228 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
^December 8, 1888. 
S^OSfldllXWf^. 
Seasonable Notes. 
The weather is so mild—warm sunny periods alternat¬ 
ing with, dulness, rain and fog—and the temperature so 
low, that things keep very soft indeed, and there is great 
danger, should a sudden change to frost occur and it come 
sharply, that much damage might be done. It is there¬ 
fore well to have everything under cover ready for the 
change when it comes. But nothing needs to be kept 
close ; what is required is that the heavy drenching 
rains be kept off, and at the same time air be given 
with the greatest freedom. Auriculas are fast losing 
their leaves, and they should be removed as they decay. 
The plants need but very little water now, as the moist 
foggy atmosphere will supply ample. Let plenty of 
air be given, and if the pots show a growth of green 
upon them, advantage may be taken of a fine day to 
cleanse them, when they would be allowed to dry in the 
open before they are returned to the stage. Occasional 
surface stirring of the soil will be found of very great 
advantage. Double Primroses in pots for exhibition in 
April are still in the open, as they are well established 
the rains do them no harm ; they are flowering in 
common with the varieties of P. vulgaris at this time 
of the year, when the autumn is mild and open ; but 
they are making a free growth and I hope to get good 
heads of flower in spring. Directly frost threatens 
they will have the shelter of a cold frame. 
Gold-laced Polyanthuses in pots are growing freely, 
and all that are well established still remain in the 
open, but I am watchful for a change of weather ; only 
let them be well established in their pots by the end of 
November, and then the task of safely wintering is 
a comparatively easy one. This is the reason why I 
advocate early potting, so that this desirable result 
may be furthered. A month ago I had some plants 
of Gold-laced Polyanthus that had been lifted from the 
open ground, and I potted them into quite small pots, 
placing some coco-nut fibre in the soil, with the result 
that they have rooted through, and they will have a 
shift into their blooming-pots in a day or two. They 
do better treated in this way than when planted in 
large pots at once. They will also have the shelter of 
a cold house as soon as a change comes ; meanwhile I 
like the plants to have all the sunshine they can. 
Carnations and Picotees are being potted off from the 
stock pots. Some plants ripened their wood late, and 
layering had to be done later than usual. These make 
root slowly, but as soon as ready they are at once 
potted off: those that are potted off are doing remark¬ 
ably well, but they have all the air possible. No 
coddling, simply protected from heavy rains is all they 
require. Hepaticas in pots are fast swelling up their 
buds. I have a collection of varieties in pots under 
glass, so as to have them in all their beauty at the 
proper time. Our springs generally prove so late, with 
bad weather, that when the plants are in the open 
they suffer from wet, frost, and cold, and lose much of 
their beauty in consequence.— 11. D. 
Double Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums. 
It seems but as yesterday that anything in the form of 
a double-flowered Ivy-leaved Pelargonium was little 
more than a dream of the future, and now there are 
some fifty or more varieties from which the cultivator 
can take his choice, which can hardly fail to be a 
satisfactory one. It may be that at present the lilacs 
and whites are not all that could be wished, but as the 
present rate of improvement will no doubt be main¬ 
tained, we shall ere long have flowers of those hues 
good enough to please the most fastidious. It may, 
perchance, come as a surprise to many to see these 
plants brought under notice at this time of the year, 
when the picture of some worn-out tattered specimens 
stowed away in some neglected corner of a pit or 
greenhouse will occur to the reader at once as having 
been placed there out of sight till the brighter days of 
spring dawn upon us, at which period they may, 
perhaps, be brought out of their dungeon to be re¬ 
suscitated for the embellishment of the flower garden 
during the summer months, and when that is over to 
be relegated again to the same course of comparative 
neglect and oblivion. 
