September 21, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
621 
Address : The Editor, The Gardening 
vVorld, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, -which may 
rover any branch of gardening. Questions 
xhould be as brief as -possible and -written on 
me side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
-if paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
the best use of this column are invited to 
■prepare and forward to us a rough outline 
drawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
the position of beds and lawns, the charac¬ 
ter and height of the fence or wall ; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully filed, with 
the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an 
enquiry is sent. 
"i 6 % IT* '6 6 4s '4 * 
COLD FRAMES- 
2204. Violets for Winter Flowering. 
Would you kindly insert the following 
question in your next issue :—I have three 
frames to cultivate Violets. What is the 
best kind of soil to use and what are the 
best kinds to grow? I want double Violets, 
but not white ones, and where is the best 
place to get them from? Should faggots or 
brickbats be used for drainage? (W. N. M., 
Herts.) 
The soil for Violets should be fairly rich 
and open so as to ensure drainage. It may 
consist of two parts fibrous loam and one 
part of leaf mould and sand. If a little 
well-decayed manure is mixed with this it 
will help to encourage growth. You should 
make up a bed of fermenting manure to fill 
the frame so that when 6 in. of soil is put 
on the top of the manure the foliage of the 
Violets will come close to the glass. This 
is necessary, as it is sure to sink in the 
course of the winter, and Violets to succeed 
in winter should be as well lighted as 
possible. Get the manure, which should be 
obtained from stables, and shake it up in a 
heap, mixing ft with about one-third or one- 
half of fresh leaves if you can get them. 
We do not know the depth of your frame, 
but if there is not sufficient depth for a 
bed of manure of 2 ft. in depth at least, 
you should make up a square bed about 
3 ft. longer than the frames and stand them 
on the top of this. Place on the soil, and 
after the heat is sufficiently subsided you 
may plant the Violets. You can get rid of 
the excess of heat, however, by fermenting 
the manure fox at least a week and turning 
it two or three times during the week. To 
avoid damage to the foliage from the steamy 
moisture, which is sure to arise for the first 
ten days or so, you should ventilate the 
frames at the back, leaving a little air on 
all night. You could grow Violets in 
frames without fermenting manure, but it 
would be well into spring before you could 
get flowers unless the winter happens to be 
a mild one. At least one of the frames 
should have manure to give you an early 
supply and the work should be commenced 
at once. The best double varieties for forc¬ 
ing are Marie Louise with lavender-blue 
flowers and Neapolitan with pale lavender, 
double flowers. If you make uo a bed of 
manure, standing the frame on it, drainage 
would be unnecessary, and if the manure is 
placed inside the frame you can make pro¬ 
vision for the liquid drainings to pass away 
at the base. Even if you do not use manure, 
drainage would be unnecessary if the frames 
are stood on the surface of the ground. 
Most of the hardy plant nurserymen could 
supply Violets, including Messrs. Barr and 
Sons, King Street, Covent Garden, London; 
Messrs. Dobbie and Co., Rothesay, N.B.; 
Mr. John Forbes, Hawick, N.B., etc. 
ROOM PLANTS. 
2205. Roman Hyacinths in Water. 
Can Roman Hyacinths be grown in water 
like the large ones in glasses or any other 
way? If so, please describe how this may 
be done. I want to get them into bloom as 
early as possible. (J. Thomas, Herts.) 
Good Roman Hyacinths can be bloomed 
in water just like the large-flowering ones. 
Set the bulbs thickly in ornamental bowls 
and fill in with clean-washed gravel to keep 
the bulbs steady. When roots are produced 
the gravel will hold them steady by the 
interlacing of the roots. Partly fill the 
■bowls with water at first till the bulbs com¬ 
mence growing, then fill the bowls with 
water. These bowls may be stood in any 
convenient place, either indoors or out, un¬ 
til the approach of frosty nights. By that 
time they will have commenced to grow and 
should be stood close to the glass in a sunny 
window. They may also be grown in orna¬ 
mental jars or jardinets by using peat moss 
fibre mixed with crushed oyster shells and 
charcoal. These jardinets need not have 
holes in them like flower pots if you take 
care to empty out the superfluous water 
shortly after each watering is given. In 
using this material just cover the bulbs as 
in the case of potting with ordinary com¬ 
post. Place these jars in a cold frame or 
out of doors, and if plunged in cocoanut 
fibre so much the better. Leave them here 
till- the bulbs have made 1 in. of growth, 
and then place some of them in a well- 
lighted window in a room where a fire is 
kept burning, if possible. In the absence of 
any means of forcing, this source of heat is 
desirable. 
