May 2, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
559 
have a fairly long tube. Award of Merit. Messrs. 
B. S. Williams & Son, Upper Holloway. 
Myosotis Rehsteineri.— It seems unaccountable 
why this beautifully distinct and remarkably dwarf 
Forget-me-not should not have been honoured with 
a certificate before this time, for it has been in culti¬ 
vation for a number of years. It is of creeping 
habit, very dense in growth, and stems, flowers, and 
all, rising about an inch atove the surface of the 
ground. The bright blue flowers with a small 
yellow eye are profusely produced. First-class 
Certificate. Messrs. Paul & Son. 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Radish Olive-shaped Deep Scarlet.— The roots 
of this variety are shortly oblong, suddenly narrow¬ 
ing to a point, or they are olive-shaped as expressed 
by the name. In other words they are intermediate 
in length and shape between the Turnip-rooted and 
Carrot-shaped races. They are bright red, tender 
and early Award of Merit. M. M. Vilmorin, 
Andrieux et Cie, 4, Quai de la Megisserie, Paris. 
Radish Olive-shaped White. —The roots of this 
variety are similar in form to the red, but pure 
white, very tender, and extra early. Award of Merit. 
MM. Vilmorin, Andrieux et Cie. 
The undermentioned show Auriculas received First- 
class Certificates at the show of the southern section 
of the National Auricula and Primula Society held 
in the Westminster Drill Hall, on Tuesday, April 
21st. 
Midnight. —This self variety throws an exception¬ 
ally large truss and the pips measure over an inch in 
diameter. The body colour is deep velvety black 
and the paste or inner zone white. Rev. F. D. 
Horner, Kirkby Lonsdale. 
Rev. Cecil Dalton is a green-edged flower of 
medium size and almost perfect circular outline. 
The body colour is deep velvety-black, both inner 
and outer lines of the zone being well defined and 
regular. The paste is white, and the tube and the 
throat dull yellow. Rev. F. D. Horner. 
Bull’s Eye is a gray-edged variety of large size and 
great merit. The pips are flat, of great substance, 
and open well. The band of body colour is rather 
narrow, and the eye rather large and bright yellow. 
Rev. F. D. Horner. 
Snowflake.— This is a large, well-opened gray- 
edged flower with an extra heavy zone of velvety- 
black body colour and a green-yellow eye. Rev. 
F. D. Horner. 
Vesta. —A grand new white-edged variety this, of 
medium size and very heavy band of body colour. 
The individual pips are of medium size, and the 
trusses large. Mr. Jas. Douglas, gardener to Mrs. 
Whitbourn, Great Gearies, Ilford. 
Pluto is a great addition to the ranks of the 
Alpine section. The golden area in the centre is 
large, bright, and well defined. The rest of the flower 
is of a deep purplish-black hue, shading to a rich 
vinous red at the extreme tips of the segments. 
Mr. Charles Phillips, Bracknell, Berks. 
Nellie Martin.— This is another Alpine Auricula 
closely resembling Pluto in build, but differing from 
it in being suffused with terra-cotta, which gives the 
flower a charmingly rich appearance. Mr. Chas. 
Phillips. 
-►*--- 
In no department of the garden is more concentration 
of thought needed than in keeping up a regular supply 
of fresh tender vegetables. It is presumed that the 
sowing of all crops at their proper season up to this 
date has been attended to. The seed beds should be 
frequently examined, and any failures should be 
made good by fresh sowings without delay. 
Succession sowings of Lettuce, Radishes, Spinach, 
and Turnips should be made at intervals of two or 
three weeks. Borecole and late Broccoli will be 
quite early enough if sown at the present time, as 
nothing weakens them more than having to remain 
a long time in the seed bed, waiting for vacant ground 
to plant them out. 
The main crop of Beetroot should be sown by 
the end of the month, and if the seed is kept damp a 
day before sowing it hastens vegetation. The ground 
should be light and rich for this crop and in an open 
position to produce tender roots. As the ground is 
now getting warmed an early sowing of Scarlet 
Runners and dwarf French Beans may be made in a 
warm position where the sun has full effect on the 
ground. 
