556 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
[Aue. 12, 
attainable source, and in so doing render the atmosphere a 
water-carrier, by which the moisture is brought from the wet 
place to the dry, and the evaporation and cold consequently 
increased : to render this more familiar, take a small cup 
of water, place it in a tray of vitriol or dry muriate of 
lime, and invert a bell-glass over the whole; you will soon 
find that the fluid in the cup sinks in temperature sensibly, 
from the increased evaporation caused by the absorption 
of its vapour by the vitriol or muriate of lime, both of these 
substances having a great avidity for moisture, and keep- 
ing the air about them constantly dry. The cup of water 
here is like the wet pot or patch of soil, and the vitriol or 
lime like the dry objects around in their thirst for 
moisture. The next subject of inquiry is,—are there no 
exceptions to the rule attempted to be laid down in pre- 
ferring the morning to the evening supply of moisture to 
plants exposed? undoubtedly there are: in the case of 
Ferns, Alpine plants, and such others as you wish to keep 
cool during the night, by all means water at night; 
or, if the sky is cloudy and promises to continue so, then 
little or no harm can accrue from the evening practice, as 
no radiation can then take place with its cooling influence ; 
or, in fine, if the hygrometric state of the atmosphere is 
great, the wet and dry bulbs of the thermometer differing 
little from each other, then there will also be compara- 
tively less diminution of heat, although evening moisture 
be given. In other cases when the air is very dry, the 
neighbouring soil parched, and the sky cloudless, and 
where you wish your plants protected against excessive 
night-chill, then be cautious with your evening irrigations. 
It is clear that the early part of the season, when tender 
plants are first turned out of doors, is the time when 
night-cold is apt to be most prejudicial, for it is then that 
we are apt to have the coldest nights, and then also the 
Susceptibility of the plants to the influence of the cold is 
greatest. It was from observations made on plants at this 
season and under these circumstances, that led me to 
inquire into and draw inferences from the practice 
adopted, and to arrive at the conclusions which I have 
offered to your readers in the remarks made. I am, 
therefore—you will excuse me in observing—no mere 
theorist, but would rather wish to wed theory and prac- 
tice, or reason and experience, into indissoluble bonds. 
I willingly, therefore, leave my hints to the candour and 
intelligence of practical men._J. L., Newburgh. 
AMATEUR’S GARDEN.—No. XXXII. 
Onr of the first things to be attended to now is sowing 
Mignonette for blooming in pots through the winter and 
spring. It is a plant rather difficult to manage in low 
and damp situations, especially if not sown sufficiently 
early to allow the plants to become strong before the dull 
weather of winter sets in. To insure success, the pots 
must be clean, and well drained ; the compost used should 
consist of three parts good mellow sandy loam, to which 
one part of decomposed leaf-mould may be added. Fill 
the pots quite full of soil, and make it rather solid, so as 
not to allow much room for subsiding ; for as the young 
plants are rather impatient of too much moisture, it 
is as well to have them so placed as not to be susceptible 
of injury, while very small, from careless watering. The 
plants must not be allowed to become crowded in the 
pots; for it is better to thin them several different times, 
leaving about six plants to bloom in a 48-sized pot, than 
to take too many out at one time. Through the winter 
the proper treatment is to secure them against frost—to 
keep the soil moderately moist, but not wet—and to give 
them all the air possible at all favourable times, but 
always to guard them against cold cutting winds or rain, 
A few small plants, -potted now from the open borders, 
will bloom in November; those sown now will succeed 
em in January, and a few more pots sown towards the 
end of the month will give a succession as long as bloom 
is wanted in pots in the spring. 
The plants to which attention is first required in the 
way of propagation for another season are those of a de- 
licate habit, and which consequently are difficult to keep 
through the winter. 
which is scarcely known in the neighbourhood of London. 
Ingram’s and Cooper’s Scarlets are two dwarf kinds, of good 
habit, the latter with a slight tinge of black in the upper 
petals. These are the cream of the Scarlets at the present 
time, but there are several seedlings which will probably 
displace some of them next year. There are, moreover, 
many pencilled varieties which make good beds, and to 
which I shall next week allude.— W.P. Ayres, Brooklands. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE BOILERS USED AT 
THE EXETER NURSERY. 
Tue accompanying sketches, a b ¢, represent different 
views of the boiler used in heating the Propagating-house 
described at p. 540. It is called here the cylindrical, 
horizontal, wrought-iron boiler, and was manufactured 
and erected by Messrs. Garton and Jarvis, of Exeter. 
