420 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
t Kir. ember 17. 18«. 
nection with exhibitions than to see and hear a disap¬ 
pointed competitor indulge in the vulgar exercise of 
abusing the judges, and proclaiming their incapacity, if 
not something worse, in respect to classes in which the 
verdict has been against him, while he approves that of 
the same officials when in other classes they award 
him the coveted prize. lie thus places himself in a 
dilemma of admitting their competence and fairness, 
while he at the same time condemns it. It is a most 
unenviable, not to say humiliating, position to be placed in, 
and only wants to be seen and recorded to be avoided. 
It is further curious that anyone so forgetting himself 
should be blind to the results, these being almost inevit¬ 
ably to strengthen the judges and weaken himself. 
In awarding the prizes for Chrysanthemums and other 
products, the judges do not know, nor want to know, 
whose collections are under examination, and that fact 
alone ought to shield them from the repulsive charge of 
favouritism ; yet such insinuations are not unknown, and 
it is because there are exhibitors capable of entertaining 
them that encouragement is 'withheld by those who are 
able to grant it effectually, and public exhibitions lose 
the support they would otherwise obtain, and thus a 
serious check is given to the advancement of practical 
horticulture. It does not follow, however, that judges 
of garden produce should be above criticism. They are 
public functionaries, and as such are, by their decisions, 
open to public criticism. If they are incapable, the com¬ 
mittees of shows and societies are responsible for their 
apjmintment. If open to influence from whatever source 
they must thereby merit the contempt of honourable men, 
and ought to be drummed out of the ranks of the great 
army of cultivators to which they belong. Judges must 
be men of ability, integrity, and courage ; and exhibitors 
men of mettle who can accept defeat when it is their lot 
to endure it, because the time is never likely to arrive 
when they will be tolerated to judge their own products 
and award themselves prizes to which they have no just 
claim. —Experientia docet. 
SOME GOOD IIARDY PLANTS AND TIIE WAY 
TO INCREASE THEM. 
All real lovers of their gardens, and those who wish for some¬ 
thing more useful than the class of plants with which the beds 
and borders are at present filled from year to year, welcome the 
growing taste for hardy plants, and the change which is gradually 
taking place of a more natural arrangement. The want at present 
felt by a great many gardeners and amateurs is a better knowledge 
of the best and quickest means of propagating and raising a good 
stock of the various things that are recommended to be grown. 
There is no comparison between the beauty of our hardy plants 
when grown in masses and the same plants in two or three isolated 
specimens. Beds and borders filled with a few good things are far 
more useful for cutting from, and more effective than if filled with 
a mixture of many kinds. Before they can be used in this manner 
a good supply of plants at command is requisite. To buy them in 
any quantity soon becomes expensive, but many of the best plants 
are easy of propagation, and the grower will soon become acquainted 
with the best means of doing so, by observing the habits of the 
different classes of plants. Some are easily increased by dividing 
the roots, others by seed and cuttings. Raising them from seed is 
always interesting, and a good batch of something uncommon can 
often be obtained in this manner. 
A sharp look-out should always be kept for any plants which 
show signs of ripening seed, and be careful dying stems are not cut 
off indiscriminately by those tidying the borders, and the chance 
of saving it be lost. The first flowers which open should be left on 
plants of which seed is desired, as these have a better chance of 
ripening, and will always be found to contain a greater proportion 
of good seeds. The pods or heads should be gathered before they 
become quite ripe, or they will burst and the seeds be lost ; others 
will be blown away by the wind. 
Most seeds are best sown as soon as ripe, if not too late in the 
season (say the end of August), then it is better to defer sowing 
until spring. Some seeds are a long while germinating, and are 
often thrown away, after a time, under the impression they were 
bad. For this reason it i3 best to keep seeds of hardy perennials 
by themselves. A small frame and a few handlights will do for 
this purpose. In summer time a rather cool shady place is most, 
suitable for them until germination takes place, when more- air 
and light should be given to prevent the seedlings becoming 
drawn. 
