May 8, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
573 
themselves. Those"! for flowering may be potted as 
desired in medium or large-sized pots ; but, as a rule, 
they are far better if kept in 7-in. or 8-in. pots. The 
compost we find best suited to them consists of equal 
parts of good loam and peat, with a little half-rotten leaf- 
mould and a good sprinkling of charcoal ; care should 
be taken that the pots are thoroughly drained. After 
potting they should be placed in some rather shady 
spot in the stove ; but after once they have started 
they will make a more sturdy growth if grown in the 
intermediate house, placed in a batch by themselves. 
Now that most of the forced things are done 
with, attention must be given to plants for summer 
decoration, and amongst the most useful are the 
double Petunias. We generally procure a couple of 
packets of seeds annually, and from them, as a rule, -we 
manage to select some which are decidedly worth 
saving through the winter for spring propagating. We 
have already pricked-off a nice batch of seedlings, 
beside having a goodly stock of spring-struck cuttings ; 
most of the double kinds are valuable for cutting, and 
all are deliciously scented. Balsams, too, must not be 
neglected ; the early batch now require a good shift. 
Care must be taken to pot them deeply—if possible, up 
to the Cotyledons, using a rich open soil, and avoid 
pressing; anything approaching firmness will cause 
failure. At present they must be grown in a genial 
temperature, but as the weather becomes warmer they 
may receive plenty of air, always being careful to keep 
them fully exposed to the light and as near the glass as 
possible. 
We have removed all the bedding Pelargoniums to 
a shelter provided out of doors, where we cover them 
up at night, and so we have made room for the hundred 
and one other plants from the houses, which is a relief, 
as they had become greatly in the way of the -work on 
the Vines and Peaches. A pinch of seed of Browallia 
Roezlii, sown now and grown on like Balsams, will be 
found extremely useful for cutting purposes, and also 
for staging amongst other plants in the greenhouse, the 
bright blue of its flowers being very effective ; another 
batch sown about the middle or end of June, will be 
useful for using amongst the early section of Chry¬ 
santhemums. Gradually harden off all bedding plants, 
removing the lights as much as possible during the day, 
and watering freely. 
THE FORCING HOUSES. 
As soon as it is perceived that the early Peaches have 
taken their final swelling, give the border a good 
watering, using artificial manure freely, and let this be 
continued every week until the fruit approaches 
ripening, when less must be given ; syringe abundantly 
morning and evening, closing the house early and 
allowing the temperature, with the sun-heat, to run as 
high as 90° in the evening ; a crack of air may be put 
on, and left on all night. Keep the growths in each of 
the houses regulated frequently, so that the fruit may 
receive all the sun possible to ensure high colouring. 
We have to day thinned down our crbp of Muscats, 
and thanks to a little extra attention, as advised in last 
week’s calendar, we have a famous “set,” so much so, 
that we must commence thinning at once, or some of 
the clusters will be quite spoiled; the succession houses 
are also nearly ready for the same operation to be 
performed, so that, for a few days, Grape thinning will 
be the order. The Lady Downe’s Vinery is now ready 
for disbudding and stopping, and the plants having 
been removed, this must be attended to. See that the 
borders are regularly and abundantly watered; shut up 
early to save firing, which it is as well to dispense with 
when possible. Take care that supports are placed 
under the Melons before they become too large or damage 
may be done ; we use for the purpose a square piece of 
galvanized wire netting, and it answers admirably. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
The first sowing of Scarlet Runners should be made 
without further delay, and also one of dwarf French 
Beans—the variety Pale Dun we find the most trust¬ 
worthy, but if extra long ones are required for 
exhibition, a few rows of Canadian Wonder may be sown. 
All the late kinds of Broccoli, curled, and Asparagus 
Kale, late Savoys, and such like, should be sown at once, 
and after being _ covered, a good dusting of soot and 
lime sprinkled over the surface of the ground before 
being raked down. The main crop of Beet may be 
sown at any time ; the first sowing is just bursting 
through the soil. All our seeds have come through 
remarkably well, both indoor and out ; the main crop 
of Carrots are well up. 
