548 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 30, 1892. 
FLiOHlCULiTUHE. 
The Pink. 
I do not think I am divulging any secret when I 
state that an exhibition of Pinks will take place this 
year at the end of June, and probably in the grounds 
of the International Horticultural Exhibition, at 
Earl's Court. The matter has been talked about by- 
several growers and admirers of the Pink in con¬ 
junction with Mr. Ranger Johnson, the hon. sec. of 
the Pink Society, and that is the conclusion come 
to. Last year Pinks were very late, and as the show 
had to be held in connection with one of the series 
held at the Royal Aquarium, the date could not be 
altered. This year the date will not be definitely 
settled until Mr. Johnson has communicated with the 
leading growers, but it will be towards the end of 
June. 
Growers should now give their plants every atten¬ 
tion in view of the coming exhibition. They are 
making a good start, and it is necessary the growth 
be vigorous, clean, and of a nature to produce fine 
exhibition flowers. A good drenching of warm rain 
is now necessary, not so much that the soil is dry at 
the roots as that, owing to the prevalence of cold 
winds, it is very hard on the surface, and until it is 
softened by rain top dressing can scarcely be employed 
with advantage. When the beds have been invig¬ 
orated by rain the surface, as soon as dry enough, 
should be stirred, and the top dressing employed. 
As soon as the month of May opens, a little weak 
manure water may be applied twice a week with 
great advantage. As the shoots are beginning to 
lengthen, they should be secured from breakage. If 
large flowers are required for exhibition some thin¬ 
ning will be required. In the case of large, full 
flowers, like Boiard, a fairly good number may be 
left to—as the Americans say—"watch out ;" but 
when the variety is one thin of petals, hard thinning 
is necessary, reducing the buds to two or three as the 
case may be. 
It is intended the exhibition shall be, as heretofore, 
all embracing— that is, all sections of Pinks will be 
represented. There are now so many pretty border 
varieties that it is well they be brought to the notice 
of the public, and there is no better method than by 
such an exhibition as that held by the Pink Society. 
The fact that flowers can be shown in public and 
brought to the notice of lovers of hardy flowers, is 
an inducement for florists to raise new varieties. 
We cannot all grow laced Pinks ; many have not 
the proper convenience, nor have they leisure to 
shade and bring the flowers on appropriately laced 
and deep and bright in colour ; but^they can grow 
some of the border varieties, and so be enabled to 
take a part in the exhibition if disposed to do so. 
Therefore there is reason to rejoice the exhibition of 
the Pink Society is to be continued, and it is to be 
hoped the efforts of the promoters will be crowned 
with success.— R. D. 
Auriculas 
Now that warm weather has set in green-fly accu¬ 
mulates rapidly, especially as the fact that the plants 
being in bloom fumigation cannot be done for fear 
of injury to the flowers. I always adopt the 
practice of giving my plants a good fumigation just as 
the buds are beginning to open, and that will carry 
the plants through the blooming season. Meanwhile 
if any fly accumulate let a camel's hair painter’s 
brush be employed to dislodge them, and so, if they 
cannot be killed, they are kept moving on, as if under 
the supervision of a floricultural police. Plenty of 
water is now necessary while the sun shines out so 
warmly from an unclouded sky. Plenty of air must 
now be given, and it is an easy matter to exclude 
insects Dy stretching some tiffany or some such light 
material over the doorways and open windows. If 
the bees get among the flowers they quickly fade, 
and the time of delight, w-hen the bloom can be en¬ 
joyed, is shortened in consequence. 
