THE . GARDENING WORLD . 
455 
fuly 6, 1 907 - 
Jots must be removed, or they will prob- 
1 v cause the flower buds to fall off. 1 inch 
tfin gut when quite young, and thus avoid 
r mine into danger. Although the Ole- 
] er is one of the most poisonous plants 
1 , wn to science, yet the brown scale insect 
ids it delectable and safe food. Therefore 
int for scale, and see that their repast does 
: t become a feast. 
I rtilising Melons. 
Melons differ from the majority of plants 
tit the hardening amateur handles in that 
|jy require artificial intervention in order 
set their fruits. Fortunately, this is not 
.difficult matter. When the main stem of 
Melon has grown a few feet it pushes out 
le shtots, and on some fine morning the 
jW er finds his plants ablaze with yellow 
iwers. If examined, it will be found that 
use flowers on the side shoots have a good 
.zed protuberance beneath them, which is 
eking beneath the flowers on the main stem, 
he former are the female or fruit-bearing 
,wers; the latter are the male or fertilising 
owers. To effect fertilisation, pick off a 
lale flower, Up its centre gently on the 
uimb-nail, and if it leaves a yellow dust 
ehind it is fit for its fecundating mission, 
'ear away the outer rim of its yellow en- 
elope, and place the remaining central part 
n close contact with the central part of one 
,f the side-shoot or female flowers. Give it 
slioht twist and withdraw it. If possible, 
’our or six flowers should be fertilised on a 
liven morning or in the course of not more 
'han three mornings. 
Igapanthuses from Seeds. 
Amateurs are fond of experimenting, and 
though it is far better to buy plants, yet 
seeds of Agapanthuses may be sown now by 
those so inclined. The seeds should be 
placed well apart in a pan, the seedlings 
pricked out into small pots and kept grow¬ 
ing all the winter in a warm greenhouse. 
Calceolarias. 
If from any cause the June sowing failed 
another sowing should now be made; in¬ 
deed, a sowing at this time often gives the 
best plants. If delayed after this date there 
is a tendency to rush the seedlings along, 
and this is the worst thing possible with the 
herbaceous Calceolaria. Moist, cool, semi- 
shady conditions are what the plants revel 
in. If the first sown batch has come up too 
thickly do not hesitate to thin the plants out 
as soon as they can be caught hold of. Se¬ 
lect the strongest and forwardest, and throw 
them away, as they are generally coarse 
growing yellows, of poor habit and little 
beauty. 
Peach Trees. 
The fruits should now or soon be colour¬ 
ing, and every effort should be made to get 
the trees clear of green fly before this de¬ 
sirable event occurs. Once colouring starts 
it is folly in the extreme to use the syringe, 
especially if the water is at all chalky. 
Peaches often have a provoking tendency to 
expose the part to the sun wherein colour 
is not essential, i.e., the base that takes the 
stalk. Sometimes this can be remedied by 
re-tying the shoot on which the fruit is car¬ 
ried, but often any attempt only makes 
matters worse. On no account must the 
fruit be handled roughly or nasty bruises 
will show on the flesh when the skin is re¬ 
moved. A simple way of letting sun in to 
fruit is to pinch off, or better, tie back any 
leaves that obstruct the sun’s rays. 
Tomatos and White Fly. 
The dry conditions under which Tomatos 
are grown admirably suit what is most un¬ 
doubtedly the plant’s worst insect foe, viz., 
white fly. This little pest hides on the under 
sides of the leaves, whence it sucks the life 
juices of the plant. When disturbed by 
shaking the plant the fly generally flutters 
in the air for a brief space, so that a sharp 
watch should be kept when tapping the 
plants for fertilising purposes. Another 
way in which the presence of the pest is 
often first indicated is by a filthy secre¬ 
tion covering the leaves of pot plants grow¬ 
ing beneath the Tomatos. As soon as a 
single fly is seen, thoroughly vaporise the 
house with one of the excellent fumigating 
compounds now on the market, repeating the 
vaporising for three or four alternate even¬ 
ings. This successional vaporising is neces¬ 
sary in order to get rid of the new broods, 
which hatch out in a few hours. A Tomato 
pliant badly infested with white fly can 
never be profitable until cleaned. 
Isolepis for Shows. 
As an old exhibitor, I cannot help noting 
that present-day amateurs, and even profes¬ 
sional gardeners, sadly neglect Isolepis gra¬ 
cilis as an edging plant to groups at shows. 
Taking it all round, I suppose that no finer 
plant can be found for the purpose. To get 
good specimens, my practice is to shift good, 
‘ healthy plants from 3 to 4^- in. pots about 
now. The added soil is composed of half- 
decayed dung and half fine loam; or I 
would use an artificial fertiliser were dried 
dung not available. The plants are well 
watered and syringed, and in about a 
month’s time are given one or two pinches of 
artificial manure. In this way really grand 
edging plants are obtainable for the mid and 
late August shows. 
