130 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[May 29. 
leaf and pseudo-bulb with a sponge dipped in (and 
squeezed when taken out of) tepid water. This will 
cleanse the leaves from dust, and any green matter that 
may have accumulated on their surfaces during the 
winter. IV hen all this has been effectually done, put a 
sufficient quantity of the compost in the pot upon the 
drainage to raise it so high as to allow the plant, when 
it is jjotted, to be elevated a little above the rim of the 
pot. Then fill in round the plant as much compost as 
will give the appearance of a little hillock in the centre 
of the pot, upon which the plant will stand. Should 
the plant feol loose and unsteady, fasten it as firmly as 
possible, by placing in the pot some hooked pegs, catch¬ 
ing with the hooked end the plant between the pseudo- 
bulbs. Finish the operation by pressing gently with 
the hand the compost round the plant, and close to the 
sides of the pots, leaving about a quarter of an inch 
next the rim to catch the water. The repotting is then 
completed, the plant should he instantly returned to the 
orchid house, and placed upon the floor. Before it is 
put into its place give a good watering through the 
syringe, using a rather strong pressure. This will settle 
the compost firmly to the plant, and no more water will 
he required for a week or ten days, according to the 
state of the weather. T. Appleby. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
GLENNY ON FLORISTS’ FLOWERS, PLANTS, Ac. 
NEWLY RAISED. 
Although my Properties of Flowers and Plants is 
a volume generally received, and by many societies 
advertised as their standard by which novelties are to he 
judged, nurserymen and gardeners, as well as amateurs, 
are too apt to overlook some of the leading points, and, 
caught by some apparent novelty, frequently pronounce 
a flower first-rate which is only middling, and certify as 
useful subjects which are altogether unworthy. The 
models of perfection being ideal, are not likely to he 
equalled; yet those flowers which come nearest to the 
standard are the best. Novelties must be judged by com¬ 
parison with an ideal standard, which all men cannot carry 
“in the mind’s eye,” and it is only after being long 
accustomed to censorship that any one can do justice to 
novelties. I have found some counties far behind others 
in taste, and men are apt to judge seedlings by what 
they have around them. I have seen whole tables filled 
with seedlings that would have scarcely been tolerated 
years before near London ; and as I know, by daily expe¬ 
rience, gentlemen as far off as the north of Scotland, 
and in other distant parts, send me expensive packets of 
flowers, that show the owners to be in a hopeless state 
of unacquaintance with our advances for the last few 
years. They buy seed of which they know nothing, or 
save it from any kind of flowers they may possess, con¬ 
sequently, not one in ten thousand is likely to be good. 
Nature is always struggling to recover lost ground; and 
as the more we remove a plant from its original sim- 
I plicity, the more tender it is, and the more difficult 
generally to save seed from, so if we sow from the very 
best, there will be ten worse than the parent for one 
that is better. Still less successful are we if we save 
from a collection indiscriminately, for then we rarely 
obtain any so good as the best. The more common 
yield seed most plentifully, and we are justified in saying 
that there is but one way to deserve success, no matter 
what subject we take up, namely, to strive to do our best. 
Let us, therefore, select or procure half a dozen of the 
very best varieties that can be had of the plant from 
j which we wish to raise seedlings, and let us clear the 
garden of the rest. If we cannot sell them, let us give 
them away, and if nobody will have them, let us throw 
them away Put these selected half dozen together, let 
them cross themselves, save all the seed you can, and 
sow every grain you save. By this mode you may have 
twenty worse than the parents, but you may have one 
better. I procured six Cinerarias a year ago, the best I 
could get, not another was in the garden; I sowed the 
seed saved as soon as it was ripe, and the plants are 
now coming rapidly into bloom. They are aggravatingly 
good, but not good enough, and I may not have one 
sufficiently striking to please my rather fastidious taste ; 
but if I should not succeed altogether, I shall be able 
to find among them half a dozen novelties to seed again 
from. The instant I saw a promising one I took it to 
a separate house, for I am convinced that seed saved 
indiscriminately from the whole, would go back to the 
most common worthless style. 1 have mentioned my 
mode of saving seed, because 1 desire to see all amateur 
florists’ advance, and I can assure them that to begin 
with purchased seed, or seed that people give away, is 
perfectly hopeless, heartless, work. No matter whether 
it be pansies, dahlias, auriculas, polyanthuses, gera¬ 
niums, or any other florists’ flower, discard everything 
at all second-rate. If only two or three can be got 
superior to all others, depend on those alone for seed. 
Whoever may hereafter think it desirable to have my 
opinion, will only have to send well-packed specimens 
to the office of The Cottage Gardened, 2, Amen- 
corner, Paternoster-row, and 1 recommend them to arrive 
in London on Tuesdays, though I do not make it a 
condition. If it be proposed to send so as to arrive on 
any other day, a letter, a day or two before, to state it is 
coming would be advisable. The only conditions re¬ 
quired are : first, that everything shall come free ; 
secondly, that the subjects have names, or the party be 
bound to give the names I append to them ; and, thirdly, 
that the raiser’s name and address be sent with the 
subjects, with any initials that are to be used; but 
flowers, worth sending out, will only be noticed by name. 
It is very difficult to understand the awards of our new 
Seedling Societies. The National Floriailtural appears to 
have several distinctions : first and second class certificates, 
and certificates of commendation. The London Floricullural 
appears to have only one, and that the first class; and the 
Society for the Encouragement of Floriculture has but one 
certificate, which is only granted when a subject is a decided 
improvement upon what we already possess, or such a new 
colour as renders it desirable, and as good as our best in 
form. Beyond these first class certificates they recommend 
flowers, if there be any ground for a recommendation, 
although they may not rank higher as florists’ flowers than 
some we possess already ; and this I think the most rational 
plan, because a Verbena, a Cineraria, or a Geranium may be 
worthless as a florists’ flower, and yet be a prize to anybody 
as a bedding flower. “ Recommended for its fine dwarf habit 
and colour as a bedding flower" would be a useful report, for 
the public would know precisely what to expect. The price 
of a bedding flower would be paid without grudging by 
those who wanted a new bedding plant, while a florist would 
not think of it. I have been disappointed more than 
once, and many have shared my disappointment, when, cal¬ 
culating upon a first class certificate indicating a first-rate 
flower, I have ordered it, and found it not so good as many 
that I already possess ; and I throw out for the benefit 
of the London and National Societies a hint that they should 
make a special report on a flower, that everybody may 
understand what they really do mean. Let us, for example, 
take Mr Henderson’s new Cineraria, Marianne. If they 
had certified that it was “ a bright tipped variety, very close, 
not much scolloped on the edge, rather cupped, and very 
symmetrical, free from ribs, of good substance, and of me¬ 
dium height, a tolerably abundant bloomer, and better than 
average habit, and, moreover, that it has nearly lost the 
notch,” everybody could form an idea of its general cha¬ 
racter ; and if the Societies mean to he useful they must 
came to this. All such vague terms as “ good form,” “ a 
good show flower,” Ac., must be left out of the report. They 
mean nothing—they have meant nothing for years; one 
I 
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