466 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 13, 1907. 
PRIZE LETTER COMPETITION. 
Readers are invited to contribute to this 
column short letters discussing any gar¬ 
dening subject. 
Letters should not exceed 150 words each 
them into fresh growth. They move but 
slowly, however, until well into spring, 
and for that reason they are easily accom¬ 
modated in our climate. 
Propagation may be effected by seeds 
when they ripen and by offsets, which are 
produced around the old bulbs. When 
the parent clump gets crowded the bulbs 
can, of course, be lifted and replanted in 
the same or a fresh position. The 
larger or flowering bulbs can be arranged 
in one place, and the smaller bulbs in 
some reserve portion of the garden, se¬ 
lecting a place exposed to wind, rain, and 
sunshine. 
The most suitable position in the gar¬ 
den for A. kansuense is on a rockery, pre¬ 
ferably behind some other plant, so that 
when the leaves of the Allium die down 
it will not be missed, because the front 
part of the pocket or space is occupied 
by something which keeps green all the 
summer. 
-f+*- 
Rose Cuttings 
Striking 
In Water. 
This is an easy and quick way of in¬ 
creasing one's stock of Roses, and as the 
Rose bushes thus obtained are on their 
own roots, they will thrive well and not 
be robbed of their strength by brier 
suckers, as is the case with budded 
plants. Cuttings can be taken any time 
when the sap is rising freely, perhaps 
September being the best month. They 
should be from six to nine inches long, 
with a heel of older wood attached, and 
should consist of well ripened, “ middle- 
aged ” wood, young wood being too soft 
and sappy and old wood not having 
enough vitality. 
The cuttings being ready, all that is 
now required is a perfectly clean glass 
jam pot filled with pure rain-water, in 
which has been placed a lump of char¬ 
coal to keep the water sweet. To this 
should be added some silver sand to a 
depth of one or two inches, so as to pro¬ 
vide a firm base for the cuttings to rest 
upon. The cuttings having been placed 
in the water about two-thirds their 
length, the jar should be put as near the 
glass in the greenhouse as possible, and 
will then require no more attention for 
three or four months beyond adding a 
little more water to replace that lost by 
evaporation, and gradually filling up the 
jar with more silver sand for the roots 
of the cuttings to cling to. When the 
cuttings begin to put forth shoots and 
fresh leaves, the jar should be carefully 
broken and the cuttings, with a good ball 
of sand round their roots, transferred to 
small pots and gradually hardened off, 
so as to be eventually planted out in the 
garden about April. 
For weeks and weeks there may be no 
. signs of growth, and the greenfly will be 
a great nuisance, but suddenly a strong 
shoot will push up from below the water 
line, and then the plants will make 
steady progress. The moral of this is, 
that you must not be in a hurry to throw 
the cutting away as useless. 
R. E. Tomson. 
Chorizema. 
Anyone having a plant of this beautiful 
Pea-shaped flower should now increase 
their stock by putting in a few cuttings. 
The cuttings will strike quite readily if 
half ripened shoots are chosen and in¬ 
serted in a pan containing a compost of 
peat and sand with a layer of fresh sand 
on the top. The cuttings should be 
placed in a house where a temperature of 
60 degrees is maintained, and should be 
covered with a bell glass. If cuttings 
can be got with a heel so much the better. 
One good point in this plant is, it never 
seems to be annoyed with any insect 
pests. Seed can also be sown when ripe. 
Kaffir. 
Claverhouse, N.B. 
Camellias. 
Camellias have for many years fallen 
into disrepute owing to their habit of 
dropping the flower-buds just before 
development, but I am glad to see a re¬ 
action is setting in, and under more 
favourable conditions no doubt plants 
will flourish. Ample watering without 
sourness of soil, which should consist of 
peat, leaf mould, and sand, firm plant¬ 
ing, frequent syringing, and using always 
soft or rain water, with occasional doses 
of soot water, are the main points in 
successful culture. In a partially shaded 
and sheltered situation plants survive 
even severe winters out of doors, but the 
ideal place for them is under the back 
wall of a cold vinery, where they will 
flourish if given little attention beyond 
watering. The flowers last well in water 
if cut when just expanding. 
D. V. Erlam. 
Worthing. 
Humeas. 
Sow seed about the middle of July in 
clean well drained pans, watering pre¬ 
vious to sowing. Sow thinly, covering 
slightly. Place the pans in a cold frame, 
covering them with glass to aid germina¬ 
tion. As soon as the seedlings appear 
give a little air, and gradually harden off 
till finally the glass is removed. Pot the 
plants into 3 in. pots when large enough, 
and return them to the frame, keeping 
the frame closed till they have got estab¬ 
lished. Then give air on all favourable 
occasions. Pot them again about the 
beginning of September into 5 54 in. pots, 
and return them to the frame for about a 
month, taking care to remove them to a 
warm house before frost sets in. Keep 
them in a place near the glass during win¬ 
ter, and do not be too liberal with water, 
as they rather like to be on the dry side 
at this period. When the plants begin 
to move in spring they should be potted 
into their flowering pots. 
Pinwherry. PRUNUS. 
in length, and must be written on one 
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T wo Prizes of 2s. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the best. 
A Useful Fork for Strong Growing 
Weeds. 
Weeds are most troublesome at this 
time of the year, especially Dandelions 
on lawns. When cut with a knife they 
soon grow again. The poison spear is . 
useful in careful hands, but if the liquid 
is too strong it spreads, killing the grass : 
in large patches. Many Dandelions will 
be found to have grown again with 
several crowns about 4 in. down, showing 
the poison does not go far enough. The 
device I suggest is an old fork with the 
outside tines cut off, leaving the tread 
full length. This tool will be found 
most useful with which to lift strong 
growing weeds, as by having only two - 
tines the smallest amount of earth is* 
lifted, which is an advantage, as well as 
being a means of utilising a tool which 
otherwise would be cast aside. 
G. Waller. 
Surbiton. 
An Effective Line of Hardy Flowers. 
We have a fairly long border oi 
Rhododendrons on the edge of a lawn, 
and a year or two ago I planted an edging 
in front of the Rhododendrons that have 
been so satisfactory in every way that 1 
pass on the suggestion to the readers 0 
the “"G. W.,” either for whole or partia 
adoption by those to whom it may ap 
peal. At a foot apart I planted in thi 
autumn alternately clumps of three bulb 
of Snowdrop, Scilla sibirica, S. campanu 
lata, and S. c. alba. Then in spring 
pi anted at a foot apart midway betweei 
the bulbs white_ and rose double Canter 
bury Bells and crimson self, and Aur; 
cula-eyed Sweet Williams. The Snot' 
drops flower during January and Febru 
ary, Scilla sibirica during March an 
April, S. campanulata alba (white wil 
Hyacinth) duiing May, S. c. about a for: 
night later. The biennials turn in i 
late June and go on for months. 
C. C. 
Early Town Roses. 
My earliest Roses are as usual—tb 
good old Gloire de Dijon leads, but 
have some little known others that folio 
very quickly. Over in the corne 
partly shaded, and seemingly revelling : 
the fact, is Mark Twain, a “ Laing 
coloured FT. T. with a nice longish bv 
and a clear scent. Helen Keller, stocl 
and free, somewhat darker than “ Bru 
ner ” and full of fat buds, in spite of tl 
weather. Frau Lilia Rautenstrauch, wi 
a lovely mixing of pink and yellow, e 
joys all the sunshine that my garden get 
and one bloom is at present a deligh. 
whilst the paeony-flowered Alan Chealf 
with its silver and deep carmine, is 
showy early riser that seldom fails, 
cannot close without paying a tribute 
