July 13, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
473 
it in order to improve the remainder and 
to prevent weakening the trees. Young trees 
especially should be prevented from carry¬ 
ing many fruits. If once they become 
stunted they never make good trees. 
Netting: Fruit Bushes. 
If will be necessary to net over Rasp¬ 
berries if birds are about. Currants, too, 
can only be kept by such protection. Des¬ 
sert Gooseberries require similar treatment. 
Watering. 
Give copious supplies of water to trees 
and bushes that are likely to suffer from 
drought. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Various Sowings. 
Seed sowing in this department is not a 
very urgent business now, but where winter 
Radish is liked a sowing may be made. 
Ordinary Turnip Radish will quickly reach 
pulling size if the ground is kept moist. 
Turnips may be frequently sown. If the 
soil is dry, it is a good plan to water the 
drill before sowing. The Golden Ball Tur¬ 
nip is useful for later sowings. The purple- 
topped sorts generally do well. 
Celery. 
Celery must be constantly watered to keep 
it going. A late hatch may be planted where 
Peas have been cleared. 
Tomatos. 
Tomatos are making a lot of growth now, 
and the side shoots should be constantly re¬ 
moved. Late plants that are not showing 
bloom will be induced to do so by keeping 
them on the dry side. By allowing the side 
shoots to remain a short time also hastens 
a free set, and checks the tendency to rush 
upwards. 
Potatos. 
Potatos will need watching as blight may 
appear at any time. If seed saving is 
favoured, the early sorts should be lifted 
before the haulm is quite yellow. Save seed 
only from healthy plants. 
Beans. 
Keep Runner Beans watered or the flowers 
will drop freely. 
Onions. 
Onions for show purposes must also be 
well supplied with liquid. 
Hoeing. 
1 Keep the hoe everlastingly at work and 
break up the entire surface, not merely jab¬ 
bing the weeds out. 
Horti. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Colouring Foliage Plants. 
The summer is the time to get colour into 
the leaves of such plants as Coleuses, Aca- 
lyphas, Dieffenhachias, Caladiums, Crotons, 
Dracaenas, and other of what are generally 
known as stove plants. As this colour in¬ 
variably means ripeness of the wood and 
leaves, and ripeness means ability to endure 
the vicissitudes of winter, it is essential 
that all plants should now be exposed as 
much as possible to the sun, that is sup- 
1 posing that luminary consents to shine 
I a §(dn. A sudden change from shade to sun 
would mean much damage, but the change 
can easily be made a gradual one by group- 
mg the to-be-coloured plants at one end of 
the house, and gradually giving that end less 
, shade. How important this colour is 
deemed by professional gardeners when ex- 
: bibiting foliage plants may be gathered 
from the fact that in some establishments 
Crotons, Aralias and Dracaenas are sus¬ 
pended from the roof in order to keep them 
near the glass. Syringing must be regular 
and vigorous with plants so exposed, or 
red spider may get a footing. 
Hydrangeas in Flower. 
Large specimens look extremely well on 
the conservatory floor, and if the flowers do 
not get too much sun they last a very long 
time. It is quite legitimate practice to 
stand large pots containing Hydrangeas in 
pans or saucers of water at this season as 
no harm is likely to be done. When pos¬ 
sible, without the smell giving offence, the 
pans may be filled with weak liquid manure, 
for Hydrangeas are gluttons for both food 
and water. If no other food is available, 
a shovelful of horse droppings piled on the 
surface soil of the pot will be helpful. 
Those unacquainted with the fact should 
examine the flower head of a Hydrangea and 
note that what is generally considered to be 
the flower is really the calyx, i.e., the outer 
envelope of the blossom, which is green in 
most flowers, such as Roses, Carnations, etc. 
The true flower of the Hydrangea is the in¬ 
significant mite which is in the centre of 
this large, coloured calyx. 
Azaleas and Genistas Outside. 
Both of these plants should now go out¬ 
side for their annual summer airing. Many 
amateurs like to keep them in the green¬ 
house the } r ear round, “to fill up,” but 
this is a mistake, as enfeebled growth and 
insect attacks are the invariable conse¬ 
quences. If placed out of doors in the sun, 
on a firm layer of ashes, and well watered 
and syringed, the plants will be clean and 
hardy when autumn housing time comes 
round. It is customary to recommend tepid 
water for syringing, but I have never known 
Azaleas harmed by turning the hose on them, 
if the turning on was done not later than 
5 P- m - 
Gloxinias and Moisture. 
I believe that I have several times advo¬ 
cated the formation of a bed of ashes or 
gravel on a portion of the greenhouse stage. 
