THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, June 1, 1858. 
American Plants.- —YYhen the flowers of tlic Bho- 
dodendrons and Azaleas begin to fade, they should be 
cut off; removing, at the same time, the whole of the 
seed vessels, and all the stalk. Ey so doing, the 
energies of the plants, which would have been expended 
on the useless seed vessels, are directed to form blos¬ 
som buds for another season. 
Annuals. —Thin out, according to size ; and sow a 
j few of the best, to bloom late in the autumn. 
Bulbs, Spring. —Take up as soon as the leaves are 
I decayed. If taken up before their leaves are entirely 
I withered, to be laid in by the roots in some shady 
| place, until their leaves entirely cease to grow. Or, 
l where they are allowed to remain in the borders, 
i annuals may be sown by the side of them, to keep up 
I a succession of flowers. 
j Carnations and Picotees.— Continue to tie them 
j up as they spindle, occasionally examining the knot, 
j and easing it when required. 
Chrysanthemums. —Continue to increase by cut- 
] tings. 
Cuttings.' — Alyssum saxatile, Arabis of sorts, the 
I double yellow, or any other good sort of Wallflower, 
and many such things, will now strike freely by cut¬ 
tings, if they are stripped off from the old plants, and 
are flrmty imbedded in any garden soil in a shady 
situation. The operation is similar to planting Box 
edging. 
Dahlias. —Plant out in rich, well-dunged ground. 
Neapolitan Yiolets. —Divide and transplant; and 
shade with a few boughs, until the plants are rooted. 
Pansies. —Continue to propagate and transplant 
seedlings, as they get large enough. 
Pinks. —Propagate by pipings. The method is very 
simple, merely to pull the piping out of its socket, and 
to press it with the finger and thumb into any light soil, 
in a shady situation, in the open ground. On the 
north side of a hedge, or wall, is a good situation. 
Pits and Frames. —When they are emptied of 
their bedding-out stock, they may still be kept in 
constant use for the nursing of Balsams, Coclescombs, 
and other choice annuals that are tender; also for 
China and other Roses, where they will grow freely, if 
shaded and properly attended to. 
Ranunculuses.— A top dressing of very rotten 
cowdung will be beneficial. 
Roses. — Water regularly, and occasionally with 
manure water. 
Stocks and China Asters.— Prick out for autumn 
display. 
Verbenas, and other trailing plants, peg down. 
Attention to be given to the routine operations of 
cleaning and dressing the flower garden and pleasure 
ground, by hoeing and raking the borders, weeding, 
sweeping, and rolling the gravel, and mowing the 
grass. All litter and decayed parts of plants to be 
cleared away, straggling growths to be trimmed and 
regulated, and the flower-stems as they advance to be 
supported, or tied up, in a neat and regular manner. 
William Keane. 
CRYSTAL PALACE HORTICULTURAL 
SHOW.— May 22. 
This was the best Show they have had at the Crystal 
Palace ; that is to say, there were the best sized speci¬ 
men plants, the best arrangement for “ setting off” 
the flowers, and the best company to pay the best 
prices, that ever were paid in this country for the seeing 
and smelling of flowers, since Flower Shows have been 
“elevated into a principle ” in England. 
I recollect perfectly well when visitors had to pay 
for the one-guinea breakfast flower shows at the Chis¬ 
wick Garden ; but there was no real elevation then. I 
recollect Dr. Lindley telling us, fifteen Judges, that 
he had seen a person “ dead drunk ” stretched out on 
that table, round which we sat, from the “ effects ” of 
one of the said guinea bouts, and that person was in the 
English peerage; but I will not go quite so far as the 
Doctor, and say whether the person was a man or 
woman. 
Upwards of 3000 persons paid their 7s. Gd. to see 
this Show, and more than 9000 were admitted by 
season-tickets to the Crystal Palace on the 22nd. Now, 
put Sir Joseph Paxton in one scale, and add five years 
to his weight, and put Dr. Lindley in the opposite 
scale, with the weight of twenty-eight years—to say 
nothing of the difference between half-price and 5,?. at 
Chiswick, or between the two sums and the 7s. Gd. of 
last Saturday—and then get the register of all the May 
Meetings at Chiswick since that drunken “ person” was 
upset, and the index of the scales will show the effects 
of the two systems on the gardening world, or Chats- 
worth against Chiswick. The one has been doctored 
to death, the other has been knighted. The “ Shows ” 
at the Crystal Palace have “ taken,” almost at the first 
start; and no matter how high the admission fee for 
one grand day in the season, the great folks are sure 
to go there to see the flowers and each other; and, as 
we all like to see the Queen and the nobility, it is 
perfectly just that we should pay as much to see them 
as for seeing the flowers. Therefore, the best way 
for the Crystal Palace authorities is, to have a half¬ 
guinea day once a year: that would square the account 
between the flowers and the aristocracy. 
There were great improvements in the arrangements 
—in raising the awnings much higher than formerly ; 
secondly, in raising a solid barrier on each side of the • 
way , along the centre of the building, to hide the scenery 
of the Palace; thirdly, to place the stages for the 
plants against these barriers, instead of their being in 
the middle of the space as formerly; and fourthly, in 
making two resting-places for the visitors, one im¬ 
mediately on each side of the great transept. Those 
empty spaces were lined with covered seats on both 
sides of the way, each, of them occupying about fifty 
yards of the nave; and that arrangement threw the 
extreme ends of the Flower Show up close to the 
crystal and bronze fountains. The fruit was staged 
across the great transept, immediately below the 
Handel orchestra. In advance of the fruit, and in the 
very centre of the Palace, was a large circular stand, fifty 
yards round, and rising in the form of a pyramid: it 
was completely occupied with collections of stove and 
greenhouse plants. In front of this great circle, across 
the transept, was a long, double block of stages, also for 
stove and greenhouse collections ; and on both sides of 
the transept were also stages, the same way as in the 
north and south naves. 
The Boses were, beyond comparison, the greatest 
triumphs of gardening skill, and the finest plants, yet 
exhibited. The Pelargoniums were uniformly good, 
except one collection, with no improvement on former 
exhibitions. They had reached the limits of size and 
training long since, and they can never give more 
bloom in the same space ; therefore, the only direction 
in which Pelargoniums can be further pushed, is in the 
way of improved kinds and colours. 
We had one decided novelty and improvement in 
colour this time, in a French kind, called Eugene 
Duval. The ground colour all over is a soft flush, of a 
mixture of lavender and crimson, which gives a unique 
purple tint; the edges of all the petals, and all round 
tbe petals, down to the eye, or centre, of the flower, are 
faintly indicated by an even and extremely narrow line 
of white, and the back petals are faintly darkened from 
their centre downwards. It is a decided hit, and 