We have made another sowing of Peas and Beans, 
and have still one more of Ne Plus Ultra to put in, 
which will, we hope, carry us on to the end of the 
season. We have sent a dish of late Peas, and one of 
forced Asparagus to the dinner table on the same day 
(October 17th), but the seasons will seldom allow of its 
being done. The bed of Sea Kale for next season’s 
forcing will now need looking to, the flower heads 
must all be cut away well down to the soil line, any 
stray crowns dug up, and the ground between the rows 
forked up and put neat and tidy ; sow Radishes and 
small salads frequently, and water copiously if the 
weather is at all dry. To-day we are planting out our 
first forced batch of Strawberry plants ; should the 
season be favourable they will give us some useful 
pickings after the main beds are over. — Walter Child, 
Croome Court, May 4 th. 
-—>X<-- 
FLORICULTURE. 
Alpine Auriculas. —I find that nine out of every 
ten persons that look at my Auriculas prefer the bright- 
coloured varieties of the Alpine section to the more 
select-edged varieties of the show class. 1 have a dozen 
or fourteen grey and white edged in bloom, but they 
say they are all alike ; Mercury (Alpine), with its broad 
margin or shining maroon is far more attractive to them 
than Geo. Lightbody, the chief of the grey-edged class. 
They admire Lord of Lome, but can see no beauty in 
the fine new green edge, the Rev. F. D. Horner. This 
is a real acquisition ; a good green that quite displaces 
Prince of Greens, from which it is in all probability a 
seedling, but much more refined, and with a decidedly 
stronger tube. But this is a digression. 
My Alpines are just now at their best ; they are late 
this season, but in admirable bloom. There are early 
and late-flowering varieties, which is an advantage, as 
it serves to prolong the blooming season. We want 
a few more good white centres ; centres that maintain 
their colour from beginning to end. Some open white, 
or nearly so, and change to a dead white—a ghastly 
looking centre that one turns away from with some¬ 
thing akin to disgust. Some open a delicate sulphur or 
deep cream ; in the early freshness of the expanded pip 
there is a gleam of gold in it; with age this flies away, 
and so to a truss that has young and waning blooms 
upon it a confused appearance is imparted, which is 
objectionable. 
Among the best of the white or cream-centred flowers 
are Susie Matthews, having a maroon and bright 
crimson ground, with shading of pleasing greyish lilac, 
fine and attractive ; George Lightbody, deep crimson- 
purple, shaded with pale purple ; Tenniel, in the same 
way, but paler in the edge, perhaps, when in good con¬ 
dition, the most charmingof all the cream centres; Queen 
Victoria, plum colour, with bright purple shading ; and 
Mr. Dodwell, one of the varieties that opens sulphur 
and changes to cream ; maroon ground, shaded with 
lilac-purple, good pip and truss. I have seen at Man¬ 
chester the old Conspicua and Mauve Queen, both with 
soft creamy centres, very finely shown ; but they 
seem to have gone out of cultivation in the south, or 
nearly so. I repeat there is much room for improve¬ 
ment in this class. 
Of golden centred flowers with shaded edges there is 
now' a very fine lot, and the new varieties raised at Slough 
during the last three years include flowers that seem to 
come very near to one’s ideal of perfection. There is 
King of the Belgians, wuth its finely formed pip, and 
maroon and bright crimson shading ; Prima Donna, in 
the same way, but with more fire in the shading, a 
beautiful Alpine ; Vesuvius, of similar character, with 
fine bold pip and truss, very bright, but apt to come 
rough ; Mrs. Thomson, crimson shaded ; Mrs. Ball, a 
lovely Alpine, maroon shaded with crimson and 
purple ; Diadem, an old and charming favourite when 
well caught, but has the fault of the pale golden centre 
changing to cream. William Fowle, Thomas Moore, 
Fred. Copeland, President, Mariner, and Sensation are 
all fine and striking flowers, but less broadly shaded 
than those already named ; but they help to make up 
a good variety. 
Of what may be termed self flowers, or varieties with 
so little shading that they may be classed under this 
heading, there are Colonel Scott, John Ball, Mercury, 
Napoleon III, and Phoenix, all very fine indeed ; in 
fact, the richest, brightest, and most durable golden 
centres are apparently in association with maroon 
margins. 
