582 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 15, 1886. 
conspicuous at exhibitions, and the Orchids arranged 
on either side of the broad path have the advantage of 
a background of an unusually bold and effective cha¬ 
racter. In the fine collection of flowers now on view, 
excluding the Orchids for a moment, we noted some 
fine specimens of the Gardenia, well-flowered examples 
of Anthurium Scherzerianum, Franeiscea calycina, 
&c., and among the noble-leaved plants few things 
were more conspicuous than some handsome examples 
of the golden variegated Draeeena Lindeni. 
The Orchid display, which is exceedingly bright and 
effective, included a number of forms of Odontoglossum 
Alexandra, varied as much as usual, and all good. 
Laelia purpurata, a favourite of Mr. Williams—if we 
may judge of the number he grows—is well represented 
by fine varieties, including a very distinct one named 
Bella, in which the sepals and petals are almost as dark 
coloured as the lip. Cattleya Mendelii and C. Mossiee 
varieties are also conspicuous by their numbers and 
fine quality; and the new C. Lawrenceana is present in 
considerable force. Oncidium sarcodes, yellow and 
chestnut-brown, harmonises well with its surroundings, 
as do also various specimens of the feathery Odonto¬ 
glossum cirrhosum. 
Other noteworthy species on view are Cypripedium 
Swanianum, and C. selligerum, Miltonia Warscewiczii; 
the curious, rather than handsome, Odontoglossum 
elavieeps, which lasts so long in bloom ; massive spikes 
of 0. gloriosum ; and the very showy 0. polyxanthum ; 
the bright yellohv Oncidium Marshallianum ; Calanthe 
veratrifolia and C. Dominiana, white and dark mauve ; 
Laelia elegans, Cattleya citrina ; the rare hybrid 
Cypripedium albo-purpureum, and C. Lawrencianum, 
a mass with about forty blooms ; the new and distinct 
Cattleya Morgan® : and hanging up above the others, 
fine forms of Odontoglossum citrosmum, Ccelogyne 
Massangeana ; while conspicuous among the big fine 
foliaged plants are some fine pieces of Vandas suavis, 
tricolor formosa, and the Dalkeith variety of V. tricolor. 
We should advise visitors to Holloway not to be 
satisfied with seeing the Orchid Show' only ; for there 
are many things iu bloom in other houses that are well 
worth inspection. The Heaths and other Hew Holland 
plants are coming into bloom freely ; the Amaryllis too 
are not yet over, while the general stock of decorative 
plants is surprisingly gay. 
-- 
CARNATIONS AND PICOTEES. 
In whatever way they are grown, the plants are 
now throwing up their flower stems, and it is necessary 
to place stakes against them to prevent them being 
broken off by the wind. I have no plants in pots, but 
some of Mr. Dodwell’s seedlings in the open ground 
are growing freely and strongly, and I shall look 
forward with interest for the time of flowering. In all 
probability the plants, as a rule, are scarcely so forward 
at this season of the year as is usual, but they soon 
pick up if the weather becomes suitable. The wind is 
back again in the east, and if it continues, with a 
low temperature, development will be retarded. Mr. 
Do dwell recommends that growers should watch the 
weather carefully this month (and, especially so, is 
this incumbent upon intending exhibitors), and there 
should be no want of promptitude or ingenuity in ac¬ 
commodating the stocks to its vicissitudes. If the 
weather be cold and dull, a sparing use should be made 
of the watering pot; if, on the other hand, it be warm 
and dry, copious waterings may be necessary. One 
effect of drought is to tinge the leaves with yellow, but 
to prevent this, care must be taken to water as often 
as the plants need it, even twice a day. 
And, in addition to watching well the efforts of 
drying weather, green-fly, and indeed every kind of 
vermin must be kept in check, ruthlessly destroying 
them as soon as they are discovered. It decidedly 
improves the appearance of the plants to remove decay¬ 
ing foliage. The surface soil should be occasionally 
stirred, carefully, of course, when it is at all dry; when 
heavy rains fall the tendency is to harden the surface 
soil, while continual waterings brings about much 
the same result. 
