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THE GARDENING WORLD 
August io, 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 
in length, and must be written on one 
side of the fafer only. 
Two Prizes of 2s. 6d. each will be 
awarded each week for the two Letters 
which the Editor considers to be the best. 
Ants in Gardens. 
Many gardeners find ants most trouble¬ 
some in houses, frames, and gardens. I 
have been most successful in getting rid 
of them by the following simple plan: 
Wherever I find a nest I turn it over till 
I see the ants running in all directions, 
then I sprinkle some ground rice about, 
and if any are to be seen next day 
sprinkle some more rice, .and they will 
all disappear; they are very fond 
of it, and eat it readily. It is 
said to swell and kill them, al¬ 
though I must say I have never found 
the dead ones. As ants are cannibals, 
they no doubt eat their dead companions. 
quite as fine as those 1 had seen in the 
conservatory. The flower lasted until a 
few days ago. It is the first time this 
plant has blossomed, and it is the more 
remarkable as the winter has been un¬ 
usually severe, snow having fallen at 
Christmas time, followed later by three 
severe frosts. 
Ireland. J. L. P. 
An easily-made Layering' Pin. 
The propagation of Carnations by 
layering will be somewhat belated this 
year, owing to the backward condition of 
the parent plants, but the enthusiast 
should be preparing for this important 
An easily made Layering-f>in. 
What becomes of the last one ? They 
certainly disappear, and ground rice is 
not injurious in any way to plant life like 
so many insect destroyers. 
Amateur Lady Gardener. 
How to have Red Currants at Christ¬ 
mas. 
Select a good tree of Red Currants now, 
trim the tree into a nice shape, and take 
one or two good covering mats, such as 
are used to cover frames in winter. If a 
small tree one will be enough. Wrap the 
mat round the trees so as to exclude all 
the daylight, and tie the same securely. 
I have picked Currants treated in the 
above way plump and of good colour at 
Christmas. 
operation. Chief amongst the requisites 
for increasing these lovely flowers are the 
pegs, known as layering pins, and a 
cheap and satisfactory article can readily 
be made by any handy amateur - in the 
following simple manner. Galvanized 
iron wire, cut into ten-inch lengths, can 
easily be bent as shown in the illustra¬ 
tion, and will be found to answer the pur¬ 
pose admirably, and, being imperishable, 
the initial outlay is the only one. To the 
loop at the top end may be attached a 
label, bearing the name of the variety, 
with the date of layering, to serve as a 
guide when severing from the parent 
plant. 
Geo. A. Fisher. 
Enfield, N. 
Bird’s- 
Foot 
Violet 
- - 
(Viola pedata.) 
One of the neatest and prettiest of the 
Violets is the North American Viola 
pedata and its variety V.p. bicolor. The 
flowers of the ordinary form here repre¬ 
sented are of a bright mauve when they 
expand, fading to a lavender, and pro¬ 
duced in great numbers during L he latter 
half of May, like this one photographed 
in the Alpine House at Kew. The flower 
stalks' are 3 in. long, each bearing a 
single bloom. The leaves arise from the 
soil and are made up of five to nine 
finger-like lobes, hence the name of 
Bird’s-foot Violet sometimes applied to 
this neat and pretty species. 
It is perfectly hardy-grown as a rock 
plant if a position is selected where it 
will be fairly cool and moist in summer 
and on the dry side in winter. This, of 
course, is easily secured on a rockery 
where there need not be any stagnant 
moisture. It will thrive in a soil consist¬ 
ing of loam, leaf-mould, and sand. When 
grown in pots for the decoration of any 
cool house in spring the compost may 
consist of two parts of fibrous loam, one 
part leaf-mould, and a fourth part of 
sand. The pots or shallow pans should 
be well drained, so that superfluous me is- 
ture may readily pass away. After flower¬ 
ing is over water should be given so as 
to keep the foliage green and healthy as 
long as possible, for by that means good 
crowns will be built up for the produc¬ 
tion of flowers another year. 
-f+4- 
Miitonia vexillaria, Lambeau’s var. 
The flowers of this variety are of large 
size and rich rose, with a triangular white 
blotch at the base of the lip marked with 
red lines. Award of Merit by - the R.H.S. 
on July 23rd, when shown - by M. Lam- 
beau, Brussels. 
Chas. Bendall. 
Transplanting Perennials and Bien¬ 
nials. 
In hot dry weather these seedlings are 
apt to flag, and, if watered after plant¬ 
ing, to scorch when the sun gets up. The 
plan I adopt is this : Keep handy a bucket 
of damp sandy loam, fairly rich. A little 
of this damp mixture beneath the root of 
each little plant effectually supplies the 
necessary moisture in the most helpful 
manner. The tender roots take to it at 
once, and grow straight on without being 
backened in any way by their shift. The 
compost should contain 6 parts sand, 3 
loam, and 1 manure (leaf mould pre¬ 
ferred). 
O. P. Merrifield. 
Dracaenas in Bloom. 
Coming through Hampshire on my way 
home from the Continent about six weeks 
ago I was shown with great pride a couple 
of fine Dracaenas in full blossom in a con¬ 
servatory. My pride was proportionately 
great when on arriving at my home.in the 
south-west of Ireland I found that in our 
garden a Dracaena which has been out 
of doors for years was producing blossom 
Bird’s-foot Violet (Viola pedata). [.Maclaren and Sons. 
