23S MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



the proper time," and treated during the winter as already described. The 

 plants intended for exhibition are occasionally watered with liquid manure, 

 syringing overhead is discontinued. Gauze blmds are used, by which bees are 

 prevented entering the house to injure the bloom, and are on no account 

 allowed to flag by exposure to the sun, or for want of water. It is especially 

 recommended to commence the training of the plants at an early period of their 

 growth, while the shoots are young and pliable. By early training, the shoots 

 acquire the desired form, and fewer stakes are therefore required. The flowers 

 are arranged so that there is an equal distribution of blooms over the head of 

 the plant ; to effect this, small willow twigs are used. ; ' Practice alone can 

 teach the art of preparing flowers for exhibition. The less art is used the better, 

 and the means should always be kept out of sight." " The compost I use for 

 my Pelargoniums is the following : — Two barrows full of good maiden loam, 

 with the turf, one ditto well rotted cow dung, three years old. This requires to 

 be frequently well turned over in winter, to destroy the worms and insects. One 

 peck of silver sand, one ditto of bone dust ; for the winter repotting, a little 

 more sand is added." — Gardener's Chronicle. 



[The above remarks are abridged from articles inserted in the Gardener's 

 Chronicle ; they are similar to what has been given by Mr. Cock, and the fore- 

 man of a London nursery (a celebrated grower of Pelargoniums), but there being 

 a few slight alterations we insert them, trusting they may further assist in the 

 culture of this beautiful tribe of plants. — Conductor.] 



Pelargonium, Cui.tukts of, by Mr. Cook, of Chiswick. — Mr. Cook strikes 

 his cuttings about the beginning of June, or sooner, if the plants will bear cut- 

 ting. As soon as rooted, they are removed into sixty-sized pots, and set in a 

 shady situation on boards or slates, or in a cold frame. When rooted, they are 

 removed to an open situation, and as soon as the plants will bear the sun without 

 flagging, they are stopped. In September, they are repotted into forty-eight-sized 

 pots, and at this time he commences training. In December and January those 

 that are sufficiently strong, are again shifted into sixteen-sized pots ; in these 

 puts they are allowed to bloom. About the middle of July or beginning of Au- 

 gust, they are headed down and set in a shady sheltered situation ; and when 

 the plants have shoots nearly an inch long, the soil is nearly all shaken from the 

 roots, and are again repotted into the same sized pots. As the shoots are formed 

 they are carefully thinned out. In the greenhouse, the plants intended for 

 exhibition are kept four feet apart ; the front sashes are kept open on all conve- 

 nient occasions. In November, the plants are stopped, and a stake put to each 

 shoot. The leaves are thiuned out to allow the air to circulate freely. In De- 

 cember and January, the strongest plants are agaiu selected and potted into 

 eight-sized pots, and at this time additional heat is applied to enable the plants 

 to root rapidly. In February, they are syringed in the afternoon, but sufficiently 

 early to allow them to dry before night. In March they are agaiu repotted in 

 No. two-sized pots, water is now very liberally supplied. When the flowers 

 begin to open, a shading of cheese cloth is used on the outside of the house. Air 

 is admitted before the sun has much power on the glass, and this is found to 

 prevent the attacks of the green fly. The success of all the other operations 

 depends on the mode of applying fire heat. The fires are lighted at 3 or 4 

 o'clock in the afternoon, allowed to go out about 9 or 10. They are again 

 lighted about 3 or 4 in the morning. The thermometer during the night is kept 

 at 40 degrees or 42 degrees Fahrenheit. The soil is prepared thus — a quantity 

 of turfy loam is chopped and laid up in a heap, a quantity of fresh stable litter is 

 then shaken up and laid in the form of a mushroom bed. If the weather is dry 

 at the time the manure is well watered, liquid manure and the steam or ammonia 

 is prevented from passing off by a covering of slates. In this state it is allowed 

 to remain fifteen or sixteen days, and is then mixed with about an equal quan- 

 tity of fresh loam, and when the mixing is completed, the heap is at last covered 

 with loam. At the end of a month or five weeks it is turned over three or four 

 times, in order that the dung and loam may incorporate well together. At the 

 end of twelve mouths it is fit for use. To two barrowfulls of this compost is 