The main-crop sowings of Celery should be fit 
for pricking out. A bed of rich soil about 6 in. deep, 
composed of half loam and leaf soil placed on a firm 
bottom and enclosed by a few rough boards will 
answer. Protection can be given by placing a few 
old lights over the plants or by bending a few green 
rods over the bed and covering with mats. The one 
thing is to grow it hardy and without any unnecessary 
coddling, and keep it always well supplied with 
moisture at the root. 
Early crops of Potatos should be deeply hoed 
between the rows and a good dressing of burnt refuse 
scattered between the rows before earthing them up. 
Keep all ground between growing crops well loosened 
with the hoe. Clear off all eld stumps of sprouting 
Broccoli and other greens, as they soon exhaust the 
land when allowed to remain in a flowering condition. 
Attend to the watering of early Cauliflowers, 
Lettuces, and all other transplanted subjects should 
the weather be dry. Pot on Tomatos for growing 
outside, shifting into 48-sized pots, and growing 
them in cold frames 10 keep them dwarf and sturdy. 
Two good kinds for outdoors are Early Ruby and 
Sutton’s Maincrop.— J. R. 
TIE FLINT HOUSES. 
The Conservatory. 
Up to the present, Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissi, and 
the rest of the forced material of the bulbous section, 
together with Azaleas, Camellias, Ericas, and other 
hard-wooded subjects, have been chiefly responsible 
for keeping up the display in the show house. 
These will now, for the most part, have had their 
day, and the old plants will be turned out to make 
room for other plants which are usually to be found 
in the conservatory during the summer months. 
Cleaning.— If time can anyhow be found, it is 
advisable to give the house a thorough cleaning up 
in order that it may look clean and tidy throughout 
the summer. Glass and woodwork should be washed, 
and the shiDgle on the plant stages given a brush 
over. 
Climbers. —These may be thoroughly overhauled, 
tying and cleaning, if the latter is necessary, while 
the house is empty. If any Roses are trained to the 
roof, these will most likely be attacked with green 
fly, and if this pest is to be prevented from spreading 
to the other plants it must be dealt with promptly. 
If the conservatory is far enough removed from the 
mansion for fumigation to be practised, well and 
good, but if not, then other means must be used. A 
wine-glassful of petroleum to a pailful of soft 
water makes a cheap and efficient insecticide. 
When this is used, however, two men will be needed, 
the one to keep the mixture well stirred by means of 
a syringe, whilst the other applies it by means of 
another syringe. 
Large Palms. —In most conservatories there are 
to be seen one or more large Palms, either planted 
out, or growing in tubs or pots. Their very weight 
and size precludes the possibility of shifting them 
often, and advantage should be taken of the present 
opportunity to move them where required, and also 
to thoroughly clean them. A slight sprinkle of 
nitrate of soda given once in every ten days im¬ 
mediately before a watering will work wonders in 
imparting a rich deep green hue to the foliage. This ( 
however, requires particularly careful usage, as an 
over-dose soon works an incalculable amount of 
harm. 
Tuberous Begonias.-— The earliest batch of these 
grand summer plants will now be in bloom. If the 
plants have not been coddled too much,, they will be 
sturdy enough to be nearly self-supporting in the 
earlier stages—at least the single varieties will, but 
staking must be seen to as soon as the plants appear 
to need it. Supplies of liquid manure will now be of 
great advantage. Soot, cow-manure, guano, and 
Clay’s Fertilizer are all excellent stimulants which 
may be used with satisfactory results. 
Plants of pronounced sub-pendant habit, which 
have been consigned to hanging baskets, should, if 
necessary, have the growth evenly distributed all 
round the edge of the baskets, and kept in their places 
by a slight strand of raffia. As so much more sur¬ 
face is exposed to the light and air by baskets the 
plants growing in them will want even more water 
than the pots. Care must be taken, therefore, that 
they are not allowed to get dry at the roots. 