2206. Bulbs for Windows. 
Would you please be good enough to tell 
me what other kinds of bulbs and Hya¬ 
cinths can be grown in a dwelling room 
where a fire is lighted only occasionally. I 
have a window facing south where Hya¬ 
cinths do well. (Thos. Simpson, Glou¬ 
cester.) 
A 7 arious other bulbs can be flowered in a 
window as easily as Hyacinths. For in¬ 
stance, you could get a number of the earlv- 
flowering Tulips, which bloom naturally in 
April, and they should bloom rather earlier 
in your window. Daffodils may also be em¬ 
ployed in great variety, including Obval- 
laris, Henry Irving, Emperor, Empress, 
Barrii conspicuus, Leedsii Mrs. Langtry, 
Burbidgei John Bain and various others 
which you may fancy. Polyanthus Nar¬ 
cissi are also well suited for pot culture in 
windows, not forgetting the Chinese Sacred 
Lily, which is a variety of the same species. 
Several of the Squills may be flowered, but 
Scilla sibirica is the most suitable. Very 
appropriate, also, is Chionodoxa Luciliae 
and C. L. sardensis, which naturally flower 
early. Single and double Snowdrops will 
also bloom well, and the first-named will be 
the first to come into bloom. 
FERNS. 
2207. Maidenhair Ferns Going Wrong. 
Would you kindly suggest a cause of the 
enclosed Maidenhair Fern fronds going 
wrong ? They have been grown in 
a large, high conservatory with rough 
glass, the roof painted green, the 
sides shaded with blinds and filled 
with Ferns and Palms, and heated 
from September to June, but no fire is used 
during summer. The plants have been in 
the same receptacles for a number of years, 
and generally do remarkably well. They 
are watered with weak manure water twice 
a week, cow manure and soot water being 
used alternately. All the Maidenhairs in 
the house are similarly affected. Do you 
think it likely the soot water would contain 
anything injurious, but k is evidently not 
the roots that are affected, as strong young 
fronds are thrown up, but something seems 
to affect them when developing. Air is ad¬ 
mitted by the top ventilator the length of 
the roof in the same manner as before. I 
shall be glad to see your remarks as soon 
as convenient for you. (J. T., Devon.) 
We are not quite certain as to your mean¬ 
ing when you say the roof is painted green, 
as this might refer to the woodwork and 
glass or to the woodwork alone. If only the 
latter is painted green, it would not affect 
the Ferns much, but corrugated or rough 
glass, together with green paint on the glass, 
must make it very bad for the Ferns. We 
do not believe in painting glass green, nor 
in having green-stained glass, notwithstand¬ 
ing the fact that it was in vogue some years 
ago, even in large establishments. These 
conditions, together with the small amount 
of sunshine this year, we think, must be 
held accountable for the bad behaviour of 
the Ferns to a great extent. We should 
have the green paint removed if it is on the 
glass. At the same time, we have not very 
much faith in corrugated glass, but think 
that for Ferns removable white blinds of 
tiffany or shading material would be far 
better, because when there is little sunshine 
they can be rolled up to give the Ferns all 
the benefit of good light. This strengthens 
their tissues, and, together with ventilation, 
hardens them and enables them to stand 
through the winter. We should advise you 
to adopt this plan now, that is, to remove 
the paint and give plenty of air, by which 
means you can carry the Ferns through the 
winter. We should then repot them in 
March, in good fibrous loam and a little 
leaf mould, mixed with plenty of sand. 
Some people use a little peat, though this 
is not actually necessary for Maidenhair 
Ferns. It is solely by the use of the manure 
water that you have been able to keep them 
in good form up to this time. There is no 
harm in the manure water or soot water, 
provided always they are given in modera¬ 
tion, that is, weak. It is possible to overdo 
the soot water by putting too much in the 
tank at one time and thus getting more am- 
