AptU 89, 1880. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTIOULTDRE AND COTrAGB GARDENEB. 



2ai 



Wation would be more favourable th»n it appeared to be from 

 his remarks. — H. B. 



GROWING ONIONS FOR COMPETITION. 



Sow them iu a forcing pit or hot frame about tho beginning 

 of February. About six weeks thereaflor place tbom in 3inch 

 pots — one in each pot — filled with riHtea turf and lent mould — 

 two parts of the turt to one of the mould ; and grow them on in 

 heat nntil about the end of April ; then transfer them to a 

 cold frame, and keep it close fur tlie first three daya, except 

 during sunshine, when the higher enda of the sashes ought to be 

 raised 1 or 2 inches, aooovding to the boat of the sun. Shut 

 the frame about four o'clock, so as to husband tho heat, and 

 thus a higher temperature will be kept up in it during the 

 night. After the firnt three daya, tho weather being favourable, 

 open the frame half an hour earlier overy day, and clo.^o half 

 kn hour later. The sashes should at the same time bo raised 

 » little higher overy day until tUey are removed altogether ; this 

 may be accomplished iu ordinary weather in the course of ten 

 or twelve days, when the plants may be put out into a sheltered 

 place, prepared in the following manner : — 



In autumn take out a treueh, say 8 inches deep and 9 inches 

 wide, or thereby, then raise tlie subsoil with a pick 12 or 

 14 inches deep to carry off tho superfluous water. This being 

 done, place the soil to be taken from the next trench on the top 

 of the subsoil so raised. C jntinne to proceed in this way, raising 

 the subsoil and turning the surf.aoo on the top of it until you 

 have the quantity of ground required, then level the ground 

 and remove the whole surface 1 inch deep, and place thereon a 

 coating, 1 inch thick, of pure nighlsoil, or should such manure 

 not be available, 2 inches of rotten cow, horse, or pig's dung 

 may be used ; after which spread the soil taken from the sur- 

 face over the top of the manure. When thus prepared, give 

 the whole a coating of strong salt in the proportion of 1 lb. of 

 salt to 4 square yards. A little leaf mould or rotten turf poiated 

 into the ground immediately before planting would bo useful in 

 starting and rooting the plants. However, care must be taken, 

 while this is being done, not to allow the manure to be buried 

 too deep by the digging ; nevertheless, it should be thoroughly 

 mixed with the soil near the surface. Dung buried only 2 or 

 t inches deep will produce a much better crop ol Onioni than 

 if it were buried 8 or 10 inches. Many may be disinclined to 

 believe this, but they have only to make one fair trial to be- 

 come convinced. Every horticulturist and agriculturist knoivs 

 well that the roots of plants grow towards the manure ; conse- 

 quently, if the manure is deep, the roots of the plants will be 

 deep also, and will in that way, to a very great extent, lose the 

 benefit of the influence of the heat of the sun. On the other 

 hand, when the dnug is near to the top, the roots will not be 

 far from it ; and thug the plants will bars all the advantages 

 derived from tho manure, as well as those from the heat and 

 gases of the atmosphere, so eiseutial to the growth of the 

 plant. 



In planting out the Onions, knock them out of the pots, 

 taking care not to break the balU. Plant them in rows, at 

 least 14 inches apart and 9 inches between each plant, placing 

 the under side of the heads of the Onions on a level with the 

 gnrfaoe ; then put a stake to each of them, and draw up the 

 oarth with a hoe on each side of the rows, and thus form ridges 

 for the Onions to grow in. When the heads begin to develope, 

 the ridges may be levelled and the stakes removed ; then give 

 another coating of salt in the proportion of half a pound to 

 4 square yards. In dry weather give them a good watering at 

 least onoe a-week. The water may be mixed with old urine in 

 the proportion of one of urine to ten of water. In moist 

 weather one of urina to five of water may safely be used. When 

 nrine is not to be had, a quarter of a pound ol the best guano may 

 be sown every three weeks, on a wet day, over G square yards of 

 ground, prepared as aforesaid. In the absence of rain, use the 

 watering-can with the rose on, so au to clean the plants of the 

 guano, and wash a portion of it into the soil. Some prefer using 

 the guano in a liquid state, but I have always been most successful 

 with it when used in the way of top-dressing. Those who have 

 not prepared their Onion ground in the autumn can do so in 

 February in tho way recommended, taking care to use no 

 manure but that which is thoroughly rotten ; and instead of 

 nsing 1 lb. of salt to i square yards, use only half that quantity. 



In proof of the advantages of growing Onions in the way 

 referred to, I may mention that I grew one Onion of the Santa 

 Anna Madeira variety to the weight of 1 lb. 14 ozs., and that a 

 few of the same variety were shown hy the writer iu a collec- 



tion of vegetables at the last autumn show in Glasgow, which 

 measured upwards of 15 inches in circumference. The sir 

 Onions shown by him which carried off the first prize for 

 weight from the llontrew Show were of the same sort, and 

 weighed 9 lbs. Those that carried off the prizes from tha 

 Olttsgow Show in September last were raised iu heat and after- 

 wards transplanted, tho varietie.-) being Nunebam Park, Blood 

 Ksd, and Danvers' Yellow. — Jaubs Dobbib, Renfrevc {Tht 

 Gardener.) 



ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY'S SECOND SPRING 

 SHOW. 



