]3G THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, November 25, 1856. 
GERANIUM DIADEMATUM. 
“ I beg to inform Mr. Beaton that I am not mistaken 
about the identity of Geranium diadematum ; and when I 
explain that my stock originally came from the fountain¬ 
head, Shrubland, during the time he lived there, he will, 
without seeing a leaf of it, readily imagine it to be the true 
variety. Early one morning in September, 1851, I paid a 
visit to the Shrubland Gardens, and, as Mr. Beaton was 
there to show me round, I took particular care to ask him 
to point out the plants he had recommended for bedding in 
the pages of The Cottage Gardener; and, as I had tried 
unsuccessfully to obtain this Geranium in London, as soon 
as I saw it I begged him to give me a cutting, which he 
very kindly did. Of course, I set to work the following year 
to increase it as much as possible, and as it is not very diffi¬ 
cult to strike, I soon obtained a stock of it, and it has ever 
since remained the “ pet plant ” of my garden. I got several 
other good things at the same time, which continue to hold 
a prominent position “ here.” Among them are Cineraria 
maritima. Lady Middleton Geranium , Shrubland White 
Petunia, &c. 
“I recollect Mr. Beaton told me at the time that it was 
owing to my good fortune in having come alone that he was 
able to give me a single cutting. I consider myself still 
more fortunate now in being able to repay the attention I 
then received. I shall be very happy to let Mr. Beaton have a 
stock of this most beautiful bedding Geranium again. My 
old plants of it have been potted, without cutting them 
much down ; they will, therefore, yield a good supply of cut¬ 
tings in the spring; or, if Mr. Beaton prefers having a few 
rooted plants of it, I shall have great pleasure in sending 
them whenever he pleases. 
“ As it may be sought after in the spring, T may here 
mention, that I not long back gave some plants of it to the 
Messrs. Henderson, at the Wellington Nursery, St. John’s 
Wood, in exchange for their Crystal Palace Dahlia , which, 
by the way, I hear will disappoint me; and I have no 
doubt they will offer it for sale in their next Catalogue. 
“ I have had six varieties of this Diadematum Geranium. 
1st, the one above mentioned; 2nd, the well-known D. ru- 
bescens; 3rd, D. monstrosum, the semi-double variety. I 
had it in my garden twelve months before it became known 
as Wilmore’s Surprise. 4th, D. regium, a shy grower, and, 
with me, not darker than nlbescens, only that the upper 
petals are more marked. 5th, D. bicolor, which I have lost, 
with a very distinctly-marked pink and white flower. It did 
not make wood enough for a bed ; but perhaps I did not 
plant it in soil sufficiently rich. Lastly, a distinct sort, 
which was sent to me as the old pink variety, but which 
turned out to be similar to D. tricolor in habit and constitu¬ 
tion, but with a flower deeply veined.—R. L.” 
[I recollect “ R. L.’s ” visit to Shrubland as if it were but 
yesterday. I was an old man then; but “ R. L.” is older 
now, and I am much younger. To keep up the credit of 
memory, I must admit what he says in the matter of giving 
cuttings away to strangers. In large establishments the rule 
with gardeners is, that the employer never buys the same 
kind of plant but once during the tenure of service of one 
gardener. Ambition is allowed to rule the number of plants 
to be increased from all new kinds ; self-interest is allowed 
to suggest the possibility of losing this plant before it is in¬ 
creased at all; self-pride would recoil from the idea of ask¬ 
ing “ the governor ” to buy it over again; and the man, or 
rather, the ass, who would not give away freely, could never 
expect to receive in return. No “gentleman” ever interferes 
in these matters, which are well understood from the 
Queen’s garden downwards. In olden times some nursery¬ 
men did not like the plan; but I never met with one of 
them for the last twenty years who did not approve of it, 
saying, “ It is just like your cheap literature ; the more you 
circulate the more it is called for, and so with plants.” Over 
and above all that, the owners of Shrubland Park have 
always been noted for their liberality in giving away their 
seedlings and bedding-plants, and the “exchanges” they 
never interfered with. They were the very first who re¬ 
sponded to the wants of the “ Experimental Garden,” and 
sure am I that they will be the last to grudge it—a long-lost 
plant from their own garden—cuttings of which, when the 
frost is well over in the spring, will be thankfully received. 
