COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
November 20. 
127 
should be very perfect. The compost should chiefly be 
fibry peat, kept open with pieces of broken charcoal, 
broken pots, from which the dust must be excluded, and 
silver sand—these three articles amounting to fully the 
quantity of peat. In watering, a good deal will be re¬ 
quired when growing freely ; less should be given as the 
wood approaches maturity; and, when wanted in winter, 
it should be given in the forenoon of a sunny day, if 
possible, and as much as will moisten every root. This 
will not be much wanted, if the plant does not stand in 
a draught or near the beating medium. The water 
should be soft, and, at least, not below 50° in winter. 
I would prefer it to be 5° to 10° warmer. I have seen 
fine plants formed soon on the large shift principle, 
when there was abundance of heat at command, and a 
thorough knowledge of the mode of watering under 
such circumstances, so as to prevent souring the 
unappropriated soil; but beginners had better con¬ 
tent themselves with slower growth and small shifts, 
and most likely their plants will be longer-lived, 
lutending purchasers had better select a nice, green 
plant, in a three or four-inch pot, in April; such as they 
may shift and encourage to grow in a week or so after J 
receiving it. j 
BllUGMANSIA KNIGHTII. 
“The plant has been bad two years, and cannot be ' 
made to produce a bloom.” From cuttings struck one | 
summer, I have had good flowering plants the next. I : 
cannot conceive why it has not flowered, if it is strong 
enough, and has received good, rich treatment. Like 
all the others, it blooms most profusely tow^ards the 
points of strong shoots of the current season’s growth, 
and far on in the autumn and winter, too, if enough of 
heat is given. As the flowers are very large and double, ' 
they requii’e a w'arm greenhouse, to open fi-eely in the | 
winter months. I have had some good flowers, out-of- 
doors, in warm autumns. I treat it exactly the same as 
the other Brugmansias, thus;—Keep it from frost in 
winter; allow it to become nearly deciduous ; prune back 
in spring; allow as many buds to remain as you want 
shoots ; encourage growth, by increase of temperature, if 
convenient; repot into rich loam; keep in pots, or, 
rather, plant out in a border, when gradually hardened 
off, and raise and pot early in the autumn. I have 
had several successions of bloom on the same plant in 
one season. R. Fish. 
Winchester Botanic Nursery and Promenade.— 
This has been established by the good taste and enter¬ 
prise of a very old contributor to our volumes, Mr. W. 
; Savage. A subscription of one guinea will admit all 
j the members of a family, from sunrise to sunset, daily, 
! from the 1st of January to the 31st of December; and 
] every subscriber will be entitled to select plants, &c., to 
half the amount of subscription. The gardens are well 
i stocked with plants, both indigenous and exotic, in every 
j department of Horticulture, and are all correctly labeled, 
j The situation is a gentle slope to the south, command- 
I ing extensive views of the vale of the Itchen. 'The 
gravel walks are of considerable extent and ample width, 
; and, being based on chalk, are dry in all weathers. On 
the law'n, a great variety of Jumpers have been jilanted, 
and appear in good condition, especially J. macrocarpa, 
a free growing variety, giving out, when rubbed, a grate¬ 
ful, balsamic odour; J. UnjUiima, J. GaroUuia, J. 
Phccnicea, J. thurifera, J. Chinensis, J. recurva ; also many 
I sorts of drooping trees, which promise a fine effect; a good 
j stock of Taxodiums, Cypresses, Abies, and Cryptomeria, 
well adapted for lawn decoration. In the Houses, are 
many plants worthy of notice. 
NEW, OR GOOD BEDDING-PLAN'TS. 
(Continued from page 88.) 
VARIEGATED GERANIUMS. 
'This class of Geraniums enters largely into the 
bedding-out system, and very deservedly so. They are 
valued chiefly for their white and green leaves; that is, 
green leaves edged with white. 'That circumstance 
renders them attractive even when not in flower. They 
form a handsome bed by themselves, and are also 
•effective as an edging round some other plants, more 
especially the dwarfer kinds. 'They also are useful 
in the ribbon style of border, contrasting well with 
yelloto Calceolarias, and dwarf blue Lobelias. 'Tbe 
following are what I have seen growing in all the 
methods mentioned above :— 
Brilliant. —A very distinct, and rather new, good 
variety, with dark green foliage, below the medium size, 
distinctly bordered with white, though narrower than 
Mountain of Light. Flowers dark, rich scarlet, pro¬ 
duced in large trusses. It is a free-blooming and late- 
flowering variety, iii proof of w'hich I may mention 
that it is now (Nov. 7) in full flower here. It should 
be planted-out in pots, in a poor, sandy soil. In rich 
borders it not only grows too rampant, but also often 
loses its variegation. It is best grown in masses, and 
is then very showy. 
Dandy. —'This is the true Pelargonium Orossularicefolia 
variegata. It is by no means new, I'or I have cultivated 
it above twenty years. It is a small, compact plant, 
with light green, small foliage, every leaf distinctly 
margined with white. It makes a nice, small plant, 
suitable for tbe tiny pots, amongst other very dwarf, 
small plants, in what is called “ baby gardens.” Its use 
in bedding is either to fill a very small bed, or as an 
edging close to the turf. Flowers small, and of a pink 
colour. I have seen it used very effectively to fill a 
small bed, such as are left round a single standard Rose- 
tree. Every cutting will grow if put in in spring. A 
moderate-sized plant will yield many cuttings; therefore, 
whoever possesses one plant now, may rest assured that 
he may have scores in early spring, by taking oft' the 
smallest cuttings in February, planting them iu sand, 
' and ])lacing them in a gentle beat. 'They quickly root, 
and should then be potted off into the smallesbsized 
pots. 'These will be the very best plants for an edging. 
Golden Chain. —Wherever the ribbon style of 
growing flowers is adopted, this is indispensable for the 
front margin of tbe ribbon of flowers. It has light 
green foliage, broadly margined with golden-yellow. 
'The flowers are poor, but that is of no consequence. 
Wherever I have seen it grown, the flowers have been 
cutoff, the golden-edged leaves being its great beauty; 
hence, it is scarcely ever used to fill a bed by itself. 
Many complain that it is difficult to propagate, but I do 
not find it so. I scarcely lose a single cutting. I take them 
off very short, insert them in sand, and place the 
cutting-pots in the stove, shading them only for a few 
days, and they root without any difficulty. 1 put them 
in any time from March to September, and am equally 
successful through the intervening months. 'The best 
way, however, to get a great stock, is to plant out in 
spring as many plants as you have, and allow them to 
grow freely; then, about the last week in July, takeoff 
every cutting, dig a piece of ground iu the open garden, 
mix tbe uppermost two inches with sharp sand, and 
plant tbe cuttings in it. No further care is necessary, 
no watering, no shading. About the first week iu 
September, ninety cuttings out of a hundred will be 
rooted well, and will be nice, little, stubby plants. 
'Then take them up carefully, pot them into small pots, 
place them iu a cold frame, shading them for a fort¬ 
night, giving them but little water. 'Then expose them 
1 
