128 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENEll. 
November 20. 
every day lo tlie full siin, and, finally, put tliem into a 
I dry, airy greenhouf?e, close to the glass, just giving 
sufficient water only to keep them from liaggiug. i 
i saw this method of propagating and managing the 
(/olden Chain Geranium carried out to perfection by my 
^ friend Mr. Aiton, gardener to the Earl of Stamford and 
! Warrington, at Enville Hall, and everybody else may 
I be equally successful, if they will follow the same plan. 
I Flower or the Day. —No one can deny that this is 
j one of the very best variegated Geraniums for filling a 
, large bed. Little did Mr. Kinghorn, gardener to the 
i Earl of Kilmory, at Twickenham, think what a boon* 
! he gave the flower-gardening world when he raised this 
j useful and fine variety. It has a strong habit, and, 
I therefore, should be grown in poor, sandy soil. In 
} such a soil its variegation is much finer, and it flow'ers 
more freely. Foliage light green, broadly margined 
with white. Flowers bright cherry, produced in large 
trusses. Nothing can exceed the beauty of a largo bed 
of this charming variety, and it is equally beautiful in 
the third or fourth row of a ribbon of flowers. To add 
to its merit, it is as easily propagated as a Tom Thumh; 
but the most ready and certain way is to take off a 
great quantity of cuttings, us many as may be required, 
I or rather more, at the same time as tlie OoJden Chain, 
I plant them in the same situation, and manage them 
I afterwards precisely similarly. Almost every cutting is 
I sure to grow. 
Lady Cottenham — A variety very little known, yet 
it is a desirable one where there is space for, or a great 
I variety desirable. Foliage pale green, broadly margined 
i with yellow. Flowers rosy-pink, produced in large 
trusses, which stand up well above the foliage. The 
leaves are not quite so fine a colour at the margin as 
the Golden Chain, but the flowers are much su])erior; 
hence, it is suitable to bed-out in masses. Propagation 
the same as Flower of the Day. 
1 Lady Coventry. —This is the same as Mangles s 
! Silver Bedding. Foliage very dense, dark green, edged 
I with silvery white. Flowers a clear pink, small both in 
truss and pip, but produced very abundantly, especially 
in poor loam. It is an old variety, but a very good one. 
Propagated easily any way, either in pots or in an open 
border. Sometimes a shoot will produce leaves quite 
I green. These ought to be cut off directly they appear, 
j The habit is rather straggling ; therefore, it ought to be 
closely stopped-in when young, to form bushy plants by 
the time it is required for planting-out. 
j Lady Plymouth.— Botanists call this Pelargonium 
capitatuin variegatum. Foliage very much divided, and 
beautifully and regularly edged with white. Flowers 
in small heads, and of a lilac colour. It is worthless 
for its flowers; its beauty lies in its neat, compact, dwarf 
habit, and constant variegation. It is a very neat pot- 
))lant for the greenhouse, and is well suited for small 
bedSj and for edgings to beds of bright-coloured flowers, 
with green foliage. Tlie leaves arc sweet-scented ; it is, 
in fact, the variegated llose-leaf Geranium; by Hose- 
leaf is meant Rose-scented. 
Lateripes alba-margina'i’a. —The variegated Ivy-leaf 
Geranium. This is a new candidate for bedding-out, 
thougli it is an old plant. Foliage small, and inclined 
to the cup-shape, edged with a clear line of bright 
white. Flowers small, but of a pleasing, rosy-pink 
hue, veined with purplish-crimson on the upper petals. 
Habit very dwarf, and a profuse bloomer. It requires 
a light, rich soil, well-drained, and, as it throws out long 
lateral shoots, it should be planted thinly. Its trailing 
habit renders it unfit lor the ribbon style, unless con¬ 
stant attention is given to stopping the rambling shoots. 
Like all the Ivy-leaf tribe, it is a good jdnnt for a 
basket, or to train up a pillar, or against a wall. It is 
easily propagated in pots, in sand, placed in a gentle 
heat, a moderate stove, for instance. In a dung hotbed 
it is too apt to damp off. 
Mountain oe Light. —There was a great demand for 
this variety last spring, chiefly, I believe, because I told, j 
in The Cottage Gardener, last autumn, how well it | 
bloomed, and how beautiful it looked at Enville Hall. 
It is, I must confess, of a delicate constitution, and, 
therefore, requires nursing tenderly to get it to flower 
well. At Enville Hall, it was growing in a large bed 
raised considerably above the level of the ground; 
hence, the roots w'ere in a dry soil, which checked 
excessive growth, and caused a great abundance of 
bloom. 
Foliage bright green, with a broad margin of pure 
silvery-white. Flowers in medium-sized trusses. Colour 
a brilliant scarlet; no other scarlet Geranium surpasses 
this gem in colour. Unfortunately, I cannot deny that 
it has a tender constitution, and requires peculiar care 
to grow it well. The soil should be sandy, and a large 
portion of well-decomposed leaf-mould mixed with it. 
The site of the bed should be a sheltered one, and it 
should be w'ell drained to a considerable depth, so that 
no stagnant water in the rainiest season should lodge 
near the roots. 
It is rather difficult to propagate, too, but short, 
hardened cuttings are the best. I have succeeded 
pretty w-ell, by putting single cuttings in small pots 
halflilled with light compost, and upon that an inch 
of pure sand, placing them in a propagating-house, near 
the glass, without ever shading them. Whether they 
w'ill succeed out-of-doors, in the same way as the Golden 
Chain, I do not know; but next year 1 intend to try 
that plan. 
Sir.A’EK King. —A variety sent out, two years ago, by 
Messrs. Lee, of Hammersmith. It seems to combine 
the strong constitution of the Flower of the Day with 
the variegation and colour of Mountain of Light. 
Probably, an hybrid between the two. I have grown it 
more than a year in pots only, but have never seen it 
planted out. As far as I can judge, I believe it will 
prove a great improvement on its parents. Foliage 
bright green, margined very broadly with silvery-white. 
Flowers bright scarlet, in medium-sized trusses. Pro¬ 
pagates easily in the ordinary way. It is a beautiful 
object when well grown, even in a pot. 
The oldest variegated Geranium. I wish I had Mr. 
Beaton at my elbow, to tell me what species this old 
plant is. However, it has a good variegation, almost 
equal to any of the preceding, and is really worth grow¬ 
ing in large gardens, it is so hardy, and propagates so 
easily. I believe very few growers of bedding-out plants 
know it. I see it in many cottage-windows growing pro¬ 
fusely. Foliage rather small, dark green, and broadly 
margined with white. Flowers of a pink colour, rather 
small, but very numerous. I was so much pleased with 
it that I procured a few cuttings, and every one of them 
grew. I find it a good bedder, and can recommend it 
where there is space requiring a large number of varieties. 
T. Appleby. 
{To he continued.) 
ON PREPARING NEW GROUND FOR CROPS. 
It is somewhat fortunate that Nature lends such an 
accommodating hand to amend or improve our defective 
work; otherwise, there is much that is done in the garden¬ 
ing world w’hich would form a soiTy comparison with 
works of a mechanical kind, only the latter, not being 
assisted in the same w'ay, the manipulation must be more 
complete. A builder erects a house, and a planter puts 
in a tree, and it is ten to one but the latter out-lives the 
former, and at the expiration of a couple of centuries, 
