712 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 12, 1890. 
S^OfUdllXTlJflS}. 
_-- r r. •> 
The National Pink Society (Northern Section). 
We may supplement our remarks of last week by 
stating that a branch of the Pink Society has been 
formed at Manchester, with Mr. Samuel Barlow, J. P., 
as president and treasurer ; the Rev. F. D. Horner, 
and Messrs. J. Thurstan, Ranger Johnson, W. Bolton, 
R. Houlgrave, and Harry Turner as vice presidents ; and 
a thoroughly representative committee of northern and 
midland growers, with Mr. J. W. Bentley as Ron. 
secretary. There are classes for twelve blooms of laced 
Pinks, not less than six varieties ; for six blooms, 
distinct varieties ; for six blooms, in not less than three 
varieties ; for three blooms, one purple laced, one red 
laced, and one black and white ; for single blooms of 
purple laced and red laced ; for the premier purple 
laced and red laced varieties ; and for a miscellaneous 
collection of all types of Pinks to be exhibited according 
to the taste of the exhibitor ; other flowers and foliage 
being admissible. A circular is in course of being 
issued, soliciting subscriptions ; and the exhibition will 
take plaGe in the Botanical Gardens, Old Trafford, on 
the 19th inst., in connection with the annual Rose 
Show of the Royal Botanic Society of Manchester ; the 
Council giving a donation to the Pink Society. The 
date on which the show is to be held furnishes a 
remarkable illustration of the difference of time in the 
blooming of Pinks, in the south and in the north. 
Writing on the 30th of June, Mr. Samuel Barlow states 
he has not a flower of a Pink open, nor is he likely to 
have one this week. Mr. Barlow makes a strong appeal 
to all interested in floriculture to put forth an earnest 
effort to bring under public notice the beauty and 
capability of the Pink as an exhibition subject; and to 
restore this lovely, interesting, and sweetest of sweet- 
scented flowers to the place it held in the florist’s 
estimation, and the admiration of the public, forty 
years ago. Mr. Barlow will be happy to receive 
subscriptions towards a prize fund. 
Auriculas. 
The cool moist weather suits the Auriculas in pots. 
My own collection looks uncommonly well, though I 
water somewhat sparingly, but give a good soaking 
when the plants recpiire it. My plants have made 
steady progress in growth, since they were potted. I 
am watering them with water in which a bag of soot is 
placed, and the plants thrive with it. I saw it stated 
some time ago that waterings with soot-water would 
operate to keep the woolly aphis under; but it does 
not wholly do this in my case, as a few plants have a 
little of it clustered about the stem on the surface, and 
all I can do is to carefully brush it away. In my own 
experience I have found it to gather much morb on the 
roots of flowering plants not yet potted, doing this to 
a large extent during the month of July, especially if 
the plants are at all neglected. I have a few plants 
bearing seed that are not yet potted, but 1 take cafe 
they are not neglected, keeping them moist about the 
roots, more so than the newly potted plants, because 
the pots are full of roots, and the soil pretty .well 
exhausted ; they are kept elearof decaying foliage and 
green-fly, as indeed are all the plants. As soon as seed 
is gathered, these plants will be at once potted. 
When I was at the Royal Nursery, Slough, a fortnight 
ago, I found a very large proportion of the plants there 
had been re-potted, and they were putting on a healthy 
summer growth. Potting had been done -much ; earlier 
this year than is Usual, and the plants showed how 
greatly they had benefited by the process. 
The young stocks in small pots were all under hand- 
lights in the cool shade of a north wall, and doing well. 
There is nothing like a hand-light for young stock, 
keeping it closed in dull and cool weather, but giving 
air when the weather is warm and sunny. 
Seedling Auriculas raised; from seed sown in early 
spring, will now be getting large enough to prick off 
round the sides of pots. I use a light sandy com¬ 
post, some leaf-soil, and fine coco-nut-fibre; refuse, 
and I find they root readily into it. Theistore pots 
should be kept cool and shaded until established, and 
with ordinary care the.plants will soon grow into size. 
They make rapid headway when the plants commence 
to spread themselves round the sides of the pots.— it. D. 
