FLORISTS' FLOWERS. 



191 



successful in raising new and improved varieties, 

 that they became as approximately perfect as it 

 seems possible for them to be. 



For some years past a peculiar and destructive 

 fungus, named Fucciitia malvacearum, has worked 

 sad havoc with the Hollyhock, destropng the leaves 

 and corroding the flower-stalks. It was at first 

 supposed to be more virulent in dry than in moist 

 weather ; but later experience now points to the 

 reverse. It is worthy of note that though the 

 summer of 1884 was a hot and dry one, the ravages 

 of the disease were much less marked in this 

 than in preceding years. One of the best means of 

 neutralising the efi'ects of the fungus is to deeply 

 trench the soil in which the plants are to grow, 

 placing plenty of cow-manure just below the roots ; 

 and, after planting, mulching the surface with a good 

 dressing of the same. 



Any good old garden soil well trenched will grow 

 the Hollyhock well. If the subsoil be a wet one, the 

 plants will thrive in it diu-ing summer, but will 

 doubtless suffer in winter, as wet at that season of 

 the year is injurious to them. Planting out should 

 be done in March and April, according to the 

 weather, and they will bloom finely in August if 

 carefully attended to. Hollyhocks make an imposing 

 back line to a mixed border ; but if any one desires 

 to grow a collection to perfection they should form a 

 bed or plantation, and be planted not less than four 

 feet apart each way, or not less than three feet apait 

 in the row ; if grouped in beds the plants should 

 be the same distance apart. Hollyhocks will grow 

 well in a place where the shade of distant trees can 

 fall upon them, but they should not be near enough 

 for the roots of the trees to rob the Hollyhocks of 

 any moisture or nutriment in the soil. In May or 

 June, when the spikes of bloom have grown a foot 

 or two high, they should be thinned out if good 

 flowers are required — and it is all the more ne- 

 cessary if the plants are weakly ; if they are extra 

 sti-ong and vigorous, as many as four spikes may be 

 allowed to remain ; should the grower want some 

 especially fine flowers for exhibition purposes, but 

 one spike should be allowed to a plant ; and before 

 the spikes become too high they should be carefully 

 staked, and securely tied to the stakes, at the same 

 time allowing the plants perfect liberty to grow. 

 The most robust-growing variety does not require a 

 stake more than four or five feet in height. As a 

 matter of course, to have fine flowers there must be 

 special cultivation, and the soil about the plants 

 should be mulched with short dung; and liquid 

 manui-e, or guano, rendered as soluble as possible 

 in water, may also be administered twice a week. 

 We may give these further directions to intending 

 exhibitors ; to grow the flowers finely, cut away 



all lateral shoots thrown out from the spike, thin 

 out the flower-buds if too much crowded together, 

 and take off the top of the spike when it has 

 developed three feet of flowers. As a matter of 

 course, by topping the spike the grower increases 

 the size of the individual flowers, but he will also 

 shorten the duration of the blooming of the plant. 

 This is one of the sacrifices which have to be made 

 in order to obtain show-flowers. 



There are three ways of propagating the Holly- 

 hock — by seeds, by cuttings, and by dividing the 

 roots. No one should sow seed unless from a good 

 strain, and it is best to do this in January or 

 February, in pans of light free soil. At this time 

 of the year, the seeds germinate freely in a gentle 

 bottom heat. As soon as large enough, they should 

 be potted, singly, into small pots, and re-potted into 

 a larger size as soon as they gain strength and size ; 

 and, when they have filled the pots with roots, be 

 planted out in well-trenched and highly-manured 

 ground about the middle of May, doing this, if 

 possible, during showery weather. A large number 

 of the plants will flower the same year, and thus a 

 season's growth is saved. The general practice is 

 to sow the seeds in July or August, placing the pots 

 or pans in a cold frame, and then planting out 

 in autumn in good ground, to flower the following 

 season. Propagation by cuttings is the best mode of 

 obtaining plants of good varieties, and the practice 

 may be carried on from March to October. Most of 

 the old plants give an abundance of young shoots 

 early in spring, and, as soon as these become a little 

 hard, they may be cut off close to the stem, and 

 four or so placed round the sides of a five-inch pot, 

 in a light sandy soil. They should be plunged in a 

 close frame, where in a few weeks they will have 

 formed new leaves and roots, and may be potted off, 

 each in a separate four-inch pot. As fresh shoots 

 form on the old plants, they may be treated simi- 

 larly up to midsummer, after which period it is best 

 to leave the wood to become quite hard before 

 making any more cuttings. Propagation by division 

 of the roots is best carried out in autumn, imme- 

 diately after the flowering season. A large plant 

 may sometimes be divided into several, but in 

 general it is best not to exceed three or four. Every 

 separate piece should carry with it a good share of 

 roots, and these can be potted up and kept in a cold 

 frame during the winter, and then planted out in 

 spring, or else planted out in autumn in light well- 

 di-ained soil. 



As we have briefly referred to Hollyhocks being 

 exhibited at flower-shows, we may observe that 

 there are two ways of showing them : as single 

 flowers, and as spikes of bloom. Of late years, the 

 ravages created by the fungus tended materially to 



