93 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 6. 
scarlet margin. Lower petals bright crimson, with a 
dark spot on each. Very striking, handsome variety 
7. Petruchio (Fouquet).—This is a large, showy, tree- 
blooming variety, that ought to be in every collection, 
being very effective on the greenhouse stage, as well as 
for exhibition. Trusses very large, form good, and 
habit excellent. Lower petals rich crimson; maroon 
spot on upper petals, with a distinct margin of crimson. 
8. Phaeton (Foster).—A bright flower, of fine habit. 
Lower petals bright scarlet orange ; top petals crimson 
with dark spot, edged with scarlet; glossy surface and 
smooth edges. Very desirable. 
9. Tete noir (Gaines).—Upper petals velvetty black; 
under petals shaded orange, with a black spot on each ; 
white centre; good form. The greatest novelty ever 
seen. 
10. Una (Henderson).—A free-blooming, white variety, 
with carmine spot on the upper petals. Large trusses, 
and excellent habit. 
11. Wonderful (Hoyle).—A large flower, of excellent 
form and habit. White centre, dark top petals, with 
deep rose under petals, shaded with orange. Free and 
constant bloomer. A noble variety. 
12. Vesper (Cant).—A spotted flower like Sanspariel, 
but different in the ground colour, which is a pure 
white. Consequently the spot on each petal is more 
conspicuous and distinct. 
Prices from 2s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued .) 
PROTECTING AND PROMOTING THE GER¬ 
MINATION OF SEEDS. 
There are few things more annoying to the cultivator 
than to find that certain important crops fail entirely 
owing to the seeds not germinating, or, which amounts 
to the same, the young seedlings dying off before they 
are visible to ordinary eyes. This is very often the 
case with such plants as the Carrot , the whole of the 
Cabbageworts, and, in fact, all plants originating from 
small seeds. Larger and coarser-growing things, though 
to some extent liable to similar disasters, rarely dis¬ 
appear without leaving some traces of their existence. 
Peas and Beans are, generally, visible for a greater or 
less period; but Carrots sown on rough ground, and in 
a wet season, very often present thin, small, delicate 
seed-leaves to the view of their sharp-sighted enemies 
only, and the mischief is often completed before we get 
a glimpse of them. Now, as this crop suffers, perhaps, 
more than most others from the depredation of insects, 
and as a cure for this is not half so useful as a pre¬ 
ventive, it would be well to see if some measures could 
not be adopted to preserve the crop against the evils 
with which it is threatened; and as Carrots are often 
not sown until late in the season, and, consequently, 
may be fully expected to vegetate soon after being com¬ 
mitted to the ground, it is good practice to go over the 
ground with the lime basket about a week after this 
sowing, and assiduously dusting every part of the 
ground with this useful agent of insect destruction. 
Very early in the morning is the best time, or late at 
night, when the weather is mild. The object being to 
render the plant distasteful to the depredators, that they 
allow it to grow on without interruption until it be too 
large for their attack. 
In addition to this preventive treatment, it has often 
been suggested that any means which would accelerate 
the growth of the plant, and so place it out of the reach of 
its enemies, would have a like desired effect, consequently, 
the employment of Guano and other fertilisers, from 
time to time, have been recommended. The quality of 
the grouud from its previous management having like¬ 
wise its due influence in the matter as well. At all 
events, it is prudent to adopt either the one treatment 
or the other where an important crop is at 6take ; and, 
as the means are by no means expensive or difficult, it 
is right in all cases to adopt them. 
A similar protection is useful to save the various 
Cabbageworts and other things from injury. Soot, or 
wood-ashes, is equally useful as lime for this purpose; 
and in dry w'eather it is prudent to mix sulphur with 
the seed, being careful to rub the seed with it as much as 
possible as well. In some cases this is a preventive to the 
Turnip-fly, and although it is not always efficacious, it j 
is so in a great measure, and tends to lessen the evil at 
all times without doing any harm. 
it is not generally known that one of the greatest 
nurseries for slugs and similar vermin are Box-edgings; I 
and, as it happens that seed-beds are often on borders | 
near such edgings, the enemies to vegetation have little 
to do but sally out at night and fill themselves, and 
return before day-break to their snug quarters again, to 
repeat the same thing another night. This is partly 
prevented by laying a furrow of lime or soot along by 
the sides of the Box, or other edging, to prevent these 
obnoxious destroyers from invading forbidden territories, 
taking care to dust the ground over as well. It is also 
prudent, where the ground is rough and does not work 
well, to add a little fine earth at top, to form a level, 
closer surface, mixing sand or coal-ashes with it as well; 
but in large breadths of cropping-ground this cannot 
be done, and the only way is, to make the top as smooth 
as possible by rolling, or otherwise working it down, 
without at the same time pressing it in such a way as 
to consolidate the under surface too much, which will 
assuredly be the case if done in wet weather. 
The watering of seed-beds is a more critical practice 
than is generally thought, for in most cases the ground 
of itself contains sufficient moisture to secure the pur¬ 
poses of germination; but, in settled, dry weather, at 
midsummer, a good watering, followed by shading, will 
have a more beneficial effect than oft-repeated deluges 
of cold water; and some seeds do not vegetate well 
unless some artificial moisture is supplied. Peas , for 
instance, will remain unsprouted until some destructive 
insect has deprived them of the power to do it, and 
decay, instead of germination, is the consequence. 
Kidney Beans do the same, and, in fact, most seeds 
suffer from a like cause; besides which, it sometimes 
happens that by the accidental position of the seeds 
sown, some get buried sufficiently deep to grow at the 
proper time, while some do not, but come up afterwards, 
making two crops of different ages, to the disparagement 
of the whole. Where this is likely to be the case, it is 
prudent to water the ground well before sowing the 
seed, and cover up with dry material, adding shading 
at top as recommended before. Peas and Kidney Beans 
may be soaked in cold water a few hours before sowing, 
or the drill well watered for them, and they will generally 
grow pretty freely afterwards. It has been recommended 
to steep such seeds in liquid-manure, in order to impart 
some additional vigour to them in their growing state; 
but this cannot always be depended upon, for the 
quantity which each plant takes up in solution cannot 
maiutain the plant long without assistance elsewhere, 
and if that source is not a good one, the result cannot 
be satisfactory; but this is a fine field for the enthusiast 
to experiment upon, and, although there is no doubt 
but some useful results must follow judicious appliances 
of this kind, 1 cannot fall in with all that has been 
said on this head by theoretical writers on Vegetable 
Physiology. J. Robson. 
DAVID GORRIE. 
In a recent number we announced the premature death 
of Mr. David Gorrie, who has for several years been fa- 
