December 4. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
151- 
bloom of eacli seen. We have seen hundreds of dahlias 
this year which are no advance on old ones, and if we 
have missed any it has been the grower’s fault for not 
sending them to us. 
Auriculas (B. B.). —According to the old laws of 
showing, the exhibitor had to possess the plants three 
months, that is to say, before the lirst of February, and we 
recommend early purchases, because the more there are 
to pick from, the better chance there is of strong plants, 
for each buyer will pick the best, according to his 
judgment, Page’s Champion, Cheetham’s Lancashire 
Hero, Nd plus ultra, Conqueror of Europe, Grimes’ 
Privateer, Lovely Anna, Taylor’s Glory, and Magpie, are 
all certain show flowers. Col. Taylor, and .Booth’s 
Freedom, are very line when caught, but one had need 
have a frame full of each for the chance. In the 
country they only show live pips, in the metropolis 
seven. Hedges’ Britannia, and Smith’s Waterloo , are 
both fine, but uncertain. 
Ranunculuses (B. T. H.). —The principal raisers of 
these magnificent flowers are — Read, of Brucefield; 
Groom, of Walworth; Arizee, of Devonport-road; I'yso, 
of Wallingford; Lightbody, of Falkirk; and Lockhart, 
of Parson’s Green. Florists who desire to be ready for 
June shows plant between the 7th and 20th of February. 
It is better to begin, with a few good ones than a lot of 
middling or bad; either of these parties would send a 
dozen of their best; and if all were to do this at a mode¬ 
rate price, the collection would beat everything, if well 
grown. Mixtures can be purchased cheaply, and, if for 
garden ornaments only, would make beautiful border or 
bed flowers. 
The Acacia-like plant sent to us with the Calceolarias 
and Geraniums appears to be Ruscus Hypopliyllum, 
but there can be no certainty in a mere specimen with¬ 
out the bloom. 
Breaking of Tulips (M. D .).—The only thing the 
oldest and best growers have discovered is, that they 
know nothing about it. The Tulip from seed mostly 
comes of a self colour; after some years growing it may 
break into stripes, which stripes are rarely two years 
alike. Every conceivable means have been tried to 
hasten this breaking, but without the least success. 
We once had thousands of breeders, or unbroken 
Tulips; some planted in the poorest, and some in the 
richest soil imaginable—some in clay, some in sand, or 
nearly so, some in a shallow gravelly soil—some in the 
sun, others in the shade. We had some break in every 
one of the conditions, but not enough to show that one 
condition was more favourable than another. Old fan¬ 
ciers used to recommend seed to be saved from unbroken 
flowers. This was silly advice. Save it from the very 
best flowers that are broken; cross them how you like, 
there is certainly time saved bj r it, for the seedlings 
occasionally come broken when they first bloom. It is 
the only flower we know that does change after bloom¬ 
ing ; and they will occasionally change back again to 
the breeder, or self colour. 
The sooner Societies put a limit to the size of Dahlias, 
the sooner we shall improve in what is far more es¬ 
sential, form. Four inches for the back row, four 
inches for the middle row, and three inches for the front, 
might be thought arbitrary; but some of our very best are 
rendered coarse, rough on the outline, and unsightly, by 
the endeavour to show the largest flowers. Sir F. 
Bathurst is more beautiful at four inches than five; so 
is the Princess Radzville, Scarlet Gem, Yellow Standard, 
Barmaid, Admiral Stopford, Queen of the East, and 
others, and all they grow beyond that, is in coarseness. 
There are no more petals, but the same number has 
to cover a larger surface; and we maintain that three 
sizes in a stand are far better than equality, and 
enables an exhibitor to show a better variety. 
Pelargoniums. —If B. T. can only afford six new 
ones, buy Ariadne, Enchantress, Magnet, Purple Stand 
ard, Shy loch, and Elise. There are, it is true, very 
many others, and all are praised, and many have cer¬ 
tificates. Let those who can afford to buy all, do so; 
but there are many persons who cannot order more than 
half-a-dozen, and we will warrant they will not be 
disappointed in the above-named. Chieftain, although . 
praised by the National Society, is good for nothing. 
Cinerarias (AT. AT.).- —Those selected by the National 
Society are Margaret d'Anjou, Alba Magna, Marianne, 
Orpheus, Queen of Beaut ies, Rosalind, Beauty, Christabel, 
Field Marshall, Formosa, Lady of the Lake, Loveliness, 
Model of Perfection, Nonsuch, and Prince Arthur. 
Rather a wholesale recommendation it will be said, and 
more particularly as most of them are inferior to some 
we have already. How many of these will beat Lady 
Hume Campbell ? 
Polyanthuses (IF. S .).—We shall be very glad to 
see them grown near London, but we fear it must not 
be too near. Duke of Northumberland, newish, was 
sent to us in fine condition, and Lord Morpeth also, but 
the former was the better of the two. We are informed 
that Lord Morpeth is a better grower than the other; 
but we should certainly grow both. Fire King was also 
shown to us as a very striking flower, and the three 
would form part of our collection. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS CULTURE. 
the pink — (Continued from page 131). 
General Management : Planting . — The bed to receive 
the plants being duly prepared, as described in a former 
number, and the pipings well-rooted, proceed to plant 
them out. The best time to do this is in the early part 
of September. Two advantages are secured by early 
planting. If it is delayed a considerable time after the 
pipings are rooted, they draw up, become spindly, weak, 
and long-legged, and are then so tender, that they suffer 
much from the autumnal winds, and many of them will 
perish if the winter sets in severely. This is entirely 
owing to lato planting. The remedy, or rather pre¬ 
vention, is easy, namely, — to plant early, before the 
plants become thus drawn up and weakly. The other 
advantage is, that the plants are enabled, by being 
planted in the blooming-bed as early as September, to 
get well-established, firmly-rooted and even to make 
some growth before winter sets in. By being well- 
rooted, the frost will have less power to throw them 
out of the ground, a circumstance which always happens 
to small plants of any kind when planted late in the 
autumn. The advantages, then, of early planting being 
so manifest, the florist is inexcusable if he allows the 
right season to pass, and his choice Pinks to spoil in 
consequence. The season for planting having arrived, 
take the pot of pipings to the bed, turn them out, and 
carefully divide them, retaining every root, and even a 
small portion of soil to each, if possible. Commence with 
No. 1; plant it with a trowel, taking out a small quan¬ 
tity of earth ; then put in the plant, and put the earth 
to it, pressing it firmly to each plant. The first row 
may be planted from the walk at the end of the bed ; 
plant them across the bed in rows six inches apart, and 
six inches from plant to plant in the row. This may 
seem a rather wide space at first, when the plants are j 
small; but in the spring, when they have grown consi- ! 
derably, it will not be too much ; besides, by giving this 
room, the earth can be more easily stirred-up between 
the plants in the spring without disturbing the plants. 
When the first row is planted, place the number to it 
facing the plants, if there are a sufficient number of that 
variety to fill the row, if not, fill up the row with the 
next number. Be very particular to place each number 
or tally to each kind, in order to prevent mistakes and 
