unusually rank and soft owing to the 
dulness of the season. This being the 
case, extra manuring would do more harm 
than good, but forward plants that have 
firm wood will be all the better for a little 
assistance in this way to prevent them 
getting into a starved condition. 
Possibly the best form of manure-water 
is that made- from stable drainings, 
diluted to the colour of very weak tea. 
Sheep droppings also make a very potent 
liquid; also as an occasional change, 
especially in hot weather, cow manure. 
Soot water, too, is indispensable as a 
change of diet. Where a tank or tub 
can be provided with a dividing partition 
of perforated zinc, manure water can 
easily be made by putting the droppings 
into one side, and after filling up with 
water, dipping the clear liquid as re¬ 
quired from the other. Failing this, 
about a peck of sheep droppings may be 
tied in a bag and immersed in a tub or 
tank. Horse droppings are not so suit¬ 
able for this purpose, although, as before 
noted, the liquid drainings from stables, 
piggeries, or cow-sheds are good when re¬ 
duced to a suitable strength. The grower 
must of course use his own judgment as 
to when his plants require a little assist¬ 
ance in the way of extra manuring, and 
it will be found that some varieties re¬ 
quire it much earlier in the season than 
others. Amongst the Japs, such kinds as 
Mdme. Carnot, F. S. Vallis, Mrs. F. W. 
Vallis, W. Wells, and others of a soft and 
rank habit of growth will require very 
little feeding until the flower-buds ap¬ 
pear, and even then it is best applied in 
the way of light top-dressings of soil and 
manure milxed. This also applies to the 
incurved section generally. 
Tying and Staking. 
The tying of the shoots must be regu¬ 
larly attended to, and care taken that 
the ties near the tops of the growths are 
not too tight, or the tips may break off. 
Plants intended for large bushes or speci¬ 
mens must have extra sticks inserted as 
required, keeping the growths evenly tied 
'tut and so avoiding overcrowding. 
Faking the Buds. 
The backward season will no doubt 
cause many exhibitors some anxiety as to 
the timing of the buds for large blooms. 
In this connection it is a pretty safe rule 
in a season like this to remove all flower- 
buds of the incurved varieties appearing 
before the second week in August, the 
best shaped flowers in this section being 
produced from buds taken between the 
20th of August and the 10th of Septem¬ 
ber. On the other hand, if any of the 
later-flowering Japs, such as Mdme. 
Oberthur, Duchess of Sutherland, Chry- 
santhemiste Montigny, Algernon Davis, 
E. J. Brooks, Marquise Venosta, Mdme. 
P. Radaelli, Mdme. G. Rival, Mdme. R. 
Cadbury, Mrs. Barkley, J. R. Upton, 
General Hutton, Jumbo, and Bessie God¬ 
frey produce buds after the 25th of the 
present month, they must be retained if 
the blooms are required early in Novem¬ 
ber. The taking of the buds must in 
these cases be done gradually, removing 
the side growths one or two at a time, at 
intervals of 3 or 4 days, commencing with 
those nearest the bud when they are 
about half an inch in length, leaving 
those lower down the stem to grow some¬ 
what longer and so retarding the develop¬ 
ment of the flower buds. These latter, 
being what are known as first-crowns, will 
in most cases require a little manipula- 
. tion when opening, as there are nearly 
always more petals in the centre of the 
flower than will develop properly, so that 
it becomes necessary, when the flowers 
are about half out, to remove some of the 
shorter petals from the centre ; also any 
hard substance that may have formed 
there, by means of the tweezers or 
forceps. 
On the other hand, Mrs. J. Dunn, Pres. 
Viger, W. R. Church, Mrs. A. T. Miller, 
Mrs. W. Knox, Miss Olive Miller, Mdme. 
Gustave Henry, and other forward varie¬ 
ties will jrroduce second-crown buds in 
good time, and the development of these 
is a comparatively easy matter. 
