738 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 19, 1890. 
Carnations and Pinks. 
Surely the practice of boycotting is being resorted to 
by the clerk of the weather, who must also be suffering 
from a fit of cross-grained awkwardness, seeing how 
harsh and unsympathetic he is towards the “ Car- 
nationists.” Mr. Dodwell writes on the 11th: “Weather 
grievous ; wind round to N.E. again last evening—a 
miserable check, and plants desolated with green-fly. ” 
And another unhappy florieultural wail comes from 
President Samuel Barlow, of Stakehill, who, writing on 
the same date, incidentally alludes to the condition of the 
weather by stating “ This is the evening of the 10th 
of July ; it is almost as cold as March, and as dull as 
November ; the buds are rotting on the Rose trees, and 
with the exception of Frank Simonite and George 
Hodgkinson I have no Pinks open. Carnations from 
here impossible for London, and I think for Oxford.” 
One of the first acts of the Carnation Conference at 
Chiswick should be a solemn indictment of the policy 
of the clerk of the weather towards florists. I think 
the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society would 
be justified in ordering a general strike by the floral 
community against such climatic tyranny. And why 
is the sun taking a holiday just when the light and 
warmth of his beams are most urgently needed ?— R. B. 
Dahlias. 
The weather is so favourable to the growth of Dahlias 
—too favourable, in fact—that there is no need for 
watering by the grower, the leaden skies having taken 
that work in hand for him even more abundantly than 
he could wish for. Dahlias are putting on a very free 
growth, and like Peas and other things of strong suc¬ 
culent habit, are getting out of character. While this 
spell of free growth is on them, they need to be tied 
out, and some of the lateral shoots removed, so that air 
can circulate among the branches, and such little sun¬ 
shine as we are getting. 
It is worthy of note that the dull cold weather is 
being experienced over a good portion of Europe ; but 
let the weather be what it will, earwigs are certain to 
infest the plants, and they should be looked after and 
trapped, for not only do they eat the buds and destroy 
a good flower by damaging the petals, but they attack 
the young foliage also. The Dahlia grower will soon 
be adding his petition to that of the Carnation culti¬ 
vator, that the skies may clear and bright sunshine 
dispel the gloom which hangs over the face of nature 
like a funeral pall. —R. Be 
Fancy Pelargoniums. 
When at Slough, at the time laced Pinks were in 
flower, I made a note of some of the prettiest and most 
showy of the fancy Pelargoniums. I can carry my 
memory back to some thirty-five years ago, when the 
fancy Pelargonium was a rapidly-improving subject, 
when Gaines and Ambrose, both nurserymen of 
Battersea, were doing much in the way of improving 
this pretty flower. The leading varieties then were 
Captivation, Defiance, Empress, Formosa, Jenny Lind, 
Hero of Surrey, Ne Plus Ultra, Picturata, Reine 
Francaise, and a few others. Delicatum is a variety 
that exists to this day, and though not so finely 
formed as others, is yet so free of bloom, and of such a 
charming blush colour, that it is often seen exhibited 
in a collection of six varieties by Mr. C. Turner. 
There are three old varieties still in cultivation that 
were grown thirty years ago—viz., Cloth of Silver, 
Delicatum and Roi des Fantaisies. When Ambrose 
gave up raising, his seedlings passed into the hands of 
Messrs. E. G. Henderson & Son, then of the Wellington 
Road Nurseries ; and Roi des Fantaisies, sent out by 
them, was one of Ambrose’s discarded seedlings, several 
of which passed into the hands" oT Messrs. Henderson 
with the named varieties. When Ambrose parted 
company with his plants, his grower Rosiere went to 
the Wellington Nursery also, and raised several varieties 
there. The only one of his which remains in culti¬ 
vation is Cloth of Silver, silvery white with a delicate 
rose blotch. Subsequently Rosiere went to the Royal 
Nursery, Slough, and there he originated many of those 
new varieties which have made the name of Turner 
so famous in Pelargonium circles. Of the forty-seven 
varieties of fancy Pelargoniums catalogued by Mr. 
Turner during the present year, forty-three of these are 
of his own raising. From these I have made a note of 
the following as having been in fine condition when I 
was at Slough :— 
Ellen Beck, light carmine with bright edges, very 
dwarf and free. 
