JANUARY. 29 



but care should be taken to select the tall growers for the centre, 

 and so to arrange the colours that tliey may harmonise, and make a 

 pleasing mass of beauty. 



The Hollyhock may be removed with safety in almost any month 

 of the year and stage of growth, if the weather is favourable ; still 

 I consider September and October the very best time to ensure a 

 fine l)loom in the following summer. The best way to obtain a suc- 

 cession of flowers is, by transplanting a portion at different seasons 

 of the year. Plant some in the spring : it is surprising how much 

 later they bloom by adopting this method. The spikes of flowers 

 exhibited by me at the Surrey Gardens in 1848 on the 12th of 

 September were part of a large bed I had transplanted in February 

 or March :^ those which remained on the old bed bloomed in July 

 and August ; while those that were transplanted bloomed in Sep- 

 tember and October. If the plants are to be removed but a short 

 distance, let them be taken up with a good ball of earth, and planted 

 in holes prepared with plenty of good rotten manure well mixed 

 with the soil, and they will grow very fine the first year. In May, 

 when the spikes are grown about a foot high, thin them out accord- 

 ing to the strength of the plant. If well established and very strong, 

 leave four spikes ; if weaker, two or three, or only one ; at the same 

 time placing a stake to each spike separately. They will not require 

 tall stakes ; the most robust grower needs one no higher than four 

 feet 'from the ground; three feet is quite sufiicient for most sorts: 

 tall stakes are not only unsightly, and mar the appearance of the 

 plant, but they are injurious, as they spoil the flowers where the 

 stem touches them. Let the stakes be properly placed early in the 

 season, and the young shoots carefully tied ; very short ones will be 

 sufficient to induce erect growth. Most of the best sorts will begin 

 to bloom at about two feet from the ground. Thin the flower-buds, 

 if they are'^crowded together ; and some of the sorts may be im- 

 proved by cutting off the top of the spike. This will make the 

 individual flowers finer ; but it requires judgment, or the plant will 

 be very much disfigured, and its duration of flowering shortened. 

 I shall be happy to continue my remarks at a future time. 



Nursery, Saffron Walden. William Chater. 



ON THE PROPERTIES OF A PELARGONIUM. 



I TAKE 'a greater interest in the Seedling Pelargonium Fund than is 

 to be inferred from the absence of m.y name from the subscription- 

 list ; and as it is always easier to dispose of other people's money than 

 one's own, I venture to suggest an improvement in the distribution 

 of the prizes. 



I wish the amount to be given away would admit of a different 

 arrangement ; but, on the supposition that you have the same sum 

 to award as last year, I assume, without underrating the value of the 