Lovers of the Auricula will do well to inspect 
the collection at the Royal Nursery, Slough. A 
long span-roofed house, with a broad, table stage on 
either side, is full of them—show and Alpines divided 
into two sections, as if they represented the Govern¬ 
ment and the Opposition in the floricultural Parlia¬ 
ment. Prominent among the show varieties are Green 
Edges—Colonel Taylor, to my mind, the most per¬ 
fectly-edged Auricula we have in the green class, be¬ 
cause of its rich emerald tint—if it w'as only as 
strong in the paste as it is on the edge. But who 
would not gladly have such a fine variety in their 
collection? The Rev. F. D. Horner is both nume¬ 
rous and fine—quite small plants of this, the most 
useful of our green edges, are throwing up enormous 
trusses. A plant of George Lightbody in a green 
form is perfect, and would be invaluable if it could 
be permanent. A few 1 other old greens—General Neill, 
Oliver’s Lovely Ann, and Talisman—are in good 
character. Of greys there are George Lightbody 
Alexander Meiklejohn, Charles E. Brown, old 
Conqueror of Europe, Dr. Horner, Lancashire 
Hero, Confidence, and Richard Headly —a very use¬ 
ful lot of flowers indeed, and most of them quite up to 
exhibition form. Of white edges, Acme ; Beauty, a 
most useful variety ; Conservative, of good quality ; 
Dr. Kidd ; Mrs. Dodwell, lovely, but so very dear at 
present; Silvia, and the old and delightful Smiling 
Beauty. The collection is strong in seifs. I give 
the names alphabetically rather than in any order of 
quality'. There are Woodhead’s Black Bess, Chas. 
J. Perry, Helen Lancaster, Heroine (Horner), Lord 
of Lome, ever welcome as a bright red, though 
capable of being improved upon; Spalding's Metro¬ 
politan, an old bright purple self; Mr. Douglas ; 
Mr. Smith ; Mrs. Potts, a highly-finished blue self; 
Pizarro, and Sapphire—a very good lot indeed. 
The Alpines are late this season, and many named 
last season have yet to open. There will be a grand 
display of them for two or three weeks, and they 
will repay inspection. They can be seen to the best 
advantage in the Auricula house. What the visitor 
notices with satisfaction is the number of new w'hite- 
centred varieties, and it is curious to notice that 
generally' the strongest in point of purity in the 
centre in the collection are found associated with 
marginal shadings of some hue of mauve, blue, and 
purple. If anyone would comprehend the remark¬ 
able advance made with the Alpine Auricula during 
the last few years, they should embrace an early op¬ 
portunity of inspecting the Slough collection.— R. D. 
-- 
PELARGONIUMS FOR 
WINTER FLOWERING. 
The cultivation of zonal Pelargoniums for winter 
flow'ering requires a good deal of attention to be 
successful with them. Few plants are more suitable 
where there is a demand for a varied supply of cut 
flowers, the doubles especially being highly prized on 
account of their lasting qualities when cut. Where a 
few hundreds are grown a very suitable plan for 
striking cuttings is to dibble them in a bed of sand 
in a propagating pit, where they will root with free¬ 
dom, care being taken not to keep them too moist or 
they will soon show signs of damping off. 
When once they are rooted, place them singly into 
3-in. pots in holding loam, some decayed manure, 
and as much sand as will keep the whole porous. 
Bear in mind to pot firm, as by this practice a sturdy 
growth is fostered. When they have taken to the 
new compost, a very' suitable place for their re¬ 
ception will be a cold frame, keeping the same close 
till they get a little hardened as they are very sus¬ 
ceptible to chills at this stage. Gradually increase 
the supply of air as time goes on till the sashes can 
be dispensed with altogether. The final potting 
should then take place, and no more suitable pot can 
be wished for than a 6-in. I have faith in any size 
under that, but not above it, as they incline to 
make far too sappy growth, and the trusses are never 
produced in such quantity, and the extra space they 
occupy never repays the trouble. 
The points of the shoots should be taken out some 
time before the final potting. 1 his will induce them to 
break freely and form the future plant. The potting 
compost should be much the same as advised at 
first, with the addition of some bone meal, which is a 
very valuable adjunct at this potting. Their after 
culture consists simply of close attention to watering, 
stopping any shoots which are inclined to grow too 
fast, the removal of all flowers as fast as they 
appear, and the application of some chemical manure 
every week. Starvation is far too common a thing 
in plants. Some people think if a plant gets potted 
in a rich compost it is all it requires, but I have 
found out that where success is aimed at feeding is a 
most important item. 
