December 7, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



583 



Geraniums, both as breeders and growers, some of the best 

 of the most popular kinds having originated in their Chil- 

 well nurseries. Mr. C. Pearson was invited by the Royal 

 Horticultural Society to lecture on the cultivation of Zonal 

 Pelargoniums for winter, and the following is a resume of 

 what he said : People who object to the "glare" of the 

 scarlet Geranium in summer delight in its warmth of color 

 in December and January. The flowers are always useful, 

 but specially so in winter, and they may be made to hold 

 their petals a long time by dropping a little florists' gum in 

 the eye of each flower This gum is easily made by dis- 

 solving a little gum shellac in spirits of wine until the mix- 

 ture is just thick enough to drop freely from a pointed 

 stick. Dark crimson-flowered varieties, such as Henry 

 Jacobi, are not the best colors for winter, as in sunless 

 weather the flowers are often changed in color to a dull 

 magenta. The best of the crimson-flowered kinds for win- 

 ter is Charles Smith. 



The following is my selection of the best sorts for winter- 



and all flower-buds picked out as fast as they appear. The 

 leaves should be thinned out severely. No stimulants, 

 such as manure, should be given to these plants. In 

 autumn the plants must be placed under cover, as they are 

 easily spoiled by excessive wet. They should be allowed 

 plenty of light and air, and, if necessary, more leaves be 

 removed as well as the flower-buds. 



A low span-roofed house, in which the stages are close 

 to the glass and with a sunny aspect, is desirable for these 

 plants during winter. The atmosphere in the house should 

 be kept fairly dry by means of the pipes and ventilation. 

 The temperature ought not to fall below fifty degrees in 

 the coldest vi'eather, and on mild nights it may be kept five 

 degrees higher. During sunshine a temperature of sixty 

 to sixty-five, or even seventy degrees, is not too high. 



The plants should be watered in the morning. For 

 the production of large trusses of flowers the point of the 

 shoot must be stopped just above the bud. It is always best 

 to stop the shoots after the fiower-buds show. 



Ki^. 100. — Main Entrance to Llewellyn Park, West Orange, New Jersey. — See page 578. 



flowering : White — Queen of Whites, White Lady, Sir Per- 

 civale. Blush White — Stella Massey. Pink — Constance, 

 Lady Brook, Ethel Lewis, Amphion. Rose — Beauty of 

 Kent, Rosy Morn, Rev. R. D. Harries, Radha. Salmon — 

 Madame de Bourdeville, Ayesha, Lady Chesterfield, Mrs. 

 Norman. Scarlet — Sunbeam, Swanley Gem, Corsair, J. L. 

 Baldwin, S. Hibberd. Crimson — C. Smith, Nelly Thomas, 

 T. Hayes. This selection may be useful as a guide to 

 those who wish to grow a collection of the best sorts 

 known in England. 



The cuttings should be planted in August, and potted as 

 soon as rooted into large thumb-pots, and again into four- 

 inch pots. By the beginning of June they should be put into 

 six or seven inch pots. The plants should then be placed 

 outside in a sunny position, and, if possible, on a thick bed 

 of ashes. All through the summer the plants should be 

 carefully watered, the strong shoots checked by pinching, 



The soil used is light loam, with a little cow-manure and 

 sand. Leaf-mold is, Mr. Pearson believes, detrimental to 

 good cultivation. 



Londun. 



W. Watson. 



Cultural Department. 



The Cherries of North-eastern Europe. 



THERE is no more fascinating study to the lover of horti- 

 culture than that of the unfamiliar fruits of foreign coun- 

 tries which prove themselves to be particularly adapted to his 

 own country. For upward of twenty years I ha ve been engaged 

 in this study, partly from necessity, because I am too far north 

 and high up to grow the familiar varieties of myyouth, butalso 

 because I find a real superiority, as well as a greater adapta- 

 bility, in these novelties over the older sorts with which I had 

 worked for years. While their work among the Apples of 

 north-eastern Europe seems to me of far-reaching importance 



