548 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 17, 1907. 
Attention to Roses. 
Roses have, except in my own garden, 
made extraordinary growth, and where such 
is the case I strongly advise the thinning 
out of some of the strong rank shoots. Many 
of them give no indication of flower, and 
they only draw valuable nutriment from the 
soil. Rust and mildew do not appear to be 
so prevalent this season, save on the Crim¬ 
son Rambler. This grand climber seems, to 
be a prey to mildew either on light or heavy 
soil. Sulphur or the liver of sulphur solu¬ 
tion should be used to keep it in check. 
Work Among Sweet Peas. 
Sweet Peas should have every attention 
if they are to keep flowering. Plenty of 
liquid manure is essential if they are grow¬ 
ing on dry, light soil. If.the plants have 
been cut back a bit far more laterals will 
be appearing than are desirable. Thin out 
the weakest, as they will never give decent 
flowers. I am reminded of the importance 
of cutting back by a note recently received 
from the Eckford Cup winner. Mr. Steven¬ 
son is a whole hogger in this matter, and 
the plants that gave him his famous blooms 
in mid July, were almost levelled to the 
ground before the end of the month. 
It only serves to show the extraordinary 
vitality of Sweet Pea plants, for these low 
cut backs, if the weather is at all reasonable, 
will jump ahead, and produce grand 
blooms before August is out. 
Preparing to Propagate Calceolarias. 
Calceolarias with me have scarcely got 
into bloom yet, but it will soon be time to 
think about taking cuttings. Sandy soil, 
and a hand light or frame, will enable 
anyone to raise a good stock. Select good 
sound growths, and shade from sunshine. 
Cuttings of Pinks. 
Pink cuttings inserted awhile back are 
moving ahead now, and it is advisable to 
harden them by giving plenty of air prior 
to planting out in their flowering quarters. 
Cutting Lavender. 
Lavender seems to have grown well this 
season, and no time should be lost in cutting 
the spikes, if they are wanted for drying. 
Fully developed flowers are not likely to dry 
well. See that no moisture is allowed to 
get on the flowers after cutting. 
Pricking Out Biennials. 
Biennials in the seed bed should be well 
thinned, if not already done. Personally I 
much prefei pricking out prior to setting in 
flowering quarters. It is by no means too 
late for propagating Violas and Pansies. 
Choose strong sturdy basal growths, not 
shoots that are hollow. Insert in sandy soil, 
and choose a rather shady situation. A 
hand light will encourage quick rooting, 
but it is not essential providing hot sunshine 
is not allowed to fall upon the cuttings. 
Thinning Dahlia Shoots. 
Dahlias have made excellent growth in 
most places, and the plants must be con¬ 
stantly attended to. Keep the weakest growths 
cut out and thin the buds freely. Plenty of 
liquid manure will do the plants good. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Apples. 
So far as I can ascertain Apples will not 
be a heavy crop anywhere. Should trees be 
bearing freely it is advisable to thin the 
fruits considerably. Such varieties as Lord 
Sufbeld will now be of useful size for cook¬ 
ing purposes. 
Thinning Fig-tree Shoots. 
Fig trees will pay for a little attention 
in the way of removing the weaker growths, 
in order to give the best a chance to ripen. 
Strawberries.' 
Plant out Strawberries as soon as possible. 
Give them 15 inches between the plants and 
30 inches between the rows. The thinning 
out of every other one should follow next 
season after fruiting. 
Netting Apricots and Cherries. 
I have had so much to say about birds 
that I need hardly point out the advisability 
of keeping such fruits as Apricots and 
Morellos well netted. I gather from bills 
posted about that wild birds are to be pro¬ 
tected more than ever. Personally I think 
it is about time the genus homo had a little 
more protection; at least the disciples of 
Adam are badly in need of it this season. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Seed Sowing. 
Sowing time is by no means over yet. 
• Most people appreciate good Turnips, 
Spinach, Cabbage and Cauliflower. The 
latter will need frame protection during the 
winter, but there is plenty of time to think 
about winter. What we want is a little 
more summer, or a mighty good autumn. 
Leeks and Celery that are well forward 
should be earthed up. 
Tomatos. 
Those who have ripe Tomatos outdoors 
may gather them. To such lucky people I 
tender my sincere congratulations. 
Lettuce. 
More Lettuce should be set out and kept 
well watered. Varieties to sow for stand¬ 
ing over the winter are fairly numerous, but 
Hick’s Hardy White is a first-rate sort. 
Scarlet Runners. 
Runner Beans make me feel despondent. I 
was visiting p show on July 31st, and the 
Runner Bean class was filled with pods that 
had not dropped their flowers more than a 
week. Feed freely with liquid manure, and 
make sure the supports are firm enough to 
stand autumn gales, for it is safe to say we 
shall have some. 
Seasonable Work. 
Cabbage has come up well, and must be 
thinned freely in order to get sturdy stuff. 
