160 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 21,1895. 
can, if ho wishes, stage his blooms m good condition at one or more 
of them. 
The best varieties for growing for exhibition are those kinds 
which combine constancy of marking with a good constitution. I 
advise the beginner to commence with the under-mentioned 
varieties which are fairly abundant, and to add rarer and more 
delicate sorts by degrees. 
Feathered Roses. 
Modesty (Walker) 
Mabel (Martin) 
Heroine (Dutch) 
Alice (Dymock) 
Comte de Vergennes 
(Dutch) 
Flamed Roses. 
Annie McGregor (Martin) 
Mabel (Martin) 
Aglaia (Lawrence) 
Triomphe Royale or 
Heroine (Dutch) 
Boie Breeders. 
Annie M’Gregor (Martin) 
Mabel (Martin) 
Mrs. Barlow (Hepworth) 
Industry (Lea) 
Queen of England 
(Parker) 
Feathered Bybloemens. 
Bessie (Hepworth) 
Adonis (Head'ey) 
Violet Amiable (Haigh) 
Flamed Bybloemens. 
Adonis (Hpadley) 
Talisman (Hardy) 
Chancellor (Battersby) 
Duchess of Sutherland 
(Walker) 
Byblcemen Breeders. 
Adonis (Headley) 
Talisman (Hardy) 
George Hard wick (Hard¬ 
wick) 
Queen of the May (Hep¬ 
worth) 
Feathered Bizarres. 
Masterpiece (Slater) 
Sir Joseph Paxton (Wil- 
lison) 
Sulphur (Birtwistle) 
Flamed Bizarres. 
Sir Joseph Paxton (Wil- 
lison) 
Dr. Hardy (Storer) 
Masterpiece (Slater) 
Sulphur (Birtwistle) 
Bizarre Breeders. 
Dr. Hardy (Storer) 
Sir Joseph Paxton (Wil- 
lison) 
Sulphur (Birtwistle) 
William Lea (Storer) 
Richard Yates (Lea) 
Selfs are little grown now. The best are Cygnet and White 
Nancy, whites ; Buttercup and Goldfinch, yellows. 
There are many other varieties that I should have liked to 
have included in this list, but as they are scarce I have omitted 
them. It does not follow that because a sort is scarce that it is 
good, and the list includes those kinds that form the backbone of 
almost every grower’s collection. When opportunity offers the 
following scarcer kinds may be added. It is, of course, all- 
important to secure the best strains in both this and the preceding list. 
Feathered Boses. —Mrs. Lea (Lea), Mrs. Thnrsfcan (Thurstan), Industry 
(Lea), Rachel (Martin). 
Feathered Bybloemens. —King of the Universe (Dymock), Elizabeth Pegg 
(Gamp), Queen of the May (Hepworth), Bertha (Hiley), Mrs. Cooper 
(Boardman). 
Feathered Bizarres. —Lord Frederick Cavendish (Hardwick), William 
Wilson (Hardy), Typo (Dymock), Commander (Marsden). 
Flamed Boses. —Circe (Headley), Mary Jackson (Knowles). 
Flamed i?yi!>te»?ens.—Queen of the May (Hepworth), Salvator Rosa 
(Brown), Friar Tuck (Slater). 
Flamed Bizarres.—T)r. Hutcheon (Storer), Lord Stanley (Storer), Aiax 
(Hardy), Lord Sidney (Haynes). 
Bose Breeders. —Rose Hill (Oldfield), Tryphena (Thurstan), Dawn 
(Horner). 
Byblcemen Breeders.—Glory of Stakehill (Ashmole), Alice Grey (Walker), 
William Park nson (Hepworth), Bridesmaid. 
Bizarre Gold finder (Hepworth), Lord Stanley (Storer). 
The exhibiting grower will find plenty to do when the buds on 
bis beds begin to “ show colour,” as the change from the green 
stat3 is termed. All the buds of rectified flowers showing signs on 
the outside of refined marking should be at once carefully secured 
from the chance of injury from wet or bruising. This is easily 
done by means of neat-squared garden sticks about 3 feet 6 inches 
long, which are pushed into the soil near to the plants to be pro¬ 
tected, care being taken net to injure any bulb in so doing. The 
stem of the plant is then fastened to the . stick by means of 
10-inch lengths of lead wire about one-eighth of an inch in diameter 
in the desired way. This is very easily done, as the lead wire is 
readily bent, and yet is sufficiently rigid when bent to keep the 
flower in the required position. One end of the wire is bent round 
the stem, but not pinching it, just under the flower, and the other 
end is wrapped round the stick several times, and there will be a 
straight length of wire between flower and stick sufficient for the 
former to expand freely without rubbing against the latter. Care 
must also be taken that the fl.ower does not rub against any of its 
neighbours, or against any of the posts supporting the glass over 
the bed. If grown under glass the flower will not need much 
more attention, as the protection afforded by it, and the shading 
described in the previous chapter, will in most cases be ample. At 
the same time, it is well to have some shading boards for special 
cases. These boards are made of wood about half inch in thickness 
and 8 inches square, with a square hole near one edge through 
which the stick passes. They can be adjusted at any height over 
the flower by sliding up or down the stick, and are secured in the 
desired position by means of a small wedge or other simple device. 