I hope that Mr. Henderson is aware of the history of the 
plant. —D. Beaton.] 
EVERGREEN UNDERWOOD FOR PLANTATIONS. 
“In The Cottage Gardener, November 4th, Mr. 
Ferguson says, ‘ I find the Silver Fir the best tree for filling 
up neglected ornamental plantations that I am acquainted 
with, as no other tree that I have observed accommodates 
itself so well under others.’ Now, I am sorely puzzled 
how best to remedy the fault of my predecessor (I am a 
country vicar), who, thirty years ago, planted the vicarage 
grounds with forest-trees, without the admixture of a single 
evergreen. I have a belt on the south side of my lawn of 
tall Sycamores, Beeches, Limes, like scaffold poles, fifty feet 
high, in all their bare nakedness except at the top. In 
another place my drive goes through the same trees, 
and the look of the bare ground amongst them is untidy 
and cheerless enough. I planted Laurel three years ago; 
hut that was before I learnt the uselessness of such a course 
from the pages of The Cottage Gardener. I now know 
nil about planting in tubs, boxes, &c., and was preparing to 
do something of the kind, however troublesome and ex¬ 
pensive. But how now about Mr. Ferguson’s Silver Firs ?■ 
Shall I get a lot, and carefully take out good holes for them 
amongst the thirty-feet-high Sycamores and Chestnuts ? and 
will not Berberis aquifolia grow in the same place ? It looks 
as if, with its abundant roots, it was safe to grow anywhere. 
I have small faith in Laurels growing in such a situation, 
even in tubs, on account of the drip. I should mention 
that, feeling so uncertain as to the success of any plantings 
under established forest-trees, I was thinking of getting lots 
of roots from the woods, and piling them up along the sides 
of the drive, to cover with Ivy and Periwinkle. Our soil is 
stitfish white loam on limestone, very untractable in most 
weathers, and much against rapid growths.—A New Sub¬ 
scriber.” 
[Mr. Ferguson is a first-rate authority on this subject. 
Our own experience does not furnish another example of the 
Silver Fir making up neglected ornamental plantations; still, 
if we had to deal in the matter, we would not hesitate an hour 
on following his advice. Recollect, however, that he is a 
thorough practical gardener; that such men do things very 
differently from amateurs; that any of that race would make 
your belt look as green and as full of underwood as any in 
the kingdom in one month, and insure it for the next year, 
provided he had the run of a long purse ; all would depend 
on the banker. The way he would set about it would be to 
dig the whole surface of the belt from side to side, and 
destroy the whole felt of surface-roots, as a preliminary step; 
then he would, probably, thin out many of the worst and 
the closest together of the old trees, say fully one-third of 
the number. Their places he would trench two feet deep, 
and as wide as the large roots of other trees would allow of. 
Two out of every three of such trenched spaces Mr. Ferguson 
would fill up with Silver Firs from three to four feet high ; 
the other third with Yews and Hollies of the same height. 
The intermediate dug ground the practical would plant with 
young Common and Portugal Laurels and Box. These 
three will grow under drip, and in the shade as well and 
much faster than in open places; but they must be under 
good management for the first seven years. The ground 
should be kept as clean and as free from weeds as a piece of 
rough shrubbery. Round the outside, next the drive, Ber¬ 
beris aquifolia would be a carpet the whole way, with Por¬ 
tugal Laurels twenty feet apart, or forty feet, and Alaternus 
between. The latter will grow in “ brick earth,” and in sheer 
chalk we have had it do so.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Lice on Squirrels (A Subscriber ). — Try rubbing flowers of 
sulphur among the fur. 
Cottage Garden Society ( Salterton ).—Consult the Rev. Abner 
Brown, of Pytchley, Northamptonshire. His village Society was ad¬ 
mirably conducted, and signally successful. He published a little 
pamphlet upon the subject. 
Peas and other Crops failing (J . Evergreen ),—The staple of 
your soil is too light, or, in other words, contains an excess of sand 
(siliceous). The best of permanent remedies would be the addition of 