Cuttings, both of roots and tops, are ready means of increasing 
many hardy plants. Most of them will strike in a cold frame or 
under handlights. The point most particularly to be observed is to- 
insert the cuttings and place them where they are to strike as soon 
as possible after they are taken off, and keep them close until root¬ 
ing commences. A border should be set apart as a nursery where^ 
seedlings, rooted cuttings, and offsets can be planted out for a time 
until they are large enough to be transplanted to their permanent 
quarters. The following are some effective and useful plants illus¬ 
trating different modes of propagation. Japanese Anemones, white 
and pink, are amongst the first on the list. In March lift the soil 
round the old plants with a fork, when numerous buds will be found 
just ready to burst into leaf. These should be taken off with an 
inch or so of root attached, and inserted in pans of light soil. 
Place them in a frame (if with a gentle bottom heat the better). 
When two or three leaves have grown to each cutting harden them 
off, and plant out in rows on the nursery border. By autumn they 
will have grown into good plants for filling beds or forming group* 
in the borders. 
Narcissus are all beautiful and desirable. The incomparabilis 
and poeticus sections are perhaps the most hardy and useful. Their 
long flower stalks and light elegant blooms make them most valu¬ 
able flowers for cutting. To increase them, lift the old clumps 
when the foliage has turned yellow, divide them, take off the offsets. 
The largest bulbs can be planted in the same place, if desirable, after 
replacing the old soil with some new. The small bulbs and offsets- 
plant out in rows on the nursery border. In two or three years 
they will grow into flowering bulbs. 
German Irises are increased by dividing the roots either ii> 
spring or autumn. The offset should have two seasons in th© 
nursery border, when they will be strong clumps for transplanting; 
When making groups of them do not plant too closely, leave spaces 
between to be planted with Gladiolus. These flowering after the- 
Irises take off the bareness they have in summer when by them¬ 
selves. 
Perennial Sunflowers should be largely planted. The varieties 
which are too tall for the flower garden can be used in the shrub¬ 
beries. Dividing the roots in spring is the usual way of increasing 
them, but if one has only a few plants it takes some time to get a 
good stock in this manner. The small shoots which spring front 
the axils of the leaves on the flower stems may be taken off with a 
heel, or the stems, before becoming too hard, can be cut into lengths 
with a pair of leaves at the top. Place them under close handlights. 
Although they are rather slow in striking, eventually roots will be 
formed, and they will make good plants. Winter them in a cold 
frame and plant out in spring. The side shoots on the flower stems 
of Lychnis chalcedonica plena will strike in the same way. 
Rudbeckia Newmanni, perhaps next to Anemone japonica, is tha 
most popular of hardy perennials, and deservedly so. It is a plant 
that is easily propagated either by division, cuttings, or seed. 
The cuttings should be put in about August. Bupthalmium salici- 
folium, Helenium pumilum, and Doronicum Harpur Crewe, are 
three most useful yellow Composites. The latter is valuable as it 
flowers early. They are all propagated in the same way as Rud¬ 
beckia Newmanni. 
Although of the same character and colour, Coreopsis lanceolata 
claims a foremost place on account of it3 value for cutting purposes, 
also its long season of flowering. It is best raised from seed annually. 
Plant the seedlings in the nursery for a time where they will form 
strong clumps for transplanting. 
Senecio pulcher should be largely grown on account of its colour. 
This plant can be increased by cuttings of the roots, which should 
be taken off in the spring. Cut into lengths of about an inch, and 
given a little bottom heat, a good stock can soon be raised in this 
manner. I have found it a rather difficult plant to save seed of r 
but this year I have saved some. 
Pentstemon barbatus is not often seen, but when seen in good 
clumps it is very beautiful with its long elegant spikes of scarlet 
flowers. The cuttings are a long time forming roots, and require 
to be kept close under handlights. 
Erigeron speciosns superbus, when seen in large masses, is a 
striking object in the garden. The quiet colour of the flowers, 
which are produced in profusion, is always pleasing to the eye. 
