WALTER P. WRIGHT'S ILLUSTRATED ARDE GUIDE A PRACTICAL HANDBOO] FOR ALL GARDEN LOVERS CONTAINING UPWARDS OF J00 ILLUSTRATIONS BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF fiemg W. Sage 1891 .#.£:.&.g:.^.Zj6 2.&/J//.L. RETURN TO ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY ITHACA, N. Y. Cornell University Library SB 453.W95II Illustrated garden guide; a practical int 3 1924 002 830 515 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002830515 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. LILIES OF THE VALLEY IN POTS. (See page 43). ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO GARDEN FORMATION CULTIVATION OF FLOWERS, FRUIT & VEGETABLES, WITH A MONTHLY CALENDAR. BY WALTER P. WRIGHT. Horticultural Superintendent under the Kent Education Committee. Author of "A Book about Sweet Peas," and many other works on Gardening WITH HALF-TONE PLATES AND PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON : HEADLEY BROTHERS, BISHOPSGATE STREET WITHOUT, E.C. A-MSVte BY THE SAME AUTHOR. WALTER P. WRIGHT'S BOOK ABOUT SWEET PEAS. The standard work on this popular flower. COLOURED PLATES, HALF-TONE ENGRAVINGS AND PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. J Cloth boards, coloured design, 2s. Post free, 2s. 3d. Cloth, coloured wrapper, 2s. 6d. Post free, 2s. gd. Headley Brothers, Bishopsgate Street Without, London, E.C. PREFACE. In spite of the large number of books on the delightful pastime of gardening, it is still common to meet with people who say that there is no work which tells them in a few simple words how to start, and what a beginning costs. The point of their complaint is that they are not shown how to start economically. They make expensive mistakes at the outset, because they are not taught how to prepare their ground, how to select their tools, how to procure their stocks of plants, how to form their grass plots, and how to erect their greenhouses with reasonable cheapness. They charge gardening authors with making their directions too general, and with want of exactness as to the necessary outlay. Gardening is a many-sided subject, and a good deal might be said on behalf of the author ; however, it will be more to the point to try to remove the cause of complaint. In the present work I have set myself the task of showing, in the clearest language that can be chosen, and with the plainest illustrations which can be prepared, how to start gardening economically, and how to conduct it with efficiency. I have stated the cost of everything from a hoe to a greenhouse. I have used Tables freely, so that the amateur can get at what he wants by the shortest of cuts. And I have devoted paragraphs to the principal plants in alphabetical order. I have only to ask, in return for a good deal of trouble in ' boiling down," that advanced readers who want special and copious information on particular plants will not admonish me because they do not find it herein. I beg them to refer to other works of mine, and to judge the present one by what it aims at, and nothing else. Walter P. Wright. CONTENTS. (A complete Index is given at the end of the volume.) CHAPTER PAGB I — Why we should Garden - - 9 II — When to Start Gardening 9 III — How to Start Gardening - - - o IV. — How to Plan Gardens - - - 14 V. — Garden Walls and Fences - - 19 VI. — Border Flowers - 22 VII. — Flower Beds - 30 VIII. — Annuals and Biennials - 38 IX. — Bulbs and Tubers - 43 X. — The Rockery - 53 XI. — The Lawn or Grass Plot 56 XII. — Trees and Shrubs 59 XIII. — How to Propagate Plants 62 XIV. — Arches - 67 XV. — Implements and Tools - 69 XVI. — Soil Improvement - 71 XVII. — Window Boxes, and House, Wall and Room Plants - - 74 XVIII — Greenhouses, Unheated and Heated ; Heating; Plants - - 78 XIX. — Summerhouses and Garden Furniture 91 XX. — Roses - - 92 XXI. — Chrysanthemums - - 98 XXII. — Useful Garden Recipes and Remedies 103 XXIII. — Insects and Diseases - - - 106 XXIV— Fruit - - - no XXV. — Vegetables i 30 XXVI. — A Calendar of Work for every Month in the Year - - - 144 LIST OF HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS. (For list of line drawings see the General Index at the end of the Volume) . Lilies of the Valley Frontispiece White Snapdragons facing page 16 Victoria Asters - ,, 32 A Charming Gladiolus „ 48 English Irises - ,,80 Aralia Sieboldii „ 96 ERRATA. In the references at foot of Illustrations for p. 43 read p. 51 ; for p. 16 read p. 24 ; for p. 33 read p. 41 ; for p. 40 read p. 48 ; for p. 41 read p. 49 ; for p. 69 read p. 77. CHAPTER I. Mbs we sboulo ©aroen. A person may take up this book who will say to himself, doubt- fully : " Is it worth while to start gardening ? " I give ten reasons why everybody ought to practise gardening : (i (2 (3 (4: (S (6 (7 (8 (9 It is healthy. If conducted properly it is profitable. It gives pleasure and enjoyment. It develops the character and mental faculties. It makes for refinement. It provides a relief from business and domestic cares. It makes home brighter, sweeter and happier. It provides delicious and wholesome food. It brings the one who practises it nearer to Nature. It teaches valuable lessons in care and patience. CHAPTER II. Wben to start (Baroenina. It is best to start gardening in Autumn, for the following reasons : (1) The interest and enthusiasm of the past summer are still active. (2) The ground can be prepared thoroughly for all kinds of crops. (3) Roses, creepers, fruit, ornamental trees and shrubs are best planted in autumn. io ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. (4) Bulbs are best potted and planted in autumn. (5) Turf is best laid in autumn. (6) Draining, making paths, and other ground work is best done in autumn. (7) If a greenhouse is erected and heated in autumn the pleasures of plant culture can be pursued during cold, wet weather throughout the winter, and a supply of flowers can be maintained. The foregoing are strong points in favour of an autumn start, but many amateurs will respond that as they are away from home during all the hours of daylight from October to March inclusive, they cannot begin before April. I reply that an April start is better than none, but that any free days and odd hours in autumn and winter should be taken advantage of to perform such of the operations referred to above as are the most important in each particular case. Should an amateur desire to have some of the rough work done by local florists or hired men let him make arrangements to get it completed by the end of November, then the place will be neat and orderly before the bad weather of winter "comes on. CHAPTER III. 1bow to start (Baroenfng. Let us see first of all what the word " gardening " covers, comprises : — It (1) The cultivation of hardy garden flowers. (2) . , ,, ,, trees and shrubs. (3) . ,, ,, rock plants. (4) . , ,, ,, climbers and creepers. (5) . , ,, tender garden flowers. (6) , , „ hardy fruit. (7) . ,, indoor fruit. (8) . ,, hardy vegetables. (9) . forced vegetables. (10) , , ,, ferns. HOW TO START GARDENING. n (n) The cultivation of orchids. (12) „ ,, ,, room and window plants. (13) ,, ,, ,, greenhouse and conservatory plants. (14) ,, management of lawns and grass plots. Those who own very small gardens, such as the plots attached to town and suburban houses, who have neither the means nor the desire to pay for skilled assistance (except for a few heavy tasks) are not in a position to throw a very wide net. To attempt to grow every class of plant would only lead to worry, confusion and disappointment. Every amateur should recognise the limitations imposed by want of means, space and time ; and one of the most sensible things which can be done for a start is to decide what classes of plants are available. Amateurs might be divided into the following classes : — A. — Town and suburban occupants of terrace houses with a small strip at the front and a plot of five to ten square rods at the back. B. — Suburbanists with detached or semi-detached houses, who have a little ground at the side, and from ten to forty square rods at the back. C. — Occupiers of detached houses in suburb or country with ground all round equivalent to a quarter or half an acre. D. — Occupiers of country places with from half an acre to several acres of ground. Let us now see what is reasonably open to the several classes. Class A. In the front. A few shrubs A creeper on the wall. A window box. At the back. A flower border. A few trees along the end. A grass plot. Creepers on the fence or wall. A small greenhouse. Class B. In the front. Same as Class A. At the side. A few shrubs. At the bach. Same as Class A. An arch. A rockery. A few fruit trees. A bed for Strawberries or choice vegetables. 12 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Class C. In the front. A shrubbery under the front and side wall or fences. A grass plot skirted by a drive. A narrow border of flowers between lawn and drive. Creepers on the house wall. Window boxes. At the side. A conservatory. Shrubs. At the bach. Arches. Borders of flowers. A rockery. A shrubbery. A tennis lawn. A summer house. Fruit trees. A Strawberry bed. A vegetable quarter. A greenhouse. A vinery. Class D. All the sections from (i) to (14) inclusive. Special Flowers for Town and Suburban Gardening. Many amateurs start gardening through developing an interest in some special flower, which they see at a friend's, or at a show. Can they grow this particular plant ? If they garden in the country, and have a fairly good soil, probably they can. If in or quite near a large town it is uncertain. Here is a list of the principal flowers, classified according to their suitability for growing in or near large towns : — Good. Fair. Bad. Asters, China. Auriculas (in frames). Polyanthuses and Prim- Carnations. Begonias. roses. Chrysanthemums. Dahlias. Roses. Clematis (Montana). Gladioli. Violets. Daffodils and Narcissi. Liliums. Geraniums, Zonal. Paeonies. Irises. Pansies and Violas. Hyacinths. Phloxes. Michaelmas Daisies. Sweet Peas. Pinks. Stocks, ten-week. Sweet Williams. Tulips. Wallflowers. Although Roses are greatly missed this is not so bad a list. Carnations, Chrysanthemums and Irises are a host in themselves, and all thrive in town gardens. We shall see presently how to grow all the above, and consider the best sorts. HOW TO START GARDENING. 13 Hired Labour. The hired labour which might be allowed for is as follows : — Class A. — None. Class B. — None. Class C. — A man one day a week (unless the amateur has a good deal of time at home). Class D. — One hand to each acre. (One glass house might be allowed to every acre without any extra charge for labour.) If one acre : a man should be employed. If two acres : a man and a boy should be employed. If three acres : two men and a boy should be employed. Wages. The following are fair rates : — Skilled occasional labour in towns or suburbs, 4s. to 5s. per day. „ „ ,, in the country, 3s. to 3s. 6d. per day. Single-handed gardener without cottage near a town, 25s. to 30s. per week. , with cottage, in the country, 20s. to 25s. per week. Head-gardener with hands under him and a cottage, 25s. to 35s. per week. Cost of Making Paths. With asphalte : 2s. 6d. to 3s. per square yard. With gravel : 3s. to 4s. per square yard. With tar : 2s. to 2s. 6d. per square yard. Cost of Making Lawns. Digging, cleaning and manuring ground : 2s. 6d. per square rod. Seed (lib. at is. 6d. per lb.) is. 6d. ,, ,, ,, Turves (91 at id. each) 7s. 76.. „ „ „ Laying turves 3s. to 5s. ,, ,, ,, The cost of ground work of all kinds depends on the rate of wages prevailing in the district. Estimates can always be got free of charge from florists. CHAPTER IV. Ibow to plan (Barbette. The first thought of a person who cannot afford, or does not wish to employ, hired labour, should be to plan his garden in such a way that he can keep it in good order in the time he has at his disposal. To make an elaborate design of small flower beds on a tiny lawn would be a mistake, if only because of the time which would be occupied in trimming the edges to prevent grass overgrowing the plants. A plain, simple plan is best. In laying out the small rectangular plots behind terrace or semi-detached houses in towns and suburbs it is nearly always best to proceed as follows : (i) Form a border from four to eight feet wide (according to the size of the garden) round the fence. (2) Make a path three feet wide beside the border. (3) Fill up the central area with a grass plot (with or without a flower bed). (a) The border will accommodate the creepers which are to cover the fence, as well as other plants. (6) The path can be made by throwing nine inches depth of soil on to the border, filling the space up with six inches of rammed rubble surfaced with clinkers, and then rolling in two inches of binding gravel. It should be a little higher at the centre than the sides, to carry off water, and drains may be fixed at intervals of a few feet (Fig. 1). (c) The grass plot can be made as advised in Chapter XL To break up the stiffness a rockery may be made in one of the further corners, and a summer-house, with trees beside it, in the other (Fig. 2). Or a greenhouse may take the place of either of these. If the garden is fairly large, a second section may be made at the further end, consisting of a bed with gravel, and a summer- house set among shrubs, with a rockery or greenhouse as before. The two sections may be divided by a hedge. Golden Euony- mus, Privet or American Arbor Vitae would form a suitable hedge. HOW TO PLAN GARDENS. Fig. I.— MAKING A PATH. Note the rough materials at the bottom, the medium above, the gravel at the top, the camber or slope, and the side drains. 15 Fig. 2.— A DESIGN FOR A RECTANGULAR SUBURBAN GARDEN. The design provides : — A central grass plot with flower bed. Borders along the wall or fence with a path all round. A summer-house. A rockery. i6 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. At each point where the path is intersected an arch may be placed. The end section may be laid down in grass if desired, with a belt of shrubs, a rockery, a summer-house, a few trees and a flower border. Greater privacy would be secured if expanding wire trellis work (to be covered with creepers) was placed on the wall. (Fig. 3). Such a corner would be made a very charming feature of a suburban or town garden. If shrubs are employed to any extent, be careful to put them at the end and sides, not in the centre. In the latter case they would block the view (Figs. 4 and 5). It is rarely advisable to introduce fruit and vegetables into small suburban gardens, but in larger gardens they can be accom- modated together by adopting some such plan as Fig. 6. Here the garden is surrounded by a wall, except on the north side, where a range of glass is erected, facing south. Fruit trees are grown on the walls, with a wide border in front of them ; then come paths and four rectangles with trained fruit trees near the outsides and vegetables in the centre. ^J < < < » c- -^ ^.1 V~> c- Ci "■ ■J f C ., c ■ f r r ■ y v t '.. AJ: Fig. 3.— A PRETTY SECLUDED CORNER AT THE END OF A SUBURBAN GARDEN. The design provides : — A summer house with trees beside it. Belts of shrubs. A grass plot. A rockery. A flower border. Expanding trellis on the wall or fence. An arch over the path. ► ■I WHITE SNAPDRAGONS. (See page 16.) HOW TO PLAN GARDENS. 17 ^° I m '■£ H Ss-S" H W « 2; o tu 8 w 3 CO £ ftSS £5 w ?! gsg> O < B H O H i8 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. « o ►'fi JJfl Si CHAPTER V. (Barfcen WnWs anb fences. The divisions between town and suburban gardens are generally close boarded fences, as wood is cheaper than brickwork. In some cases the divisions are high enough to insure privacy, but not in all. Expanding wooden trellis work (Fig. 7 and 8) may be fixed on them to give greater height. Almost every oil and colour merchant and ironmonger sells it very cheaply, and a coat of carbolineum, which costs little and can be applied Kg. 7— EXPANDING TRELLIS CLOSED. Fig. 8.— TRELLIS WORK EXPANDED. quickly, darkens the wood. A rail should be nailed along the top of the trellis to give a finished appearance. Cats can be excluded from the garden effectively by nailing some uprights to the trellis and attaching tarred wire netting, with a sag at the top, to them. Trellis work may also be used for blocking the end of the garden. If covered with creepers it forms an attractive screen (Fig. g). A piece stretching out to twelve feet long by six feet high generally costs five shillings unpainted. 20 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. The greater height given to divisions by the use of trellis work has the advantage of providing more area for creepers, the judi- cious use of which adds greatly to the beauty and interest of small gardens. The following plants are suitable for covering dividing walls and fences : — CANARY CREEPER, a half-hardy annual, which may be raised from seed in a frame or greenhouse in Spring, and planted out at the end of May. CLEMATISES : Montana, white ; and Jackmanii, violet, are two cheap and easily grown plants. The former flowers in late Fig. 9.— TRELLIS WORK USED TO SCREEN THE SIDE OF A HOUSE. Spring and the latter in late Summer. Both should be planted in Autumn, and cut back to a good bud near the base ; they will then send up fresh shoots. They ought to have deep, manured soil. COB AE A SCANDENS is an annual with purple flowers, and if raised from seed in a frame in Spring will flower the same summer. EVERLASTING PEAS are strong ramblers and free bloomers, which come up year after year. They may be raised from seed in Spring, or plants put out in Autumn or Spring. THE GOLD-NETTED HONEYSUCKLE is an attractive plant, and will thrive in most places, even among houses. It may be planted in Autumn. IVIES. Ivy may be planted for a moist, shady spot, but bright flowering climbers should be preserved for sunny places. GARDEN WALLS AND FENCES. The yellow winter JASMINE, nudiflorum, will grow almost anywhere, and should always be one of the selected plants. It may be put in during Autumn, or in Spring. ROSES will not succeed in town gardens, but they may do in suburban gardens if the air is fairly pure, and the soil rich and moist. Dorothy Perkins, pink ; and Alberic Barbier, white, are two charming ram- blers. They may be planted on trellis work, on which the growths should be well spread out, not bunched (Figs. 10 and n). Plant Fig. io.— A NEWLY PLANTED ROSE ON TRELLIS WORK WITH THE GROWTHS SPREAD OUT. in Autumn. SCARLET RUNNERS: The be despised as a fence plant, for Fig. n.— ROSE AGAINST TRELLIS WITH THE SHOOTS BUNCHED. from seed, will cost from one according to the standing of ninepence to a shilling each, about 6d. per pint. Scarlet Runner Bean should not it is very bright, but it must have rich, moist soil. Seed may be sown at mid-May. SWEET PEAS. These lovely hardy annuals do well on trellis work, and may be sown in rich soil in April. If they are cut regularly they will bloom all the Summer. The following are good varieties that will thrive in suburban gardens : Dorothy Eckford, white. King Edward VII., crimson. Lady Grizel Hamilton, light blue. Miss Willmott, salmon pink. The plants in the above list, which are to be raised penny to threepence per packet, the seedsman, and the plants Seed of Scarlet Runners costs CHAPTER VI. Borfcer jflowers. Readers of gardening books and papers, and visitors to flower shows, hear much of " hardy herbaceous perennials " nowadays. A hardy herbaceous perennial is a plant which lives from year to year in the open ground, but loses its leaves and stems in Autumn. The class is a very large and popular one. The different kinds vary a great deal in height, habit, flower and season of blooming ; and this is an advantage, because by making a judicious choice ■A A a J A A A — — . A 8 \ B \ B \ B B B I B C / e / c / ' 4 I c 1 ° 1 ° 1 Fig. 12.— AN HERBACEOUS BORDER ARRANGED FOR TALL PLANTS (A) ; medium height (B), and dwarf (C), but not in stiff tiers. of plants we can arrange a border to look well at different seasons of the year. A border should not be less than four feet wide. Six feet will be better, and ten better still. While tall plants must go to the back, and dwarf to the front, in the main, they should not be set in regular lines, but in irregular groups (Fig. 12). The colours should harmonise. The following associations are appropriate : (i) yellow ; (2) blue • (3) pink ; (4) white ; (5) red ; (6) mauve. BORDER FLOWERS. 23 The following plants give the colours required, and are quite good otherwise : — Yellow. Coreopsis grandiflora (m). TroUius (Globe Flower) {I). Doronicum (Leopard's bane) (m). Carnations (m). Columbines (m). Wallflowers (Z). Violas {I). Snapdragons (I to m). Blue. Delphiniums, (perennial Lark- spurs t). Anchusa Dropmore variety (m). a Sweet Peas (t). Forget-me-nots (I) a Lupins (m). Monkshood (t). Michaelmas Daisies (t). Mertensia Virginica (I). Campanulas (I to m). Eryngiums (Sea Hollies) (t). Hepaticas (/). Irises (m). Linum (Flax) (m). Polemonium Richardsoni (/). Tradescantia Virginica (/). Veronicas (m). Pink. Lavatera (Rose Mallow) (t). b Canterbury Bell (m). a Sweet Peas (t). Pyrethrums (I). Snapdragons (I to m). b Sweet Williams (/). Michaelmas Daisies (t). Armeria (Thrift, Sea Pink) {I). Phloxes [m to t). Dielytra spectabilis (m). White. Chrysanthemum (Ox-eye Daisy) (')■ Phloxes (m to t). b Canterbury Bells (m). Nicotiana affinis (m). Achillea The Pearl (m). Anemone Japonica aiba (m). Campanulas (I to t). Galega (Goat's rue) (t). Liliums (<) . Spiraeas (t). Arabis (/) Mauve, a Asters, China (I). Aubrietias (I). Erigeron speciosum (m). Delphiniums (t). Michaelmas Daisies (t). Phloxes (m to 0- a Stocks, ten-week (/). a Sweet Peas (t). a Salpiglossis (m). Verbena venosa (I). Red. Anemones (I). Geranium sanguineum {l) . Gladiolus Brenchleyensis (m). Geum coccineum (l). Liliums (t). Kniphofia (Torch Lily) (t). Lobelia cardinalis (m). a Sweet Peas (t). Lychnis Chalcedonica (a). Montbretias (m). a Poppies (annual and perennial) It will be seen that several plants in the foregoing lists are annuals (marked a), and a few are biennials (marked 6). There is no reason why these useful plants should not be worked into herbaceous borders if they give colours that are desired (Fig. 1 3) . The letters after the names will afford a guide to the heights. / — low, m- — medium, t — tall. 24 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. All the plants named are cheap ones, costing from 2d. to 6d. each, and can be planted in Autumn or Spring. They can be propagated by division in Spring, in most cases. The following are notes on a few of the best hardy border flowers. ANEMONES. The Crown or Poppy Anemones (Coronaria) are good for early flowering, and the Japanese (Japonica and its varieties) for late blooming. The former can be raised from seed. The latter are propagated by division. ANTIRRHINUMS (Snapdragons) : Splendid plants, easily raised from seed, and flowering the same year if sown early in Spring. Seedsmen offer low, medium and tall strains in separate colours. J t >IM, U ttumsl CoUUn J 'Hollyhock/ V D«t^-HM«vwm«rV MuKafUat _^*~\ Rod /S. .— ^ MuJiaetmo-t ^^ / ^\^ tttMiU ft/ phloxes / \ \ SWCCT P t A« / '■•LOlES 7'\ 'ACONltJ bfLIKS *ofn« S* ^******"** / TeiJ^twtioA^*"**^ »■ \ *«*£*.» ^V / IRISES / STOCKi f^ ty« »«•»«.• Fig. 13.— A SUGGESTION FOR BOLD IRREGULAR GROUPS OF PLANTS IN A MIXED BORDER, INTRODUCING ANNUALS, SUCH AS SWEET PEAS. AQUILEGIAS (Columbines) : Charming flowers, of many colours, easily raised from seed in spring. ARMERIAS : The Thrift and Sea Pink are very pretty for edgings, as they are of low, neat growth. Propagated by division in Spring or seed in Smumer. ASTERS, Perennial (Michaelmas Daisies) : These are valuable plants for several reasons : They will grow in most places ; they flower freely and late, and the colours are beautiful. Propagated by division (Fig. 14) in Spring. The following are particularly good : Mrs. Rayner, crimson, Diffusus horizontalis, rose and white. Coombe Fishacre, flesh. Amellus Framfieldil, violet. White Queen, white. Captivation, pink. BORDER FLOWERS. 25 CAMPANULAS : Very useful plants, giving us blue, which is a scarce colour. Nearly all can be raised from seed in early Summer. The following are particularly good Campanulas : Carpathica, blue. Glomerata Dahurica, deep blue. Grandiflora, blue. Medium (Canterbury Bell, see Biennials, Chapter VIII.). Persicifolia alba plena, double white. „ Moerheimii, semi-double white. Pyramidalis, tall blue. Pyramidalis alba, tall white. CARNATIONS : These are not true herbaceous plants, as they hold their stems through the winter, but they are used in borders Fig. 14.— PROPAGATING MICHAELMAS DAISIES BY DIVISION. The rooted suckers may be drawn off in Spring and planted. Fig. 15.— A CARNATION LAYER. as well as in beds. They are beautiful flowers, and thrive in town gardens. Generally propagated by layering the side shoots into mounds of sandy soil in August, and taking them off and potting or planting them when rooted in Autumn (Fig. 15). Potted plants are usually wintered in unheated frames. If any of the leaves become diseased they should be picked off and burned. The plants are put out in Spring. May also be raised from seed in Summer for flowering the following year. The following are good varieties : Barras, scarlet. Daffodil, yellow. Hildegarde, white. Raby Castle, pink. 26 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Although Chrysanthemums are gener- ally grown under glass there are many beautiful varieties admirably adapted for cultivation in garden borders. The reader must have seen clumps in cottage gardens that spring up year after year, and are very gay until frost comes in Autumn. They will grow in any good soil, and may be propagated by cuttings or division in Spring. It is better to grow fresh plants from cuttings annually than to leave the old ones for many years. Some varieties are named in Chapter XXI. DELPHINIUMS (Perennial Larkspurs). Tall, graceful plants, with handsome spikes of blue flowers ; these do splendid service in borders. They will thrive in most soils, and are propagated by division in Spring. Belladonna and Bleu Celeste are two good varieties, but there is a large number available in various shades of blue. DORONICUMS are very useful, because they thrive in most places, and bear their yellow flowers in great profusion early in the season. Harpur Crewe is the best variety. Propagated by division. EREMURUS. These are comparatively modern plants, and are very handsome, throwing up tall, handsome spikes of yellow, white or pink flowers. They may be raised from seed in summer, and enjoy rich, deep soil. GALEGA (Goat's Rue). Cheap, easily grown plants, thriving anywhere, and flowering long and freely. Propagated by division in Spring. They require a good deal of room, as they are both tall and bushy. GYNERIUM ARGENTEUM (Pampas Grass). A fine plant for an isolated position, where its stately white plumes will show to great advantage in Autumn. Propagated by seed in Summer or division in Spring. GYPSOPHILA PANICULATA. A graceful plant with sprays of bloom that resemble gauze, and are suitable for mixing with cut flowers in vases. Propagated by seed in Summer or division in Spring. HELIANTHUS (Sunflowers). Both the annual and perennial Sunflowers are useful plants, easily raised from seed, the former in Spring, the latter in Summer. They will thrive in any sunny position. HOLLYHOCKS are old favourites, and although liable to disease should be grown. It is a good plan to raise them from BORDER FLOWERS. 27 seed in Summer for flowering the following year, as then they are relatively hardy and healthy. KN1PH0FIAS (Torch Lily) : These, commonly known as Torch flowers or Red Hot pokers, produce tall cones of brilliant flowers in late Summer. They are very handsome plants, quite easy to grow, and may be propagated by dividing the crowns in Spring. Uvaria grandiflora is one of the best varieties. LAVENDER is worth growing in a border, as the perfumed spikes are delicious for cutting. It thrives in most places. There is a low-growing variety called Munstead Dwarf. They can be raised from seed. Fig. 16.— DIVIDING FORGET-ME- Fig. 17.