May 19, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
595 
ORCHID 
EXHIBITION. 
One of the Most Beautiful Sights in London, 
O RCHIDS.—The Orchid Exhibition at Mr. 
WILLIAM BULL’S Establishment for New and Rare 
Plants, 536. King’s Road, Chelsea, London, S.W., is now open 
daily from 10 to 6 o’clock. 
RCHIDS—A vision of loveliness unpa¬ 
ralleled in Europe. 
YYRCHIDS. — “A scene of the greatest 
Orchidic beauty, baffling description and defying ex¬ 
aggeration.” 
RCHIDS.—The Exhibition is worth going 
any distance to see at Mr. WILLIAM BULL’S Establish- 
ment for New and Rare Plants, 536, King’s Road, Chelsea, 
London, S.W. 
NEW PLANTS FOR 1888 . 
MR. WILLIAM BULL’S 
HEW CATALOGUE FOR 1888 
Is now ready. Price, Is. 
Contains names, description and prices of many beau¬ 
tiful New Plants offered for the first time. 
WILLIAM BULL, f.l.s., 
Establishment for New and Rare Plants, 
536, KING’S ROAD, CHELSEA, S.W. 
SPECIAL OFFER. 
BEGONIAS.— Tuberous rooted, last year’s seedlings, finest 
strains, 4s. per dozen. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. —The best varieties, established, in 
small pots, can be turned out for travelling, 15s. per 100. 
DAHLIAS. —Best Show, Cactus, and Single varieties, in small 
pots, 3?. 6d. per dozen. 
GERANIUMS. —The best Zonal, single and double, 4s. per dozen. 
PELARGONIUMS. —The best Show and Decorative varieties, 
in 5-inch pots; will flower well in May and June. 10s. per 
dozen. 
PHLOX. —Herbaceous varieties; one of the best plants for 
cutting from. 4s. per dozen. 
ROSES. —Tea, Gloire de Dijon, Marechal Niel, Nipbetos, and 
other best varieties. Our selection, in 48-pots, 10s. per doz. 
PACKED UPRIGHT IN OPEN BOXES. CASH WITH ORDER. 
GARAWAY & Co., 
DURDHAM DOWN, CLIFTON, BRISTOL. 
Chater’s Named Hollyhocks. 
N OW READY for planting out; a fine 
Collection. Awarded Four First Class Certificates and 
First Prize at Crystal Palace, 1886 and 18S7. 
See Catalogue, Post Free. 
WEBB & BRAND 
(Late CHATER), 
NURSERIES, SAFFRON WALDEN. 
NEW SINGLE DAHLIAS, 
Raised by J. Cheat & Sons and T. W. Girdlestone. 
NEW CACTUS DAHLIAS, 
AND ALL BEST OLDER SORTS. 
POMPON, SHOW AND FANCY DAHLIAS. 
Send for new Catalogue and trade quotations to 
J. CHEAL & SONS, Crawley, Sussex. 
Bedding Plants 
Established, and so sure to give satisfaction. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. — The very choicest 
sorts, iu good plants. 
DAHLIAS .—An unsurpassed collection. 
DESCRIPTIVE LIST FREE. 
RICHARD SMITH & Co., 
Nurserymen and Seed Merchants, 
WORCESTER. 
Next Week’s Engagements. 
Monday, May 21st.—Continuation of the Great 'Whitsuntide 
Exhibition at Manchester. 
Tuesday, May 22nd.—Royal Horticultural Society: Meeting 
of Fruit and Floral Committees at 11 a.m. 
Wednesday, May 23rd.—Sale of Lilies, Greenhouse Plants, 
&o., at Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms. Sale of Greenhouse and 
Bedding Plants at The Barnes Nursery, by Messrs. Protheroe & 
Morris. 
Thursday, May 21th.-Sale of Imported Orchids at Stevens’ 
Rooms. 
Friday, May 25th.—Opening of the National Horticultural 
Society’s Exhibition in Paris. Gardeners’ Orphan Fund : Meet¬ 
ing of the Committee at 6 p.m. Sale of Established and Imported 
Orchids at Messrs. Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms. 
Saturday, May 26th. — Sale of Greenhouse and Bedding 
Plants at the American Nurseries, Leytonstone, by Messrs. 
Protheroe & Morris. 
FOR INDEX TO CONTENTS, SEE P. 607. 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.’’— Bacon. 
SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1888. 
The Amateur’s Flower Garden.— The flower 
garden and its quota of floral service during 
the summer will now be engaging the attention 
of the gardener. Pity ’tis that so many small 
forecourt gardens near towns, and cottage 
gardens in the country that might otherwise 
be made gay with charming blossoms, are 
allowed to go so neglected. Perhaps one 
needs to be gentle with the head of the 
family, for he has to rise early and work late, 
eating the bread of carefulness all the time; 
and what labour he can give to his garden he. 
