GO! 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 23, 1891. 
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-- 
Pansies. 
These seem to be doing well despite the drying weather 
and cold winds. Pansies were somewhat largely shown 
at the early summer show in the Sydney Gardens, at 
Bath, on the 13th inst., and very fine and richly- 
coloured flowers of the fancy varieties were staged. The 
schedule required Pansies, and there were very few of 
what is knowm as the English show varieties—white 
and yellow grounds and seifs ; but the fancy varieties 
were numerous, bold, and striking. The amateur 
growers round Bath appeared to have the best of it, and 
the nurserymen had to be content with inferior positions. 
The Pansy show at Birmingham next month should 
attract to that ^locality growers and flowers from all 
parts. So far the season is, on the whole, favourable, 
though owing to the lateness of the season, the question 
is being asked, “ Is not the fixture a little too early to 
admit of the flowers being seen as numerously and in 
a9 fine form as could be desired ? ” I think it is well in all 
cases to fix upon a mean date—one as suitable for 
northern and southern growers as can be selected—and 
then stand by it. Postponements are often vexatious, 
and if they can be avoided so much the better. 
May is generally regarded as the month for seeing 
the Pansy bloom. The drying weather has made 
watering necessary, and it must be continued until we 
get a succession of warm refreshing showers. Cold as 
the rains which have fallen during the past ten days 
have been, they have been very acceptable and have 
refreshed the plants nicely. At the same time, such 
extreme alternations of high and low temperature as we 
have experienced of late are very trying. Some shading 
from the sun during the hottest part of the day will be 
found advantageous in producing the flowers in their 
best character. Not a single flower should be allowed 
to carry a seed pod so long as good blooms are required; 
they should be removed directly they fade. A discreet 
removal of the side shoots will impart size and sub¬ 
stance to the blooms ; and let all who are contemplating 
exhibiting at Birmingham not fail to remember that in 
such a competition only the best flowers can be depended 
upon to win prizes. 
Mr. Simkins, in his book on the Pansy, which I 
am gratified to see is being issued in the form of a cheap 
edition, recommends that the number of shoots on a 
plant required to produce exhibition blooms should be 
limited to four or five of the strongest, all of weaker 
growth being removed. All opening flowers should be 
removed until within about fourteen days before the 
show, but the exhibitor must* be guided to some 
extent by his own judgment—dull weather retarding, 
and hot weather accelerating the opening of the 
flowers. The best plan is to arrange so that each shoot 
of a plant shall have its best bud in a different stage of 
development to the others. The exact time it takes a 
bud to become a perfect bloom, from the time it shows 
colour in its closely folded petals, can only be learned 
by close observation and experience, and is dependent 
almost entirely on atmospheric conditions. It will, of 
course, multiply the grower’s chances of success if he 
can manage to have three or more plants of each 
variety. The week before the show is always an 
anxious time for the exhibitor, and he watches the 
threatening clouds and notices the drying winds with 
mixed emotions. So much depends upon the char¬ 
acter of the weather. 
But I can touch only on a small part of this 
important subject, and to an enthusiast with the Pansy 
it is scarcely necessary to state that it is of the first 
importance that the plants must be keptjclean, healthy, 
free from insects, and that all marauding grubs, slugs, 
&c., must have no quarter given them. 
One very perplexing experience with the Pansy 
grower is what is known as shank. It is by no means 
a modern experience, and it has no doubt existed ever 
since Pansies were cultivated as florists’ flowers. Forty 
years ago the late Mr. Charles Turner, of Slough, wrote 
as follows : “ Entire beds of Pansies have been known 
to shank off during a very hot summer, and all we can 
say on this part of the subject is, that the farther the 
Pansy is removed from its original state by high 
cultivation, the more it shanks off in this manner. 
Plants that appear full of health and vigour in the 
morning, will be down before mid-day as if they had 
been severed with a knife.” This is a fact well known 
to all Pansy growers ; moreover, watering, shading, &c., 
will not restore them after they have once fallen. 
This being so, as soon as the plants begin to droop, it 
is a good plan to immediately take off the young 
shoots, make them into cuttings, plunge them into 
water for a little while to become fresh and stiff, and 
in this way they become so far renovated as to strike 
root, and make useful plants in due course. 
