February £8, 18S9. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
177 
have plenty of scope to develope, when they grow to noble speci¬ 
mens, and this more especially with the “ branching ” strain, which 
is also the most generally useful. Limnanthes Douglasi is a very 
dwarf yellow annual of somewhat trailing habit, which continues to 
sow itself when once established, and is a very noticeable plant. 
Linum grandiflorum rubrum is one of the most brilliant of flowers, 
and makes a glowing bed. The common Love-lies-bleeding, when 
the strain is good, is an extra good plant, suitable alike for the 
garden and for furnishing vases. It requires plenty of room. 
Mignonette everybody grows, but almost always too much of it 
—that is to say, too many plants in a given space. If sown in beds 
the best plan is to draw lines at least 15 inches apart, and when the 
plants are up thin to 1 foot apart in the lines. If the soil is poor a 
mulch of good manure will be of great benefit. The Nasturtiums 
{Tropreolums), as now improved, are of great value. I have not 
grown all, but one of the most attractive I have seen was picked 
up in a farmer’s garden, without a name or a history. The Nemo- 
phila family is a charming one, but the one I like best is N. insignis, 
which is occasionally employed for edging flower beds. (Enothera 
historta Yeitchi is a pretty spreading plant, worth a place in the 
mixed border ; but the best is doubtless CE. Lamarckiana, one of the 
noblest of garden flowers. This is generally best raised under 
glass and transplanted, or otherwise treated as a biennial. It 
requires good ground, plenty of room. Some of the double Poppies 
are good for odd spots or shrubberies. For bedding the rose 
Saponaria is not so much grown now as it was a quarter of a 
century back. In some soils it does very well, and should be sown 
where it is to bloom. Sedum coeruleum (the blue Stonecrop) is a 
fit companion to the Ionopsidium. It is very neat, and most 
suitable for carpeting dry ground. Sweet Alyssum is suitable to 
grow as advised for Candytuft—that is, for covering ground which 
will be occupied later in the year by larger plants. 
Sweet Peas are generally grown. Thin seeding is to be observed, 
and it is of the first importance to keep the pods removed before 
the plants are checked. The best varieties are white and crimson, 
hut in most gardens a mixture should be sown. Sweet Sultan, 
white, is a deliciously scented flower, and withal valuable for 
giving a character to floral arrangements. The purple may also 
he grown. The yellow requires to be raised under glass and trans¬ 
planted. Tropaeolum peregrinum (canariense) for covering bare 
walls in warm positions cannot be surpassed. It is an old and 
beautiful flower. Yenus’s Looking-glass is good for dotting in 
mixed borders. The Yirginian Stocks are, like Candytuft, suitable 
for growing in places to fill up for a space. These plants take care 
of themselves when once established.—R. P. B. 
(To be continued.) 
ASPARAGUS TENUISSIMUS. 
There is apparently some confusion as to the nomenclature of 
the species of Asparagus, as I had the above sent to me many years 
ago for A. plumosus nanus, and again only lately I experienced the 
■same bad fortune. In one instance I am sure the plant was sent in 
good faith. Though far from being so graceful as A. plumosus 
nanus, it is nevertheless a most useful plant both for cutting as 
well as for using in pots. It will stand almost any amount of bad 
treatment, such as neglect in watering, or standing in very warm or 
■cold positions. It makes a not-to-be-despised plant for exhibiting, 
and is altogether a species to be commended to the notice of those 
who are not acquainted with its merits. Those who have plants 
will find the present a good time to increase stock. This is readily 
effected by taking off those growths on the stems which are seen to 
have embryo roots protruding. These merely require to be placed 
in sandy material, and kept moist and warm until established. 
In order to obtain large plants rapidly it is best to grow them in 
a stove, repotting as required, not stinting water. A good loam suits 
this plant perfectly, but it will grow in anything. Fine plants may 
be had in G-inch pots by placing a neat stick 2i or 3 feet in length 
up the middle of the plant, and tying the growths loosely thereto 
as they are thrown up from the rootstock. "When sufficiently 
grown these should present a neatly columnar appearance. In 
order to secure an exhibition specimen it is necessary to repot 
frequently, and when a 13 or 15-inch pot has been used a trellis 
should be constructed to tie-in the growths to. If a sound loam 
has been employed for potting the plant will do well for many 
years in the same pot, only taking the necessary precaution of 
giving an occasional supply of manure with the waterings. After 
the plant is properly furnished it will do perfectly in a cool house. 
