February  4,  1904. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
107 
mence  fading,  wlien  a  light  syringing  with  tepid  soft  water 
will  soon  bring  off  the  remains  of  the  floral  jiarts.  Inside 
borders  are  a  great  advantage  in  early  forcing,  the  trees  always 
succeeding  better  than  when  the  roots  are  in  cold  outside  ones, 
and  the  fruit  sets'  better  in  a  lower  temperature  under  those 
circumstances.  Ijost  time  (apparently)  can  be  made  up  as  the 
days  lengthen  and  brighten ;  undue  haste  in  early  forcing  often 
causes  the  loss  of  the  crop. — G.  A.,  St.  Albans,  Herts. 
Kitchen  Garden. 
ONIONS. — No  time  should  be  lost  in  .sowing  the.se.  In  many 
gardens  it  is  risky  to  .sow  in  the  open  ground  owing  to  the 
prevalence  of  the  maggot.  In  such  ca.ses  they  should  be  sown 
in  boxes  and  brought  on  slowly  in  a  low  temperature.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  place  the  seed-boxes  in  a  high  temperature.  The 
.seedlings  .soon  become  drawn  and  weakly.  Place  the  boxes  in 
a  hou.se  where  the  temperature  does  not  exceed  4-5deg  at  night ; 
here  the  seeds  will  germinate  regularly,  and  the  plants  will 
keep  sturdy  if  the  boxes  are  placed  near  the  roof  glass  as  soon 
as  the  seedlings  are  well  above  the  soil.  In  due  cour.se  these 
should  be  placed  in  cool  frames  where  the  frost  can  be  excluded. 
Every  effort  should  be  made  to  keep  the  plants  from  becoming 
drawn. 
PREPARATION  OF  THE  BEDS.— In  the  meantime  the 
beds  should  be  thoroughly  prepared  bj'  trenching  if  not  already 
done.  Onions  delight  in  deeply  worked  soil  of  good  ouality. 
Work  in  plenty  of  thoroughly  decayed  manure  into  the  second 
spit,  together  with  a  liberal  dressing  of  old  soot.  This  applies 
to  the  .seed  bed  as  well  as  to  where  they  will  be  planted  from 
the  boxes. 
POTATOES  IN  FRAMES.— Another  frame  should  be 
planted  with  early  Potatoes,  to  keep  up  a  succession.  Take 
care  that  the  heat  is  not  violent ;  see  that  it  is  on  the  decline, 
or  much  harm  may  be  done.  There  are  many  very  excellent 
kinds  of  Potatoes  in  cultivation  very  suitable  for  frame  culture. 
I  find  May  Queen  and  Early  Snowdrop  two  very  reliable  kinds. 
The  sets  should  be  very  carefully  prepared  for  this  purpose. 
They  should  have  been  well  expo.sed  to  light  and  air  in  a  very 
cold  place  where  the  frost  can  be  excluded.  The  soil  should 
be  light  and  rich. 
PROTECT  GLOBE  ARTICHOKES.— If  not  already  done, 
these  should  be  at  once  protected.  Keen  frosty  winds  from  the 
east  are  far  more  likely  to  kill  them  than  moderately  severe 
frost.  Dry  coal  ashes  is  an  excellent  thing  to  protect  the  crown 
of  the  plants.  This,  together  with  a  little  dry  bracken  placed 
loosely  round  the  heads  of  the  plants,'  will  generally  prove  suffi¬ 
cient  to  keep  them  safe. 
EARLY  CARROTS. — A  little  seed  should  be  sown  on  a  south 
border.  The  soil  should  be  well  jirepared,  and  if  of  a  sandy 
nature  so  much  the  better.  One  of  the  early  stumphorn 
varieties  should  be  .selected.  Choose  a  warm  day.  The  drills 
should  be  opened  a  few  hours  before  sowing  the  seed  in  order 
to  dry  and  warm  them.  Coat  the  .seed  with  a  little  red  lead, 
as  previously  recommended.  This  will  prevent  worms  and  other 
insects  from  destroying  the  seeds. 
PEAS  ON  EARLY  BORDER. — Another  sowing  of  Peas 
should  now  be  made  to  succeed  those  sown  last  month.  One  of 
the  Daisy  type  is  good  for  the  present  sowing.  These  produce 
large  pods  of  better  flavour  than  the  small  round  kinds.  It  is 
always  a  good  plan  to  choose  a  fine  morning  for  sowing  seeds. 