This, I take it, is a pretty correct picture of the 
course of treatment to which this class of plant is 
frequently subjected, and which can only arise from a 
complete misconception respecting their merits and 
capabilities under more favourable treatment. Anyone 
who cares to put it to the test will find that as winter¬ 
flowering plants they have few rivals, and possess 
merit peculiar to themselves when compared with the 
double zonal Pelargoniums, The flower-stalks carrying 
the trusses well above the foliage, and the pips being 
arranged more loosely in the trusses, are less subject 
to the influences of damp and fog, and some, when in 
the flowering state, bloom at every joint. I noticed 
to-day a plant of Emile Lemoine in a 32-sized pot, 
with three good trusses of flowers fully expanded, and 
five more on the point of opening, and this plant, like 
some others, being tied loosely to a single stick, takes 
up very little more room than the pot it is in. I think 
that where the production of cut flowers is the principal 
object kept in view, this is the best system of training 
them. Our plants average from 12 ins. to 24 ins. in 
height, and promise well for a supply of flowers for 
some months to come. The dark green shining foliage 
of these plants forms a pleasing contrast to the leaves of 
the other occupants of the house, and the flowers are 
most valuable for vase and epergne decoration, blending 
beautifully with Bouvardias, Eupatorium, and Ferns ; 
indeed, for these purposes they far excel the more 
lumpy double zonals. 
Our stock of plants for next year were struck in 
September, and are now in large 60’s. We keep them 
growing steadily on till March or the beginning of 
April, when we shift them into 48’s, using a compost 
of loam and leaf-soil, with sufficient sand to keep it 
open. By the end of July or the beginning of August 
they will be ready for their final shift into 32’s, and as 
soon as they fill the pots with roots, they receive a 
watering with liquid manure twice a week till near 
November. We discontinued its application to ours 
at the end of October this year, and in its place gave a 
top-dressing of soot, using a tea-spoonful to each plant, 
which has answered admirably. Green-fly will occa¬ 
sionally make its appearance among them during the 
winter months. When this happens, a dressing with 
tobacco-powder will keep it in check. Hold the plant 
downwards while administering it, and dust well with 
a dredger, as the fly is generally on the under-surface 
of the leaves. The following will, I think, prove a 
good selection for beginners :— 
Alice Crousse. —Deep magenta ; a very rich colour. 
Abundance. —Lilac in colour, and happily named, 
being very floriferous ; a race of the habit of growth of 
this variety is much to be desired. 
Comte Horace dc Choiseuil. —Light rosy cerise. 
Dr. A. Chipault. —Salmon-pink. 
Emile Lemoine. —Orange-scarlet ; first-rate. 
Fiirstin J. Von Hohenzollern. —Dark purplish scarlet. 
Isidore Firal. —Light rose. 
Jeanne dArc. —White. 
La Fiosiere. —Rose ; extra. 
Louis Thibaut. —Deep red. 
Madame Th baut. —Deep pink ; a gem. 
Souvenir de Charles Turner. —Deep rosy pink, extra 
large flower, resembling the show Pelargoniums.— 
W. B. G. [For the accompanying illustration of a 
good typical specimen we are indebted to the Messrs. 
Cannell. —Ed.] 
Fancy Pansies. 
These have made wonderful progress during the last 
ten years, and it seems to be almost impossible to get 
finer varieties than those we already possess ; but each 
succeeding year introduces new kinds, some of excep¬ 
tional merit, and many too much like varieties we 
already have. I recently received from Mr. John 
DowDie, of Edinburgh, a bloom of a superb seedling of 
his, which he has named Mrs. B. Wynne, a grand 
flower, which possesses one of the most refined, large, 
dark, cleanly-cut blotches I have seen, and one which 
I venture to say will be valued.— D., Solihull. 
-->X<-- 
BRUSSELS SPROUTS AT 
CHISWICK. 
Like most of the many cultivated forms of the common 
wild Cabbage, the origin of Brussels Sprouts seems to 
be entirely unrecorded. They, however, date back as 
far as 1213, but were cultivated to some perfection 
before then. They have also been noted for their 
liability to degenerate if not carefully cultivated and 
subjected to the most vigorous selection. The same 
facts apply to-day as they did some hundreds of years 
ago. This may to a certain extent be seen by an 
examination of a collection on trial at Chiswick, con¬ 
sisting of more than twenty kinds. Even some of those 
usually recognised as valuable strains sometimes 
behave badly or unsatisfactorily in certain years, 
owing, it may be, to climatic influences. 
The best of the dwarf varieties include Aigburth, 
The Wroxton, Yeitch’s Exhibition, Wrench’s King of 
the Market and The Craigo. The first mentioned is 
now pretty well known as an excellent kind, and has 
large, closely packed, but not very numerous sprouts. 