Large-flowering Pelargoniums, 
Plants of these which have been stood out of doors 
since they ceased flowering, may, during the present 
month, if the wood has become sufficiently ripened, be 
cut down for cuttings. It is only plants that have 
bloomed in May that will be ready for cutting back in 
July ; but they should be allowed to become quite dry 
about the roots before being cut down, and be kept in 
that state several days after, until the wounds made by 
the knife have healed, as they heal much more quickly 
when kept dry than when moist. If at the time of 
blooming any of the branches throw defective flowers, 
blossoms out of character, such branches should not be 
used for cuttings, because if they are so employed the 
cultivator may perpetuate these defects, which is not 
at all desirable. Well-ripened wood soon makes 
cuttings if pressed firmly in light sandy soil, and then 
placed in a frame that is kept close and shaded for a time. 
Plants stood out of doors should have a partly shaded 
position ; they can have the benefit of the sun morning 
and evening, but not in the middle of the day when it 
is hot. Care must be taken during a spell of dry 
weather that the wood does not become shrivelled, and 
sufficient water should be given to avoid this. Cut¬ 
tings put in during July and August grow into fine 
young plants that should be stopped in the autumn, 
and by the following spring they will have broken into 
three or four leading shoots that make capital flowering 
specimens by mid-summer. 
When at the Royal Nursery, Slough,, a few days 
since, I made a note of the following in flower in the 
collection there : — Ambassador (Foster), Amethyst 
(Brehaut), a very distinct variety, remarkable for the 
rich purple of its lower petals ; Blue Beard (Foster), 
the nearest approach to a blue show Pelargonium yet 
raised ; Chief Secretary (Foster), Cygnet (Foster), Duke 
of Norfolk (Foster), very bright and effective ; Frances 
(Foster), Joe (Matthews), Josephine (Foster), Lily 
(Foster), Malcolm (Foster), Margaret (Foster), Manda¬ 
rin (Foster), Outlaw (Foster), large and very fine; 
Ritualist (Foster), one of the largest-flowered varieties 
in the collection, extra fine ; Sister of Mercy (Foster), 
very fine ; Statesman (Foster), Symmetry (Foster), 
The Czar (Foster), and Yivid (Foster), deep bright 
orange-scarlet lower petals, very showy. The foregoing 
make twenty varieties, and I am sure it would be 
impossible to name a finer lot. 
To do large-flowering Pelargoniums they should have 
a house to themselves when grown in an ordinary 
greenhouse -with other things, they become foul and 
spindling in growth -through being over-crowded. 
Beautiful and valuable as is the show Pelargonium as 
a decorative plant, it has unfortunately fallen into 
undeserved neglect, owing to being badly grown from 
over-crowdipg. Those who have convenience and space 
for cultivating the Pelargonium are rewarded by nume¬ 
rous trusses of fine flowers, which, if gummed, will 
last a long time in a cut state.— R. D. 
-» >X< « - 
ANTHURIUMS AT TULSE HILL. 
The central stage of a stove in the nurseries of Messrs. 
J. Peed & Sons, Roupell Park, Tulse Hill, is occupied 
with a collection of Anthuriums, chiefly the useful old 
A. Scherzerianum and varieties of it. An unnamed 
one was notable for the size of its broadly oblong, 
bright scarlet spathe, which measured 5) ins. long, and 
3£ ins. broad. A. S. atrosanguineum has also a large 
spathe, but it is of a crimson-scarlet hue, and much 
more oval in Outline, with a bright scarlet, twisted 
spadix. A. Rotbschildianum has its spathes of a 
mixture of scarlet and white on both surfaces, but 
there is a variety of it the outer surface of which is 
crimson, while the inner one is of the normal mixture 
of the two colours. A. Andreanum also finds a place, 
but it is less ornamental than A. ferrierense, of Which 
it is one of the parents. The flower stems of the 
latter, when we noted them, were 3J ft. high, bearing 
large spathes of a rich carmine-red. On the side 
shelves was a collection of Sarraeenias, including 
S. Chelsoni, with its large, brownish purple pitchers, 
reticulated with darker veins. S. Tolliana was flowering 
freely, the petals being purplish red, and the sepals 
greenish. 
-- 
THE WARFARE AGAINST 
INSECTS. 
The use of Paris green, first successfully tried against 
the. Colorado Potato-beetle, and afterwards used exten¬ 
sively against the cotton-worm, the boll-worm, the 
canker-worm, and more recently against the codlin 
moth, plum eurculio, and many other mandibulate 
species, marks an era in the warfare against insects. 
