November 25. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEE. 
145 
the standard Geraniums T noticed a line plant or two 
of Cassia cori/nibosa grown also as standards. This 
species is neither so well known, nor so much cultivated 
as an ornament to the llowcr-garden, as it deserves. Its 
bright green handsome foliage, and fine golden-coloured 
flowers, w'hich are produced for a long season, render it 
very attractive. My able coadjutor, Mr. Beaton, rc- 
I commends it, and from what 1 saw at Courteen Hall, 1 
can confidently recommend it also, and in addition to its 
good properties as a low bedding-out plant, it forms a 
very ornamental standard, the colour of its flowers 
being very striking in contrast witli tlie Scarlet Gera¬ 
niums. Here, also, 1 noted some beds of the Zelinda 
Dahlia, not more than a foot high, and covered with its 
purple blossoms. Mr. Beaton would have been in 
raptures with them. Surely every cultivator of flowers 
in masses rvill try a bed or two of this showy, useful 
]ilant next year. Sir -foseph Paxton, amongst his 
50,000 Scarlet Geraniums in the grounds of the Park 
at Sydenham, should have some thousands of this 
showy Dhalia, as an agreeable relief to the glowing 
colours of Tom Thumb, or his master either'. No doubt 
he will, and thus bring this fine pur])le-bedder into 
public notice. 
In the pleasure ground at Courteen Hall there are a 
few thriving Coniferar, especially a fast-grown I’inus 
insignis, planted only in 1S40, six years ago. It had 
! attained, in that short time, the height of eighteen feet, 
with a stem as straight as an arrow, and regularly 
furnished with branches down to the ground. A more 
unique specimen of its kind does not exist in the 
kingdom. 
This concludes irry “ Jottings by the Way.” I trust, 
the few cultural hints, scattered, perhaps, too thinly, 
through them, will bo found useful to many. 1 have 
yet in reserve a few notes oir the Bagshot Nurseries, 
which I took on a recent visit to these celebrated 
stores of Conifer® and American plants, on which I may 
scribble a paper by-and-by. T. Appleby. 
THE PETUNIA. 
{Continued from page 127.) 
Summer Treatment. —The season for this work com¬ 
mences in early spring. I shall suppose a plant to bo 
in a 60-pot, and has passed through winter unscathed. 
It should bo a low, bushy plant, well furnished with 
branches and healthy leaves. The soil, as directed in 
my last, should bo duly prepared sometime previous, 
and a sufficient portion placed under cover to become 
partially dry. A good method to know when the soil 
! or compost is in right condition, is to take np a handful, 
i press it gently, and let it fall upon the bench; if it 
break into pieces it is fit for use, but if it clings toge¬ 
ther, it is a sign that it roijuires more time to dry. 1 do 
not approve of guide drying, by laying upon flues, for 
tliat method drives off the nutritious gases contained in 
the compost. Let it dry gradually, and, as it were, na¬ 
turally, and then these gases are preserved. 'J.'he soil 
being in suitable condition, let the plants be brought 
out of the greenhouse to the bench, and prepare the 
pots to receive them. If old and dirty, let them he 
clean-washed, and do not use them till they are per¬ 
fectly dry; then drain them well in the usual way; 
])lace some rough siftings over the drainage and upon 
I them place as mucli soil as will raise the ball of earth 
the plants arc growing in to the level of the rim of the 
I new j)ots; then turn the plants in succession out of tlie 
I pots; remove carefully the drainage that may be attached 
I to each ball without injuring the roots ; place the plant 
I in the fresh pot, and fill round the ball the new compost 
[ till the pot is full; then give a gentle stroke upon the 
bench to settle the plants and new earth, and fill up 
the deficiency; the old ball should then bo covered 
about half-an-inch, and a small space left below the 
level of the rim to contain water. Proceed thus till all 
the plants are finished, and then give a gentle watering, 
and the operation is complete. Return them to the 
greenhouse, and, if possible, place them close to the 
glass. As they grow, take care to stop each shoot, to 
cause more shoots to be produced, and thereby induce 
a bushy habit. The tops, if required, may be made use 
of as cuttings. In this stage the plants will require con¬ 
stant attention to keep them duly supplied with water, 
and plenty of air whenever the weather is mild; and 
this treatment suits most of the inhabitants of the green¬ 
house which is so far fortunate for the I’etunia. About the 
middle of April, if all has gone on favourably, they will 
re(pnrc a second shift into larger pots, into the same 
compost, using the same precautions as to drying the soil, 
: draining the pots, and so forth. Most probably the green 
fly will now make its appearance, and must bo instantly 
checked and destroyed by frequent fumigations of to¬ 
bacco. It would be an advantage, when the weather 
becomes warmer, to place the plants in a cold frame or 
i pit, iq)on a layer of coal ashes. There they will grow 
much stronger and more bushy than on the greenhouse 
stage or platform, and thus, as it were, lay in a stock of 
strength to produce a fine bloom. There is one disad- 
! vantage in placing these soft-leaved plants in such a 
i situation, and that is, the mildew sometimes makes its 
j appearance on the leaves, The best remedy 1 have 
found for this disease is a dusting of sulphur upon the 
leaves affected, and a large admission of fresh air on 
mild dry days. If a weak solution of liipiid manure 
be given to all otherwise healthy plants, more vigour 
will be given to the system of each, and they will, 
with the addition of the sidphur, soon grow out of the 
disease. A third and last shift will be necessary in 
June; the plants should then be put into pots nine 
inches in diameter, and in these they are to flower. 
As soon as the usual inhabitants of the greenhouse are 
removed into their summer quarters, the Petunias will 
be in a fit state to take their ))lace. Plenty of air must 
be given and the roof should be shaded with canvass 
bunting whenever the sun shines brightly. There, along 
with Fuchsias, and other summer-flowering plants, they 
will produce a splendid bloom of fine flowers for two or 
three months. 
Winter Treatment. —As the Petunia is little more 
than an annual, old plants that have flowered freely 
through tlie summer will he so exhausted that it is 
hardly worth while to keep them through winter; but 
for scarce kinds or seedlings a winter treatment is re¬ 
quisite. Let such be cut down early in August, leaving 
j all the young shoots that are near the soil; take them 
\ to tho potting bench, turn them out of their blooming 
I jiots, reduce the ball pretty freely, so as to enable the 
' operator to repot them into five-inch pots, give no water, 
i and place them cither in a close pit or in a shady part 
j of the greenhouse, where no air can blow upon or over 
I them. Shade closely for a week or two till fresh growth 
I is induced, then inure them gradually; stop tlie top 
; shoots, ami give a small watering. Keep them through 
tho winter as close to the glass as possible, and rather 
dry than otherwise through that trying dreary season. 
If these plants can bo preserved, they will make fine, 
strong, early-blooming plants the season following. 
T. Appleby. 
(2b be concluded in, our next.) 
EARLY SEA-KAJ.E AND EARLY RHUBARB. 
Difeering from almost every thing else. Sea-kale is 
in higher estimation when in a forced state than when 
