168 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ July, 
penetrate every nook and corner, and being of much more rapid vegetation than many 
others, they take possession of the pots or pans, and effectually choke the species sown. 
The operation of sowing, then, should be conducted in a place where there is the least pro¬ 
bability of the spores of other species being present floating about in the air. There is also 
a risk in sowing several different sorts at the same time, and in spite of every precaution, 
intruders will make their appearance. Twenty years is about the limit, so far as M. Mayer’s 
experience goes, up to which the spores of some of the freer-growing Ferns will gei’minate. 
- correspondent of the Gardener s Record , writing on the Raising of 
Primula japonica from Seed , remarks that his system of doing this is not only 
simple but successful. Instead of light loam and leaf-mould, he prefers good 
holding loam, with a little sharp sand only. In August, when the seed is perfectly ripe, he 
prepares boxes or pans by draining well. The soil is filled in and thoroughly pressed down, 
the seed sown evenly, covered lightly with the same soil, and watered till the whole of the 
soil is moistened. They are placed in a shady part of any structure the sun will never 
touch, so as to require watering as little as possible during autumn and winter, but never 
allowed to get dry, water being the secret of success or failure. When the seed lies dormant 
from August till March, in light soil, not well pressed down before sowing, every -watering 
takes it down below the vegetating point, and the result is only a few seedlings, instead of 
thousands. When the seedlings appear, water is still the secret of success, for there is no fear 
of their damping-off like other things. 
- ®he new Queen Onion , though a small variety, is, on account of its 
earliness, likely to prove one of the most useful sorts for certain purposes. At Chis¬ 
wick it was early in June bulbing rapidly, while the other sorts on trial, sown at the 
same time, were not making bulbs. For autumn-sowing Mr. Tantum considers it invaluable. 
Those who are likely to require good-sized fresh onions at this season of the year should, 
amongst their autumn-sowings, include a good breadth of the Queen Onion. We 
make three sowings, he says, of Tripoli Onions every autumn,—the first very early in 
August, the second about the middle of the month, and the last very early in 
September. The first sowing comes in early, and is often useful, but as sportsmen say, 
won’t last, for they run to seed, especially if the season is dry, as this has been ; but 
the second and third, if transplanted properly, give us a large supply of good bulbs until 
the spring-sown ones are ready. The reason why autumn-sown and spring-transplanted 
onions grow thick-necked and bulb badly is deep sowing and too deep transplanting; the 
Queen bears this less than any. Let the ground be well pulverised, and made firm and level, 
and let the plants be dibbled in carefully, covering only the roots. 
- @£he beautiful rose-coloured Spircea palmata is now grown for the 
London markets. It has this season been uncommonly well grown by Mr. 
Oubridge, with the same heat and the same treatment in every way as that given 
to the Astilbe japonica (Hoteia or Spiraea japonica), flowering freely in the month of March. 
As a forced plant, this Spiraea is beautiful beyond description ; the leafage takes on a bright 
grass-green colour, and the flowers an exquisite shade of rosy-magenta. The way to manage 
the plant is to divide into single crowns, and grow one season in rich soil, with plenty of 
water, and pot up early and store in frames until the time arrives for forcing, and then the 
treatment that suits the Astilbe is all that it requires. Five-inch pots suffice. 
- ®he pretty hybrid Libonia penrhosiana was raised some few years since 
between Libonia floribunda and Sericographis Ghiesbreghtii , at Penrhose Castle. 
The plant is interesting, not only for its beauty, but for the fact that it is a hybrid 
between two so-called genera, Libonia and Sericographis , thus serving to show how arbitrary 
are our generic distinctions. M. Linden has, it appears, obtained the same hybrid, and 
apparently unaware of its previous production, sent it out as a new plant under the name of 
Sericobonia ignea, which indicates its dual origin. Here, then, is a fresh garden synonym. 
- 0NE of the most useful plants for spring flower-gardens is the Double 
Scarlet Poppy Anemone , and it is a colour difficult to obtain. To have good 
beds of this, we have seen it recommended to plant half the tubers in October 
and half in December, the later ones being planted between the early ones; this gives a long 
succession of bloom. 
