4 
commerce^ still less that anyone else succeeds 
in growing them. Where does the fault lie ? 
Is it in want of knowledge how to grow them 
on the part of the purchasers, or lack of stamina 
on the part of the flowers ? Gladioli of almost 
any kind should thrive well in good garden soil, 
and should need no special coddling. That 
some strains will is evident, as we hear of 
French bulbs, seedlings of fine form and quality, 
turning out really grand flowers under ordinary 
cultivation, and yet these seedlings cost the 
trade but some 13s. 6d. to 15s. per hundred. 
Why, if they cost 20s., what a small figure that 
would be, compared with the marvellous beauty, 
got out of 100 plants. The real difficulty seems, 
however, not so much to be in the purchasing 
and growing of the bulbs successfuly the first 
year, but in perpetuating them; and here, in¬ 
deed, it would seem, lies the secret of the fact to 
which we have previously alluded—that only a 
trade cultivator or two grow Gladioli largely, 
and that is because they are ever raising large 
quantities from seed. Private growers can 
hardly do that, but if they can purchase good 
seedling flowering bulbs cheaply they have no 
cause for complaint. 
Ringing the Changes. — Out of distrust 
grows another evil, and that is constant chang¬ 
ing of the judges, hardly any one man being 
invited two years in succession. Especially is 
this distrust manifest when committees are 
largely composed of exhibitors themselves, for 
those who are unsuccessful always attribute 
their absence of such, rather to the want of per¬ 
spicuity on the part of the judges than to want 
of merit in their exhibits. The result is that 
fresh judges are obtained the next year, and with 
their decisions some other exhibitor, or perchance 
the same one, is again dissatisfied, and so the 
changes are being rung from year to year. The 
best remedy for this unsatisfactory state of 
things is found in having a committee composed 
largely of subscribers who are not exhibitors, 
though some few of the most intelligent ones may 
well be members. That is the first suggestion 
we have to make ; and the second one is always 
to obtain the services of good experienced men 
of high standing in their profession, and having 
them stick to them. That such an arrangement 
answers well with many first-class shows is 
evidenced when we find the same judges selected 
for many years in succession. Thus confidence 
is inspired on both sides, and the annual shows 
are occasions of the most pleasurable kind to 
exhibitors, committees, and judges, for these 
latter find their decisions fully respected. 
What shall we do with our Pinetums.— 
When some years ago many new, interesting, 
and in some cases beautiful, Pinuses were intro¬ 
duced into this country, a vast number of them 
were planted in the most haphazard fashion. 
Literally without sense or suitableness, they not 
only burst out in the form of avenues, and other 
now happily obsolete garden notions, but were 
joined, and this was perhaps the only happy 
notion associated -with them, into pinetums or 
villages of pines, where, dissociated largely from 
other trees and shrubs, they have formed inter¬ 
esting, though not in all cases, happy families. 
But in the course of time the peculiar beauty 
incidental to conifers when fairly young wears 
off, and the appreciation for the trees wears off 
also as they become aged. Presently some 
begin to lose their lower branches, and are 
disfigured, others turn a rusty hue, and perhaps 
have suffered from rough weather or hard frost. 
Some, too, being faster growers than others, 
have over-powered their conifera brethren, and 
the once happily arranged family, equally in 
THE GARDENING 'WORLD. 
height and dimensions, is demoralised because 
some members will develope twice as rapidly as 
others, and then it comes about that the next 
generation of owners and gardeners begin to 
look upon pinetums as nuisances, not the less 
perhaps that the timber in course of production 
is hardly as valuable as that of Larch or Scotch 
Fir. What then shall we do with these pinetums ? 
is a question not a few are asking, as having 
them they don’t like to destroy them, and yet 
care only to tolerate them for some useful pur¬ 
pose. Our suggestion is that they be made 
partly to surmount the growing difficulty of pro¬ 
viding suitable burial-grounds, by converting 
them into grave-gardens for the members and 
servants of the owners’families, for the funereal 
aspect of the Pinuses peculiarly fits them for 
such a purpose. Melancholy as may be their 
attributes now, they could hardly be less melan¬ 
choly looking if associated with the last resting 
places of our loved dead. 
GLOXINIAS. 
Among the seedling gloxinias which flower late in 
the summer, there are often found some good varie¬ 
ties that are worth propagating, and which may be 
successfully treated as follows :—Take the most 
matured leaves and cut them through the mid-rib 
in several places, and if the leaves are large they 
may be cut through the lateral-ribs as well; then 
place them on some clean cocoa-nut fibre in the 
propagating pit, sprinkling a little dry sand over 
the upper surface of the leaves. Leave them in 
this state until they have quite ripened off, and 
give only sufficient moisture to prevent them 
from shrivelling at any time. On searching the 
fibre after the leaves have ripened off, a number of 
small corms will be found, and these should be put 
in pans of sand and placed in a warm and not too 
dry position, and if the sand becomes quite dry give 
it a slight sprinkling of water. 
In January a little more moisture should be given, 
and the pans be placed in a light, warm house. The 
corms will then soon start into growth, and as the 
growths appear above the surface pick the plants 
out and pot them. At first they should be put in 
as small pots as possible, and be kept in them until 
they have made a good growth, as if started in too 
large pots the soil is apt to become sour before the 
plants are well rooted. It is sometimes difficult 
to prevent the leaves from decaying prematurely, 
but this can generally be checked by removing any 
decayed part and sprinkling a little warm dry sand 
over the affected portion. Although gloxinias pro¬ 
pagated in the autumn will make good flowering 
plants for the following summer, I prefer to propa¬ 
gate them earlier, if the leaves can be obtained— 
say early in July, as the corms made then ripen off 
better, and are not so liable to rot during the 
winter. I have flowered gloxinias very successfully 
in 48’s, but in this size pot they require great atten¬ 
tion in watering. 