All that I have named are well worthy of cultivation, 
and some who do not care to attempt to grow the 
edged and self varieties of the show section might 
cultivate some of these beautiful Alpines, they are 
worthy of the best attention. They do well in a 
compost made up of good yellow loam, leaf-mould, 
some well decomposed manure, and a little sand, and 
they should not be overpotted. It is astonishing what 
fine heads of bloom can be produced on plants grown in 
small pots. If anyone will inspect the fine collection 
of Alpines grown at Slough during the blooming season, 
they will find the main of the plants in small pots. I 
am just now repotting all my young stock, using such 
a compost as that I have named above. By potting 
early, the plants make a good growth during the 
summer, and make fine specimens the following 
spring.— R. I). 
Cinerarias at Forest Hill. —During the past 
week or two Messrs. James Carter & Co.’s annual 
growth of seedling Cinerarias have been in fine bloom 
in their nursery at Forest Hill. The collection consists 
of some 600 plants, for the most part in 16’s and 
8-sized pots—robust, healthy specimens of the dwarf, 
bushy habit which of late years has been introduced 
with so much advantage to the plant. By careful 
selection the strain is constantly being improved, the 
aim of the firm being to encourage a good, free-growing, 
yet dwarf habit, with great flowering capacity, and the 
flowers bold and striking in colour without any tendency 
to coarseness ; something that will make a gay show in 
the conservatories of those with -whom “form,” as un¬ 
derstood by the florists, is not the be all and end all of 
Cineraria culture. Not that ‘ 1 form ” is wanting in the 
strain ; on the contrary, in this respect there are hosts 
of sorts among these seedlings that for shape and purity 
of colour would hold their owq in any company. 
Self coloured flowers most largely predominate, and 
for general decorative purposes, they are preferred by 
many to the bi-coloured flowers, those in which a 
white ring surrounds the eye or disc, and it may be 
further noted that dark discs predominate over the 
grey ones, though even that is a point that perhaps 
only a florist would insist upon, and certainly in some 
shades of colour the grey disc forms a pretty contrast. 
If w'e were to select any one or more colours as being 
the most pronounced, we should say that the various 
shades ot rose and magenta, the former especially, were 
the most pronounced, and certainly most beautiful 
in every respect. Most conspicuous also are the 
blue flowers in various gradations of tone, from pale 
sky-blue to rich deep Cobalt. The -whites, too, are very 
pure, most of them of excellent form and substance, 
and those with dark discs, rendered thereby all the 
more conspicuous. In bi-coloured flowers we were much 
impressed with some in which the dark maroon edging 
was well balanced by the -white ring round the disc. 
With a strain yielding such a large percentage of well- 
formed showy flowers, the necessity for growing named 
sorts by division yearly becomes less, to the great gain 
of all.— Sabrina. 
The Auriculas at Rough Bank, Sheffield._ 
It is now twelve years since I first had the pleasure of 
seeing this fine collection of Auriculas in flower. During 
that period I have not once missed giving myself the 
annual treat of gazing on what I may justly call the 
cream of our spring flowers. This season, owing to the 
continuous cold and dull weather, the plants are much 
later than usual, which has prevented Mr. Simonite 
from exhibiting this year. Many of them are not 
yet in flower, the green-edged section being the latest. 
It is surprising to me that there are so few Auricula 
growers in and around Sheffield and other large towns, 
as they are so well adapted for town gardening. As a 
proof of this, I may say that Mr. Simonite’s garden is 
surrounded by steel furnaces and collieries, so that 
anyone who is possessed of a few yards of ground and 
a garden frame, with the aid of the advice so often 
freely given by experts, may grow Auriculas well. 
Although Mr. Simonite flowers his plants in a green¬ 
house, and can apply fire-heat to it, he uses as little as 
possible, just sufficient only to exclude damp. In 
previous seasons, when fire-heat has been given for the 
purpose of getting the plants into flower for exhibition, 
they have not been so good, either in the strength of 
the plants or the substance of the flowers, as they are 