— PROPAGATING NOTS AFTER FLOWERING. PANSIES BY CUTTINGS. This plant can be separated into two 1 — Leaves removed, divisions, x and 2, 3 and 4, or into 2. — Depth to insert, four at will. MICHAELMAS DAISIES : see Asters. MYOSOTIS (Forget-me-Nots) : These charming flowers are delightful for associating with bulbs in borders, and as they can be raised easily and cheaply from seed in quantity by sowing in Summer they ought to be used largely. Alpestris and dissiti- flora, with their varieties, are very useful. The plants may be divided after flowering (Fig. 16). OENOTHERA (Evening Primroses): The Evening Primroses are popular on account of their bright colours (mostly yellow) and abundant flowering. They are easy to grow, and can be raised from seed in Spring and Summer. Lamarckiana, yellow ; taraxacifolia, white ; and fruticosa major, yellow, are all good. 28 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. PAEONIES : These are grand plants for fairly large borders, but must be restricted to a few plants in small ones, especially if the soil is rich, because they grow into large bushes and take up a great deal of room. No attempt should be made to propa- gate the plants, as they do best when left alone. Francois Ortigat is a good dark variety and Rose d' Amour a fine light one. PANSIES : Charming little flowers for the front of borders. Mixed seed of fancy Pansies may be sown under glass in spring, and the 'plants will bloom the same year. They like a semi- shaded place and plenty of moisture. Cuttings can be struck in Autumn (Fig. 17). PAP AVER (Poppies) : Both the annual and perennial Poppies are valuable. Of the former section the doubles should be preferred to the singles ; they can be bought in separate colours, and sown where they are to bloom in Spring. The finest of the perennial Poppies are Papaver Orientale and its varieties. The Iceland Poppy is dwarfer and flowers earlier. These can be raised from seed in Summer. PENTSTEMONS are beautiful perennials, which flower in late Summer from seed sown under glass in Winter, the seedlings being hardened in a frame and planted in Spring. Or seed may be sown in June to give plants for blooming the following year. Any exceptionally good varieties which appear among the seed- lings may be increased by cuttings in the Autumn. The plants are graceful, and the colours of the flowers are varied and beautiful. PHLOXES : There are both annual and perennial forms of Phlox. The former (Phlox Drummondii) are raised by sowing (preferably under glass) in Spring, and planting out in May ; they bloom within a few weeks, and have bright flowers. Being low growers they are most suitable for the front of borders. The perennials are splendid plants, producing brilliant heads of flowers. Although fairly tall they are not bushy, and do not take up a great deal of room. They may be propagated by divi- sion or cuttings in Spring. The following are fine varieties : — Coquelicot, scarlet. Eugene Danzanvilliers, lilac. Tapis Blanc (white). PINKS. Charming for the front of beds and borders. Thrive in almost any soil. Mrs. Sinkins is excellent. Plant in Autumn or Spring, and propagate by young shoots pulled out of their sockets in summer. POLYANTHUSES AND PRIMROSES are charming for the front of borders, where they will flower brilliantly in spring. Mixed seed should be sown in early Summer, and the seedlings planted out BORDER FLOWERS. 29 in Autumn. The best varieties can be increased by division of the clumps after flowering in late spring. The splendid Japanese Primrose (Primula Japonica) should be planted in cool, moist places. PYRETHRUMS : are very valuable, because the flowers are suitable for cutting. The plants start early, and the foliage is pretty. The plants are generally in full bloom in May, and they will bloom again if the first flowers are removed when they fade. Propagation is by division in Autumn or late Winter, just as growth is starting, The following are good varieties. Decoy, single red. Feversham, single white. Princess Beatrice, double pink. VIOLAS. These brilliant little plants are good for margins, and if the soil is good, and the flowers are picked regularly, they will remain in beauty many weeks. Plant in Autumn or in early Spring, and propagate by cuttings in Autumn. The following are good varieties : Duchess of York, white. Royal Sovereign, yellow. J. B. Riding, reddish purple. Rolph, blue. The foregoing are the most important border plants, and will suffice for a start. A person who develops a special liking for this popular class may extend his borders and increase the number of kinds as he gains experience. All the plants named are cheap. Most of them can be raised from seed (which costs from a penny to sixpence a packet) in June, and planted out in Autumn for flowering the following year. But plants may be bought in Spring at prices ranging from two- pence to a shilling each. Bulbs, notably Daffodils, Irises, Liliums and Tulips, may be used with advantage in herbaceous borders, and are referred to in a separate chapter. CHAPTER VII. jflower 3Beb0. The rise of herbaceous borders into popularity has not wholly robbed flower beds of their interest. It is true that very formal bedding, notably carpet bedding, has declined, but amateur gardeners still love pretty flower beds. Some country gardeners plant permanent beds of Roses, which have the advantage of yielding beautiful flowers for cutting. For notes on Roses see Chapter XXI. The Carnation is another plant which makes beautiful beds without the addition of any other kind of plant. See remarks on Carnations in the preceding chapter. Most amateurs plant their beds with Bulbs (see Chapter IX.) or with Wallflowers (see Biennials, Chapter VIII.) in Autumn, and with some of the following plants in late Spring when the bulbs and Wallflowers are over : — Ageratums. Lantanas. Annuals various (see Chap. VIII.) Lobelia, blue. Asters, China (see Chap. VIII). Mimuluses. Begonias, tuberous (see Chap. IX.). Petunias. Calceolarias, yellow. Phlox Drummondii (see Chap. Cannas (see Chap. IX.). VIII.). Geraniums, Zonal. Salpiglossis (see Chap. VIII.). „ Ivy-leaved. Stocks, ten-week (see Chap. Gladioli (see Chap. IX.). VIII.). Heliotrope. Verbenas. The old plan was to plant the main part of the beds with red Geraniums, and surround these with yellow Calceolarias, finishing off with a border of blue Lobelias. Modern taste condemns this crude method, and aims at a more delicate blending of colours. The following are a few good arrangements : — GLADIOLI, MARGUERITES AND GERANIUMS. Centre; aclump of the scarlet Gladiolus Brenchleyensis, the bulbs of which cost about sixpence a dozen, and may be planted in Spring. Band round : White Marguerites, Edging : Geranium Paul Crampel. FLOWER BEDS. 3i A BED OF ANNUALS AND BIENNIALS. Centre : a group of white Canterbury Bells, the fading flowers pinched off in order to maintain the display. Band round : dwarf pink Sweet Williams. Edging : Koniga (Alyssum) maritima variegata. LEOPARD'S BANES, WALLFLOWERS, ARABIS AND FORGET- ME-NOT. Centre of square bed : a clump of Doronicum Harpur Fig. 18.— HOW TO PLANT A SQUARE FLOWER BED WITH SPRING FLOWERS. 1. — Yellow Doronicums (Leopard's Banes). 2. — Brown Wallflowers. 3. — Arabis. 4. — Blue Forget-Me-Not. Crewe. Lines from the Doronicum to the edge of the bed, thus dividing it into bays, double white Arabis. Bays : brown Wall- flowers. Edging : blue Forget-me-not. This is a pretty spring bed, planted in autumn (Fig. 18). CANNAS, IVY-LEAVED GERANIUMS AND ASTERS. Centre : a clump of dark-leaved Cannas. Band round : Ivy -leaved Ger- anium Madame Crousse. Edging : dwarf white Asters. 32 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. A SQUARE BED, Centre : a Dracaena or Abutilon vexillarium, or other foliage plant, rising from a carpet of the graceful grass Dactylis variegata. Take diagonal lines of the latter to the four corners, thus forming four bays. Fill the bays with pink China Asters or pink tuberous Begonias. Edge with white Violas. This takes away the stiffness of a square bed. ANOTHER PLAN FOR A RECTANGULAR BED. Centre: a standard Fuchsia, surrounded by dark-leaved Cannas. Divide the remaining space into bays by taking lines of white Violas to the four corners. Fill the bays with pink Carnations. Edge with Ageratum or Violas. CARNATIONS AND VIOLAS. Plant pink Carnations fifteen inches apart, and set white Violas between them. Or a yellow Carnation could be associated with a blue Viola. WHITE TOBACCO, SCARLET GERANIUM AND VERBENA. Centre, a clump of Nicotiana (white Tobacco), Band round : Geranium Paul Crampel or Henry Jacoby. Edging : Verbena venosa. LAVENDER, NASTURTIUMS AND VIOLA : Centre, a bush of Lavender. Band round : crimson Nasturtiums. Edging, white Viola. AN OVAL OR ROUND BED OF ANNUALS ON GRASS : Centre : Chrysanthemum Morning Star, yellow. Band round : Miss Jekyll's Love-in-a-mist, blue. Edging : Godetia Dwarf Pink. This lovely bed need not cost more than a few pence, and it will remain in beauty many weeks. A " STAR " BED. The above bed may be planted with a star if desired. The centre may be Chrysanthemum as before. Then a four-ray star may be formed, the points coming to within a few inches of the edge ; the rays may be sown with Love-in-a- mist, and the spaces between them with the Godetia. The dwarf white Annual Leptosiphon densiflorus albus, or white Virginian Stocks may be sown as an edging. (Fig. 19.) SPRING BEDS. With respect to Spring beds of bulbs and Wallflowers, dwarf plants such as white Arabis, mauve Aubrietia and blue Forget-me-nots should be used as carpets, lines and rays. They are best associated with May-flowering Tulips, as then all are in full beauty together. Here are a few examples : (1) Centre of a square bed : tall pink Tulips. Lines to the four corners : blue Forget-me-not. Bays : yellow Wallflower. Edging : For- VICTORIA ASTERS. (See page 33.) FLOWER BEDS. 33 get-me-not. (2) Centre of square bed : red Tulips. Lines to the four corners : mauve Aubrietia. Bays : yellow Wallflower. Edging : Aubrietia. (3) Centre of round or oval bed : red Wallflowers. Band round : mauve Aubrietia. Edging : white Arabis with red Tulips rising from it. Fig 19.— A CIRCULAR FLOWER BED WITH A FOUR-RAYED "STAR" DESIGN. It could be sown thus with Annuals in Spring : — 1. — Chrysanthemum, Morning Star, yellow. 2, — Love-in-a-Mist, blue. 3. — Godetia, Dwarf Pink. 4. — Leptosiphon or Virginian Stock, white. It could be planted thus in Autumn : — 1 .—Wallflower, Cloth of Gold or Belvoir Castle. 2. — Forget-me-Not. 3. — A pink May blooming Tulip, rising from a groundwork of Arabis. 4. — Mauve Aubrietia. Half-hardy Annuals (or plants treated as such) are very useful for making a summer display in beds planted with late bulbs and Wallflowers, as they can be sown in late Winter, kept in boxes in frames, and planted when the bulbs are lifted at the end of May. Asters, ten-week Stocks, Salpiglossis, Nicotiana affinis 34 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. and N. Sanderae, Mimuluses, Phlox Drummondii, Petunias, Snap- dragons and Verbenas are particularly valuable. The following are brief notes on the plants mentioned in the table above (except Annuals, Biennials, Bulbs and Tubers, which are dealt with in separate chapters). AGERATUMS. Low-growing, neat plants with blue flowers, easily raised from seed like half-hardy annuals in Spring, or from cuttings in a warm house in Summer. Either Blue Perfection or Imperial Dwarf may be chosen if a special variety is wanted. Plant nine inches apart. Fig. 20.— ZONAL GERANIUMS FROM CUTTINGS. I. — Depth to insert. 2. — Point of detachment. 3. — Leaf removed. 4. — Flower stem removed. CALCEOLARIAS. The old yellow " Calcie " still has admirers, and its compact habit and bright colours make it very useful. Golden Gem is a useful variety, and Golden Glory still finer, but somewhat dearer. Prince of Orange is a good dark variety. Calceolarias are nearly hardy, and should be planted nine inches apart in April. Propagate by cuttings of young shoots put close together in sandy soil in a cold frame in October. GERANIUMS, ZONAL. The most popular of all bedding plants, growing in any soil, flowering profusely, and possessing a great range of brilliant colours. Cuttings of young flowerless shoots (Fig. 20) should be struck in August, and the young plants resulting wintered in boxes in a cool house, from which they can be planted out fifteen inches apart at the end of May. There FLOWER BEDS. 35 are varieties with beautiful foliage in addition to others with brilliant flowers. The following are good : — For Flowers. For Foliage. Beckwith's Pink. Mr. Henry Cox, dark. Henry Jacoby, crimson. Mrs. Pollock, medium. Paul Crampel, scarlet. Flower of Spring, light. Swanley Single White. If only one flowering variety is wanted Paul Crampel may be chosen. GERANIUMS, IVY-LEAVED. Hand- some both in foliage and bloom. They may be planted either on the flat or on raised stumps, with the growths drooping over. They are propagated in August in boxes, wintered under cool conditions, and planted two feet apart at the end of May. The following are good : — Achievement, salmon pink. Madame Crousse, silvery pink. Souvenir de C. Turner, deep rose. HELIOTROPE. This fragrant green- house favourite is often introduced into flower beds with good effect, as the colour is an uncommon one. A stock of plants may be raised from seed in a warm frame or house in Winter, hardened in a cool place, and planted early in June fifteen inches apart. Afterwards it may be main- tained by means of cuttings, which may consist of young shoots, struck in heat under glass in September, and wintered on a shelf in a heated house. Heliotropes are often trained as standards (Pig. 21) for setting amongst dwarf plants in beds. The side shoots are removed until the desired length of stem is attained, when the top is removed. The side shoots which push are stopped. The following are good varieties of Heliotrope : — Lord Roberts, violet. Swanley Giant, rosy mauve. Peruvianum, lilac. White Lady, nearly white. LANTANAS. Bright and free-flowering plants, growing in any soil if planted eighteen inches apart in May, and propagated by cuttings of side shoots in a frame or under a handlight in Fig. 2t— FORMING STANDARD HELIOTROPES 1 and 2. — Main stem. 3. — Stem stopped to encourage side shoots to break and form a head. 4. — Resulting side shoots stopped to encourage more growths. 5.— Stake. 36 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. August. They will need stopping in Spring when they have grown four inches after being potted, or they will get very straggly in habit. The following are good : — Drap d'or, orange. La Neige, white. Ne Plus Ultra, rose. LOBELIA, BLUE. A useful little plant for edgings, being very close in habit, and covering itself with bright blue flowers. It may be planted six inches apart when in full bloom towards the end of May, and will flower all the Summer. If seed is sown in heat in Winter, and the seedlings are hardened off in a frame, the plants will bloom the same Summer. Plenty of plants can be, raised from cuttings by lifting a few old plants in Autumn, potting them, wintering them in a shelf, and giving them warmth to start young shoots in January. The following are good : — Miss Hope, white. Swanley Blue. MIMULUSES. Charming plants with large, beautifully marked flowers, and cool green foliage. They may be raised from seed in a warm frame or greenhouse in Spring, pricked off in boxes, or potted, and planted out in May or June, by which time they will be already in bloom. They will thrive in cool, shady places. PETUNIAS. Among the most brilliant of all bedding plants, Petunias have free blooming and vigorous growth to recommend them. They will grow in almost any soil. In rich soil they must be restricted, or they will over-run other plants. It is easy to get a stock of plants by treating them as annuals, sowing the seed in a warm frame or house in Winter, hardening them in a cool frame, and planting out eighteen inches apart when the beds are ready. If any particularly good variety appears it may be per- petuated by cuttings. VERBENAS : Beautiful and fragrant flowers which may be raised from seed in a warm frame or greenhouse in Winter, har- dened in a cool frame, and planted out eighteen inches apart as soon as the beds are cleared. A mixed strain may be sown, but in addition one or two special varieties may be raised, such as Ellen Willmott, pink ; and Venosa, mauve. Both of these are distinct in colour and charming bedders. Verbenas often need to be pegged down when growing in rich soil, as they tend to ramble. COST OF BEDDING PLANTS. All the plants raised from seed may be bought in packets at one penny upwards. The average price of the others will be 2S. 6d. per dozen. But boxes of young plants can be bought very cheaply in the markets, through advertisements in gardening papers, and from local florists. FLOWER BEDS. 37 GENERAL REMARKS ON PLANTING BEDS. (1) Avoid using many different kinds in one bed ; (2) Avoid elaborate designs ; (3) Do not plant closer than the distances advised for each plant ; (4) Dig the soil deeply before planting with a fork or spade, then the trowel will penetrate freely ; (5) Put the plants in up to the lower leaves, and make them quite firm ; (6) Hoe between the plants until they cover the ground, in order to keep down weeds ; (7) If the soil is very shallow and poor, mulch the surface with two inches of short manure or cocoanut fibre refuse. EDGES OF BEDS, BORDERS AND LAWNS. An untidy appear- ance is often caused through the edges of borders, beds, and grass plots being uneven, overgrown, or crumbly. If the paths are of turf the edges can be kept neat with a pair of long edging shears. If of gravel the soil can be held up with tiles, small stones, or four-inch split deal painted with carbolineum and supported by battens. The following are pretty plants for edgings : — Spring Flowering. Summer Flowering. Arabis. Alyssum (Koniga) maritima Aubrietia. variegata. Forget-me-not. London Pride. Pinks. Thrift (Armeria). Avoid Box, as it harbours slugs. CHAPTER VIII. annuals anb Biennials. Annuals are plants which flower, seed and die within a year. Biennials are plants which grow one year, seed the next, and then die. Both classes are useful, the former mainly for summer and Autumn and the latter principally for Spring and early Summer. All hardy annuals may be sown out of doors where they are to bloom in April. Half-hardy and tender annuals are best sown in a warm frame or greenhouse in March, hardened in an unheated frame, and planted out in May. But they may be sown outside in May. Biennials are best sown out of doors early in June, trans- planted in rows a few inches apart to keep them sturdy and compact, and planted out in Autumn. Hardy annuals may be sown in patches in borders, or in groups in beds. In most cases they should be sown thinly, half an inch deep, and thinned out to six inches apart. Half-hardy annuals, notably Stocks and Asters, may be used for beds or borders. The following are good hardy annuals : — Kind. Approximate Height in inches. Colour. Alyssum matitimum 9 white. Bartonia aurea 12 yellow. Candytuft 12 crimson, white. Chrysanthemum, Morning Star 18 yellow. Clarkia elegans 18 rose. Collinsia bicolor 15 blue and white. Convolvulus minor 12 blue and white. „ major rambler different. Coreopsis Drummondii . . 12 brown and yellow. Cornflower 12 blue. Eschscholtzia crocea 9 orange. ANNUALS AND BIENNIALS. -39 Kind. Approximate Height in Inches. Colour. Godetia, different varieties 12 different. Helianthus (Sunflower) . . 48 and u pwards yellow. Larkspur, dwarf 12 different. „ branching 24 blue. Lavatera (Rose Mallow) 36 pink Leptosiphon 6 different. Limnanthes Douglasi 6 yellow and white Linaria 6 purple, yellow and white. Linum coccineum 12 scarlet. Lupins 36 different. Mathiola (Night-scented Stock) 12 lilac. Mignonette 9 red, yellow and cream. Nasturtium, dwarf 8 scarlet, yellow and white. „ rambling Ditto. Nemophila insignis 6 blue. Nigella (Love-in-a-mist) 15 blue. Phacelia campanularia . . 9 blue. Poppies, single Shirley . . 15 different. „ double 24 different. Saponaria calabrica 6 pink.g 4.-1 Scabious, Sweet 12 white, purple. Silene pendula compacta H pink. Sweet Peas 72 different. Sweet Sultan 12 yellow and white. Virginian Stock 9 pink, white. All of the above can be bought in penny packets and upwards, and will thrive in ordinary soil if not crowded. SWEET PEAS are worth specialising, as if grown well, and cut regularly in order to prevent seed pods forming, they will give a supply of their brilliant, deliciously perfumed flowers for several months. A sowing of one or two cheap varieties may be made out of doors in Autumn if desired. The general sowing may be made in March or April, when the soil is moist and crumbly. The rows should be at least six feet apart and the seed should be sprinkled thinly and covered an inch deep. It may be moist- ened with paraffin oil to keep vermin away, and lime may be sprinkled beside the rows to deter slugs when the young plants are through. Long hazel or other sticks should be put to them 40 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. as soon as they show tendrils. Many grow Sweet Peas in clumps' a few feet apart in the borders. The seeds should be sown in a ring not less than a yard across. Those who grow to get special flowers for showing often sow in small pots in a frame in Winter, planting the Peas out six inches to a foot apart in April or May (Fig. 22 and 23). Strong plants are thus secured, and if put in deep, rich soil, and fed with Fig. 22.— RAISING SWEET PEAS IN POTS. 1. — Drainage. 2.— Soil. 3. — Seeds. Fig. 23.— RAISING SWEET PEAS IN POTS, The plants ready for being put out. liquid manure, they produce three and four large flowers each on long stems. The following are beautiful varieties in the various colours : — White Crimson Scarlet Cream and primrose Dark blue Medium blue Light Blue Cerise Pink Blush Salmon Violet Magenta Salmon pink Picotee-edge Mauve Maroon Flaked Bicolor Veined blue Dorothy Eckford and Etta Dyke. King Edward VII. and Mrs. Duncan. Queen Alexandra and George Stark. James Grieve and Clara Curtis. Lord Nelson and A. J. Cook. Zoe and Flora Norton Spencer. Lady G. Hamilton and Frank Dolby. Chrissie Unwin and Coccinea. Countess Spencer and Constance Oliver. Mrs. Hardcastle Sykes. Helen Lewis or Maggie Stark. Henry Eckford and Earl Spencer. Duke of Westminster. Menie Christie. Miss Wfflmott. Evelyn Hemus and Elsie Herbert. The Marquis. Prince of Asturias. Prince Olaf and Paradise Red Flake. Mrs. A. Ireland. Helen Pierce. ANNUALS AND BIENNIALS. 41 The following are good half-hardy and tender annuals : — Kind. Inches high. Colour. Ageratum 9 to 12 blue. Asters, China, various . . 9 to 24 different. Brachycome (Swan River Daisy) 12 blue. Cosmos bipinnatus 3° different. Gaillardias 18 brown and yellow. Helichrysum (Everlasting) 12 different. Marigolds, French 12 striped brown and yellow. „ African 24 lemon, orange. Nemesias IS different. Nicotiana aifinis (white Tobacco) 24 white. Nicotiana Sanderae 24 red shades. Petunias 18 different. Phlox Drummondii 9 to 18 Portulaca 6 »> Salpiglossis 18 t» Stocks, ten-week 12 to 18 »> Tagetes signata pumila . . 9 orange. Zinnias r8 different. Asters and Stocks are the most useful of the above, and seed can be bought in separate colours. CHINA ASTERS are sold under various class names, such as Dwarf Chrysanthemum flowered, Victoria, Comet and Ostrich Plume. If the amateur is in doubt what to choose he might select the last, as the flowers are large and graceful, and the colours brilliant. Plenty of air should be given to the young plants while they are in boxes in frames, and they should not be allowed to suffer from dryness. When planted out they should be set eighteen inches apart. They are quite capable of making beautiful beds in themselves. STOCKS are fragrant as well as beautiful, and should be planted a foot apart in groups or lines near the house, where their perfume can be enjoyed fufly. The dwarf German ten-week is a useful strain, as the plants grow about a foot high, and have large spikes of bloom in different colours. With plenty of air and room in the frame they will become strong and sturdy. 42 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. It is well to sow the seed of all the half-hardy annuals thinly in shallow boxes in fine soil, and to cover about half an inch deep. A warm frame or shelf in a greenhouse is a suitable place for them ; but an unheated frame will do after Mid-March. When they are about an inch high they should be pricked off about four inches apart in other boxes, and kept in an unheated frame until the time comes for them to go out. They should not be kept close and sodden, or they will damp off. Give abundance of air. The following are good biennials : — Kind. Inches High Colour. 2 Campanula pyramidalis CO blue 2 „ „ alba 6o white. Canterbury Bells, plain . . 30 blue, rose, white. „ Cup and saucer . . 3° *» >» », I Dianthus Heddewigii . . 12 different. 2 Foxgloves 72 »» I Indian Pink 12 to 18 ,, Michauxia campanuloides 4 8 white. Poppy, Iceland (Papaver nudicaule) 12 different. Stocks, Brompton 24 »» 2 Sweet Rocket 18 >t I Sweet Scabious 12 Sweet Williams 12 to 18 >9 Verbascum Olympicum . . 60 yellow. 2 Wallflowers 12 to 18 brown, yellow. Those marked (1) are often treated as annuals, being sown early in the year for flowering the same season. Those marked (2) are really perennials, but are generally treated as biennials. CANTERBURY BELLS, SWEET WILLIAMS AND WALLFLOWERS are the three most important of the biennials. Seed of the two first may be bought in mixture, or in separate colours, at will. Both red (or brown) and yellow Wallflowers should be sown, as they are equally brilliant and sweet. Setting out biennials (but especially Wallflowers) a few inches apart in a spare plot when they begin to get crowded in the seed rows has a great bearing on their future success, as it encourages them to branch freely near the base. These side stems get firm, and however forlorn the plants may look at the end of a hard Winter they will bloom well when they start growing in Spring. BULBS AND TUBERS. 43 Seed of all annuals and biennials can be bought at one penny and upwards per packet. As seeds of annuals and biennials can be bought in quantity at a very low price they are the cheapest of all plants. At the same time they are both beautiful and easily grown. By making good use of these splendid classes a flower garden can be kept bright from Spring to Autumn at a cost of a shilling or two. CHAPTER IX. Bulbs ant) {Tubers. Bulbous and tuberous plants, with which may be included rhizomatous plants like German Irises, and cormous ones such as Gladioli, are of immense value to amateur gardeners. Most of them can be bought in a dry state in Autumn, and grown to flower in Winter and Spring, when most plants are dormant. They are suitable for greenhouses, rooms and gardens. They will beautify unheated greenhouses. Here are notes on a few of the best in alphabetical order : — ACONITES, WINTER : A charming dwarf primrose flower, with a green frill round the corolla, opening in February. Will grow in any soil, and looks nice in grass. Price about 2s. 6d. per 100. ALLIUM NEAPOLITANUM : White flowers on long stems, produced in Winter and Spring. Quite hardy, good for pots and hanging baskets. Will thrive in shade, and among shrubs. Price about 2s. 6d. per 100. ALSTROMERIAS : Graceful plants growing about two feet high, better suited for gardens than pots. Will grow in almost any soil if not frequently disturbed. Flower in Summer. The colours are yellow, orange, white and purple. Price about 2s. 6d. per dozen. AMARYLLISES : The finest of the Amaryllises are the splendid plants now known as Hippeastrums. They have magnificent flowers, which they produce in Winter and Spring on tall spikes. Buy bulbs in Autumn, and pot at intervals in Winter, in order 44 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. to get a succession. After flowering gradually reduce the water supply until the foliage has ripened, then stand them in a dry place until the time comes to repot ; 6o° is. a suitable temperature to bring them into flower. Only the thick lower part of the bulb should be in the soil. Price of unnamed seedlings about is. 6d. each. Named varieties cost ios. to 30s. each. ANEMONES : Have been referred to under Border Flowers. There are many species and varieties, mostly flowering in Spring, but the beautiful St. Brigid and Alderborough strains of coronaria can be planted in Spring to flower in Summer, and Japonica and its varieties bloom late in Summer. Single and double mixed Anemones cost about 2s. 6d. per 100, St. Brigid and fulgens (scarlet) 5s. to 6s. per 100. ARUM LILIES. The White Arum Lily is a charming plant for flowering under glass in Winter and Spring. It should have a warm house, as although sharp frosts will not kill it in an unheated house, they will pinch '/'/■// \l the leaves and cripple the flower I/// f stems. Buy in Autumn, pot, plant out of doors in Tune (Fig. F lg . ^-PLANTING OUT ARUM LILIES. ^ , divide and ^ up J ^ & ^-Ho'iiow for water. September. Give plenty of 3.— Roots. water. Price about 4s. per dozen. The Godfrey, a dwarf, free-flowering variety, very desirable, costs about 6d. each ; the yellow, Elliottiana, about 2s. 6d. each. BEGONIAS, TUBEROUS. Splendid plants both for greenhouse and garden, flowering in Summer and Autumn. May be raised from seed, sown on the surface of fine, sandy soil in Winter or Spring, in a warm house. They grow slowly in their early stages, as they have to form tubers. Seed costs id. to 2s. 6d. per packet, according to the standing of the seedsman. Tubers of flowering size can be bought in Spring at about 2s. 6d. per dozen. These may be put into six-inch pots, or started in moist cocoanut fibre refuse and planted out a foot apart early in June. Keep the soil moist. After flowering, dry the tubers off and store in a frost-proof place till Spring. The following are good varieties : — Single. Exquisite, pink. Prince of Orange, orange. Snowdrop, white. Double. Beauty of Belgrove, pink. Rev. G. Lascelles, yellow. Lord Roberts, white. BULBS AND TUBERS. 