JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
288 
[ April 14, 1881. 
age. It is also of importance to apply just sufficient water to 
moisten the soil without allowing a quantity to pass through, 
thereby wasting the food of the plant which the water carries 
away in solution. It should he understood that the rationale 
of “ watering" consists in supplying the plant with con¬ 
stituents which form a great bulk of its system, and to place 
within reach of the roots the other constituents necessary to 
its life and health, and which are held ready in the soil. We 
cannot in practice keep the soil at all times in just the proper 
condition ; but care in supplying water before dryness is at all 
advanced, and in just sufficient quantity to merely moisten the 
soil, with as little waste from drainage as possible, is what 
should be aimed at. 
In connection with this subject of fibreless soils is the 
intimate one of the application of liquid manure. I do not 
think it possible to do anything like justice to plants in such 
soils without supplying liquid manure in far greater quantity 
than is necessary for plants in fibrous composts. It is a 
general rule amongst gardeners to give no liquid manure until 
the plant has been finally potted, and then only when the roots 
have well filled the pot. I find it necessary to apply stimulants 
much earlier. I employ water mixed with the manures already 
mentioned, also with soot, but do not find these as efficient as 
chemical manures. Nitre is sometimes used alone for inducing 
rapid growth, as it is rich in potash and nitrogen, but we want 
flowers in proportion to the growth. Moreover, nitre by itself 
is expensive. Here is a manure which, while rich in nitrogen, 
has also the other necessary constituents in proportion. It is 
from the formula of an eminent agricultural chemist, and will 
cost about half as much as nitre alone. To make 1 cwt. 
employ 37 lbs. of superphosphate of lime, 19 lbs. of nitre, 
24 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia, and 32 lbs. of plaster of Paris. 
This contains the following per-centages of fertilising matters 
—Nitrogen, 6-5 ; phosphoric acid, 5 ; potash, 8 ; and lime, 17 per 
cent. 1 am using a simpler and cheaper mixture now, prepared 
from superphosphate of lime, nitre, and plaster of Paris. As 
already noted, the best mode of applying these manures is as 
surface dressings, though I occasionally dissolve a little in the 
water. It is further to be borne in mind, that there is no 
use in applying any chemical manure one day and allowing a 
month or six weeks to pass before another application is made. 
Plants to be kept in robust health require a dressing from once 
a week to once in ten davs in the warmer months of the year, 
and about once a fortnight throughout the winter. It will be 
understood that plants in a growing state, and not in a con¬ 
dition of rest, have been alluded to throughout in these remarks. 
—R. P. Brotherston. 
RAISING RHUBARB FROM SEED. 
Rhubarb has much to recommend it, as its season of useful¬ 
ness lasts so long. Coming naturally in April it is capable of 
furnishing a supply of stalks weekly until the month of October. 
It can be grown, too, in small gardens in town or country where 
space and climate preclude the possibility of fruit trees being 
profitably cultivated. Rhubarb differs much, and a good variety 
or two will always give most satisfaction. The St. Martin’s and 
the Albert are my favourites. These are of good colour, and bear 
heavily under the same attention as the more common kinds. 
Many who grow Rhubarb do not give it a fair chance. Half a 
dozen good roots in the best part of the garden will produce more 
useful stems than a score in the customary “ odd corner.” Allow¬ 
ing the roots to remain for years in the same place has always a 
degenerating tendency. 
Raising a few new plants from seed is a better way of obtaining 
fresh stock or a new plantation than dividing the old roots. If 
all growers of old Rhubarb would only be advised to act on this 
they would reap the advantage in after years. Some who have 
tried seed may have a word to say against the practice if they 
have sown it in the open ground and never had a plant from it. 
I have had the same misfortune, and it induced me to discontinue 
sowing in the open, and I now raise the young plants under glass. 
Here they can be obtained early, with great certainty and with 
little labour or space. In most gardens three dozen new Rhubarb 
plants would be ample for a supply, or a good addition to the old 
stock, and the only space required is that needed to hold thirty - 
six 3-inch pots. 
