August io, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
539 
ng through a rosed watering-can. to settle 
he soil firmly about the cuttings. The 
Fuchsia can be propagated in the same way, 
■ither now or in September, but we should 
nsert them in 5 in. pots instead of boxes, 
-rames will be sufficient for the purpose 
A rooting them. There should be no rooted 
slants in the frames, so that you can keep 
he sash closed and shaded in bright weather 
ill the cuttings commence to root and show 
t by growing. Do not keep the frames dark 
it all times; indeed, the shading material 
ihould be removed immediately after bright 
sunshine ceases. If you have other plants 
n the frame it would be well to use a hand- 
ight to cover the Fuchsias if you commence 
propagating them now. When the cuttings 
•ommence to grow freely they should get a 
ittle air, gradually increasing it. The 
land-light should be removed when this 
akes place. When they appear well rooted 
he sashes could be left off by night till the 
•nd of September to thoroughly hatden the 
oung plants before winter. 
2082. Spanish Irises After Flowering'. 
Should Flags and Spanish Irises out of 
loors be cut down after flowering? (Mys- 
:ery, Soms.) 
The flower spikes only should be removed, 
>ut every green leaf should be left until it 
lies down naturally. The strength of the 
ralbs will depend entirely upon the quan- 
ity of healthy foliage upon them which you 
■an bring to maturity naturally. Flags are 
nore or less evergreen, and every leaf is 
issential to the welfare of the plants. Should 
iry weather intervene a good watering now 
vnd again would be advantageous for the 
"'lags if the soil is at all dry. 
2083. Soil Too Heavy for Fuchsias. 
I have a fair sized garden, the soil of 
vhich is not clay, but is heavy and cold, 
ind, except Roses and Petunias,- the flowers 
lo not seem to make headway, Fuchsias 
especially. Would it not be good to add 
ime to lighten and warm it, and, if so, 
.vhen should it be done? (J. Byng, Kent.) 
You cannot do much at present to any 
idvantage. The best plan would be to wait 
ill the Fuchsias are lifted in autumn and 
:hen trench the soil 2 ft. deep, keeping the 
aest material on "the top. While this is being 
done you could use a large quantity of rank 
pr littery stable manure to advantage, as 
this will serve to lighten the soil. Leaf 
mould would also be highly serviceable, and 
sand. Whenever you have any old potting- 
bench Soil not otherwise required, this could 
be spread on the surface and dug into the 
first spit. If you were to work the soil like 
this for a number of years you would get it 
into splendid condition for a great variety 
of crops, as well as Fuchsias. A heavy soil 
can always be made better by plenty of 
manure and trenching and digging. In 
the spring time, when preparing the ground 
to plant the Fuchsias, you can give a good 
top-dressing of lime and merely rake it into 
the surface. Tt should not be put decn.y in 
the soil, as it soon gets there of its own 
accord. 
2084. Seed of Plants. 
During a recent visit to Kew Gardens I 
noticed the under-mentioned plants. Will 
you kindly tell me whether they are an¬ 
nuals and, if so, how I can obtain seed, 
and if it can be sown next spring, either 
in a cold frame or in the open? The names 
are Gilia androsacea, Pentstemon hetero- 
phyllus and Ursinia anthemoides. (Vera, 
Surrey.) 
Several of the Gilias are obtainable from 
any good seedsman, G. tricolor being the 
most common. They are annuals. It is not 
every seedsman who offers seeds of Gilia 
androsacea, but you can get it from Messrs. 
Barr and Sons, Covent Garden, London, if 
you ask for’ it under the name of Leptosi- 
phon ar>a ro saceus. The Pentstemon is a 
perennial, and may be obtained in the form 
of young plants from Messrs. Barr and 
Sons, Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, Chelsea, 
and from Messrs. T. S. Ware, Ltd., Ware’s 
Nurseries, Feltham. We are afraid you will 
not be able to get Ursinia anthemoides from 
a seedsman, as it is a South African an¬ 
nual and seldom cultivated outside of bo¬ 
tanic gardens. You can get a prettier one. 
however, from the first-named seedsman, 
namely, U. pulchra, if you ask for it under 
the name of Sphenogyne speciosa, which is 
yellow with a dark centre. It is an anuual. 
The two annuals may be sown in the open 
ground at the beginning of April, or you 
can sow them under glass in March, trans¬ 
plant them into boxes, and plant them out 
some time in May, if you desire them to 
come into bloom early. The Pentstemon may 
be planted out in March or April, according 
to the state of the weather. 
2085. Name and Treatment of Plant. 
Would you be good enough to tell me the 
name of the enclosed plant and the treatment 
it requires? Is it a kind of Arenaria? It 
has quite the same habit of growth, creeping 
over the ground and forming a leafy carpet 
of green. How can I keep it through the 
winter? (G. Addison, Sussex.) 
The plant is Helxine Solierolii, a native 
of Corsica and Sardinia, and therefore may 
be expected to be a little tender in severe 
winters. In fairly mild winters it stands 
out, however, on the rockery in well-drained 
soil. It is nd relation of Arenaria, but be¬ 
longs to the Nettle family. - As it grows 
freely you can plant out a piece of it and 
keep another in a cold frame, so that it can 
be kept dry in winter in case of an excep¬ 
tionally severe one. From this one pot-you 
can get plenty of young ones, either by divi¬ 
sion or by cuttings. In most winters, how¬ 
ever, it would live out of doors in your 
district in a well-drained soil and sheltered 
situation. 