We find it equal, if not superior, in power and economy to 
any boiler that has come under our notice, both the in- 
terior and exterior being presented to the action of the 
fire. a@ shows the perspective, 6 the end section, and c 
the section. We have also in work a boiler of another 
shape, and of a very novel description, de f, called the 
double-drum boiler, also of their invention, which we 
think equally good, but better adapted for smaller houses ; 
d represents the door and frames, e the perspective, and f 
the section; g is asection of the door and frame.—J. 
Veitch and Son, Exeter. 
THE EXHIBITIONS IN THE GARDEN OF THE 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
Ler no one who reads the following return complain 
again of the uncertainty of an English summer, and of its 
unfitness for out-door meetings. Here we find that out of 
thirty-four days, fixed four or five months beforehand 
only five have been at all rainy, and of those five all but 
two were fine in the afternoon. Even the worst of them 
did not deter 2,471 persons, chiefly of the higher classes, 
from travelling several miles to inspect a Horticultural 
exhibition. In other respects also this document is 
remarkable, and deserves to be preserved. 
Strate or THe WeaTuer ‘IN THE HortTicuLTuRAL SocrnTy’s 
GaupeNn On THE Days oF ExurBition, WITH THE NUMBER 
OF VISITORS ON BACH OCCASION. 
| | 
Date. Morning. | Noon. |sfemp.| Wind 
in sh | 
| 
| pemeelas 
1833 | deg 
Sat., May 25|Very fine, Very fine. 82 |Little, S.W.! 1700 
Do., June 22 Fine, Cloudy. 72 |Brisk, S.W.! 2000 
Do., July 20/ Fine. Cloudy. 70 | Little, W, | 1200 
1834 | | 
Sat., May 10| Fine. Fine. 73 |Little, s.w.| 1402 
o., June 7| Very fine, \Ve ry fine, | 78 
Do., July 5| Overcast. |Very fine. | 81 | 
Do., Sept. 13/Fine, \Very fine. | 68 | | 
1835, i 
Sat., May 9/ Fine. [Fine, | 71 |Brisk, 8.W.) 1908 
Do., June 6) Fine. |Fine. | 81 | Brisk, N.E. | 5362 
Do., July 4 Very fine, Very fine. hae? | Little, W. | 5612 
1836 | 
Sat., May 14|Very fine. | Very fine, 72 |Little, N.W.| 3480 
Do., June 11|Slight rain. |Rine. 73 | Brisk, 8. | 7764 
Do., July 9 Overcast, Very fine. | 79 Brisk, W. | 6088 
1837 | 
Sat., May 15 Fine, |Cloudy. | 58 | Little, S. 750 
Do., June 10/Cloudy. \Cldy. & fine.) 68 | Strong, S. | 8785 
Tues. Jul.11/Very fine. | Very fine. 76 | Bri 5 
1838 | S 
Sat., May 26 Overcast. |fine 
5 | Brisk, N.E. 
Ovrest, fine. 
4 
Do., June 16) Drizzly. | 76 | Little, S. | 6405 
Wed., Julytl| Very fine. | Very fine 0 |Little, S.W.| 6546 
1839 
Sat., May aes fine. ‘ine, 64 | Brisk, S.W.| 3044 
Do., June 15|Slight haze.|Slight haze. | 63 | Little, N.B. | 8789 
Do., July 6|slight haze.|Sultry. | 76 | Little, si | 731 
40 
Sat., May 16|Cloudy. [aitshow 65 | Brisk,s.W. 2471 
ery. | 
Do., June 13/Cldy. & fine pa el 77 | Little, W. jira 
Do., July 4|Very fine. |Fine. 72 Brisk, W. | 5072 
1841 | 
Sat., May 15| Fine. Very fine. 74 | Little, W. | 5700 
Do., June 12) Overcast— jOvest. & fine! 53 | Little, N.E. | 9080 
slight rain.| | | 
Do., July 10) Very fine. Mees fine, | 71 |Little, S.W.) 7194 
1842 | | 
Sat., May 14/Slight haze. |Exceedingly| 72 Little, W, | 5500 
fine. 
Do., June 11/Very fine, |Sultry, hot,| 89 | Little, N.E. |13582 
and dry. | 
Do., July g/Overcast, [Cloudy and! 72 Brisk, W. | 3500 
fine, slight | 
vain in af- 
1843 ernooon. 