Seedling beds are now full of interest, as they bloom 
at this season in their best character. Only something 
that is very good should be selected for propagation, as 
the varieties now cultivated are so good that a flower 
must be fine indeed to be an improvement. Any 
seedling so selected should be increased by means of 
cuttings, and be grown for another season before a 
correct conclusion can be drawn as to its value. Some¬ 
times a seedling when grown the second year belies the 
promise it gave when it first bloomed.— R. D. 
The Royal National Tulip Show. 
This annual exhibition will take place in the Botanical 
Gardens, Old Trafford, Manchester, on Saturday, the 
30th inst. A ballot has recently been taken of the 
growers, with the result that the above date was settled 
upon by a majority of one vote. The Rev. F. D. 
Horner, and Messrs. Dymock, Kitchen, Hague, 
Haynes, Lakin, Johnson, Moorhouse, and Wood voted 
in favour of May 30th, and the following in favour of 
June 6th:—Messrs. Barlow, Bentley, Needham, Hayes, 
Knowles, Thurstan, Prescott, and Cliff. At present the 
weather is so cold, wet and sunless that the flowers come 
on very slowly indeed; and Mr. Barlow, writing on the 
16th inst., states that not one of his Tulips was showing 
colour on that date. 
Last year one or two exhibitors were unfortunately 
disqualified through inadvertently staging two flowers 
that the judges deemed to be not sufficiently dissimilar, 
and in order to prevent this occurrence on May 30th 
the following resolution will be acted upon :—“ That in 
future all stands on being staged shall, before being 
seen by the judges, be examined by the committee, in 
order to ascertain whether an exhibitor has staged two 
flowers of one variety and class in the same stand, and 
if any such be found the committee will inform the 
exhibitor, who will be allowed to replace one of the 
flowers by another of a different variety, thus preventing 
the disqualification of any stand from this cause. ” As 
a matter of course this does not prevent the inclusion 
of such a variety as Sir Joseph Paxton in its flamed as 
well as in its feathered form in the same stand, as the 
resolution is careful to set forth that any disqualifica¬ 
tion applies only to two flowers of one variety and class 
in the same stand.— R. B. 
New Begonias. 
Claribel. —The flowers of this variety are double, 
and of a pale flesh colour, with a yellow tint towards 
the base of the petals. The doubling is somewhat 
after the style of the Hollyhock, the outer segments 
or true sepals being much the longest, forming a sort 
of guard to the inner ones. The leaves are narrower, 
and of a deep bronzy green, with lighter nerves. 
Duchess of 'Westminster.— The leaves in this case 
are large, lobed, and of a rich dark green. The flowers 
are single, moderately large, and bright reddish scarlet, 
fading to an almost white blotch at the base of each 
sepal. Lady Pigott. —The flowers are of great size, 
especially in comparison with the last named, and of a 
warm salmon hue. The sepals, both outer and inner, 
are very broad and wavy. The foliage may be com¬ 
pared with that of the previous variety. All three 
were exhibited at the Royal Botanic Society’s show on 
the 13th inst. by Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest 
Hill, and received Floricultural Certificates. 
Amaryllis, Duchess of Teck. 
The funnel-shaped flowers are borne in pairs on scapes 
about 2 ft. high. The lamina is white, with broken 
lines of red dots on all the segments except the lower 
one and the edges of the two next to it. Messrs. 
Paul & Son, Cheshunt, exhibited it at Regent’s Park 
on the 13th inst., and were awarded a Floricultural 
Certificate. 
-- 
ON PROPAGATING ARAUCARIAS. 
Araucarias are propagated by seeds, by budding, and 
by grafting. The seeds should be sown almost imme¬ 
diately after gathering, as they are large and the oil 
which they contain soon becomes rancid and destroys 
their germinating power. They are generally shipped 
in layers of earth, and usually germinate during the 
long journey from Australia to Europe. There is then 
nothing to do but pot them in small pots or boxes, and 
put them in a cold frame. It will be found best to 
plant in small boxes 12 ins. long by 8 ins. wide, 
assuring good drainage by a layer of sandy gravel or 
broken pots, and filling with fresh, peaty loam, 
covering the seeds half or three-quarters of an inch, and 
placing in a moderately warm frame, even cold in 
preference to much heat. The heat should not be 
increased until the plants are re-potted and are to be 
urged into rapid growth. This mode of multiplication 
by seeds would be the simplest if they always arrived in 
good condition. It would also have the advantage of 
producing the most vigorous plants, if this were an end 
generally desired. But the case is just the contrary. 