Francoa ramosa.— As soon as these begin to 
throw up their flowering stems, they should be 
liberally treated with regard to manure water. 
Francoas usually do well in small pots, but they 
require a great deal of water at the present season, 
and as the balls are practically a mass of roots that 
have long since exhausted the goodness out of the 
soil in which they were potted, they will put up with, 
and even like, far heavier feeding than the ordinary 
run of greenhouse subjects. 
Pits and Frames. 
Fuchsias.— If large specimens of these are re¬ 
quired, another shift on into larger pots should be 
given. The compost must be a fairly rich one, and 
may consist of half of good fibrous loam and half of 
equal parts of dried cow manure and leaf soil, with a 
nice sprinkling of sand. Consistent attention to the 
stopping of shoots will be necessary, in order to 
produce symmetrically-shaped plants. As a rule 
a temperature of about 6o° Fahr. with a rise during 
bright days will suit them admirably. Some shade, 
of course, is necessary, but too much of it is likely 
to result in the growths becoming too drawn. 
Hence it must be avoided. Keep the syringe well at 
work among the foliage morning and afternoon. A 
stake to the central stem will, as a rule, be ample 
support, unless it is for plants which were obtained 
from cuttings struck early last autumn which have 
been rushed on to form pyramidal bushes for 
flowering during the latter part of the coming July 
and onwards. These will need a number of stakes 
to allow of the growths being trained properly. 
Coleuses. —These are among the brightest and 
most useful of decorative plants that will thrive in 
the cool conservatory during the summer months. 
Batches of cuttings should be put in at intervals of 
about three weeks, so as to keep pace with the 
demand that is usually experienced for them in the 
conservatory as well as for the rooms and corridors 
in the mansion. Shifts from the cutting pots into 
6o’s, and from thence, when the plants are large 
enough into 32's will be all that is required in the 
way of potting, for plants in 32’s are the most useful 
for ordinary purposes. Large handsome specimens 
may be easily obtained, if desired, by potting on into 
eight or ten-inch pots. In this case the plants 
should be given the roomier quarters before they 
have got starved, and the lower leaves have begun, 
as a consequence, to turn shabby. Besides the 
pinching to induce bushiness of growth, all flowers 
must be kept closely picked out. 
The following varieties are very handsome and 
will afford a good selectionMulticolor, Lord 
Rosebery, Harry Veitch, Vesuvius, Pompadour, and 
the new trio, Faith, Hope, and Charity. 
Cinerarias. —Those who desire to have these 
indispensable plants in bloom in November and 
December will have made a sowing early in April. In 
the majority of gardens, however, it is not usual to 
get them in as early as this, and a sowing made 
some time from the beginning to the middle of the 
present month is usually made. The plants pro¬ 
duced from this may be expected to bloom early in 
February, and this is quite soon enough for all 
ordinary purposes. Make the soil rather fine at the 
top and level it down carefully before sowing the 
seed. Sow rather thinly, so that the seedlings may 
have room to develop their first leaves well, when 
they may be transferred to thumb pots instead of 
pricking them off in pans as is practised with other 
seedlings. A cold frame is the best place in which 
to put the seed pans. Too high a temperature is 
very harmful—will cause the ybung plants to have 
thin and weakly leaves and leaf-stalks. 
Primulas. —The main sowing of these should be 
made now, as well as another one a few weeks hence 
to supply plants for later flowering. As Primula 
seed needs very- careful handling, the seed pans 
should be well drained, and the soil carefully levelled 
and made slightly firm, as recommended for the 
Cinerarias. The seed must only be slightly covered 
with very fine soil or sand. Half the failures in 
getting Primula seed to germinate freely may be 
traced, not to the seed being really bad, but to too 
deep sowing. Place a piece of glass over the seed 
pans and consign them to a place with a temperature 
of between 6o° and 65° Fahr. Shading from all 
direct sunlight, will, of course, be duly attended 
to.— A . S, G. 
