1870.] HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 423 



son, say at Christmas, by putting their stock plants into a "brisk heat, 

 such as a Cucumber or Pine pit. Here they will begin to break at 

 every eye, and by the time the shoots are 2 inches in length will be 

 the very time also to begin striking cuttings. These placed in a 

 gentle bottom-heat will soon root, and in their turn supply tops for 

 cuttings. Then comes the process of hardening off, and there results 

 an abundance of plants for bedding purposes. 



To keep beds of Petunias of a neat symmetrical shape, pinching 

 out must be done. If you want beds of Petunias that shall be in- 

 deed beds, and masses of bloom, weekly pinching must be persevered 

 in. This should be done by shortening the shoots to one bud above 

 the opening flower. So treated, they are continually throwing fresh 

 flower-buds in the most admired profusion. 



I have observed on two or three occasions that Messrs Bell & 

 Thorpe of Stratford-on-Avon have a very nice strain of Petunias, as 

 witness what they exhibited at the recent show of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society at Oxford. Similar in habit and as fine in shape as 

 those of Mr Bull's, they appear to run mainly on mottled flowers, by no 

 means a bad trait, as mottled flowers are preferred by many for bed- 

 ding purposes. Others attach themselves to pure self colours, and 

 find these very satisfactory. Thus, a good strain of Petunias will be 

 found to satisfy all these requirements ; but my chief point is, select 

 from your seedlings such flowers (in combination with proper habits of 

 growth) as you best fancy, and propagate by cuttings so as to get 

 plants to fill the flower-beds the following year. D. E. B. 



HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



Royal Horticultural Society's Great Provincial Show, at Oxford, July 19-22. 

 — This show took place in the grounds of the Radcliffe Observatory, a place very 

 suitable for it, as it was pleasantly situated, nicely sheltered by trees, and the site far 

 less rough than at Manchester. Our space will not admit of a detailed report ; 

 we can therefore only indicate a few of the more salient points of the exhibition. 



In the class for the best 20 fine foliage and flowering plants, Mr Baines, gardener 

 to H. Micholls, Esq., was well first, with large and excellent specimens of Bou- 

 gainvillea glabra, well bloomed Ixora aurantiaca, Allamanda nobilis, Dipladenia 

 amabilis, Erica obbata, very good ; Ixora coccinea, very fine trusses of flowers ; 

 Croton angustifolia, large and well coloured ; Yucca variegata, Cordyline indivisa, 

 Verschaffeltia splendida, first - rate ; Stevensonia grandifolia, very handsome ; 

 Gleichenia rupestris, a grand specimen ; and a first-rate Croton variegatum. In 

 Mrs Cole & Sons' collection, which came in second, were a large well-grown plant 

 of Kalosanthes punica, Aphelexis humilis grandiflora, Hedaroma tulipifera, very 

 fair; Erica Cavendishiana, very good, but a very "old stager;" and good speci- 

 mens of Crotons, Dracaenas, Dicksonias, Palms, &c. 



The best 9 foliaged or variegated plants in the amateurs' class were shown by 



