484 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 20, 1907. 
beautiful form and colour of the Hybrid 
Teas, but this one maintains its position 
well, and is likely to do so for many 
years to come. 
-f+4- 
Seeds. 
GATHERING 
AND SOWING 
AS THEY RIPEN. 
In revelling among the flowers of the 
season, do not forget that there are a 
good many plants which even now are 
ripening seed, for if the seeds are 
gathered and sown forthwith, a nice stock 
of young plants may be secured for next 
season’s service. Already some of the 
earlier pods upon Iceland and Alpine 
Poppies will contain ripe seed, and a botx 
or pan sown now will produce a useful 
batch of seedlings for pricking out early 
in autumn. The hardy Primulas and 
Auriculas should be watched, for if the 
seed is sown as soon as ripe germination 
will be far more rapid than if not sown 
until next spring. The little biennial 
Androsaces, such as A. filiformis and A. 
coronopifolia, are now available for sow¬ 
ing, and it is probable that some ripe 
seed may be found on the plants of 
Saponaria ocymoides. Forget-me-nots 
will, of course, not be forgotten, and the 
Alyssums will also need looking up. It 
may be taken as a pretty safe rule that 
as soon as a ripe seed-pod is seen on a 
plant that seed may be sown to the best 
advantage. Why wait until next spring, 
when instead of sowing the seed you may 
be transplanting the seedlings? 
Heather Bell. 
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Practical Cottage Gardening. 
Cottage gardening in a very practical 
manner is taught in Bitterne Boys’ 
School, Hampshire. 
The Scotch Farmer as Gardener. 
A pathetic interest attaches to an 
article in the July “Windsor” by the late 
“Ian Maclaren,” on the subject of “The 
Scots Farmer,” since it is one of the last 
subjects with which his pen was busy. 
Recalling a visit he paid to one farmer 
he says:—“ The farmer was not a good 
gardener, to tell the truth, and I do not 
remember a single one who did his own 
garden properly. He might dig and 
plant his Potatos, and his wife would pay 
a little attention to the flowers, but the 
final touches were given by some odd 
man who wandered round the district do¬ 
ing such jobs and being paid slightly in 
silver but substantially in food and gifts, 
especially the retired garments of the 
farmer. The pruning of the bushes 
would be worth a pair of trousers patched 
at the seat and a waistcoat reinforced at 
various places, while the planting of a 
new Strawberry bed would add a coat 
which had seen many harvests.” 
The Washington Lily. 
Most of the Lilies are in cultivation in 
one garden or another, but some of them 
are only occasionally seen. Some well- 
flowered stems of Lilium washingtonia- 
num appeared at the Holland Park Show 
on the Qth and 10th insts. 
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 
Artificial Rocks for Rockeries. 
To make these, save all the largest 
clinkers from the stoke-hole, the more 
uneven in shape the better, and build 
them up in the desired form by cement¬ 
ing them together after they are in posi¬ 
tion. Mix up some fairly thick cement, 
and with the aid of an ordinary white¬ 
wash brush, splash it on roughly. When 
dry, this closely resembles ordinary rock, 
but is much better, as being porous, the 
roots of plants find their way right 
through the rocks. In building up, al¬ 
ways leave a good depth of soil between 
the rocks, for if you look you will notice 
that most alpines do not make very 
branchy roots, but on the contrary they 
send them straight down in search of 
moisture. 
A. Dennett. 
Canterbury. 
A Pansy Pest. 
A pest which is now injuring the roots 
of Pansies is one of the millipedes, Julus 
guttatus, sometimes known also as the 
false wireworm, though it has no relation 
to the true wireworm. These pests are 
general feeders, for they attack both 
living and dead vegetable matter, and 
are often distributed in manure and leaf 
mould. They may be collected in num¬ 
bers by placing pieces of hollowed-out 
Potatos or Mangolds just below the sur¬ 
face of the ground near the infected 
plants. The bait should be examined 
frequently and the pests removed and 
destroyed. Soot and'water, with a very 
little nitrate of soda added, is said to 
drive them away, though it may be 
doubted if this application has any other 
effect than that of stimulating the growth 
of the plants. 
A. V. PARRATT. 
Boundstone. 
A Cheap Trap for Slug's. 
I find by far the best way of catching 
these pests is to get an orange, take the 
peel off in four pieces, and damp these 
in water. Put them where the damage 
is going on, and look the following day — 
you will be surprised at the quantity on 
and about the peel. In a frame 6ft. by 
4ft. I have found as many as 24 in one 
day on two pieces. It seems to draw 
them from everywhere. I had some 
Asters in the frame, and the plants I 
found broken off at the bottom every day. 
I tried soot; this did not check them. I 
thought I was going to lose all my 
plants. One day, when standing by the 
frame, a boy came with an orange, 
dropped the peel in the frame, and on 
the following morning when I went 
round I found 24. Now I find one or two 
and all my plants safe. 
A Miner’s Hobby. 
in length, and must be written on one 
side of the paper only. 
Two Prizes of 2s. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the best. 
Flower Vases. 
Anyone having a large amount of vase; 
to fill and not very much to cut from will 
find the following hints useful to make 
the flowers last. Scrape the stems 0: 
all hard wooded stuff such as Roses 
Lilac, etc., and split the stems up an incl 
or two, thereby allowing the flowers tc 
draw up as much water as possible. The 
day after replenishing the vases, fill uf 
with water again, as flowers drink a gooc 
deal of water when newly put in. Gc 
over them all again in two days and cut 
the end off the stem of each flower anc 
give fresh water. If these few hints are 
attended to flowers will be found to las 
much longer than if merely cut and stud 
into a vase and left to take their chance 
Kaffir. 
Winter Spinach. 
This vegetable is in high favour ir 
many gardens, as Spinach has a quite 
distinct flavour from any other vegetable 
A deep and well cultivated soil is neces 
sary before good crops are to be ob 
tained. This is most important in the 
case of winter Spinach. Seed for this 
should be sown between the middle oi 
August and the end of the first week ir 
September. Earlier sowings are to be 
recommended, so that the plants mat 
have a better chance to become estab 
lished before the winter sets in. Drilb 
should be drawn 15 to 18 inches apart 
but in poor soil it may be sown closer 
Thinning is necessary if the plants begir 
to crowd each other, but the thinning 
must not be severe. They require nc 
attention beyond a run of the hoe tc 
keep down weeds. A moderate sized bee 
will give continuous supplies through the 
winter and well into the spring. Wher 
it begins to run to seed the crop mac 
then be dug into the ground, as it makef 
a good manure. 
Robert King. 
Wish aw, N.B. 
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Trees Worth Millions. 
The forests of Kenia are a great aret 
of the East Africa Protectorate. The) 
cover an area of 1,000,000 acres, and half 
an estimated value of ^23,000,000. Tree; 
allied to the true Camphor, reaching 2 
height of 130ft., are found, and magnitv 
cent Cedars are abundant. 
£15 for Weeds. I 
For years huge quantities of red Pop 
pies have grown on the land of a farmei 
at Collingham, Notts., and he had giver 
up the attempt to clear the ground^ Ke^ 
cently, however, he hit upon the idea 0 
sending them to Nottingham Market done 
up in penny bunches, with the result that 
he is now /15 better off. 
