8 
THE ELOKIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
I have found in all the pans hundreds of small bulbs, that have formed from 
the seeds and never showed leaves at all, or at least till now. Kaisers of 
Liliums from seed, if disappointed in their plants not appearing above 
ground, had therefore better examine the soil to see if any young bulbs are 
forming below. 
Welbeclc. William Tillery. 
ON ASTERS. 
“ I cannot get good Asters, somehow,” said a discontented horticulturist 
the other day; “ what I get are generally just so much rubbish, and nothing 
more.” He went on further to say that he obtained the very best of the 
imported varieties, so far as he could judge of their quality, but “ they 
never pleased him.” And then he went off into a denunciation of seeds¬ 
men, as if they had all conspired to cheat him, worthy soul, and tinge with 
bitterness his Christmas festivities. There is a good deal of this abuse of 
seedsmen going on at times; they are made the scapegoats for many an 
ignorant and indolent gardener, just as if seedsmen had no reputations to 
lose or good names to peril. 
My good but complaining friend had his Asters from a most estimable 
man; but he had been so attracted by the splendid quilled varieties that 
Mr. Betteridge used to exhibit, that he could see no merit in any Others; 
he had constantly before him those magnificent quilled flowers, perfect in 
form, the quilled petals regularly ranged in a series of unbroken circles, 
clean as a Picotee, and strikingly beautiful. He had a keen eye for the 
symmetry of a flower, and one of Mr. Betteridge’s quilled Asters was to 
him an example of the very acme of form; but he was not aware of the 
“mysteries” of exhibiting flowers. He knew nothing of trenches richly 
manured, of copious libations of liquid manure having a most unmistake- 
able “body,” of careful shading, and a process of disbudding that to him 
would have appeared something akin to extermination. I took compassion 
on his peace of mind, and kept this from him. Then he had very antago¬ 
nistic influences to contend against. His ground was very cold, clayey, 
and much exposed, and he thought lightly of liberal dressings of manure; 
and he failed, as any one must inevitably fail, in producing quilled Asters 
under such adverse circumstances. 
Such a case is a kind of text on which to found some advice to growers 
of the Aster, who may also have come short of their expectations. First, 
then, grow but few quilled Asters, and of these a good strain of what are 
denominated German quilled, will be the best. Secondly, grow the follow¬ 
ing for the sake of their great beauty, their large size, and for their freedom 
and continuity of bloom :— 
Victoria, a magnificent strain, having broad, flat-petalled flowers, well 
reflexed, none of them being incurved, or only in very exceptional cases. 
The flower-heads are of great size, very double, and of distinct colours ; of 
free-blooming compact habit, and growing from 12 to 18 inches in height. 
For exhibition purposes this variety can hardly be surpassed. 
Dwarf Chrysanthemum-flowered, which has a very dwarf, close habit, and 
is one of the latest in blooming. It grows from 6 to 9 inches high, and 
flowers remarkably freely, and, like the tall variety, the flower-heads are 
reflexed. It makes a very effective bed when fine weather prevails, and it is 
one of the very best for pot culture. There is also a good variety of 
colours. 