45 BELLADONNA AND GUERNSEY LILIES. Pretty rose flowered bulbs, which are not quite hardy, and should either be grown in light, sandy soil in a sunny, sheltered place out of doors, or in pots for the greenhouse. Buy early in Autumn, pot immediately, and they will come into bloom almost at once. The Guernsey Lily is a brilliant and sparkling flower. The plants should be kept dry from May to August, but watered during the remainder of the year, including the Winter, after flowering. Price of the Belladonna Lily 4s. to 5s. per dozen, of the Guernsey Lily 5s. to 6s. CALOCHORTUS. Pretty bulbs, not quite hardy, enjoying a sunny, sheltered place and light, warm soil. They may be grown in pots. They flower in early Summer. Price 2S. 6d. to 5s. per dozen, according to variety. Plant about two inches deep in Autumn. C ANN AS. Handsome plants, with large leaves, green in some varieties, brown in others ; and tall spikes of brilliant flowers. They require practi- cally the same treatment as Dahlias, being planted eighteen inches apart in deep rich soil in late Spring, lifted in Autumn, and Wintered in a dry, frost- proof place. In Spring they can be divided (Fig. 25) and put in a frame until planting time. They bloom in Fig. 25.— propagating Summer when grown out of doors, but cannas by division. may be flowered in Spring in pots under ». 2 *n d 3.— Latent buds in the . J tt 1 • "I j. a. rootstock. glass. Unnamed mixtures cost 4s. to 5s. per dozen. CHIONODOXA (Glory of the Snow). Delightful little hardy, winter-flowering, blue-flowered bulbs, succeeding almost anywhere. Luciliae, blue with white centre, and Sardensis, dark blue, are both good. Price about 3s. per 100. Plant an inch deep in Autumn. CHRISTMAS ROSES. Flowering out of doors in Autumn and mid- Winter, the Hellebores are most valuable. Plant in Septem- ber, and pot at the same time if some are wanted under glass. They do well under trees, and it is a good plan to put them among hardy ferns, as the flowers receive protection both from frost and splashed soil. Major is a fine variety of the ordinary Christmas Rose (niger). Price 9s. to 12s. per dozen. 46 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. COLCHICUM AUTUMN ALE (Meadow Saffron). A pretty Crocus- like plant, blooming in Autumn without leaves. Any soil will do. Plant in August an inch deep. Price about 2s. per dozen. CROCUSES. Great favourites, particularly the yellow. Will grow in any soil, and may be colonised on grass. Plant an inch deep and three inches apart in Autumn. Price of the blue, striped, white and mixed about is. 6d. per ioo, of yellow about 2S. Protect from birds when in bloom with black thread strung just above the flowers. CROWN IMPERIALS. Tall, handsome plants, with clusters of yellow or red flowers. Hardy, and will thrive in most soils. Plant three inches deep and a foot apart in Autumn. Price 6d. to is. each. Fig. 36.— GROWING EARLY DAFFODILS IN BOXES. i. — Holes for drainage. 2. — Rough soil over holes. 3. — Fine soil. 4. — Bulbs. 5. — Space for water. DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI. The most popular of all hardy bulbs. May be grown in beds, borders, grass, pots, boxes and bowls with equal success. Thrive in any soil, but prefer a deep, moist, fertile medium. The bulbs vary in size with the variety, and a good rule is to plant double their own depth, and about nine inches apart. Plant in late Summer or early Autumn. They need not be lifted after flowering, unless desired. When used in borders plant in separate groups, then Stocks, Asters, or other seedling annuals can be planted near them when they go out of bloom. The foliage may be tied in a neat bunch and removed as soon as it turns yellow. For forcing, set four inches apart in boxes (Fig. 26), the bulbs not quite covered with soil, and plunge in ashes or cocoanut fibre refuse until well rooted. For pots use one to three, according to size, in a five inch pot, and treat as in boxes. For china bowls use peat moss fibre with a sprinkling of fine shell, make it firm, and just cover the bulbs, but do not plunge them. Take care to keep the fibre moist. The price of Daffodils and Narcissi varies enormously. Some BULBS AND TUBERS. 47 sorts can be bought for 10s. per 1,000. New ones may be ^25 each. The following all cost from. 6d. to is. 3d. per dozen : — Emperor, yellow Trumpet. Stella superba, yellow and white Empress, yellow and white Star. Trumpet. c. Poeticus (Pheasant's eye), e Golden Spur, yellow Trumpet white, orange eye. e Henry Irving, yellow Trumpet Poeticus ornatus, early white, c Horsefieldii, yellow and orange eye. white Trumpet. Poeticus plenus, double white, c Barri conspicuus, yellow and Van Sion, double yellow. orange Star. Sir Watkin, yellow and orange Orange Phoenix, double cream. Star. c — These are very cheap in large quantities, e — These are good for forcing. Fig. 27.— A CLUMP OF DAHLIA TUBERS. 1.— Tubers. 2. — Crown where buds start. 3. — Old stem. DAHLIAS. One of the special flowers of florists, Dahlias are also at home with the cottager and amateur. Given deep, rich soil, and abundance of moisture, they will thrive in any garden, but they have the drawback of taking up a great deal of room. The Pompons are the smallest growers, and as they flower abundantly and have very bright colours, they are very useful. They will do thirty inches apart, but the Show, Cactus and Single varieties should have four feet. At the start young Dahlias from pots should be bought and planted early in June. The tubers can be lifted and stored in a dry, frost-proof place for the Winter, and cuttings taken from them when they start growing in Spring, or the tubers can be replanted (Fig. 27). They 48 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. need tying to strong stakes as they grow, and small pots containing hay should be put on the top of the stakes to trap earwigs. The prices of Dahlias range from 2s. 6d. per dozen to 7s. 6d. each. The following are all moderate in price, and of good quality : — Show. Mrs. Mawley, yellow. Crimson King. Pearl, pink and white. John Walker, white. Spitfire, scarlet. Mrs. Gladstone, blush. R. T. Rawlings, yellow. Single. p ancv Columbine, orange and rose. Comedian, orange and red Formosa, crimson and yellow. Gaiety, yellow, red and white. Leslie Seale, lilac. Novelty, purple and rose. The Bnde > whlte - Peacock, maroon and white. Pompon. Cactus. Bacchus, red. Amos Perry, crimson. Buttercup, yellow. Britannia, salmon. Guiding Star, white. Eva, white. Nerissa, rose and white. DOG'S TOOTH VIOLETS. Pretty for the rockery. Plant an inch deep in Autumn. Price about is. per dozen. FREESIAS. Lovely and fragrant white and yellow bulbs for pots, which can be had in bloom for several months by potting successions. Put several bulbs an inch apart in six-inch pots in September onwards, but do not plunge (Fig. 28). Put them in a warm greenhouse when well rooted. After flowering gradu- ally reduce the water supply, and when the foliage withers take the bulbs out of the soil and ripen them by full exposure to the sun. Price about is. per dozen. GALTONIA (Hyaointhus) CANDICANS. A tall, handsome, white-flowered bulb suited for the border. Blooms in Summer. Plant three inches deep and a foot apart in Autumn. Price about is. per dozen. GLADIOLI. Magnificent plants for beds and herbaceous borders, flowering in late Summer on long, arching spikes. The blooms open successionally upwards, and spikes may be cut for vases as soon as the lower flowers begin to open. They will thrive in most soils, but like a deep medium. Plant two inches deep and a foot apart in April. Lift when the foliage ripens, and store the dry roots in a frost-proof place for the Winter. Stake when in bloom. Mixed corms cost about is. per dozen ; separate colours, unnamed, about 2s. 6d. ; named varieties 2s. to 2s. 6d. each. Brenchleyensis, splendid scarlet, costs 6d. to is. per dozen. It may be planted in Autumn. Colvillei alba is nice for pots, and costs about 6d. per dozen. A CHARMING GLADIOLUS. (See page 40) . BULBS AND TUBERS. 49 HTACINTHS. Beautiful and fragrant bulbs, very suitable for pots and glasses, and also good for beds. Pot singly, three parts burying the bulbs, in five-inch pots in Autumn, and plunge in cocoa-nut fibre refuse or ashes until well rooted, then put in a greenhouse and water (Fig. 29). Give stakes when the trusses develop. For glasses, choose even bulbs and pure water with a little charcoal in it. Set the glasses in a dark cupboard until they are full of roots, then give them a light position. Fix wire supports to the glasses. Bulbs from pots and glasses are only suitable for the garden after flowering. For bedding, plant two Fig. 28.— HOW TO POT FREESIAS. Fig. 29.— HOW TO POT HYACINTHS. 1. — Crooks. 2. — Rough 3. — Fine soil. A 5-inch pot is used. soil. The following are good inches deep and a foot apart in Autumn. Named Hyacinths for pots and glasses cost 2d. to 6d. each. Bedding bulbs in separ- ate colours cost about 3s. per dozen. Hyacinths : — Red. Blue. Jacques. Electra. Garibaldi. Grand Maitre. Gigantea. Lord Derby. La Victoire. King of the Blues. Von Schiller. Menelik. White and tinted. Baroness van Tuyll. Grandeur a Merveille. Isabella. La Grandesse. Yellow. Yellow Hammer. White Roman Hyacinths, costing about 2s. 6d. per dozen, may be potted in August and onwards to get successions of bloom throughout the Winter. Grape Hyacinths (Muscari) are pretty little bulbs, especially Heavenly Blue, which costs about is. per dozen. It may be planted an inch deep and three inches apart in Autumn. IRISES. A splendid class of hardy bulbous and allied plants, thriving in almost any soil. The English and Spanish flower in early Summer. They may be planted two inches deep and a foot SO ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. ■ apart in Autumn. Price of English about 3s. per 100, of Spanish about is. 6d. per 100. The beautiful Iris reticulata, with its lovely blue and yellow scented flowers, should have a frame or a warm, dry spot. Price about 2s. per dozen. Susiana, the singular dark Iris, costs about 3s. 6d. per dozen. It is hardy, and may be planted in Autumn. The German or Flag Irises are notable town plants, and will thrive almost anywhere. They cost 3s. 6d. per dozen upwards. They should be divided and replanted every few years. I XI AS are pretty pot bulbs, but not of great importance. They cost about 3d. per dozen, and may be put two inches apart in five-inch or six-inch pots in Autumn and plunged. LACHEN ALIAS are suitable for hanging baskets lined with moss and filled with soil. Nelsoni, yellow, is one of the best, but rather dear, as the bulbs cost about is. each. Tricolor, red, green and yellow, costs about 6s. per dozen. 4LEUC0JUMS (Snowflake). Very pretty, hardy bulbs, flowering in Winter and Spring, with fragrant flowers resembling Snowdrops, but larger. Vernum, white, tipped with green, costs about is. per dozen, and Carpathicum, a much finer plant, about is. 66.. Plant an inch deep and three inches apart in Autumn. They thrive in most soils. Kg. 30.— lilium in LILIUMS. Glorious bulbs for garden and P0T - greenhouse. Auratum is perhaps the most Note stem roots pushing, popular. English bulbs are procurable in Autumn, and cost from is. to 2s. 6d. each. Imported bulbs arrive in December, and onwards through the Winter ; it is not wise to get these very early, as they may be unripe ; February is soon enough. The bulbs cost 6d. to is. each. They may be grown singly in six-inch and eight-inch pots, plunged until rooted, and then put in the greenhouse. Room should be left for giving a top dressing of soil when stem roots push (Fig. 30). In planting out of doors dig the ground deeply, and work in sand or road grit. Either loam or peat will suit auratum. Harrisi is a very popular pot Lily, and if potted in September will bloom in Spring. Good bulbs cost about is. 3d. each. Longiflorum (of which Harrisi is a variety) is also a nice pot Lily, and the Japanese bulbs of it, which arrive in November, and cost 6d. to gd. each, give good results. Speciosum roseum and speciosum album are well adapted for pots. Of garden Lilies Brownii, Chalcedonicum, croceum, tigrinum, and umbellatum, BULBS AND TUBERS. 51 with their varieties, are the most popular. The prices range from 2d. to is. 6d. each. All may be planted four inches deep and two feet apart in well-drained fertile soil in Autumn or Spring. LILY OF THE VALLEY. This deliriously sweet plant forces readily. Crowns specially prepared, and retarded in cold storage, can be bought at almost any period for about is. 6d. per dozen, and if they are put in a temperature of 6o° they will be in bloom within three weeks. A small handful may be put loosely in a five-inch pot, and soil pressed round them. Berlin crowns are also good for forcing. Both should be given abundance of overhead moisture. Dutch clumps are suitable for planting out of doors. They may be put nine inches apart and just covered with soil. NARCISSI. The Polyanthus Narcissi are much used for pots, being grown like Hyacinths. Paper White is very early. Grand Monarque and Soleil d'or are rather later. All cost is. to is. 3d. per dozen. (See also Daffodils.) RANUNCULUSES are brilliant in colour, and if tubers are planted an inch deep and a foot apart in February, they will bloom in early summer. Price about 6d. per dozen. SCILLAS are charming early blue bulbs, hardy, and suitable for dotting in beds among larger bulbs. Plant about an inch deep and three inches apart in Autumn. Price 3s. to 4s. per 100. SNOWDROPS. Charming for beds or naturalising in grass. Elwesi is a splendid single variety, and costs about 3s. 6d. per 100. The double costs the same. Plant like Scillas. SNOWFLAKES. See Leucojum. SPIRAEA JAPONICA. This handsome white-plumed plant is excellent both for greenhouses and rooms. Clumps, which cost about 5s. per dozen, can be potted in Autumn like bulbs, and when well-rooted may be forced. Queen Alexandra is a charming pink variety, but costs about three times as much as Japonica. The Spiraeas will remain in beauty a long time in rooms if well ventilated, and given plenty of water. TUBEROSES. Fragrant white flowers on long stems, best grown singly in pots like Hyacinths. The tubers are not procur- able till January, however. The price is about is. 3d. per dozen. TULIPS. Splendid bulbs, alike for pots, bowls, beds and borders. The early Dutch are suitable for forcing in pots, or for growing in bowls, and for April flowering in the garden. The Cottage and Darwin are good May bloomers for beds and 52 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. borders. For pots, put three bulbs of early Dutch varieties in a five-inch, nearly covering, and plunge in cocoanut fibre refuse until rooted, then put in a greenhouse, unheated or warm, and water as required (Fig. 31). The Van Thol is the earliest, and suitable for forcing. For bowls, embed in peat moss fibre and crushed shell, using three to five bulbs according to the size of the bowl. Plant in the garden after blooming. For the garden, plant two inches deep and nine inches apart — rather more in the case of the strong Cottage and Darwin class. The bulbs need not be taken up after flowering. Annuals should be sown or planted near the clumps in Spring, and the leaves of the bulbs removed after they have ripened. The following are beautiful Tulips : — Fig. 31.— HOW TO POT TULIPS. I. — Drainage. 2. — Soil. 3. — Bulbs. Equidistant in a 5-inch pot. Early Single Dutch. Brunhilde, white and buff. Chrysolora, yellow. Due van Thol, red and yellow. Keizer's Kroon, red and yellow. Ophir d'or, yellow. Proserpine, dark rose. Thomas Moore, orange. Vermilion Brilliant, scarlet. White Swan, white. Early Double Dutch. Blanche Hative, white. Imperator Rubrorum, scarlet. La Candeur, white. Salvator Rosa, rose. Tournesol, yellow. Yellow Rose, sweet. Tall May Bloomers. Annie, yellow. Dainty Maid, lilac and white. Inglescombe Scarlet. La Merveille, purplish rose, sweet. Loveliness, rose. Sultan, maroon. SOIL FOR BULBS. Nearly all bulbs succeed in a compost of three parts fibrous loam, one of decayed manure or leaf mould, and one of sand. The soil should be made firm under and around them, but not quite hard. PLUNGING BULBS. Burying bulbs in coacoanut fibre refuse after potting is advised because it holds top growth in check until roots have pushed, and this makes for the good of the plants. It is dangerous to force bulbs that are not well rooted. The pots should stand on cinders to keep out worms. WATERING BULBS. Bulbs require very large quantities of water when growing. If the pots are drained with an inch of crocks and flaky leaf mould to keep the soil from stopping up the holes too much water can hardly be given. CHAPTER X. Gbe 1Rocften>. I have provided for a small rockery in the plans of some of the gardens. Even the suburban " back garden " may have its rockery, so long as there is a sunny place where a mound of good soil can be formed. A rockery is very interesting, because on it can be grown many beautiful small plants which would be " lost '' in open borders or beds. These gems establish themselves between the stones, and ramble over the face of the latter in a delightfully free and natural way. ; Fig. 33.— A ROCKERY WITH THE STONES ARRANGED SO THAT RAIN CAN GET IN FREELY. It is worth while to get a special supply of fibrous loam for the mound, because the ordinary garden soil can be ill spared, probably, and might not be good enough even if it were available. The mound may be either a circle or a continuous bank ; if the latter it may be given an irregular outline. If it is a yard high and the same through at the base it will do fairly well ; if larger all the better. Pieces of irregular sandstone or limestone, about equal to a peck measure in size, will do for the rocks, and can be procured through a florist or builder. The cost will depend entirely on 53 54 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. the distance that they have to be brought, hence it is impossible to give even an approximate estimate. It might be 5s. per ton, or it might be 25s. The stones should be embedded firmly, and in such a way as to leave good-sized pockets for the plants. The stones should not overhang sufficiently to throw off rain, but should admit it freely (Fig. 32). The plants may be put in either in Autumn or Spring ; the former is the better, because it gives the spring-bloomers a chance of making good roots, and with this support they will spread fast and flower profusely in spring. The beginner in rock gardening should make use of quick- growing, inexpensive things such as Arabis, Aubrietias, perennial Candytuft (Iberis), yellow Alyssum (Mad wort) Cerastium (Snow- in-Summer), Helianthemums (Sun Roses), Edelweiss, and the mossy Saxifraga hypnoides. The first four are particularly useful, because they come readily from seed sown in June, and if planted in Autumn make beautiful patches of colour within the year. The following are a few good rock plants : — ♦American Cowslips. Irises, small kinds. Androsaces. Linarias. ♦Anemones. Llthospermun prostratum. Arabises. *Mertensia virginica. Arenarla. *Narclssi, small kinds. Aubrietias. *Omphalodes verna. Campanulas, small kinds. Onosma Tauricum. ♦Candytuft, perennial (Iberis). Phloxes, Alpine. ♦Corydalis. Poppies, Iceland. Crocus species. Portulacas. ♦Cyclamen Coum. ♦Primulas. Dianthuses (several species). *Ramondia Pyrenalca. Dog's Tooth Violets. Saxifrages. Edelweiss. Sedums. Epigaea repens. Sempervivums. ♦Gentians. ♦Shortla galacifolla. Geraniums. ♦Soldanella Alpina. Gypsophila repens. Thyme, Mountain. Helianthemums. ♦Tiarella (Foam Flower). ♦Hepaticas. Tulip Species. • These will endure shade, in fact Hepaticas require it. Beware of permitting the pretty Corydalis to extend far, or it will become a troublesome weed. The Cerastium must be kept under strict control also. It is a charming plant, with its grey leaves and white flowers, but rampant. Eschew the Valerian (Centranthus) as it is a coarse plant, and will smother smaller things. THE ROCKERY. 55 PROPAGATION OF ROCK PLANTS. Nearly all the plants named can be raised from seed out of doors in Summer. Make a bed of fine soil, draw drills an inch deep and nine inches apart, and sprinkle the seed in thinly. The useful double white Arabis can be propagated by striking cuttings of young shoots in a shady place in summer (Fig. 33) . American Cowslips, several Anemones, 33.— PROPAGATING DOUBLE ARABIS BY CUTTINGS. species of Crocus and Cyclamens, Dog's Tooth Violets, Hepaticas, Irises, Narcissi and Tulip species can be bought as bulbs or roots from bulb dealers in autumn. Rock plants of tufty habit can be propagated by division in autumn. Portulacas are annuals, and can be raised from seed in Spring to flower in Summer. They are beautiful flowers. CHAPTER XI. £be Xawn or (Srase plot In chapter III. I estimated the cost of making lawns as follows : — Per square rod. Preparing ground . . . . ..26 Seed . . . . . . ..16 Turves . . . . . . ■ • 7 7 Laying turves . . . . 3 o to 5 o I gave these figures because making a lawn, especially with turves, is the kind of task often left to professionals. An amateur can do it, but he must be particular about three points : — (1) The ground must be well dug, cleared of all weed roots, and manured. It must be made perfectly level and firm. (2) The turves must be free from weeds and cut evenly, both as to size and thickness. They should be three feet long and a foot wide. (The usual price is a penny each, and with three to the square yard about ninety-one would be needed for a square rod of 30J square yards, hence the estimate of 7s. yd.) (3) The turves must be well beaten down, and the lawn thoroughly rolled several times after rain. Making a lawn with turves is undeniably hard work, but there is the advantage that directly the grass begins to grow in Spring the lawn is made. If a lawn is wanted for tennis turves should be used, as the court is playable the same season. To give plenty of room for tennis the lawn should be at least 100 feet long by forty-two feet wide. (For size and marking of a double court see Fig- 34) Making a lawn from seed is lighter and cheaper, but a longer time elapses before the grass can be played on. If the amateur merely wants a grass plot seed will do quite well. The following are the principal points : — (1) To well dig, clean and manure the ground as for turf. Make the surface level and firm, but scratch up a little soil for settling the seed. Get a firm, raised edge above paths by holding up the soil with boards. 56 THE LAWN OR GRASS PLOT. 57 (2) Buy the seeds only from a firm of the highest standing, and utterly ignore cheapness. It is vital to have seed that is really seed of fine grasses and clovers, and not half weed seed. Use about one pound to the square rod, sow on a still day, and take care to spread evenly. Sow either in September or April. Keep birds off with netting or threads. (3) Keep the soil moist after sowing in order to encourage quick germination, and promptly remove any weeds that appear. (4) Clip off the tops of the young grass with a scythe or shears and roll after rain to settle the roots. 18 ft Fig. 34.— PLAN OF LAWN TENNIS COURT. It is not much use attempting to make a lawn from seed unless it can be well rolled, as the grass remains loose and is easily knocked out. GENERAL HINTS ON GRASS. The principal things in the management of grass are to roll well in the winter and spring (also in summer after heavy rain) and to mow weekly from April to October inclusive. If the grass is thin and poor the mowings may be allowed to lie on it, but if lush they should be collected in the box and removed. A high-class ten-inch mower is easy to work, and if taken to the ironmonger's to be ground once in every two years, and oiled and cleaned regularly, will last for many years. In cutting, the following rules should be observed : (1) Work in exact squares or rectangles. If the plot has a curved outline avoid the temptation of attempting to follow it with the mower, or uneven cutting will follow, and ridges of grass will be left here and there. (2) When turning the mower, keep the extreme end exactly on a level with the last cut edge, and no ridge of grass can be left. SB ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. (3) See that the lawn is free from stones or hard substances of any kind. After each mowing clip along the edge of the paths with shears. Nothing looks more untidy than long grass overgrowing gravel. If there are bare patches in a lawn cut out a neat rectangle and put down a turf, or sow seed. An unsatisfactory lawn is greatly improved by spreading on a coat of short manure and soil an inch thick in autumn. WEEDS IN LAWNS. Even such pretty meadow flowers as Daisies and Buttercups are out of place on lawns, while Dandelions and Plantains are intolerable. If weeds are prevalent lawn sand should be used. Seedsmen and florists sell it in tins. If few, spud the weeds out and sprinkle a little grass seed on. jp CHAPTER XII. Grees anb Sbrube. There are few gardens in which there is not room for a few trees and shrubs. Small suburban gardens may contain a few Thorns, Lilacs, and Laburnums at least, and perhaps an Almond could be added. These pretty flowering trees have a great charm in Spring. The false Acacia (Robinia) is also a good flowering tree. Planes, Poplars and Limes are the most largely used foliage trees in or near towns. Fig. 35-— CROSS-FERTILISING AUCUBAS TO GET BERRIES. 1. — Old growth. 2. — Young growth. 3. — Female flowers. With respect to shrubs, they are useful in many ways. Flowering kinds, such as Weigelas, Ribes (Currant), Philadelphus (Mock Orange), Cytisus (Broom), scented Mezereon, Jasmine, Forsythias, Magnolias, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Berberises, and Spiraeas have real beauty in mixed borders ; while evergreens, such as Laurels, Aucubas, Laurustinus, Box and Cypress, serve as screens and backgrounds. Aucubas are the best for shade, are good town shrubs, and bear brilliant berries if the two forms, male and female (which are borne on separate plants), are planted in the same garden. But some growers make sure of berries by applying pollen from male plants to female flowers (Fig. 35). 59 60 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. The following are good trees and shrubs for small gardens : — ♦Lombardy Poplar. ♦Plane. Trees with green leaves. Lime. Ailantus (Tree of Heaven). Trees with dark leaves. Purple-leaved Plum (Prunus Pissardil). Trees with variegated leaves. Hollies. Copper Beech. ♦Almonds. ♦Laburnums. Hollies. Trees with beautiful flowers. Lilacs. ♦Double red and double white Thorns. Trees with beautiful berries. Mountain Ash. Evergreen Trees. Cedar of Lebanon. Retinospora. Cypresses (Cupressus). Wellingtonia glgantea. ♦Austrian Pine. ♦Berberis. ♦Laurels. ♦Aucubas. Yew. Evergreen Shrubs. ♦Laurustinus. ♦Veronicas. Shrubs with variegated leaves. Box. Ivies. Azaleas. ♦Berberises. Choisya ternata, Daboecia. ♦Flowering Currant (Ribes). ♦Forsythia. Heaths (Erica carnea, etc.). Hibiscus Syriacus varieties. Hydrangea paniculata grandi- flora. ♦Winter Jasmine. Flowering Shrubs. Kerria Japonica, double. Magnolias stellata and con- spicua. Mezereon. Philadelphus (Mock Orange). Rhododendrons. Romneya Coulter! . Spiraeas Thunbergi, Douglasi, arguta and Aitchisoni. Viburnum (Guelder Rose). ♦Weigelas. Shrubs with beautiful berries. ♦Aucubas. Pernettyas. Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae). Snowberry (Symphoricarpus). * These will succeed almost anywhere. TREES AND SHRUBS. 61 The soil for trees and shrubs should be prepared by digging deeply and manuring well. They should be planted firmly in Autumn, and standard trees staked securely ; put cloth or india- rubber between tree-stem and stake to prevent chafing. Those flowering shrubs which bear on the growths that were made the previous year (and they are the majority) should be pruned after flowering ; the old wood which has bloomed should be cut away, and new shoots will take its place that will flower the following year. The few shrubs which bear their flowers, as Roses do, on the wood of the current year should be pruned in spring. An inexperienced person will be wise to study his shrubs for a year before pruning, in order to learn their habits. Evergreens are often seriously marred by indiscriminate pruning, especially about Christmas time. The older shoots should be removed with a knife, if possible just below younger shoots, the foliage of which will hide the stumps. Young Poplars may be decapitated at six feet high if they are wanted to throw shoots from the base. The average cost of trees and shrubs will be one shilling each. Small seedlings can be bought much cheaper. tf> CHAPTER XIII. 1bow to propagate plants. There is no phase of gardening more fascinating than that of propagating. Everybody loves to raise plants from seeds, cuttings, layers and grafts. In most cases the propagation of such plants as are generally propagated in private gardens is described in the paragraphs relating to them, and consequently a few general remarks will suffice here. Fig. 36.