134 



JOURNAL OF aOKTICDLiTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



t Febraarj 23, 1877. 



ba removed to a oold frame, giving plenty of air on all favour- 

 able occasions till the end of April, when the pans or boxes 

 may be placed outside, so that the plants may be ready for 

 pricking-ont about the middle of Slay. The course usually 

 adopted is to prepare a bed and plant the small seedlings out 

 about 4 or 5 inches apart, to be again transplanted into the 

 trenches; but if the groucd is vacant I recommend that the 

 trenches be prepared and the seedlings be put out about a foot 

 apart in them at once, taking great care in handling them ; 

 and if watered with a fine rose till the plants make a start 

 they receive no check, as they must do when transplanted in 

 the hot weather later on, for it is important that from the 

 time they arc fir^t plautad to keep them always in a free 

 growing state. [ have followed this course with good results, 

 and the loss of plants in the rows was only two per cent. 



The trenches shouM bo made in an open position in the 

 garden, digging them 9 inches deep, and placing in them about 

 4 inches of rich manure, and the nearer they are to tho pump 

 or tap the better, for without plenty of water throughout the 

 season good Celery cannot be grown. When earthing-up is 

 commenced, which should not be until the plants have at- 

 tained a good size, the rows should be gone over to remove 

 any side shoots, and a thorough soaking of water should be 

 given the night before the earth is applied, being careful that 

 the plants are quile dry before any soil is placed rouud them. 

 The practice of pushing tho soil against the plants in 'the 

 form of a sharp ridge is bad, as it is liable to throw off all the 

 water from the roots, and at that period of growth they still 

 require a good supply, but at the final earthing it will be 

 necessary to have the ridge-like form for throwing-oS the rains 

 during the winter. 



Sandringham Dwarf White and Incomparable Dwarf White 

 are two good white kinds, or perhaps they are synonymoua. 

 [Yea.] Manchester Red and Leicester Red are good red kinds, 

 but if I were only to plant one sort it would be Leicester Red, 

 for it ia of good quality and flavour, and ^keepa sound in light 

 soil till March.— A. H. 



[We have seen the Celery grown by our correspondent both 

 as exhibited at South Kensington and as growing in the gar- 

 den under his charge, and we never observed better produce. 

 We noticed that was the best which had been transferred 

 direct from the seed-pans to the trenches without any inter- 

 mediate transplanting. — Eds ] 



EXHIBITION PANSIES.-No. 2. 



When advocating the claims of fancy Pansies I meant to do 

 show varieties no injustice ; I merely laboured for the recogni- 

 tion that is being tardily accorded the former. Some of the 

 fancies which have been sent out are, I confess, sufficiently 

 bad to disgust any true florist, and could only serve the pur- 

 pose of deepening the prejudice against the species. The bad 

 varieties have been chiefly remarkable for size, and but for 

 this characteristic would have left the seedling bed for the 

 rubbish heap ; but size without the other elements of a good 

 flower is worth nothing, and the destination of such an one 

 ought to be the spot indicate d. One of this class, called H. W. 

 Tngwell, Efq., was sent out in 1875 by a noted Pansy grower 

 of Bath, and proved the most disappointing flower it has ever 

 been my misfortune to purchase. When it bloomed I could 

 not believe it was true to name, so diilerent was it from the 

 raiser's description, and I sent direct for another plant; but it 

 was true, and at the same time very false, for instead of being 

 of "large firie form, edged with rose, circlets of white, and 

 blotch of lavender," it was the veriest mongrel ever sent out 

 and unworthy ef existence. 



While, however, good fancies may be raised in comparative 

 profusion, equally good show flowers are few aod far between. 

 Last year several were sent out, reaching the very highest 

 standard of form, colour, and substance, and so good that it 

 is diflicult to believe they will ever have to give way for others. 



Dean Ramsay, sent out by Meesrs. Dickeons & Co. of Edin- 

 burgh, is an exceedingly rich velvety crimson self, of ex- 

 qpisite form and ample substance, and one upon which an ex- 

 hibitor may always depend, being constant, vigorous, and a 

 free bloomer. Zama, raised by Messrs. Dowuie & Laird of 

 Edinburgh, is a perfect yellow self, as round as a coin, and so 

 smooth as to require no manipulation to make it lie down 

 in the pan ; it would, nevertheless, be better if it was a trifle 

 bigger, but I hope next year to find it improved in this respect. 

