July 7, 18S7. ■] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
9 
W. H. Lee proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Garnett for opening the 
interesting discussion, and to the exhibitors of flowers. Mr. T. Senior 
Seconded the motion, and said they were much indebted to Mr. Garnet^ 
-for the great interest he had taken in the Society since its formation, and 
for the ability he displayed in reference to all horticultural matters. Mr. 
T. 11. Preston supported the motion, as did also Mr. H. Oxley. The last 
named gentleman remarked that formerly market gardening was exten¬ 
sively Garried on at the Adel Reformatory, but on visiting it that dayb e 
found that the cultivation of flowers had taken the place of growing 
vegetables, and he saw no less than 7000 Rose trees and large beds of 
, flowers of various kinds, for which there was a great demand. He had 
.no doubt that the present great love for flowers had been brought about 
.in some measure through the influence of such societies as the Paxton 
Society. 
- The Grasshopper Plague is giving serious trouble in Algeria 
' this year. The efforts made to destroy the eggs have proved useless. In 
-one.district 50,000 gallons have been collected and burned. This rtepre- 
. sents the destruction of 7,250,000,000 insects. 
- We are informed by Messes. Sutton & Sons of Reading, that 
the statement which appeared in our columns last week, to the effect 
that they “ provided a substantial repast for 2000 aged persons,” is 
'incorrect. They only placed two of their large rooms at the disposal of 
the J ubilee Committee, who provided the dinner. 
- Messrs. Storrie & Storrie of Dundee send us samples of 
■a new label rest. It is an ingenious yet simple arrangement of 
-galvanised wire, in which a label horizontally placed is tightly gripped 
.and held at an angle convenient for reading, the wire being twisted 
below the label and made to form two legs for inserting in the ground. 
These labels, we are informed, have been in use for two years by the 
patentees, and have given such great satisfaction as to justify them in 
offering them to the public. They are durable, portable, and useful for 
flowers and trees in gardens. 
- Croydon Flower Show.—A correspondent informs us that 
a very successful and largely attended show was held at Croydon last 
week. The most successful winners in the plant classes were Mr. W. 
King, gardener to P. Crowley, Esq., and Mr. T. N. Penfold, gardener to 
Rev. Canon Bridges. The last named exhibitor also staged fruit and 
Iloses successfully, and Mr. Jupp, gardener to Cuthbert Johnson, Esq., 
secured the Society’s and Messrs. Sutton’s prizes for excellent vegetables. 
There was a great display of Roses, but the blooms were rather small, 
Messrs. B. R. Cant, F. Cant, G. Bunyard, G. W. Piper, and Cheal & Sons 
were prizewinners, as also were, in other classes, Revs. R. C. Hales and 
Alan Cheales, with Mrs. Waterlow and Messrs. T. B. Heywood, A. 
Slaughter, E. R. Linsdell, J. Macdonald Smith, E. Mawley, W. J- 
Dart, W. E. West, and M. Hodgson. The National Rose Society’s 
medal offered for the best Rose in the Show was won by Miss Baker with 
• Catherine Mermet. Messrs. J. R. Box, J. Laing A Co., and J. Cheal and 
Sons contributed to the attractiveness of the Show by their special 
■exhibits. 
——- Mr. Robert Sydenham of Birmingham, in describing in a 
small manual how he came to grow bulbs, states:—“ When I first 
went specially to Holland to see why the Dutchmen were able to grow 
bulbs better than they can be grown in any other country, I quite 
-realised when there the secret of their success. The land is all perfectly 
flat, the soil is nothing but fine sand, such as seen by the seaside, which 
is always about one even moistness, for about 18 to 24 inches under the 
surface is always water, consequently, however dry the weather is, the' 
moisture drawn up from the water always keeps the bulbs in one even 
state of moisture, as the soil is never dry 3 inches under the surface. As; 
a proof of this, I am told the Dutch can plant young Lettuce out in the 
hottest weather, and the plants will hardly feel the shift after the first: 
night. Should heavy rain ever fall it drains through the sand iinmc- 
’ -diately, i The Dutch always cover their bulb beds over during the 
winter with straw or reeds about 4 inches thick to keep out the frost, 
and they tell me the great secret of success is to keep the bulbs in an 
even temperature and away from the frost. The land where the bulbs 
are grown is very richly manured with cow manure every second or 
third year, the ground being covered withmaiiure Cor 8 inches thick. There; 
is such a demand for cow manure in the bulb districts that it is brought 
from all parts of Holland, and constitutes quite a trade ; in fact, many 
'dairymen make nearly as much out of their cows’ manure as they do 
out of the milk. Hyacinths are only grown in the same ground once 
in three years, then a crop of Tulips or Crocus) the third year often 
standing idle.” 
