December 28.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
201 
dant moisture, and tlie plants will be found never to do well 
when the soil becomes in any degree sodden. 
The Soil should be rich, and tolerably light. I prefer 
decayed cucumber-bed dung to any other manure, and the 
soil which I have found suit them best, is a light hazel loam, 
with a good portion of decayed turf from pasture land, 
thoroughly mixed therewith, by frequently stirring and 
digging, and to three barrow-loads of this soil I add one of 
the cucumber-bed manure two years old. I find that 
manure-water, particularly guano water, applied during the 
blooming season, very beneficial. 
The Plants should be carefully selected for the purpose of 
producing blooms for exhibition, as it will be always found 
that when they have flowered well through one season, they j 
never produce so fine blooms the second. Those who intend < 
to grow the Pansey for exhibition, should select young plants 
well established from cuttings for the purpose. For the 
spring exhibitions in May and June, I select plants struck 
the previous autumn, in August and September; and for the 
autumn exhibitions in September, I select plants struck j 
early in the spring; and after these have produced their 
blooms, I save them for store plants, to produce cuttings, 
always having a constant succession of young plants for the 
purpose of blooming. 
The Propagation of the I'ansey is a very simple and easy 
process. I find that the young side shoots are to be most 
preferred for cuttings, as the old hollow stems seldom strike 
freely, and do not grow so strong for spring blooming. I 
take off a sufficient quantity of these side shoots in August, 
or the beginning of September, and for autumn blooming in 
April and May; these I insert either under haud-glasses, 
or in pots placed in a cool-frame in some good light 
compost, mixed with a good quantity of silver sand, taking 
I care to keep them moderately moist, and shading them from 
! hot suns. 
j The Disease to which the Pansey is most subject, is a 
j withering away suddenly, as if struck by something at the 
S root. This disease has received various names, as root-rot, 
' decline, Ac., but both cause and remedy are unknown. I 
| have found that old plants are much more subject to it than 
' young ones, and that it appears to be most prevalent during 
hot and dry seasons. When I find a plant that is thus 
struck, which is indicated by a withering of the foliage, if it 
be a rare and choice kind, I immediately take all the cuttings 
I can get, and strike them, as I have almost invariably found 
that the old plants die. Strong stimulating manures I have 
found productive of this disease. As a preventive I keep the 
surface of the soil frequently stirred, and out of above 500 
blooming plants during the present year, I have not lost 
more than three by this disease.—J. H. Knight, Florist, 
Bailie. 
NEW AND CHOICE CALCEOLARIAS. 
Herbaceous—to be cultivated in pots in the greenhouse. 
I Black Agnes —white ground, large dark blotch ; medium size. 
Bridal Ring —lemon ground, numerous dark spots, thicker 
round the margin so as to form a ring ; medium size. 
| Catherine Seaton —white ground, thinly covered with dark 
spots; robust growth. 
I Claudia —dark ; medium size. 
I Coronet —clear white ground, dark spots; a fine form, with 
large flowers. 
j Damon —orange ground, crimson spots ; medium, fine form, 
j Dr. Neal —dark cherry-coloured ground, darker coloured 
spots; large flowers, finest form, 
j Elegans —bright lemon ground, dark spots ; medium size. 
Faleonbridge —chocolate ground, streaked and marked with 
cream colour; robust grower, large flowers, 
j Fair Maid of Kent —white ground, dark maroon blotch in 
the centre; medium size, and fine form. 
| Laura —clear white ground, dark spots; fine form; an ex¬ 
cellent variety. 
I Macbeth —dark maroon ground, spotted with white; medium 
{ size. 
Mark Antony —yellow ground, dark spotted; medium size. 
McXiel —white ground, dark spots ; medium size. 
I Orbata —white ground, dark blotch; fine round flowers, 
excellent shape. 
Parlemount Beauty —yellow ground, dark spots ; fine form ; 
a robust grower. 
Portia —dark; medium size. 
