January 8. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
229 
Hammersmith, has the raising of them in this country to 
himself, but he cannot save seed more than other people. 
He sends his best sorts to Italy and the south of France to 
be seeded; and we saw last year some hundreds, comprising 
three or four worth adding ; and new sorts are also imported. 
The Stoke Newington Chrysanthemum Society originated 
the movement for encouraging the flower, and if fifty 
societies now spring up in imitation, to the original belongs 
the credit. There were stands of blooms at the last show 
perfectly double, and the flowers four, or five, and in one 
case, six inches in diameter. 
And now we come to the last question, which, in a few 
words, is—has confidence increased? and what we have 
already shown answers in the negative. There is little or no 
confidence in the assurances of dealers, the certificates of 
societies, or the opinions of periodicals, for nearly all are 
under the influence of people whose temporary interests are 
opposed to the interest of the public. 
Cinerarias (T. Ridsdale).—Purple Standard and 
Magnificent, very pretty colours, but the petals do not 
fill out the circle; nevertheless, we have some of the 
finest in the country giving us stray blooms just now, 
not a hit like themselves, nor half so good in form as 
they will come in season, so that our opinion on these 
two, as they are, may he contrary to that we should give, 
if they were perfect, and at their proper season. 
Amaryllis (Rev. A ).—Too much green in the flower 
to render it of any value. It is the prevailing fault 
among seedlings. With all our pains, we have frequently 
had to condemn fifteen out of twenty, some of them 
having scarcely a shade of colour. The darkest Glox¬ 
inia is very pretty, and somewhat new. There is more 
colour in the throat than any we have, and there is a 
tolerable collection. The flowers had suffered a little. 
They will both bloom better in the summer when the 
bulbs have had a rest. 
THE VERBENA. 
('Continued from page 216.) 
Training. —In our last number there were three 
modes of training mentioned—namely, the flat mode, 
to a wire trellis ; the bush, or common method; and the 
pyramidal form. The last, as being the most novel and 
elegant, was pretty fully described; we will now briefly 
particularise the other two. 
The flat mode of training is to a circular, table-like, 
wire trellis, about fifteen inches diameter, with three 
strong feet to thrust into the soil, and of sufficient length 
to elevate the trellis above the soil—about six inches for 
weak growers, and eight inches above the soil for 
stronger ones. It should be formed in circles, less and 
less towards the centre, with diverging rods to the 
outermost circles, to keep each circle in its place at 
equal distances from each other : three inches will be 
ample space between each circle. As soon as the plants 
are shifted for the last time into their blooming pots, is 
the time to fix the trellises to each plant. The trellises 
should have first a coat of lead-colour, and afterwards 
two coats of light green paint, to prevent them from 
rusting, and to give them a neat appearance. Any wire- 
worker, with the above instructions, will easily make 
them. When the plants are ready, or large enough, for 
training, apply the trellises by thrusting the three feet 
into the earth a sufficient depth to keep them firm in 
their places. Then, as the plants advance in growth, 
train the shoots equally over the trellis, stopping them 
to cause a sufficient number of branches to cover the 
whole trellis, nipping off all the flower trusses till within 
six or seven weeks of the day of exhibition, if that 
happens in May; but if in June or July, or still later, 
tkefiowers will expand sufficiently in five weeks (this rule 
applies to every mode of training). The aim must be 
to let every part of the trellis, or bush, or pyramid, be 
fully furnished with bloom, so as scarcely to allow any 
foliage to be seen. The only care to be taken is to allow 
room for each truss to fully expand when in bloom 
without touching each other. 
The other mode, which we have called the bush 
method, is the simplest of all, but is by no means so 
effective as either of the others, because, in a great 
measure, the stalks and foliage are so much more ex¬ 
posed. All that the trainer requires in this case are a 
few painted sticks, and the proper sized pots, with the 
necessary compost, and a frame to grow them in. When 
the plants are large enough, put in a sufficient number 
of sticks to form a neat round bush. Stop the shoots, 
to furnish the sticks with a shoot to each; and do not 
suffer them to become crowded, or the leaves would turn 
yellow in the centre, and drop off, which would give 
them a naked appearance when viewed sideways. With 
moderate attention, this easy method will furnish very 
handsome specimens. We remember some trained in 
this style last season at the Highbury Park exhibition; 
this had a very good effect, and obtained the second 
prize. 
Planting and Potting: Planting. —At page 195, the 
reader will recollect, we described the soil and situation 
of the verbena bed, to be exclusively devoted to growing 
these flowers for exhibition in stands of six, twelve, or 
twenty-four trusses of blooms in each. Now, we would 
strongly advise the aspirant for honours never to attempt 
the contest with less than two plants of each kind, giving 
each plant as much care and attention as though he 
were dependent upon one ; this would, generally speak¬ 
ing, be doubling his chance of success, and would very 
likely enable him to exhibit at more places than one. 
Not that he need confine himself to two plants if he has 
space for more, but there are now so many real good 
kinds, and they are multiplying every year, that a small 
grower can scarcely hope to procure, or find room for 
more than a pair. 
The bed, or beds, to receive the plants, should be in 
good order about the last week in May, or the first week 
in June; the plants should, by a little extra pains in 
potting and stopping, be nice little bushes at the time. 
Choose a warm, cloudy day for the operation. We pro¬ 
posed, at the page above referred to, that the beds should 
be four feet wide (for the sake of neatness we would 
recommend enclosing them with slate or wood edgings, 
the former to be preferred, on account of its enduring 
qualities); then stretch a line 15 inches from the edging, 
and plant the first row of verbenas close to it, at 18 
inches apart; when that row is complete shift the line 
to 15 inches from the other side of the bed, and put in 
the first plant so as to form a triangle with the two 
plants in the first planted row, and so proceed till the 
whole are planted; then give a gentle watering to settle 
the earth to the plants. As at that early season there 
is always danger from late spring frosts, it will be ad¬ 
visable, for a week or two, to shelter the plants from its 
effects ; the most simple, but, at the same time, effectual 
protection, is to turn over them empty garden-pots, one 
to each plant. T. Appleby. 
* RADISH FORCING. 
We last week entered into some particulars relative 
to the forcing of potatoes for early spring use ; we now 
address ourselves to another article, which, if of less 
general interest than the potato, is equally important in 
all cases where early variety is concerned—and a handful 
of young radishes is always an acceptable adjunct to the 
other good things sent to table; and all who aim at 
having this general favourite early in the season must 
at once bestir themselves, as no time is to be lost, and, 
in fact, those who strive to have such things at the 
earliest day, have already frames full ot radishes 
