July 21, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



» 











WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



of 



Month 



Day 

 of 



Week. 



JULY 21—27, 1870. 



Average Tempera- 

 ture near London. 



Rain in 



last 

 43 yeai 8. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Son 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



Diy 

 of 



Year. 











Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. fa. m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





21 



Th 







74.0 



50.8 



62.4 



19 



9af4 



Saf8 57afll 



25 af 1 



23 



6 6 



202 



22 



F 



Royal Horticultural Society's Oxford Show 



72 2 



51.4 



lil.8 



24 



10 4 



2 8 1 morn. 



30 2 



24 



6 8 



203 



23 



S 





[closes. 



74.0 



51.4 



62.7 



21 



11 4 



8.2} 



86 3 



25 



6 11 



2J4 



24 



Sun 



6 Sunday aftef. Trinity. 





72.6 



51.7 



62.1 



14 



12 4 



58 7 , 43 



40 4 



26 



6 12 



205 



25 



M 



St. James, 





73.9 



49.4 



619 



13 



14 4 



56 7 22 1 



42 5 



27 



6 18 



206 



26 



Tu 



Buckingham Horticultural Show. 





73.7 



50 3 



62.0 



22 



15 4 



54 7 ! 4 2 



40 6 



28 



6 14 



207 



27 



W 







74.9 



50.7 



62.8 



19 



17 4 



53 7 1 57 2 



23 7 



29 



6 14 



208 



From observations taken near London during the last forty-three years, 



the average day temperature of the week is 73 6\ and its night 



temperature 60 8 3 . The greatest heat was Qi 



, on the 23rd and 24th, 18GS; 



and the lowest cold 32'', on the 23rd, 1803. 



The greatest fall of 



rain was 1.48 inch. 









POT ROSES FOR EXHIBITION. 



) LL true lovers of floriculture agree in calling 

 the Rose the queen of flowers, the most beau- 

 tiful of all, the loveliest among the lovely ; 

 and rightly so too, for in the varieties of this 

 charming family we have flowers of the most 

 exquisite form, the richest colour, and the 

 most delicious perfume. Take, for instance, 

 a partly- expanded blossom of Alphonse Karr, 

 in what flower can we find a closer approach 

 to perfection? its shell-like petals, of a pecu- 

 liarly soft and pleasing shade of pink, are so beautifully 

 fitted to each other that the fine form of the flowers leaves 

 us nothing to desire. The delicate beauty of Lamarque, 

 the magnificence of Charles Lefebvre, the splendour of the 

 deep rich Eugene Appert, distinct and striking in every 

 feature, its dark elegant foliage being in fine keeping with 

 its velvety-petalled blossoms — these, and a host of others 

 possessing some equally distinct feature, are the kinds to 

 grow ; these are the rare gems which command our ad- 

 miration and rivet more firmly the chains of our " old 

 love." 



I have frequently asked myself the question, as I doubt 

 not others have done, when viewing the long ranks of cut 

 blossoms staged in their stiff formal boxes at a flower 

 show, " Is this the best way in which to exhibit the Rose? " 

