JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
464 
[ June 8, 1882. 
in the centre too much, holes should be bored with an 
iron bar from 9 to 12 inches apart along the ridge to 
nearly the bottom of the bed, and a few sticks should 
be left in the bed to test the heat at any time. If the 
bed is made as firm as it ought to be, sticks cannot 
well be driven down, lienee the use of the iron rods, the 
necessity for which indicates clearly that the ridges 
should when finished be very firm indeed. A few of 
these sticks left in the beds will on examination in¬ 
dicate the temperature. The ventilators are often left 
open for some time after the ridges have been spawned 
and cased ; they can be closed at any time by simply 
pressing in the soil. 
It is not usual to finish Mushroom beds or ridges so 
artistically as in the example submitted; but it is 
desirable that this and all work should be done in the 
best possible manner. The difference in cost between 
doing work slovenly and finishing it neatly is very 
slight, and the advantage in the end is in favour of the 
skilled workman. Unless a man, in whatever he is 
engaged, takes pride in his work he will never excel, 
and it would be greatly to our advantage as a nation 
if every workman would habituate himself to com¬ 
plete whatever he had in hand as if competing for a 
prize; a higher standard of excellence would then 
soon be attained, and British workmen would main¬ 
tain their supremacy in the competition of the world. 
—J. Weight. 
(To be continued.) 
ZONAL PELARGONIUMS IN WINTER. 
We cannot have the houses too gay during the dull winter 
months. During the summer months our gardens are sufficiently 
bright, perhaps too much so to suit all tastes, and it is a relief to 
turn to the houses where foliage plants and Ferns are in the 
ascendant. The case, however, is very different, say in November 
and December, and at this season a group of Pelargoniums or 
single specimens with some other decorative plants seldom fails 
to be attractive. I have a great partiality for them, especially 
when flowered in comparatively small pots. They are of easy 
culture, but at the same time they must be specially prepared. 
It is true under very favourable circumstances they will flower 
continuously for twelve months or more, but in most instances 
plants that are allowed to flower in houses or otherwise throughout 
the summer months are of little value for winter. We strike a 
batch of cuttings in heat during April, usually in well-drained 
8-inch pots and on a slightly warmed flue. As soon as struck all 
those of which we have abundance are pinched back rather 
closely, and when they start afresh are potted off singly into 
4-inch pots, and kept growing in a warm pit. The cuttings of 
varieties which we are anxious to increase are allowed to grow 
till their tops are long enough for cuttings, these being struck in 
heat as before, while the cut-backs are, when breaking afresh, 
treated similarly to those pinched back. Had we not a slightly 
heated pit, the shelves in a greenhouse would be utilised for the 
young Pelargoniums. During May we again pinch back the now 
freely growing plants, and when breaking again give them their 
final shift into 8-inch pots, and keep them under glass till 
established, when they are placed in a sunny open position 
on ashes. If not sufficiently bushy they are pinched once 
more, strong leading shoots being especially prevented by this 
treatment. 
Those, however, we find most serviceable are struck at the pre¬ 
sent time and flowered in much smaller pots. Sturdy end shoots 
are selected and dibbled in singly into 3-inch pots, placed on a 
warm greenhouse shelf, and watered rather sparingly till struck. 
When this is found to be the case they are pinched, and in a few 
days those breaking most freely are shifted into 5-inch pots, the 
remainder flowering in the pots in which they were struck and 
placed in the open near to the first batch. Although they will 
grow in almost any kind of soil I ought not perhaps to omit men¬ 
tioning the compost most suitable. Grossness should be avoided, 
but the other extreme is equally as objectionable, and to insure 
robust yet floriferous growth we employ a compost consisting of 
two parts good loam to one of old Mushroom bed refuse passed 
through a rather fine sieve, adding road grit freely, and ram this 
extra firmly when potting. 
