52 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 19, 18f3. 
the practice of packing single Zonals, as, no matter how fresh 
nnd well packed they might be here, they exhibited a shaken 
and blemished aspect after travelling a hundred miles, but in 
the case of the doubles all this is reversed, and they might be 
packed in a box and sent across the English Channel without 
iosing a petal. This is a character which should secure for 
them the most extended cultivation, and I would advise all 
who are interested in packing and sending away flowers to 
make a note of this. 
In cultural requirements they do not differ from the old or 
best known single-flowering sorts. When the large heads of 
bloom are much exposed to wet they will soon decay in the 
centre, but this is nothing more against them than others, as all 
Pelargoniums are the same. If bedded-out this would no doubt 
be a charge soon brought against them, but it is not as bedders 
I value them or recommend them. It is for pot culture and 
greenhouse and conservatory decoration at all times they are 
most suited, and for this kind of furnishing I feel sure a few 
of them have only to be tried to insure the introduction of a 
general collection. Cuttings rooted at once would bloom through¬ 
out the winter, and plants which are now in 6-inch pots will do 
the same if shifted into 8-inch or 9-inch pots in August, and 
grown on in a warm rather dry atmosphere. The stock for next 
year may be rooted in August, and these need only be treated 
like any ordinary bedding variety to insure success. It will 
hardly be necessary to tell those in possession of a limited 
number of the best kinds to increase their quantity at once, 
as this they will no doubt do fast enough, but to those who 
are yet without the best new double varieties I would urge their 
being procured at the earliest opportunity. The following are 
all fine varieties :— 
Purple .—Charles Darwin, Souvenir de Carpeux, Magenta 
King, Colonel Flatters, and Aglaia. 
Orange. —J. C. Rodbard, Lord Cecil, and Richard Brett. 
Salmon. —Carillon, M. A. Dupins, Ministre Constans, and 
General Farre. 
White .—Madame Leon Dalloy, Nymphe, and Heroine. 
Crimson. —Circe, Caesar Borgia, and M. Pasteur. 
Scarlet. —W. E. Gladstone, H. Cannell, and F. Y. Raspail. 
Rose. —Attraction, Loveliness, and Sensation. 
Pink .—The Lord Mayor, Mrs. Arthur Lattey, and Sylvia.— 
J. Muir. 
AUTUMN-SOWN ONIONS. 
About the 24th of the month will be a good time to make the 
first sowing of Onions to come in for use in April and May next, and 
again about the middle or 20th of the next month for use in June and 
July. In order to obtain the best possible results, a piece of ground 
occupying a dry rather than a damp situation, and well exposed to 
the influence of the weather, should be selected for the crop. The 
ground should be liberally manured and deeply trenched, and then 
trodden all over, roughly raked, and after receiving a surface-dusting 
of soot, it should be again raked, this time evenly and with a finer 
rake, and the drills drawn 12 or 15 inches apart and 1 inch deep. 
The seed should be sown somewhat thickly, and be covered and 
finished off in the same manner as spring-sown Onions are, the after 
treatment being the same as with that given to the latter. The young 
plants can be thinned out when necessary, as required for salading in 
the autumn, leaving them, however, sufficiently thick in the rows to 
make allowance for mishaps during the winter months, as also for 
transplanting in spring if necessary. 
The Queen and Early White Naples are two of the earliest and 
cleanest skinned Onions in cultivation, and also of mild flavour. 
They are the best varieties for this sowing, as they come into use 
in the order in which then - names appear ; and if w T e had to recom¬ 
mend a third variety it would be the Red Flat Tripoli, as being a large 
well-formed Onion. The result of this sowing will, in addition to 
forming an indispensable and prominent dish in collections of vege¬ 
tables on the exhibition tables dining the summer shows, fill the 
blank that would otherwise most probably occur between the bulbs of 
the preceding and current year’s growth, through that of the former 
becoming flabby, and consequently of little value for culinary 
purposes, from the bulbs starting into growth in May and June. 
Early in March the plants should be thinned to 6 inches in the 
rows, subsequently drawing every alternate one for use ; and should the 
demand for the bulbs during the summer be such as to necessitate an 
extension of the crop, transplant in rows the same distance apart as 
stated above, and 1 foot from plant to plant in the rows, in ground 
prepared the same way as recommended for the reception of the 
seed. While preferring rather light and somewhat dry ground for 
sowing the seed in, we should give preference to ground the reverse 
of this for the growth of transplanted bulbs, as they attain a greater 
size in soil of this description ; although if the seeds were sown in 
stiff soil a greater per-centage of the young plants would be more 
likely to perish during the winter months than would be the case in 
lighter soil.—H. W. W. 