These boards are useful in case the flower is in a position where 
drip is feared, or as an extra shade in very hot weather. If the 
Tulips are grown without glass in the old fashion these boards are 
quite indispensable, and have to be used in such numbers that the 
beds seem more devoted to timber than Tulips, and the effect of 
the display is utterly marred. 
Some growers also take much pains, with a view to improve the 
faulty shapes of many of their growing flowers. They insert into 
the flower a kind of ring made of stout paper or stiff wood shaving, 
which prevents it from closing ; then by winding carefully round 
some soft tying material, such as fine knitting wool, on the outside, 
they compel the petals to clip up close together into a cup. By so 
doing they contend that the petals will keep the close cup-like 
shape in which they have been confined when they are cut and 
freed from their bonds ; or that, at all events, a great improvement 
in that direction is effected. I must admit that I never could see 
any material advantage gained by this troublesome process. The 
disadvantages are, however, very numerous. The labour is great, and 
notwithstanding every care, petals are often torn and bruised, 
neighbouring flowers damaged or broken off, and the delicate bloom 
observable on the untouched flower is gone. At the same time I 
own that the ring or “crinoline,” as it is often termed, is useful 
occasionally on the bed, as, for instance, in the case of a flower 
that requires bleaching at the base. When the weather is dull and 
cold, and the flowers remain closed all day, such a flower cannot 
receive the bleaching influence of the light unless it is kept forcibly 
open by some such means. 
If the weather at blooming time is very hot, or if the bloom is 
rather too forward, it will be an advantage to cut any flowers that 
would otherwise be over, as they can be preserved for a con¬ 
siderable time in water. They must be cut with long stems, be 
perfectly dry when cut, and should be kept in a cold, airy, dry 
situation. A dry, cool, well ventilated cellar lighted in a subdued 
manner from the north is an ideal place. The flowers should each 
have a separate bottle, and nothing but the stem in the water 
should be at all wet, or they soon begin to decay ; the water in the 
bottles should be changed every two or three days, and the stems 
should be shortened a little by a clean cut with a sharp knife every 
day. Tulip stems must alwajs be cut and never broken ; when 
broken, and then put into water they frequently begin to split, and 
I have known the splitting spread and extend nearly up to the 
flower. A pinch of powdered charcoal may be added to the water 
with advantage. By careful attention to these details flowers cut 
reasonably young may be kept ten to fourteen days. I have heard 
that a little carbonate of soda is a flne addition to the water, and 
one grower having got rather mellow and consequently confidential 
revealed to me that a little dash of whiskey had quite as an 
invigorating effect on the flowers as on their owners, but these are 
matters of report merely, and not of my own knowledge. 
It is an advantage sometimes, and especially in cold, ungenial 
weather, to cut, two or three days before the show, any flowers 
which are too young to get to perfection, in time, on the bed, 
and place them in a warmer climate, such as an ordinary 
greenhouse. In case this accommodation cannot be had, a warm 
living room with abundance of light is no bad substitute. Treated 
in this manner they make astonishing progress, and many are the 
stories told among the growers of success insured by such means 
as these. 
When cutting flowers for exhibition, only those having reason¬ 
able claims to excellence should be gathered. It is a great mistake 
to encumber oneself with flowers which have no chance of doing 
their owner credit, and yet take up his time and attention. The 
flowers should all be cut the day previous to the show, placed in 
bottles in their respective classes, and carefully examined, those 
having fatal defects, such as being “ quartered,” having too many 
or too few petals or dead at the top of the petals being rejected, 
and those which are the best in each class noted in some way. 
Then the flowers destined for the show should be packed for the 
journey, and here the best use of the “ crinoline ” comes in, and is 
of great advantage. 
PEAT MOSS LITTER. 
I NOTICED “ S. D.’s ” remarks on page 122 respecting his experience 
with peat moss after coming from the stables. His letter was certainly 
rather alarming to those who, like myself, have not yet seen the effects 
of it on crops generally. I have a quantity of it on the ground, and 
some dug in ready for the coming season’s crops. It is too late to alter 
some of it now. I hope there may be something different in its quality 
from that alluded to, and that it will not have the same unfortunate 
effect on our crops. I think the material must vary, as I have failed, like 
many others, in growing Mushrooms in it, whereas we always had plenty 
when straw was used with the manure. I should be much obliged 
if “ S. D.” would forward a few more particulars through your 
columns as to bis treatment of it for growing Mushrooms. I have 
collected it as it came from the stables until we had enough for a bed, 
and made it quite firm. It heated freely at first, and the spawn ran 
well, but the heat was soon gone and the spawn died away. I have 
tried three or four beds in the same house, which is well heated, but 
they have all failed. I know many persons are trying to grow Mush¬ 
rooms in the material, so that any hints from those who have been 
succesiful with it will be welcomed.—R. C. W. 
