Angust 25, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



141 



distinct from Mr. Radclyffe, and Premier substituted, as it 

 comes in before President. — J. Douglas. 



DOUBLE GERANIUMS, AND WHAT THEY 

 MAY BE. 



Among the plants to which the present dry season has been 

 favourable may be ranked the double-flowered Geraniums, 

 which have gained friends where before they were merely tole- 

 rated a3 novelties. They have flowered well this season, and 

 most likely there will be an increased demand for them next 

 year. I fully expect in a very few years they will take a higher 

 position in the flower garden than their most ardent admirers 

 ever dreamt of, when varieties are produced possessing the 

 necessary qualifications for an out-door plant, which those we 

 now have scarcely do. Their well-doing this year is, I think, 

 due to the exceptional character of the season, but I hardly 

 expect the same success in future ; for, as I write on August 

 10th, it is only reasonable to look for a greater amount of 

 moisture during the remainder of the summer than we have 

 yet had ; and with that I expect the evils of former years will 

 reveal themselves in the double Geranium ; those evils being 

 a gross leafy growth, with few flowers, and these apt to decay 

 before making any show. Even the long dreary nights will 

 accomplish this in a measure, whether there be rain or not. 



I think with varieties having a greater disposition to flower 

 than those we now have, and possessing some other properties 

 which I shall notice, we may expect greater success than we 

 have yet had. I venture to predict for the double-flowered 

 Geraniums a more extended area of usefulness than the Tri- 

 colors are likely to have, and this is saying much in the face of 

 the class in whose honour special prizes, nay special shows, 

 have been given ; but great, favourites are not always lasting 

 friends, and I expect half a dozen years hence double Gera- 

 niums will be more extensively cultivated than these sickly 

 fashionables of the present day. As double flowers, in general, 

 retain their individual beauty longer than single ones — for in- 

 stance, the double Cherry, Peach, Stock, Rocket, and others — 

 there is no reason why the Geranium should not do so also. 

 The principal defeot seems to be a disposition on the part of 

 the centre of each truss of flowers to decay before we would like 

 it to do so, and no doubt it is owing to the absence of rain, and 

 very often dew, during the present season, that has pre- 

 served the flowers longer than usual. As there is no limit to 

 improvement in flower culture, there is reason to hope we may 

 hereafter be favoured with varieties capable of withstanding the 

 destructive influence of moisture. 'Witness what was done with 

 the Pansy many years ago ; its thin flimsy petals were taught 

 to assume a stiff, leathery substance, and to stand up unscathed 

 against the fierce sun of midsummer ; may not the Geranium 

 also be brought to resist decay when it comes in the shape of 

 moisture rather than lack of vitality ? To accomplish this, 

 however, I believe we must abandon some of the points insisted 

 on by what may be called the red-tape class of florists. The 

 code of laws they have laid down for the guidance of cultivators 

 of this and other florists' flowers must be disregarded, and the 

 compact truss or head of bloom so much insisted on ought to 

 be transformed into a rather loose one. The individual flowers 

 should be sufficiently far apart to let the air circulate freely 

 amongst them, and, consequently, enable the blooms to shake 

 off the moisture much sooner than they do now, and most 

 likely a prolonged blooming period will be the result, especially 

 if in addition to the quality referred to the plant also possesses 

 a disposition to flower as abundantly as some of the single ones 

 now do. I merely throw out these hints, thinking they may be 

 of servioe to those who may be experimenting, and if in the 

 course of their experience they produce a good double flower 

 that is set somewhat loosely upon its stem, they should not 

 throw it away until after a trial out of doors, and perhaps it 

 may turn out better than some conforming more closely to the 

 present standard- 



As I have not been at many horticultural shows this season, 

 I may not have seen the last new varieties of this section of 

 Geraniums, but I hardly think those who supply the public with 

 such flowers would venture to present them with a loose, open- 

 headed one like that I have been describing as likely to be 

 useful for out-door purposes. Variety is certainly wanting in 

 another direction. Good whites, and other light- coloured kinds 

 seem to be scarce, and yet they are as desirable as scarlets. 

