August 24, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
563 
Plums. 
The best sorts of Plums will pay for 
being fed with liquid manure. 
Apples and Pears. 
Apples and Pears, too, will not suffer 
from such an application, but the 'Soil must 
be moist before manure liquid is given. 
Strawberries. 
Old Strawberry beds need tidying up. 
Dead leaves and runners should be cleared 
away frequently. 
Nuts and Cherries. 
Nuts and Cherries are prone to send up 
suckers, -but'they must be cut away when 
seen. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Tomatos. 
Outdoor Tomatos everywhere will scarcely 
pa)' for their room this season. It is use¬ 
less to allow further bunches to set, for they 
cannot possibly ripen, unless we are to get 
hot weather right through to November. 
Do not cut away foliage unless it shades 
the fruit. Black spot disease seems to be 
rife in many places. All affected fruit 
should be picked off and burnt. 
General Work. 
The general routine work consists of run¬ 
ning round with the hoe, watering Celery, 
keeping suckers from same, stopping Runner 
Beans, pulling Onions that are ripening, 
planting out Lettuce and Endive. The 
early batch of Cabbage, too, is needing a 
shift. 
Turnips. 
A sowing of Turnips can still be made. 
Celery. 
The earthing of Celery is quite a busi¬ 
ness, but there is plenty to operate on the 
late batch. Earthing does not make the 
plants’ growth. It is done for the purpose 
of blanching. Sink it in your mind, my 
young hustlers, who wish to do the work 
now. 
Broccoli, etc. 
So far as my experience goes, winter 
greens such as Broccoli are none too for¬ 
ward. A mulch of manure or a dose of 
liquid manure will set them going. Not 
too much, mind, or rank, sappy- growth may 
result. 
Herbs. 
All kind of herbs should be cut and care¬ 
fully dried now-. Later on the cook will 
appreciate them for making her savouris:. 
Ho:. it. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Propagating Hydrangeas. 
The single-stemmed Hydrangeas of the 
market growers, with their huge, mopl-like 
heads of flowers, are at once the admiration 
and despair of many amateur gardeners. 
And yet there is nothing in their culture be¬ 
yond the capabilities of the veriest novice, 
provided he possess a warm greenhouse and 
some old plants furnished with stout young 
shoots. In my experience, I have found 
nothing give larger heads of bloom than 
shoots which have been growing since the 
‘ spring, but which have failed to flower. 
Of course these are not always obtainable, 
and then recourse must be had to side shoots 
, pushed forth after the flower heads have 
been cut off. In any case, the strongest and 
, best ripened shoots should be chosen, and 
made into cuttings in the usual way'. A 
simple way of striking them is to make a 
few holes in the bottom of a large and deep 
I box, put in some drainage and a 3 in. layer 
of mixed cocoanut fibre refuse, sand and 
loam in equal proportions, and in this in- 
! sert the cuttings. The box should be covered 
with panes of glass and stood in the warmest, 
moistest part of the greenhouse. As soon 
as struck the cuttings should have cooler 
treatment. 
Finishing Off Tomatos. 
The time is not far distant when many 
plants will be clamouring for admission to 
the greenhouse; Chry'santhemums, Gera¬ 
niums, Bouvardias, Solanums and Salvias 
are a few well-known examples of these. 
As one. of the chief reasons for summering 
such plants out of doors is to keep them 
clean, it is a mistake to introduce them into 
a greenhouse where dirty Tomatos have a 
place; for Tomatos are "dirty and will be 
dirty plants as long as white and greenfly 
abound. Therefore every effort should be 
made to ripen off and clear out the Tomatos 
and clean the house before bringing in the 
winter flowering plants. A little fire heat 
at night will go far in assisting the ripen¬ 
ing of the fruits and checking the supply 
of water will still further help. The plants 
need not be allowed to flag badly-, but let 
them feel a real need for water before giving 
any. Cut all fruits as they colour and 
finish them on a sunny shelf. 
Resting Gloxinias. 
W hen these cease to produce blooms it is 
a sign that they wdsh to take their annual 
rest, and this desire should be encouraged. 
On no account suddenly withhold water, but 
give less and less until the foliage gradu¬ 
ally dies away' and the plants sink into a 
complete rest. Personally, I like to accom¬ 
plish this resting in the open air and sun. 
To this end my plants are taken from the 
greenhouse and stood in a cold frame. 
Should the sun be very brilliant they are 
given a little shade for a few days, but 
eventually they are fully' exposed to every 
wind that blows and every sunbeam that 
shines. In this way the tubers are 
thoroughly' ripened; they' keep well and 
flower splendidly' the next year. 
