lib 



THE FLOEAL WOELD AKD GAEDEI^ GUIDE. 



turned out ; if not done, turn tliem out j flower, shade them, and keep the plants 

 without breaking the roots, in a piece of ! free of each other, to allow of a circulation 

 well manured, sandj soil, iu a shady place, I of air. If bees get to them, the flowers 

 and give pleutj? of water, as long as thej ' will not last so long. Grive them liquid 

 continue green. i mamu-e, and tie out where required, to 



Felargoniums. — As these come into i give the plants a good shape. 



TO COREESPONDEi^TS. 



EEPBINTS FEOM THE " TLOEAL 

 WOELD." 



The shilling book on "Grasses" has quite an- 

 swered our expectations, and wUl be followed 

 by a similarly complete collection of articles on 

 a distinct subject of general interest and useful- 

 ness. Many of our subscribers have written to 

 approve of the plan, and to compliment us on 

 the fact of the articles in the " Elokal Wokld" 

 beiuj foiuid worthy of rejiroduction in a more 

 expensive form. In due time the Reprints will 

 form a handsome volume, sulficientl3' elegant 

 for the drawing-room table, and valuable for 

 purposes of reference and for perusal in the 

 garden. 



Vebbena I3i'.d — TE0P2E0LUJIS. — H. C. W. — Plant 

 iil'teen inches apart, and train first to the north, 

 to make sure of plenty of shoots on that side. 

 AVhen they meet, nip them back to prevent 

 confusion, and aUow the side shoots to rise 

 regidarly over the whole surface. Take off 

 dead blossoms with a pair of scissors, but leave 

 the shoots at each side of the truss removed to 

 give successional blooms. It is a matter of 

 detail and iinger-work, and if sedulously' fol- 

 lowed out, the bed wiU assume the appearance 

 of having been just turned out of a bandbox or 

 a concave mould. The pincushion beds on the 

 Terrace, and some of the beds on the Eose 

 Mount, at the Crystal Palace, were planted last 

 year with Tropseolum elegans. On the Terrace 

 the Tropicolum was enchcled with Calceolaria 

 aurea tloribunda, one of the best for bedding ; 

 on the Eose Mount it was used iu pah'S of beds 

 with pairs of Mangle's Geranium ; then as a 

 centre to Nierembergia fiUcauhs ; then again as 

 a centre to Lobeha speciosa; and again as a 

 bed in the centre of purple Verbena. This and 

 every other bedder varies in tone of colour io 

 the eije, according to the other colours with 

 wiiicb it is contrasted ; and tlie law by which 

 such effects take place you will hud explained 

 most clearly in " Chevruel on Colour." The 

 true Elegaus has a tint of salmon. Brilliant, 

 Triomphe de Gaud, Lobbianum brilliant, and 

 Lilli Schmidt are aU good bedders, and may be 

 used in the same way as Elegans ; but they are 

 each of dih'eient shades of red, not easily de- 

 scribed, and tbeir several values depend very 

 materially on the way in which they are con- 

 trasted with other colours. 



Melo:^ Cultuee.— fiose.— Tour pit will do well 

 if you make up a dung-bed inside the pit, and 

 ventilate and water frequently tUl perfectly 

 sweet ; then form hollows two feet deep, and 

 fill them with brickbats, with a turf, grass-side 

 downwards, on the top, level with the surface of 

 the bed ; then make small liillocks on the grass 

 Bods to tium the plants out on, and keep up the 

 heat as fast as it dechnes by means of linmgs ; 

 and as the heat must be brisk, give plenty of 

 water round the sides to prevent biu-ning, and 

 inaintaiQ the heat just under 90'. Add more 

 soil as the plants require it, and turn and 

 change the hnings frequently, A few (U-ain- 



pipes laid in from the pigeon-holes to the in- 

 terior bed wdl assist in diSusing the heat from 

 the linings. The seedling plants should be 

 stopped, by pinching out the centre as soon as 

 the i-ough leaves apiJear, and be got strong 

 before being ridged out. Two plants are jilenty 

 for each light, and the runners must be trained 

 regularly. Give plenty of water whUe fruit is 

 sweUing, but keep rather di-y as soon as ripening 

 commences. They require the fullest sunlight 

 they can have. You ought to have sown six 

 weeks earher to have had them strong in pots 

 for planting, and had better not be in too great 

 haste to get the pit ready. 



Chinese Azaleas. — Gkass-Plot. — Q.A. — If they 

 requu-e more pot-room s-hift at once, and use 

 sandy peat three-fourths, and turfy loam one- 

 fourih. Prune them merely to get them into 

 shape, and to get breaks at the lower parts of 

 any branches that are long and naked. Keep 

 warm and moist, and syringe frequently till they 

 have made good growth, and then set them out 

 under a north wall till autiunn, when house 

 them for the winter. The same treatment as 

 CameUias will suit them to a nicety. We have 

 not the least doubt Spergula pilifei a will do in 

 " the 2|-mile circle on a light alluvial black 

 mould, and a situation tolerably open." We 

 expect it will take six mouths to make a fair 

 turfmtb the Spergula, if planted as close as 

 Messrs. Henderson advise ; but we should not 

 th in k of sowmg on the ground unless we could 

 get the seed almost as cheap as jirass, which of 

 course is out of the question. Pincushion beds 

 are best not raised ; lor in such a dry summer as 

 the last, the roses get starved. Besides, to 

 mould up the stems of roses wotdd, as you sup- 

 pose, do them no good. Aubretia aud Alys- 

 sum will stand any amount of sun in pots, if 

 the pots are plunged to the lim, and the plants 

 kept regularly -watered. Yoiu- Lime-trees are 

 being bored by some coleopterous insect. Fill 

 the holes with grailing-claj', and j)aiut over 

 the clay with warm Stockholm tar. AVe lately 

 saved some old Apple-trees by that process, and 

 they are now making beautiful bark. 



Gladioli. — A. Roherfson. — The section of Car- 

 dinahs shoidd be planted in the open grotmd in 

 autumn, six inches deep, and protected in spring 

 from frosts, or putted in a\itumn, three bulbs 

 in every eight-inch pot, and packed together 

 in a frame and covered with a thick layer of dry 

 old tan. Son : loam, leaf-moidd, peat and sand, 

 in equal proportions. The section of Eamosus 

 are most suitable for greenhouse decoration. 

 Pot in autumn or eany in spring, iu the same way, 

 and water freely, but seldom, till in fair growth. 

 After blooming keep diy and warm and undis- 

 turbed, to ripen the bulbs, and then pot again 

 for next season. The section of Uamosus and 

 Gandavensis are well suited for beds. Soil : rich 

 loiuu, with a plentiful atbnixture of peat and 

 ■ sand. If the beds are covered all winter in the 

 tan, or coal-ashes, the bidbs may remain in the 

 ground, but it is best to take them up when 