LETTFCES  AND  RADISHES. — A  small  quantity  of  the.se 
seeds  should  be  sown  on  a  warm  border.  Sow  the  seed  somewhat 
thicker  than  will  be  the  case  later  in  the  season;  the  soil,  being 
coldj  a  certain  percentage  will  be  likely  to  fail. — A.  T., 
Cirencester. 
The  Flower  Garden. 
CLEANING  FLOWER  BEDS.— After  a  long  period  of 
changeable  weather  the  surface  of  flower  beds  will  be  in  a  more 
or  le.ss  untidy  condition  with  accumulations  of  leaves  which 
have  blown  from  ad joinin.^-  bordei's  of  shrubs  and  trees.  There 
will  also  be  a  proportion  of  yellow  and  withered  leaves  upon  the 
plants  with  which  the  bed.s  are  furnished.  If  these  can  be 
conveniently  removed  it  will  be  desiral)le  to  do  so,  leaving  the 
plants  much  improved  in  appearance.  Stir  the  soil  among  them 
when  the  surface  is  dry,  and  work  the  soil  neatly  from  the 
gra.ss  edges  of  the  beds. 
RELAYING  TURF.— There  are  sure  to  be  bare  or  uneven 
spaces  in  gra.ss  lawns  where  the  turf,  either  needs  replacing  or 
the  ground  ret|uires  levelling.  The  ground  .should  broken 
up,  and  if  additional  .soil  is  necessnry,  this  .shoidd  be  of  good 
quality,  good  rich  loam  being  the  best.  Tread  it  down  firmly, 
and  bring  the  spaces  to  the  proper  level.  The  turf  should  be 
•cut  of  even  thickness  from  a  pasture  where  clean  gra.ss  thrives, 
and  obnoxious  weeds  are  aUsent.  If  a  few  undesirable  weeds 
are  present  in  the  turf,  these  are  readily  withdrawn  from  the 
turves  before  laying  them  down.  Rake  off  rough  stones  and 
other  material,  leaving  a  fine  tilth.  Similarly  fine  material 
.should  also  be  in  readiness  for  raising  the  turves  if  nece.s.sary. 
Fit  them  as  closely  together  as  possible,  and  fill  up  all  inter.stices 
with  suitable  pieces  of  turf.  Afterwards  bind  closely  together 
with  a  turf  beater.  Turfing  can  only  be  done  when  the  weather 
is  mild,  and  the  surface  of  the  ground  to  be  laid  is  not  sticky 
with  rain  or  a  recent  thaw. 
IMOISTENING  ROOTS  OF  CLIMBERS.— Growing  against 
walls  and  fences,  or  in  places  partially  sheltered,  and  in  some 
cases  too  much  shielded  from  rain,  climbing  plants,  especially 
Ro.ses,  frequently  suffer  from  a  deficiency  of  moisture  at  the 
roots.  This  is  a  great  cause  of  weakly  groAvth,  and  should,  it 
possible,  be  rectified  by  affording  at  the  present  time,  during 
mild  Aveather,  a  copious  soaking  of  liquid  manure.  Ihe  good 
effects  Avill  be  seen  in  vigorous  and  improved  groAvth  during  the 
season,  and  a  more  floriferous  condition  during  the  folloAving  if 
not  the  present  season.  The  liquid  is  not  only  good  for  climbei's, 
but  for  other  hardy  jAlants  Avhich  need  assistance.  Failing 
liquid  manure,  plenty  of  Avater  may  be  given,  loosening  the 
ground  on  the  surface  to  prevent  it  trickling  aAvay.  The  latter 
should  also  be  done  Avhen  applying  the  more  valuable  fluid. 
SOWING  SWEET  PEAS.— An  early  soAving  may  uoav  be 
made  outdoors,  selecting  a  .sheltered  Avarm  border  for  the  pur¬ 
pose.  A  feAv  short  roAVs  Avill  be  .sufficient  if  they  succeed  Avell. 
Cover  the  roAvs  at  once  with  Avire  guards.  Soav  also  some  seed 
in  3in  pots  and  groAv  steadily  under  glass  protection,  gradually 
hardening  the  ijlants,  and  planting  out  in  roAvs  at  an  early 
opportunity. — E.  D.  S.,  Grave.send. 