Iona, light lower petals, deep lilac-rose top petals, 
large, and of fine shape. 
Lady Carrington, soft pale peach, the top petals 
suffused with pale pink. 
Miss Emily Little, rosy purple, suffused with white. 
Mrs. Langtry, white, with rosy lilae spots, very free 
of bloom, and dwarf habit. 
Mrs. Thornton, rosy lilac lower petals, light throat 
and edges, a large flower of good form. 
Phyllis, deep rose, white throat and margins. 
Princess Tech, a delightful fancy, white with carmine 
spots, one of the most profuse bloomers, and a charming 
exhibition variety. 
Queen of the Hellenes, white with rosy spots on all 
the petals. 
The Shah, also an excellent exhibition variety, deep 
crimson-purple with light throat and edge of lilac. 
This by no means exhausts the list of good varieties, 
but they were all in excellent character when I was 
at Slough. To these should be added, for their great 
floriferousness, the three old varieties previously al¬ 
luded to—Cloth of Silver, Delicatum, and Roi des 
Fantasies. 
Two features in particular, among others, characterise 
the new varieties raised by Mr. Turner. They are the 
size and fine form of the flowers, in some cases quite as 
large again as they were thirty years ago, and a fine 
robustness of habit unknown to the older varieties. If 
Ambrose and Gaines could come to life again, and see 
the best of the Slough varieties now, they would indeed 
be struck with the improvement made in the fancy 
Pelargoniums since the one raised Ne Plus Ultra and 
the other Jenny Lind ; and though no secrets of the 
future life have been revealed to us, there would yet be 
only something akin to poetic justice in imagining that 
there is a meeting-place in the Elysian Fields where 
Gaines and Charles Turner, Ambrose and Rosiere, John 
Dobson and James Robinson meet together to talk over 
the old times, when each in his own way was en¬ 
deavouring to improve' the Pelargonium all loved so 
I think the actual origin of the fancy Pelargonium is 
a matter for conjecture only, for I have never met with 
any authoritative declaration on the point. I think it 
not unlikely that some enterprising spirit in the past 
crossed •tiome species of the Pelargonium he fancied 
with one of the cultivated types of his day, and 
originated what we, in our time, know as the fancy 
Pelargonium ; but I can only conjecture. That they 
represent a lovely race of plants there can be no doubf.-Y 
Perhaps some reader of The Gardening World, like 
Mr. George Fry, of Lewisham, can throw some light on 
the matter. 
I have already exceeded the allotted bounds for 
such a paper as this, and I defer some cultural directions 
until next week.— R. B. 
-»>$<*—-- 
BLANCHING celery. 
Very early in the present year, when the seed was still 
in the seed packet, I sent you an article on the growing 
of Celery for exhibition, and promised at the conclusion 
of it to refer to the process of blanching at a future 
time. If I am to redeem my promise this season, it is 
time I was shaking off my natural disinclination to 
write and saying something, as my Celery plants are 
now from 18 ins. to 2 ft. tall, and the best of them from 
10 ins. to 12 ins. in circumference at the base. To¬ 
day the fine soil which was heaped up on each side of 
the trench has been pushed into it to the depth of 6 ins., 
surrounding the plants on every side. This has been 
done without anything being placed around the plants 
to keep the soil from them, as at the base it is not 
neeessary to be so very particular ; the outer leaves 
coming off at show time make all right. 
Before the soil is pushed in, all side shoots and 
decayed leaves are taken away, and the plants left clean 
and straight. In a few days we will take a piece of 
brown paper 2 ft. long by 6 ins. wide, and roll it 
loosely round the stalk above the level of the soil which 
was pushed into the trench, so that from the base of 
the stalk to the top of the paper the blanch will be 12 
ins. when finished. This will be as much as it will be 
advisable to attempt to get for early shows ; but for 
later shows, 6 ins. or 9 ins. more can be got by fol¬ 
lowing up the same process. Soil should be heaped 
loosely against the paper, and to keep up the soil boards 
may be fixed along each side of the trench. A dusting 
of fine lime and soot is a good preventative of slugs 
damaging the appearance of the stalks.— TP. C., 
Springfield, Rothesay. 
SUMMER PRUNING. 