'Continue to lift Potatos as they ripen off. 
Blight is fairly on the warpath now, I am 
sorry to say. 
If only it were possible to make spraying 
as easy a process as hoeing, perhaps we 
should see everyone spraying their crops be¬ 
fore blight appeared. “ Horti.” 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Melons in Frames. 
'The welcome sunshine which heralded in 
August seems to have put new life into 
frame Melons, and new hope into their 
owners. And not before it was needed, for I 
saw Melons in the care of a professional 
gardener at the end of July that were hardly 
larger than marbles. I hope that all Melons 
owned by my readers are much bigger than 
this, or there will be little chance of their 
ripening. Air should now be given, in 
abundance to thoroughly purify and 
sweeten the frame, and the fruits should be 
exposed as much as possible to the sun. 
Keep all new shoots pinched to one leaf, 
and maintain older leaves in a clean and 
healthy condition. 
Repotting: Pelargoniums. 
Plants that were stood outdoors, dried 
off, and cut back, as previously advised, 
should now be breaking nicely into growth 
again. Repotting may be safely undertaken 
when, the new shoots are -^-in. long. Turn 
the plants out of their pots, shake away all 
the old, dry soil, and cut back all long and 
straggling roots. If this is done properly 
it will be possible to place the plants in 
pots at least half the size of those they 
flowered in. Well drain the pots, and scat¬ 
ter a little coarse sand among the roots be¬ 
fore filling in the compost. This should 
consist chiefly of good fibrous loam and 
coarse sand, and should be pushed down 
quite firm with the thumbs. After potting, 
the plants should be kept in a cold, close 
frame and syringed twice daily. Very little 
water will be needed until growth is again 
active, and by that time the plants will re¬ 
quire plenty of air. Watch for green fly 
and kill it on sight. 
Fuchsias for Next Year. 
I have often heard amateur friends ex¬ 
press curiosity as to how the beautiful and 
floriferous young Fuchsias, in 5 in. and 6 in. 
pots, and which make such charming decora¬ 
tive subjects in early summer are obtained. 
Well, my plan is to put in cuttings about 
now, and grow them on all the winter. For 
this purpose I greatly prefer cuttings from 
plants that are bedded out, or planted out 
for the summer in a semi-shady border. 
One can get splendid shoots from the latter, 
and I find no difficulty in rooting portions j 
5 in. or 6 in. long, if kept warm, moist, and 
shaded in a greenhouse. Such vigorous 
shoots as these I like to root singly in thumb 
pots, then they can be pinched when rooted, 
and potted on without disturbance when 
they again begin to grow. Fuchsias struck 
now make little progress during the winter, 
but grow with astonishing freedom when 
spring brings genial weather. 
Sowing: Schizanthuses. 
These elegant plants, prettily called 
Butterfly Flowers, are exceedingly useful 
for house or conservatory decoration iu 
spring or early summer. Seeds should be 
, sown now, about half-a-dozen in a 5 in. pot, 
thinning the seedlings to three in each pot 
if all germinate. Coddling should be at all 
times avoided, and watering done with cau¬ 
tion as the days and nights get colder. 
Chrysanthemums. 
With expert advice constantly being given 
with regard to these, it is unnecessary for 
me to say much about them here. Still, I 
would just point out the value of a top¬ 
dressing of rich material at this season, 
both as providing food for the plants and 
affording protection from the sun to the 
upper roots. If manures are not forth¬ 
coming plain fibrous loam may be used; in 
fact anything that will protect the poor ex¬ 
posed roots from the sun without injuring 
the plants. Where bud taking for big 
blooms is practised, all side shoots which 
form down the stem should be rubbed out 
as soon as noticed. An occasional spray¬ 
ing with sulphide of potassium solution, 
1 oz. to three gallons of water, will keep 
mildew and other 1 fungus pests in check. 
Potting: Lachenalias. 
Sometimes known as Cape Cowslips, these 
are among the prettiest of the bulbous 
plants that an amateur can grow. The 
foliage is so prettily marbled that a good 
potful of that alone is attractive,-but as the 
plants also flower very freely they are 
doubly recommendable. One great point in 
their favour is that they can be grown with 
a minimum of fire heat, it only being neces¬ 
sary' to keep severe frost from reaching the 
leaves. Five inch pots are the most gene¬ 
rally useful, and tire bulbs should almost 
touch each other to ensure a good display. 
Mix some finely broken brick in the compost 
if the loam is heavy, and in any case allow 
plenty of coarse sand. A cold.frame or 
greenhouse will suit the plants for several 
weeks after potting. 
Potting: Tea Roses. 
There is a diversity of opinion as to-the 
best season for potting Tea Roses for the 
greenhouse, some folk deferring the opera¬ 
tion till November. I have, however, ob¬ 
tained such good results from potting the 
earliest Teas in August that I do not hesi¬ 
tate to recommend it. The best possible soil. 