LAWNS. 
2086. Renovating Old Lawns. 
I think instructions for renovating old 
garden lawns _would be of great value. (J. 
Byng, Kent.) 
You do not tell us what is the matter with 
your lawns, whether they are uneven or 
whether the grass is merely dying out in 
places. If very uneven it would be neces¬ 
sary to wait till the autumn rains, say in 
September or October, have the grass lifted, 
the ground levelled, and the turf relaid. If 
the grass is merely dying out in places this 
may be due to too much traffic upon it. or 
else to hardness and poverty of the soil. 
If only patches of it are bad, these spots 
could be lightly dug, then levelled, raked, 
firmed, and grass seeds sown. A light 
covering of sandy soil should be spread 
over the seeds to keep the birds from carry¬ 
ing them away. If the grass is fairly plen¬ 
tiful, but growing badly, you could top- 
dress it in November with a mixture of old 
potting bench soil, which is usually rich in 
manure. If you can, however, add some 
well-decayed cow manure, so much the 
better. This should be spread over the 
grass in the form of a good dressing. Your 
h&vy soil would also be benefited by lime, 
so that a good dressing of that might be 
mixed with the compost employed. After 
this has been exposed for some time to rain, 
and possibly frost, you can scuffle it with 
a wooden rake or a broom to make it work 
in amongst the roots of the grass. By this 
means the top dressing will soon cease to 
be offensive to the eye, and the grass will 
benefit by it. A dressing of lawn sand or 
nitrate of soda in spring would cause a 
vigorous growth of the grass. The, nitrate 
of soda could be thinly and evenly scat¬ 
tered over the grass and left for the rain 
to wash it in, or you could dissolve q in 
water at the rate of 4 oz. to the gallon of 
water, and water the lawn with this by 
means of a rosed watering pot. The top 
dressing first mentioned, however, is by far 
the better and more durable method of 
renovating the grass. 
ROSES . 
2087. Shoots Failing. 
Could you please tell me through your 
valuable paper what is the matter with the 
enclosed Rose sprig, as I have never seen 
anything like it before ? (Warratah, 
Devon.) 
We examined the shoots ycu sent us, and 
found the stems had the bark killed in 
places, possibly by frost yin winter or early 
spring. The shoots have just escaped being 
killed outright, and have been enabled to 
make some growth, but the damage may 
have increased and thus stopped the sap 
from rising. There is just one other sug¬ 
gestion we should make, and that is to see 
that the shoots are not rubbing against wire 
of any kind, as the bark often gets killed 
in spots by such means, and the shoot above 
the damaged portion dies sooner or later. 
The only thing you can do in this case is 
to find the damaged portion and cut off the 
shoot above that so as to encourage growth 
lower down. The stems of Roses are also 
liable to die in the course of a few years, 
and if the spray sent was taken from a 
stem three years old or more, the chances 
are that they have got worn out and are 
dying of old age. The antidote in that case 
is to prune away stems that are more than 
two years old at pruning time if the bush 
is in any way_ crowded. 
2088. Varieties for Cut Flowers. 
I have a garden situated in a very 
health}' position, and want to use it for 
Roses chiefly. One side is about 16 yards 
long by 7 ft. with a 6 ft. brick wall, and 
the other bed is 10 yards by 9 ft. with an 
8 ft. stone wall. There is also a 10 ft. bed 
by 3 ft. with trellis work. The north is 
sheltered by the house where the trellis 
work is, and the east by a 6 ft. brick wall. 
I should like the best climbing Roses for 
the walls, etc., and good Roses for the beds 
which will be profitable. I may say I want 
them all for the .market. The 16 yards bed 
was dug and well manured three months 
ago. Pinks and Asters have chiefly been 
grown in the beds for the last few years. 
I can get cuttings from such Roses as 
these :—Climbers : Perle des Jardines, Mrs. 
W. J. Grant, Mme. Berard, Bouquet d’Or, 
and Belle Lyonnaise. Dwarf Tloses: Mme. 
Falcot, Killarney, Frau Karl Druschki, La 
France, Anna Olivier, and Isabella Sprunt. 
Are these the most suitable? I also have a 
cold greenhouse, and should like the names 
of a few Roses to grow there. Could I 
get cuttings to grow out in the open off 
trees that have been accustomed to a heated 
greenhouse? What would be suitable to 
grow in between the Roses? (Reader, 
Somerset.) 
The digging and manuring of the beds 
is good enough in its way, but we should 
like to trench the beds whenever the flowers 
in them are moved and manure them. 
This could be dene in time to plant the 
Roses during the first fortnight in Novem¬ 
ber. The Roses ycu mention are very suit¬ 
able so far as their behaviour and cropping 
is concerned, but you may require to study 
the tastes of your customers bv observation 
and enquiry in the locality as to. the 
varieties that most take the popular fancy. 
We make a selection, however, of highly 
suitable Roses for various purposes. Cut¬ 
tings taken from plants in a heatecj green¬ 
house will succeed out c-f doors. It is 
merely a question of hardening them off be¬ 
fore they are exposed to the weather. Mig- 
