250 THE FLORIST. 



NATIONAL FLORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



October 7. — Sufficient members \vere not present on this occasion 

 to form a meeting, consequently no awards were made. As might 

 be expected at this advanced period of the season, subjects of exhibi- 

 tion were not numerous. ^Ir. Ingram, gardener to her Majesty, at 

 Frogmore, sent a new scarlet Pelargonium named Harlequin ; it is a 

 pale scarlet, with a large full truss, the individual flowers being also 

 fine, and evidently a free grower ; its novelty, however, consisted in 

 its very peculiar foliage, each leaf having a strong horse-shoe mark, 

 which, in about half the foliage, is of a bright pink colour, the rest 

 of the leaf being pale green, and all three colours singularly distri- 

 buted on other portions of the foliage. Several Dahlias were pre- 

 sent : Mr. Burgess sent Beauty of the Grove, a dull yellow, tipped 

 with crimson-purple, good in form, centre, and general outline. Mr. 

 Turner had several varieties, among which was Plantagenet, of which 

 there were six blooms, all in very good order ; in shape it resembles 

 but is superior to Mr. Seldon. He also furnished Grand Duke, a 

 blush lilac; large and very deep. Mr. Knight exhibited three blooms 

 of a fancy variety, clear pale yellow in colour, distinctly tipped with 

 white ; in form it is equal to many of the selfs. Three blooms were 

 also shewn of Lochner's Claudia, which has been previously de- 

 scribed. 



CULTIVATION OF THE AZALEA. 



Having been a tolerably successful cultivator of this most attractive 

 greenhouse plant, I feel some degree of confidence in submitting the 

 plan of cultivation I have adopted to the consideration of your readers. 

 I invarlabl}^ select free, well-grown young plants, as I consider that on 

 this one point rests, in a considerable degree, the probability of obtain- 

 ing first-classs pecimens ; and in the case of Gledstanesi, variegata, 

 and other delicate growers, I would recommend that they be plants 

 worked on the strong-growing sort, Phoenicea, as I find that such pre- 

 sent a more vigorous foliage and habit, with a finer bloom, than those 

 growing on their own roots. Indeed, many successful cultivators 

 prefer the whole of their plants grafted on the strong-grower alluded 

 to. In the first week in March I give my plants their first shift : 

 say if they be in 5-inch pots, I move them into 6-inch pots, accord- 

 ing to their habit and individual vigour, carefully observing, on every 

 occasion, that a sufficient amount of broken material, with a proper 

 arrangement, is provided, to secure efficient drainage. The soil I 

 use and prefer is the peat obtained from Wimbledon Common, and 

 a portion of silver- sand (according to the condition of the peat), 

 passed through a coarse sieve, so that every lump be properly re- 

 duced. I am particularly careful to retain the whole of the fibrous 

 matter in the soil. When the first shift in March is accomplished, 

 I place the plants in a temperature of 55° ; and as the season ad- 

 vances, bringing with it an accession of light and solar heat, I allow 