— A STURDY SEEDLING FROM Fig. 37.— A WEAK SEEDLING FROM THIN SOWING. THICK SOWING. PROP AG ATION BY SEEDS. All annual, most biennial and many perennial flowers are propagated by seed, hardy kinds out of doors, tender ones (generally) under glass. Propagation by seeds has two great advantages ; it is a natural means of increase, and it is cheap. Enough seed to raise from 100 to 500 plants (more in some cases) can be obtained of all the popular garden flowers at a cost of a penny to threepence per packet. The penny-packet system is even applied to choice indoor flowers, but in their case the number of seeds supplied is much less. Even in the case of kinds of which several hundreds of seeds are supplied for a copper or two amateurs should resist the temptation to sow thickly, and, as advised under Annuals and Biennials, should show thinly, for the good of the plants (Figs. 36 and 37). HOW TO PROPAGATE PLANTS. 63 The conditions favourable for successful propagation by seed are (1) good seed ; (2) warm, fine, level, moist soil ; (3) shallow drills ; (4) thin sowing ; (5) prompt thinning if the seedlings come up thickly. These apply equally to vegetables and flowers. Seeds up to the size of an ordinary pinhead may go half an inch deep, those as large as uncooked rice an inch, those as large as Peas two or three inches. It is not wise to sow in very cold or very dry soil. Warmth and moisture are necessary for quick germination. In sowing choice seeds under glass it is wise to use shallow earthenware pans or shallow boxes, as no great depth of soil is required. Loam with a fourth of old dried manure, and a sixth of coarse washed sand, makes a suitable compost. It should be quite level and fine at the top. In the case of very small seeds, such as Begonias and Calceolarias, it should be surfaced with silver sand. No attempt should be made to cover these very fine seeds, and larger ones need only be covered lightly. The receptacles may be covered with loose squares of glass shaded by brown paper until germination has taken place, but the little plants should be inured to the full light quickly. A shelf in a warm greenhouse, or a place in a heated frame, will insure speedy germination. Watering is best done by immersing the receptacle to the brim, or by lightly dewing over through a fine rose, never through a spout. Air is vital to seedlings, but although it should be given from the first it should not be in the form of a cold draught. When seedlings " damp off " want of air may be suspected. Seedlings ought to be pricked-off three inches apart as soon as they begin to crowd each other, or they will spoil by drawing up with thin, weak stems. PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. Most perennial plants are readily propagated by cuttings, and in nine cases out of ten the latter are best made of young, flowerless shoots, three or four inches long, taken off just below a joint, and the lower leaves removed. A Bouvardia cutting (Fig. 38) is typical of many. Very sandy, moist soil is best for nearly all cuttings. They are best made quite firm in the soil. Except in the case of very thick, fleshy cuttings, they root best when the air is excluded, hence the plan of covering them with handlights or bell glasses. Bottom heat, such as that from a propagator, hastens rooting. PROPAGATION BY DIVISION. Nearly all hardy perennial plants are best propagated by dividing the rootstocks between Autumn and Spring. The best time is when growth starts in Spring. Rock plants, and many greenhouse plants with a thick 64 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. spreading rootstock, are best propagated by division. The outer parts generally have stronger growing crowns than the inner portions. Fig. 38.— PROPAGATING BOUVARDIAS BY CUTTINGS. A young shoot marked for making into a cutting. The lower four leaves are to be removed at the bars. PROPAGATION BY GRAFTING. This is practised with fruit trees, and in nurseries with Clematises, Roses, Paeonies, Epiphyl- lums, Virginian Creeper, and a few other plants. See Chapter XXIII. PROPAGATION BY BUDDING. Practised with Roses, and in nurseries with fruit trees and some shrubs. See Rose chapter. Fig. 39.— PROPAGATING VIOLETS BY RUNNERS AFTER FLOWERING. The runners are pegged down, and will root. PROPAGATION BY LAYERING. Practised with Carnations and shrubs. See Carnations, Chapter VI. PROPAGATION BY RUNNERS. Practised with Strawberries (see. Fruits, Chapter XXIV.), and those Violets which throw out HOW TO PROPAGATE PLANTS. 65 stems with young growths oh them. If these are pegged to the soil in early summer they will root (Fig. 39) . PROPAGATION BY OFFSETS. Practised with Daffodils, Clivias, Lilies, Arum Lilies and many other plants which form thickened or bulbous side growths. The latter can be detached and put in boxes or pots. PROPAGATION BY LEAVES. Gloxinias, Begonia Rex and B. Gloirede Lorraine may be propagated by placing mature leaves on sandy soil, and nicking the veins. PROPAGATION TABLE FOR POPULAR PLANTS. Kind. Method. Period. Place. Annuals, hardy seeds spring garden „ half hardy . . seeds spring frame or greenhouse Arum Lilies offsets autumn or greenhouse Asters, China seeds spring . . spring frame or greenhouse Auriculas offsets summer frame or greenhouse Begonias, tuberous seeds winter warm frame or house „ fibrous cuttings . . spring warm house. Biennials seeds summer garden Calceolarias,bedding cuttings . . autumn cold frame pot seeds early summer . . greenhouse Canterbury Bells . . seeds early summer . . garden Carnations, garden layers summer garden pot cuttings . . spring warm greenhouse Chrysanthemums, annual seeds spring garden „ hardy peren- division or spring garden nial cuttings „ pot . . cuttings autumn to under handlight in spring greenhouse Cinerarias, pot seeds late spring greenhouse Cyclamen, pot seeds late summer greenhouse Daffodils offsets summer . . garden Dahlias . . cuttings (also division of rootstock) spring warm greenhouse Delphiniums division spring garden Ferns, hardy division spring garden Ferns, pot spores when ripe . . greenhouse Fuchsias cuttings spring warm greenhouse Gardenias cuttings spring bottom heat in greenhouse 66 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Kind. Method. Period. Place. Geraniums, hardy division spring garden Geraniums, zonal, bedding Geraniums, pot . . cuttings summer garden cuttings spring greenhouse Gladioli offsets autumn garden Golden Feather . . seeds spring greenhouse or warm frame Heliotrope cuttings spring in propagator or warm greenhouse Hollyhocks seeds summer garden »» • • cuttings summer in bottom heat Hydrangeas cuttings spring and summer in bottom heat India rubber plants cuttings autumn in bottom heat Lily of the Valley division summer garden Lobelias, bedding cuttings winter warm greenhouse „ herbaceous division or cuttings spring garden Marguerites cuttings spring frame or greenhouse Michaelmas Daisies division spring garden seeds winter warm greenhouse cuttings . . autumn unheated frame seeds spring frame or greenhouse Petunias seeds spring ajreenhouse or warm frame frame or greenhouse Phloxes, annual . . seeds spring „ perennial division spring garden „ perennial cuttings summer unheated frame Pinks young shoots summer garden Primulas and hardy seeds or spring frame or greenhouse Primroses division . . Pyrethrums division spring garden Roses budding . . summer garden ,, cuttings autumn garden Solanums cuttings spring greenhouse or warm frame Stocks, ten-week . . seeds spring greenhouse or frame „ Brompton seeds late spring . . garden Sweet Williams . . seeds early summer garden Tulips . . bulbs summer garden Verbena seeds winter greenhouse or warm frame cuttings autumn unheated frame Violets division or runners spring frame Wallflowers seeds early summer garden ARCHES. 67 PROPAGATING WITH BOTTOM HEAT. Bottom heat can be provided : (1) By making up a hotbed of manure and putting a frame on it after the bad gases have passed away ; (2) by making an enclosure over the hot water pipes in a greenhouse and filling it with moist cocoanut fibre refuse ; (3) By making a frame to fit a zinc tray filled with water, and placing a lamp beneath the latter. Ah. plants struck in bottom heat should be hardened in a cool house with plenty of air. For other remarks on propagation see the various plants mentioned in the different chapters. CHAPTER XIV. Hrcbee. Well furnished arches will add greatly to the charm of the garden, and they are so cheap that no one need hesitate to estabhsh at least two or three, even on property which he holds on an un- certain tenancy. Arches are not things which can be removed conveniently, as, to be quite secure, the supports have to be well embedded, and moreover the plants get a tight and in some cases entangling hold of them. Arches may be of wire, trellis or rustic work. They cannot very well be less than seven feet high and four feet wide. The approximate prices of such would be : — Plain Wire . . . . . . 5s. Iron frame with scroll . . . . 12s. Trellis, painted . . . . . . 6s. Rustic work, varnished . . . . 10s. In country districts, where the material can be bought and put together at home, rustic arches can be made for much less. Twelve-feet chestnut poles, five or six inches thick at the base, the lower thirty inches barked, tarred and embedded, make good uprights and last for many years. They can be bought in the country for 8d. to iod. each. Larch will also do, but is not quite so durable. Oak is best of all, but strong Oak uprights are dear. to 6s. to 15s. to 7s. to 15s. 68 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Light Oak poles, two or three inches thick at the base, will serve for rustic work when cut up. Twelve feet poles can be bought for about 2d. each in the country. The rustic work need not be stained or varnished. Personally I prefer it without. If desired the arch may consist of two plain uprights with a piece of old chain across (Fig. 40), or it may be a rustic arch with cross pieces (Fig. 41). With regard to plants, Roses should be chosen in the country, and also for suburban gardens that are far enough from works Fig. 40.— AN ARCH WITH A PIECE OF OLD CHAIN DEPENDING FROM TWO POSTS Fig. 41.— AN ARCH OF RUSTIC TIMBER. and crowded streets for the air to be pure, but not for town gardens. Clematis montana is a good town plant, growing almost anywhere. Clematis Jackmanii is also good. The Winter Jasmine will do for the side of an arch, but will not throw sprays over a large one. The netted Honeysuckle is a good plant. The Canary Creeper and Convolvulus may be used as annual arch plants. When a country amateur is buying material for arches he may, perhaps, like to get enough to form a series of arches and connect with side pieces ; he then has a pergola. Such a structure is charming when covered with creepers. See chapter on Roses. CHAPTER XV. 3mplements anb {Tools. A good deal of money may be spent on the equipment of a garden, but it is not always necessary. The following are practically essential : — For soil. Cost. Spade .. 3/6 to 5/- Dutch hoe with Ash handle .. 1/6 Draw hoe ,, „ ,, . . •• i/3 Trowel .. 6d. Rake • • i/3 Dibbler .. 6d. Fig. 42.— A SUITABLE FORM OF PRUNING KNIFE. Fig. 43.— SECATEURS OR PRUNING SCISSORS. For Lawn. io-inch mowing machine, cheap make . . 15/- high class . . 45/- to 65/- 20-inch roller . . . . • ■ 35/- to 50/- 9}-inch edging shears .. ■ ■ S/~ For Fruit Trees and Shrubs. Pruning Knife (Fig. 42) . . .. 2/6 to 3/6 Secateurs or Pruning Scissors (Fig. 43) . . 1/6 to 5/- 69 70 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. 2/6 to 3/6 2/- to 3/- For Hedges. Hand Shears .For Budding. Knife .. .. For Watering. Syringe 1 8 inches by i-J-inch . . 2-qt. water pot with rose Useful auxiliaries. 6o-ft hose, plain, f-inch, with fittings „ „ armoured ,, „ Wheelbarrow Digging Fork Reel and Line Labels, per ioo (according to size) Tying raphia, per lb. Fish Netting, per piece Flower Stakes, bamboo, per ioo For Paths. Edging Deal, painted, per yard ,, tiles 9-inch, per ioo . . Besom, each For Greenhouses. Potting soil, per bushel Flower Pots. Pots are made in " casts " of 6o, 48, 32, 16, 8, etc., hence the name 6o's, 48 's, etc. They vary somewhat in size, but the follow- ing are near the sizes, the top width being given : — 6o's 3-inch. 24's 8-inch. 48 's 5 -inch. 16's 9-inch. 32's 6-inch. 8's 11-inch. The price per cast ranges from 2s. 6d. to 5s. All metal tools and implements should be cleaned and oiled after use. • • 71- to 12/- ■ ■ i/3 to 2/" •• 25/- to 30/- •• 35/- to 40/- .. 18/- to 20/- •■ 3/- to 3/6 . . 2/6 .. 3d- to 1/6 .. 9 d. to 1/4 . . 2/6 upwards. 1/6 upwards, ac cording to length .. 7 d. .. 13/- to 15/- .. 6d. .. 1/- to 2/6 CHAPTER XVI. Soil 3mprovement. Soil is improved in the following ways : — (i) draining. (3) manuring. (2) deepening. (4) crumbling. Many amateurs begin gardening by buying plants, and "sticking" them in. They should begin by improving their soil. Drainage is not always necessary, and may be left out of account in small town and suburban gardens. It is needed in Fig. 44.— SECTION OF DRAIN. A.— Soil. B— Rubble. C— Old turf. D — Drainpipe, Fig. 45.— HOW TO BASTARD TRENCH GROUND TWO SPADES DEEP WITHOUT BRINGING UP SUBSOIL. A — Soil shifted to other end of ground. B — Soil broken up, manured and left. C — Soil placed on B, taking the place of A. D — Soil broken up, manured and left. E — Soil placed on D, taking the place of C. F — Soil broken up, manured and left. country gardens on stiff soil that gets waterlogged in winter. The work had better be done by contract through a local builder or nurseryman. With two-inch pipes laid in trenches thirty inches deep (Fig. 44) and fifteen feet apart the cost will be about £10 per acre. It is a good plan to have cross drains leading into a main drain, the latter discharging into a ditch. The soil can be deepened by trenching two spades deep (Fig. 45), and still more by full trenching three spades deep (Fig. 46). 72 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. To bastard trench shift soil A a foot in depth from a two-feet- wide strip right across the piece to the other end. Turn B over a foot deep and put manure on it. Put C on to B, taking the place of A. Turn D over and put manure on it. Put E on D, taking the place of C ; and so on. The soil removed from the first strip will fill in over F. To fully trench three spades deep (Fig. 46) shift A, B, D to the other end. Turn C over and manure it. Put E on it, taking the place of B. Add more manure and put G on, taking the place of A. This completely fills up, and considerably raises the level. So proceed throughout. The soil from A, B, D will fill in the spaces at the end. Fig. 46.— HOW TO TRENCH GROUND THREE SPADES DEEP WITHOUT BRINGING UP SUBSOIL. A — Soil removed to the other end of the piece. B — Soil removed to the other end of the piece. D — Soil removed -to the other, end of the piece. C — Soil to be broken up, manured and left. • E — Soil ;to..be put on C and manured, taking the place of B, F — Soil to be broken up, manured and left. G— Soil to be put in the place of A. H — Soil to be put in the place of E. I — Soil to be broken up, manured and left. J — Soil to be put in the place of D. K — Soil to be put in the place of H. L — Soil to be broken up, manured and left. The vacant sections at the end of the piece will be filled with the soil from A, B and D. Manuring is best done during trenching. In ordinary digging a coat of manure may be spread on three inches deep, and dug well in after lying a short time. In very poor soil, especially soil that will not permit of trenching owing to an impenetrable base, a six-inch coat may be used. Autumn is the best time to improve light soil, and late winter heavy ground. Short decayed stable manure is the best kind to use. Chemical manures are useful. Kainit may be used at the rate of ten pounds per square rod 1 in autumn, and superphosphate of lime (or bone meal) and nitrate of soda (or sulphate of am- monia) at the rate of seven and four pounds respectively in spring. SOIL IMPROVEMENT. 73 To get stiff soil crumbled dig it late in winter after frost, and leave it lumpy until rain comes. Immediately afterwards the lumps can be knocked to pieces with ease. This procedure greatly improves soil alike for flowers, fruit and vegetables. Fig. 47-— PEGS DRIVEN IN TO GET A LEVEL. If the ground is of an uneven contour it may be levelled by driving in stakes a few feet apart, with the tops on the same level (Fig. 47), and throwing the mounds into the hollows. If levels*are wanted on a steep slope the ground must be thrown into terraces as shown in Fig. 48 ; the terraces can be held up by stones or turf. Fig. 48.— HOW TO SECURE LEVELS ON A STEEP SLOPE BY MAKING TERRACES. The perpendicular faces may be supported with a wall, or turfed. CHAPTER XVII. Wtnfcow Boyea, anb Ibouse, Mall anfc IRoom plants. Flowers and creepers about the house add greatly to its charms, and those who have little room for gardens should make a special point of beautifying their houses. Deal window boxes to fit the sills are easily made at home by any handy man. A few holes should be burned or bored in the bottom to allow water to escape, otherwise the soil might become sour and kill the roots. If the boxes rest on flat blocks to keep the bottoms clear of the sill they will not rot quickly. Virgin cork may be nailed to the front, or tiles attached ; but plain green boxes look well. In autumn the boxes may be planted with coloured Primroses, white Arabis and bulbs, such as Daffodils, Hyacinths, Tulips and Scillas. Amongst them these plants will keep the box bright until May, when they may be removed, fresh soil added, and Zonal Geraniums, Marguerites, rambling Nasturtiums, Creeping Jenny, Lobelias and other popular flowers put in for a summer display. Restraint should be exercised at planting time, as crowded boxes do not look well. Summer attention in the way of watering and picking off decaying leaves and flowers will be well rewarded. House walls ought not to go bare when such useful plants as Veitch's Virginian Creeper, Ivy, Wistaria, Roses (in the country) Clematises and Honeysuckles exist. Not only are these plants beautiful, they are cheap. Nice young specimens can be brought for a shilling each. Veitch's (not the common) Virginian Creeper is deservedly popular, because when it is once established it grows fast, clings tightly, and looks charming alike in its summer green and autumn scarlet. For this (as, indeed, for all other wall plants) it is well to take out a bushel or more of the ordinary soil and substitute potting compost, containing a good deal of fibrous loam. Further, 74 WINDOW BOXES, HOUSE, WALL, ROOM PLANTS. 75 to water well in dry weather. Planting should be done in Autumn, Winter and early Spring. The same treatment will suit Ivy, whether green or variegated. Clematis montana grows in favour every year, in spite of the fact that its white flowers are comparatively small. It has fairly superseded the blue Clematis Jackmanii, and has ousted that erstwhile popular creeper the Wistaria. People want to Fig. 49.— PRUNING CLEMATIS JACKMANII. 1. — The older growths of a young plant enlarged considerably, 2 — Young shoots pushing. 3 and 4. — Points of pruning in spring after growth has started: Note that the plant is cut to buds near the ground. see results sooner than their forefathers, and the quick growth of the white Clematis pleases them. It soon covers the side of a house, and is a sheet of white in May. I advise planters to buy a young plant in March, put it in good soil, and cut it back to a good bud. The same with Jackmanii, if they grow that also (Fig. 49). If a blue-flowered plant to bloom later is wanted the Cean- othus may be chosen ; it is extremely pretty. 76 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Many like to grow the Japan Quince (Cydonia), as its flowers are large and brilliant red, come in spring, and are followed by fruit. It does not take up much room. In the country Roses will be grown, and a selection for walls is given in the Rose chapter. Room plants attract many, and we have seen already that Tulips, Daffodils, Scillas, Snowdrops, Crocuses and other bulbs may be grown successfully in peat moss fibre. (See Bulb chapter.) These are charming ornaments for rooms when in full bloom. The bowls are made in sizes ranging from 4J to 74 inches wide at Fig. 50.— REPOTTING AND PROPAGATING CLIVIAS. z. — Mass of roots. 2. — Offset which may be detached. the top, and cost from 7s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. per dozen. The fibre (with sufficient shell and charcoal) costs 3s. per bushel, and a bushel will fill many bowls. A few pots of the delicious Freesia should be grown, to be stood in saucers when the plants come into bloom, as their odour is delightful. Hyacinths in glasses are also nice for rooms. Among non-bulbous spring-flowering plants the Azalea and the Clivia rank high. One can buy a beautiful half-standard Azalea in full bloom for eighteenpence, and keep it in beauty for several weeks with care in watering and maintaining the air fresh and sweet. It can be plunged in the garden in summer. WINDOW BOXES, HOUSE, WALL, ROOM PLANTS. 77 The Clivia produces brilliant orange heads in Spring. The offsets may be removed and struck when the plants are repotted (Fig. 50). The Arum Lily can also be grown. The Aspidistra is the best of foliage plants, and the variegated form is very handsome. Both green and variegated India-rubber plants and Date Palms can be kept going for a long time with care. Aralia Sieboldii does well. Ferns are not suitable, but are sometimes kept fresh in skilful hands. A great deal depends on the watering of foliage plants. They should be repotted in Spring, and the soil should not only be fresh, but made quite firm. Loam, with a fourth of leaf mould or decayed manure, and an eighth of sand, will suit. When it is firm round the roots the necessity for water can be judged by rapping the pot with the knuckles ; a sharp sound indicates dryness, a dull sound moisture. A weekly sponging of the foliage throughout the summer will do good. The pots should be kept scrupulously clean. Abundance of fresh air without draughts has a great bearing on success. It is a mistake to suppose that plants in living rooms are directly inimical to health, but indirect harm ensues if the windows are packed so full that it is impossible to get at them to open them. Cottagers often pack the window space in their rooms with zonal Geraniums, and never ventilate the rooms. This is equally bad for the plants and the family. Tea is of no value to plants, but a teaspoonful of artificial manure spread over the soil once a week in summer, and watered in, does good. Some soot tied in a bag and hung in water gives a useful liquid manure. CHAPTER XVIII. ©reenbouses, Iflnbeateb anb Ibeateb; Ibeatlns; plants. A well managed greenhouse is not only a great pleasure in itself but a great help with the flower and vegetable gardens. Those who restrict themselves entirely to hardy plants do not need glass, but growers of tender things find it of considerable assist- ance. A great point in favour of a heated greenhouse is that it facili- tates the provision of flowers in autumn and winter, when there are none in the garden. COST OF GREENHOUSES. The cost of a span roof greenhouse is inconsiderable. A fair idea of the cost of a small house can be gained by reckoning fifteen shillings for every foot of length. Thus a house twelve feet by eight would cost about £g, and of fifteen by nine £1 1 5s. This provides for well-seasoned red deal and really good workmanship. Still cheaper houses can be bought, but there is not much finish about them. The cheapest will cost 10s. per foot. The houses can be bought in sections, which only require screwing together. GLAZING. The glass is generally sent separately. It should be twenty-one ounce. In the glazing let the amateur set his face sternly against top putty, which soon becomes a nuisance. With a sufficient pitch, bottom putty, well fitting glass, proper sprigging, and a coat of paint along the top edge the house will be water- proof, and remain so far longer than when top putty is used. The sprigs for fastening the sheets of glass should be put in near the top and bottom. One in the middle will not do. A span-roof eight feet high at the ridge and four at the eaves, and a lean-to (say eight feet wide) eight feet high at the back and four at the front will have a sufficient pitch. The makers supply proper ventilators and lattice staging. In quite small span roofs there will be staging each side of a central 7« GREENHOUSES ; HEATING: PLANTS. 79 path (Fig. 51). In larger houses there may be a central stage, a path on each side, and side stages (Fig. 52). Gutters should be provided to carry rain water into a butt at one end. Fig. 51.— A SMALL SPAN-ROOF HOUSE WITH A CENTRAL PATH AND TWO SIDE STAGES. Fig. 52— A LARGE SPAN-ROOF HOUSE WITH A CENTRAL STAGE, TWO PATHS, AND TWO SIDE STAGES. TENANTS-RIGHT HOUSES. It is not necessary to build on brickwork, save for a row of loose bricks to keep the base clear of the ground ; indeed, the essence of " tenant's-right " struc- tures is that they are complete in themselves. Doubtless brick walls are an advantage, but when houses are built on to them they are not removable, and they cost more. It is a mistake to 80 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. assume that tenant's-right houses with wooden sides are neces- sarily short-lived. I know of houses twenty years old that are still sound. If a good class of house is bought at the outset, and the woodwork is given a coat of paint every three or four years, the house will last many years. Naturally, the duration of a house depends in a considerable degree on the atmosphere maintained. If warm, close and moist, as for Orchids and Cucumbers, it will not last so long as if kept cool, well ventilated and fairly dry. The occupier of a detached house in the country has generally a free hand, but the tenant of one of a row of houses in a town has the building bye-laws to consider, and will be wise to consult the local surveyor before starting. HEATING. As I propose to show, a greenhouse may do service without being heated, but a good supply of winter flowers cannot be relied on without a heating apparatus, nor can tender plants be kept safe in winter. It is for each owner of a greenhouse to decide for himself whether the extra cost of a heating apparatus and fuel, and the trouble of tending the boiler or stove, are justified or not. Probably most amateurs will consider that they are. BOILERS. It is generally wise to carry pipes along one end as well as along one side of a house. A house twelve feet by eight could be heated with a reliable boiler of the popular upright independent type and flow and return four-inch pipes along one side and one end, for between £5 10s. and £6 10s. The following are excellent upright boilers : — Name of Boiler. Manufacturers. Loughborough . . Messenger & Co., Loughborough. Desideratum . . Jones & Attwood, Stourbridge. Horseshoe . . Klnnell & Co., London. Amateur Independent . . Thames Bank Iron Co., London. Twelve Hours Stove . . Twelve Hours Stove Syndicate, Ld. Sentinel . . Hartley & Sugden, Ltd., Halifax. S There are many others, and there is not a great deal to choose between them, either as to efficiency or cost. With these apparatus the joints of the pipes are made water- tight with indiarubber rings, which are slipped over the plain ends of the pipes before they are put in the sockets and driven home. Any amateur can fit them. The water is supplied through a metal box at the end of the system, and enough should be poured in to quite fill the lower ENGLISH IRISES. (See page 41.) GREENHOUSES; HEATING; PLANTS. 