1877 . ] 
DAHLIAS UNLIFTED.-LAXTOn’s NEW PEAS. 
173 
I have remarked that wherever these plants continued to succeed well, it was 
invariably v^here they had to submit to a much lower temperature in the 
night, and both day and night in winter, with considerably more light than 
when subjected, as they usually are, to the heat and general conditions of an East 
Indian orchid-house; and my decided conviction is that if thus submitted to 
cooler treatment, with a greater amount of light, which more than any other 
element imparts strength and substance to vegetable life, there would be no diffi¬ 
culty in keeping these, equally with the almost innumerable other species 
and varieties of plants we grow in artificial heat, in a state of continued health and 
vigour.—T. Baines, Southgate, 
DAHLIAS UNLIFTED. 
jT is not a common practice to allow Dahlias to remain in the ground all the 
winter, but where land is well drained it answers well. The plants grow 
much stronger, and the flowers are larger, and the great strength of the 
^ stems is in their favour when exposed to wind. When the plants begin to 
shoot up, the stems may be reduced to one or more as desired, a quantity of 
manure may then be forked into the surface, and the stakes placed in position, 
one to each plant, and with the exception of tying the stems securely, there is 
little more trouble necessary; A small mound of ashes placed over each crown 
as protection in winter, generally keeps the roots safe and sound. We have 
known them in the midland counties of England and Ireland stand ordinary 
Avinters without any protection wha'tever.—K. T. I. 
LAXTON^S NEW PEAS—HARBINGER AND MARVEL. 
|T the last great trial of Peas at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens 
at Chiswick, Harbinger is said to have been three or four days earlier 
than any other in that great collection. I have grown it for some time, 
and can bear testimony to its hardiness. This season, sown on February 
7, it is now (June 9) ready, while William I. and Little Gem are only just 
coming into bloom. The style of growth is rather straggling, about 21 ft. high, 
with from four to five pairs of pods on each stem, and averaging from four to five 
peas in each pod. As an early Pea it is a gain, though the produce is sparing, 
but gardeners should bear in mind that if Peas can be had that much earlier, it is 
certainly an acquisition. 
Marvel is also noted at the great Pea trial, and I believe received a First- 
class Certificate. It is, I fully believe, the most productive of any pea of my 
acquaintance, growing from 3-^ ft. to 4 ft. high, and the peas hanging literally 
from top to bottom. It bears some resemblance to the variety called Dr. 
Maclean, but produces the pods in pairs instead of singly, as in Dr. Maclean, and has 
from eight to nine peas in each pod, green as a leek, and of the very highest 
flavour; the seed is green and white, and wrinkled, but the plant is hardy. Sown 
