December 8, 1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
521 
do not like cutting good flowers, but it has to be done, and cutting 
them oneself is hardly so bad after all as seeing them cut by some¬ 
one who has no interest in them beyond securing a gay bloom to 
be as lightly thrown away as it was lightly gathered. The only 
safe method of cutting flowers is to gather the oldest and most 
developed blooms first. That is a point which should always be 
insisted on. Continuous-blooming plants always repay for hard 
cutting. You may go once a week, or two or three times a week, 
to a plant and cut the best-developed of its flowers, and that 
plant under proper conditions will have more developed when 
your next visit is made. And then there remains a very necessary 
condition in the production of flowers for cutting—you must grow 
the right sorts. A collection of Pelargoniums or Chrysanthemums 
may be unique, but the man who relies on a half dozen proved 
varieties of each will be able to cut blooms when his neighbour 
with many varieties cannot.—A Nor’-eastek. 
TPOPiEOLUM SPECIOSUM. 
We have received so many inquiries respecting this beautiful 
Tropaeolum that we have been induced to give an illustration 
showing the chief characteristics distinguishing it in the form of 
Fig. S3.—TRCI’.EOLCll SPECIOSOM. 
the leaves and flowers. As will be readily seen, it approaches 
T. pentaphyllum very closely, but it is far more attractive than 
that species when in its best condition— i.e., as it is grown in some 
parts of Scotland. The flowers are marked by a most striking 
hue—a rich bright crimson inclining to scarlet, and are produced 
so freely that the plant often appears to be a glowing mass of 
flowers. It is one of Mr. W. Lobb's introductions, having been 
found by him in Patagonia, and introduced to cultivation in this 
country through Messrs. Veitcb of Exeter. Mr. Dickson, Arkleton 
Gardens, Dumfriesshire, with w’hom the plant succeeds admirably, 
has favoured us with the following cultural notes. 
“This beautiful climber delights in a humid atmosphere, hence 
one of the reasons why we see it growing so luxuriantly here. I 
have also seen it growing and flowering well in various parts of 
Scotland, in all situations, and also under the shade of trees ; 
indeed, I know of nothing so pretty for covering the bare limbs 
of shrubs and trees. 
“I would recommend those of our friends in the south who have 
not succeeded in growing it satisfactorily to try it in some part of 
their ground where it will be shaded from the mid-day sun, or in 
a plantation or shrubbery, where I am sure it will soi n establish 
itself if left undisturbed for a few years. I have never had any 
difficulty wuth it here ; it has been in the same position for eight 
or nine years, and plants are springing up in all directions. 
“ Whenever I w r ant to increase my stock I lift a few of the fleshy 
roots (some say it produces tubers, I have never found any), and 