- - 
IToung  Gardeners’  Domain, 
I’lie  Editor  welcomes  shr  rt  letters  from  under  gardeners.  Letters  should  be  con¬ 
fined  to  500  words  in  length,  should  be  written  only  on  one  side  of  the  paper, 
as  cltavly  as  possiblo  with  or0  inch  space  at  both  top  and  bottom,  as  well 
as  at  the  >ides.  'J’he  names  and  addresses  of  tho  vvriters  must  accompany 
all  communicat ions,  not  necessarily  for  publication,  but  as  a  guarantee  of 
goodfaiih.  If  these  pointsarenotrespected.theletterscannotbetonsidered. 
Scottish  V.  English  Gardeners. 
In  ansAver  to  the  critical  remarks  madp  by  An  Old  Boy 
under  this  heading  on  page  62,  I  shall  take  the  bull  by  the  horns. 
“  Old  Boy  ”  ansAvers  my  que.stion,  “  Wliy  are  Scottish  gardeners 
preferred  to  English?  by  asking,  “Are  they?  a  very  eva,sive 
ansAver  indeed,  which  reminds  me  of  a  gentleman  Avho  requested 
his  Irish  servant  to  make  evasive  reiilies  to  callers.  1  pon  the 
first  person  calling  to  knoAV  if  Mr.  Avas  at  home,  Pat  asked 
him  if  his  grandmother  Avas  a  hoot-OAvl!  But  the  question.  Why 
are  Scottish  gardeners  preferred  to  English?  remmns  to  be 
answered  fully.  I  am  pleased  to  learn  from  An  Old  Boy  that 
his  own  experience  has  proved  to  his  satisfaction  the  leveise 
of  my  statement  that  “  nine-tenths  of  the  young  men  in  England 
spend  too  much  time  in  public-houses  and  in  pleasure  seeking  ; 
but  I  reiterate  that  this  statement  has  been  admitted  by  men 
of  no  mean  position  with  regret;  tlic.^e  men 
haAm  an  exnerience  eoual  to  that  of  ‘  An  Old  Boy,  as  these 
islands  hav7  been  trav'ersed  by  them  many  times.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  my  “  uimuestionably  too  limitetl  experience  is  ot 
little  weight  to  “  An  Old  Boy,”  but  that  sort  ot  gag  I  can  swallow 
I  might  add  that  out  of  the  nine-tenths  of  young  men  Avho  spend 
too  much  time  in  public-houses  and  pleasure  seeking  I  had  the 
best  of  “  chums,”  and,  indeed,  far  better  fellows  than  your  pro¬ 
fessed  teetotalers,  their  only  fault  being  that  they  .spent  too  much 
of  their  time  in  public-houses — a  fact  that  some  liav’e  since 
admitted.  .  „ 
This  is  but  one  instance  of  many  in  my  “  little  experience, 
and  one  more  is  that  the  ”  T.T.’s  ”  are  in  numerous  cases  ‘-  terrible 
tipplers  ”  In  conclusion,  I  congratulate  ‘  An  Old  Boy  on  hm 
good  works,  and  I  trmst  he  will  succeed  in  pervading  the  young 
men  in  England  to  .^pend  less  time  m  public-hou.ses  and  betake 
themselves  to  study  ;'and  may  they  remember  this  motto  rivl”9  { 
is  applicable  to  many  things):  “  I  se,  but  don  t  abuse  It  aviII 
be  .seen  from  this  discussion,  as  is  seen  in  most  others,  that  there 
are  tAAO  opinions  on  one  point.  Theiefoie 
Convince  a  man  against  his  will. 
He’s  of  tlie  same  opinion  s  ill. 
-Scot,  Berks. 
I  think  your  corre.spondent  “  Scot  ”  Avould  be  In  'tter 
employed  learning  his  busine.ss  than  a.sking  sinseless  questions 
such  as  “  "Why  are  Scots  gardenens  preferred  to  English  ^  An 
Old  Boy”  very  pertinently  enquires,  “Are  they.-'  and  1  leave 
“  Scot”  to  answer  that  en(|uiry,  and  pass  on  to  notice  his  remarks 
about  the  drunkennes.s  which  he  saj-s  prevails  in  bothies  soul  h 
of  the  Border.  Now,  I  am  probably  old  enough  to  be  “  Scot  s 