One or two rogues amongst them bear considerable 
resemblance to a Savoy, bearing very large sprouts on 
the stem. The Wroxton has coarse foliage, but is one 
of the dwarfest, with stout stems, bearing large, closely- 
packed, firm and good sprouts. Yeitch’s Exhibition 
has deeply glaucous, much curled or blistered foliage, 
resembling a Savoy ; but the stems are very even in 
height, and carry a plentiful crop of large and useful 
sprouts. The Craigo is similar in general appearance 
to Veitch’s Exhibition, and presents a strain of 
medium even height bearing large firm sprouts. 
Wrench’s King of the Market is evidently a dwarf 
kind, although some of the lines are unnaturally so, 
owing to their proximity to some fruit trees. Where 
clear of the roots and shade of the latter, however, 
they bear a good crop of firm usable sprouts. 
Amongst moderately vigorous-growing kinds—say, 
from 18 ins. to 24 ins.—are some very good varieties, 
including Sutton’s Reading, Imported and Dalkeith. 
The first mentioned is a strain of good average even 
size, and bears a good crop of medium or large-sized 
sprouts. The buds on the Dalkeith kind are very 
large, but on some of the plants they are open. The 
Imported Sprouts are also very irregular in quality, but 
a fair proportion carries a good crop. That named Fine 
Selected grows about 2 ft. high, and bears large and 
'firm sprouts generally ; but in exceptional cases, pjants 
bear open ones almost along their whole length. 
Roseberry is also somewhat mixed, but the plants 
carry a quantity of sprouts of good average quality. 
Northaw Prize might almost be described as a dwarf 
kind, growing about 15 ins. or 20 ins. in height. Its 
foliage is coarse, but the short stems bear a moderate 
quantity of large, and sometimes very large, sprouts. 
Myatt’s and Mein’s Victoria are similar, and might be 
described as good varieties, seeing that they bear a 
heavy crop of sprouts all along their stems. The outer 
leaves of the buds, owing to soil, season, or some other 
unfavourable conditions, become yellow and drop. 
The centre of the bud, however, is quite sound as yet, 
and the two strains may be somewhat tender in the 
case of severe frost. 
A number of kinds in the trial collection grow from 
2 ft. to 3 ft. high ; but as far as good-quality produce 
is concerned, they have, on the whole, not done well 
this year. The mild weather we experienced during 
November may have had something to do with it, as the 
larger proportion of the sprouts are open. This might 
be said with regard to Scrymger’s Giant and Webb’s 
Matchless, although under favourable conditions the 
quantity of usable produce would be large. That 
named French Superior grows from 2 ft. to 2i ft. in 
height, and bears at present a fair quantity of good 
sprouts. Another French kind named Goldelse ex¬ 
hibits a rather mixed strain, inasmuch as the plants 
vary considerably in size ; but the best sprouts are 
produced by the plants of medium size. The Burghley 
grows from 2 ft. to 2J ft. in height, and bears a large 
number of small or medium-sized, firm and usable 
sprouts. It is the best of the taller-growing kinds as 
they were during the last week of November. 
In looking over the collection one of the most notice¬ 
able features was the inconstancy in size presented by 
the plants of many of the strains, although there were 
striking exceptions. The nature of the soil and season 
has no doubt a marked effect on all the varieties of 
Sprouts, and probably some of them are more affected 
by these influences than others. Another noticeable 
point was that individual plants bore numerous, but 
small sprouts only, while the greater bulk of them bore 
good averaged-sized buds. 
-—>3r<—- 
NATIONAL ROSE SOCIETY. 
Annual Report of the Committee. 
The following is the report of the committee for the 
year 1888, read at the annual meeting of the society on 
December 6th : — 
In presenting this report to the members, the com¬ 
mittee do so this year with peculiar satisfaction, it 
being their very pleasing duty to announce that Her 
Royal Highness the Princess of Wales has graciously 
consented to become the society’s patroness. It is 
due, however, to their indefatigable vice-president, the 
Hon. and Rev. J. T. Boscawen, to state that it is, in a 
great measure, owing to the kind interest he has taken 
in the matter that this honour has recently been 
conferred upon the society. 
The past Rose season has been a very unfavourable 
one for exhibitors, owing to the cold, wet, and sunless 
character of the spring and summer months. Conse¬ 
quently, the flowers staged at the society’s two shows, 
although as numerous as ever, were, as a rule, lacking 
in quality and finish. The Metropolitan exhibition 