By the middle of September the plants should be 
put in their flowering quarters, as great injury is 
often caused by the heavy rains which fall about 
that time. Abundance of air at all times proves 
favourable to them, and with a night temperature of 
50" great success will be achieved and will reward 
all trouble bestowed upon them.—IT. Angus, Ches- 
wick, Northumberland. 
LA CLOCHE. 
It seems difficult to understand in the first place why 
we should as a nation be so dependent for ideas 
concerning many things pertaining to gardening 
upon France, and why, having regard to the immense 
demands now being made upon our home resources, 
we have not elevated gardening for market purposes 
into a much higher position than it at present holds. 
Perhaps this comparative dependence for ideas upon 
the neighbouring country is largely due to our 
methods of gardening, the which are so dissimilar to 
those found in France and in Belgium ; indeed ours 
too closely resemble those of garden farming, being 
generally conducted on a wide scale. We owe the 
introduction of the Cloche, name and article, into 
this country to the French, and it would seem as it 
it is still needful to import these useful articles from 
that nation. Why cannot we manufacture our own ? 
Why also can we not employ them far more largely 
than we do ? 
Even now their use is extremely limited, and the 
largest market gardener holds he has a good stock if 
he employs but five hundred, when it would seem 
that he should have so many thousands. How very 
useful these Cloches are. They serve admirably to 
protect autumn planted Cauliflowers during the 
winter; later they can be used to shelter Vegetable 
Marrow plants; still later they will help to protect and 
foster late Tomato plants. In the summer, whitened 
over, they will be found useful to raise all sorts of 
seeds under, because they would keep the soil moist, 
and exclude hot sunshine and insects. Where 
Cauliflowers for very early cutting are not required, 
the Cloches will protect and foster choice saladings, 
just as in summer, used as previously advised, they 
will rapidly bring up great quantities of Mustard and 
Cress. The French glass is a real Cloche or bell¬ 
shaped, the base broad, but narrowing to the centre, 
why not made quite cup-shaped is difficult to under¬ 
stand. When used in winter it is a capital plan to 
set them on a ring or base of coal ashes, as they are 
less likely to suffer from frost than when set direct 
into the scil.— A. D. 
-- 
WOOD-ASHES AS A 
FERTILISER. 
These are very valuable for cold and heavy soils 
on account of the large amount of potash they 
contain. Not only do they keep stiff soil more open, 
but they make the ground much easier to work all 
through the summer. In large gardens, and especially 
those in the country, there is not much difficulty in 
obtaining wood-ashes. Where, however, it is not easy 
to get a supply from the home burnt trimmings from the 
fruit trees, shrubberies, etc., they are well worth the 
usual price paid for them, viz., sixpence per bushel. 
Many gardens that have been well attended to and 
heavily cropped year after year, eventually contain 
soil that has become so charged with organic manures 
that crops do not do so well as formerly, even with 
the most judicious changes. In such a case, if wood- 
ashes only were used for a season the beneficial 
results would be surprising. In these old gardens, 
and which are so often over-manured in the belief 
that the soil must be exhausted by the continual 
cropping, such crops as Onions and Carrots are 
very much affected with maggot and grub. A little 
wood-ashes placed in the drills when sowing the 
seed, is the cheapest and most easily applied remedy 
you can have, as well as being the most effectual. 
With a slight dressing of soot and ashes later on, 
one may often get a good crop of these roots even 
upon badly infested ground ; certainly such roots 
will always come cleaner and of more value when 
treated to the beneficial effects of wood-ashes. These 
ashes also have a good effect upon all plants disposed 
to canker ; such for instance as Melons, Cucumbers, 
etc. 
Lawns upon heavy soils are often much troubled 
with moss that soon kills the grass. There is no 
better remedy for this than a good dressing of wood- 
ashes during the early spring months. Not only do 
they kill the moss, but the)' give the grass renewed 
life, causing it to become as soft and velvety as a 
carpet. The ashes will soon kill the moss, and you 
may then give a second and- slighter dressing of 
ashes, soot, and bone-meal in equal proportions ; 
this will cause a much finer growth than any farm¬ 
yard manures, and will induce it to grow near to and 
under trees as well as any manure you can apply. 
It is w'ashed in by the first rain, and in this respect 
