237 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, July 20, 1859. 
of tlie Golden Chain, and three cuttings of Harlcaicay, on 
the same border, and in the same frame, on the same day, 
for an experimental trial which is just going on. But the 
same week I put in ninety cuttings of a particular seedling 
on that border; and not to lose one hour with them, I put 
a cradle over them, on which I put mats from ten till four 
or five, and they were slightly damped twice a-day, and 
the last thing at night, and not one single leaf drooped 
or turned yellow. It was on a Saturday afternoon, and 
by next Saturday I did without the mats, and the 
cradles were cleared off. The ninety cuttings were, most 
of them, twice and three times the length and substance 
of the Imperial Crimson cuttings last June twelve- 
months, and the latter had no sort of screen or shelter—• 
they stood in the middle of the garden. 
I have a few dozens of standard Nosegays on their 
own roots ; the stems are from one foot to thirty inches—- 
say half standards as compared with Boses. No ribbon- 
border will be complete without one row of standard 
Geraniums at the back. They are easily made if you 
begin at the beginning—that is, begin with the cutting, 
and take out the two lowest eyes when the cutting is 
made ; all the other eyes will be above, and you have 
only to watch them and pinch the shoots from them as 
often as they push, all except the leading or top shoot. 
If that leader do not go straight up, stake it, and 
compel it to go as you wish. When it is high enough, 
stop it, and make a head of the next three or four top 
eyes which will soon shoot after it is stopped. Keep all 
the side-shoots in short spurs all the summer, and they 
will lay, strengthen, and hold fast the foundation of your 
future standards. But I get my standards much easier. 
I plant seedlings so close that they draw up one another; 
and if the ground is very rich, they will be three feet 
long in the stems by the middle of September, when they 
generally bloom for the first time. Then, if I want a 
standard of any particular kind, I cut off, clean down to 
the stem, every one of the side-shoots and make cuttings 
of them; and the top part, which is not yet broken into 
side-shoots, I disbud when I take them up. Such plants 
will never push a sucker or a side-shoot. 
But talking about cuttings no more than two inches 
long, I had to make one cutting at the end of last May, 
and it was twenty-five inches long and rooted amazingly 
well. One favourite standard died at the collar, and it 
had to be cut to the sound part, and stuck in the border 
where it soon rooted. So we cut according to the cloth, 
the custom, and the fashion. D. Beaton. 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
THE GREAT GARDEN SCHEME AT KENSINGTON GORE. 
The adjourned meeting of the above Society, for the further 
consideration of the great horticultural garden at Kensington 
Gore (the particulars of which we published in The Cottage 
Gardener of the 12th inst.), was held on Wednesday last in 
the house of the Society of Arts, John Street, Adelplii. 
The attendance on the occasion was small, there not being at 
any one time thirty-five members present. It seems as if the 
Eellows—indeed, many of those who were present at the former 
meeting—absented themselves from this; and the large theatre 
of the Institution, which the members of the Horticultural 
Society could have crammed had they so pleased, presented a 
beggarly account of empty benches. If we except the members 
of the Council, who were, to a certain extent, bound to be 
present, the remaining number would barely have sufficed to 
have called from their sleep the echoes of the place. 
We have not the most distant desire to throw cold water on 
the matter; but we think within ourselves, that as the establish¬ 
ment of such gardens should be for the benefit of horticulture 
in the abstract, above all other considerations, as well as a great 
boon to the public, the Royal Commissioners should devise 
some reasonable plan by which, in the event of success, this 
plot of ground could ultimately become the freehold property 
of the Society, or that the Society should, at least, become co¬ 
freeholders with the Royal Commissioners. 
Unless the terms can be considerably modified, both as 
regards tenure and re-entry, the particulars of which will be 
found detailed below, we feel we must, in the conscientious 
discharge of our duty in this Journal, tell our friends not to be 
too sanguine of their investment. It is true, the scheme is 
ushered into being with considerable eclat and patronage. 
