274 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, July 31, 1860. 
Fern, of an entirely novel and exceedingly ornamental character, 
being the first well-marked variegated Fern introduced to culti¬ 
vation. Habit vigorous. Fronds five feet long, including the 
stout stipes, which is scaly below, and occupies about half of the 
entire length, ovate in outline, about tw’O feet and a half wide at 
the base, pedately bi-pinnatifid, the two lower pairs of pinnoo 
usually, sometimes the third also, having a posterior basal branch; 
segments of the pinnae obtusely linear subfaleate, one inch and a 
quarter long, somewhat wavy, spinulose on the upper rachis, the 
terminal one caudate. The peculiar beauty of the Fern is owing 
to the base of each segment, for a quarter of an inch or more of 
its length, being of a silvery-grey colour, so as to produce a broad 
silvery stripe about three-quarters of an inch in breadth down the 
centre of each of the pinnce and of their branches. It is a most 
valuable addition to our garden Ferns. Central India. Messrs. 
Veitch Son. —T. M. 
PELARGONIUMS IN POTS. 
CHARACTERISTICS OF LARGE FLORISTS’ PELARGONIUMS. 
The form of each flower should be as near a flat circular cup 
as possible ; the petals smooth on their edges, joining so neatly 
together as to look like a round monopetalous blossom, and the 
outside, or rim, being scarcely at all rcflexed. In consistence each 
petal should be velvety and thick, to stand uninjured a fair 
amount of sun and air. The colour , whatever it be, should be 
clear and distinct; the blotch or spot on the upper petals well 
defined, not running into the ground colour, nor reaching so far as 
the edge of the petal. Both upper petals should be exactly alike, 
and the threo lower ones should also be exactly alike. Varieties 
with clear white eyes or centres, set off the decided colours to 
great advantage. In habit the plant should be compact and 
shrubby. The foliage thick and healthy rather than extra large. 
The flower-stems stout and strong, raising the flowers nicely, but 
not too much above the foliage. The footstalk for each flower in 
the truss should also be stiff and strong, and just long enough 
to allow room for all the flowers in the truss to expand freely, 
but not so long as to give enough room for one flower to straggle 
away from the rest. Each truss will look most symmetrical 
when it consists of five blooms. 
Soil.— Provided this be obtained rich, light, sweet, and well 
aerated, there need be no difficulty. I prefer soil obtained from 
the top spit by the roadside in a loamy district, laid up loosely 
for a twelvemonth, turned over once or twice, of that two parts. 
Of very rotten old hotbed dung, or decayed leaves, or old cow- 
dung, in all cases well sweetened by frequent turning, of that 
one part; and nearly one-part of fine sand and some little bits 
of charcoal. The above I would use chiefly for final potting. 
For early potting—say, from August to the new year, I would 
use the light, sandy soil, and scarcely any manuring matter what¬ 
ever. Fresh, healthy, moderate, rather than vigorous growth is 
wanted in the autumn months, and during most of the winter. 
When these materials have failed me, I have gone to a ridged-up 
piece of ground in the kitchen garden, and scraped off very 
thinly some of the fine, well aerated flaky soil from the tops of 
the ridges on a dry day ; and when this had a little well aerated 
sweet leaf mould, and a little silver sand, it grew Pelargoniums 
admirably. I always prefer, however, new soil when it can be 
obtained, and also to make the compost of the well-aired in¬ 
gredients as needed, instead of having them mixed together for 
long periods beforehand. When turf can be obtained, or a thin 
layer immediately below turf, I prefer that it should be laid in a 
heap as hollow as possible, in order that the air may go freely 
through it and sweeten it for a twelvemonth, which does not 
make it so fine and waste the fibre, like frequent turnings with a 
spade before using. It is of the first importance for securing 
healthy, stubby growth, that the compost be sweet and well aerated, 
and neither wet nor dry when used. The amateur should not be 
above testing the sweetness by smelling it carefully. 