It used to be a practice to top dress with soil, but it 
is not so much followed now as it formerly was. But 
plants growing in the open ground, especially if the 
soil be light, will be greatly benefitted by having some 
mulching placed on the surface ; a little well de¬ 
composed manure is excellent for the purpose. Cocoa- 
fibre refuse may be used in the same way, but it 
requires to be stirred occasionally, as it cakes upon the 
top, and the water passes from and does not enter it._ 
ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE 
CHRYSANTHEMUM.— IX. 
There is another useful class of Chrysanthemum, 
the culture of which is very easy, viz., the Pompone. 
In ordinary seasons most of the varieties of Pompones 
will bloom freely out of doors, and, in fact, may be 
frequently seen planted out permanently in the borders, 
and in the autumn producing an abundance of bloom 
which comes in very acceptable when flowers begin to 
get scarce. Some are also grown in pots, and stood 
along the sides of walks during the summer. "When 
grown thus they make useful plants for decorating 
windows or conservatories, for which purpose the cut¬ 
tings should be struck in March, and when rooted 
should be stopped. When they are seen to break, they 
should be potted singly into -3-in. pots ; 6-in. pots will 
be found sufficiently large enough in which to bloom 
them, and they should receive their final potting about 
the end of June. 
Pompones also make useful plants for front rows of 
groups for exhibition, for which purpose the cuttings 
should be inserted about the end of January. As soon 
as they are well rooted they should be stopped, when 
they -will throw out side shoots ; they should then be 
potted into 3-in. pots. When the roots have filled 
these pots, again stop the shoots, and about ten days 
after repot into 4§-in. pots. About the end of April or 
early in May the plants can be stood outdoors ; but if 
the nights are frosty, they should be protected by 
having a rough framework or some temporary shelter 
placed around them, and over which a mat should be 
thrown, or if the grower has any frames that are 
not required for use, the plants can be kept in them, 
and the lights taken off in the daytime ; but unless 
the weather is frosty, we prefer to stand our plants in 
in the open to prevent them from becoming drawn. 
They should have due attention paid as to stopping the 
shoots when about 4 ins. long, and should be finally 
potted about the second weekiin June into 8£-in. pots. 
Plants required for training should be struck in 
November, and be kept slowly growing during the 
winter. If they are required to be grown as pyramids, 
the plants should be stopped when about 6 ins. high ; 
and when they have commenced to break, they should 
be potted singly into 3-in. pots. A stick should now 
be placed in the centre of the pot, to which the upper¬ 
most shoot should be trained, and the other shoots 
should be trained out horizontally. When the leading 
shoot has grown about 9 ins., again stop it, from which 
again train up the uppermost shoot, and treat the side 
shoots as above directed, stopping them when about 
6 ins. long ; and in about ten days after this stopping, 
repot them into 4J-in. pots. A few small sticks should 
now be placed around the sides of the pots, to which 
the side shoots should be drawn down gently. It is 
better to do this while the shoots are young, as they 
are then not so liable to become broken in training. 
The after culture consists in stopping the leading 
shoots when about 9 ins. high, and, from that stop¬ 
ping, training the uppermost shoot upright, the side 
shoots being stopped at every 6 ins., and trained out 
horizontally. Careful attention should be paid to 
watering the plants, because if they are allowed to get 
dry, loss of foliage and unsightly plants will be the 
result. Let the final stopping take place the first 
week in June, and repot the plants into their blooming 
pots about the middle of June. A wire hoop, about 
or 2 ft. in diameter, should then be placed at the base 
of the plants, to which a few sticks should be securely 
fastened crossways, and the whole then fixed securely 
to the rim of the pot. To this hoop, the lower shoots 
should be tied, the other shoots being distributed 
equally over the plants during the summer*, keeping 
the centre shoot tied upright. 
Another form in which the plants are exhibited, is 
as dwarf trained or mushroom shape, for which purpose 
the plants should be stopped and potted as above 
directed. When the plants are potted into 4J-in. pots, 
carefully distribute the shoots evenly over the pots ; 
stop the shoots and repot as above directed, and after 
the final potting securely fix a wire hoop to the pots as 
above directed, over which the shoots should be regu¬ 
larly trained during the summer. Standard Pompones 
require the same cultivation as given on p. 357 for 
growing standards, except that December will be quite 
soon enough to commence their propagation. Although 
there is no occasion to so closely disbud pompones as is 
done with the large-flowering varieties, yet where the 
buds appear in clusters a few should be taken off. 