Pinching. 
Perhaps few words are more familiar to gardeners in 
the growing season than “pinching,” “stopping,” 
and “ topping,” as used, and from a gardening point of 
view as understood, to signify one and the same thing ; 
yet we frequently hear the word “checking” used 
by some in place of any of those before mentioned, 
and which is quite applicable from the method 
adopted by some in pinching. Pinching, in the proper 
sense of the term, is one of the most important points, 
not only in plant growing, but also in fruit culture ; 
and performed on a sound, reasonable principle it is 
invariably succeeded by good and—if not always praise¬ 
worthy—at least satisfactory returns. Moreover, from 
a practical and scientific point of view, it has an in¬ 
teresting and in many instances lasting influence ; and 
is, in short, one of the fundamental principles in 
gardening. The word, however, in its true meaning, is 
so frequently misapplied or, perhaps, misunderstood, 
that perchance its significance is often lost or altogether 
ignored. To understand “ pinching ” in this con¬ 
nection is not quite like the shoe that pinches the toes— 
to be a little paradoxical—but to regulate the growth, 
and so maintain the uniformity of the plants operated 
upon, as also to correct gross tendencies. In the latter 
phase of the subject the word “checking” may seem 
reasonable enough, literally speaking, but practically 
it is a misapplied term, and should therefore be con¬ 
temptuously ignored. 
Practically speaking, pinching is often overdone, 
while quite as often underdone, and to thoroughly 
understand it requires practice and observation. To 
be satisfied with practice minus observation would 
imply a simple and easily attainable art, but it is not 
so simple as it may appear to be. The closest obser¬ 
vation is essential, not only when pinching, but equally 
so after the operation, to note effects or defects ; and in 
the appearance of the latter a remedy by further 
pinching or encouraging more growth in part or all 
over the plant may prove the means of attaining the 
end in view. Pinching plants all over—points of 
shoots, laterals and leaders—without leaving any means 
for carrying on the sap is conducive to weakening, and, 
in short, often disables the plant. That v the shoots 
and the roots work in sympathy is as certain as that 
the members of our bodies work in sympathy one with 
another ; therefore, when a plant is severely pinched 
no doubt the root action is severely checked. To pinch 
the points of shoots all over a plant is quite practical 
when lateral growth is inactive and left undisturbed, 
for the laterals will keep the roots active and assist in 
the production of other laterals, while strengthing those 
already formed by having all the energy of the plant 
concentrated therein. It is a common practice to pinch 
the plants as potting proceeds, yet nothing could be 
more unpractical, as the very fact of the plant being 
disturbed at the roots, the change of soil, and also the 
temperature in the latter, is sufficient check at one time 
for any plant. Better by far to wait till the roots take 
sufficient hold of thefreshsoil and indicate activity before 
giving another check by pinching, which may safely 
and effectually be done when growth is apparent in the 
points of the shoots. To “stop” or “top” a plant, 
which requires more discretion than is usually afforded, 
should never be done until the plant is fairly started 
into growth. Whereto “stop” or “top” a plant is 
quite another matter, and one that can only be regu¬ 
lated by the cultivator having in view the purpose for 
which the plant is intended. 
Unfortunately, the “happy-go-lucky” method of 
pinching is not confined to pot plants alone, but is too 
frequently practised on Vines, Peaches, &c. To denude 
Vines of all their laterals at once by pinching all back 
to one joint, two joints, or even three joints, as the 
case may be, is nothing short of vandalism, and those 
who habitually and generally practise it cannot be 
highly successful Grape growers. In fact, with such 
practices the fruit swells and finishes by alternate 
impulses, and thus the finishing is accomplished under 
difficulties that cannot possibly yield extraordinary 
results. The season is too far advanced now to take a 
prospective view of lateral pinching on Vines : but by 
taking a retrospective view, and weighing the whole 
matter carefully, some may be convinced of the reason¬ 
ableness of these remarks by the conspicuous absence of 
fine, plump, well-finished fruits in places where, from 
the healthy condition and general excellence of the 
Vines, it might have been expected—indeed, forth¬ 
coming. This, too, applies, although not in quite so 
marked a degree, to the size and general appearance of 
Peaches ; but to have the very best fruits, pinching is 