During the summer months all the bloom is pinched off as fast 
as it appears. The plants are never allowed to become very dry at 
the roots, and rather than lose any of the foliage or for it to pre¬ 
sent a starved appearance, unless this should be the result of 
over-watering, an occasional supply of weak liquid manure is 
given. Before a severe frost is anticipated, or when the Salvias 
and other tender-flowering plants are housed, the Pelargoniums 
are placed under glass. They are soon attractive, but must not 
even then be expected to flower continuously unless their sub¬ 
sequent treatment be favourable. A damp unheated structure is 
not suitable for them, neither should they be crowded by other 
taller plants. What they really require is a light airy structure, 
the hot-water pipes of which are always warm. Heat and 
moisture cause an objectionable strong growth ; but a warm dry 
atmosphere, which can be maintained with the help of the hot- 
water pipes and the upper ventilators whenever the external 
temperature admits, insures robustness and abundance of trusses. 
The plants to be disposed thinly, and watered sparingly—that is 
to say, only when rather dry, and to receive a little liquid manure 
occasionally. These necessary conditions may appear rather diffi¬ 
cult to meet, but where, as in our case, the boilers have to be kept 
going to heat other houses, the extra expense in the way of fuel 
is trifling, and the same atmosphere and temperature are also 
suitable for Roses, Carnations, Primulas, and Cyclamens, as well 
as hardwooded greenhouse plants. 
I have grown a number of varieties, but for flowering in the 
smallest pots I find none to equal Vesuvius, White Vesuvius, 
Salmon Vesuvius, and the semi-double Wonderful, and all are 
well adapted for growing into fair-sized specimens. The best 
white for larger pots is White Princess. This variety is of 
rather vigorous habit, but is remarkably floriferous, and yields 
quantities of large trusses throughout the winter. Master Chris¬ 
tine is an effective pink variety, and a still better variety, espe¬ 
cially in point of colour, is Mrs. Leavers. Of doubles I find 
Rosa Bonheur, rose ; Madame Thibaut, pink ; Guillon Mangilli, 
crimson ; Louis Buchner, salmon ; and Madame A. Baltet, 
white, all good winter-blooming varieties. Candidissimum plenum 
much resembles the latter in habit, but has the advantage in point 
of clearer whiteness. Ernest Lauth, magenta, is a free-flowering 
variety, but grows too vigorously to be associated with any of the 
foregoing.—W. Iggulden. 
DESIRABLE EARLY VEGETABLES. 
Cabbages .—Early Heartwell sown in a cold frame, or even in a 
box, in front of a south wall the last week in February, trans¬ 
planted after assuming the rough leaf, and put out now, will be 
fit for use in a comparatively short time—much quicker than any 
other variety I know. The market gardeners here have a variety 
of the Early York called Wellington, somewhat larger and not so 
early or so tender as Heartwell, the seed of which they endeavour 
to keep pure by saving it themselves, but as other varieties are 
grown in the vicinity they often fail. The weather was very 
dry and warm during the past fortnight; now there has been 
a heavy rainfall, and as the temperature of the soil is much above 
the average of similar dates other years, every garden crop will 
be early. 
Cauliflowers .—Plants of Early London nursed through the 
winter and transplanted in March on a south border are now 
forming heads with me, but it is only fair to say a friend of mine 
sowed seed of Carters’ Early Defiance in a frame, transplanted, 
and hardened off in March, and has his Cauliflowers as advanced 
as mine without any winter caring. I have the same variety, but 
not so forward. At Marlfield, where the vegetable garden is 
closed completely against the north or north-east winds, Cauli¬ 
flowers were wintered last year in the open border, but the winter 
was exceptionally mild. The point is, however, worth consider¬ 
ation whether winter nursing is necessary. 
Broccolis .—I cannot remember any season when these were so 
abundant, probably owing to the fore-mentioned mild winter. I 
have been this week transplanting Walcheren sown last March to 
take the place of the varieties of the last mentioned. If con¬ 
sidered under this head it is one of the earliest, but it may fitly 
be included among the Cauliflowers. The best gardeners here 
try to keep up a succession in this way the whole year round. 
Equally advanced in size is Snow’s White Winter, but it will 
not come to maturity until late autumn or early winter. Last 
year the White and Purple Sprouting were found very useful and 
accommodating. Carters’ Summer Broccoli and Cattell’s Eclipse 
are not only the hardiest but amongst the latest, and may yet be 
sown. 
