June 19.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
183 
to remain more than one year in the Rosary, and prefer 
cuttings, as we never found old stools dc so well as cuttings 
among the roses. We sometimes put in a Salvia fulijcns 
amongst the roses—for that, also, looks gay in September— 
when we want something lively; for then our Rosary looks 
dull, as we have none of the late-dowering roses. D. D. 
SEEDLING FLOWERS AT THE BOTANICAL 
SOCIETY, REGENT’S PARK. 
We have never seen such a display of new Pelargoniums 
as were at the Royal Botanical Society’s Show, on the 11th ; 
there must have been scores, if not hundreds. In the fancy 
class, which we do not judge by such rigid rules as the 
ordinary show dowers, there was an immense variety. The 
most remarkable were, Ayres's Advancer, a dne deep colour, 
good form, and plenty of substance, received a certideate, 
and deserved it; Advancer is a good name, for it is better than 
Formosa; his Gipsy Queen, pretty, spotty, and crumply, was 
not so good ; it had some sort of distinction, called a third 
prize. Ambrose's Superba, a brownish-red, with rosy under 
petals, was very pretty, and, in the present state of fancy 
varieties, deserved a certideate which was awarded; his 
Captivation, which also had a certideate, did not deserve it; 
there was no compactness, it was, moreover, a dull colour ; 
and Triumphant, which received a prize for brilliant colour, 
was loose and crumply; however, the recommendation of 
the judges was especially for colour, which was scarlet-rose. 
In the show varieties, Exhibitor, which is a very noble 
flower, good trusses, plenty of substance, better than average 
form, and very striking, had no mark of distinction, perhaps 
from a fancied likeness to Emily, but it deserved a certideate 
much more than some which had one. Ambassador, a good, 
showy, useful variety, a little too much like some we have, 
was noticeable. Hoyle's Van Tromp, rich purply-lake, was 
very showy, though somewhat loosely shown. Gannymede 
was a good deal like many we possess. Colonel of the Buffs 
was very bright and striking. Magnet, already mentioned 
more than once, had what was called on the card a first 
prize. Eliza, a bright scarlety-pink, had a third prize, and 
Herald is pretty, but crumpled. The seedlings were alto¬ 
gether striking, and in one tent, which was crowded beyond 
measure ; in fact, it was almost fighting work to get to the 
table. We will not guarantee that we saw all the awards.— 
G. Glenny. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS 
Lily of the Valley (Boots). —We know a garden where no one can 
flower the lily of the valley well, and we also know places where it flowers 
in the greatest abundance without any care whatever ; we, therefore, con- 
I elude that it is partial to particular soils. We have seen it growing 
i naturally, by the acre, in a shady wood, the soil being mere sand, 
enriched by the fallen leaves ; we have dug it out in that wood and 
found all the roots within three inches of the surface. We have also 
seen it flower abundantly on a south border, in a rich kitchen-garden 
soil. Where it refuses to succeed we would make a bed for it on 
the north side of a wall: dig out the natural soil, a foot deep, and drain 
the bottom ; then All up the bed with a compost of light sandy earth and 
rotten leaves, half of each ; press it down gently when within two inches 
of the top; then lay the roots regularly all over this surface, and then 
cover them two inches deep, and give them a good watering with a rose- 
pot; and, after that, we would cover the whole with an inch of quite 
rotten leaves, and water them once a week the following summer. 
February, or early in March, is the best time to plant them, and the third 
season they are in full perfection, and will last for ten or a dozen years. 