 Flag of Truce, by the same raisers, is of the purest white, and 

 equal to Zama for form and quality. As far as I have seen 



The Sultan (Dicksons) is the best new yellow ground, having » 

 beautiful golden field, maroon belt, dense blotch, and is smooth, 

 constant, and large. Close up is .John Paton (Downie) with 

 its bright purplish belt and very fine form, followed closely by 

 William Martin (Dicksons), a primrose ground, rich ohooolata 

 belt, solid blotch, and a smoothness equal to Zama. A really 

 good white ground, like a perfect self, is a rara ui'is in Pansy- 

 raising, and wheu Messrs. Dicksons first saw Beatrice tho 

 thrill of pleasure must have been intense. Their own descrip- 

 tion of the flower is as follows:— ■' Clear white ground, very 

 dark heavy purple belt, fine folid blotch, and neat eye; very 

 large, of great substance, and always fit for exhibition," and 

 I can safely say there is not the least exaggeration. Unlike- 

 many white grounds it is a good grower, and unless shows 

 occur especially fast, with cnro a good bloom may always be 

 obtained. Messr?. Dowuie A- Laird's Duchess, too, is a grauil 

 flower, as is also Miss Todd. Of other new show varieties I 

 may name Mrs. Henderson, P. W. Sime, William Forbes, and 

 Demetrius (Cocker), but the list is necessarily short, as I only 

 speak of those I have proved. The Queen, sent out by H. 

 Hoopsr of Bath, I have kept purposely to the last, not because 

 it is the best, but because it is the largest. As its raiser 

 claims, it is " the largest white ground ever raised," but it has 

 not done well with me ; it has come so rough and uneven, and 

 often ragged in the belting, but it has many of the properties 

 of a good flower, aud I shall try it this year under two or three 

 varieties of condition. 



Taken as a whole, the show flowers of 1876 are a good lot,, 

 and many of them are a vast improvement upon varieties pre- 

 viously in cultivation ; still there seems to ba too strong a 

 desire to send out a long list of new sorts, and only under very 

 exceptional circumstances can this bo done without saorinoing 

 quality to quantity. For myself I would rather send out one 

 really good flower in five jears than annually put upon the- 

 market a dozen or two of mediocre merit to the injury of my 

 own reputation and the discouragement of those desirous of 

 keeping pace with the times. I have suffered so much from 

 tho result of blind faith in raisers' descriptions that I have 

 often half resolved to buy nothing which I have not seen in 

 bloom ; but as I cannot journey every year to Edinburgh, 

 Aberdeen, and Bath, I am forced to select a few from each 

 raiser, and give him the best order the following year whose 

 descriptions are nearest the truth. 



Next week I will give a brief list of older show flowers o^ 

 merit and a few remarks upon cultivating and exhibiting. — 

 M. H. MiLLEE, Leek. 



NOVELTIES IN THE EOYAL GARDENS, KEW. 



litis EETicuLiTA is the finest of the herbaceous plants in flower 

 at Kew. Its purple flowers relieved with orange form a dense, 

 mass which the slender leaves do not hide, but shooting above- 

 add greatly to the (ffect. I. stjlosa is also very fine, though 

 the flowers are somewhat obscured by the stronger leaves. 

 These beautiful plants, especially the former, cannot bo too 

 strongly recommended for the most liberal planting. 



Many beautiful Orchids are flowering. The Dcndrobiums- 

 are represented by several fine species. A good specimen of 

 D. crassinode has several stems thickly laden with rosy-tipped 

 flowers. Of D. Wardianum there are light and daik varieties. 

 D. primulinnm is attractive and diitinot in appearance, so tlso 

 is D. heterocarpum. D. HiUii , of which there are several plants, 

 is certainly one of the most elTective. D. speciosnm, to which 

 the last may he referred as a variety, is als o in bloom. D. moni- 

 liforme, D. noldle, aud the variety pendulum add much to the 

 display, besides which there are several of less ornamental 

 character. Steuonhyncbis speciosa is a rather rare terrestrial 

 Orchid, easily cultivated and of much merit. It has crimson 

 flowers, and conspicuous bracts which show the same colour 

 almost from the first appearance of tho scape. There is a 

 variety with spotted leaves, and both are ornamental when ont 

 of flower. Oncidium oheirophorum is an extremely pretty 

 species, of which a figure is given in the "Botanical Maga- 

 zine " of this month. It has a neat small habit of growth, 

 and the diminutive flowers are very numerous. They are 

 bright yellow and sweetly scented. Other species are 0. aurenir, 

 0. reflexum, aud O. flexuosum. Odontoglossums are now in 

 variety. These are 0. cordatum, O. gloriosum, 0. nebulosnrr, 

 0. triumphans, pulchellum, 0. Rossii, 0. Rossii tuperbum, 

 and 0. Lindleyanum. In company on tho same shelf are 

 Lycaste Skicneri, L. lingnella, aud Ada aurantiaca. Among 

 the Cypripediums are C. venustum, C. bifiornm, C. Kuezli, 