Thb second spring Show of this .Society was held on the 27th and 

 '-iSth iust., and was far in advance of its i)rodecesgor, both a3 to the 

 nnmber and the quality of the plants exhibited, although these were uot 

 displayed to the best ailvautage, from being for the most part coulined 

 to a long narrow tout, and the rest disperaed in the Conservatory, 

 where there was every chance of tln^ir being ovcrlookeil. 



Roses were the most attractive — the great feature of tho Show, and 

 of these Mr. William Paul furnished in his first-prize collection beau- 

 tifnl examples of Paul Ricaut, Mailamo de St. Joseph, Senateor 

 Vaisse, Alba rosea, John Hopper, Pierro Notting. and Baron Adolphe 

 do Rothschild. Messrs. Pan! & Son wore second witii, ftmoug othora, 

 President, very full of bloom ; Madame Willermoz, in beautiful con- 

 dition ; Souvenir dun Ami, a remarkably lino specimen plant, but the 

 flowers not fully expanded ; Princess Mary of Cambridge, blooming 

 very freely, and Mdile. Marie Rady. In tho amateurs' class the only 

 exhibitor was Mr. James, who took a first prize. The best three Rosea 

 iu the class for new lands came from Mr. William Paul, and were 

 Monsieur Furtado, a beautiful specimen with large delicate yellow 

 flowers ; Horace Vernet, rich scarlet shaded with purple ; and Antoina 

 Ducher, very fine and fall, pink. Messrs. Paul tfe Son were second 

 with Monsieur Furtado, Madame Margottin, yellowish cream, and 

 Impcratrico Eugenie, bright pink, very pretty when half expanded. 

 Mr. W. Paul also sent a beautiful collection, and Mr. Osman, of Stan- 

 moro, cut blooms. 



Of Pelargoniums Messrs. Dobson, of Isleworth, bad some well- 

 ilowered plants for this season of tho large-flowering kinds ; Mr. 

 Wheeler, gardener to Sir F. Goldsmid, Bart., receiving a third prize 

 for Zonal varieties. 



Amaryllids wore only represented by one collection^that of Mr- 

 Baxter, gardener to C. Keiser, Esq., of Broxbonrne, who took the first 

 prize for kinds the best of which were noticed at page 273, and, as 

 there remarked, some of them deficient iu form. 



Azaleas were represented by some very well-bloomed plants ; those 

 from Mr. Turner, of Slough, for the most part the same varieties aa 

 those shown at Kensington on the 17th, beiugfirst in the nurserymen's 

 class. Mr. Wilkie, Kensington, and Mr. Fairbairn, gardener to th* 

 Duke of Northuaiberland, Sion House, also showed plants in good 

 bloom. 



Mixed collections of fine-foliaged and flowering plants afforded a 

 very etfective part of the display, tho first-prize collections from Mr. 

 Fairbairn and Mr. Wheeler being the most remarkable. The former 

 had magnificent specimens of Anthurinm acaule and Alocasia zebrina^ 

 Clivea nobilis, Sobralia macrantha with four lovely flowers, and Vandft 

 Buavis. The latter sent a fine plant of Dicksouia autar(?tica with a 

 thick trunk, and the young fronds springing from the midst of the old 

 ones, forming a conspicuous object at one end of the tent ; a remark- 

 ably fine plant of Chorozema cordatum some 1 feet iu diameter, and 

 Cl°rodendron Thomsoua). Mr. Wright, gardener to C. H. Roberts, 

 Esq., was second with a very good p]riostemon, a large plant of Pan- 

 danus iavanicus variegatns, and a fine Croton variegatnm ; aud Mr- 

 Wilkie third. 



For Exotic Fema, prizes were awarded to Messrs. Wright, WiWe, 

 aud Wheeler. There were in their collections good examples of Cibo- 

 tium Schiedfei, Adiautum cuneatnm, the Bird's-nest Fern, Lomaria 

 gibba. and others. 



Auriculas were also exhibited at this Show. Tho best came from 

 Mr. Turner, who had Col. Champneys (Turuer), Mrs. Smith (Smith), 

 Countess of Dunmore (Lightbody), Sophia (Chapman), Competitor 

 (Turner), Miss Brightly (Spalding). In the amateurs' class Mr. 

 Butcher, of Camhcnvell, was first; Mr. James, Isleworth, second. 

 Tho former received a first-class certificate for Mrs. Butcher, which 

 has been noticed in previous reports, and Mr. Turuer, who had a 

 second prize for a collection of Alpines, mostly the same as shown at 

 the last Floral Committee meeting at Kensington, received similar 

 awards for two of these — viz.. Constellation aud Bruuetto. 



Cf miscellaneous subjects a consi.^erablo number was shown, and 

 for them several prizes were awarded. Mr. Williams, of HoUoway, 

 had a first prize for an excellent collection of fine-fohaged and flower- 

 ing plants, iucludiug several Orchids, aud a first-class certificate for 

 Miltonia virginalis. Mr. W. Paul sent fine basketsful of Plutarch, 

 Red Admiral, and other beautiful leaved Pelargoniums ; also Blue 

 Bell, fine deep rose with a slight bluish shade, especially noticeable 

 when tho flowers were between the light and the eye. Mr. Paul like- 

 wise had some fine unnamed seedlings, one of which had a very broad 

 and beautiful zone, very pleasing, too, in colour. Messrs. Carter and 

 Co. also largely contributed Pelargoniums of the same class, some 



