21S 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ September 13, 186*. 



•were both awarded first-class certificates. The seedlings 

 are all remarkable for a lustrous richness of colour, which 

 greatly enhances their beauty. 



"C. Jacknianni has orate leaflets of moderate size, and 

 slightly hairy. The flowers, which open flat, are 4 or some- 

 times 5 inches across, and have a variable number of from 

 four to sis sepals, of a roundish-obovate form, terminating 

 in a little point, downy behind, and on the face of an intense 

 violet purple, the colour being remarkable for its rich velvet- 

 like appearance. The back of the sepals is marked by three 

 ribs, which show like three slight furrows in front, the rest 

 of the surface being veiny and somewhat rugose. 



" C. rubro-violacea, to which allusion has been made, has 

 the flowers of a rich reddish-tinted violet, and, when fresh 

 opened, is almost maroon-coloured, and very remarkable for 

 its velvety surface. 



" Being perfectly hardy, of free habit, and flowering abund- 

 antly during the summer months, these new hybrid Clema- 

 tises of the Jackmans are well worth a place wherever 

 hardy-flowering climbers are cared for. We believe the two 

 sorts to which we have alluded are to be sent out during the 

 present autumn." — (Florist and Pomologist, iii., p. 193.) 



HEDGE TEIMMEE. 



A very slight alteration makes a great improvement in 

 many of our garden implements, and the above is an example. 

 The hedge trimmer is usually fixed upon a straight handle, 

 but the above sketch illustrates such a hook or scythe as is 

 used by an experienced hedge-grower. He procures a stick 

 with a natural crook like the above— the main handle being 

 about 6 feet long, and slightly curved and turning so as to 

 form as nearly as may be a right angle — to which short 

 end, say 6 inches long, a short strong bush-scythe is attached; 

 this affords a strong substantial implement, and the bend of 

 the handle enables the operator to bring the whole length 

 of the blade against the sprigs of the hedge, and yet avoid 

 being scratched. The hook is used by striking upwards and 

 laterally. — (Prairie Farmer.) 



BEDDING GEBANIUjtfS. 



(Concluded from page 194.) 



When there is not convenience to winter Geraniums in 

 houses without making these unsightly by a number of ugly 

 boxes filled with the old stumps, the plants are denuded of 

 their leaves and the old parts of the wood, leaving most of 

 the roots, and placed in dry sand in a cellar, or in any 

 cool place from which frost is excluded, and all the better 

 if a tolerably equable temperature be maintained. In this 

 position they remain until March, when they are either 

 potted or placed in boxes in moderately rich soil, and 

 removed to a frame with a gentle heat, a greenhouse, or 

 any house of a similar temperature, water being given them 

 as they commence growing; and when they have fairly 

 pushed, any straggling or irregular growths are shortened. 

 The plants are gradually hardened off, so that they may 

 bear exposure by the middle of May, when they are placed 

 under a wall or hedge prior to their being planted out. Such 

 plants, though very unpromising, make very fine beds by 

 August. 



Another practice is to take up the plants on the approach 

 of frost, and hang them up root upwards in a cellar or other 

 place secure from frost, pulling off all the large succulent 

 leaves, which if left damp-off and frequently communicate 

 the disease to the stems. Such plants are potted in the 

 following March, and placed in a greenhouse or frame with 

 or without a gentle heat, and not unfrequently in narrow 

 boxes 6 or 8 inches wide, and the length of a window. They 

 are carefully watered, and after some time they commence 

 growing, and are finally planted out in thg open garden. 



These plants recover wonderfully after they are turned out, 

 and not unfrequently by August are equal to others grown, 

 under more favourable circumstances. 