Sat., May 13/Overcast,— |Fine, with| 66 | Little, W. | 4818 
| with cold!light clouds.| | 
| haze. | | 
Do., June17|Clear early;/Very fine, | 75 | Brisk, N.E. |11064 
| overcast. | with light] | 
| clouds, 
Wed.,July12| Hazy, Lightlyover-| 77 |Little, N.W.| 7568 
cast, but! 
very fine, | 
HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 
Prizes for Seedling Pelargoniums.—Ia reply to your 
correspondent ‘'F. H. S.,’? who, at p. 542, finds fault 
with the decision of the Judges at the last show of the Hor- 
ticultural Society, I would, in the first instance, beg leave 
to remark that the objects for which prizes are offered for 
old and new productions are not similar,—in the one case 
they are really for the encouragement of individuals, and 
comparatively little wrong is done, even should the speci- 
mens exhibited be not sufficiently good to deserve the 
award ; but in the case of a seedling, the individual should 
never be considered, and no higher award made than can 
be justified by the intrinsic value of the production itself ; 
for if to gratify the individual a prize be given dis- 
proportionate to that value, the public are misled in their 
estimation of its merits. I need not add that such is not 
the case with an old and well-known variety, As regards 
the prizes offered by the Society for different objects, 
the judges have nothing to do therewith ; although with 
regard to seedlings they are often placed in some dilemma. 
Faults may exist which may or may not be permanent, 
and notwithstanding the desire which may be felt to 
make some allowances for an uncultivated variety, the 
opinion of the judges may be compromised by not confining 
themselves strictly to the facts before them. It is 
therefore not only the opinion of most judges, but of 
amateurs and growers generally, that in common with 
many other flowers, some alteration should be made 
in the plan of exhibiting seedling Pelargoniums,—that the 
Large ‘Silver Knightian and Silver Banksian Medals’ 
should only be given to seedlings 2 years old ; the Prizes 
offered for those of the current years being only consi- 
dered probationary and confined to certificates, for it is 
a well-known fact that flowers which have been very pro- 
mising in their seedling state, have proved quite worthless 
the second year. Besides, the plan I have suggested 
would afford the twofold advantage of ascertaining the 
true habit of the plant, as well as the permanent proper- 
ties of the bloom ; the judge should also know whether 
a flower had been submitted to cultivation. Upon the 
flower mentioned by ““F. H, S.,’’ a difference of opinion 
existed amongst the judges, and upon the very point to 
which I have alluded, viz., whether the faults apparent in 
it would be permanent or not; and a certifica‘e of merit 
was consequently granted, in order that on account of its 
good properties it might not be disqualified from receiving 
a medal next year more commensurate with its merits, 
should the defects prove to have been transient only. I 
have annexed my notes on the flower for the information 
of “I. H.S."" and of your other readers who take an 
interest which I would wish to encourage in these matters. 
“ Psyche, deep crimson maroon upper petals, with 4@ 
narrow margin of bright rose; bases of the petals white, 
feathering, scarcely any ; rest of the petal salmony rose= 
colour, upon which veins are irregularly marked ; the top 
petals rather thin and uneven on the edge.” In concli= 
sion, I would take leave to remark, that when a flower ot 
really first-rate properties, viz., Phaon, was exhibited by 
Mr. Forster at the preceding show, the judges took the 
opportunity of conferring the highest mark of approbation 
they had the power to bestow, and with the same feeling 
they withheld it when it could not be consistently awarded. 
——One of the Judges. 
Prizes for Hruit.—I beg to state, in answer to 
“RH.S.,”’ p. 542, that in my opinion, there is as much 
skill required in producing good Cherries as in raising @ 
good seedling Pelargonium. Be that as it may, as one ° 
the judges of fruit at the Horticultural Society’s Exhibi- 
tions, Lean safely assert that everything in that depart- 
ment has been judged with the strictest impartiality and 
fairness during the season. ‘¢ F. H. S.”’ seems to consider 
that the opinion of one of the most experienced growers 
of seedling Pelargoniums ought to be taken in preference 
to that of the three judges in that department, or that 
there was a want of fairness in the judges ;—neither of 
which, well knowing them, can I subscribe to.._/’, H. S's 
the solution was too strong in’ that state. hial 
cuttings from the phial and placed them in another P re 
of warm rain-water, in which they recovered and Leas 
they are now potted and growing well. I ha ee 
Cucumber plants in pots sent me by a friend, a8 a al 
cellent sort; one plant seemed drooping, and ade ly 
worth planting; however, as they were a isin Fi 
bestowed some pains on them. One plant grew ne 
frame ; the other, in a separate frame, remained aa 
for many days, and appeared to be going off y 
one part of the above solation with two parts 0 fs 
watered all round the bed ; this I continued so aes 
required, for about four or six times ; the plant ee Rar 
and is now by far the finest and pa ‘asl REEL N) 
with leaves of a beautiful green.— WV. 8S. D- _ 5 
Wasps.—My method of destroying Wasps ee cote 
—Having found a nest, I procure a large Sted al 
and a small portion of turpentine which I put there! aa 
shake it about until the whole of the inside is wet wi ae 
I then fix the neck of the bottle in the entreneg pies 
nest, and place over it a large flower-pot. y 
nishing the bottle with turpentine once or twi 
ce, the fumes 
penetrate into the nest and completely destroy them. 
