320 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May 5, 1870. 



1 well drain a 5-inch pot, fill it with oompost, insert about 

 twelve young planta round the outside of the pot, and when 

 well established I form my pyramids of hazel rods about 

 20 inches high ; I then fill up the space with green moss. I 

 thus obtain beautiful neat pyramids. The plants require to 

 be pegged to the moss, which they very quickly cover. They are 

 always admired when placed here and there about the stove. 



It is also most useful for the decoration of the dinner-table. 

 I invariably form my pyramids about 20 inches high, but they 

 could just as easily be grown to the height of feet. They 

 require to be shaded from the midday sun, aud to be kept 

 constantly moist with the syringe. — F. P. L. 



ALTERED LEAF-COLORATION of PELARGONIUM 

 L'ELEGANTE. 



I have a large conical specimen of Pelargonium L'Elfigaute, 

 the character of which has been gradually changing for the 

 past few weeks, and its foliage has now assumed a deep pink 

 hue, giviDg the plant a charming appearance. I am anxious 

 to learn the cause of a change so desirable, in order to be able 

 to afford the plant every assistance in developing foliage of a 

 similar character. 



A variety of reasons and modes of culture have been ad- 

 vanced from time to time as likely causes of this singular 

 change, and among them I may name dryness at the roots, 

 long rambling unchecked growth, and the cool temperature of 

 autumn. But although in some cases these may have been 

 the true reasons of the peculiarity, it is quite certain they are 

 not so in the present instance ; for the plant, though covering 

 a trellis of considerable size, has not been permitted to ramble 

 unchecked, but has been constantly pinched and tied in, and 

 its roots have not been kept at all dry, having been watered 

 .freely throughout the winter, while for the past two months an 

 occasional dose of tolerably rich liquid manure has been given. 



The only cause of the altered colouring I am able to assign 

 is that the plant is an old one, and, having remained undis- 

 turbed upwards of a year, and being very much pot-bound, the 

 soil has become impoverished and the system of the plant 

 weakened. Whether I am right or not in coming to this con- 

 clusion time will show ; but if evidence were needed to prove 

 that a plant must be subjected to some such conditions before 

 its foliage becomes so splendidly suffused with colour, a number 

 of younger plants of the same variety, wintered iu the same 

 house, and treated in precisely the same way, with the exception 

 of not having had liquid manure, may be pointed to as failing 

 to exhibit the slightest change whatever from their normal 

 state. — Edwakd Luckhuest, Egerton House Gardens, Kent. 



DESTROYING WEEDS ON WALKS. 



The following receipt for the destruction of moss and weeds 

 on garden walks I have tried for some years, and I can recom- 

 mend it as inexpensive, effectual, and os.sily applied. I first 

 took it from one of Messrs. E. G. Henderson's catalogues, and 

 although in my way of applying it I have not attended strictly 

 to the instructions there given, yet I have never known the 

 remedy fail, and I have proved that it effects a great saving of 

 lime and labour as compared with the old and tedious opera- 

 tion of hand-weeding. It is simply arsenic and common soda 

 boiled in water ; the proper strength is 1 lb. of the former and 

 2 lbs. of the latter to twelve gallons of water. This quantity is 

 sufficient for a walk 6 feet wide and nearly 30 yards long. The 

 liquid is recommended to be applied as hot as possible; in 

 this way its effect is most rapid, and perhaps it is necessary to 

 so apply it in showery weather, but doing so increases 'the 

 expenditure of time and labour, besides involving a larger con- 

 sumption of fuel. I usually apply the liquid in the following 

 way, and then, though not so rapid, it is no less sure in its 

 effects : — 



I have a twelve-gallon galvanised iron copper with a broad 

 rim. This is set in a circular iron stand on legs high enough 

 to allow of a fire being made under it ; the fire iB made on the 

 ground, and kept within bounds by a few bricks piled round 

 it. I boil 4 lbs. of arsenic and 8 lbs. of soda in twelve gallons 

 of water, and when the mixture is diluted to the proper strength 

 there will be forty-eight gallons of it. To do this, and to carry 

 the liquid conveniently to any part of the grounds, I use a 

 large barrel with a wooden tap ; it is fixed on wheels, and to 

 every three gallons of the boiling liquid measured from the 



copper I add nine gallons of cold water ; even then the mixture 

 is not cold. 



Between March and May is the best time to put it on the 

 walks ; if the weather is fine and the walks dry all the better, 

 for should heavy showers soon follow, much of the poison will 

 be washed away, the little remaining will be much weakened 

 in its effects, and a few weeds may spring up in places before 

 the summer is out, otherwise one dose is enough in the year. 



