38 



1 HE FLORAL WORLD AND QARDEN GUIDE. 



more heat than is just sufficient for the 

 work. 



Fuchsias that have started should be 

 laid on their sides, and syringed occa- 

 sionally. Plants coming into bloom must 

 have weak liquid manure once a week. 

 Bedding fuchsias start in heat, and get 

 ready a compost of turfy loam, one half ; 

 old hot-bed dung, one-fourth ; leaf-mould, 

 one-fourth ; and at the first potting of 

 newly-struck cuttings, plenty of silver- 

 sand. 



Geraniums have been cut up very much 

 by the frost in places where the bedding 

 stuff is wintered in pits. When killed 

 down to the pot, the roots will generally 

 be found alive, and if the fleshy parts of 

 the roots are cut into two-inch lengths, 

 and dibbled into silver-sand with the top 

 of each cutting above the sand, good 

 plants may be obtained, but they will 

 bloom late. 



Hyacinths must have frequent doses 

 of liquid manure, and there is nothing 

 better than diluted house-sewage or soot- 

 water. They like bottom heat, and must 

 have plenty of light to give them their 



true colours, but to be shaded when in 

 bloom. 



Pelargoniums must be got into shape 

 at once, and with as few sticks as pos- 

 sible. When they want water, give them 

 enough, but let them be rather dry for a 

 while, rather than water during severe 

 weather, because with water they will also 

 require air. Repot autumn-struck plants, 

 and give them liberal fire heat. 



Potatoes may be sprouted by laying 

 the tubers on a flue or on the surface of 

 a pit planted with asparagus. A gentle 

 heat and full light will prepare them for 

 planting in frames for an early crop. 



Roses, on their own roots, arc as 

 easily forced as any other flowering 

 shrub. Plenty of light, liberal ventila- 

 tion, and a little stimulus with manure 

 water, will bring them into bloom in a 

 house of medium temperature, with only 

 one difficulty — green-fly— which every 

 grower of roses knows how to deal with. 



Strawberries. — Those being forced 

 must be kept rather dry while blooming, 

 and have plenty of water as the fruit is 

 setting. 





TO C011EESPONDENTS. 



Books atii Catalogues Received. — " Cata- 

 logue 01 Fruits cultivated and sold by Thomas 

 Rivers, of the Nurseries, Sawbridgeworth, 

 Herts." Prepared in the same careful way as 

 the excellent books with which Mr. Rivers oc- 

 casionally favours the horticultural public. On 

 the first page are some diagrams to show the 

 modes of training peach, pear, and other fruit- 

 trees. The descriptive lists afford the reader a 

 bird's-eye view of all the best fruits in England, 

 and the notes are full of most valuable bints. — 

 " William Chafer's List of Hollyhocks for 

 1860." This is the list of the well-known firm 

 at Saffron Walden, and is an indispensable list 

 for the grower of choice herbaceous plants. — 

 "Henry Lane and Son's Catalogues of Roses, 

 Trees and Shrubs, and Choice Fruits." Three 

 good lists of the stock grown at the Berkhamp- 

 stead Nurseries. We find all the best of recent 

 introductions in their proper places, and the 

 roses and fruit-trees are admirably classified. — 

 " Catalogue of Seeds offered by W. Thompson, 

 Ipswich." Mr. Thompson is an ingenious as 

 well as enterprising trader, and now and then 

 delights us by introducing from the continent 

 some choice plant, which takes a good place in 

 our collections. We like the plan of this cata- 

 logue, for it is instructive to the botanist as 

 well as the gardener, and the lists of grasses and 

 aquatic plants are well prepared. — " The Phy- 

 tologist and Botanical Journal." This monthly 

 work on botany should be supported by all who 

 take an interest in improving the study and ad- 

 vancement of one of the most engaging and 

 useful of the sciences. Mr. Pamplin, the pub- 

 lisher, 45, Frith Street, Soho, is a collector of 

 ferns, and also of dried plants of all kinds. — 

 "The Forge," a beautiful line-engraving, the 

 work of a self-taught blacksmith, and, so we 



learn, his first attempt at engraving. The scene 

 is a smithy, with the brawny smiths at their 

 work. The figures are all faultless, with the 

 exception of a little piece of foreshortening, 

 which an experienced artist would have found 

 difficult, The light and shade, and the delinea- 

 tions of the rough beams in the glow of the 

 fire, are exquisite. The artist is Mr. Sharpies, 

 Blacksmith, of 121, Cleaver Street, Blackburn, 

 and the Loudon Publisher is Mr. Wilkinson, 

 Charrington Street, Somers' Town. It is sold 

 at the low price of five shillings, which is cer- 

 tainly but a fourth of its real value as a work 

 of art. — "Thoughts in Verse. Hamilton and 

 Co." A spirit of cheerful piety pervades these 

 neatly-printed pages of verse for children. We 

 have been refreshed by the perusal of these 

 poetic gems, and can conceive few delights to 

 equal that of hearing them sung by a family of 

 Christian children. Those who are making 

 presents to young people should secure a few 

 dozens of this very appropriate work.— "Sut- 

 ton's Spring Catalogue and Amateur's Guide 

 for 1860. Sutton and Sons, Reading." This 

 admirable year-book keeps up its character for 

 utility and interest in a way that is an honour 

 to Messrs. Sutton. The lists of vegetable-seeds 

 contain only a few of the best sorts for early, 

 late, and medium work, so arranged that the 

 purchaser cannot possibly choose a sort that 

 will not suit his purpose. In the lists of peas 

 and broccolis for succession, the wants of all 

 classes have been carefully considered. Among 

 the readable matter are notes on the Chinese 

 yam, the culture of the mushroom, and the 

 management of lawns. The instructions on the 

 culture of annuals are so well done that we 

 have transferred them to our own pages. — 

 " The Gardener's Weekly Magazine, conduc- 