thinks it wise to keep to the vegetable part, 
that being in his opinion the most valuable, 
from a domestic point of view. Will the 
time ever come when the cottager in the 
country, like his brother-artisan in the town, 
shall have his Saturday half-holiday, a portion 
of which he should give to the tillage of his 
garden 1 
We sometimes see in cottage gardens clumps 
of Lilies, Tulips, Crown Imperials, Michael¬ 
mas Daisies, Narcissus, and many other things 
that, planted years ago, have grown into great 
size, trespassed upon each other’s proper limits, 
and instead of order, present to view a con¬ 
fused mass. If only a few hours could be 
given in late autumn or early spring to lifting, 
dividing, and replanting these, digging the 
soil deeply at the time, and mixing with it any 
manure that is procurable, or decayed leaves 
and road-sweepings, trimmings from the road¬ 
sides, &c., and then re-planting with some¬ 
thing like order and regularity, cottage 
gardens at the road-side would look much 
better to the passer-by, and be more satisfac¬ 
tory to the occupant also : and this remark 
applies with equal truth to many larger 
gardens also. The amateur can, at a very 
small expense, supply himself with, and sow 
a few simple annual flower seeds, such as 
Sweet Peas, Mignonette, Candytuft, Dwarf 
Nasturtiums, Nemophila, Lupins—such things 
as can be purchased at a penny or twopence 
per packet. In remote and sparsely populated 
country districts it is difficult to procure them 
sometimes; but a friendly gardener at a big 
house can sometimes help him by bestowing 
a few seeds out of his store of plenty. I 
wish sometimes the vdfe of the clergyman or 
the squire would help the cottager by the 
present of a few pretty flower seeds—things 
that he cannot get elsewhere. When pretty 
flowers bloom in the garden, some are almost 
certain to find their way indoors, and the home 
is brightened and improved thereby. 
Many artisans and labourers living in the 
outskirts of towns and larger villages are found 
to be doing more in the way of flower garden 
decoration than their brethren in the rural 
districts. The development of allotment 
gardens near to towns and suburbs is doing 
much to foster a delight in gardening among 
the toilers, many of wdiom now have their 
Saturday half-holiday, and turn it to account 
in their gardens. Profitable time can he spent 
in looking over allotment gardens, as we do 
occasionally, and noting what is grown. You 
can see the occupiers putting out a few Pansies, 
Stocks, Asters, Lobelias, Zinnias, Phlox 
Drummondii, &c., that have been raised from 
seeds sown under a hand-glass, or in a little 
frame. Some rise to a higher level, and have a 
few scarlet Pelargoniums, yellow Calceolarias, 
and other popular bedding plants, arranged in 
circles or according to some devised plan; and 
where a neatly kept and well-arranged flower 
garden is found, the house will be clean, 
comfortable, and orderly also—the one is an 
indication of the other. Gardens at road-sides 
occasionally suffer from the dust driven on to 
them by the winds that raise it. A watering 
pot costs but little, and with a rose or dis¬ 
tributor to it, a sprinkling at night cleanses the 
leaves of the plants from dust, and refreshes 
them as does the grateful dew. 
The amateur should now be preparing his 
flower beds for the summer display. The 
practice of planting out ordinary bedding 
plants will not soon die out, for what can 
furnish a better or more continuous’ display 
than these 1 If not raised by the gardener 
they can now he bought very cheaply. Before 
planting, let the ground be deeply dug and 
well pulverised, adding, if possible, some finely 
sifted refuse soil, road scrapings, grit of any 
kind, leaf-soil, but not manure. The best way 
is to make a rough plan of how each bed, if 
there be more than one, is to be planted, and 
proceed accordingly, putting out the hardiest 
things first, for it is not safe to plant out 
anything likely to be injured by frost until the 
first week in June. If the amateur has a 
greenhouse, and has been able to grow his own 
bedding-out plants, many of them will be in 
pots, and here caution is necessary. Plants 
that are kept in pots for some time become 
what is known as pot-bound; they have such 
a mass of roots, that when water is given it 
does not pass through them, hut runs away at 
the sides between the pots and the roots. The 
best thing to do in this case is to immerse the 
pots in a pail of water, allowing them to 
remain there for a few minutes, then take them 
out and let them drain for an hour or two 
before they are planted out. Plants put out 
dry at the roots will soon fail. "When turned 
out of the pots take the crocks away that have 
been used as drainage, loosen the roots a little 
without breaking them, and then plant, 
placing some fine soil around the roots. 
If the weather prove dry after planting, 
let a sprinkling overhead he given each even¬ 
ing with a rose watering pot. No amateur 
gardener should he without this; but let the 
rose be fairly fine, not too coarse. Such an 
one gives forth the cooling and invigorating 
spray like the grateful rain, cleansing the 
leaves, as well as refreshing the plants. Then 
when all is planted, and the plants have well 
settled into the soil, cover the beds with a 
coating of cocoa fibre refuse, 1 in. in depth. 
It is not expensive to buy; it is not without 
its value as a fertiliser; it will keep the 
surface soil cool and moist, besides imparting 
a tidy appearance to the garden. 
-- 
A Chat about Fruit.—An interesting article upon 
hardy fruits is given by Dr. Alfred J. H. Crespi, under 
the above heading. It has been reprinted from Diet 
and Hygiene, and forms a pamphlet of some fifteen 
pages. He discusses the vast importance of hardy well- 
ripened fruits as an article of human food, and compares 
the fruit of temperate countries, including our own, very 
favourably with that of tropical lands. The change¬ 
ableness and uncertainty of our climate is anything hut 
satisfactory when an unfailing and regular crop of fruit 
