November 14, 1878. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
363 
The season was one which suited Mr. Cranston to a nicety. 
His strong rich soil is one which can stand any amount of 
rain, so that the storms of May and the early part of June were 
a very godsend to him. “No one could come near him this 
year.” This remark was made to me by one of his great 
rivals, Mr. Charles Turner of Slough, and I think most people 
will endorse it. Mr. Paul, it is true, did defeat him at the 
Royal Botanic Gardens, but this is the only time that I can 
recall where he was beaten at the great shows for the premier 
prize, for he did not show at the Alexandra. 
The Crystal Palace Show was noted among other things for 
the advent of several amateurs who had not, so far as my 
experience goes, shown before at a great show. I had the 
privilege of judging the twelves and sixes, and I was much 
pleased with all the stands shown by Mr. Soames. This ama- 
teur bids fair to make it very hot for Mr. Baker and Mr. Jowitt 
if he goes on in the same way as he has begun. 
The Teas, too, shown at the Crystal Palace by Messrs. Mitchell 
of Piltdown, also at the Alexandra by the same firm, were the 
finest specimens I have seen for many years. I should haye 
thought the Sussex soil too heavy for Teas, but Mr. Mitchell 
always comes to the front with them and rarely does much 
with Hybrid Perpetuals. 
We amateurs this year did not show so well as usual. This 
is not my own opinion only, but that of such an experienced 
rosarian as Mr. George Paul. I cannot call to mind any 
stand exhibited in 1878 nearly so good as Mr. Baker used 
to show at Exeter and the Crystal Palace three or four years 
ago. It may be that as one grows older one expects more, but 
I do not think we have the intensely vivid colour that we once 
had. In form I think we are as good as ever. 
In new Roses we are improving at a great rate. Scarcely a 
year elapses but each of the great Rose firms sends out one or 
more good Roses. Ifwe run down the lists of Mr. Turner, Mr. 
George and Mr. William Paul, we shall find that at least three 
out of four of their seedlings have proved great acquisitions. 
The success of the National Rose Society was very great 
both at the Crystal Palace and.at Manchester; and all true 
loyers of the Rose must feel that this Society has already done 
a great work, has been the cause of the revival of Rose shows 
in the metropolis, and has issued a good set of rules on the 
important matter of judging. Much, however, remains for it 
to do, among other things one which has hitherto been neg- 
lected, but which formed one of the duties it undertook from 
the first. I allude to the matter of fixing the dates of the 
various shows, so that one may not clash with another. This 
is a very important matter. and due which ought not to be 
neglected. It must not be forgotten that such work as this is 
one of the obligations which the Society undertook, and though 
it may be a matter of difficulty to accomplish it, still we ought 
to do our best to bring it about. By the Ist of May a list of 
all the Rose shows should be published, and as far as possible 
these ought not to clash with one another—WYLD SAVAGE. 
PARSLEY IN OLD GARDENS. 
Ir is quite a common occurrence for Parsley to fail in 
gardens which have been cropped with vegetables year after 
year for a quarter or half a century. Everyone who fails in 
obtaining a crop of any kind gives a cause for such failure in 
some shape or other, and no doubt I was like my neighbours 
in this as well as everything else. I tried every way that I 
could think of, three or four of which I will mention, and then 
give, in as detailed a form as I can, the plan I adopted at last 
by which I overcame the difficulty. It may not be anything 
new, but nevertheless it might by chance prove useful to some. 
First I trenched up an old Asparagus bed, added leaf soil, 
sand, and pigeons’ dung. The Parsley seed germinated, but 
after the plants reached the third leaf they tuned yellow and 
went off. Secondly I drew drills as if for Onions, on a fresher 
part of the garden as I thought. These drills were filled half 
full of a mixture of sandy loam, leaf soil, and a little soot, on 
which the seeds were sown, but with the same result as before. 
Thirdly, I sowed Parsley amongst the Onions, but no plants 
came up. Fourthly, I sowed on a prepared bed principally 
of small coal ashes. Abundance of plants came up, and grew 
pretty well until thinned, then yellowed off. Now for the suc- 
cessful experiment, and one which I have practised for four 
years without the slightest sign of failure. 