DOUBLE FLOWERED IVY-LEAF 
PELARGONIUMS. 
This section of the Pelargonium has been improved very much 
during the last few years by Mr. Cannell and others. They can be 
grown into any shape and to a great size within a space of twelve 
or fifteen months. I lately saw several well flowered plants at 
Northerwood, Lord Londesborough’s beautiful place near Lyndhurst. 
They were trained to a pyramidal-shaped trellis, about 5 feet 
high, and 3 feet through at the pot. These Pelargoniums are also very 
useful for draping a pillar or a wall in the conservatory or green - 
house. Small plants grown in 32-size pots, having five thin sticks 
round the edge of the pots, with an inclination to the centre of the 
ball, and the tops brought together and tied to a short stick placed 
upright in the centre of the pot and the shoots trained loosely 
thereto, make very useful and effective plants for standing in vases 
on the dinner table and for other decorative purposes. 
Veritable pyramids of dark scarlet, pink, rose, white, &c., from 
5 to 6 feet high, and from 3 to 4 feet through at the base, may be 
grown in a 12 or 10-inch pot within a period of two or three years 
from cuttings, provided the plants are potted in a compost consisting 
of three parts of sound fibry loam and one of pulverised horse 
droppings and sweet leaf mould, with a liberal sprinkling of coarse 
sand added. Any young plants which are destined to be grown into 
large specimens should not be placed on a trellis until they are 
shifted into their flowering pots, as many of the shoots would bo 
sure to get broken in the process of uncoiling, but, instead, support 
the shoots by tying them to upright sticks in the meantime. Strong 
galvanised wire, painted green, is the best material to make the 
trellises with for ordinary sized specimens, but for large .specimens 
the framework of the trellis should consist of quaiter-inch thick 
iron, with rings of stout galvanised wire. 
In training the plants, commencing, as a matter of course, at 
the bottom, coiling the shoots round the trellis until the top is 
reached, and the whole is completely covered with short-jointed 
shoots. If the object be to secure large specimens in as short a 
time as possible all flowers should be picked off as soon as they 
appear, and alternate waterings cf weak liquid manure and clear 
water be given at the roots when considered necessary . 
The double-flowered Ivy-leaf Pelargonium is also a capital 
basket plant, the flowering shoots hanging gracefully over the edge 
of wire baskets suspended from the roof of greenhouse or conser¬ 
vatory being very effective. S nail fl weiing [lints in 48 pots aie 
good for drooping over the edge of the side and central stages in green¬ 
house and conservatory. It is also a first-rate plant for planting in 
rustic vases in the pleasure grounds, in which, likewise, large 
pyramids of the various distinct flowered varieties may be formed 
during summer by the use of enriched loam, moss, and small plants. 
The interior of the pyramids may be formed by the mould, working 
the moss round the outside, and putting in a plant here and there 
as the work proceeds, giving sufficient water through a rose to settle 
the soil about the roots, and the moss several times during the 
progress of the pyramids, on the completion of which the Pelar¬ 
gonium shoots should be pegged loosely into the moss. In the 
absence of rain the floral pyramids should be watered through a 
moderately fine rose every afternoon. As the above remarks are in 
reference to rooted plants, I may here say that cuttings of the 
most approved varieties taken at once, or, indeed, any time between 
February and October, and inserted in 3-inch p its filled with sandy 
soil in a close moist frame or propagating house, will soon root 
They should then be potted singly, watered, and grown near the 
glass ; afterwards shift the plants into larger pots as they require 
more room at the roots, using the loam in a rougher state at 
each potting. The plants, I find, make satisfactory progress and 
flower freely during the winter and spring months in a light house 
and in a temperature ranging between 43° and 50° at night and 
between 50° and (10° in the daytime. 
In the following list are included a few of the best varieties to 
grow for any of the purposes indicated:—Madame Thibaut, deep 
pink ; Isadore Feral, flowers large and very double, of a most pleas¬ 
ing shade of light rose colour ; Louis Thibaut, deep red, of fine 
shape ; Jeanne d’Arc, one of the best varieties, white, suffused with 
light lavender ; Comtesse Horace de Choiseul, beautiful satiny rose, 
shaded towards the edge of petals white ; Abel Carriere, of a beau¬ 
tiful soft magenta colour, feathered maroon in upper petals ; A. F. 
Barron, lilac rose flowers, larg i and very full ; De Brazza, lively 
salmon, full pips of perfect shape, short jointed and free ; Gloire 
d’Orleans, rich crimson magenta, produced in great abundance, 
trusses and flowers medium size, of dwarf habit, consequently not 