During summer the whole plant is covered with little starry 
whitish flowers, which are very pretty. A few of these are ferti¬ 
lised, and the seed vessels swell to the size of peppercorns, and are 
dark in colour. If any insect gets domiciled among the very 
attenuated leafage, the only method of destroying it is by means of 
hot water and soap in solution, applied forcibly by means of a 
common syringe.—B. 
THE CHISWICK CHRYSANTHEMUM CONFERENCE. 
We learn that Mr. E. Molyneux has consented to act as Honorary 
Secretary of a Committee that will be appointed to make the necessary 
arrangements for carrying out this project, and as the date has been 
altered so that the gathering will be held a week before the Show of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society, there is reason to hope it will be a 
gratifying success. 
CUTTING! DOWN CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
In answer to Mr. James Grant (page 87) concerning the varieties he 
there mentions, he will find that by cutting down at the dates named 
on the same page, he may rely upon having good blooms, provided he 
reduces the breaks to two or three in number to each plant. Boule 
d’Or will produce fine flowers if three only are allowed to remain, as 
will Meg Merrilies and Ralph Brocklebank. These and the others men¬ 
tioned may be cut down to within about 8 inches of the pot. The wood 
will not be as hard as the later cut down sorts, but these are good 
varieties to break, as also are Eve, Mabel Ward, and many others. Some 
do not succeed with this treatment. For instance, Grandiflorum, 
Marguerite Marrouch, Gloriosum, L’Adorable, and L'Or du Japon, while 
many of the Incurved are much best if left to the orthodox method, 
especially Prince Alfred, Lord Wolseley, Jeanne d’Arc, Empress 
Eugdnie, Jardin des Plantes, and Princess Beatrice. Some growers take 
the tops out of such sorts about the end of June or the beginning of 
July, but this is generally done with plants that were struck late, conse¬ 
quently the July bud is likely to be late in forming, whereby the top¬ 
ping process induces the plants to break earlier than if left till the bud 
appears. Again, when the bud appears too early the top is taken off to 
retard the flowering season. Of course in this case it is performed 
somewhat later, according to the natural flowering season of the variety. 
I cannot quite agree with the views of “ W. D.” at page 126 in placing 
the plants in their largest pots before cutting them down. I think it a 
safer method to let the plants recover from their loss before shifting, 
however late the cutting down may be done, more especially in wet 
seasons. I have witnessed more than one failure from following the 
process he there recommends. I find Comte de Germiny succeed well 
here under the cut-down system, as does Thunberg, each carrying five 
good blooms.—A Notts Grower. 
THE COLOUR MOST WANTED IN CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
This I should describe as rose pink. I am aware in catalogues 
there are several described as that colour, but which I deem a poor 
apology for the lovely colour of some of the Roses to be seen at shows 
amongst Mr. Cant’s collection. The nearest approach of any mum ” 
1 know is Roseum Superbum, but even that in comparison is somewhat 
like a candle to the sun. Just imagine what the effect would be to 
a show board with a Mdlle. Lacroix or Lady Selborne, the colour of 
the Rose I am endeavouring to describe ; but possibly Mr. Molyneux 
or some readers of the Journal may know of some new Chrysanthe¬ 
mum, if not quite so charming in colour as the Rose, still an immense 
improvement upon those hitherto described as that colour.—F. C. B. 
ROI DES PRECOCE3. 
This bright crimson early flowering Japanese Chrysanthemum has 
been several times noted as possessing considerable decorative value, 
owing to the freedom with which its blooms arc produced. These are 
admirably adapted for cutting and bunching or arranging in vases. The 
colour is a peculiarly bright and pleasing one, and the blooms themselves 
are slighter and more graceful than the exhibition varieties. The 
market growers seem to have become acquainted with the merits of the 
variety, for one in the neighbourhood of Loudon is said to have had 
40,000 plants of Roi des Prdcoces alone, the majority of these being 
grown for cutting and supplying the markets. This constituted half the 
entire stock of Chrysanthemums, the remainder being made of a few 
select varieties in from 5 to 10,000 plants each, Madame Desgranges 
forming a good proportion of the total. We understand that about 
10,000 plants of M. N. Davis will be grown this year for the same pur¬ 
pose. Few outside the trade have any idea how extensively Chrysan¬ 
themums are now grown, and the demand seems to be still increasing. 
The London district, which makes a specialty of these plants, annually 
supplies a stock exceeding a quarter of a million of cuttings, rooted or 
unrooted. 
THE BLUE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 
Some are still sanguine enough to hope that a blue Chrysanthemum 
may be yet introduced or raised, as the following paragraph, which has 
appeared in the daily papers, indicates :—“ Mr. Frederick Lewis, of 
South Weald, Essex, again offers this year a premium of five guineas, 
I and also in addition to that a third class railway ticket to pay travelling 
