THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 153 



additional interest by the use of the Pampas grass for centre and 

 corner pieces, and in divisional lines where a tuft-like mass would 

 have the effect of connecting several sets of colour into one whole. 

 We could give measurements of many fine specimens that have 

 come under our own observation during the last three years. We 

 saw one plant last autumn which had a circumference of twenty-six 

 feet, and twenty spikes of bloom twenty feet high. The bloom- 

 spikes rarely exceed twelve feet, but in rich soils, on the margins of 

 lakes and in the partial shade of trees, they rise higher, and the 

 bloom is much more luxuriant. We have seen as many as fifty 

 spikes of bloom on a plant so circumstanced. Where it is intended 

 to plant in very conspicuous positions, it is well to endeavour to 

 get female plants, as they have a much more noble appearance than 

 the males when in bloom. The noble specimen figured in illus- 

 tration of this article is in the nursery of Messrs. Sutton, of Reading, 

 and the representation is from a photograph taken when the plant 

 was in the highest perfection and loaded with nearly forty of its 

 silvery plumes. Messrs. Sutton have a large stock of seed. 



CULTIVATION OF THE FANCY PELARGONIUM. 



HE fancy pelargonium is one of the most useful subjects 

 for culture in ordinary greenhouses, and it is moreover 

 a general favourite. Its profusion of bloom, long con- 

 tinuance, short sturdy habit, and many delightful tints 

 ** of colour, render it popular with all lovers of flowers, 

 and insure its cultivation, to an extent commensurate with the glass 

 accommodation in all good gardens. As it is now coming into 

 bloom, collectors of varieties, who can avail themselves of the oppor- 

 tunity, will do right to visit the principal exhibitions, where may be 

 seen the results of skill and care, that have combined to rear and pre 

 serve, and bring to perfection as specimen plants, some of Nature's 

 most beautiful objects. At the exhibitions, the amateur grower may 

 obtain hints for improving a collection, by noting new varieties, and 

 judging of the style of cultivation most suitable for each particular 

 kind, and for the particular structure in which the plants are to be 

 bloomed. To give a universally correct style for a specimen is some- 

 what difficult, as it wholly depends upon what it is intended for; we 

 see pyramids trained so regularly as to terminate at top in a single 

 central bloom, which, if for a low position in the conservatory, show 

 their blooms admirably, but we do not set much value upon them for 

 general purposes. Others are grown to a perfect circumference with 

 a medium rise in the centre, suitable for a low stage or a flat table. 

 This is a very showy and effective style, and one we much admire. 

 Some have the back trained perpendicularly, and the front shoots 

 brought below the rim of the pot, so as to form a pyramid or half- 

 circle. These are most suitable for a lean-to stage, as they show a 

 large front. In forming, or first training for a specimen, bear in mind 

 that as the twig is bent so will the tree be inclined, hence the 



May. 



