57 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION 
.—October 28, 1850. 
make an old plant a new one, and might lead to some 
pleasant hotch-potch in our nomenclature. Scarlet 
I Zelinda or Scarlet Globe Dahlias have been grown in 
some gardens much farther back than tho Purple 
| Zelinda, without ever dreaming that the grandeur of 
tho Crystal Palace was to lend them an additional 
charm. It must, at least, be four years ago since I saw 
beds of it at Woburn, and it was anything but new 
then. Now, under either its old or its new name, I 
rather like it for its upright, graceful habit, and great 
profusion of buds and small flowers; certainly, neither 
| more nor less on account of its getting a grand new 
name; but, if it is to be unequalled, I rather think it 
must stand alono in its glory, and at a safe distance 
from far more handsome and beautiful varieties. 
The group here consisted of thirteen beds. The centre 
was Silver Florin. I expected it to have grown a little 
higher; but its highest point on this 1 .‘3th of October, 
and after eight days’ rain, is just twenty five inches, and 
well supplied with bloom, as it has been from the begin¬ 
ning of August. The flower resembles Antagonist a 
good deal, but a little smaller. The great fault in it as 
a bedding-plant is, that it nods its flowers from the weak¬ 
ness, so that, unless you turn them up, you see the back 
or the side of the flower instead of its face. I had 
nothing else to choose without layering. There is one 
like it at Sydenham with the same drawback. There 
are two beds of Mrs. Labouchere, a buff, tinted with 
white and red, now thirty-two inches high, and have 
been a blaze of bloom since the first week in August 
The colour is not so distinct; but the beds are more 
massy and showy than Scarlet Zelinda, and the in¬ 
dividual flowers better. Crossed with these are the two 
beds of Scarlet Zelinda or Globe, and these two have 
been full of bloom since the middle of August. Height 
now, twenty-nine inches ; colour, good ; flowers, indi¬ 
vidually small and poor, and massing of colour greatly 
prevented by the great number of buds, which take off 
its brilliancy, and its spiral, upright mode of growth. 
There are two beds of Gaines Dwarf, twenty-three inches 
in height; a neat little purple crimson, which, from its 
free growth, requires a great amount of disleafing. Two 
beds of Prince Arthur have been very fine; a good, 
large, crimson flower,—what a florist would term un¬ 
equalled among its neighbours here. It throws its 
llowers at first rather thin ; but they being individually 
so large, and supported high above the foliage with 
strong stalks, the Scarlet Globe and most others cut 
anything but an unequalled appearance in its pre¬ 
sence. Height this day, twenty-four inches. There 
are, also, two beds of Miss Wayland, a fair-formed 
i flower, with a bronze orange ground, tipped with white, 
j and a little red at times. This is a great favourite with 
every one. There are abundance of flowers, though the 
wet has rather tarnished them. Height, twenty-five 
inches. The plants being small, from being struck as late 
as possible, did not bloom in a-massive manner until the 
beginning of September, though there were plenty of 
flue blooms, but thin, before then. The two end beds, 
! in liorse-sboe shape, were Purple Zelinda. They are now 
sixteen inches in height, smothered with buds; but scarce 
of bloom, as, when this blooms very early, it is apt to 
come in successions. My plants were large when put 
out, bloomed at the end of July freely, and were a dense 
mass of purple in August and September. There is no 
comparison betu r een this Purple and the Scarlet, in 
general, for bedding, as to producing effect. The latter is 
upright and spindling in its growth ; the former is stiff 
and flat, so that the flowers stand densely almost upon 
a level. The individual flower, though larger, is, perhaps, 
worse formed than the Scarlet; but we have no other, 
that I have seen, that produces such masses of colour at 
an early period. The Scarlet Globe or Crystal Palace 
will be extremely useful for its colour before a better 
comes. Even now, leaving colour out of calculation, it 
may stand side by side with Game's Dwarf , or, perhaps, 
Mrs. Labouchere. With Prince Arthur, another of 
Gaiuo’s, I believe, and the others, it has no chance of 
competition. Where a scarlet bed, however, is wanted, 
and you do not like laying the large kinds down, 
you must give it a place. On the principle that 
we pay little attention to tho quality of the flowers, I 
question if any large-growing kind could be made so 
interesting in a bed as this neat little thing, whatever 
name you choose to give it. 
These beds had each a narrow border round them. 
Of the two end ones, or Purple Zelindas, one had 
Cineraria maritima, and the other the Variegated Mint 
or Balm. In August and the greater part of September 
the last was rather the best. There was hardly a bit of 
green to be seen; the deep purple occupied the whole 
of the top, and the white variegated leaves of the Mint 
concealed the foliage and stems of the Dahlias on the 
sides. A heavy rain and wind at last broke tho outline 
of the edging. Before that I thought it was something 
like a putting “ Luxury to bed.” The outline of the 
fine-cut, white, hoary leaves of the Cineraria was more 
artistic, but it did not rise high enough to shoulder-in to 
the flowers of the Dahlia. 
All those I had plenty of were treated much the same 
as I have mentioned for the first division: all were grown 
to one stem. Another year I should be inclined to take 
two stems from Prince Arthur, or plant thicker. Purple 
Zelinda, &c., were turned out into a turf-pit with a hard 
bottom, and were protected with calico, just as I men¬ 
tioned, some time ago, the gardener of Courteen Hall 
protected his bedding-plants. I heard from Mr. Fraser, 
of Wilderness Park, the other day, and he tells me his 
Purple Zelinda has been very fine, and he thinks the 
plants bloom best from cuttings. The sort is easily 
propagated either by division or cuttings. I like division 
quite as well for early blooming; for late blooming in 
September and October I should prefer cuttings. To 
keep early-flowering plants continuous the flowers must 
be thinned a little, and plenty of water and rich mulchings 
applied in hot, dry weather. 
At the risk of being deemed egotistical, I have made 
these gossiping remarks chiefly for ascertaining what 
has been done in the same direction, especially with 
dwarfs. A good yellow is wanted greatly, and a white 
with a stiff stalk to the flower. Of course, fine 
flowers would be best, but for bedding masses of colour 
are the thing. A Scarlet as good as Prince Arthur 
among Crimsons would be a grand affair, provided it was 
such a compact little bush. Before we get plants of 
such a one 1 mean to patronise this little Crystal Palace, 
whatever its history, and whatever its true name. I want 
to hear of kinds that want no laying or pegging down. 
If still more explicit practical directions are wanted 
respecting those I have named, I shall be glad to give 
them as far as I am able. 
R. Fish. 
THE GOOSEBERRY. 
“A Subscriber” having inquired how to cultivate 
this useful fruit, and also requested a list of the best kinds, 
I thought it would be better to answer his queries by a 
short essay, rather than to give the answer in the usual 
way. I shall divide it into, 1st, Soil and Situation ; 2nd, 
Planting; 3rd, Winter Management; 4th, Summer 
ditto; 5th, Propagation ; 6tli, Insects and Diseases ; and 
7th, List of Kinds. 
1. Soil and Situation. —Our correspondent’s soil, from 
his description, appears to bo very suitable for this fruit. 
The fact is, any good soil on a dry bottom and well- 
manured will suit the Gooseberry. The situation should 