81 (return) pipe and two thirds of the upper (flow). It should be soft water, as hard causes incrustations. It facilitates the flow if the pipes rise a few inches from the boiler to the feed box. If there is a point where pipes turn with a siphon the top pipe should be pierced and a small piece of tubing put in to serve as an air vent. FUEL. Broken coke, mixed with cinders from the house fires, makes a good fuel. The fire can be relied on to keep in ten hours with careful stoking. When made up last thing at night there should be a clear, glowing base, the bars should be raked out, and the fire space filled up with damped fuel. The dampers should be regu- lated as experience teaches. GAS AND OIL. Those who dislike stoking, or doubt the dura- tion of a fire, may use a gas or oil heater and pipes if the houses are small, but they will find the running expenses much higher. Fumes must not enter the house. The pipes should be coated with a paint of lamp black and linseed oil. FRAMES AND PITS. A frame or pit is a useful adjunct to a greenhouse, and may be set near it. Plants can be raised in the frame and grown in the greenhouse. A I -light 4-feet frame glazed with 21-oz. glass and painted three coats will cost from 25s. to 30s. CONSERVATORIES. Some amateurs choose a lantern-roof conservatory instead of a greenhouse, for the sake of the better appearance. In this case a frame is essential as an auxiliary, because a conservatory is not a good place for growing good plants. The cost of a handsome, substantial conservatory is several times that of a plain greenhouse, and it needs more piping to heat it. PLANTS. We may now consider what may be grown in greenhouses. If the house is unheated we must put aside tender plants in the winter, although tender annuals can be grown in summer. Many flowers must not be looked for in Winter and early Spring, but Christmas Roses, Violets, Arum Lilies and bulbs will do ser- vice. Here is a table : — 82 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Plants for Unheated Greenhouses. Kind. Flowering Season. How to procure or propagate. Annuals, half hardy summer seeds in spring and tender Arum Lilies spring young plants in au- tumn Asters, China summer seeds in spring Auriculas spring offsets in summer Azaleas winter and spring . . buy plants in winter Balsams summer seeds in spring Camellias winter and spring . . buy plants in spring Cannas spring and summer division in spring Carnations, Marguerite summer seed in spring Christmas Roses winter division in September Chrysanthemums . . summer and autumn cuttings in winter Daffodils spring bulbs in autumn Deutzia gracilis winter and spring . . buy roots in autumn Diely tra spectabilis . . winter and spring . . buy roots in autumn Freesias winter and spring . . bulbs in autumn Geraniums, zonal . . summer and autumn cuttings in spring Gladiolus Colvillel alba summer bulbs in autumn Hyacinths spring bulbs in autumn Irises spring bulbs in autumn Lilacs winter and spring . . buy plants in autumn Liliums spring and summer bulbs in autumn Nemesias summer seed in spring Nicotiana (Tobacco) summer seed in spring Petunias summer seed in spring Roses spring and summer budding in summer Schizanthuses summer seed in spring Spiraea Japonica . . spring buy roots in autumn Stocks, ten-week . . summer seed in spring Sweet Peas spring and summer seeds in winter or spring Tulips spring bulbs in autumn Violets winter and spring . . runners or division in spring Several of the above plants might suffer in very severe weather, and it is wise to withhold water and cover the plants with news- papers during hard frost. FROST-BITTEN PLANTS. If a plant gets frost-bitten keep it in the shade and sprinkle it with cold water. This may save it. GREENHOUSES; HEATING; PLANTS. 83 Plants for Heated Greenhouses. The number of plants grown in heated greenhouses is so great that gardeners sub-divide them, giving some more heat than others. We have the cool greenhouse (minimum winter temper- ature 40 °) , the intermediate house (minimum winter temperature 50 ), and the stove house (minimum winter temperature 60°). Here are a few selections for each class : — Plants for Cool Greenhouses. (Winter Temperature 40 to 50°.) Kind. Flowering Season. How to procure or propagate. Abutilon summer seeds in spring Acacia summer plants in winter Acroclinium (Ever- summer seed in spring lasting) Alonsoa summer seed in spring Arum Lily spring plants in autumn Aspidistra foliage plant division in spring Auriculas spring offsets in summer Azalea spring buy plants In winter Balsam summer seed in spring Begonias, tuberous . . summer and autumn seed in winter or tubers in spring Calceolarias, herba- spring seed in late spring ceous Campanula pyramid- spring seed in spring alis Cannas summer division in spring Carnations, Marguerite summer seed in spring Celosias summer seed in winter Chrysanthemums . . autumn and winter cuttings in winter Cinerarias spring seed in late spring Clivias spring offsets when crowded Coleuses foliage plants seed In spring Cyclamens winter seed in summer Cytisus or Genista spring cuttings in spring 1 or racemosus summer Daffodils spring bulbs in autumn Diascia summer seed in spring Francoa ramosa summer seed in spring (Bridal wreath) Freesias winter and spring . . bulbs in summer Fuchsias summer cuttings in spring Geraniums, zonal . . winter and spring . . cuttings in spring 8 4 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Kind. Flowering Season. How to procure or propagate. Gerbera Jamesoni . . summer seed in spring Gladioli summer bulbs in autumn Gloxinias winter and spring . . seeds in winter or tubers in spring Grevillea robusta . . graceful leaves seed in spring Humea elegans summer seed in winter Hyacinths winter and spring . . bulbs in autumn Hydrangeas summer cuttings in summer Isolepis gracilis grass division in spring Lilacs winter and spring . . buy plants in winter Liliums summer bulbs in autumn or winter Mignonette different seasons . . seed in succession Musk summer seed in spring Oleander summer cuttings when mature Pelargoniums late spring cuttings in summer Petunias summer seeds in spring Plumbago summer cuttings in spring Primulas winter seed in summer Rhodanthe (Ever- summer seed in spring lasting) Roses winter and spring . . budding in summer Salvias winter cuttings in spring Schizanthuses spring seed in summer Solanum winter berries cuttings in spring Spiraea Japonica spring roots in autumn Streptocarpus summer seed in winter Sweet Peas spring and summer seed in spring Tulips winter and spring . . bulbs in autumn Vallota (Scarborough Lily) Verbenas summer offsets in summer summer seed in winter Zinnias summer seed in spring Plants for Warm or Intermediate Greenhouses. (Winter temperature 50 to 6o°.) Kind. Flowering Season. How to procure or propagate. Achimenes Amaryllis (Hippeas- trum) Anthurium Begonia Gloire de Lorraine „ Turnford Hall summer winter and spring . . winter and spring . . spring and summer winter winter tubers in spring offsets in winter offsets in winter division in spring cuttings in spring cuttings in spring GREENHOUSES; HEATING; PLANTS. 85 Kind. Flowering Season. How to procure or propagate. Bougainvillea(for roof) summer and autumn cuttings in summer Bouvardias winter and spring . . cuttings in spring Carnations, tree winter and spring . . cuttings in spring „ American winter and spring . . cuttings in spring Cacti summer cuttings and grafting in summer Cestrum aurantiacum summer cuttings in summer Crotons foliage plants cuttings in summer Epacrises summer cuttings in spring or summer Exacum affine summer seed in spring Heliotrope summer seed in spring, cuttings in summer Hoya carnosa summer cuttings in spring or summer Justicia winter cuttings in spring Lapageria rosea (for summer layers in summer roof) - Roses winter budding in summer Stephanotis summer cuttings in spring Thunbergia alata . . summer seeds in spring Plants for Hot or Stove Greenhouses. (Winter temperature 60° to 75°.) Kind. Flowering Seasoa How to procure or propagate. Allamanda summer cuttings in spring Caladium foliage plant tubers in winter Clerodendron Balfouri summer cuttings in summer Cockscombs summer seed in spring Dipladenias summer cuttings in spring Eucharis summer and autumn offsets when crowded Gardenias summer cuttings in winter Gesneras summer tubers in winter Impatiens spring and summer seed in spring Ixoras summer cuttings in spring Jacobinia winter cuttings in spring Jasmine summer cuttings in spring Lily of the Valley . . winter crowns in winter Nepenthes Pitcher plants stem cuttings at any time Pancratium fragrans summer offsets in autumn Poinsettias summer and autumn stem cuttings in spring Torenias summer seeds in spring 86 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Very few amateurs will want to grow even half of the above. A fairly long list is given to show the variety of kinds available. The beginner will do well to restrict himself to a few beautiful and easily grown things, and here are notes on such : — ANNUALS, such as China Asters, Balsams, Petunias and Stocks, will do him good service in an unheated house (or heated either for the matter of that) in summer. The Dwarf Bouquet is a suitable strain of Asters. Intermediate as well as Ten-week Fig. 53.— PROPAGATING BEGONIA GLOIRE DE LORRAINE. The plant is rested after flowering by withholding water and then cut back as shown. Stocks may be grown. Double fringed Petunias are suitable. The Camellia-flowered Balsam is a beautiful plant, and very easily grown. Seeds of all these are purchaseable in pennyworths, and may be sown as described in Chapter VIII. ARUM LILIES are beautiful in Spring. The dwarf varieties Little Gem and Godfrey are becoming very popular, because they are so free flowering, particularly the latter. They like a gently warmed house and a good deal of water. BULBS, such as Amaryllises, Daffodils, Freesias, Lilies and Tulips are indispensable. See Chapter IX. BEGONIAS are great favourites. The tuberous section is valuable in summer, and can be grown without heat if tubers are used ; see Chapter IX. The beautiful fibrous rooted Begonias, such GREENHOUSES; HEATING; PLANTS. 87 as Gloire de Lorraine, are most valued for winter blooming, but a heated house is necessary. They look charming either in pots or baskets. They are rested by reducing the water supply after flowering, then pruned (Fig. 53) and re-started. The young growths which push are made into cuttings. (Fig. 54). Propagation can be effected by leaves also. BOUV ARDI AS are pretty and fragrant flowers, and can be propa- gated either by stem cuttings or pieces of root. They will do in a frame in summer, but need a heated house in winter. Priory Beauty and Alfred Neuner are pretty varieties. CARNATIONS are immense favourites. The Border varieties may be grown in pots for the greenhouse if desired, and will bloom in summer. They are hardy plants. The Marguerite class can be grown from seed in spring. The Tree and American sections are winter and spring bloomers and like a heated house. They are both beautiful and fragrant. Enchantress, Lady Bountiful, Winsor and Britannia are particularly good. They are propagated by cuttings and layers (see Chapter VI.). CHRYSANTHEMUMS. These are specially treated in Chapter XXI. CALCEOLARIAS, CINERARIAS, CYCLAMENS AND PRIMULAS. All these are beautiful Winter and Spring blooming plants which can be raised from seed in Spring and Summer in the way des- cribed in Chapter XIII. They like cool treatment in Summer, with plenty of air and water. Seed of mixed strains should be bought, and it is worth while to go to a seedsman of good standing for it, in order to insure fine varieties. FUCHSIAS are old favourites, which retain their popularity. Struck from cuttings in spring, and stopped once or twice to make them bushy, they will make nice plants in a few weeks. In the summer they will require careful watering to prevent the buds falling. In autumn they can be dried off and rested till Spring. The following are good Fuchsias : — Single. Double. Rose of Castile. Lucy Finnis. Loveliness. Berliner Kind. Lord Roberts. Swanley Gem. Fig. 54.— PROPAGATING BEGONIA GLOIRE DE LORRAINE BY CUTTINGS. 1. — Drainage. 2.— Soil. 3 — Base of cutting. 88 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. GARDENIAS are loved for their fragrance. They are not diffi- cult to grow provided there is a warm house available, and abundance of water is given. They do best when planted out in the soil. GERANIUMS (Zonal) are invaluable owing to their vigorous, healthy growth, brilliant colours, and long duration of bloom. They can be flowered in an unheated house in summer, and in a heated one in winter. For the latter purpose cuttings should be struck in Spring, the plants pinched to make them bushy, and all flower buds nipped off till autumn. The following are good sorts, and embrace several colours : — Single. Carmania. Gertrude Pearson. Paul Crampel. Swanley White. Double. F. V. Raspail Improved. King of Denmark. Hermione. The Zonal Geranium is one of the plants which an amateur can specialise Fig. 55.— how to grow to advantage. MIGNONETTE IN POTS. GLOXINIAS are lovely plants. With a heated house they can be flowered from seed sown in Winter or Spring. Without heat they must be grown from tubers bought in Spring, like Begonias (Chapter IX.). MIGNONETTE. A few plants of Mignonette should always be in hand, as the flowers are so sweet and the seed so cheap. Do not transplant, but sow a few seeds equidistant in a five-inch or six-inch pot, thin out surplus ones, put in a few stakes and pass rings of raphia round (Fig. 55). A little lime rubbish mixed with soil facilitates flowering, both in greenhouse and garden. ROSES. See separate chapter. Ferns and Shade-loving Plants. There is a natural desire to grow Ferns in the greenhouse, partly for the use of the fronds with cut flowers. Ferns do not associate very well with the majority of sun-loving greenhouse GREENHOUSES; HEATING; PLANTS. 89 plants, but it is possible to manage them. The best plan is to give one corner of the house extra shade when the material is applied in summer, and put the Ferns there, in a colony. The Maidenhair may be tried, also the bulb bearing Asplenium (bulbif erum) , and Ribbon Ferns (Pteris). If the house is naturally shady Ferns will do well, and Begonias and Fuchsias will make good flowering companions for them. Mimuluses, Musk and Spiraea Japonica will also thrive. If an amateur wants to specialise a good flowering plant in a house that is in shade most of the day he cannot do better than choose the tuberous Begonia, which loves cool conditions, and withal is one of the most beautiful flowers that we have. SHADE FOR GREENHOUSES. Shading material of some kind is wanted in summer, and many shirk the expense of roller blinds, but if they can afford it they should have tiffany mounted on rollers, which can be drawn up under a top covering in dull weather. The tiffany is generally sold in pieces of twenty yards by one yard, and a medium quality will cost from 3s. to 4s. per piece. Failing this, " Summer Cloud," or some other substance which can be mixed with water and painted on, should be used. It costs is. 6d. to 2s. per pound. It may be put on in June and removed in September. SOIL FOR GREENHOUSE PLANTS. The compost recommended in other chapters, namely, three parts of fibrous loam, one of leaf mould or decayed manure, and from an eighth to a tenth of coarse washed sand, will suit nearly all plants. For Ferns, Palms and Azaleas equal parts of peat and loam, with sand, will suit. POTTING PLANTS. Young plants raised in pans and boxes need small pots to themselves when they are two or three inches high, 6o's will do. They can have a shift into 48's when the former are full of roots, and thence to 32's or 24's (for sizes and prices of pots see Chapter XV.). It may be assumed that the pots are full of roots when fibres protrude at the bottom. The soil should be moist at repotting, or it will fall away from the roots. Only in the case of plants which have been a long time in the pots need any of the soil around the roots be crumbled away. In such a case it is generally advisable to break away some of the soil at the top and sides of the ball ; and more will come away at the base in disentangling the crocks. The crocks for drainage should overlap each other above the hole, and be surfaced with pieces of leaf mould or some moss. The ball should be placed low enough to leave space for water at the top, and 90 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. the fresh soil should be pressed in firmly. Plants should be kept out of the sun for a few days after potting, and little or no water given until they start growing afresh. WATERING PLANTS. People who feed themselves three or four times a day naturally want to water their plants at regular intervals, but they should remember that moisture evaporates much more slowly in dull than in bright weather, and only give water when the pot rings hollow on being rapped with the knuckles. Test the pots two or three times a day in hot weather ; once will do in cold, dull weather. HOW TO STOP OR PINCH PLANTS. Plants which threaten to go up with one or two long stems, such as Fuchsias, Heliotropes, Marguerites and Zonal Geraniums can be made bushy by " stopping " or " pinching " them (gardeners use both terms) when six inches high. Side shoots push, and these may be stopped when four inches long. ^ CHAPTER XIX. Summer Ibouses anb (Barren furniture. The modern outdoor garden life has led to great ingenuity being exercised in devising garden furniture. When one goes into the great town shops one generally finds a department given over to this nowadays. Garden seats are to be had of all shapes and sizes. Folding chairs are available in canvas, wood and iron. Wooden, iron and awning seats are procurable. Pretty wooden and iron tables, made to fold up, are plentiful. The prices vary, but they are low enough to prevent much strain on the pocket. One can buy nice canvas chairs for 2S. 6d. each, and useful tables for 7s. 6d. Cheap iron as well as stone vases can be bought for plants. Tents and lawn pavilions have been greatly improved and cheapened. The summer house is the most expensive item in garden furni- ture. A house with a weather-boarded roof, board sides with joints cleated, a seat, and Oak rustic work will cost from £8 to £10, according to size. With a thatched roof it will cost more. I have made a nice, inexpensive house by forming the end and sides of split unpeeled Larch (bark outwards, of course) weather- boarding the roof, and painting it with carbolineum. Rustic work was used at the front. The floor is boarded. The house measures ten feet by ten feet, and the cost was a little over £8. A summer house is such a delightful feature of a garden that an effort should be made to provide one. With creepers on it and scented flowers around it many happy hours will be spent in it. jp 91 CHAPTER XX. IRoses, It is to be regretted that the Rose is not a good town plant, but while country amateurs and suburbanists who have air pure enough for Roses will sympathise with townsmen, they will not go so far as to deprive themselves of the pleasure of growing these noble flowers. V^*± — o Fig. 56.— HOW TO PLANT AND PRUNE A DWARF ROSE. 1. — Subsoil broken up and manured. a. — Strong roots shortened. 3. — Fine soil. 4. — Mulching of manure. 5. — Upper part of plants pruned away. Roses will thrive anywhere if the air is pure and the soil fertile. They do not like poor soil any more than they like impure air. Heavy soil is better than light. Thin, fibreless, shallow soil over gravel, sand, rock or chalk is not good, and must be improved by adding rich stable manure liberally. In preparing soil for Roses the grower cannot do better than proceed as advised in Chapter XVI. 9a ROSES. 93 PLANTING ROSES. Roses may be planted in Autumn, Winter or Spring. November is a good month, and most of the varieties are available then. February and March are generally good months also, but some of the varieties are sold out at that late period. Although the soil is deepened the roots should not be covered deeply ; they should be well trodden in, as firm planting is good (Fig. 56). Two or three feet is a good distance apart to plant, according to the vigour of the variety. Fig. 57-— HOW TO BUD ROSES. A. — A Shoot from which Buds may be taken. Note the lowest leaf cropped back to a short stalk. B. — Bud sliced out. C. — Bud, with the pith in course of removal. D. — Standard Brier with the side branches (lower part only shown) cut for the reception of the buds. PRUNING DWARF AND STANDARD ROSES. If dwarf and standard Roses planted in Autumn have long, whippy shoots they may be shortened to half their length, but the full pruning should not be done until the end of March. At the Spring pruning the plants should be pruned back to within three or four buds of the base, as this will cause them to break strongly (Figs. 56 and 58). In future years, when the plants are well established, the strong growers need not be cut back so low ; it will suffice to prune them half their length. The weak growers may be pruned hard. 94 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Fig. 5 8.— HOW TO PRUNE A STANDARD ROSE. i. — First year's pruning. 2. — Second year's pruning. Fig. 59.— HOW TO PRUNE A CRIMSON RAMBLER ROSE. 1 . — Where a weak plant was shortened at planting. 2. — Point of pruning the resulting shoot. 3. — Short side shoots which have flowered cut out. 4. — Young canes to be preserved. ROSES. 5 PRUNING CLIMBING ROSES. The cutting back of climbing Roses in the Spring after planting is not necessary ; at all events with the vigorous growers — if the soil is deep, rich and moist ; but it ought certainly to be practised with weak plants, and with all plants if the soil is shallow. Hard pruning gives the roots a chance of multiplying, and subsequently they send up strong growths. Climbing Roses need not be cut back every year, in fact all the younger canes should be kept, only the old wood being removed (Fig. 59). Those retained should be tied in neatly. Marechal Niel is an exception ; it does best when pruned hard back after flowering. PROPAGATING ROSES BY BUD- DING. If a Rose lover can get some standard Briers from the hedges in Autumn, and plant them in good soil, he can make Roses of them by inserting buds in the base of the side shoots after rain towards the end of July. The bark should be slit on the upper face of the shoot to the length of 1 \ inch, and the edges raised. The buds should be made by slicing pieces out of Rose shoots just under a leaf, reducing the latter to half an inch of stalk, and carefully picking the pith out of the bark, leaving only the small green germ in the centre under the leaf stalk. The buds must be slipped into the slits directly they are made, as if allowed to get dry they will fail. They should be tied in with raphia. They will grow the following Spring, and the Brier shoots can then be reduced in length and finally cut quite away (Fig 57). PROPAGATING ROSES BY CUTTINGS. Pieces of firm, mature wood of the current year, about eight inches long, should be taken off towards the end of September, and put in nearly to the top an inch or two apart, and trodden firm. A year later they can be planted out, and pruned in Spring. They generally make nice plants in two years (Fig. 60) . ROSES IN POTS. Roses make beautiful pot plants, and they do not need house room in the summer, when they will be quite at home on a bed of ashes in a sheltered corner of the garden. Fig. 60.— PROPAGATING ROSES BY CUTTING. 1 . — Soft young wood — unsuitable 2 and 3. — Riper wood — suitable. 4. — Heel of old wood. 96 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. They can be pruned, repotted, and put under glass in autumn. The pruning should be severe, the shoots being cut back to a few buds. The soil recommended in Chapter XVIII. for general pot plants will suit. After flowering in Spring they can go outside again. THE COST OF ROSES. The average cost of dwarf Roses is 6d. to ad. each, of standards od. to is. each. New varieties cost 3s. 6d. to ss. each. Tea and Hybrid Tea Roses generally cost a little more than Hybrid Perpetuals. The following are good varieties of Roses : — HYBRID PERPETUALS. A class with large, richly coloured and often highly perfumed flowers, blooming twice a year, with green leaves. There are five leaflets on each, Briers have seven. The following are good varieties, nearly all sweet : — A. K. Williams, carmine. Mrs. R. G. Sharman Crawford, pink- Captain Hayward, scarlet. S. M. Rodocanachi, rose. Duke of Wellington, crimson. Ulrich Brunner, cherry red. Frau Karl Druschki, white, not Ulster, salmon. sweet. Victor Hugo, crimson. Hugh Dickson, crimson. Xavier Olibo, dark red. Mrs. John Laing, pink. TEA-SCENTED ROSES. The Teas are a lovely class, though they do not comprise so many richly coloured varieties as the H.P's. They are beautiful in the bud. The foliage is charmingly tinted. Most of them produce flowers throughout the summer. In cold districts earth should be drawn up the stems in autumn to protect them from frost. The following are beautiful varieties, with fragrant flowers : — Anna Ollivler, ivory. Lady Roberts, apricot. Catherine Mermet, pink. Marie van Houtte, primrose, rose Comtesse de Saxe, white. edge. Corallina, coral. Niphetos, white. G. Nabonnand, flesh. Peace, white. Harry Kirk, yellow. Souvenir de Pierre Notting, apricot. HYBRID TEA ROSES. A beautiful class, with large sweet flowers, borne continuously, and attractive foliage. The following are good varieties : — ft o « S en O " o Pi £c ISi f'c $s *c '$» '& i $0 #c & & '$. *. & to * ,' '. • '■. ■ \ / \ '' \ ,' ' ,' \ .' ''■ "£**'* ^fa» W« "& V« &'• '*«■ fe» < — 60 ft — » ?^J« I in * tV+t, Fig. 71.— A PLAN OF A FRUIT PLANTATION, 60 FEET BY 30 FEET. S — Standard Trees. B — Bushes. C. — Currants. G. — Gooseberries. The Standards are 30 feet apart, and the others equidistant between them, \ / / Fig. 72.— HOW TO PLANT FRUIT TREES IN ANGLES. 114 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. is. 6d. to 2S. 6d. each, Fans 5s. to ios. 6d. each, Currants and Gooseberries 6d. each. For these sums well-furnished trees may be expected. Younger trees can be bought for much less, especi- ally if a large number are taken. It is generally best to buy three- year-old trees. Except in the case of standards they will probably bear the second season after planting. PLANTING FRUIT. Whether planting in gardens or in the open it is well to put the trees in during November if possible. They should be ordered in good time, so that they may be ready when wanted. The earlier they are ordered the greater the likelihood of the varieties wanted being in stock. If the planting is deferred the ground may be frozen when they come. Should this happen the trees should be put in a shed with the roots covered until the ground is soft enough to permit of planting. The roots should not be covered deeply, but the soil should be trodden thoroughly round them. Planting may be done at any time from the fall of the leaf in Autumn until the end of March, so long as the ground is in a moist, workable state. STAKING TREES. Standard trees will require stakes, and they should be pointed and tarred or creosoted in advance, so that they can be put in with the trees, and root-injury thus avoided. The stakes should be about eighteen inches longer than the main stem of the trees, so that they can be driven well down. At the point where the ligature is used a strip of old bicycle tube, or canvas, may be bound round, so that the tree cannot be chafed (Fig. 73). Strong cord should be used, as weak, thin material will soon rot away. PRUNING FRUIT TREES. Proper pruning certainly conduces to the health and fruitfulness of trees ; it is also interesting in itself. But a good deal of pruning " in the dark " is done, and so the trees suffer. When planting young trees it is wise to prune hard, in fact, the younger the trees are the harder they should be pruned. Many people do not like to cut young trees back, because of the fear that early fruitfulness is being sacrificed. Fig. 73.— HOW TO STAKE AND PROTECT TREES. Note the band between tree and post ; also wire at the base to keep stock away. FRUIT. »S i.— A' It is true that newly-planted trees often bear a good deal of fruit the first season, but it overstrains them, and pulls the immature branches out of shape. Hard pruning makes things easy for the roots, and strong growths follow. If an amateur pays . a high price for older trees which are furnished with fruit buds on mature wood he should not prune them back severely, but he would be wise to restrict them to a few fruits on the lower part of the tree the first year, and prune lightly. In case the terms " hard " and " light " pruning do not convey a very clear meaning it may be well to say that young trees (two or three years old) with shoots from two to three feet long, should have the branches shortened to about nine inches, but four or five-years-old trees with fruiting wood need only have a few inches removed from the upper part of the shoots. It is nearly always well to prune close to an outside bud (Fig. 74) so as to get a growth breaking outward, indeed, pruning so as to get branches well away from the centre of the tree should be made a cardinal principle, as in-growing branches not only mean a crowded tree, but also much crossing and rub- bing, with consequent disease. Cordon trees should not be cut back. Fig. 7+.