 I think not. Cut flowers, but too often without buds or 

 foliage, are subjected to the severest criticism shorn of much 

 of their beauty ; but if each variety were to be exhibited not 

 cut from the plant, excepting in the case of novelties, but in 

 the form of a pot plant, what a different appearance would 

 a Rose show present ; instead of the long lines of flat 

 staging now used, an effect rivalling that of the Rhododen- 

 dron Show at South Kensington might be obtained with 

 the greatest ease. From my own experience of Rose 

 culture, I can see no real difficulty in the attainment of an 

 object so desirable, but, on the contrary, very much in its 

 favour. Rose cuttings are easily struck, and the plants 

 grown to a considerable size in a short space of time, as I 

 thoroughly explained in an article published in this Journal 

 last year (vol. xvi., pp. 77, 78), and if an annual batch of 

 cuttings were made, a succession of healthy pot plants, as 

 flourishing and prolific as those planted out, could be main- 

 tained. If it be objected, that the culture of Roses in this 

 way for exhibition would make greater demands upon one's 

 time and skill, I think this could very justly be met by 

 pointing to the great utility of such plants for home decora- 

 tion at all seasons of the year. Moreover, by offering the 

 principal prizes for pot Roses, attention would be drawn to 

 a branch of floriculture but too often neglected, or not 

 understood. Who has not seen the miserable specimens 

 ofpot Roses so frequently to be met with in private esta- 

 blishments 9 Poor sickly-looking objects, which, having 

 undergone their annual forcing, are turned out to rest. 

 To rest ! why, I do not believe a healthy Rose is ever at 

 rest. Plant one early in November, lift it and examine its 

 roots at Christmas, and plenty of new rootlets from 1 to 

 2 inches long will be seen; here is a hint from Nature, 



No. 488.— Vol. XIX., New Series. 



which, if acted upon in the culture of pot Roses, produces 

 the best results. If a Rose, after it has done blooming, 

 immediately begins to grow again, suitable food should 

 certainly be given it ; it is therefore necessary, when pet 

 Roses are taken out of the houses into the open air, that 

 all weakly growth should at once be cut clean out, the 

 requisite thinning and shortening given to the stronger 

 wood, the roots shaken free of the old soil, repotted, aufi 

 the pots plunged to the rim, not behind a wall or shed, 

 but in an open airy position. Plants so treated, and fed 

 occasionally with guano water as they appear to need it,, 

 will produce plenty of stout wood clothed with healthy 

 foliage, care being taken to ply the syringe among them, all 

 the summer. 



Once again I would urge all who really care for Ross* 

 to grow them on their own roots, and to train thera as E 

 have before advised. No standards can equal the appear- 

 ance of these glorious pyramids, laden with a multitude «( 

 flowers. Nor are their flowers small or puny, althongfe 

 produced in such profusion ; the plants are rendered 9© 

 vigorous by the abundance of stout suckers constantly 

 springing up, and which are trained to whatever part of 

 the plant they may be required, that the lowest tiers of 

 branches present an amount of vigour both in wood growth 

 and bloom quite equal to that of the highest parts. — Edwail© 

 Luckhurst, EijcHon House Gardens, Kent. 



CULTURE OF THE LARGE-FLOWERED OR 

 SHOW PELARGONIUM. 



Among hardy flowers the Rose is justly called the queett, 

 and quite as justly may the large -flowered Pelargonium 

 claim the same exalted title among greenhouse flowers; 

 but how very rarely are plants met with grown as they 

 deserve to be ! How often, instead, do we find theia 

 crammed among all sorts of plants, and subjected to every 

 variety of treatment : hence we generally find spindly 

 long-drawn specimens, often infested with insects to such 

 a degree as to render them a nuisance, instead of a plea- 

 sure. Now, no plant is easier to manage, and the follow- 

 ing mode of cultivation will bring them to great excellence. 

 At this place we like them in bloom throughout July, and 

 now (July 8th) the collection of upwards of eighty sorts is 

 in full bloom. 



I put the cuttings in about the end of May or first week 

 in June, taking what I can spare or get when staking the 

 specimens. I make them in the usual way, and dibble 

 them in an open south border, give them a good watering 

 when first put in, and then leave them to take care of 

 themselves for three or four weeks. I then pot them is. 

 (50 sized pots, and keep them close for a few days until 

 they begin to grow, afterwards I give them a little more 

 air. (The frame used when they are potted the first time 

 should have a little bottom heat ) In a few weeks they 

 will have made good roots, and may be hardened off 

 gradually, and about the end of September or beginning 

 of October potted in the next size of pot, or small 48's. 

 | When that is done, the best place for them is a shelf in s 

 greenhouse, and when they have made a fresh leaf or iws 



No. 113S— Vol. XLIV., Old SeeiES 