Arum ( Calla JEthiopica), (Enothera, and Golden Chain Gera¬ 
nium. —We find too many useful hints in the following not to print it 
without curtailment:—“ Lady-bird begs to say her Arums hav^i»loomed 
at last. Finding that she could never get the healthy ones to do so, she 
brought out of a dark corner some that she had thrust there in the 
beginning of winter, in despair at her non-success ; they have never had 
one drop of water the whole time. About six weeks ago (middle of 
April) they were repotted, the yellow leaves picked off, and the plants 
placed on a warm shelf in the greenhouse, watered abundantly, and kept 
standing in pans of water. Their temporary retreat, and subsequent 
cold water cure, have brought them into most abundant bloom. The 
(Enothera mentioned by Mr. Beaton makes a capital bed, and, by con¬ 
stantly picking off the old flowers, blooms all the summer through. It 
is perfectly hardy, too, stays in the ground all the winter without protec¬ 
tion, divides in the spring, and for one bed this year makes two the next. 
It grows so well in this heavy soil, that Lady-bird doubts its succeeding 
with Mr. Beaton. Lady-bird wishes he would give her a receipt for 
growing Golden Chain well.” In response to this wish—we understand 
that this gay geranium is fastidious about soil, but we can assure Lady¬ 
bird that where the proper soil can be obtained it will grow in it as freely 
as any other kind. We saw whole rows of it, amounting to many hun¬ 
dred plants, last autumn, at Shrubland Park, where, Mr. Beaton says, 
it grows like a weed; and he has often told, in these pages, that the same 
compost used for Epacrises is the best for it in pots. 
New SouTn Wales Seeds (W. L.B.). —The seeds you have received 
from New South Wales are an interesting lot, and contain amongst 
them some beautiful things. The plants from that country will not bear 
the frost of this, therefore it is useless to sow them in the open ground. 
They should be sown in peat and loam, in equal quantities, and well 
mixed with silver sand, and covered thinly. Place them in a green¬ 
house, and water regularly; then, when the seedlings are two inches high, 
transplant them, three or four together, into 3-inch pots ; let them remain 
in them for a year, then pot them singly into small pots, and grow them 
on till they flower. They will reward you for the expense and trouble, 
for they are beautiful flowering shrubs. You are kind enough to offer us, 
or any of our contributors, a portion, for which liberality we thank you. 
If you please to do so, send the following sorts to Mr. Appleby, Pine 
Apple Nursery, Edgeware Road, London: —Acacia graveolens, the two 
Bossioea’s, Eriostemon lanceolatum, Gompholobium latifolium and 
grandiflorum, Logania floribunda, Platylobium formosum, Pencelatia 
sprcngelioides, and Styphelia Lfeta. Should any of them grow, Mr. 
Appleby will be glad to send a plant or two of each. 
Long-flowering Plants for a Pit (J. B. R .).—You have a pit, in 
which you keep, through winter, your stock of bedding-out plants; you 
ask how, or what kinds of plants you could keep on a shelf or two, to 
flower in winter and early spring. You omit to say how you keep out the 
frost, and what means you use for that purpose. Supposing you have the 
means to heat, and dry the air of the pit, you might then grow the following: 
Acacia armata; Chinese Primroses, sown directly, and potted off as soon as 
they come up; Cinerarias, a few ; Cytisusracemosus; Daphne Cneorum; 
a dwarf Camellia or two; Rhododendron Dauricum; a few China Roses, 
especially the kind commonly called Fairy Roses ; Mesembryanthernum 
spectabile ; and floribundum. For flowering in winter, the Christmas 
Rose and Tree Violets would be useful; also, the bulbs you mention 
would answer well, if potted early, and placed out of doors, plunged in 
coal ashes, till they form roots, such, for instance, as Hyacinths, Van 
Thol Tulips, Crocuses, and Snowdrops. The plants you mention would 
not answer ; Crowea saligna is too impatient of damp ; Cytisus filipes is 
too rambling; Genista fragrans might do, but it has hoary leaves, which 
would subject it to the effects of damp in your pit. 
Ixias (A Lover of Flowers from Childhood). —Your plant is a good 
seedling variety of Ixia flexuosa, and better than the Flexuosa lilacina of 
olden times. The leaves of some Ixias die along with the flowers, and 
some continue a month after flowering, and others die at different periods 
between these extremes. 