Cheaper arsenical preparations, like London purple, 
have also proved most satisfactory. Next, perhaps, in 
importance, is the discovery of the petroleum emulsions, 
as used against haustellate or sucking insects. Though 
originally aimed at the cotton-worm, and an outgrowth 
of the cotton-worm investigation under the U. S. Ento¬ 
mological Commission, treatment with these emulsions 
in their various forms has been extended to all varieties 
of bark-lice and plant-lice, as well as to many gnawing 
insects which chance to feed upon crops which it 
would be dangerous to spray with arsenicals. 
Many variations in the preparation of arsenical mix¬ 
tures and the kerosene emulsions have already been 
tried, and doubtless many more yet remain to be tried. 
Necessary variations in special cases often occur. In 
my search for a proper wash against the fluted-scale, I 
met with the necessity of finding a mixture which 
would penetrate the seemingly impervious wax covering 
of the egg-sac, or which would harden it to such a 
degree that the lice, on hatching, would be unable to 
escape. This was finally accomplished by the addition 
of resin to the washes, and insects of this character, 
such as the cottony Maple-scale (Pulvinaria innumera- 
bilis), the Florida wax-scale (Ceroplastes floridensis), the 
barnacle-scale (Ceroplastes cirropediformis) of this 
country, and the cottony currant-scale of Europe 
(Pnlvinaria ribesii), can now be successfully treated at 
any stage fif their existence without the necessity of 
waiting for the pregnable period of the hatching and 
migration of the young lice. 
The lessening of the expense of these successful 
washes is another important point for the future 
experimenter in this line ; and we have before us an 
immediate need of a careful and exhaustive series of 
experiments as to the relative effects of the arsenicals 
and the emulsions upon the foliage of different plants. 
Our knowledge in this direction at present is slight. 
Yet we should know with certainty not only just what 
effect a certain mixture will have upon the vitality of a 
given plant, but what effect it will have upon this plant 
in a particular part of the country, with a particular 
sun exposure^ at a certain time of the day, with 
certain conditions of plant vigour and precipitation, 
at a certain season of the year, and at a eertain 
period in the life of the plant. We know, from 
experience, that all of these conditions have strong 
bearings on the effect of the poisons upon vegetation, 
yet this line of investigation, first suggested in 1885, 
has still to be thoroughly followed up. The combina¬ 
tion of two classes of insecticides for simultaneous appli¬ 
cation to two classes of insects affecting the same crop, 
as a combination of Paris green and kerosene emulsion 
for the treatment of Apple trees affected with bark-lice 
and Apple-worms, or canker-worms, or the same mix¬ 
ture for young Cabbages bearing both lice and cater¬ 
pillars, will afford opportunity for much useful work in 
the future. In a like way, the combination of a fungi¬ 
cide and an insecticide for the simultaneous treatment 
of insects and fungous diseases affecting the same crop, 
is beginning to be practised, and offers a field for future 
experimentation.— Prof. C. V. Riley, in the American 
Garden. 
-->i<-- 
THE CHINESE BELLFLOWER. 
Many really useful and beautiful garden plants are 
found amongst the Campanulas, and although the 
present subject is not strictly a Campanula, it is closely 
allied. It is the Platycodon grandiflorum of the 
botanist, the generic name being taken from two Greek 
words, platys, broad, and codon, a bell. The flowers 
are of great size, as may be seen from our illustration, 
widely bell-shaped, and in the typical form of a dark 
blue. The colour, however, sometimes varies to white, 
and the flowers are occasionally double. There is a 
dwarf form in cultivation under the names P. g. 
Mariesii and P. g. pumilum. The dwarf variety is 
well adapted for rockwork, but either may be used in 
this way. The foliage is neat, and the plant of close, 
upright habit, increasing very slowly, so that neigh¬ 
bouring plants are not liable to be encroached upon. 
The soil in which it is planted should be well drained, 
and not subject to stagnant moisture, but beyond this 
no difficulty will be experienced in its culture, as it 
will thrive in garden soils of very opposite descriptions, 
both sandy and calcareous. “When once established 
the roots should not be disturbed. The flowering 
period will continue through this month and the next. 
--*$<-- 
THE NATIONAL ROSE SHOW. 
The annual metropolitan show of the National Rose 
Society was held on Saturday last at the Crystal 
Palace, and despite the most inclement weather—the 
heavy rain and strong wind that prevailed during the 
previous night and well«on into the afternoon of the 
show day—the exhibition was a singularly good one, 
though shorn, of course, of much of the glory that 
would have been present had more favourable climatic 
conditions prevailed. It was a truly wretched day for 