In selecting plants to commence with, choose those that are 
dwarf and stubby, in preference to those that are long and lanky, 
or badly formed. A nice little plant in a 60-pot is often far better 
than a larger ono in a 48-pot or a 32-pot. If the plant has 
several shoots so much the better. If not, it must be made to 
produce them by stopping, according to the plan you mean to 
train. For instance : Suppose that you wish to have something 
of a novelty and thus prefer to try 
Standards, then it will be best to select plants with one stem, 
and keep growing that alone until in the first or second season, by 
keeping the plants always in a growing heat, and removing with 
the point of a penknife each side-bud as it appears, you have a 
stem from three to five feet or more in height, or as much more 
as you like. For this purpose the plants should have a tem¬ 
perature in winter of from 45° to 50°, and in summer from 55° 
to 65°. No leaves should be removed until they fall, and as they 
fall they will leave a clean stem behind them. The picking out 
the buds prevents all side-shoots forming. When high enough, 
whip out the terminal bud, or take away an inch or so of the 
point, and leave the buds for six inches or so downwards un¬ 
touched, to form your future head. That secured, the plant must 
be treated afterwards just as you would a dwarf bush plant, only 
moro care should bo taken, if possible, to keep the head stubby ; 
so that, whatever its size, no support should be needed but the 
neat central stake that supports the stem. The chief extra care 
will be in watering, that none lodges on the stem where it joins 
the soil, or gangrene and dampWill take place. On the same 
account in all repotting, the stem must never be placed deeper 
than it was in the small pot with which you commenced. 
In forming Pyramids, the same minutire as to potting and 
watering form chief elements of success. Here side-shoots that will 
extend as far as and beyond the rim of the pot, as the base of the 
pyramid, are of as much importance as the central shoot. In a 
young plant, therefore, the point of the shoot must be stopped to 
cause these side-shoots to form, and stoppings afterwards must 
take place, so as to secure layers of shoots from six to twelve inches 
apart, according as the plant is weak or strong-growing; one 
shoot being always selected to continue the leader. From this 
stopping, several seasons will be required to make a pyramid from 
three to five feet in height, and with a base of from two feet and 
onwards in diameter. This style of growth is most suitable for 
verandahs, fine lighted staircases, lofty greenhouses, &c. When 
the lower ring of shoots is fastened to a hoop beneath the rim of 
the pot, a little hasping with fine thread to the one stake in the 
centre, will be all the support that will be needed for home de¬ 
coration. When forming and formed, the general treatment will 
be the same as for low 
Bush Plants —grown so a3 to resemble three parts of a 
circular ball. This is the most general way in which Geraniums 
are cultivated. If the plants are not raised by the grower, I 
consider early spring the best time for ordering them. Some¬ 
thing may be gained by having them in summer and autumn, by 
sacrificing mere flowering to growth ; but next to a whole season, 
so far as display is concerned, may be gained by having the plants 
in the spring, and making flowering secondary to the growth and 
the forming of the plant. When such young plants as I have 
advised having, are not only allowed but encouraged to bloom, 
then the autumn, winter, &c. management will be much the 
same as for established plants. The subjoined hints have re¬ 
ference to the forming the skeleton of a young flowering plant at 
first from plants obtained in the spring, just premising that 
other plants must have similar principles of 
Training, though the time lost cannot easily be made up. 
Suppose, then, as first imagined, that we have a young bushy 
plant in a 60-sized pot in April, and that it has a leading shoot, 
and three secondary shoots not far above the junction of the stem 
with the soil. In such a case at first, we let well alone. If there 
is only one shoot we stop it, in order that the buds in the axils of 
the leaves may throw out shoots, and by the process lose just so 
much time in waiting to have a proper commencement. Some 
three or more side-shoots being obtained in addition to the 
central leading one, our first object is to encourage grovvth ; arid 
therefore, as soon as the little pot is crammed with roots, we shift 
it into a 48, or the size larger, when growing freely. If all the 
shoots are about equal in strength we let them all alone. If the 
central one is taking the strength from the side ones we nip out 
its point, and this for a time will cause more flow of sap into the 
unstopped shoots. We place a small stick in the centre for the 
centre shoot. We tie out the side-shoots by placing a small twig 
in the soil for each, or fastening them with a hasp to a string 
round the rim of the pot. In the first case I prefer little twigs, 
because care must be taken not to depress these shoots too much 
at first, or they are apt to slip off from the stem, and that would 
destroy the symmetry of the plant. It is also of importance 
both in this bush system and in pyramids that the lowest layer 
of shoots should not be much depressed to the sides of the pots, 
or the sap will flow into them less vigorously than those that 
start from the stem at a higher or aeuter angle upwards. Ere 
long, if all goes on well, the plants will want a shift into a 32-sized 
pot, and unless where more than ordinary care can be given that 