— HOW TO PRUNE. snag " left above the bud. 2. — Where the cut should be made. 3. — Shoot going straight up from outside a top bud. <« 4. — Shoot growing diagonally from the bud below. Fig. 75.— SUMMER PRUNING. 1. — Points of stopping in summer. 2. — Points of pruning in winter. SUMMER PRUNING. The winter pruning can be usefully supplemented by summer pruning, as soon as the tree is sufficiently furnished with main branches. In the case of cordons, summer pruning is almost essential. It consists in shortening the n6 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. side shoots which break from the main branches while they are in full leaf, the objects being to concentrate sap on the lower buds, and to admit abundance of sun to the trees for ripening purposes. Growers differ somewhat on matters of detail in summer pruning. Experts who concentrate their attention on the fruit, and can give more time to the trees than amateurs, prune twice, the first time in early June, the second about the end of July. The second pinching deals with the sub-shoots which have broken out in consequence of the first pinching. Amateurs may prefer to rely on one pinching, which should be done early in August, and should consist in nipping off the shoot at about half a dozen leaves from the base (Fig. 75). The stumps left will be cut back to the base — where there should be a plump fruit bud — at the winter pruning. Apples and Pears are generally benefitted by summer pruning, and Plums when they do not form spurs freely. Cherries do not often require it. Currants and Gooseberries benefit by it. Peaches and Nectarines should not be Summer pruned, nor should Black Currants. ROOT PRUNING. Fruit should be expected from bush Apples on the Paradise stock, and Pears on the Quince stock, when they are four years old. On the average, standard trees will be two years longer in coming into bearing. If the trees do not bloom by the time they are five and seven years old respectively, but are seen to make a good deal of strong wood every summer, the soil should be removed from the roots, and half of them cut through. This check will probably lead to fruitfulness. Root pruning should be done when the trees are at rest (Fig. 76). GRAFTING. If an Apple tree is unsatisfactory, a change of variety should be tried before finally condemning the tree ; unless, indeed, it is very old and decrepit. Shoots of the previous summer's growth should be taken from a vigorous variety like Bramley's Seedling in Winter, and kept in a copl, shady place until early April, when they should be cut up into lengths of about four inches, and the lower part, to the length of one-and-a-half inch, pared down. The head of the tree should be removed, and two slits made through the bark ; the grafts should be slipped in, tied securely with raphia, and waxed (see Chapter XXII.) . Or the trees may be cleft grafted (Fig. 77). In this case the top is taken off and the stumps split across. Whip or tongue grafting must be practised with young stocks (Fig. jy). Some remarks may be devoted usefully to each of the principal kinds of fruits. APPLES. The Apple is acknowledged to be the most valuable of all fruits. A raw Apple should form part of the daily dietary FRUIT. 117 Fig. 76— HOW TO ROOT PRUNE FRUIT TREES, (x) Tree ; (2) Trench opened ; (3) Roots cut off. Fig. 77-— HOW TO GRAFT FRUIT TREES. A — Stock split across for cleft grafting a large tree and scions inserted. B — (1) Scion spliced down on each side for cleft grafting : (2) bud. C — Young stock prepared for whip or tongue grafting. u8 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. with everybody.. The fruit is agreeable, refreshing and bene- ficial. It can be eaten at midsummer and midwinter with equal enjoyment and advantage. Amateurs who have space for a few trees only should give Apples the preference. They do well as bushes, standards (Fig. 68), trained trees and cordons (Figs. 6g and 70) . The remarks on pruning given above apply to Apples. The model type of tree (in the case of a bush or standard) is one with an open head, free from crossing, ingrowing and crowding branches. Here are a few high class-sorts : — Culinary. ♦Lord Grosvenor. Potts's Seedling. Ecklinville Seedling. *Lord Derby. Peasgood's Nonsuch. Warner's King. ♦Wellington. ♦Lane's Prince Albert. Newton Wonder. ♦Bramley's Seedling. Dessert. Mr. Gladstone. ♦Beauty of Bath. ♦Worcester Pearmain. Allington Pippin. ♦Cox's Orange Pippin. King of the Pippins. Blenheim Orange. ♦Sturmer Pippin. Fig. 78.— A PYRAMID PEAR TREE WELL PRUNED. The varieties are approximately in ripening order, and cover several months. Those marked * might be chosen for a smaller collection. Although it is slow to come into bearing Bramley's Seedling is the best culinary Apple. Cox's Orange Pippin is the best dessert sort. Apples for Heavy Soil. Lord Grosvenor. Worcester Pearmain. Bramley's Seedling. PEARS. The Pear ranks second to the Apple, and is a most delicious and valuable fruit. It does well as bush, pyramid (Fig. 78), standard, flat-trained tree and cordon. A dozen cordons will take up very little room in a small garden, and will yield a nice succession of fruit of agreeable flavour. The foregoing FRUIT. 119 remarks on planting and pruning apply to them. Pears do not care for very light soil, and on such land must be well fed to keep healthy and fruitful. They enjoy a stiff, substantial loam. The following are good varieties, in approximate ripening order and covering a long season : — Jargonelle. Souvenir du Congres. ♦Williams's Bon Chretien. *Dr. Jules Guyot. ♦Beurre Hardy Marguerite Marrillat. Marechal de la Cour. Louise Bonne of Jersey. ♦Pitmaston Duchess. Fondante d'Automne. Marie Louise. *Doyenn6 du Cornice. Emile d'Heyst. Beurre Diel. Glou Morceau. Winter Nelis. ♦Josephine de Malines. Easter Beurre. Those marked * would be suitable for a smaller selection. Catillac is good for stewing. PLUMS. The Plum enj oys favour both as a culinary and dessert fruit. For the former one has only to mention Victoria, and the latter Greengage, to secure agreement, but there are many good varieties besides these. The Plum likes rich, loamy soil, but will thrive on clay when it is drained and fertile. The remarks as to pruning given above apply to it, but when it has settled down to business life it will not need much pruning of any kind, as it will produce natural spurs with fruit buds (Fig. 79). It makes a good standard and bush, but not the best of cordons. The following are good sorts in ripening order : — Fig. 79.— PLUM SPUR. 1.— Old Wood. 2. — Cluster of buds. Culinary. ♦Early Rivers. The Czar. ♦Victoria. Pond's Seedling. ♦Cox's Emperor. ♦Monarch. Dessert. Belgian Purple. Green Gage. ♦Early Transparent Gage. ♦Late Transparent Gage. Jefferson's. Coe's Golden Drop. These might be chosen for a smaller number. CHERRIES. The Cherry is popular for all purposes, and does well as a standard, a bush, and a fan-trained tree. It is not suitable for cordons. Young trees are benefitted by early 120 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. pruning, but older trees need very little cutting as they produce natural spurs (Fig. 80) and stubby shoots which will mature fruit Fig. 80.— SPUR OF CHERRY. Fig. 81.— STUBBY SHOOT OF CHERRY. Fruit buds will be developed on it. buds (Fig. 81). The Cherry likes a light loamy soil overlying chalk and sand. It does not care for clay. The following are good varieties : — Early Rivers. Black Eagle. May Duke. Governor Wood. Kent Bigarreau. Morello (for stewing). APRICOT. This succeeds as a fan-trained tree on a wall, but the space can be utilised to greater advantage in small gardens. Moor Park is the best variety. BLACKBERRIES are grown occasionally, and the Parsley- leaved gives much finer fruit than the hedgerow Blackberry. The plants should be put in deep, rich, moist soil against a fence or pillar, and well pruned back after planting. Old canes should be cut out after fruiting, also weak basal shoots ; but the strong young canes should be kept for fruiting the following year (Fig. 82). CURRANTS. These useful fruits will thrive on most soils, but they do not care for shallow, surface fed when planted in such deep, heavy land. Being bearers Fig. 82.— PRUNING BLACKBERRIES. 1. — Old, fruited canes cut out at the base. 2. — Young canes left to bear. 3, — Weak basal shoots shortened to the bottom buds. dry ground, and should be well soil. Black Currants love cool, FRUIT. 121 on young wood they should not be summer pruned or spurred to old wood in winter, like the reds and the whites, but young shoots should be left for bearing the following year. The following are good varieties : — Red. White. Black. Victoria. White Dutch. Boskoop Giant. Fay's Prolific. Baldwin's. FIGS. The Fig is occasionally grown against a sheltered wall in the open air, but it is not worth including in a small garden, where the space available for fruit is very limited. Those who want a tree might choose the variety Brown Turkey, which is productive and of good flavour. Rich soil should be avoided, because the plant is naturally a luxuriant grower. Little pruning will be required. As many shoots should be kept as are needed to cover the wall without crowding, and the remainder removed. GOOSEBERRIES. The Goose- berry is the earliest hardy fruit to come into use, owing to the fact that it is so well adapted for cook- ing while unripe. It is often ready in May, and makes a pleasant change from stored Apples and bottled fruits of various kinds . By growing different varieties, and putting some cordon trees against walls or fences with a northern aspect, the supply of fruit can be maintained for several months, in fact, until early Apples come in. The Gooseberry will succeed in most soils that are fairly deep and fertile. The method of pruning is simple, but is often neglected, with the result that the bushes get crowded. So far from Gooseberries not being worth pruning, few kinds of fruit need it more, because as the shoots bear spines gathering becomes a disagreeable duty when the fruit-bearing shoots interlace. If the main branches are kept well apart it is a simple matter to regulate the side shoots, summer pruning those which threaten to fill up the centre of the tree, and then spurring them back in the winter. By this means the bushes are kept open and manageable, both as to pruning and gathering. They Fig. 83.— SUMMER PINCHING RED CURRANTS. 1. — Old wocd in bearing., s. — Young shoots stopped at the sixth leaf in summer. 122 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. do well as cordons, Summer pruned (Fig. 84). The following are good varieties : — May Duke. Lancashire Lad. Crown Bob. Whinham's Industry. ♦Red Champagne. *Pitmason Greengage. * These are dessert Gooseberries, and need not be grown if cooking varieties only are wanted. NUTS. To some the Nut as a cultivated tree sounds odd, because it is often regarded as a mere wilding, like the Blackberry. Those who see the hundreds of acres of trained Nuts growing in Fig. 84.— CORDON GOOSE- BERRIES. Side shoots (i) pinched in early summer. These will be spurred back at the winter pruning. Fig. 85.— PRUNING RASP- BERRIES. How to cut back a newly-planted the orchards of mid-Kent realise, however, that it is a really important fruit. The trees are trained in the shape of a basin, the branches forming the rim, and the centres being quite open. When the tree is furnished with main branches the pruning con- sists in thinning out the superabundant side and top shoots, and shortening those retained, but leaving at least one long yellow catkin on each, in addition to the buds surmounted by small red flowers which constitute the females. The catkins contain the pollen which fertilises the flowers. Those who have not had long experience in the pruning of Nuts should leave the winter pruning till March, when they can distinguish both types of bloom without the possibility of a mistake. The Nut does not thrive FRUIT. 123 in every kind of soil. To do well it wants a deep rich loam. The following are good varieties : — Cosford. Lambert Filbert. RASPBERRIES. The Raspberry succeeds on most kinds of soil, but best on a heavy, moist loam or clay. Most of the varieties need support, but they thrive better against stakes or on a wire frame work in the open than against a wall. If well-rooted canes are planted a foot apart in a row, and cut back close to the ground (Fig. 85), strong canes will be thrown up, and there will be a heavy crop of fruit the second summer after planting. If fruit is wanted the first summer it will be wise to plant extra canes, let them bear, and cut them out after fruiting. In any case some of the newly-planted canes should be cut back to make sure of fruiting Fig. 86.— PROPAGATING STRAWBERRIES. Young plantlets layered in small pots plunged in the soil. growth next year. If the soil is good there is no scarcity of young canes every year, and the fruited wood should be cut out annually. The following are good varieties : — Carter's Prolific. Superlative. Canes cost about 2s. 6d. per dozen. STRAWBERRIES. The Strawberry is one of the most delicious of all fruits ; it can be grown in a bed like a batch of Cabbages, and it can be fruited well from young plants within eighteen months of planting ; indeed, if strong, well-rooted plants are put in during late summer they will bear well the next summer. With quick fruiting, delicious flavour and small demands on space to recommend it the Strawberry is naturally a great favourite with owners of small gardens. It will succeed in most kinds of soil that is well manured, but does best on loam and clay. The latter soil grows vigorous plants, but the fruit is a little later than on plants growing in loam. Propagation is easily effected by 124 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. putting small pots filled with soil round the plants in summer, when plantlets have formed on the runners, and fixing the latter on the soil with pegs or stones (Fig. 86). They soon root, and can then be cut away from the runners. If they are to be forced under glass they should be repotted into a size larger in late summer, but not if they are to be planted in the open ground. They should be put eighteen inches apart, in rows thirty inches apart. Straw should be spread between bearing plants when the fruit forms, and removed in Autumn, when the ground should be cleaned. Runners should not be allowed to root between the rows and make the bed a tangled mass ; nor should the plants be kept until they are old. A new bed should be made every three years. The following are good varieties in order of ripening : — Royal Sovereign. Bedford Champion. Sir Joseph Paxton. Laxton's Latest. The plants cost about 2S. 6d. a dozen. INDOOR FRUIT. Grapes, Melons, Peaches and Nectarines are regarded as indispensable in large gardens, and their production forms one of the most onerous, and withal the most interesting, of a pro- fessional gardener's duties. The delicious fruits named are enjoyed by all classes, but it is not every amateur horticulturist who can afford to put up Vineries and Peach Houses, although he may see his way to the provision of a pit for Melons. GRAPES. Grape Vines do best in a fairly wide and high lean-to house. They are planted at the front, the canes or rods go straight up the roof to the top, and the fruit is borne on the side shoots or " laterals," which push from both sides. It the Vines are planted four feet apart the laterals will nominally have a four-feet run, but it is not wise to allow the laterals of neighbouring rods to become entangled, and consequently it is common 1o nip off the ends of the laterals when two leaves have formed beyond the bunch of fruit. The Vines may be planted from November to March inclusive, either inside or outside the house, preferably the former. If planted outside the canes must be taken through holes knocked in the brickwork, and the external part should be protected with hay hands. Assuming that they are to be planted inside the question arises as to the suitability of the soil. If deep, fertile loam it will do. If shallow and poor two feet of decayed turves should be put in. The Vines should be topped at a good bud near the level of the glass (Fig. 87), and a shoot will break from the bud and go up to the top of the house the first year. It should be pruned back to half its length in winter FRUIT. 125 (Fig. 88), and a new piece of rod taken to the top, which may be shortened one-third at the end of another season. This pruning back thickens up the lower part of the rod and makes a strong. Fig. 87.— PRUNING VINES. How to cut back a newly-planted cane. Fig. 88.— HOW TO PRUNE YOUNG VINES. 1. — Where the vine was shortened when planted. 2. — Point of cutting back after the first year's growth. healthy Vine. When the Vines have covered the roof and de- veloped their laterals the routine management is somewhat as follows, beginning with pruning. This is done by shortening each lateral to a good bud close to the base or main rod in Autumn Fig. 89.— TYING DOWN VINE LATERALS. Left hand : first stage of tying. Right hand : second stage of tying. or early Winter. The rubbish is cleared away, the Vines scrubbed with a solution of Gishurst Compound or some other insecticide, and the house cleaned and whitewashed. The place is kept cool, and the Vines go to rest. Unless the Vines are to be forced they may rest until March, when they will start naturally — that is, 126 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. without artificial heat— but they may be started very much earlier if the house contains hot water pipes, and if early Grapes are wanted. About five months should be allowed from the time of starting to the Grapes ripening. The buds will swell, and small shoots will appear, which will extend steadily. After they have grown a few inches a bunch of Grapes will show, if it is dumpy it should be picked off and another waited for, but if pyramidal it should be left. In due course the shoots should be gradually brought down to wires stretched eighteen inches under the roof, and tied to them (Fig. 89) . When the shoots have formed two leaves beyond the bunch the end should be nipped off, and any sublaterals which break pinched at the first leaf. The bunches must be thinned when the berries are about as large as Radish seed, sufficient being snipped out with a pair of fine scissors Fig. 90.— THINNING GRAPES. Fig. 91.— THINNING GRAPES. A bunch before thinning. A bunch after thinning. to prevent squeezing (Figs. 90 and 91). As a guide to temperature it may be suggested that the minimum night temperature at starting be 50°, that 55 to 60° be kept until they are in flower, 65° to 70 until the stoning stage arrives, during which they will cease swelling temporarily, then a few degrees cooler until they complete the stoning and start their second swelling, but rising again for the completion. The borders should never be allowed to get quite dry. The ventilators should be closed between 3 and 4 p.m., and the house well syringed. This bottles up sun heat, and at the same time maintains a moist atmosphere. The ventilators should be opened early in the morning, to prevent scalding of the berries. For the first year of fruiting six bunches should be the limit on each Vine, afterwards each lateral may carry a bunch. An interesting question with amateurs, who cannot maintain more than one glass house, is whether Grapes and general flowering plants can be grown together, Not very well, because the Vine foliage shades the house too much in Summer, But if the amateur will restrict himself to plants that FRUIT. 127 love shade, or which are suitable for outdoor culture in Summer, success is possible. Several useful plants may be raised in the house in autumn for flowering. in spring which can be planted in the garden or kept in frames or in pots outdoors during Summer, to flower in autumn or winter. The following beautiful plants come in one or other of the above categories : — Arum Lilies. Begonias. Bouvardias. Calceolarias, Cinerarias Cyclamens. Cannas. Chrysanthemums. Dahlias. Fuchsias. Geraniums, zonal. Hyacinths, and Pelargoniums. Primulas. Roses. Solanums. Tulips. Fig. 92.— A MELON READY FOR PLANTING OUT. 93.— A MELON PLANT FOR A FRAME. 1. — Basal laterals. 2. — Upper laterals. (The laterals break strongly if the tip of the plant is nipped off). Seedling Asters, Stocks, Sweet Peas and other annuals ; and Celery, Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Melons, could be raised in the house in Spring. The house should be kept as cool as possible during the winter, so that the Vines are not started into growth early. The best variety is Black Hamburgh. Good Vines cost 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. each. MELONS. The Melon is a luscious fruit, and easily grown. It may be cultivated in a frame, but a pit is better. Or a crop can be grown on the stage of an ordinary span roof house by placing mounds of soil on slates two feet apart, putting a young plant iri each, and training them on wires under the roof very 128 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. much like Vines. Fibrous loam is the best kind of soil. Seeds may be sown in three-inch pots in Spring, and the plants put out when a foot high (Fig. 92). Lateral shoots will form freely, and should be tied in far enough apart for the foliage to nicely cover the glass without crowding. Two kinds of flower will show, one with a fruit at the base, and no stamens, the other with stamens and pollen. The latter should be applied to the former when the pollen is dry and loose. Six fruits will be enough for each plant to carry. The shoots may be stopped at the first leaf when the fruits are safely set and swelling. A moist, warm atmosphere should be maintained. If the plants are to be grown in frames they may be stopped when they have made two pairs of leaves, including the seed leaves, as this will encourage side shoots to push, and these can be taken up as leading shoots, which will produce fruiting laterals (Fig. 93). Superlative is a very good variety. Seed of Melons costs from id. to is. per packet. Fig. 94.— HOW TO TRAIN PEACH SHOOTS ON WIRES. PEACHES AND NECTARINES. These delicious fruits are grown on flat trained trees suitable for walls out of doors, or wires under glass. They are not much grown out of doors nowadays, as people prefer to give up wall space to Cordon Apples and Pears, growing the Peaches under glass. They may be planted against the back wall of a lean-to house, or against a wire framework in the centre of a house. They enjoy fibrous loam. Such soil should be manured, or the trees will become too gross. If the annual growths extend more than three feet long the trees should be lifted and root pruned. As Peaches require skilled training when young, amateurs should start with trees not less than three-years- old, which have been cut back several times, and have a series of branches spreading like a fan. The. branches of a three year old tree should be cut back to half their length at planting, and two shoots from each trained along the wall. The fruiting shoots will break from these, and can be tied down to the wires between them (Fig. 94) . They will fruit the year following their formation. It is not wise to allow each fruiting shoot to develop either all FRUIT. 129 the fruits or all the new shoots which will show on it in Spring. Two fruits will be enough : the others should be removed, to- gether with all the growth shoots except one near the base and one near the tip, by degrees. All shoots that spring from the front of the branches should be removed, as they cannot be tied in without bending and crossing. The following are good sorts in order of ripening : — Peaches. Nectarines. Hale's Early. Cardinal. Early Grosse Mignonne. Lord Napier. Stirling Castle. Stanwick Elruge. Princess of Wales. Victoria. Good trees will cost 5s. to 7s. 6d. each. STRAWBERRIES. If strong plants are raised as shown in Fig. 86 they may be shifted from the small to six-inch pots late in Summer, and put into a fairly warm house in winter to force them into early cropping. They do best on a shelf close to the glass. For remedies for the attacks of various insects and diseases on fruits see Chapter XXIII. J?» CHAPTER XXV. Vegetables. Owners of very small gardens often exclude vegetables, especi- ally if they live near shops. They feel that when vegetables can be bought cheaply they will be wise to make their gardens as pleasing and attractive as possible with flowers and turf. Cer- tainly it is not worth while to grow Greens, Potatoes, Artichokes, Parsnips, Beetroot, Celery, Carrots, Rhubarb, and Onions in a small garden if they can be bought of good quality and at low prices. It is sometimes worth while to grow Peas and Kidney Beans for the sake of getting them perfectly fresh, Tomatoes because they can be trained on a wall or fence, and Asparagus and Seakale because they are dear. People with larger gardens in the country may grow all their own vegetables. HOW TO UTILISE A KITCHEN GARDEN. Assuming that it is desired to grow a complete supply of vegetables the procedure should be briefly as follows : (i) Prepare the ground as advised in Chapter XVI. (2) Sow certain kinds in boxes for transplanting. (3) Sow and plant others out of doors where they are to mature. (4) Sow others out of doors for transplanting, because it would be waste of ground to put them in their final positions at once. The following tables show the different kinds of sowing : — VEGETABLES TO BE SOWN UNDER GLASS. Kind. When to sow. When to plant out. Inches rows. apart, plants. Cauliflowers (early) Celery Cucumbers for in- doors „ for outdoors Leeks (for show) . . Onions (for show) Tomatoes Vegetable Marrows Midwinter February or March Midwinter April Midwinter Midwinter February or March March or April . . April June or July under glass in spring June April April June June 3° 48 48 30 18 30 72 3° 12 24 48 12 18 12 72 130 VEGETABLES. 131 VEGETABLES TO BE SOWN OR PLANTED WHERE THEY ARE TO MATURE. Kind. When to sow or plant. Inches apart. rows. plants. Artichoke, Jerusalem spring 72 12 Asparagus see separate note — — Beans, Broad November and March 24 8 „ Dwarf French May 24 8 „ Runner May 72 9 Beetroot May 12 9 Carrots April IS 6 Onions (ordinary) March or April 9 3 Parsnips March or April 12 9 Peas, dwarf early February or March . . 18 1 „ taller early February or March . . 48 to 60 2 „ mid-season April 48 to 60 2 ,, tall late May and June 60 to 72 3 Potatoes, early March 24 12 „ late March or April 28 14 Radishes February onwards . . broadcast — Rhubarb March 48 36 Seakale see separate note Shallots February 12 9 Spinach August, March 24 6 Turnips March to September . . broadcast VEGETABLES TO BE SOWN OUT OF DOORS AND TRANSPLANTED. Kind. When to sow. When to Inches apart. plant. rows. plants. Borecole, Broccoli March and April June or July 30 30 and Brussels Sprouts Cabbages for spring early August October . . 18 18 „ for summer April and May . . June or J.uly 24 24 and autumn Cauliflowers,autumn April June 30 3° Endive April, August . . June, Oct. . . IS 15 Leeks April June or July 24 6 Lettuces April, August . . May, Oct. . . 12 12 Savoys, see Borecole 132 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. DEPTH OF SOWING OR PLANTING VARIOUS VEGETABLES. Half inch. One inch. Two to three inches. Borecole Asparagus (seed) Beans of all kinds Broccoli Beetroot Peas Brussels Sprouts Cucumbers Cabbages Parsnips Carrots Radishes Four to six inches. Cauliflowers Rhubarb Celery- Seakale (seed) Artichokes, Jerusalem Endive Spinach Asparagus (roots) Leeks Vegetable Marrows Potatoes Lettuces Rhubarb (roots) Onions Seakale (roots) Parsley Savoys Tomatoes Turnips > Mustard and Cress should just be covered. Shallot bulbs should be buried half their depth. TIME OF GERMINATING AND DEVELOPING. Growers of vegetables find that the time taken in germinating and developing varies enormously. Sometimes Peas, for instance, will lie for six weeks before germinating ; at others they will come through within a week. Again, they will sometimes be ready for gathering in three months, and sometimes not for five. The condition of the soil and the state of the weather are important factors in both germination and development ; in fact, they have so great an influence that it is difficult to give even an approximate idea of times. The best that can be said is that with favourable circumstances the following figures will be found fairly accurate : — TABLE OF GERMINATION AND DEVELOPMENT. Crop. Days in germinating. Weeks before ready. Beans Beetroot Borecole and Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbages Carrots 8 9 8 8 8 13 to 14 12 to 14 20 25 to 40 25 to 35 16 to 18 20 to 24 VEGETABLES. 133 Days in Weeks Crop. germinating. before ready. Cauliflowers 8 18 to 20 Celery 12 to 13 2 5 Cucumbers 9 6 Endive 9 12 Leeks 9 25. Lettuce 7 10 Mustard and Cress . 