The heavy rains will be found to have 
had a bad effect on the surface of the 
ground planted with early-flowering kinds, 
consequently it will be necessary to keep 
the surface soil stirred to ensure best re¬ 
sults. 
R. Barnes. 
- f+4 - 
Potting Roses. 
The latter part of July is the best time 
to pot up Roses at present growing in the 
open, which should have made one year’s 
growth since being budded. Take the 
trees up carefully, avoiding breaking the 
roots, but no harm will be done if they 
are cut with the spade 10 inches from the 
stem, the ends being afterwards pruned 
with a knife. Use pots 6 to 8 inches in 
size, well drained, and filled with a com¬ 
post of rough turfy loam, with one thumb 
potful of bonemeal, and two of wood 
ashes added to each gallon of same. Pot 
firmly, spreading the roots out as much 
as possible, and afterwards plunge the 
pots out of doors in ashes in a warm, 
sheltered position where they will winter. 
In spring, when the young leaves appear, 
prune the strong shoots down to 4 inches, 
and the weaker ones to 2 inches. 
Trebla. 
Manchester. 
The 
Barberries. 
Deciduous. 
The wealth of material included in this 
genus of plants, combined with their 
great beauty when in flower, demands 
for the Barberries a place in gardens of 
even moderate pretensions. It includes 
both evergreen and deciduous shrubs, all 
of which grow freely in ordinary garden 
soil. 
In the deciduous section Berberis 
Thunbergii takes front rank. Through¬ 
out spring and summer it has no particu¬ 
larly marked features, but as autumn 
advances the foliage gradually assumes 
rich tints of purple and red, finally finish¬ 
ing the season in a blaze of scarlet and 
crimson. Berberis vulgaris, which is also 
deciduous, is generally grown for its 
bright scarlet-orange fruits, which are 
very effective when seen in a mass ; the 
variety purpurea is a better garden plant, 
by reason of its dark foliage. 
Among the evergreen Barberries, Dar- 
winii, which in mild seasons begins 
flowering in February, is still one of the 
.best. The flowers are very rich in 
colour, borne freely, and the plant is also 
well adapted for hedges, and in cold dis¬ 
tricts makes a beautiful wall shrub. I 
have seen it ten feet high in the North, 
trained upon a wall. The flowers are 
borne in drooping bunches, and in colour 
are orange yellow. It blooms from I eb- 
ruary to May. 
Berberis japonica (Bealii) is also early 
flowering. The habit of the plant is 
erect, and the flowers are borne upon 
erect spikes surrounded by a rosette of 
leaves. It flowers yellow during April. 
Berberis Aquifolium (Mahonia)- is a 
splendid plant for coverts, and is useful 
also in the garden. The flowers are yel¬ 
low, and appear from April to May. It 
should be pruned hard back to from nine 
to twelve inches. When the flowers fade, 
it makes a good edging or ground mass 
plant. If growp in June the foliage is 
beautifully coloured in autumn. 
Berberis stenophylla is an evergreen, 
and one of the best, the arching branches 
being smothered with bloom during May. 
From the pendent habit of the branches 
it shows to best advantage upon banks. 
Berberis Knightii is very distinct in 
foliage, and by reason of its spines, the 
flowers are borne singly, like tiny yellow 
balls. This makes fine masses when kept 
about two feet high. 
Berberis concinna is an elegant, small 
evergreen, the spines lending it a silvery 
appearance. This is a very distinct Bar 
berry. 
Berberis dulcis nana is a dwarf form ol 
the type, which bears small drooping yel 
low flowers, and from its habit of growth 
it is well adapted for rock gardens. 
Barberries generally resent transplant 
ing, especially^ the evergreen section 
Planting is best done in early autumn 0 
late spring. Pruning, where necessary 
should be performed immediately the 
flowering period is over. As a rule the; 
make shapely bushes when not over 
crowded, so that the pruning knife it 
rarely required. T. SMITH. 