Her Majesty leads off with a subscription of £1000, and 
His Royal Highness the Prince Consort with the sum of 
£500. In addition to this the Queen will take life member¬ 
ships for the whole of the Royal Family, nine in number; 
whilst the Prince will subscribe another £1000 in deben¬ 
ture stock. Well, this looks encouraging; and whichever 
way it may go, we trust His Royal Highness will be no loser, 
for he has some Very costly property surrounding this estate, 
which, let us hope, these magnificent gardens will benefit. 
Instead, however, of a thirty-one-years’ lease, why not give the 
Society a fifty-years' lease, with the right of accepting and re¬ 
deeming the debentures of the Royal Commissioners, and in 
virtue of that, becoming absolute owners of the soil. Then 
there would be something for the present generation of horti¬ 
culturists to work for, and a hopeful legacy to hand to the next. 
1 If some larger-based terms are not agreed to, we do not think 
that any person, to whom a hundred pounds is of greater con¬ 
sequence than the expenses of a summer holiday trip, ought to 
invest a single shilling in the plan. To men of comparative 
wealth, a debenture or two, at £100 a-piece, are of no great con¬ 
sequence ; they will be well repaid by the excitement which is 
sure to attend the trial of such an experiment, and the satis¬ 
faction of bringing to solution the commercial value of a 
speculation of this peculiar and untried character. For the 
enthusiasm with which it has been ushered into the world we 
do not care much; other speculations have been equally well 
heralded. Have we not before us the example of the Crystal 
Palace at Sydenham, with representatives of almost everything 
in nature, in science, and in art ? 
The Crystal Palace has all these varied attractions, yet we 
have never heard of any of the Directors forsaking the drudgery 
of this money-getting world, and retiring to the land of mil¬ 
lionaires, by reason of the accumulative dividends of that very 
enterprising concern. We do not say that the gardens will not 
be made, that the money will not be forthcoming; but we do 
say, that for persons to whom money is a consideration, too 
much caution cannot be exercised in entering into an engage¬ 
ment of this nature. Let us, however, now return to the 
meeting. 
Amongst the Fellows and members of the Society present 
were His Grace the Duke of Leinster; the Earl of Ducie ; Sir 
Philip Egerton, Bart., M.P. ; Sir Joseph Paxton, M.P.; Sir 
Peter Pole, Bart.; Mr. H. G. Bohn; Mr. R. Hogg; Mr. C. W. 
Dilke; Dr. Lindley; Mr. Holmes Godson; Mr. Edmonds; 
Mr. Veitch; Mr. Cole; Mr. Wood; Mr. Clutton; Mr. John 
Reeves ; Mr. Saunders ; and Mr. Charlwood. 
The Earl of Ducie, as President of the Society, occupied the 
chair. 
The noble Chairman opened the proceedings by calling upon 
the Secretary to read the minutes of the last meeting; which, 
having been done, they were put to the meeting and confirmed. 
The Chairman then said, he believed he should be best dis¬ 
charging his duty if he did, as shortly as possible, state what 
position they were in at present. The Council came to report 
what progress had been made with the Royal Commissioners 
since the last Meeting. He was happy to inform the meeting 
that considerable modifications had been made in the terms of 
the agreement for the lease, which he believed would be much 
more acceptable than the previous ones. Although no special 
exertions had been made to raise funds, the subscription list 
showed no less a sum than £11,000 in the form of “life-mem¬ 
berships, donations, and debentures,” which were intended to 
be taken by different parties (hear, hear). With regard to the 
different plans of the gardens as placed round the room, he 
might incidentally state, that in the part which the Horticultural 
Society would have to form, they were by no means pledged to 
any exact plan. If they should be enabled to proceed with the 
scheme, the Council would take the best possible advice, and 
adopt the best suggestions in carrying out that upon which so 
much would depend. He would not detain the meeting longer, 
but call upon the Secretary to state what progress had been 
made since they had last met together. 
The Secretary said that at the last meeting it was stated 
that the terms of the lease were such that some further con¬ 
sideration would have to be directed to them. The original 
