August to, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
535 
ummer Pruning. 
Summer pruning can safely be done now, 
id I might add that overcrowded Goose- 
;r ry bushes will benefit if some of the 
eakei growths are taken out. Cut away 
d Raspberry canes and see that the soil 
mnd about is kept clean and well hoed. 
Strawberry plants that are fit should be 
lanted as soon as possible, 
etting Cherries. 
Make sure that Morello Cherries are well 
; tted or birds will play havoc with the 
uit. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
eneral Work. 
The main batch of Cabbage may be sown 
)W. 
Late Peas have come along grandly, but 
ater will be needed if the soil is at all 
:y. Mildew will do much damage if the 
ants lack moisture. 
Celerv must have water in abundance in 
•der to keep it going without a check. 
Onions in many places are making fine 
libs. Do not bend over the necks just yet 
rless the bulbs are well forward. 
;ar!et Runners and Dwarf Beans. 
Runner Beans are a terribly backward 
op, and French Beans about this neigh- 
urhood were not in full bearing at latter 
id of last month. Keep the former well 
ipplied with liquid manure. 
Leeks will take the same in plenty, and 
slight cutting back of the older leaves 
ill help them along. 
Globe Artichokes are still bearing, but cut 
awn the plants as soon as the heads are 
eared. 
utumn-Sown Onions 
Are favoured by many, but save as a crop 
ir early pulling I do not think they are 
orth the room when one considers what 
rand bulbs are obtainable from early spring 
iwings. 
Keep the garden free from rubbish and 
oe whenever possible. Horti. 
'he Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
otting Cinerarias. 
The present has been a grand season for 
'inerarias so far, and plants have grown 
ike the proverbial weeds. Mildew seemed 
rclined to make a home on some of the 
lder leaves early in July, but flowers of 
nlphur rubbed in soon settled its preten- 
ions. I never remember seeing the leaves 
0 free from the leaf-mining grub. Healthy 
rowing plants should now be read}' for 
5 in. pots; this is a good intermediate size 
d use, as at the next potting the best of the 
ilants can go into 6 in. pots and others into 
in. sizes. Look out for greenfly on the 
mdersides of the leaves when potting and 
ut off any yellow foliage. Good loam 2 
•arts, leaf mould 1 part, and soot and sand 
nixed ^ part make a good compost. So 
.rrange that the centre of the soil is higher 
han the sides, otherwise there may be trouble 
hrough plants suddenly collapsing after 
vatering. Keep the plants in a cool, moist 
rame, but give plenty' of air at all times, 
iucumbers in Frames. 
The chief factor in successful Cucumber 
ulture is to keep the frame always nicely 
ull of young shoots; these are the ones that 
rear fruit, and old stems are useful only 
1 so far as they bear young shoots. This 
aeing so, it is well to thoroughly overhaul 
he plants periodically and scrutinise the 
dd stems. If any of these have become 
exhausted, or are in the way of younger 
ind more vigorous growths, cut them clean 
wav. No matter if their removal leaves 
1 gap; it will very soon fill up. Cucumber 
hinning is a difficult thing to teach on 
japer, but I think I could guarantee to cut 
r banowdoad of growth from the two-light 
frame of the average amateur, with positive 
benefit to the plants. This should show the 
need of removing old stems, and, indeed, 
it is imperative if the plants are to continue 
in bearing. 
Spring-Struck Hydrangeas. 
There are two distinct systems of growing 
Hydrangeas pursued in gardens; the one 
favours taking cuttings in spring, the other 
secures cuttings towards the end of sum¬ 
mer. I shall hope to refer to the latter in 
due course, but at present I propose to deal 
with spring-struck plants. These are gener¬ 
ally allowed to produce several flower heads 
each, the number being guided by the num¬ 
ber of shoots retained. I think we rarely 
need a larger than a 5 in. pot for a spring- 
struck Hydrangea in its first season, and 
four shoots, meaning four heads of bloom, 
are about right to make a nicely-balanced 
plant. Where not done, the shoots should 
now be reduced to this number, and the 
plants shifted into 5 in. pots. Use only one 
large crock for drainage, and cover this with 
a little half-decayed—but not dry and 
strawy—-stable manure. A rather heavy 
loam should form the bulk of the compost, 
and plenty of space should be left for ap¬ 
plying water. 
Pots of Mignonette. 
Well-grown Mignonette in pots makes a 
delightful feature in the greenhouse in 
spring, and can be obtained with little 
trouble. Seed should be sown now in well- 
draihed, 5 in. pots. Some growers prefer to 
sow in a small pot and repot into a larger 
one; but I have found sowing at once in a 
} in. pot give the best results. If possible a 
little old lime, mortar rubbish, or pounded 
chalk should be added to the soil, for Mig¬ 
nonette revels in lime. Sow thinly, and thin 
out early to five plants in each pot. The 
pots may be stood in a cold frame, or even 
outdoors if covered with a pane of glass. 