I generally apply the liquid through a moderately coarse- 

 rosed watering pot ; it is better that the rose should not be a 

 spreading one, otherwise there is danger of some of the liquid 

 falling on the grass or Box edges, which it will be sure to 

 discolour if not kill ; there is no danger or difficulty if the 

 watering pot is held close to the ground, and enough put on to 

 just flow regularly over the surface of the walk. It will then 

 soak in enough to destroy the germinating power of all seeds, 

 and will within twenty-four hours kill all weeds that have 

 made their appearance above the ground. Where the walks 

 are bounded by Box edges it is advisable to lay a narrow ridge 

 of dry earth or sand by the side to prevent the liquid from 

 soaking down to the roots ; but with turf edges, if they are 

 above an inch in height, no other precaution is necessary than 

 the careful application of the liquid. 



It generally takes one man a little over a fortnight to go over 

 the walks here, but by hand-weeding it would require two for 

 double that time, and most likely one more weeding would be 

 required during the summer. I buy the arsenic by the hundred- 

 weight at 'Ad. per lb., and the soda by the hundredweight at the 

 rate of 2 lb.?, for lid. Perhaps I ought to mention that the 

 watering pot and anything used in connection with the job 

 must not come in contact with the turf ; if so, they will leave 

 traces where they have lain. — Thomas Record, Lillesden. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



May 4th. 



0:t this occasion there was again a very beantifnl show, the most 

 striking, the most lovely feature of which was the Roses ; bnt the mis- 

 cellaneous collections pave the same diversity of form, of height, and 

 of colour, that have distinguished the shows at Kensington this year 

 from those that have gone before. Added to all this, the interest is 

 vastly increased. It would seem that the changes which the Society 

 have made this year in their arrangements, are destined to lift np 

 horticultural exhibitions — theirs at least — from that monotony, that 

 sameness, which has characterised them of late years. 



Class 1 was for nine Roses in pots, and two 'collections were shown. 

 Messrs. Paul & Son were first with large plants of Charles Lawson, 

 Anna Alexieff, Madame Willermoz, and C< line Forestier in fine bloom ; 

 the others — viz., Marechal Vaillant, President, Camille Bernardin, 

 Vicomte Vigier, and Madame Margottin were also very good. Mr. 

 Turner, of Slough, who was second, had in his collection beautifully 

 bloomed specimens of Vicomte Vigier, Souvenir d'au Ami, Madame 

 Eugene Appert, Alba mntabilis, and Madame de St. Joseph. 



Class 2 was for three Roses in pots, and for amateurs only. In this 

 Mr. P. Perry, gardener to F. G. Debenham, Esq., Cheshunt Park, 

 was first, and Mr. James, gardener to W. F. Watson, Esq., Isleworth, 

 second, with plant3 which would bear no comparison with those in the 

 other classes. 



Class 3 was for twelve Roses of 1307, &S, and fi9. In this Mr. 

 Tarner was first and Messrs. Veitch second, both having finely grown 

 plants in excellent bloom. Prominent in both collections was the 

 splendid rich scarlet Duke of Edinburgh. The others from Mr. 

 Turner were Henri Ledechaux, beautiful bright rose, Madame la 

 Baronne de Rothschild, very fine pale rose ; Mario Ducher, fine ; 

 Madame Creyton, Madame Alice Dureau, Clotilde Rolland, very fine : 

 Reine du Midi, Adrienne Christophle, Madame Clert, pale rose with a 

 deep rose centre, fine; Dupuy Jamin, fine, rosy purple; and Miss 

 Ingram, beautiful pale rose. Messrs. Veitch, besides Duke of Edin 

 burgh, Miss Ingram, Madame la Baronne de Rothschild, and Reine 

 du Midi, all of which were remarkably fine, had La France, Enfant 

 d'Amengny, Vicomtesse de Vezms, Madame Grondier ; Elie Morel, 

 fine; Monsieur Woolfield, lively rose : and Madame Adi-le Huzard. 



In the miscellaneous class Messrs. Veitch exhibited one of the most 

 splendid collections of ;*ot Roses ever seen — so excellently grown, and 

 with blooms so numerous, so large, so exquisitely beautiful in colour, 

 and with that great point in a Rose, freshness, they constituted the 

 most striking feature of the Show. Alfred Coloinb, Dr. Andry, Sena- 

 teur Vaisse, General Jacqueminot, Beauty of Waltham, Madame Wil- 

 lermoz, Madame la Baronne de Rothschild, Centifolia rosea, Marie 

 Banmann, and Paul Verdier were a few of the most noticeable. 



Of cut blooms of Roses shown in Class 10, Messrs. Paul sent sis 

 stands, taking the first prize, the second going to Mr. Earley, gardener 

 to F. Pryor, Esq., Digswell. and the third to Mr. Osman, gardener to 

 R. Holland, Esq., Stanmore Hall. In Mr. Earley's stand there were 

 remarkably fine blooms of Mar.'chal Niel, President, and Madame 

 Fnrtado. 