Rcsplendens —dark red, black spots ; medium size; a fine 
variety. 
Rubcscrns —bright cherry; medium size. 
Sir H. Smith —sulphur-coloured ground, dark spots; medium 
size; fine form. 
VARIETIES FOR BEDDING-OUT. 
Chiefly of a shrubby habit. 
Amplexicaulis —sulphur-colour self; free grower, and abun¬ 
dant flowerer; medium size. 
Gem —crimson self; medium size; abundant bloomer. 
Hero (Cattel’s)—rich maroon ; large and showy. 
Kayii —bright yellow; dwarf habit; most abundant bloomer. 
Kentish Hero —yellow ground, cream-coloured spot; flower¬ 
ing abundantly in large panicles. 
Shankleyand —bronzy yellow; free flowerer; strong grower; 
an excellent variety. 
Sultan —extra fine crimson self; fine shape. 
Sulphured splendens —bright lemon colour ; free bloomer, 
large flower ; dwarf habit. 
Viscosissima —bright yellow; grows tall; suitable to plant 
against a low wall or paling; and answers well for a 
large bed, if pegged down early. 
Vivid —yellow ground, bright red blotch. 
T. Appleby. 
FLOWER-BED FORMS. 
i By inserting “Fanny’s” letter, I presume that you invite 
I hints on the subject to which it refers ? Will not all your 
j readers point to Mr. Beaton, as the man to settle such 
questions ?—to whom nothing is too great, or too insig¬ 
nificant ! Still, I shall not be deterred from offering an idea 
or two, as I have had some slight experience—shall I say in 
landscape gardening ? No ! the word is too pompous,— 
j seeing that I have not acted under the guidance of any pro¬ 
fessional landscape gardener, either theoretically or prac¬ 
tically; but more from observation of nature and the dictates 
of my own taste,—yet my work, though of Lilliputian extent 
compared with the works of “the powers that be,” have 
elicited great applause. 
Knowing nothing of the sketch that “ Fanny ” sent you,— 
of the extent, shape, or diversity of surface,—whether plain 
or dotted with shrubs, trees, or other ornaments, I shall 
premise, first, that there are some shrubs or trees ; conse¬ 
quently the turf is thrown into irregular portions, or glades, 
recesses, or vistas. To dot such spaces over with single 
beds of fanciful shapes, either at regular or irregular dis¬ 
tances, to fill with half-hardy plants, would of course fail to 
please. Beds, in such cases, if single, should be of the 
simplest shapes ; and filled with some plant that harmonises 
better with the scenery than do most half-hardy plants, such 
as roses, fuchsias, hollyhocks, yuccas, dwarf barberries, 
rhododendrons, heaths, azaleas, &c.; but if the half-hardy 
plants must be grown in such places, groups of beds may 
be introduced ; in the centre of which may be a pillar of 
roses, formed by bringing three or five larch or other rough 
poles together at top, in form of a cone ; the bed in which 
their bottoms are plunged will serve for planting the climb¬ 
ing roses in to cover the pillar ; and the intervening spaces 
should be filled with some dwarf rose, of one sort, that will 
answer as a distinct colour, round which to group the half- 
hardy plants; or it may be a rustic basket, standing on a pe- 
I destal about two feet high, and in the centre of a small bed. 
The bed itself may form the centre of a group, if the space is 
| large; but if smaU it may stand alone, having the basket filled 
with petunias, heliotrope, or other trailing plants; and the bed 
at the base, in which the basket stands, with pelargoniums, or 
what the fancy dictates. Such a bed and basket' may be sur¬ 
rounded with a small rustic fence or edging, 12 inches high, 
round which may be trained some small trailers. Or again, 
the centre of such a group may be furnished with a neat 
wire basket, and covered with loasas, tropocolums, Ac. Or 
again, it may be formed by a fine rose-tree; but if in the 
immediate neighbourhood of trees, raised rustic beds may 
be formed, which would in great measure prevent the plants 
being robbed by the roots of the trees. Indeed, with 
