156 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. June 5. 
were expanded were utterly destroyed. And, indeed, 
all that had began to show the white in their corolla 
were in the same predicament. 
But, there has been such a profusion in the show of 
blossoms this spring, and, moreover, it has been so 
fitful in its development, that the chances of a good set 
have been exceedingly multiplied. Hence, there is 
little doubt that in the north, generally, those who have 
retarded and protected as well will have a fair share of 
success. But such a late blossoming I have never 
known; indeed, everything is, and has been, six weeks 
later. I have lately heard spring birds warbling certain 
sounds which have been familiar to my ear, for the last 
forty or fifty years, as a March affair, in the middle of 
May. Even the “ Black Thorn winter,” which every 
school-boy looks forward to as a real old English con¬ 
cern, has only arrived here during the last ten days. 
We have now what is called a trimming time of it; 
north-easters day and night, and the most intense sun¬ 
light over head—all is aridity. 
At the risk of being charged with a tedious digression, 
I feel tempted to observe, that the drought at present 
prevailing in this quarter wears a most serious aspect. 
The protracted winter and spring has scarcely left a 
hay-stack in this county. Hay, now, inferior hay, as our 
cockney friends would call it, at £5 and ,£6 per ton, 
with a prospect of speedily reaching to £7. 
All the world knows that this is the centre of the 
great Cheshire cheese district, and that most of the 
dairy stock calve in April. We learn, this day, that 
mauy farmers, having such a demand for grass for their 
milking stock, have been compelled to turn their cows 
on to their hay-grass. A pretty prospect this for another 
winter; and to add to the prospective evil, the Oats are 
looking very poor in general; and Oat straw in Cheshire 
is of immense importance, especially when hay stacks 
are scarce. Our readers will, no doubt, pardon me for 
stepping aside for a moment, stirring events sometimes 
justify a little departure from the case in hand. 
To return to the fruits. We advise our readers to look 
well after two matters; the first, to wage an earnest 
war against all insects; the second, to betake them¬ 
selves to the mulching system forthwith, where re¬ 
quisite. I advise this on the assumption that the 
present drought is very general. The Peaches and 
Nectarines have, of course, been cleansed long since; let 
us now point to the Cherry fly. If wall or trained 
Cherries are worth growing, they are worth growing 
well; and this cannot be done if the black fly is per¬ 
mitted to reign unmolested. The old maxim—“ A stitch 
in time,” is the thing; more certain, more economical 
by far, both as regards material and labour. Once let 
the rogues so pervert the sap, and so rob the tree of its 
juices, that the leaves curl up, and you at once lose all 
command over them. The same may be said of the 
Black Currant, which soon sinks immediately under 
such circumstances. As for the Red and White Currants, 
they can stand a tolerably hard campaign. 
We are now in the month of June; with this month 
the character of the future tree, as also fruit in the 
ensuing year, must be determined. Neglect this month, 
and we shall hear you talk, next spring, of your horrible 
climate, your bad soil, your blights, and more mishaps 
than anybody else has suffered. Let us at once shake 
off excuses. R. Erringtqn. 
HYBRID PERPETUAL GERANIUMS. 
With the exception of the China Rose, the original 
Noisette Rose, and the old Musk Rose, I do not re¬ 
member that we had any kind of Roses which bloomed 
in the autumn when I began .gardening. Whence, 
therefore, came the Hybrid Perpetuals of the present 
day? Whence, indeed; but that is not the question 
which I mean to write about. to-day. At the time re¬ 
ferred to, or between 1820 and 1880, we had several 
Geraniums which bloomed not only in autumn, but 
from April to October; and my question is this, Why 
have we not succeeded in producing a race of Hybrid 
Perpetual Geraniums between these perpetual flowerers 
and the summer-flowering Pelargoniums of the florist 
kinds ? 
In 1830, it would have been easier to work into, or work 
out, a new race of autumnal-flowering Geraniums than 
to originate Plybrid Perpetual Roses ; but at that time 
there was no demand for the bedding Geraniums. The 
system of bedding plants was then in its infancy, and 
we had no conception of the value of Hybrid Perpetuals, 
either in Roses or Geraniums ; but now that the Erench 
growers have loaded us with all kinds of autumn flower¬ 
ing Roses, we seem to want the extension of our Gera¬ 
niums, or Pelargoniums, in the same direction. We 
have all along kept a-head of all foreigners with seedling 
florist Pelargoniums, and the field is in our own hands; 
but we have hitherto neglected its extent and capacity ; 
yea, we have hardly acknowledged, yet,, that Hybrid 
Perpetual Geraniums are possible of attainment. How¬ 
ever, there can hardly be a question on the subject. 
Pelargoniums are just as capable of being extended 
into the autumn in full bloom as the Scarlet Gera¬ 
niums or the Bourbon Roses, and that is what they 
must come to some day; for we cannot rest satisfied 
for ever with running in a circle, which gives us 
May and June flowers only; the whole system must 
be changed. New books must be written about the 
treatment of Hybrid Perpetual Geraniums; no “cutting” 
of them till they are frost bitten ; no potting of them in 
October, or in January either, for May blooming; for 
we must have them to bloom from the middle of May 
till the middle or end of October. How is this to be 
done ? and who is to set about it? 
The florist is so tied down to the circle that he will 
not hear of it. The amateur is only beginning to ask 
questions about which he is to cross, so as to be on a 
par with the florist, and to escape from his 42s. and 21s. 
seedlings; but this will never do. You may as well try to 
put down steam, as to shake the “ balance of power” in 
the hands of the florist. He has the run safe enough, 
and is able to keep it to the end of the chapter; and 
one of the wildest schemes which was ever thought of, 
is for an amateur, or a gardener either, to think of ever 
getting up to the winning-post against the florists. 
No, we must first rid ourselves of all ideas of im¬ 
proving on the circle; then we must see and acknowledge 
the necessity of a new race of autumn-flowering Gera¬ 
niums, and give a fair welcome to whatever comes, at 
first, from the cross-breeder, by giving a good price for 
it, until we can make it appear that the plants will 
pay; and self-interest will then, doubtless, work out the 
problem, as in other branches of the trade. 
We all know, by this time, that a good, new, and very 
distinct bedding Geranium will pay in the market as 
well as Governor General, or Petrucliio ; and most of us 
know, or ought to know, how many good bedding 
Geraniums we possess already ; then, by crossing the 
best of them with such Pelargoniums as Basilisk, 
Governor General, Magnet, and Magnificent, and other 
bright scarlet flowering kinds, we may reasonably expect 
something good to begin with in the way of scarlets 
In the flower-garden, the most telliug varieties will 
always be those with the brightest colours and most 
free from the dark brown spots and blotches; scarlets 
and whites, also white and scarlet in the same flower, 
then bright rose, deep pink, and any good shade of 
purple. This is on the supposition that bedding Hybrid 
Perpetuals would pay better than those for pots and the 
greenhouse. The style I mean is well represented in 