My plan is to mark off a few 2-feet beds, and take the soil 
out of eyery alternate one to the depth of about 15 inches, the 
ame as for Celery, only I wheel it away to some low part of 
the garden, and fill up the trenches with alternate layers of 
fresh turf from the stock which is set apart for potting pur- 
poses and leaf soil—say a layer of turf 2 inches thick, and 
leaf soil half an inch, until the whole is filled up a little above 
the surrounding surface to allow for sinking. On this the seeds 
are sown and covered with a little fine soil about a quarter of 
an inch deep, then a gentle clap with the spade, and the whole 
is finished. A good plan is to cover the beds with bast mats 
in the daytime and remove them at night, particularly if the 
weather is dry; and this saves watering, and moreover the 
seeds germinate quicker. When the plants begin to crowd 
each other we give a good general thin-out ; after is given a 
good soaking of water, in every two gallons of which we mix 
one wineglassful of paraffin oil. This destroys all insects 
which might chance to be in the soil, and imparts a beautiful 
green colour to the leaves. I have two beds of Parsley which 
were sown in July, and it is now a foot high, dark green, and 
splendidly curled. The variety is Myatt’s Garnishing.—H. BR. A. 
LILIUM AURATUM. 
THIS is undoubtedly a splendid Lily, and considering its 
great beauty, easy culture, and present cheapness it is marvel- 
lous it is not more generally grown. These considerations were 
suggested by seeing recently some splendid specimens planted. 
and flowering in the open air at Marlfield House, the residence 
of John Bagwell, Esq., D.L., near this town. They were intro- 
duced a few years since by the Hon. Mrs. Bagwell, at all times 
a floral patroness, and planted out in a hardy Azalea bed, and 
have not I believe been since interfered with. As this is the 
season for the purchase of bulbs a few general remarks on cul- 
ture and treatment will be apropos. Large bulbs are by many 
not so prized as medium-sized and well-shaped sound bulbs. 
I consider the deep peaty soil and leaf mould of the Azalea 
and Rhododendron beds tended much to produce the constant 
moisture around the roots, with that desirable shade of the 
natural habitat without which those Lilies will not come te 
perfection, not forgetting that long period of growth which 
bulbs not removed always enjoy. Some bulbs I have grown 
in pots and boxes could not compare with those grown in 
beds. The same remark applies to nearly the whole Lilium 
family, though many of them of more dwarf habit of growth 
and sweetly fragrant, as L. lancifolium, make handsome pot 
plants, especially when grown without forcing and for window 
decoration. ; 
When intended for the conservatory or greenhouse procure 
the bulbs immediately—well shaped and sound; plant them 
in 6 or 7-inch pots for single bulbs, 8 to 10-inch pots for four 
bulbs, and so on proportionately. They are not fastidious 
about soil, but peat, leaf soil, and broken marrow bones form 
an excellent compost. It is important that 3 inches, or less in 
a small pot, should be left vacant at the top at first. Many 
place them away: in the dark until the pot fills with roots, the 
same as Hyacinths or Tulips, but I have seen equally intelli- 
gent gardeners fully expose them in a frame to the light and 
succeed equally well. ‘he object of leaving the space at the 
top is for earthing-up subsequently when the stems produce 
surface roots. Lilies during the period of active growth and 
flowering are gross feeders, and the roots should never 
be dry; plenty of drainage is indispensable, so as to avoid 
stagnant moisture. After the pots are filled with roots— 
not sooner—should it be considered desirable to have those 
ornamental plants early in bloom, they may be removed toa 
house where a higher temperature is maintained ; if too high 
the stems become unseemly drawn, and the flowers last a 
comparatively short time. As a rule when thus grown they 
only suit for a handsome background, the flowers reaching 
outwards, and the stems, which are then rather long, being 
shaded by some other plants in front; yet remembering their 
great beauty, their time of flowering, and their fragrant per- 
fume, no conservatory or greenhouse should be without them. 
—W. J. M., Clonmel. 
PEAS IN NOVEMBER. 
I FORWARD some Peas in a box of Hairs’ Dwarf Mammoth. 
We gathered a very good dish this morning (Nov. 6th); in- 
deed we have been gathering almost daily for a month past 
such as I now enclose. The Peas now producing so well were 
sown on June 19th in trenches of manure covered with soil. 
This method I find very advantageous for late Peas, securing 
them generally of good size and quality. Hairs’ Dwarf Mam- 