The compost which I like best is composed of 
about equal parts of loam, leaf-soil, and peat, with 
a little well-rotted stable manure and a good sprink¬ 
ling of sand. As soon as the roots have got well 
round the pots, I begin to give them a little liquid- 
manure, and as the plants commence to show flowers, 
I give them a slight sprinkling of Clay's Fertilizer. 
The liquid-manure is made of cow-dung and soot, 
mixed in a tub and allowed to stand until it is 
settled down quite clear; it can then be used with¬ 
out staining the leaves, though it is best, as much 
as possible, to avoid wetting the leaves with the 
manure water. Keep the plants as close to the glass 
as possible, avoid shading them too much, and as 
they come into flower keep them cool, and do not 
allow any moisture to settle on the blossoms.— A. H. 
With reference to the wheat crop The Agricultural 
Gazette states that there can be little doubt, in spite 
of many local protests to the contrary, that it is 
above the average, and this year, at any rate, pro¬ 
mise can hardly fail of complete fulfilment, for a 
finer harvest time was never known. 
Sept. 6 , 1884. 
GARDENING MISCELLANY. 
Next week will be a busy one for horticulturists 
in the North and South, the centres of interest 
being Dundee and London. 
At Dundee on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 
there will doubtless be a fine display of Fruits an d 
Yegetables; and if past experience goes for any¬ 
thing, there is certain also to be a great gathering 
of the gardening fraternity. 
On Tuesday the usual committee meetings will 
be held at South Kensington, when Mr. Turner of 
Slough will open a grand exhibition of Dahlias, 
which is to be continued till Saturday. 
Mr. Jordan, of Isleworth, has been engaged by 
the First Commissioner of H.M. Office of Works, to 
succeed Mr. McIntyre, as Superintendent of Vic¬ 
toria Park. 
Messrs. Freds. W arne and Co. have published 
a sixth edition, considerably altered and added to, 
of that very useful book “ The Farmer’s Calendar,” 
by Mr. J. Chalmers Morton. 
Messrs. John Weeks and Co., of Chelsea, have 
designed, and are about to construct for the South- 
Eastern Railway Company, a handsome and capa¬ 
cious winter garden and promenade, adjoining the 
Pavilion Hotel at Folkestone. 
The late Mr. George Toll’s choice collection of 
Orchids will be sold on Tuesday and Wednesday 
next, at the sale rooms of Messrs Artingstall and 
Hind, 45, Princess Street, Manchester. 
Mr. Tudgey, who during the last few years has 
been a very successful exhibitor of specimen stove 
and greenhouse plants, announces his intention of 
giving up exhibiting, and of shortly disposing of 
his plants by auction. 
Mr. Bull has in flower at the present time, the 
rare and beautiful Leelia elegans Dayana; a re¬ 
markably fine new variety of Cattleya labiata, 
named brilliantissima; and a very fine new orange- 
coloured Rhododendron from Borneo. 
At the meeting of the British Association, held 
at Montreal, on Monday last, a paper, by Mr. W. B. 
Hemsley, was read in the Biological Section, on the 
result of his investigations of Insular Floras. 
Mr. A. Gillespie’s collection of orchids, grown 
at Weybridge, will be sold next Thursday, at 
Steven’s Rooms. 
Mr. Worthington G. Smith has written, and 
Messrs. Macmillan have just published a small 
volume on “ The Diseases of Held and Garden 
Crops.” 
The Marquis of Lothian’s collection of orchids, 
grown by Mr. Priest at Newbattle Abbey, will be 
offered for sale in Edinburgh on the second day of 
the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society’s Show, 
September lStn. 
The Scottish Seed and Nursery Trade Association 
offers a first prize of seven guineas and a second 
prize of two guineas for an essay on “ The best and 
most economical system for the afforestation of waste 
and otherwise unprofitable lands in the United 
Kingdom.” The essays must be sent before the 1st 
of December, to Mr. David Hunter, 29, Dundas 
Street, Edinburgh. 
Mr. Miller, gardener to R. Loder, Esq., M.P., 
Whittlebury Lodge, Towcester, won the novel prize, 
a ten guinea life membership subscription to the 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution, given by 
Messrs. Perkins for competition at the recent 
exhibition of the Northamptonshire Horticultural 
Society. 
The fine collection of orchids, formed by M. Oscar 
Lamarche, of Liege, is announced for sale by auction 
early in October, by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Professor Edward Morren, Of Liege, Belgium, 
has just published the tenth edition of his Corre- 
spondance Botanique, a useful Directory of botanists, 
and scientific and horticultural establishments 
throughout the world. 
The “Great Horticultural Sale Week” has now 
become a well recognised autumn fixture, and seems 
to be growing in importance every year. Next 
week promises to be more successful than usual to 
both growers and buyers; and we may mention as 
a remarkable fact, illustrating the development of 
this phase of commercial horticulture, that Messrs. 
Protheroe and Morris have nearly 8,000 lots to 
dispose of between Tuesday morning and Friday 
night. 
