SEPTEMBER. 269 



THE HELIOTROPE. 



This, I need not say, is what is popularly termed Cherry pie, and, 

 whether as a greenhouse plant or for bedding, is a universal favourite. 

 When grown in good soil which is well charged with rotten dung, it 

 makes a very free and luxuriant growth, supplying during the whole 

 summer and autumn a profusion of its gay and odoriferous blossoms. 

 In propagating it choose at once the terminal shoots of some of the 

 most luxuriant plants, and prepare the cuttings by cutting them close 

 under a joint. Let them be planted in a pot and placed in a frame, 

 but it will not be necessary to cover them with a bell-glass. In the 

 course of two or three weeks, the cuttings will not only have rooted, 

 but made considerable shoots ; they must then be potted ofF into single 

 pots, filled with a compost of loam, sandy peat, and well-decomposed 

 stable manure ; for this purpose a part of an old dung-bed on which a 

 fi'ame was formerly placed will be found of great utility. As the plants 

 fill these pots vnth roots they must be shifted on into a size larger, in 

 which they may remain during the winter ; when they have got this 

 last shift they must be gradually hardened off, to prepare them to 

 endure the vicissitudes of the ensuing winter. 



In the spring following, the plants which have survived the winter 

 should be turned out of the pots, the balls cleared of worms, if any, and 

 repotted into fresh soil ; they should also be shortened in, so as to make 

 them bushy. In the month of May or June they may be planted out 

 in the flower beds, and as they increase in size they may be pegged 

 down in a horizontal position on the surface of the soil, in the same way 

 as Verbenas generally are, or they may be grown on in pots, as best 

 suits the taste of the cultivator. 



CULTOR. 



NATIONAL FLORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



July 26. — Mr. G. Smith in the chair. The subjects were not 

 numerous on this occasion. A very pretty Petunia was exhibited 

 named Hermione, colour blush, white ground, spotted over the face of 

 the flower with purple, which received a certificate ; it is large and of 

 good habit, and was sent by Mr. Smith of the Hornsey Road. Numerous 

 seedling Verbenas were shown, but nothing very striking ; the best were 

 from Mr. Weatherill, of the Hornsey Road, named Eugenie, which 

 received a certificate, of a pale lilac colour. Mr. Todman, Clapham, 

 received a label of commendation for Sir E. Lyons, a slate purple, of 

 good habit. Roses, twelve varieties, single blooms, were sent by Mr. 

 Cole, of St. Alban's, to which the first prize was awarded. These 

 consisted of nice blooms of the following kinds, viz.. Prince Louis, 

 Queen Victoria, Geant des Batailles, Paul Ricaut, Princess Laffay, 

 Madame LafTay, La Reine, Baronne Prevost, Dupetit Thouars, Jacques 

 Laffitte, William Jesse, and Clementine Seringe. Carnations and 

 Picotees were exhibited by Mr. C. Turner, Mr. Baker, Woolwich, and 



