5 86 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 7, 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 or 
side of the paper only. 
Two Prizes of 2s. 6d. each will l 
awarded each week for the two Lette> 
which the Editor considers to be the bes' 
difficult. Select a bright, sunny morning 
for the work; the flower must be treated 
just before the petals unclose. Separate 
these gently with a finger so that the eye 
of the blossom can be seen; then with a 
small pair of tweezers pull out the anthers, 
thus preventing pollen collecting on them 
and fertilising the ovary. It is necessary 
that the anthers of the flower chosen to be 
crossed with the one already operated 
upon should be coated with ripe pollen, 
and the next step is to collect that pollen 
upon a small camel’s hair brush that must 
be lightly rubbed on to the stigma of the 
flower first treated until it is covered with 
pollen. In order to ensure fertilisation 
this operation is usually repeated three 
times. 
The seed must be. collected directly it 
is ripe and sown at once in boxes of 
gritty soil and plunged in cocoanut fibre 
in a’cold frame. It will germinate dur¬ 
ing the winter, but the seedlings ought 
not to be disturbed for two years, when, 
at the end of that time, they can be 
planted out in the open, where, as al- 
readv mentioned, they will flower in from 
five "to seven vears. 
A. C. D. 
- +++ - 
Present Selections 
— For — 
Next Year’s Planting. 
The wise amateur is always a year 
ahead in his preparations for the future, 
therefore his garden is always at its best, 
but few there are who give this matter a 
thought. It is for these good folks I 
write, that they may be stirred up to look 
around them now, that they may see not 
only in what directions their neighbours 
excel, but also in what ways their own 
work is deficient. 
Taking Roses by way of example. We 
should notice their habit of growth, their 
contrasts of style and colour, their period 
of blooming, their productiveness and 
much else that we should make notes of 
now, when the plants are making their 
best display, so that when we come to 
order our Roses we may have a fair idea 
of which will be most suitable, where to 
place each kind, and how to group varie¬ 
ties that we may have the best possible 
display next summer. 
Likewise in the herbaceous border, we 
can make notes of what plants are least 
and which most suitable for any position. 
Later on, when we come to examine the 
various catalogues of seeds, bulbs, Roses, 
and plants, we shall thus be able to make 
a wise selection so that we can plan our 
garden for next year on the best lines to 
realise the following ideal : 
In mv garden I wish to have those varie¬ 
ties which will bloom the longest ; those 
which by succeeding each other will al¬ 
ways keep my garden gay, so that at no 
time shall it be bare, and those kinds 
which are most- suitable in the way of 
colour, style and grouping for giving me 
a garden that will satisfy and please. 
Baynton-Taylor. 
Corn Salad or Lamb’s Lettuce. 
The above is perfectly hardy. It can 
be grown to perfection in the open ground 
and takes up but little space, furnishing a 
delicious salad when Lettuces and En¬ 
dives are scarce. In August select a 
rich piece of ground, and having dug 
and raked it level, draw drills nine inches 
apart and two inches deep. Sow the seed 
thinly, thin out to two inches apart, and 
hoe frequently during autumn. If these 
details are carried out a supply of tender, 
crisp leaves can be had from December 
to March. If alternate plants are used 
first, the others will increase in size. A 
few yards of ground will give many pick¬ 
ings. The Italian variety has the largest 
leaves. 
J. c. 
Crawley. 
The Use of Vases, Etc., in the Garden. 
In fairly large gardens these have much- 
to commend them. A nicely filled vase 
or rustic basket at a .corner of a path or 
the end of a walk, each side of a lawn, 
or on a terrace or verandah steps, usually 
add much to the appearance of the gar¬ 
den, but vases should be mounted on 
pedestals, as if stood flat on the ground 
the effect is most inartistic. Trailing 
plants over the edges or sides, a graceful 
dwarf standard in the centre, and and 
little oddments left in boxes at “bedding 
out,” come in very handy for filling in 
corners, etc. A spring vase of blood- 
red Wallflowers, with golden Crocus 
peeping up through an edging of double 
Arabis, is beautiful. In fact, vases and 
baskets may, with a little judgment and 
taste, be very pretty all the year round. 
D. Erlam. 
Anemone hortensis. 
A. hortensis is best known by its 
beautiful variety the scarlet Windflower, 
popularly known as A. fulgensr It is 
not always happy in the open air in Eng¬ 
land, but in sheltered situations where the 
conditions are favourable its rich scarlet 
flowers produced in May are a brilliant 
picture. It requires a rich, deeply dug 
soil, light rather than heavy, and should 
be transplanted in the autumn. A few 
patches of it in a rock garden are effec¬ 
tive. It is also useful as a pot plant 
for the conservatory 7 . For this purpose 
the tubers should be potted in the autumn 
rather thickly in 6-inch pots with good 
loamy soil, and kept in a sunny, cold 
frame all the winter. They flower 
usually in March or April, when they are 
valuable for decoration. Other varieties 
of the garden Anemone are stellata and 
pavonina, which are also worth growing 
as advised for the first named. 
W. Sherringham. 
Dorchester. 
A Warning; to “ Budders.” 
There is no more interesting operatii 
in the whole of the gardening calencr 
than that of “budding Roses,” and t 5 
has been described so often that I wl 
not enter into details here. Indeed, ts 
space at my disposal would not admit f 
it, but those amateurs who have budcl 
their brier-stocks will do well, in tb 
course of a week or two after operatii, 
to examine, and where necessary loose 
the bindings, as this year, owing don- 
less to the prevailing damp weather, (3 
wood is swelling more rapidly than usu, 
and if not carefully watched, the new- 
inserted bud is apt to be forced out of 13 
“ T” slit, and a year’s work is thus waste 
Of course this applies specially to st;- 
dards and half-standards, and not i 
dwarfs budded beneath the surface of tj 
ground. 
G. A. Fisher 
Olearia gunniana, 
This most attractive Tasmanian si- 
shrub is not nearly so well known as t; 
popular O. Haastii, and yet it is, if ai- 
thing, the more beautiful of the two. t 
is supposed to be not quite hardy, but 1 
the month of July I saw a perfect spe- 
men of it in Linlithgowshire in the opi 
border, having had no protection duri; 
the past trying winter. It has pr: 
white, starry flowers, with which the pla 
is literally smothered when in bloom. . 
Nicholson’s “Dictionary of Gardening” 
is said to flower in September, but t. 
specimen in question was in full flow 
when I saw it in the middle of July, 
month earlier than 0 . Haastii. I me 
to have it, and can strongly recommend 
for inclusion in the shrubbery or mix 
flower border. It grows to about 3 
in height, and'succeeds in ordinary gi 
den soil. 
C. C. 
-- 
Prizes for Colchester Roses. 
Messrs. D. Prior and Son, of Colchc 
ter, won, during June and July of tf 
year—five' weeks—for Rose exhibits 
keen competition, open to all Englan 
97 prizes, four silver challenge cups, 0 
gold medal, and two silver gilt medai 
This firm have probably won more fii 
prizes this season than any other in Gre 
Britain. 
Orchid with 230 Flowers. 
At the bi-monthly show of the Roy 
Horticultural Society, held on the 20 
ult., the Floral Committee awardt 
Major Holford, equerry to the King, 
silver-gilt Lindley medal for an Orch 
known as “ Laeliocattleya elegans,” c 
which there were no fewer than 2% 
flowers, which from a horticultural poii 
of view is extremely unusual. 