Sunnyside. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
General Remarks. 
The conditions of the atmosphere outside 
govern the treatment of plants in our houses 
quite as much as it does the development of 
growth outside. Our inside treatment of 
Orchids, being purely artificial, in seasons 
like the present we have to make use of the 
artificial facilities at command in order as 
far as possible to develop the growth of the 
plants in our charge in such a manner as 
will be likely to promote the flowering of 
the plants in due season. The loss of sun¬ 
light, which, I believe, has been pretty gene¬ 
ral throughout this country, is a serious 
matter when we have among our Orchid 
families several tribes and sub-tribes that 
are essentially sun-loving plants; and it is 
thus somewhat difficult to anticipate satis¬ 
factory flowering seasons without sun-aid. 
Not only has there been a serious want of 
light, but the temperature remaining abnor¬ 
mally low, growth has been particularly 
slow, and in consequence many of our win¬ 
ter flowering plants will have lost consider¬ 
able ground if the necessary appliances are 
not at command to counteract the conditions 
of unfavourable weather. It is practically 
useless to lay down any hard and fast rules 
in a season like the present. It must, there¬ 
fore, be left largely to the discretion of the 
cultivator as to what methods can best be 
adopted to help the plants to keep in season. 
I will, however, offer the following sugges¬ 
tions. The temperature of the warmer divi¬ 
sions must be maintained at the normal de¬ 
gree at this season. We have thus to fall 
back on artificial heat to a great extent. I 
am no advocate of the excessive use of arti¬ 
ficial heat, and therefore to use it at a sea¬ 
son when under ordinary conditions we 
should dispense with a great amount, might 
appear to be somewhat inconsistent, but, un¬ 
der exceptional conditions it may be applied, 
and with a want of bright sunlight and 
a chilling atmosphere it is well to keep a 
warmth in the hot water pipes that will 
_ maintain the conditions suitable for the 
growth of the plants. 
Ventilation must also be done with dis¬ 
cretion, and the advantage of heat in the 
pipes, warming the cool external air, as ad¬ 
mitted to the house, will be apparent. 
Shading;. 
The growth on plants in a season like the 
present is naturally of a soft, sappy nature, 
and therefore more liable to injury from ex¬ 
posure to the sun’s rays than would be the 
case under ordinary conditions. Thus 
while it is desirable to take full advantage 
of what sunlight may yet be obtainable in 
the coming months care is necessary to 
guard against disfigurement and loss of 
foliage from the effect of sudden and exces¬ 
sive light. 
Damping and watering will require care¬ 
ful attention, when unavoidable circum¬ 
stances produce soft growths. Plants are 
always more liable to produce what is known 
as damp spotting and the black disfiguring 
spots on the foliage when growths are of 
a sappy nature than when properly ripened. 
It is well, therefore, to see that the plotting 
compost becomes reasonably dry between 
waterings, for there is nothing more in¬ 
jurious to plants than a condition of stag¬ 
nation at their roots. The atmosphere also 
should have its moisture distilled, so that 
fairly dry conditions may prevail by the 
cool of the evening, and when the lowest 
night readings of the thermometer are regis¬ 
tered. 
H. J. Chapman. 
-- 
Trapsplar?tir?g. 
Hints. 
Now that the transplanting season is 
with us a few hints as to the best methods 
to follow to ensure success will doubt¬ 
less be acceptable to many. 
The first consideration is the condition 
of the land. This should be worked 
into as fine a condition as possible and 
recently watered, as young plants more 
readily adapt themselves to the new con¬ 
ditions if the soil is moist. 
The young plants should be removed 
with a good ball of earth loosely adher¬ 
ing to the roots. Failing this, keep the 
whole plant wet while out of the ground, 
as it must be remembered that a plant 
as a whole transpires moisture. Inat¬ 
tention to this fact is, I think, the cause 
of so many failures to rear seedlings that 
showed promise of becoming sturdy 
plants. 
The best time to plant is in the even¬ 
ing of a cloudy day, after rain for pre¬ 
ference, but never in the daytime. 
Plant deeply, and press the soil lightly 
around the roots and stem with the fin¬ 
gers ; to be sure that the roots are in in¬ 
timate contact with the soil. It is a good 
practice to pinch off a few of the leaves 
before planting, and so lessen the trans¬ 
piring surface and allow the roots to be¬ 
come firmly established without undue 
strain upon them. 
After planting, water copiously and 
mulch individual plants with dry earth 
or manure to prevent evaporation till the 
plant has “caught hold.” Shade for two 
or three days with slates, tiles, or any¬ 
thing handy, placed to the south of each 
plant. F. W. D. 
- f+4 - 
The Strawberry Season. 
Fine samples of Strawberries are now 
appearing in the London markets, though 
sorpe of them are not very highly coloured 
owing to lack of sunshine. 