A few good Pompones are :—Mdme. Marthe, Golden 
Mdme. Marthe, the Cedo Xullis, President, Caractus, 
Mr. Astie, Antonius, Josephine, Mdme. Montels, Mrs. 
Dix, Sceur Melanie, and that splendid dark variety 
Black Douglas. — TV. E. Boyce, Archway Road, 
HighgcUe, N. 
- ->^:<- - 
PEAS NOT VEGETATING. 
According to Mr. Gilbert’s experience the old adage 
still holds good, viz., if you want anything done well 
you must do it yourself; aye, even in the sowing of 
Peas, in very many instances, if you wish to secure 
good seed and ti*ue to name with a full percentage of 
germinating power, so as to ensure an even growth and 
to avoid disappointment, which latter often resolves 
into a serious business as regards the general routine 
of gardening operations. Ho gardener can maintain a 
satisfactory relationship with his employer, or even with 
the cook, should he fail to supply those things that are 
required of him. It avails him little to plead that the 
weather is too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry, or 
that his seedsman has supplied him with old seeds. It 
is considered imperatively his business to combat with 
all or any of these difficulties. Being an old gardening 
hand it may be inferred, and properly so, that my 
experience in all that pertains to a gardener's troubles 
is of rather an extensive character, such as enables me 
to most thoroughly sympathise with your correspondent 
Mr. Gilbert. 
Every seedsman, before he sends out any of his seeds, 
ought to be in a position to guarantee that, at least, 
seventy-five per cent, of the seeds sold will grow. This 
is an all-important matter, which, if not attended to, is 
pregnant with much mischief and disagreeableness, and 
in the end damaging to those, who, it may be inadver¬ 
tently, supply seeds, that if they had used the proper 
means would have known that they had lost their 
vitality. [The leading seedsmen adopt this course 
now.— Ed.] 
Men of experience are cognisant of the fact that all 
wrinkled Peas are more impatient of wet and cold than 
the common hardy round kinds, although good seed 
will survive ordinary cases in good form, whereas bad 
seed goes quickly to decay. It has been my practice 
for very many years to prepare my early crops of Peas 
by sowing or planting in pots and boxes. Upwards of 
thirty years ago I have sown Peas in sixty sized pots 
on the 14th February, and turned them out entire, and 
gathered from them the third or last week in May; 
those thus treated were turned out about 2 ft. from 
under a very high wall, and had sticks placed to them 
at once, having been grown from 6 in. to S in. high, 
and properly hardened off before doing so. I do not 
wish it to be understood that I was always thus early 
in gathering, as, of course, seasons vary, some being 
more unpropitious than others. In treating Peas in 
this way, you at once get to know whether the seed is 
good or bad. I used to place the pots in my first 
Vinery on the back flue, and the Peas made their 
appearance in about a week, then the pots were shifted 
into the second Vinery, and finally into cold frames. 
I much prefer this plan although it gives a little more 
trouble, for during the time the Peas are in then- 
transition state, the soil in which it is intended to 
plant them is also being prepared by being exposed to 
the action of the weather, &c. 
Comparatively speaking, it is astonishing the small 
quantity of seed that is required to produce a good 
crop when the seed is to be relied upon. It is a great 
mistake to plant too thickly, more especially the 
branching marrow kinds ; being convinced of this, 
beforethegatheringtakesplace, Igothrough myrows and 
select some of the finest pods, to which I attach a 
piece of matting to mark them for seed, and I have 
found that a pint or two saved in this way is worth ten 
times more as a rule than that of which you have no 
knowledge, because it enables you to work on sure 
grounds. \ ou know for a certainty that every seed 
thus carefully selected will grow and come true to its 
character. I have one of my own raising that I have 
kept in this way for nearly twenty years. It is very 
important that a gentleman’s gardener should be sup¬ 
plied with seeds of good quality, for he has, generally 
speaking, sufficient to contend with without having the 
annoyance of bad seeds. It is no satisfaction or con¬ 
solation to be told that Dick Styles and Tom Hoakes, 
who were supplied with the same kinds of seeds, and 
out of the same bags, got theirs to grow right enough, 
when in your own case the returns are nil.— George 
Fry, Leivisham. 
