General Notices. 517 



Mr. Saul's New Mode of Budding Trees, — What Mr. Saul calls his 

 new mode of budding, is tlins described : — " In budding, the top bud of the 

 shoot should be commenced with, cutting from about one-eighth of an 

 inch below tlie bud or eye, to from half an inch to an inch above it, in 

 order tliat there may be a sufficiency of bark to hold with the fingers with- 

 out nobbing the portion which is to be inserted. Take out tlie wood ; next 

 make an incision in tlie shoot of tlie stock close into the main stem, and 

 about half an inch long, this is long enough ; cut across at top, raise the 

 bark with tlie end of the budding knife witliout bruising it, and insert the 

 bud. It is now to be tied with a little worsted or cotton ; one tie below the 

 eye, and two above, will be ample as its entire length will not be more than 

 half an inch, and a quarter of that below tlie eye. The most inexperienced 

 amateur need not give more than two rounds below tlie eye, and three above, 

 but tlie practical workman will find tlie number stated to be sufiicient.'' 

 [Jour, of Hort, 1850, p. 669.) 



Hollyhocks. — If I were not afraid of advancing a horticultural heresy, I 

 should say that many amateurs prefer Hollyhocks to Dahlias. The Holly- 

 hocks of Belgium and Germany had a great celebrity long before they 

 appeared among us. The collections of the Prince of Salm Dyck, and of 

 M. Van Houtte, of Ghent, have been much admired. In other places varie- 

 ties have been obtained with leaves more or less lobed, more or less entire, 

 more or less palmate, all with flowers large, full, or colored differently from 

 tliose of other plants, being sometimes of a more or less dark mahogany 

 color, at otliers of a delicate tint, and varying from the purest white to the 

 darkest glossy black. Some progress has also been made in the cultivation of 

 those plants by ourselves. Since 1830 M. Pehssier, Jun., a gentleman of 

 Prado, has cultivated Hollyhocks, and from the seeds of a pink variety has 

 succeeded in obtaining plants with flowers of a delicate rose color, and 

 which, in consequence of the extreme delicacy of their tints, and regularity 

 of form, may serve both to encourage perseverance and as a good type for 

 seed. In the following year, from the seeds of pink flowers, he obtained a 

 beautiful, brilliant, clean, sulphur-colored specimen, perfect in every respect. 

 It is from tlie seeds of those two plants that he has obtained all the other 

 beautiful and remarkable varieties which he now possesses, after a lapse of 

 ten years from his first attempts. As a general rule, M. Pelissier prefers 

 flowers with six exterior petals, with entire edges, well open, well set out, 

 of a middling size, of a pure, clean, brilliant color, and forming a perfect 

 Anemone. Seeds sown in the spring and in unwatered ground, never flower 

 till tlie second year. Experience has shown that if the seeds are sown in 

 September, and in earth which is kept fresh, flowers may be obtained in 

 June or July following, -ivhich are in no way inferior to those of spring-sown 

 seeds. M. Pelissier follows tlie following plan of procedure. The seeds, 

 which are taken as soon as tliey are ripe, from good specimens, are sown in 

 September, in a border a foot and a half deep, and composed of good coarse- 

 ly sifted garden earth, mixed witli well worked soil. The seeds, if they are 

 covered lightly with leaf-mould, and the soil is kept fresh, begin to swell at 

 the end of a week ; they require little care till spring, as they are not hurt 

 by frost, In the spring tlie ground must be repricked, occasionally hoed 



