THE FLOEAL WORLD A>'D GARDEN GUIDE. 245 



not have them on the table while peas are in season. So the diffi- 

 culty in dividing it to suit all parties, will be apparent to the 

 reader. 



THE CULTUEE OF TEICOLOE-LEAYED PELAE- 

 GONIUMS. 



BY ME. F. T. SMITH, OF THE DULWICH NUESEET. 



SHOET time since I prepared some notes on tricolor 

 pelargoniums, the results of observations made during 

 the process of raising the several varieties which have 

 been exhibited bv us in various parts of England during 

 the past two seasons. I have revised these notes for 

 the Eloeal AVohld, and hope they may prove generally useful. 



GrARDEN CuLTiYATioN. — It n)ay be supposed that the middle 

 of May has arrived, and a sufficient stock of plants has been 

 secured for the purpose of planting in beds on the lawn, here two or 

 three preliminary matters should be referred to. Firist, the drainage 

 of the beds. If the surface soil lies on gravel, or any open sub- 

 stratum which permits the passage of water freely, it is well ; if, on 

 the contrary, the subsoil is clay, or of any other retentive material, 

 it should be taken out, and nine inches of coarse brick rubbish or 

 broken pottery put in, placing immediately over it some fresh turf 

 from a meadow, the grass under; over this, fill in the upper soil, 

 which should be a light sandy fibrous loam, to which add a good 

 dressing of decayed leaves or well- rotted stable manure ; if on clay 

 land, the bed may be raised two or three inches, as a further security 

 against wet and, consequently, cold, which is very prejudicial to the 

 well-doing of the plants. Avoid sunk beds, they are so many small 

 reservoirs for surface water in rainy weather ; the soil then becomes 

 saturated, the roots diseased, and that spotting of the foliage and 

 rottenness of the young points occur ; this effect is more certain if 

 the atmosphere becomes cold for any length of time after heavy rain. 



Many growers use a portion of peat soil in the compost for 

 growing these plants ; this has no other influence than ligbtening 

 the soil — leaf-mould, rotten manure, and cocoa-nut fibre refuse 

 answer tt^e purpose much better. Our experience is against the use 

 of peat, on account of a greater proportion of plants grown par- 

 tially in it becoming much more diseased than a corresponding 

 number grown in soil such as recommended above. Where the 

 natural soil is deficient of sand, a portion of river or any other clean 

 free sand may be added. 



Choose the situation for beds lying as much to the south as pos- 

 sible, and also protected from strong cutting winds, which have a 

 tendency to turn the edges of the leaves brown. 



Various plans have been adopted in order to show up the colours 

 of the leaves when bedded out in masses — the neutral tints of the 

 Centaureas have been used by planting them as edgings round the 

 beds, and in mixing them among the plants. One of the best eftects 