 Time, however, I have no doubt, will supply us with all these 

 kinds ; and with such good flowers as Wilhelm Pfitzer, Marie 



and Madame Lemoine, Andrew Henderson, Triomphe, and 

 others, to begin with, flower-garden requirements will probably 

 be met. By-and-by, when our Mrs. Pollock, Lady Cullum, and 

 others have to retire to the drawing-room, our flower beds may 

 come out in all their glory with double Geraniums in sufficient 

 variety to enable everyone to have his button-hole supplied 

 with one. — J. Robson. 



THE ONION CROP. 



In December last I trenched a piece of ground 25 yards 

 square, to the depth of 2 feet, just deep enough to bring 

 3 inches of clay to the surface. After it had remained in a 

 rough state for six weeks I forked in a good quantity of strong 

 manure — principally refuse from the garden — and on the 10th 

 of March sowed the seed in drills IS inches apart. One half 

 of the ground I sowed with the Nunebam Park, the seeds of 

 my own saving ; the other half I sowed with Danvers' Yellow 

 and Giant Rocco. 



To-day (August 15t.b), I have measured some bulbs of the 

 Nuneham Park, and I rind that they are fully 13 inches in cir- 

 cumference. The largest of Giant Rocco are 11 inches in cir- 

 cumference, and Danvers' Yellow 10 inches. They have not 

 had a drop of water except that which has fallen from the 

 clouds, and we have only had very little here. — A. Donald- 

 son, Latimers. 



ARAUCARIA IMBRICATA AT BICTON. 



It may be interesting to your readers to hear something 

 about the Araucarias at Bicton in the present year. From two 

 trees in the Araucaria avenue we have alreudy gathered up- 

 wards of five hundred perfect seeds, a specimen of which is 

 enclosed, and from several other trees, on which the cones are 

 not yet ripe, we may safely calculate on securing at least five 

 hundred more. The cones from which the produce here stated 

 was taken averaged fifty perfect Beeds to each ; it may therefore 

 be inferred that the Araucaria, when it arrives at maturity, 

 will be a most productive tree. 



There are in the nursery here only thirty plants averaging 

 1 foot in height which have been raised from seeds ripened at 

 Bicton ; and three others that were some years since planted in 

 the pinetum average 1 foot G inches high. From the above data 

 it is presumed that the Araucarias at Bicton have produced very 

 few seeds in former years. 



When writing on this subject it may be worth recording 

 that the last year's seeds of Picea Nordmanniana, P. Pinsapo, 

 P. amabilis, and many other good species have germinated very 

 freely here this season ; it is therefore hoped that those to 

 whom my noble employer requested me to send a supply have 

 been equally successful. — R. Begbie, Bicton Gardens. 



[The seed sent was very fine, plump, and perfect. — Eds.] 



PEA CULTURE. 



I am interested in Mr. Luckhurst's suggestion for protecting 

 early Peas, at page 77; but would not the same end be 

 answered, and the trouble of making the boxes be saved, by 

 adopting for the first the plan he recommends for the sub- 

 sequent growths ? — say, by dusting the seed well with red lead, 

 sowing as deeply as is consistent with good practice, sowing 

 thickly, and then putting on the glass — laying it on the ground 

 I mean. I assume that, apart from the red lead, mice do not 

 meddle with seed when germinated, and although sparrows will 

 take off the young tops, if the plants come up thickly they will 

 not take all. Would it not be useful to mingle plenty of black- 

 smiths' ashes in the drills before sowing ? The sharp ashes 

 from the forge must tend to keep off slugs, &c. — H., Ventnor. 



CALIFORNIAN CONIFERS. 

 Me. Hoopes, in his excellent description of the Pine3 of Cali- 

 fornia (pages 80 and 81), confounds Abies with Picea. The Abies 

 has hanging cones with persistent scales. The Picea (amabiliB 

 and grandis) has upright cones with deciduous scales, and, as 

 he justly remarks, the leaves nearer two rows ; they have like- 

 wise two white lines on their under side. This is a distinction 

 which gardeners seldom notice, and it makes it very puzzling 

 to botanists and those ordering of trees. It is not to be found 

 in Bentham or an English flora, as the country does not furnish 

 either specimen ; but the whole family are excellently dis- 



