420 THE GARDENER. [Sept. 



Geranium armenium. — A compact but vigorous-growing, distinct, 

 and very beautiful plant. Leaves handsomely laciniated, and strong 

 branching flower-stems, about 18 inches high. Flowers rich purplish 

 rose, with black centres. July and August. 



EAST liOTHIAlSr STOCKS. 



Although it is a good many years since the editor of this magazine 

 brought these famous Stocks prominently before the public in the 

 'Scottish Gardener,' I do not think they have yet received the at- 

 tention their great merits deserve, and in many instances their capa- 

 bilities as decorative plants have not by any means been brought out. 

 No doubt climate has much to do with the perfection they can be 

 brought to, and that it is in dry warm localities like the Lothians they 

 do best. The treatment they receive, from the time the seed is sown 

 till the plants are put out in the borders, has, however, much to do 

 with their success. 



In order to get these Stocks to produce an abundance of large spikes 

 of bloom for a long time, the seed should be sown thinly in boxes, the 

 last week of February or early in March, and be placed not, in heat 

 but in a house or pit very little warmer than a common greenhouse, 

 keeping them near the glass. Before they become crowded or drawn 

 in the seedling state, they should be potted into 4-inch pots, and grown 

 in the same intermediate state till they get pretty well established ; 

 then they should be put into cold frames near the glass, and by the 

 end of April or beginning of May they will be ready to plant out. The 

 beds should always be in a warm position well exposed to the sun. 

 The soil in which they do best is a rather sandy loam, well enriched 

 with old hotbed manure. They should not be planted closer than 16 

 inches each way. Managed thus, they do not receive any check at 

 planting-time, and they progress into strong bushy plants, that, in warm 

 localities especially, yield spikes of bloom from a foot to 15 inches long, 

 and continue in flower from early in July till autumn ; and I do not 

 know of any other plants that pay better, by giving a fine display of 

 bloom, for any extra treatment they receive. 



This strain of Stocks has been well abused by many who have been 

 supplied with seed under the name of East Lothian Stock which has 

 not been true ; for the strain is not yet over-plentiful, and purchasers 

 should make sure that they are supplied with the true strain. 



To save seed, the single plants should be potted up in October, and 

 planted out when severe frosts are over in spring, taking care to keep 

 the various colours well apart, or cross-fertilisation takes place, and the 

 colours become broken and unsatisfactory. 



For greenhouse decoration these Stocks are most useful. By lift- 

 ing and potting the double ones in autumn, and wintering them in any 