The Araucaria excelsa from seed grows too rapidly on the 
Mediterranean coast. From Toulon to Nice and at 
Genoa, where they are largely planted in gardens, they 
form too tall trees, not compact enough and with 
branches too far apart. This defect is still more 
important when the plant is grown for interior de¬ 
coration, as is usually the case, it being a great 
favourite for a parlour plant. For this end is employed 
one of the two processes which we will describe, 
budding and grafting. 
Budding. 
For budding Araucaria excelsa we must first have the 
mother plants. For this purpose we take plants 
already strong and cut off the heads ; it is best to keep 
the plants in the greenhouse so that the new shoots 
will expand in the same temperature in which they 
will be budded. Around the section made in the stem 
a crown of young sprouts appears ; these should be 
carefully removed, keeping a little base with each, and 
planted in small pots filled with fine, fibrous, sandy, 
or peaty soil. Then bury the pots in a temperate 
frame, covering closely at first, afterwards ventilating 
gradually. When one can avoid sudden changes in 
the state of the soil and of the atmosphere, very good 
results are obtained. When the roots touch the sides 
of the pot, the young plants should be re-potted, giving 
always a good compost of substantial fibrous soil. In 
the winter, place them in a temperate house, near the 
glass. In May they may be placed outside after re¬ 
potting, sunk in the ground, shaded and protected. 
In this way are obtained those pretty regular plants, 
with branches in close succession from the base, which 
are so much sought for parlour ornament. 
Grafting. 
This last means is also used to obtain handsome com¬ 
pact plants. If it is wished to graft quite young plants, 
we lower the seedling plants from the size of a pen to 
that of a finger, and cultivate in pots ; it is enough to 
leave 1 in. or 2 ins. of stem above the soil, just for 
the graft. Then graft (Pontoise graft or half split), 
using a young graft, but firm and somewhat ripened. 
Bind with roffea and cover closely in the frame, as 
with Camellias. After uniting, the plants are treated 
in the usual way, without other care than to watch the 
shape of the plants, water, and keep near the light. 
The Eutacta section of Araucarias may be treated in 
the same manner—A. Rulei, Muelleri, Cunninghami, 
Cookii, and their varieties.— Ed. Andre in the Revue 
Rorticole. 
-►*$*-- 
SHORTIA GALAOIFOLIA. 
This rare and very beautiful alpine is a native of 
both hemispheres, and was originally discovered by 
Michaux in 1788 inhabiting the high mountains of 
North Carolina, and for a long time was regarded as 
lost. Since then, however, it has been re-discovered, 
and at present is cultivated in soide of the nurseries of 
the United States, as well as in this country. It was 
also discovered in Japan, and its identity with the 
North American plant certified. Its occurrence in 
small quantity in two countries so widely separated 
would indicate that it once occupied a much greater 
area of the earth’s surface, and that, like many others 
in the same condition, it is on the highway to ex¬ 
tinction. Since, however, it has been taken under 
man’s care it seems to conform readily to artificial 
cultivation, if not in the open air, at least in pots 
under glass. It is the only species known, and belongs 
to the order Diapensiaeete, the members of which have 
probably suffered much extinction in geological times, 
owing to the changing conditions of the earth’s surface. 
Possibly few yet trust it to the mercy of the elements 
in the open air, but there seems no difficulty in 
growing it in pots and flowering it annually in spring. 
The roundly cordate leaves are distantly toothed at the 
margin and of leathery texture, reminding one of a 
Pyrola or Galax, as the specific name implies. The 
flowers are bell shaped, five lobed, with the segments 
crenate or toothed at the apex, white, fading to pink or 
rose with age, and about 1 in. in diameter. We are 
indebted to Mr. T. S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, 
Tottenham, for the opportunity of figuring a beautiful, 
rare, and highly interesting plant. 