Fuchsias from Outdoors. 
Plants which have been summered in a 
semi-shady spot out of doors should now be 
-brought into the greenhouse to bloom, and 
exceedingly useful thev will be found if 
they' have been properly prepared. The 
season has been an ideal one for Fuchsias, 
and the plants are laden with a profusion of 
flowers and healthy' foliage. It is well to 
lightly syringe them for a few evenings at 
about 5 p.m., as in this way the absence of 
night dews is somewhat atoned for. Feed¬ 
ing should on no account be neglected, cow 
manure liquid being the best food if obtain¬ 
able. No pinching or disbudding of any 
sort should be practised, simply allow the 
plants to flower unchecked in their own 
sweet way. 
Fireheat for Grapes. 
I am afraid that unless we assist our 
Grapes -with a little fireheat now the flavour 
will leave something to be desired. Black 
Grapes have coloured well, as they' rather 
like shady conditions ivhen ripening, but the 
flavour of some fine specimens which gained 
a first prize this y r ear was not much superior 
On 
As gardening has been the inclina¬ 
tion of kings and the choice of philo¬ 
sophers, so it has been the common 
favourite of pttblic and private men; 
a pleasure of the greatest and the 
care of the meanest; and, indeed, an 
employment and a possession for 
which no man is too high' nor too 
low. 
—Sir W. Temple. 
to that of a good Sloe. Of course there is 
no need to keep the fire going on bright and 
sunny days, but a little may well be kept 
going on all wet and cold, dull days, and 
also at night. Unless well ripened now the 
bunches will not keep when duller weather 
comes. Besides, a little fireheat is really 
necessary this year to ripen up the wood 
well for next year’s crop. 
Winter-Flowering Geraniums. 
All through the summer we have kept the 
flower buds picked off these as they ap¬ 
peared, but it will be well to let them re¬ 
main now. Pinch off any that are readily 
seen, and let this be the last disbudding 
given before housing. If there are plenty 
of plants, and flowers appear likely' to be 
scarce in the greenhouse, a few plants may 
be allowed to retain their flower trusses and 
taken inside to expand them. The soil has 
now become greatly exhausted where cut¬ 
tings were struck early and kept in compara¬ 
tively small pots, and feeding will be found 
of great benefit. Use liquid manure and 
make it very weak, then it may be given at 
all times instead of clear water. 
Paper-White Narcissi. 
The majority of the early' bulbs which we 
force in our greenhouses are only suitable 
for growing in small pots, hence the Paper- 
White Narcissus is doubly' acceptable, as it 
is eminently adapted for 6 in. pots. Four 
good bulbs in a 6 in. pot will give a splen¬ 
did plant for room decoration or for the 
greenhouse, a plant which will last for 
weeks in bloom if kept cool. The bulbs 
should be so potted that their apices pro¬ 
trude about half-an-inch above the soil, and 
plenty' of space should be left for applying 
water. The pots should be plunged be¬ 
neath sweet and clean ashes in the usual 
way, and they need give no anxiety for at 
least a month after plunging. Then any 
that a-re well rooted should be transferred 
to a cold frame. 
SUNNVSIDE. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Miltooiia vexillaria. 
The different varieties of this species form 
one of the most interesting, as well as one 
of the most useful, for exhibition purposes 
and decorative Orchids we have. I have for 
y'ears past pointed out in the pages of The 
Gardening World the claims of M. vexil¬ 
laria as a subject particularly' suitable for 
cultivation by amateurs. I do not remember 
any season in which these plants have been 
exhibited to greater advantage than the pre¬ 
sent. Those who have had the privilege of 
visiting the Temple Show and other exhi¬ 
bitions of the Roy'al Horticultural Society' 
could not have failed to note the extensive 
use and the prominent part thev have formed 
in the ground work of practically all the 
large groups that have been such features 
at all the summer shows. I must thus plead 
excuse for venturing again on this subject. 
I may be told that some of the varieties are 
among the most valuable of highly prized 
Orchids. These are the kinds I have always 
tried to avoid in my' notes to amateurs, and 
while all require practically' the same con¬ 
ditions for successful culture, it is the 
modest tvpical forms that I am pleading 
for, such as are within the reach of the 
humblest amateur. 
It is claimed by some writers that they 
find the plants do well grown under the 
same conditions .as Odontoglossum crispum. 
I find that the plants do well in the cool 
house during the warm months of the year, 
but as they' are essentially winter growing 
plants thev need conditions slightly warmer 
than that I have advocated for Odontoglos- 
sums. In fact, I do not consider the tem¬ 
perature should fall below 55 degrees at 