HOLLYHOCKS. 
Few outside flowering plants are more attractive than the towering 
spikes of Hollyhocks when in full bloom. It is to be regretted that 
they have very nearly gone out of cultivation in the majority of 
gardens, and this through the disease which has played such sad havoc 
amongst them during recent years. I am acquainted with many who 
were compelled on that account to give up the'r culture, and others 
refrained from trying them for fear the care and attention devoted to 
them would be in vain. 
I do not in these notes intend to advise intending cultivators to 
purchase a stock of plants to commence with, because they might be 
affected with the disease ; but on the contrary, to raise them from 
seed, which is decidedly the most reliable way of obtaining a stock of 
clean plants, and seedlings are quite as good for the embellishment 
of beds and borders as named varieties are. Some persons would, no 
doubt, sooner battle with the disease than grow unnamed varieties, but 
this is not the case with the majority, who admire them for their 
effective beauty in the garden, and are anxious to have healthy plants. 
Some of the finest Hollyhocks I have ever seen were raised from 
purchased seed two years ago, and the plants have continued clean up 
to the present time. Last year I raised a number of plants, and they 
are perfectly vigorous and promising well. 
In order to have strong healthy plants to flower next year seed 
should be sown at once in boxes or pans or under handlights outside. 
We practise the former method. After the seed is sown the pans or 
boxes should be placed in a cold frame until the seed has germinated 
and the young plants are ready for planting outside or potting. 
Although these plants are hardy and will pass ordinary winters safely 
they may perish if the weather proves very severe. They should have 
3 or 4-inch pots when ready for taking out of the seed pans or boxes, 
and can then be stood outside until the approach of frost. 
The majority of our plants last year grew vigorously, and were 
before autumn placed in 5 and 6-inch pots, in which they remained in 
a cold frame during the winter until they were planted out in spring. 
In the future we intend to winter the plants in 5-inch pots, and as 
soon as they commence growth in spring to place • them in pots 
2 inches larger, and then finally plant them out from these. By this 
treatment they can be kept a liptle longer under frame treatment 
without becoming root-bound, and will make greater progress after¬ 
wards than if planted out earlier or become checked by want of root 
room.— Scientia. 
PETRiEA VOLUBILIS. 
Tropical climbing plants comprise many species of great beauty,, 
such as the Allamandas, Dipladenias, and Bignonias, hut none can he 
considered to surpass the lovely Petrma volubilis in delicacy of colouring 
and elegance of habit. Large specimens trained up the roofs of such 
houses as the stove at the Regent’s Park Botanic Gardens, or the Palm 
house at Kew—both of which establishments contain fine examples— 
have a grand effect, their lilac and rich blue flowers being produced in 
such profusion that the plants appear to be perfect clouds of bloom-. 
The colour, too, is very distinct from that of most other stove climbers. 
Yellows, scarlets, and crimsons we have in abundance, but blue and 
lilac or lavender shades are comparatively scarce, and in this we have 
a peculiar combination of the two that renders the plant even more 
striking and interesting. As shown in the engraving (fig. 13) the flowers 
are borne in long pendulous racemes, frequently nearly a foot long on 
vigorous plants. The corolla is five-lobed ; the lobes roundish, expanded, 
and rich deep blue ; the calyx also has five lobes, but these are consider¬ 
ably larger than those of the corolla, being frequently half an inch or 
more in length, and oblong in form. These also spread out parallel to 
the petals, or at right angles to the axis of the flower ; moreover, they 
increase in size, remaining attached for a short time after the corolla 
falls. The colour is lavender or lilac, much darker in some plants ; 
indeed, it appears probable that there are two varieties, one with a light 
or nearly white calyx, and the other with the same portion of the flower 
almost as dark as the corolla. Both are, however, charming plants, 
though the one presenting the contrast of shades, which is that shown 
in the woodcut, has general preference. 
The history of Petrcea volubilis is brief, but interesting in some 
degree. It was first discovered by Houstoun at Yera Cruz, but has 
also been found at Martinique and elsewhere. On the authority of 
Aiton’s “ Hortus Kewensis ” it seems that seeds were first sent to the 
