456 Genei'al Notices. 



^oorf red currant ; and, if any induction is to be made from its luxuriant 

 mode of growth, I should fancy it would respond to its name. 



" I have selected some of the largest herries on both Goliath and May's 

 Victoria, the seeds of which I intend to sow ; and should these prove large, 

 I will again sow from the largest. By this means, in a series of years, I 

 hope to arrive at the height of my ambition, namely, to produce currants as 

 large as small marbles. Now I am confident there is nothing Utopian in all 

 this ; and I am certain that, if a few persevering individuals were to devote 

 their attention to the improvement of the currant, it would be attained in 

 less than ten years." 



Once more we may state — and we repeat it, because it is a rock on which 

 very many split — that experiments of this kind are the better for being con- 

 ducted on a limited scale. One case of cross-breeding, carefully wrought 

 out, on correct principles, is more pregnant with really useful and valuable 

 results, than a thousand promiscuous ones, or a hundred carelessly prose- 

 cuted ; while, of course, the labor and trouble attending the experiments 

 becomes lessened a hundred or a thousand fold. Those, too, who have 

 time and opportunity for more extensive operations, should take care to 

 multiply carefully — instead of carelessly — conducted experiments. — {Gard. 

 and Farm. Journ., 1847, p. 115.) 



Scarlet Pelargoniums. — I am inclined to predicate a longer rule for scarlet 

 pelargoniums, because they are highly useful in our summer gardens, are 

 easy of cultivation, and must always please by the splendor of their numer- 

 ous flowers. As show flowers, they could scarcely be admitted, for they 

 have too little variety, and besides, they produce less effect in pots on a 

 small scale than in the open air. I have had an opportunity this season of 

 comparing several good gardens, and in nothing has dissimilitude been more 

 manifest than in the presence or absence of these beautiful flowers. A gar- 

 den plentifully supplied with them has an unspeakable charm, which no 

 other production 1 know of can confer; indeed, I never remember seeing 

 too many of these, but on the contrary have generally observed that more 

 might be introduced with advantage. The first advantage which may be 

 mentioned is the foliage, which has such a fine exotic character, and looks 

 so fresh at the autumnal season, when so many productions have a russet 

 hue. Next comes the permanency of the flowers, the trusses of which are 

 often so large that a supply, to fill up the places of those which have de- 

 cayed, is furnished for a considerable time. Further, they will resist frosts 

 much longer than other tender plants, surviving those early attacks which 

 often destroy the dahlias. Lastly, they are as easy of propagation as any 

 thing can be, both by seeds and cuttings; they may also be preserved 

 through the winter with a very small portion of care. 



Large specimens produce a fine effect, and they may be secured by taking 

 up the tallest plants in the autumn, potting them, and turning them out in 

 the spring. 1 have some plants of Smith's Superb, which are four years 

 old, with stems of an established woody character, and above a yard high. 

 When these are surrounded by others of a dwarf character, as General Tom 

 Thumb, or other dwarf varieties, so as to hide the stems of their older 



