THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



2 IS 



species made their appearance till 1822, when no 

 less than four new species, two of them uuder- 

 shrubs, enriched our collections. As soon as 

 hybrids of these were obtained, they became 

 special favourites, winning popularity as much 

 by their curious torra, as by their elegant habits 

 and lovely colours. There are many distinct 

 species of Calceolaria known in collections, and 

 the characteristics of some are very distinct. C. 

 alba, and C. Fforibunda, were introduced from 

 Chili, by Mr. Lobb, in 1842 ; C. violacea, of a 

 pale purple, and C. Sinclarii, the New Zealand 

 species, have been but lately introduced; C. 

 cricoides, the heath-like Calceolaria, is a wiry, 

 woody shrub, partly upright, partly procumbent, 

 and studded with hirsute blossoms of a bright 

 yellow ; but those in most request by florists are 

 the varieties of the shrubby fruticosa, and the 

 many gay descendants of corymbosa, and arach- 

 noides, of which the typical form has long been 

 lost, in the many hybridisings the flowers have 

 undergone." 



Choice Bulbs.— W. B. — All soft bulbs, such as 

 Lilies, Crown imperials, &c, should be kept out 

 of the ground as short a time as possible. Small 

 bulbs, such as Lachenalia, Anomatheca, &c, 

 may be shaken out of their pots, when the 

 foliage has quite died down, and stored away in 

 bags, till they begin to break naturally, when 

 they must be again patted, and but just covered. 

 The reason why many lose their stock of such 

 things, is because they drench them with water 

 immediately after potting, whereas, until they 

 have made pretty good roots, they should have 

 very little moisture. In our bulb closet we have 

 now hundreds of small bulbs in linen bags, the 

 whole of which will soon be flourishing in pots 

 in frames. Where there is any doubt, however, 

 keep them in the pots quite dry, and laid on 

 their tides ; as soon as they move, re-pot them, 

 handling them tenderly, so as not to bruise their 

 new roots. Cyclamen persicum is best so ma- 

 naged, to be shifted into larger pot?, of a size 

 proportionate to the bulbs, and not quite covered 

 with soil. Bulbs will now claim our special 

 attention, and as they are not half so much 

 grown as they should be, we shall endeavour to 

 increase their popularity by giving plain and safe 

 directions for their management, 



Uoses on the Manetti Stock. — C. D. — Failures 

 in the use of the Manetti stock, have, in almost 

 all cases, been the result of a mistaken estimate 

 of its uses. It will not make mop-headed 

 standards such as are grown by budding briers 

 on the upper branches. The bud should always 

 be entered close to the collar of the stock, in 

 order that in the future planting, the rose may 

 be covered with soil, without plunging too much 

 of the true bark of the stock. When worked 

 with suitable sorts, nothing can surpass it as a 

 stock, for it is a prodigious rooter, and will feed 

 a fast growing rose on poor soils, where it would 

 perish if on its own roots. But, by planting the 

 entered bud below the surface, the nest season 

 after budding, the rose makes roots of its own, 

 and so grows more naturally. There is, in fact, 

 less ot that disagreement between bud and stock, 

 which, in many cases, is the cause of the failure 

 of worked roses. It does not follow, however, 

 that, if planted above the surface the bud should 

 fail, and we should not advise you to move the 

 plants until they have gained strength— say not 

 till the autumn of 1S59. What could induce 

 you to turn out budded roses in the month of 

 July? 



.American Blight,— C. D.-We had this spring 

 to deal with a number of old apple trees, com- 

 pletely eaten up by cotton blight. We made a 

 strong brine, and had the trees scrubbed with a 

 dandy brush dipped in it, first spreading mats 



on the grass, and covering up the shrub3 within 

 the reach of the splashes. A few of the branches 

 were killed by the salt, but the trees were so 

 much benefited, that they have since made a 

 good deal of new bark, and are now pictures of 

 health. They were not washed till after the 

 fruit was set. We should advise you to try the 

 same process this winter. The dressi 

 lime and sulphur last winter, no doubt did good, 

 and a second course of treatment will still 

 further cleanse the trees. The dandy brush, 

 vigorously applied to the stems, is very benefi- 

 cial. The insects retire to the ground in the 

 winter, therefore the roots should be laid baro 

 for a few days, and, before the earth is returned, 

 it should be saturated with ammoniacal liquor 

 from the gas works. On your soil, and with go 

 little rain, the trees ought to be mulched every 

 winter with rotten dung, and, in summer, the 

 grass mowings spread round the roots, would be 

 beneficial. 



HollthockSeed.— ,S'«-«rufor.— Double hollyhocks 

 give plenty of seed, and the plants raised from 

 well saved seed, come pretty true to the parent. 

 Take off the pods when ripe, and bang them 

 in bunches in a dry room till March, then 

 rub them out, and sow in shallow pans in a 

 gentle heat. Cut down the stems as soon as you 

 have got as much seed as you require, and apply 

 no mulching till spring, for damp at the collar 

 often causes the destruction of hollyhocks in 

 winter. You will see that Mr. Chater. in last 

 month's number, advises the removal of the 

 mould round the neck of the plant, and filling it 

 in with silver sand. In your fine Irish climate 

 such precautions may be unnecessary- On the wet 

 clay soil of our own garden we dare not trust fine 

 hollyhocks in the open ground all winter, so they 

 are taken up in October and potted, and kept in 

 frames till March. We thank you for your ex- 

 pressions of regard, and are glad to have been 

 the means of enab.ing you to make so much 

 progress in gardening in so short a time. Happily 

 you are not the only one who has thus benefited, 

 by the publication of the "Flokal World." 



Geranium Cuttings. — A. B. — Yes, in the open 

 grouud, full in the sun, without shade, glass, or 

 any kind of screen. We have now hundreds of 

 geraniums in full bloom from cuttings so struck 

 in June last, and those struck in July and 

 August this season, will make our winter pro- 

 menade as gay all the winter as the beds have 

 been through the summer. There is not one of the 

 scarlet breeds, that is, of the horseshoe class of 

 geranium, but roots best, and makes the 

 strongest plant to stand the winter if struck 

 in the full sun ; and if watered every evening in 

 dry weather, they hold up their heads on the 

 third day, have roots on the sixth or seventh, 

 are fit to move into pots on the fourteenth, or if 

 struck in thumbs, want a shift to sixty's in three 

 weeks. Pelargoniums require shade, and more 

 coddling, and must be struck earlier, but most 

 of them will strike in the sun from ripe joints 

 at the time the plants are cut in. 



Lilt of the Valley. — Farfugium Grande. — 

 Subscriber. — The Lily of the Valley is a capri- 

 cious plant. In some places, it flowers abun- 

 dantly without the least care and spite of utter 

 neglect ; in others, every attempt to bloom it 

 fails. The orthodox mode of growing it, is to 

 plant in February in a north aspect, in a compost 

 of sandy earth and leaf-mould, and to place the 

 roots four or five inches apart, and two inches' 

 deep. One secret of success is never to disturb 

 them. We have seen tbem blooming splendidly 

 in flower-pots in a kitchen window where they 

 remained in the same pots, and same soil for six 

 or seven years. — Farfugium grande is said to 

 be quite hardy, but it would not be wise to turn 