It is astonishing what a desire to have anything and 

 perseverance will accomplish, and of this the following is an 



instance. In the village of A was a cobbler noted for 



his Celery-growing, who had a desire to have a bed of Gera- 

 niums in front of his shop. Some gardening friend gave 

 him a cutting of that strong-growing scarlet Geranium, 



common enough at one time, but now rarely seen the 



Royal George. This variety would cover the back wall of a 

 greenhouse in a short time, and a single truss of bloom 

 would make half of a modern nosegay. The cutting was: 

 placed in some mould (the remains of a heap of wood), in. 

 an old teapot the spout of which had been broken off. Well, 

 it struck root, grew rapidly, and was attended to by the 

 cobbler and his wife like an only child. It had a place in. 

 the window that it might receive the morning sun, and 

 when winter came it was brought into the warm kitchen to- 

 be out of the reach of frost. It will bloom, perhaps, thought 

 the cobbler, when it had reached the top of the window, 

 and this without so much as a branch all the way, being 

 like a walking-stick with a few leaves on it. By-and-by it 

 was planted outside, and it grew like a tree, and bloomed 

 to the satisfaction of the cobbler, who prided himself on the 

 probability of having as fine a bed of Geraniums next year 

 as the squire over the way. How to accomplish this was: 

 the question. To preserve the plant during the winter he 

 planted it in a tub which he made, but it died. The gar- 

 dener was again appealed to, and this time the cobbler re- 

 ceived a cutting of that old but not yet superseded Scarlet 

 Geranium, Tom Thumb. It grew, and in a few years the 

 old cobbler had a bed of Scarlet Geraniums, which were 

 admired by many ; 'and the squire, whose gardener ha4 

 given him the cuttings in the first instance, admired them 

 so much that the cobbler was much elated, and considered 

 himself equal to the rector's boasting man, who was so 

 clever in his management of Geraniums. Owing to some 

 little altercation between them, a wager was made as to 

 who would have the better bed of Geraniums in the follow- 

 ing year. The cobbler had every box and pot that he eouldi 

 muster crammed with cuttings, and these he succeeded in 

 wintering with the same attention as he had bestowed on 

 the Royal George. However well they were wintered, he- 

 put his pots of cuttings outside in anticipation of a shower 

 of rain, and left his home for the day. A hailstorm oc- 

 curred in his absence, and the plants were destroyed. 

 To purchase plants would lose the cobbler the day, so he 

 was almost inclined to acknowledge himself defeated. It 

 happened that he had pitted his Potato crop in the place 

 where the bed of Geraniums had been in the previous 

 summer, and the Geranium stems had been buried beneath 

 the Potatoes, for on removing these in April, the old 

 Geranium stumps had shoots upon them an inch long, and 

 white like everything grown in the dark. The squire's, 

 gardener over the way volunteered his aid, and it resulted! 

 in the cobbler placing some sticks over the Geranium stumps;, 

 and covering them at night with straw, but taking it off 

 during the day. In conclusion, the cobbler defeated the 

 rector's man, and won the wager, and this so chagrined the 

 loser that he gave notice to leave, and the cobbler was ap- 

 pointed in his stead. He is now a hale old man, pensioned- 

 by the same worthy rector at his death ; and if you come inte 

 conversation with him about Geraniums, he will say, " There- 

 is no better way to keep them over the winter than to pit 

 them like Potatoes." We may learn from this that there 

 are many different modes of wintering Geraniums, and to 

 describe them all would be tedious. 



In wintering the Variegated, and small or weak-growing 

 Scarlets, it is necessary to pot them or place them in boxes, 

 without taking off more than the bruised extremities of tha 

 roots, and to thin the heads if large and unwieldly, without 

 reducing them much, or shortening the branches. Somfe 

 kinds, as Golden Chain, will not require the head to be re- 

 duced at all, it being desirable to obtain as large plants as: 

 possible. Such as Bijou, Manglesii, Flower of the Day, 

 and others, should not be cut-in too much, though they will 

 bear more autumn-cutting than many sorts. The shoots- 

 left ought not to be shortened, and nq leaves should be- 

 taken off except such, as are pld and useless, 