The seed should be sown at once ; indeed, I have often found 
the advantage of sowing much earlier. I sow three or four seeds 
in each pot, and place them in any house or frame with an inter¬ 
mediate temperature, where they remain until the young plants 
are through the soil, and ready for placing in a frame or other 
structure, to be hardened off prior to planting out. The soil 
where they are to be planted is trenched to the depth of 18 or 
20 inches. If very poor, old vegetable refuse may be worked in 
near the bottom, and after the whole space has been trenched a 
quantity of good manure should be dug into the surface. 
The seedlings will be found to turn well out of the pots, and 
they may be planted from 3 feet to 4 feet apart each way. For 
the first year or two some other crops—such as Spinach, Turnips, 
or Lettuce—may be grown between the Rhubarb. Preventing 
the growth of weeds is the only attention needed the first summer. 
When the leaves die in autumn the crowns are covered to the 
depth of 2 or 3 inches with manure, and this is allowed to decay, 
as the young growths push up through it in spring. By the 
time the roots are sixteen or eighteen months old many of the 
stems are ready for use, and it is better to remove some of them 
than allow them to become crowded. The crowns, too, become 
better ripened in autumn when they are not closely shaded with 
leaves ; and having them thoroughly matured is of considerable 
importance, especially when the roots are intended to be forced 
during the winter. 
As these notes are intended more for those who grow Rhubarb 
for summer use than winter forcing I will not enter fully into the 
latter process now, but may remark that where a large number of 
forcing roots are wanted annually spring seedlings would keep up 
a better supply than dividing old roots. Those who may have any 
difficulty in obtaining pure seed should select one of their own best 
plants for seed, and so improve their “strain.”— Practitioner. 
ZONAL PELARGONIUMS FOR WINTER. 
There has been so much written from time to time on the 
Pelargonium, that perhaps very little more can be said about it 
to interest your readers. But there still appears to be very few 
who know the best varieties for winter flowering in a cool green¬ 
house. As I have given some attention to them for the past few 
years, perhaps a few remarks might not be out of place. A Pelar¬ 
gonium with from six to ten good trusses of bloom in the dull 
months of winter is very beautiful, and would be appreciated in 
any establishment however great the variety of plants grown. 
They are so much better suited for room decoration in winter 
than in summer. One good plant in winter will last as long as 
three in summer. I might name a whole catalogue of good sum¬ 
mer-flowering varieties, which would also do well in winter in a 
house having a temperature about 10° higher than an ordinary 
greenhouse ; but as very few have a house of that description, and 
those who have one may not require information, I shall name 
only a few of the best varieties suitable for a cool greenhouse. 
Vesuvius .—This is well known, but cannot be too well known, 
for it never fails if properly managed. I noticed two plants of 
this variety in a cottage window here during the severe weather 
of the past winter in full bloom. All the care bestowed on them 
was to remove them from the window at night. 
Charles Smith .—A beautiful dark crimson variety, and one of 
the most valuable for winter flowering. I do not know of one to 
equal it. It may be called a perpetually blooming variety. The 
trusses are large and well formed. A plant with six to ten good 
trusses is very beautiful in a vase. 
Rev. F. F. ienn. —A very good scarlet variety, and first-rate for 
winter flowering, bearing very large trusses. I think it would 
also make a good bedder, but we have only tried it in pots, for 
which it is most suitable. 
David Thomson .— A dark crimson variety. The trusses are 
large, but not so well formed as Charles Smith. They hang 
rather loosely, the stalks of the single flower being much longer 
than any of the other varieties. They are very useful for button¬ 
hole bouquets if vvorked-in singly in a half-open state. I made 
some bouquets this winter of them, with double white Primulas 
and Violets, and they were much appreciated. 
Colonel Holden. —An excellent scarlet variety. The trusses are 
large and well formed. I have measured trusses 12 to 16 inches 
in circumference in midwinter. It should be in every collection 
either for winter or summer flowering. 
These are five of the best varieties I know for winter flowering. 
The two I prefer are Charles Smith and David Thomson, which 
according to my experience are undoubtedly the best. They are all 
well adapted for planting near the back wall of a vinery. I have 
them trained up the wall of a late vinery ; they flower very freely, 
and are admired by all who see them. The present is our season 
of propagating plants for winter flowering. The cuttings are 
inserted singly into small pots. When rooted they receive their 