Flower-beds (Ibid). —The mixtures named by your informant were 
perfectly good, if they pleased the owner, but not so as an example. A 
bank of Heliotrope round a dark crimson Phlox Drummondi, and that 
enclosing a mass of Commelina cwlestis, even with clipped sweet Verbena 
among the Phloxes, we could not hold up for imitation. Salvia patens, 
“ trained dwarf,” will be well matched by the Convolvulus minor, “ not 
pegged down,” however, but trained along by means of small sticks 
placed among them, but out of sight. The Yellow Alyssum is the best 
flowering yellow plant we have in Slay till the Eschscholtzia comes out. 
Transplanted Stocks, or China Asters, are the only fit things to succeed 
Carnations that are to be kept for their layers. Liquid Manure made 
according to our receipt may be made clear by the common charcoal filter. 
Fleas infesting Grass (Ibid). —Haymakers and others are some¬ 
times terribly annoyed with very small insects in the grass ; but they are 
not fleas. There is no cure for their bites that we know of; but we always 
find spirit of hartshorn the most successful application for allaying the 
irritation of all insect bites. 
Asparagus beds not productive (B. B.). —There are five contin¬ 
gencies essential for obtaining an abundance of fine Asparagus. 1. Beds 
well drained. 2. Abundance of rich dung in the autumn. 3. Weekly 
sprinklings of salt during the whole period of growth. 4. Leaving off 
cutting by the middle of June. 5. Not cutting down the seed-stems until 
they are quite yellow. If you have attended to all these rules, and yet 
have unproductive beds, your case surpasses our skill. 
Bees Working Upwards (Ibid). —Our correspondent says :—“On 
the 4th of May I put a glass (four inches in diameter) on a strong stock 
of bees; on the 11th they took to it; on the 20th a large piece of comb 
was built upwards in it; this I waited to see partly filled with honey 
before I introduced a super. On observing the glass to day ( 29 th May) 
I found brood in a forward state. I felt at a loss how to proceed, as the 
early glass of honey I looked for was spoiled; I, however, determined to 
introduce a small super, 10 in. by 5 in. deep, putting the glass at the top ; 
a number of bees have left it. Have I done wisely ? or, how should I act 
in the event of a similar occurrence? Why does Mr. Payne recommend 
a super to be introduced before removing a glass?” In all probability, 
you neglected to put a piece of guide-comb into your glass before using 
it, or the bees would not have commenced working upwards, but have 
gone at once to the top of the glass, and worked downwards, in which 
case you would have had no brood, for the queen would not have passed 
up the glass ; use guide-combs in future, and the bees will commence 
working above. If a super was not introduced the bees would, in all 
probability, swarm before finishing the glass. The fourth edition of Mr. 
Payne’s Bee Keeper’s Guide is published. 
Huber’s Hive (W. W .).—You will see a drawing and full description 
of Huber’s hive in Hnish’s Treatise on Bees, page 56, second edition, 
which description you had better abide by strictly, if you fancy a 
Huber’s hive. With regard to your suggestion about increasing the size, 
and thus having “ a large hive, as recommended by A Country Curate,” 
the latter replies—“ It has often struck me that a box might so be con¬ 
structed as to expand or contract (if I may so say) according to the 
season, whether it be summer or winter. But there are difficulties in the 
known dislike of bees to any cranny or hole other than the entrance, so 
that any slides or dividers would soon become useless from the perse¬ 
vering efforts of the bees to glue it fast with propolis. To be of any use 
your correspondent’s leaves (to increase Huber’s hive) must be full of 
clean, empty, worker-comb, at the end of autumn ; but it is difficult to 
say how these desiderata are to be secured, because there will be sure to 
be honey in them at the time of autumnal removal, or no comb. To get 
rid of this, either the bee-owner, or his bees, will be obliged to destroy 
much of the comb, and it should nearly all be got rid of before giving it 