6 2 to 3 Onion 9 20 Pea 8 13 to 16 Parsnip 15 30 to 40 Potato (sets) 8 to 12 16 to 20 Radish 6 6 Savoy 8 25 to 30 Tomato 9 17 to 18 Turnip 6 6 to 8 Notes on the various vegetables are appended. It should be observed that the principal points about the different kinds are given in the preceding tables. Notes on insects and diseases are given in Chapter XVIII. ARTICHOKES. The Jerusalem Artichoke is not a vegetable of any real value, and it takes up a good deal of room. It will thrive in poor soil. The tubers should not be lifted before late Autumn or early Winter. Cost of tubers is. to is. 6d. per gallon. The Globe Artichoke is only worth growing in large places, where there is plenty of ground available. ASPARAGUS. This delicious vegetable should have ground that is often given to coarse, cheap things. It can be raised from seed in Spring, but the plants will not yield for at least three years, and those who propose to make a bed should buy three-year-old crowns, which cost about 3s. 6d. per 100 (Fig. 95). Three rows could be put into a bed five feet wide, and the crowns could be set eighteen inches apart in the rows ; they should be covered four inches deep. Heads could be cut the following year. The soil should be rich and well-drained. Shallow, poor soil, equally with cold, damp, undrained soil, is bad. Cutting can begin by mid-May generally, and should end in June. The growths should be cleared away in autumn after they have faded, and the bed Fig. 95.— A CLUMP OR "CROWN "OF ASPAR- AGUS WITH GROWTH STARTING. 134 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. covered with manure, or seaweed. A dressing of salt, $-lb. per square yard, may be given in Spring. Connover's Colossal and Giant are both good varieties. Roots may be forced in rich soil on a hotbed or in a warm house throughout the winter. BEANS. Broad Beans are hardy, and succeed in most fertile soils. Exhibition Longpod is a good variety. Cost of seed 8d. to is. per quart, which will sow eighty feet. Dwarf French Beans are not hardy. Canadian Wonder is a good sort. Cost about oxl. to is. per quart, which will sow fifty feet. Scarlet Runners are valuable owing to their long bearing and good flavour. Ne Plus Ultra is a good variety. Scarlet Emperor and Best of All are still finer. The cost of the first is about is. 6d. per quart, which will sow 1 60 feet. Fig. 96.— BEETROOT STORED IN SAND FOR 3 THE WINTER. Carrots may be treated in the same way. The Broad Bean is often sown in November for standing the Winter and yielding an early crop in Spring. It thrives on deep, moist, rich soil, and enjoys clay. It should come into use early in July. The plant is sometimes badly checked by the black dolphin, which attacks the tips of the shoots and, multiplying fast, works it way down the stems ; the tops of the plants should be nipped off directly it is seen to prevent its spreading. Dwarf Beans are easily grown from late April and early May sowings provided the soil is fertile and they are given plenty of room. Poor soil and thick sowing are both bad. It is a good plan to grow them eight or nine inches apart in the rows. The Scarlet Runner is an invaluable vegetable, and so free a grower that it is only in very poor, dry soil that it fails. Sown nine inches apart in rich soil in May it invariably gives the grower a good return. If a mulching of manure or soakings of liquid manure, are given VEGETABLES. 135 in Summer, and if the pods are picked young, the plants will go on bearing until they are killed by frost. BEETROOT. A useful Winter root, which likes deep but not freshly manured soil. Dell's Crimson (6d. to 8d. per ounce) is a good long variety and Globe (8d. to is. per ounce) a good semi- round. Birds are fond of the young plants, and should be kept off with fish netting. May is early enough to sow the former, but the latter may be sown in April. It is a good plan to sow clusters of three seeds at every nine inches, and thin down to the best plants. Then, with the rows a foot apart, the plants will have plenty of room. Avoid rich soil, as it encourages coarse growth and poor flavour. The roots should be lifted in October, the tops removed without injuring the crowns, laid in rows (Fig. 96), and stored beneath straw and earth, or in sand ; i-oz. of seed will sow thirty feet. BORECOLE. A hardy Winter green. Dwarf Green Curled is a good variety. Cost 3d. to 6d. per ounce. Half an ounce will yield several hundreds of plants. It is a good plan to sow in a spare plot at the end of March, thin the plants to keep them sturdy, and set them out thirty inches apart between Potatoes or on spare ground in June or July. They will then yield in Winter . BROCCOLI. A choice Winter and Spring vegetable, sown for succession in April and May. Leamington is a good early Spring, and Latest of All a good late Spring variety. The seed may be sown in a spare plot, thinly, and the plants thinned in order to keep them sturdy. In June or July they may be planted out thirty inches apart. They are often put between Potatoes, but if they are overgrown by the tops they become tender, and are generally killed by frost. They ought to be put on firm ground, with full exposure, to get well hardened. A 3d. or 6d. packet contains enough seed to supply many scores (even hundreds) of plants. BRUSSELS SPROUTS. The most valuable of Autumn and early Winter greens. To get hard, firm sprouts of the finest flavour the seed should be sown thinly on a spare plot in March, the seedlings thinned, and sturdy plants put into fertile but firm ground, in a place where they will not be overgrown, in June or July. In rich, loose soil, and when overgrown, the sprouts are loose, flabby and flavourless. The stem leaves should be removed from the plants in Autumn, but the top leaves should be left till all the sprouts have been gathered, the Wroxton and Ex- hibition are good varieties, and cost 3d, to 6d. per packet. 136 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. C ABB AGES. The Cabbage is not much appreciated in Summer, when it comes into competition with vegetables of more delicate flavour, such as Peas, Kidney Beans and Cauliflowers ; but it is always welcomed in Winter and Spring, and often in Autumn, if there is a scarcity of Cauliflowers. The late Winter and Spring crop is the most important. This can be secured in the best condition by sowing a variety such as Ellam's Early (6d. to 9d. per ounce) or Flower of Spring, early in August on a spare plot, thinning the plants to keep them sturdy, and planting them out eighteen inches apart on firm, fertile ground in October. Daniels' Defiance is a fine variety for later use, and may be sown in August or late Spring ; it should be put two feet apart, being larger. Fig. 97.— FINE ROOTS OF CARROTS, A RESULT OF THIN CULTURE. Cabbages should be cut off near the top of the stem, then the latter will break again and give some nice young shoots. CARROTS. There are few root vegetables more appreciated than the Carrot. It is tender and delicious from the time that it is thinned out of crowded rows in Summer till it is lifted fully grown in Autumn. Of the many varieties Early Gem may be named as a good short sort, and New Intermediate as a fine long variety. Both may be sown an inch deep in rows eighteen inches apart in April. They should be thinned gradually to five or six inches apart, but care should be taken to tread the soil close along the rows after thinning, or the crop will be destroyed by maggot. Carrots like a fine, light, friable, well-drained soil, free from rank manure and coarse, sharp particles of any kind. The ordinary varieties cost 4d. to 6d. per ounce, and an ounce will sow eighty feet. The roots should be stored in a shady, dry, frost-proof place for the Winter (See Fig. 96). VEGETABLES t$7 CAULIFLOWERS. The Cauliflower is a most delicious vegetable, and should be grown in every garden for Autumn use, if not for earlier crops. Gardeners have it most of the year. Early Cauliflowers can be got by sowing a variety such as Early London out of doors in August, or under glass in February. Autumn Cauliflowers are secured by sowing Autumn Giant out of doors in a spare plot in April, thinning the seedlings, and planting out thirty inches apart in rich soil in June or July. A 6d. packet will yield a large number of plants. CELERY. Good both for eating raw and stewing. Standard Bearer is a good sort, and a packet (cost 3d. to 6d.) will give a large number of plants. The seed should be sown thinly in a box in a greenhouse or heated frame in late Winter or early Spring, the seedlings thinned, and put out in trenches in June or July. The leaves may be pinched and sprayed (see Chapter XXIII.) if attacked by leaf maggot. This crop enjoys moist, rich soU. The plants should be tied and earthed up to the tips when a foot high, in order to blanch the sticks. The drawback to the crop from an amateur's point of view is that it generally takes up a great deal of room and entails much labour ; but both can be reduced by growing it in shallow instead of deep trenches. The Celery may be smaller, but the flavour will be excellent. Fig. 8.— CUCUMBERS IN FRAMES. CRESS, see Mustard. A plant after being stopped with the shoots extending over the bed. CUCUMBERS. A popular crop, both indoors and out. The seeds for the former can be sown singly in sniall pots in a warm house or on a hotbed. If for a house the plants need not be stopped ; if for a frame they may be stopped at the first pair of rough leaves to encourage side shoots, which may be trained over the bed (Fig. 98) . The crop can be grown successfully in a house or pit like Melons (see Chapter XXIV.) but fertilisation will not be needed. The atmosphere should be kept warm and moist. Cucumbers may also be grown well in a frame on a hotbed if the warm manure is surfaced with a few inches of good soil and a moist atmosphere is maintained. Improved Telegraph (6d. to is. per packet) is a good variety. Ridge Cucumbers similar to Stockwood (3d. to 6d. per packet) may be grown in rich soil out of doors, sowing in a frame in April and planting in June. 138 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. ENDIVE may be grown like Lettuces for use in Salads. Green Curled is good for Summer and Batavian for Winter use. Cost 3d. to 6d. per packet. LEEKS. Very hardy vegetables, which may be left in the ground all the winter. Give rich soil, and earth up in Autumn. Musselburgh (8d. to is. per ounce) is a good variety. Half an ounce of seed should produce several hundreds of plants. It can be sown in a frame in March, or in the open in a spare plot in April, and planted out nine inches apart in June or July. If large plants are wanted the Leeks must be grown in manured trenches like Celery. LETTUCES. The most useful of salads. They may be sown successionally from March to August in the open. Hicks' Hardy White is a good Cos and All the Year Round a reliable Cabbage variety. Cost 3d. to 6d. per packet, which will give a considerable number of plants. The seedlings should be grown thinly, and planted a foot apart when three inches high. The soil should be friable and fertile. The plants will require tying to blanch the hearts when full grown. MUSTARD AND CRESS maybe sown on the surface of very fine soil for succession throughout the Spring and Summer. The seed costs 2d. to 3d. per ounce. Constant moisture is essential. A crop can be grown on flannel, which is stretched over a wooden or wire frame, and kept moist by letting one end trail in water. MUSHROOMS. This crop is hardly suitable for small gardens, as it requires manure beds. The best form of bed is a ridge thirty inches wide at the base and the same high, and about six inches wide at the top. The " seed " consists of spawn cakes, which cost 4s. to 5s. per bushel of sixteen cakes, and which are broken into pieces about the size of a Walnut. The manure must be well sweetened by repeating turning before being made up, and the spawn must not be put in until the heat on a falling thermometer registers 8o°. When threads spread from the spawn the beds should be covered with good soil and then with a foot of straw. A bed ought to be in full bearing in three months from the start. ONIONS. The Onion is a vegetable which all classes, and particularly cottagers, value highly. It can be had in use most of the year, and is serviceable for flavouring as well as for stews and roasting. The soil can hardly be too deep and rich for Onions. The better it is the more vigorously they grow, and the less likely they are to succumb to maggot and mildew. For sowing out of doors in Spring James's Keeping (6d. to 8d. per VEGETABLES. 139 ounce, which is sufficient to sow 150 feet) is one of the best. Although the soil should be deepened and enriched it should be made firm on the surface, and should be trodden after sowing and then lightly scratched over with a rake. The seed may be sown an inch deep in drills nine inches apart, and the plants thinned to about three inches apart. The plants may be sprayed in May to keep off maggot (see Chapter XXIII.), or dressed with salt. In July they may be dusted with quicklime if mildew should appear. The bulbs should be pulled out of the ground towards the end of August, spread to ripen, and then stored in a string in a dry frost-proof place. To get large prize bulbs sow Ailsa Craig (6d. to is. per packet) under glass in February, and plant in deep, rich, but firm soil in April. PARSLEY. Useful for garnishing dishes. Moss Curled (4d. to 6d. per ounce, sufficient for seventy to eighty feet) is good. PARSNIPS. Useful, hardy roots, which like a deep but not freshly manured soil. They should not be lifted in autumn, but drawn from the ground as wanted through the Winter. Improved Hollow Crown (3d. to 6d. per ounce, sufficient for 100 feet) is good. Tender and True has fine flavour. They should be sown in March or April, and thinned to twelve inches apart by nine. PEAS. Delicious Summer and Autumn vegetables, which may be sown successionally from March to June. They enjoy deep, rich soil. Any varieties which grow over a foot high should be supported with sticks. Gradus (four feet) is a good early, and Gladstone (three feet) a good late variety. Both cost about is. 6d. per quart, which will sow 150 to 200 feet. Everybody enjoys Green Peas, and should make an effort to grow them in order to have them quite fresh. In small gardens dwarf sorts like Little Marvel, English Wonder and Daisy may be grown. The seed may be moistened with paraffin before being sown to keep off birds and mice. It should be sown so that the plants may come up quite clear of each other and covered two to three inches deep. The sticks should be put to the plants directly tendrils show. The pods should be gathered young, but not too young, as it is not only wasteful of quantity but a sacrifice of flavour to gather when the pods are only half full. Mildew rarely attacks plants that are growing freely in deep, rich soil ; but it may appear when the crop has been gathered, and it is a good plan to cut off all the haulm close to the ground, leaving the roots in, as soon as yellowing begins. 140 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. POTATOES. Owners of quite small gardens often like to grow a few rows of early Potatoes, and to country vegetable growers with plenty of room the Potato is the principal crop, with the result that late as well as early sorts are grown, and most of the ground available is given up to them. Sharpe's Express is a splendid early and Up to Date a good late sort. The cost may be about 5s. per bushel of £-cwt., which means between 400 and 500 sets of the usual seed size. As many as possible should be sprouted in shallow boxes in a light, frost-proof place for a few weeks before planting (Fig. 99). Small sets should not be cut, but large sets may be cut as shown in Fig. 100. They may be covered six inches deep. Early varieties may be planted twelve inches apart by twenty-four, and late ones fourteen by twenty- eight. The plants should be earthed up to the tips when they are about nine inches high, and this should be done after rain, when the Fig. 99— A WELL-SPROUTED SEED POTATO. Fig. 100.— CUTTING POTATOES. and 2. — Set marked for cutting to give pieces with a bud each, a, b, c, d, e. soil is friable. The crop is ready for digging when the plants, being free from disease, turn yellow. The tubers should be allowed to lie and get dry before being stored, but not long enough to turn green, except in the case of sets that are to be kept for seed the next season. For seed, greened sets are best. The tubers keep well beneath a covering of straw and earth if a vent hole, stuffed with straw, is left in the centre of the heap. Care should be taken that no diseased tubers are put away with the sound ones. For Potato disease see Chapter XXIII. RADISHES may be sown broadcast in moist, friable soil in March onward. They should be protected from birds with fish netting. The Turnip and French Breakfast are good varieties, and the cost is 2d. to 3d. per ounce. VEGETABLES. 141 _ RHUBARB. This useful crop comes slowly from seed, re- quiring three years to develop to the pulling stage, and conse- quently many people like to plant roots, which cost 5s. to 10s. 6d. per dozen. If planted in rich, cool, moist soil in Spring, they may be pulled from the following year. Rhubarb does not thrive in a poor, dry soil. Roots can be packed in moist, rich soil over a bed of manure, or in a warm house, in Winter, and forced. Or boxes or baskets may be put over the stools outside and covered with manure (Fig. 101). An old cask with both ends knocked out will bring the sticks on early if put over a clump in the garden. Champagne (early) and Victoria (late) are good varieties. Fig. 101.— FORCING RHUBARB UNDER A BOX OR LARGE POT COVERED WITH MANURE. SALSIFY AND SCORZONERA may be treated like Carrots. SAVOYS may be treated like Borecole. Dwarf Green Curled is a good variety, and costs 4d. to 5d. per ounce. SEAKALE. A delicious vegetable, well worth growing in the smallest garden. It thrives in any fertile, well-drained soil, but does not care either for a stiff or a hungry soil. As the plants come but slowly from seeds, root cuttings may be planted eighteen inches apart, the tips on a level with the soil, in spring. They only cost about 5s. per 100. The growths which spring from the crown should be thinned to one, and if the soil is good the plants will make stems eight to ten inches long and two to three inches thick by autumn, when they can be taken up, the root cuttings removed for replanting in Spring, and the stems forced, either in soil over a manure bed, or in pots, boxes or barrels 142 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. in a warm place (Fig. 102). Or they can be forced on the ground, either by putting pots covered with manure over them, or heaping soil or ashes on them to the depth of a foot. If forcing roots have to be bought they cost 2s. 6d. to 3s. per dozen. SHALLOTS should be planted in rich friable soil in Winter to yield bulbs in July, when they may be drawn out of the ground and left to dry before being stored. SPINACH may be sown between Peas in Spring. Victoria is a good variety, and the cost is 2d. to 3d. per ounce, which will sow eighty feet. Seed may be sown in August also. TOMATOES are a most popular crop, and may be grown either indoors or out. For a heated house the seed may be sown in January, for an unheated house in February, for the garden in March. In all cases it should be sown singly in pots or boxes, and kept near the glass, so that the plants may remain sturdy. They may be set singly in small pots, or a few inches apart in other boxes, when they begin to get crowded. From these they may go into five-inch or six-inch pots. If they are to fruit in pots they may go forward to eight or nine-inch pots, but not if they are to be planted out. Whether grown under glass or in the garden they should be restricted to one stem, the shoots which form in the leaf axils being picked out (Fig. 103). Fruit will form on the main stems. The leaves may be reduced to admit sun, and so further ripening, but should not be stripped off completely (Fig. 103). Plants can be grown against a sunny wall or fence, or in a row in the open if strong stakes are procurable. The plants should be topped at about four feet high. Friable but not heavily manured soil is desirable. Sunrise and Supreme are good varieties, and seed costs about 6d. per packet. TURNIPS are often sown in rows between Peas in March and April, and again broadcast in the open in August and September. The crop likes a cool, friable, fertile soil. It should be pulled before the bulbs get large and tough, or they will not cook tender. Early Milan, White Model and Red Globe are good varieties, and seed costs about 2d. per ounce, which quantity will sow 1 50 feet. For Turnip enemies see Chapter XXIII. Fig. 102.— SEAKALE FORCED IN A POT. The bars show where it should be cut. VEGETABLES. 143 VEGETABLE MARROWS. Seed may be sown in a greenhouse or frame in April, and the plants put out in rich, moist soil early in June. A manure bed is only necessary for early crops. The fruit should be cut while young to insure tenderness and continuity of bearing. Long White and Pen-y-Byd are good varieties, costing about 6d. per packet. Fig. 103.— PRUNING AND DEFOLIATING TOMATOES. 1. — Main stem ; 2 and 3. — Leaves shortened ' 4. — Top nipped off ; 5 and 6. — Leaves shortened ; 7 and 9. — Laterals pinched out ; 8. — Lateral to be removed. HERBS. Sage, Thyme, Basil, Marjoram, Savory and other herbs may be sown in April, but in the case of Mint, roots should be planted in Spring. ENEMIES OF VEGETABLES. For notes on the principal insect and fungoid enemies of vegetables, and remedies, see Chapter XXIII. PRICES OF SEEDS. It should be noted that the prices quoted above are average ones. Seeds may be bought both cheaper and dearer, according to the standing of the seedsman. CHAPTER XXVI. a Galenoar of Work for i£v>er£ flDontb in tbe IPear. JANUARY. THE SOIL. Soil preparation should be pursued when weather and other conditions permit. Ground should not be dug while there is snow on it. Hard frost will provide an opportunity for any carting and wheeling that has to be done, as in the transport of material for paths, turf for lawns, manure and other heavy or bulky substances. SEEDS. Such seeds as are required for the year's supply of vegetables and flowers should be ordered early in January, so that they may be at hand when required. POTATO SETS FOR EARLY CROPS may be placed in shallow boxes and exposed to the light to encourage strong sprouts to form. FR0IT TREES. Young fruit trees may be planted in favour- able weather. Wall trees may be looked over, shreds and nails renewed, loose shoots tied in, and decrepit ones cut out. Fruit trees generally may be sprayed. GRAPES. If early Grapes are wanted a night temperature of 50 should be maintained to start the Vines into growth. PEACHES. If Peaches are wanted in June the house should be started with a night temperature of 50 . CLIMBERS UNDER GLASS, such as Lapagerias, Allamandas and Bougainvilleas, should be cleaned, pruned and tied in. WATERING should not be done indiscriminately. Water should only be given to such plants as really require it, and none should be spilled about. GRASS. Turf may be laid when the ground is free from frost. If there are any bare patches in the grass they may be cut out and fresh turf fitted in. 144 CALENDAR OF WORK FOR EVERY MONTH. 145 TABLE FOR JANUARY. Sow in heat : — Cauliflowers, Onions, Snapdragons, Tuberous Begonias, Verbenas. Plant : — Fruit trees, Shrubs, Vines. Force : — Asparagus, Rhubarb, Seakale, Lilies of the Valley, Various Bulbs, Spiraeas, Roses. Protect : — Celery. Strike Cuttings : — Chrysanthemums. FEBRUARY. SOIL PREPARATION. Push on this work at every opportunity. OUTDOOR SOWINGS. If the soil is friable, and the weather fine, a few vegetables, including Peas, may be sown out of doors. PRUNING. The pruning of different kinds of hardy fruit may be done, and should be completed, if possible, this month. EARLY GRAPES. Maintain a night temperature of 55°, and if two or more shoots break at each spur thin them to one. Ventilate in fine weather, but close the house at 2 p.m. EARLY PEACHES. Maintain a night temperature of 50°. When the plants open their flowers draw a camel hair brush across to further fertilisation. FORCED STRAWBERRIES should be fertilised in the same way when in bloom. HERBACEOUS BORDERS may be gone over in favourable weather, the plants divided and replanted, the soil manured and dug, and any fresh planting that is necessary done. ZONAL GERANIUMS. Plants raised last Spring ought to be in full bloom now. Old trusses should be removed as fast as they fade. Liquid manure may be given twice a week. ARUM LILIES that are coming into bloom will require a good deal of water, and will benefit by liquid manure. DRIVES AND PATHS. Drives often get cut up in winter, in spite of care to avoid heavy traffic except in frosty weather. Respread the gravel, level it and compress it with a heavy roller. TABLE FOR FEBRUARY. Sow in heat : — Early Celery, Early Tomatoes, Early Cucumbers, Early Melons, Tuberous Begonias, Sweet Peas. Sow outdoors : — Broad Beans, Early Peas, Spinach, Turnips. 10 146 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. Plant : — Fruit trees, Shrubs, Roses, Shallots, Potatoes in mild places, Vines. Force : — Asparagus, Rhubarb, Seakale, Strawberries, Grapes, Peaches, Caladiums, Dahlias for early cuttings, Deutzias, Spiraeas, Glox- inia tubers for early bloom, Lilacs, Lilies of the Valley, Bulbs, Arum Lilies, Azaleas. Plant or sow in frames .-—Carrots, Radishes, Potatoes, Cauliflowers, Lettuces, Mustard and Cress. Strike cuttings : — Chrysanthemums. MARCH. This is a highly important month in the garden, as planting has to be practically completed, and the principal sowing done. There will be much to do in the kitchen garden. ASPARAGUS. A dressing of salt may be applied to the bed at the rate of £-lb. per square yard. CABBAGES. The Spring crop can be expedited by frequent hoeing and a dressing of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia on the soil, not exceeding i-oz. per square yard. HOTBEDS. A hotbed may be made up three to four feet high. The manure should be well sweetened by frequent turning before it is put into a heap. If covered with a few inches of soil seeds can be sown direct on the bed ; otherwise they should be sown in boxes and set on the bed. RHUBARB. Old boxes or baskets may now be placed over Rhubarb, and covered with manure. SEAKALE may be forced in the open ground by heaping soil or ashes over it to the depth of a foot. FRUIT BLOSSOM. Early trees on walls, notably Peaches, may now be approaching flowering. Thin canvas, such as scrim or tiffany, or fish netting, should be fitted up, so that it can be dropped down in front of them on cold nights. GRAPES. Early Grapes will now have set their fruit, and a night temperature of 6o° to 65° is desirable. Thin when ready. PEACHES. Thin the fruit to two on a shoot, and disbud the growth shoots, reducing them to two, one at the bottom and one at the top. Spray for black fly at the first appearance of the pest. Maintain a temperature of about 50°. PL ANTING FRUIT. Complete the planting of all kinds of young trees. CALENDAR OF WORK FOR EVERY MONTH. 