In any case, the coolest possible treatment 
should at all times be given. The variety 
called Machet is a splendid pot Mignonette. 
Roman Hyacinths. 
If very early flowers are wanted, a batch 
of Roman Hyacinths should now go in. For 
this early work I prefer using shallow 
boxes, placing the bulbs so that they almost 
touch each other, and lifting them to fill 
pots with when the colour of the flowers 
shows. In this way, nice, even pots of bloom 
can be obtained. For general purposes there 
is no need to pot Romans for another month 
or so. After potting or boxing the re¬ 
ceptacles must be covered with.a 6 in. layer 
of soil or ashes, and may be left for a 
month or six weeks without inspection. 
Xope faom \ 
He walked fast the couch to the 
ofen window, and held uf the droof- 
ing stalk of a Moss Rose, looking 
down at the dainty blend of crimson 
and green. ..." There is nothing 
in which deduction is so necessary as 
in religion,” said he, leaning with 
his back against the shutters. “It 
can be built uf as an exact science 
by the reasoner. Our highest assur¬ 
ance of the goodness of Providence 
seems to me to rest in the flowers. 
All other things—our fo-aters, our de¬ 
sires, our food, are really necessary 
for our existence in the first instance. 
But this Rose is an extra. Its smell 
and its colour are an embellishment of 
life, not a condition of it. It is only 
goodness which gives extras, and so 
1 say again that we have much to 
hofe from the flowers. 
—“ Memoirs of Sherlock Holmesf' by 
A. Conan Doyle. 
Tender Bedding Plants. 
The more tender of the bedding plants, 
such as I resines. Coleuses, Alternantheras 
and Mesembryanthemum cordifolium varie- 
gatum, generally come into the greenhouse 
to be propagated. It is well to give them a 
corner to themselves, where they can be 
shaded, ventilated and syringed according 
to their particular requirements. The Me¬ 
sembryanthemum, by the way, requires nei¬ 
ther shading nor syringing, rooting best 
with dry foliage in a sunny spot. Iresines 
and Coleus cuttings strike extremely easily 
if shaded and syringed ; Alternantheras are 
best propagated by lifting and potting a 
few plants, afterwards pulling them to 
pieces and also taking cuttings in spring. 
Colouring Crotons. 
I forget if I have already emphasised the 
need of colouring Crotons while the neces¬ 
sary sunshine abounds; but in any case the 
advice is worth repeating. A green Croton 
is scarcely an elegant plant in any respect ; 
a well-coloured one is among the most vivid 
pictures that a glasshouse can give. To get 
this desirable colour, expose the plants to 
the sun as much as possible, let them have 
plenty of air, and give them a little soot 
water once or twice a week. 
Sunnyside. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Sophronitis. 
This is a genus of epiphytal Orchids of 
which there are about three distinct species 
in cultivation. They are natives of Brazil 
and growing at a high altitude; they are 
best accommodated in our gardens when 
cultivated among the cool-house section of 
Orchids. Their particular claim to exten¬ 
sive cultivation is the remarkable colour in 
their flowers. The most remarkable and by 
far the-most desirable of the species is S. 
grandiflora, which produces rich orange- 
scarlet blossoms in the depth of winter, 
which gives a remarkable warmth of colour 
when arranged for effect among other Or¬ 
chids either for exhibition or decorative pur¬ 
poses. This class of plants needs but little 
pot room and are best accommodated when 
planted in shallow pans or baskets, where 
they may be easily suspended in a position 
close to the roof glass, where they occupy 
but little room, and they are thus enabled 
to display their flowers to the greatest ad¬ 
vantage. 
Plants of S. grandiflora are almost an¬ 
nually imported in large quantities and are 
procurable for a modest outlay. Where im¬ 
ported plants are procured it is well to 
see that all dead and decaying matter is 
removed from the pseudo-bulbs and base of 
the plants. When this has been done, se¬ 
lect a shallow pan or basket just sufficiently 
large to contain the plant comfortably; in 
fact there is so little variation among im¬ 
ported plants of S. grandiflora that several 
plants may be clumped together so that a 
good specimen is thereby procured. The 
r-eceptacle selected for the accommodation of 
the plant should be filled to two-thirds its 
depth with clean broken crocks. The plant 
should then be held in position in the centre 
of the pan in such a manner that the lead¬ 
ing growths may be about on a level with 
the outside rim of the pan and just on the 
surface of the potting compost when potting 
is completed. The compost of about equal 
portions of fibrous peat and chopped sphag¬ 
num moss, with sufficient sand added to ren¬ 
der the compost porous, will be all that is 
necessarv. This compost should be pressed 
firm, but not made hard, for it -is well to 
have a free air passage through the potting 
composts. In dealing with established 
plants of S. grandiflora it is not necessary 
to annually repot the plants; in fact they 
should not be disturbed more frequently than 
