234 THE FLORAL TTORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



plants usually employed in the embellishment of those structures. 

 There are about forty varieties in cultivation, and, strange to say, 

 they all possess considerable merit. For some reason or other it 

 has, of late years, been quite a rare occurrence to see new fancy 

 geraniums brought forward at the public exhibitions ; but this 

 season, Mr. C. Turner, of Slough — who, by the way, has raised all 

 the best varieties — has exhibited seven or eight seedlings, and the 

 majority of them were certificated by the two metropolitan societies. 

 Of these it is unnecessary to say anything further, because no one 

 should commence with new and comparatively expensive kinds 

 whilst there are so many good old sorts available. Of the latter, I 

 would recommend, as forming a very select and distinct collection, the 

 following, namely : Acme, a fine dark flower ; Belle of tlie Season, 

 French white, with a purple spot on each petal ; Brightness, bright 

 crimson, light centre and margin ; Ellen Beck, rose-carmine, shaded 

 with lilac ; Fanny Gair, rosy lake, white centre and light margin ; 

 Godfrey Turner, dense crimson ; Lacli/ Dorothy Neville, bluish-tinted 

 pink ; Mirella, rosy lilac ; Princess of TecJc, white, with rose-carmine 

 spots, very free and fine ; lioi des Fantasies, rose-crimson ; Undine, 

 rosy lake ; Vivandiere, rich crimson. In the above selection, all the 

 colours at present found amongst the fancies are represented, and a 

 finer twelve could not be found. 



If a stock has to be purchased, now is the time to buy. Strong 

 plants will be furnished with two or three shoots each, and as every 

 shoot will make one or more cuttings, a stock can be obtained at 

 once. The cuttings strike freely iu a cold frame, provided the wood 

 has become moderately firm ; and to insure this, the plants, whether 

 recently purchased or not, should be placed in the open air for a 

 period of about three weeks or so, and kept rather dry at the roots, 

 before they are pruned. This is necessary, as much for the sake of 

 the plants as the cuttings, as they break so much better when the 

 wood is well matured at the time of pruning. 



Each of the shoots will require shortening to within an inch or 

 so of the firm base, and as they will mostly be furnished with two 

 or three laterals, they may, for propagating purposes, be cut up 

 into as many pieces as there are growing points, provided a small 

 portion of firm wood is attached to each. These can be inserted 

 round the edge of five-inch pots filled with fine sandy soil, and 

 having a layer of dry sand on the surface. Place the cutting pots 

 in a cold frame, screen from sun in bright weather, and maintain 

 the soil in a nice moderately moist condition. Some care is neces- 

 sary in the application of moisture ; for if the cuttings are kept too 

 dry, they will shrivel up, and if too moist they will soon decay. 



In a comparatively short space of time they will be nicely rooted, 

 and preparations must be made for potting them oS". As the fancies 

 do not grow so vigorously as those belonging to the show class, they 

 should be put first of all into small sixties, and as soon as these are 

 nicely filled with roots, shifted into five-inch pots, in which they 

 must be allowed to bloom next year. The pots will require draining 

 thoroughly, as the plants are most impatient of stagnant moisture 

 at the roots during the winter season. A comj)ost moderately open 