147 CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Rooted cuttings in small pots should be repotted as soon as roots show at the drainage hole. They may go in from three-inch to five-inch. Towards the end of the month the plants may be stood on a bed of ashes in an unheated frame. FERNS may be repotted as soon as they start growing, using a compost of peat and loam. HERBACEOUS BORDERS may be gone over, dug arid manured. Fresh plants may be put in, and old ones divided. INSECTS will commence their depredations under glass, and it will save much trouble and vexation if a vaporising cone is burned in the house once a fortnight. Seedsmen sell the cones. IVY may be clipped over with a pair of shears, removing a good number of the old leaves. Young foliage will soon spread. LAWNS. Well roll the grass after rain. ROSES may be pruned at the end of the month. Cut weak growers hard back and prune strong growers lightly. Pillar and arch Roses should be pruned and trained. Old wood may be removed to make room for new canes. WALL CREEPERS, including Roses, may be pruned and trained. Cross shoots should be cut out to prevent entanglement. TABLE FOR MARCH. Sow or start in heat : — Cucumbers, Celery, Tomatoes, Vegetable Marrows, Melons, Half hardy Annuals, Begonia Tubers, Marguerite Carna- tions, Primulas. Sow outdoors : — Asparagus, Broad Beans, Carrots, Onions, Parsnips, Peas, Radishes, Spinach, Turnips, Winter Greens. Plant : — Artichokes, Asparagus, Potatoes, Rhubarb, Shallots, Fruit trees, Vines, Carnations, Evergreens, Shrubs, Pansies, Violas, Roses. Prick off : — Cauliflowers, Celery, Onions, Tomatoes, Begonias, Snap- dragons, Verbenas. Plant or sow in frames : — Leeks, Golden Feather, Sweet Peas. Strike cuttings : — Winter Begonias, Tree and American Carnations, Chrysanthemums, Coleuses, Gardenias, Zonal Geraniums, Blue Lobelias, Poinsettias. APRIL. This is another extremely busy month, as a great deal of sowing, pricking off and planting out have to be done. Birds will be troublesome, attacking the buds of fruit trees, and also seedling vegetables and flowers. They must be kept 148 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. away with scares, netting, and powder. Killing should be re- sorted to very rarely, as birds keep insects under. CUCUMBERS may be planted out on mounds of soil in the frames, pits and houses. The compost should be used in a lumpy state, and only in sufficient quantity to just cover the ball. When roots show at the surface give more soil. Keep the house warm and moist. MUSHROOM BEDS may be spawned when the heat is falling and has dropped to about 8o°. The pieces may be as large as Walnuts, and pushed well into the manure. TOMATOES should be repotted when roots show at the base of the small ones. They will do in a cool, airy house, near the glass. Give water as needed. GRAFTING. Fruit trees may be grafted early this month. See Index for reference to instructions. GRAPES. Vines in unheated houses will start this month, Disbud the shoots, and tie the selected ones down in due course. Grapes on early Vines must be thinned. Close the house about 3 p.m. and damp down early. PEACHES AND NECTARINES may be thinned and the shoots disbudded as advised previously. CHRYSANTHEMUMS that have not been transferred from three- inch to five-inch pots already should have attention, and be placed in a frame. Give air in fine weather. FUCHSIAS. Old plants should be cut back, put in a green- house and syringed. When young shoots break three inches they can be taken off and inserted in sandy soil. ORCHIDS. The present is a good time for lovers of Orchids to procure plants, be they dry importations at auction sales, or growing plants in nurseries. Dry pieces should be kept in damp moss until they start, then potted in a mixture of Orchid peat and sphagnum moss, with a little charcoal. ROSES. The pruning should be completed early in the month, in the case of all classes. TABLE FOR APRIL. Sow or start in heat : — Cucumbers, Tuberous Begonias, Gloxinias. Sow outdoors : — Broad Beans, Beet (round or globe), Carrots, Cauli- flowers, Leeks, Onions, Parsley, Parsnips, Peas, Winter Greens, Hardy Annuals, Grass seed. CALENDAR OF WORK FOR EVERY MONTH. 149 Plant : — Cauliflowers, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Melons, Snapdragons, Bedding Calceolarias, Gladioli, Liliums, Sweet Peas, Violas. Prick off : — Celery, Tomatoes, Begonias. Plant or sow in frames : — Celery, Half hardy Annuals, Cinerarias, Dahlias, Primulas. Strike cuttings : — Bouvardias, Fuchsias, Violets. MAY. Most of the sowing has been done, but a few vegetables may be put in, also some select biennials and perennials, notably Wall- flowers. These should be sown towards the end of the month, when bedding plants, such as Calceolarias, Zonal and Ivy-leaved Geraniums, Lobelias, Verbenas, Cannas and Dahlias may be planted out. C ARROTS. If the young plants begin to go off , thin them, make the soil firm along the crowns, and sprinkle ashes moistened with paraffin oil along the rows. CELERY. Trenches a foot wide and deep may be made for the early plants. Dig manure into the bottom, and plant nine inches to a foot apart. ONIONS. Dust the bed with salt to stimulate growth and keep away maggot. PEAS. Sticks should be put to Peas when the tendrils show. Hazel sticks, sharpened at the base, are good. They should be put in a foot apart on both sides of the row. POTATOES should be earthed when about nine inches high, after rain. The soil should be drawn up to the tips. FRUIT TREES. If caterpillars are causing damage spray with an arsenate wash (see index). MELONS. Continue to cross the male and female flowers to insure setting. STRAWBERRIES. Spread clean straw between the rows as soon as the fruit has set. \ ARUM LILIES may be divided and planted in rich soil in the garden. Plenty of water and liquid manure may be given\ AZALEAS. These beautiful plants will now have finished flowering, and if necessary should be repotted, when they will make new growth. ISO ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. CAMELLIAS may also be potted. Old plants may be cut back. HARDY FERNS maybe transplanted when they begin to throw up new fronds. POLYANTHUSES AND PRIMROSES maybe divided and planted in rich soil after flowering. SWEET PEAS should be planted out, watered and staked. TABLE FOR MAY. Thin out : — Beetroot, Carrots, Onions, Winter Greens, Annuals. Sow outdoors : — French Beans, Runner Beans, Beetroot, Carrots, Peas, Annuals, Arabis, Aubrietias, Canterbury Bells, Forget- met-not, Sweet Williams, Wallflowers, Polyanthuses, Primroses. Plant : — Celery, Cucumbers, Mint and other herbs, Potatoes, Half- hardy Annuals, Calceolarias, Camellias, Carnations, Geraniums (end of month), Lobelias (end), Verbenas, Dahlias (end), Cannas, Sweet Peas. Strike cuttings : — Coleuses. JUNE. Throughout June active warfare must be waged with insects and fungi. For kinds and remedies see Chapters XXII. and XXIII. Vegetables, fruit and flowers are all affected. ASPARAGUS. Finish cutting for the year. HOEING should be done regularly. POTATOES. Early crops may be lifted as soon as the leaves change colour. WINTER GREENS. If these are planted between Potatoes small topped sorts of the latter should be chosen, or the Greens may be planted between alternate rows, and the Potato tops kept away from them. GRAPES will now be swelling fast. Keep enough foliage to shade the glass, but thin out to prevent crowding. Close the ventilators by 4 p.m. and damp down. Ventilate early in the morning. Thin the bunches as needed. Give water and liquid manure. STRAWBERRIES. Spread straw between the rows, and net the beds over to keep away birds. AURICULAS may be repotted and stood on ashes in a frame facing north. CALENDAR OF WORK FOR EVERY MONTH. 151 CHRYSANTHEMUMS may now be put in their flowering pots, and stood on ashes in the open. FUCHSIAS may be pinched to make them bushy. HOEING should be done every week. LAWNS. Weekly mowing will be needed now. Daisies and other weeds should be grubbed out. PATHS. If weeds are spreading water with one of the special weed killers. PELARGONIUMS will finish blooming shortly, and water should be gradually withheld in order to dry them off. SWEET PEAS AND VIOLAS. Gather these beautiful flowers regularly in order to maintain the supply, which soon ceases if seed pods form. TABLE FOR JUNE. Thin out : — Lettuces, Onions. Sow outdoors : — French Beans, Runner Beans, Beetroot, Carrots, Lettuces, Peas, Radishes, Biennials of all kinds, Perennials of all kinds. Plant : — Celery, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Vegetable Marrows, Winter Greens, Arum Lilies, Bedding plants, Tuberous Begonias, Cannas, Dahlias. Prick off : — Any seedlings that are getting crowded. Plant in frames : — Cucumbers, Melons. ' JULY. Hot dry weather may be expected in July, and only regular hoeing and watering, supplemented by mulching and the removal of flowers before seed pods form, will keep plants fresh and full of bloom. Vegetables that have given their crops should be cleared off promptly, and those which are coming on stimulated by hoeing, watering, and the provision of liquid manure. CELERY. Early produce may be a foot high, if so, tie with raphia to keep soil out of the centre, and then earth up. Later plants may be put out in trenches made on ground cleared of early Peas, Potatoes or Broad Beans. CUCUMBERS. Crowded plants should be thinned to prevent the growths getting much entangled. Cut the fruit while young, and give liquid manure. 152 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. TOMATOES. Continue to pinch out side shoots. Give liquid manure when the fruit has fairly started swelling, unless the soil is rich. WINTER GREENS. Continue planting these between Potatoes, or on vacant land. FRUIT. Thin where very thick, and protect from birds. GRAPES. Continue the early opening of the ventilators, and close about 4 p.m., then damp down. Give water and liquid manure. To prevent overcrowding stop the laterals two leaves beyond the fruit, and the sub-laterals at the first leaf. SUMMER PINCHING FRUIT TREES. If a first pinching was practised in June sub-laterals may have started, and if so they may be stopped towards the end of this month. CALCEOLARIAS AND CINERARIAS. Keep these in a cold frame thoroughly exposed, or even in the garden. Water regularly, repot as needed, and keep down green fly. CARNATIONS should be staked and watered. CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Crown buds may show this month, and if so they should be removed as advised in Chapter XXI. LILIUMS growing in pots should have a top-dressing of fresh soil when stem roots appear. WALLFLOWERS and other biennials should be pricked off nine inches apart in a spare plot if they are getting crowded. TABLE FOR JULY. Sow : — Cabbage for spring. Strike cuttings : — Pinks. Bud : — Roses. Layer : — Strawberries. Lift or clear away : — Broad Beans, Early Peas, Shallots. Give liquid manure or mulch : — Scarlet Runners, Cucumbers, Onions for show, Late Peas, Tomatoes, Grapes, Peaches, Carnations. AUGUST. The routine work of July must be continued. Regular hoeing is most beneficial, and saves much watering. Mulching with short manure is also good. CELERY AND LEEKS. Both of these crops may be earthed when they are a foot high. CALENDAR OF WORK FOR EVERY MONTH. 153 ONIONS. Break the tops over towards the end of the month to hasten the ripening, and a few days later pull them out of the ground and let them he in the sun. POTATOES. Earth late crops, and spray with Bordeaux Mixture (see Index) if signs of disease are seen. GRAPES. The fruit may have been cleared from early Vines, and if so the laterals may be shortened a little to admit sun and hasten the ripening of the wood. PEACHES AND NECTARINES. Cut out old shoots from which fruit has been gathered, and train in young to take its place. SUMMER PRUNING APPLES AND PEARS. If no pinching has been practised do it now, shortening the side shoots to six leaves. CHRTS ANTHEMUMS. Crown buds should be taken the second or third week of August to give prize flowers in November. GLADIOLI. Put stakes to the flower spikes. PELARGONIUMS. Cut back plants that have been rested and re-start them by watering. TABLE FOR AUGUST. Sow or plant : — Cabbage for spring, Endive, Lettuce for spring, Onions for spring, Spinach, Turnips, Winter Greens, Limnanthes, Nemophila, Saponaria, Silene, Cyclamens. Strike cuttings : — Zonal Geraniums, Heliotrope, Verbenas. Bud : — Roses. Layer : — Strawberries, Carnations. Lift or clear away : — Worn out Beans and Early Peas, Early Potatoes, fading Annuals. Give liquid manure or mulch : — Cauliflowers, Celery, Grape Vines, Peaches, Begonias, Gladioli, Liliums, Pansies and Violas, Roses. SEPTEMBER. The principal work in September will be clearing off early crops, lifting roots, propagating bedding plants, and maintaining beauty or productiveness by giving liquid manure, also by removing decaying flowers. TOMATOES. The crop should be finished off this month. Reduce the foliage, give liquid manure if the soil is poor, and remove any fully developed fruits which have started colouring. 154 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. If all the fruits have swollen up evenly the plants may be lifted bodily and hung in a cool shed, where the fruit will ripen. GATHERING FRUIT. Any Apples which part from the tree without strong pressure on the stalks should be gathered and stored in a cool, clean, frost-proof place. They should be handled gently, or they will be bruised. GRAPES. Maintain a warm, dry atmosphere, to encourage the ripening of both fruit and wood. Shorten the laterals when the fruit has been gathered. Close the house about 3 p.m. CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Taking the buds should be completed early in the month. See that the plants do not suffer from want of water. BULBS. Early bulbs, such as Freesias, Roman Hyacinths and Paper White Narcissi should be potted and plunged in cocoa- nut fibre refuse or ashes. TABLE FOR SEPTEMBER. Sow : — Red Cabbage, Turnips, Annuals for spring, Schizanthuses, Grass seed. Pot : — Arum Lilies, Early Daffodils, Freesias, Gladiolus The Bride, Roman Hyacinths, Paper White Narcissi, Salvias. Plant : — Cabbages. Strike cuttings : — Zonal Geraniums, Ivy-leaved Geraniums, Roses. Lift or clear : — Beetroot, Carrots, Early Celery, Onions, Potatoes, Tomatoes. Water and liquid manure : — Scarlet Runners, Celery, Begonias In beds, Dahlias. OCTOBER. October sees a general decline in the garden. Most of the summer vegetables are over, and the ground should be cleared. Winter Greens, Celery and Leeks will be developing. Spring Cabbages and Lettuces should be planted out. The former do well after Onions. GATHERING FRUIT should continue. EARLY VINES may be pruned and the house cleaned. TUBEROUS BEGONIAS, CANNAS, DAHLIAS AND GLADIOLI may be lifted when the foliage decays, or is blackened by frost, and stored for Winter. CALENDAR OF WORK FOR EVERY MONTH. 155 CHRYSANTHEMUMS should be housed early in the month, to prevent injury from frost. TABLE FOR OCTOBER. Lift and store or use : — Beetroot, Carrots, Cauliflowers, Celery, Potatoes, Tuberous Begonias, Carinas, Dahlias, Gladioli. Pot : — Daffodils, Freesias, Hyacinths, Tulips. Plant : — Cabbages, Endive, Lettuces, Violets (in frames). Strike cuttings /—Bedding Calceolarias (in a frame), Roses. Take under glass : — Calceolarias, Cinerarias, Chrysanthemums. NOVEMBER. November is the month when most of the planting is done. Vacant vegetable ground should be bastard trenched and manured. The soil around Broccoli should be rammed hard. THE PRUNING OF VINES may be completed, the rods scrubbed, and the house cleaned. All kinds of fruit trees may be planted. Pruning may be done. BIENNIALS, PERENNIALS AND BULBS may be planted. Bulbs may be potted. CARNATIONS. Many growers like to winter their young plants in unheated frames. If this is the case pot the plants up now. ROSES. All kinds of Roses may be planted this month. The soil should be worked deeply and manured well. TABLE FOR NOVEMBER. Sow : — Broad Beans, Peas, Sweet Peas. Protect : — Celery. Force : — Asparagus, Rhubarb, Seakale, Lilies of the Valley. Plant : — Fruit trees, Ornamental trees, Shrubs, Aconites, Arabises, Aubrietias, Canterbury Bells, Crocuses, Daffodils, Hyacinths, Irises, Roses, Snowdrops, Sweet Williams, Tulips, Vines, Wall- flowers. Prune ." — Fruit trees, Vines. Pot : — Bulbs of all kinds. 156 ILLUSTRATED GARDEN GUIDE. DECEMBER. There will not be much to do in the kitchen garden, except to continue soil preparation. Litter may be put over Celery and among Lettuces in hard weather. Get as much carting and wheeling as possible done during frost. Stored roots should be examined, and any decaying ones removed. Fruit trees may be pruned, but Gooseberries should be tied up, dusted with lime and left till spring, to prevent birds picking off the buds. Complete the planting of fruit trees and Roses, and the planting and potting of bulbs. TABLE FOR DECEMBER. Pot : — Bulbs, Tuberoses. Protect : — Celery, Lettuces (with litter), Roses (dwarfs by earthing, standards with bracken) . Force : — Asparagus, Rhubarb, Seakale, Freesias, Roman Hyacinths, Lilies of the Valley. Plant : — Fruit trees, Bulbs, Roses. Prune : — Fruit trees. Strike cuttings : — Chrysanthemums. & INDEX. A. Aconites, Winter, 43. Ageratums, 34. Allium neapolitanum, 43. Alstromerias, 43. Amaryllises, 43. American blight, 107. Anemones, 43. Annuals, culture and selections of hardy, 38 ; culture and selections of half-hardy and tender, 41, 86. Ants, to get rid of, 103. Apples, selection and culture of, 117, 118. Apricots, 120. Arabis, double, propagating (illustrated), 55. Arches, 67 ; with chain (illus- trated), 68 ; with rustic tim- ber (illustrated), 68. Artichokes, 133. Arum Lilies, planting (illus- trated), 44, 86. Asparagus, culture of, 133 ; crown starting (illustrated), 133- Asters, select perennial, 24 ; China, 41. Aucubas, cross-fertilising (illus- trated), 59. B. Beans, 135. Bedding plants, 36, 37. Beetroot, storing (illustrated), 134 ; culture of, 135. Begonias, tuberous, 44 ; propa- gating Gloire de Lorraine (illustrated), 86, 87. Biennials, selections and culture of, 42. Blackberries, 120. Boilers, 80. Bordeaux mixture, 104. Borecole, 135. Bouvardias, propagating by cut- tings (illustrated), 64 ; select, 87. Broccoli, 13;. Brussels Sprouts, 135. Bulbs and tubers, 43-52 ; soil for, 52 ; plunging, 52 ; water- ing. S 2 - C. Cabbages, 136. Calceolarias, bedding, 34 ; for pots, 87. Calendar of Work for every month in the year, 144-156. Calochortus, 45. Campanulas, select, 25. Canker, 104. Cannas, 45. Canterbury Bells, 42. Carnations, select, 25 ; layering (illustrated), 25 ; for pots, 87 ; enemies of, 107. Carrots, Grub in, 109 ; thinning (illustrated), 136. Caterpillars, 105. Cauliflowers, 137. Celery, 137. Cherries, selection and culture of, 119; spur and stubby shoot (illustrated), 120. Chionodoxas, 45. Christmas roses, 45. Chrysanthemums, propagating, 98 ; repotting, 98 ; training, 98 ; stopping (illustrated), 99 ; prize flowers, 99 ; timing buds, 100 ; first break (illus- trated), 100 ; housing, 100 ; disbudding terminals (illus- trated), 101 ; for home use and cut bloom, 10 1 ; select, 10 1, 102 ; enemies of, 106. Cinerarias, 87. Clematis, pruning (illustrated), 75- Clivias, repotting and propa- gating (illustrated), 76. Club-root in Greens (illustrated), 109. Codlin grub, 105. Colchicums, 45. 157 i 5 8 INDEX. Conservatories, 81. Crocuses, 45. Crown Imperials, 45. Cucumbers, Red Spider on, 109 ; in frames (illustrated), 137. Currants, big bud on Black {illustrated), 107, 108 ; selec- tion and culture of, 120 ; summer pinching Red (illus- trated), 121. Cyclamens, 87. D. Daffodils, in boxes (illustrated) 46 ; culture and selections of, 46, 47. Dahlias, culture of (illustrated), 47 ; selections of, 48. Designs, for suburban gardens, 15- Dog's Tooth Violets, 48. Drain, section of, 71. Edgings, plants for, 37. Endive, 138. F. Fences, 19. Ferns, 88. Figs, i2i. Flower beds, How to plant, 30-37 ; designs for (illus- trated), 31, 33. Flowers, special for town and suburban gardens, 12 ; bor- der, 22. Forget-Me-Nots, dividing (illus- trated), 27. Frames and pits, 81. Freesias, How to pot (illustrated) , 49- Fruit, standard trees (illus- trated), no, in ; bush, no; pyramid (illustrated), 1 10, 118; cordons (illustrated), 1 10, in; fan trees, 1 10 ; soil for, 1 10 ; site and posi- tions for, 112 ; orchards and plantations, 112; number of trees per acre, 112; distance apart, 112 ; cost of trees, 112; plan of plantation (illus- trated), 113; planting in angles (illustrated), 113 ; how to plant, 114; staking (illus- trated), 114; pruning (illus- trated), 114, 115; summer pruning (illustrated), 115 ; root pruning (illustrated), 116, 117; grafting (illustrated), 116, 117. Fuchsias, culture and selection of, 87. G. Garden furniture, 91. Gardenias, 88. Gardening, ten reasons for, 9 ; when to start, 9 ; how to start, 10. Gardens, how to plan, 14 ; kitchen and fruit (illustrated), 18. Geraniums, Zonal, propagating (illustrated), 34; select, 35; Ivy-leaved, 35 ; for pots, 88. Gladioli, 48. Gooseberries, American Mildew on, 108 ; culture and selec- tions of, i2i, 122; cordon (illustrated), 122. Grafting, wax, 103 ; methods of (illustrated), 116, 117. Grapes (see also " Vines ") cul- ture of, 125 ; thinning (illus- trated), 126. Grass, Hints on, 57. Green and black fly, 104. Greenhouses, cost of, 78 ; glaz- ing, 78 ; span-roof (illus- trated). 79 ; tenants' right, 79 ; heating, 80 ; plants for, 81 ; soil for plants, 89 ; potting, 89 ; insects in, 105. H. Heating greenhouses, 80, 81. Heliotrope, training (illustrated), 35 ; good varieties, 35. Herbaceous borders (illustrated) . 22, 24 ; plants for, 23-29. Herbs, 143. Hyacinths, How to pot (illus- trated), 49 ; select, 49. INDEX; 159 Implements, 69. Insects in greenhouses, 105. Irises, 49. Ixias, 50. K. Kitchen garden, How to utilise, 131- Knife, pruning (illustrated), 69. L. Lachenalias, 50. Lackey Moth, eggs of (illus- trated), 108. Lantanas, 36. Lawns, Cost of, 13 ; making, 56 ; weeds on, 58, 103 ; moss on. 104. Lawn tennis court, Plan of, 57. Leeks, 138. Lettuces, 138. Leucojums, 50. Levelling (illustrated), 73. Lilies, Belladonna and Guern- sey, 45. Liliums, 50. Lily of the Valley, 51. Lime, testing soil for, 105. Lobelia, blue, 36. M. Manuring, 72, 104. Mealy bug, 106. Melons, culture and selections of, 127, 128 ; ready for plant- ing (illustrated), 127. Michaelmas Daisies, select, 24 ; propagating (illustrated), 25. Mignonette, pot (illustrated), 88. Mildew, 104. Mimuluses, 36. Moles, trapping, 103. Mushrooms, 138. Mustard and Cress, 138. N. Narcissi (see also " Daffodils "), 51- Nuts, 122. O. Onions, maggot in, 109 ; mildew in, 109; culture of, 138. Pansies, propagating (illustrated) 27. Parsley, 139. Parsnips, 139. Paths, cost of, 13 ; how to make (illustrated), 15. Peaches and Nectarines, selec- tion and culture, 129 ; train- ing (illustrated), 128. Pears, selection and culture of, 118 ; pyramid (illustrated), 118. Peas, enemies of, 108 ; culture of, 139- Petunias, 36. Phloxes, select, 28. Plans, garden, 15, 16, 18. Plants, for walls and fences, 20, 21 ; for herbaceous borders, 2 3- 2 9 ; propagation table for, 65 ; for unheated and heated greenhouses, 82 ; frost- bitten, 82. Plums, selection and culture of, 119; spurs of (illustrated), 119. Potatoes, scab in, 103 ; dis- eased, 108 ; culture of, 140 ; sprouting and cutting sets (illustrated), 140. Potting plants, 89. Pots, flower, sizes and cost of, 70. Primulas, 87. Propagation, by seeds, 62 ; by cuttings, 63 ; by division, 63 ; by grafting, 64 ; by budding, 64 ; by layering, 64 ; by runners, 64 ; by offsets, 65 ; by leaves, 65 ; table of, 65 ; with bottom heat, 67. Pyrethrums, select, 29. R. Radishes, 140. Ranunculuses, 5 1 . Raspberries, pruning (illustrated) 123 ; selection and culture of, 123. Recipes and remedies, 103. ifio INDEX. Red Spider, 106. Rhubarb, forcing (illustrated), 141. Rockery, well-arranged (illus- trated), 53; plants for, 54; propagation of plants for, 55- Room plants, 76, 77. Roses, on trellis work (illus- trated), 21 ; planting and pruning (illustrated), 92, 93 ; budding (illustrated), 93-95 ; pruning standard (illustrated), 94 ; pruning Crimson Ramb- ler (illustrated), 94 ; from cuttings (illustrated), 95 ; in pots, 95 ; cost of, 96 ; select, 96, 97 ; enemies of, 106. Salsify and Scorzonera, 141. Savoys, 141. Scillas, 51. Seakale, forcing (illustrated), 142. Secateurs (illustrated), 69. Seedlings, weak and strong (illustrated), 62. Shading, 89. Shady houses, plants for, 89. Shallots, 142. Shrubs and trees, selection and planting, 59, 60 ; prun- ing, 61. Shrubs, groups of (illustrated), 17- Slugs, 103. Snowdrops, 51. Soil, improving, 71 ; draining (illustrated), 71 ; bastard- trenching and trenching (illus- trated), 71, 72 ; levelling (illus- trated), 73. Spinach, 142. Spiraea Japonica, 51. Stocks, 41. Stopping or pinching plants, 90. Strawberries, culture and selec- tion of, 123 ; in pots, 129. Suburban gardens, plans of, 15, 16. Summer-houses, 91. Sweet Peas, 21 ; culture and selections of, 39, 4° ." raising in pots (illustrated), 40. Sweet Williams, 42. T. Tomatoes, enemies of, 109 ; culture of, 142 ; pruning and defoliating (illustrated), 143. Tools, 69. Trees and shrubs, selections and planting, 59, 60 ; prun- ing, 61. Trellis- work (illustrated),- 19, 20, 21. Trenching and bastard trench- ing (illustrated), 71. Tuberoses, 51. Tubers and Bulbs, 43-52. Tulips, how to pot (illustrated), 52 ; select, 52. Turnips, enemies of, 109 ; cul- ture of, 142. Vegetable Marrows, 143. Vegetables, sowing tables, 130, 131, 132 ; germinating and maturation tables, 132, 133. Verbenas, 36. Vines, pruning (illustrated), 135 ; tying down (illustrated), 125 ; and plants, 127. Violas, select, 29. Violets, propagating by runners (illustrated), 64. W. Wages, 13. Walks, weeds on, 103. Wallflowers, 42. Walls, and fences, 19 ; plants for, 75. Watering, 90. Window boxes, 74. Wireworm, 104. Woburn Wash, 104. Wood, preservative of, 104. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS in your GARDEN GUIDE and always use Clay's Fertilizer The Gardener's Friend. IT PRODUCES FLOWERS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES and FOLIAGE IN THE HIGHEST PERFECTION and in ABUNDANCE. It is used by Government and Local Authorities, and by Professional and Amateur Gardeners throughout the World. Sold everywhere in TINS at 6d. and 1/- ; and in O"^ «T BRANDED and SEALED BAGS. ^LONDOn'JL 7 lb. 141b. 28 1b. 561b. 112 lb. \ J? 2/6 4/6 7/6 12/6 20/- » I LA Or direct from the Works, Carriage paid in the trade mark United Kingdom for Cash with Order (except 6d. Tins.) Every GENUINE TIN, BAG & SEAL bears the TRADE MARK. 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" I have from time to time procured additional quantities of your Pea Trainers, and from my first experience of them I have found them to serve all my requirements. The Pea Trainers in my opinion, could not be improved ; they are perfect in every way. The peas can be removed from the plants, and the whole can be taken down and removed without difficulty." — Dundonald. " I am pleased with the Trainers, which are exactly what I have been looking for for years." — Oban. " I am delighted with my Pea Trainers. They are just splendid." — Banff. ■ '"lam quite satisfied with your Pea Trainers, and use nothing but them." — Jersey. THE PEA TRAINER Co., Bridge St., Banbridge, Co. Down. Wm. DUNCAN TUCKER & SONS, LIMITED. Manufacturers of Artistic Winter Gardens and Conservatories, Ranges, Vineries, Orchid Houses, Stoves, Fits, Peach Houses, Forcing Houses, Ferneries, Fruit Houses and Heating Apparatus. Telegrams : "ANTI-DRIP LONDON." 'Phone No, 274P.O. City. WRITE FOR CATALOGUE. Kindly mention Publication. Artistic Conservatory Erected at Hampstead Portable Wood and Iron Structures for every conceivable purpose, artistically designed — the con- struction being the latest and most up- to-date. Ladies and Gentlemen waited upon and advice given. Works: TOTTENHAM. WRITE FOR PORTABLE BUILDING CATALOGUE. Kindly mention Publication. f tyy^J gj Erected at Arlesbury, Hitchia. GARDEN FRAMES IN ALL VARIETIES. PIT LIGHTS, &c. HUNDREDS IN STOCK. SHOW EOOM3 AND OFFICES: 27, 6HIVNON ST., LONDON, E.6. *•*■= SOUTH TOTTENHAM. Telegrams: "ANTI-DBIP LONDON 'Phone No. 274 P.O. City. SPECIAL NOTICE FOR 1910. IF YOU WANT REALLY GOOD SEEDS AND BULBS AT MODERATE PRICES, SEND TO ROBERT SYDENHAM LIMITED, TENBY STREET, BIRMINGHAM, No one will serve you better. THEIR UNIQUE LISTS Are acknowledged by all to be the Best, Cheapest, and most Reliable ever published. They contain only the Best VEGETABLES, FLOWERS AND BULBS WORTH GROWING, Being the Selections of the Largest Seed Growers, Market Gardeners, and the most celebrated Professional Gardeners and Amateurs in the Kingdom. They also contain very useful cultural instructions. The quality of their Bulbs and Seeds Is well known all over the United Kingdom as being equal to anything In the market. THE BEST TOMATOES, 3d. per packet of 200 Seeds. THE BEST CUCUMBERS, 8d. per packet of 10 Seeds. THE BEST ONIONS FOR EXHIBITION— Excelsior or Allsa Craig 6d. per packet of about 1 ,500 Seeds. Please compare these Prices with what vou are paying. ALL OTHER SEEDS EQUALLY CHEAP AND GOOD. SWEET PEAS A SPECIALITY. No flowers give so much cut bloom at so little cost and trouble if treated as instructions sent with each Collection. 12 good varieties, 60 Seeds of each, Is. 3d. ; 12 other varieties, SO Seeds of each. Is. 9d. ; or the Two Collections for 2s. 6d. ; a Third Collection, the 12 best varieties, SO Seeds of each, 2s. 6d. ; or the Three Collections, 4s. 6d., post free, and a Packet of the 4 best striped and 4 other varieties free of charge ; making H varieties at about Id. a packet. Before buying Sweet Peas for 1910 you should have MR. ROBERT SYDENHAM'S BOOK, "ALL ABOUT SWEET REAS." Revised and corrected to date. Bound in Stiff Covers, 6d. Post Free. But this Sixpence may be deducted from the first order of Five Shillings or over. FULL LISTS ON APPLICATION. THIS FIRM HAS THE LARGEST RETAIL SWEET PEA AND BULB TRADE IN THE KINGDOM. FIDLER'S GARDEN SEEDS Are Noted for their PURITY, VITALITY, AND CHEAPNESS. 50 PER. CENT LESS COST THAN SOME HOUSES IN THE TRADE. Our illustrated lists giving full particulars of the best Vegetable and Flower Seeds and Seed Potatoes, with cultural hints, will be sent gratis and post free to any address upon application. Send for a copy . . and note the prices for yourself. . . COLLECTIONS OF FLOWER AND VEGETABLE SEEDS TO SUIT ANY SIZED GARDEN. Fidler's GIANT FLOWERED Sweet Peas in liberal packets at popular prices. SEED POTATOES A SPECIALITY. FIDLER & SONS. (Established 1856). 1Ro$aI $erksbtre Seeo Stores, ■