Such a bed is of the greatest value in the 
summer, and is an ideal place for Glox¬ 
inias. If grown on a dry shelf, thrips in¬ 
variably ruin the buds before they open, 
and another tiny pest, the Gloxinia mite, 
disfigures the leaves by eating brown, rust¬ 
like patches in them. Both of these enemies 
are kept at bay, and a healthy growth is 
promoted in the plants if they are stood on 
a bed of wet ashes. Syringe between the 
pots frequently, but not on the leaves, and 
shade the plants from bright sun. If, as is 
generally the case with well-grown plants, 
the flowers show in great numbers, tie the 
outer ones to neat sticks, inclined towards 
the edge of the pot. Soot water and weak 
cow manure liquid suit Gloxinias. 
Maidenhair Ferns and Shade. 
Shade and moisture without draughts are 
the keynote to success in growing Maiden¬ 
hair Ferns. I have never seen finer plants 
than those grown on a Vine border, beneath 
the shade of the Vine foliage. The shade 
afforded was natural, varying in density as 
the air stirred the Vine leaves, and this with 
the moist conditions pertaining to Vines 
suited the Ferns admirably. If no Vine is 
available, shade with a blind, but give shade 
of some sort or the fronds will take on an 
undesirable yellow tinge. Such fronds are 
hard and last well, but they are invariably 
despised by ladies. 
Malmaison Carnations. 
Now is a good time to laj^er the young 
stock of Malmaisons. If a spare cold frame 
is available a better place could not be de¬ 
sired. Make up a bed of sandy soil in this, 
take the plants out of their pots, and plunge 
them sideways in the bed. This will bring 
the growths in contact with the soil, and 
they can be layered as desired. I do not 
propose to describe the layering, as every 
“ G. W.” reader must know the process in¬ 
timately. What I would point out is the 
need for plenty of dampings with a fine 
rosed can after layering, in order to pro¬ 
mote rapid root action. 
Propagating: Isolepis Grass. 
Recently I referred to the value of this as 
an edging plant for show groups, but it is 
just as valuable—in fact, quite indispensable 
—in the greenhouse. To work up a good 
stock for winter, select 'two or three healthy 
plants, and cut them back to within an inch 
of the pot. Keep them warm in a moist 
atmosphere, and when they start to grow 
again knock them out of the pots and pull 
them into as many pieces as required. Each 
piece should be placed in a tiny pot, and 
transferred to a larger pot when well rooted. 
Sunnyside. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Odontoglossums. 
The beautiful members of this group 
which have been making such a display of 
successive bloom from the winter months up 
to the present season, will be now more or 
less in an active state of growth. The plants 
which produced their flowers early in the 
year will now have their new growths in an 
advanced state of development and will re¬ 
quire every encouragement to assist them to 
maturity. Ample root moisture must be 
given to plants in this condition and the 
moisture in the atmosphere as near satura¬ 
tion as may be possible with the necessary 
ventilation. The present season is usually 
regarded as the most trying part of the year, 
for all cool Orchids, but the cool and moist 
conditions, which have prevailed up to the 
end of June, have been most ideal weather 
for this class of plants, and I have never 
had plants in my charge looking better than 
the cool-house section are doing at the pre¬ 
sent time. There is not nearly so many 
plants shrivelling from the effects of flower¬ 
ing, and where they have shown signs of 
distress they have rapidly gained their nor¬ 
mal state. 
We have had to resort to the use of arti¬ 
ficial heat by just chilling the hot water 
pipes at night to retain the desired tempera¬ 
ture, and to keep a proper circulation of 
the atmosphere. I certainly think a great 
mistake was made when we advocated a tem¬ 
perature of 50 degrees at night for Odonto- 
glossum crispum. I have found that they 
are done much more satisfactorily when nor¬ 
mal conditions of 55 degrees are maintained. 
There can be no doubt that stagnation takes 
place when low temperatures are provided, 
both in respect to the atmosphere and when 
plants remain for a prolonged period wet 
at the roots, unless excessive ventilation is 
resorted to. There can then be no doubt 
that with such treatment plants acquire the 
dwarf and stunted growths which are char¬ 
acteristic of plant life under alpine condi¬ 
tions all over the world. I have stated 55 
degrees as a normal temperature. There 
will, thus be a latitude during the warm 
summer months of 5 to 10 degrees in the day¬ 
time, according to the prevailing outside 
conditions. I well know the difficulties of 
keeping a low temperature in excessive hot 
weather, but with proper shading, ventila¬ 
tion discreetly applied, combined with due 
provision of atmospheric moisture, the tem¬ 
perature can be retained considerably lower 
in the cool-houses than the reading of the 
thermometer outside. 
Winter Treatment. 
In winter I do not care to let the tem¬ 
perature fall below 50 degrees even in hard 
weather. I have long considered the low 
winter temperatures for Odontoglossums a 
