March 14th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
439 
season—at least with the Libonias, Coronillas and 
Crassulas, in this size pot. The second year they will 
make splendid specimens, requiring once shaking out, 
and starting in a smaller sized pot. These things all 
bloom freely when they have filled their pots with 
roots, and most of them last a long time. They 
require when in bloom weak liquid manure twice a 
week.— Authentes. 
o—. - — o —• 
SPRING-FLOWERING CROCUSES. 
At p. 429 of the last issue of The Gardening 
World, we find a paper on the “ Species of Crocus,” 
by “Quo,” in which it is remarked that the beauty 
and variety of the forms of Crocus vernus, found 
just now in our gardens, serve to divert attention 
from some other very beautiful species of Crocus. 
This no doubt is the case. All the species are more 
or less handsome, and they now number about seventy. 
In The Gardening World for November 8th, p. 151, 
a list of the autumnal species was given by me, with 
a brief description, and the wild habitat of each 
species. A reference to that paper shows that of the 
twenty-four autumnal species, twenty-two are in 
cultivation, some of them being not less beautiful than 
their spring cousins. 
The position in which they are seen to most 
advantage is in clumps amongst the grass, which 
forms a lovely background. Coming now to the 
spring-flowering species, which, according to Mr. G. 
Maw’s enumeration, number forty-three, we may 
notice that nearly forty of these are also in cultivation. 
It would perhaps be rather tedious to give an account of 
all these in your columns, so I will confine myself to 
mentioning a few additional species to those mentioned 
by “ Quo.” I must, however, demur to C. Sieberi 
being an autumn-flowering species, for it is now in 
flower, and must undoubtedly be classed as an early 
vernal species. Of yellow-flowered species, beside 
C. aureus, with its numerous varieties, we have C. 
chrysanthus, also C. Olivieri, a free-flowering species, 
with fragrant, orange-coloured flowers. Then C. gar- 
ganicus is of the same colour, but with brown stripes 
on the outer segments. C. Balansm is one of the 
most striking and pretty species of this group, for the 
outer segments are often uniformly suffused with 
bright chestnut, of a shade extremely difficult to 
describe. 
Of the group with purple-feathered markings on 
a light ground, there is beside C. Imperati and C. 
biflorus, the very handsome C. versicolor, with its 
primrose-scented flow T ers. It is heavily feathered with 
rich purple, some of the forms being almost suffused 
with this colour. C. nevadensis and C. etruscus also 
belong to this striped group. C. Tommasinianus and 
C. serius have lavender-purple flowers, the latter being 
an especially charming plant. For a deep purple we 
have C. banaticus, an extremely rich-coloured flower. 
The whole of these notes have been taken from plants 
now' in flower, but do not nearly exhaust the list. 
Several species have recently been introduced, but 
are still rare, though a few of them look very 
promising. In the herbaceous border the position for 
the species of Crocus is undoubtedly the margin of 
the border, for they can easily be avoided in digging 
when so planted, but of all positions there is none 
perhaps, in which they show to more advantage than 
when planted in clumps in the grass of the wild 
garden.— X. 
— e_^ <>- gp-^_g — 
TUBEROUS BEGONIAS. 
These will now require attention, and, if not already 
commencing to grow, should be placed in heat to 
give them a start; where they have been stored away 
in the pots that they were gown in last season, and 
room can be spared to start them in the same pots, it 
will be better not to disturb them until they begin to 
grow. They should then be shaken out and potted 
back into smaller pots, and any of the large corms 
that are throwing up several shoots may be divided. 
For cutting the corms through, a good sharp knife 
should be used, so that a clean cut may be made, and 
a. little dry sand should be applied to the parts that 
have been cut. In any case where the corms have 
been cut, it will be better to withhold water for a day 
or two after they are potted. 
Where the corms have been turned out of the pots 
before they have started into growth, or, in the case 
of those taken up from the ground, it will be a good 
plan to start them in pans or boxes ; the corms may 
be placed nearly close together, and should have only 
a slight covering of light sandy soil; the corms can 
then be taken out and potted as they commence to 
grow. The objection to potting them while they are 
quite dormant is, that they are very liable to get over¬ 
watered, and the soil then becomes sour before the 
plants have made a start. After the plants are 
potted, they will require a little w'armtli, and should 
be kept quite close for a few days until they have 
taken root in the fresh soil. A good position is a 
heated pit; air can then be given as they require it, 
and after they are well started into growth, artificial 
heat may be dispensed with. Plants that are to be 
grown on for flowering in pots should be potted on 
into their flowering-pots as soon as the smaller pots 
are well filled with roots. Plants that are to be 
grown on as specimens should on no account be 
allowed to get pot-bound before they are potted on. 
Compost for Potting. —They will thrive in any 
good, rich, porous soil; but what we recommend as the 
most suitable is, fibrous-loam, leaf-mould, and well- 
rotted stable manure in equal portions, with a liberal 
addition of sand, and a little horn or bone manure, 
and the pot should be well drained. 
Watering. —Few plants are more sensitive than this 
class, either in regard to over-watering or in being 
allowed to become too dry; therefore the greatest care 
should be taken that they are regularly attended to, 
a slight syringing overhead occasionally will be bene¬ 
ficial, and this may be done when the plants are in 
flower without damaging the blooms. 
Shading. —Although they require a slight protection 
from the bright rays of the sun during the hottest 
part of the day, yet it is a great mistake to shade too 
much. We may add that the flowering-season may be 
considerably prolonged if the plants are regularly 
supplied with weak manure-water, from the time the 
pots are well filled with roots. 
Varieties. —In no class of plants has so much im¬ 
provement been made by the hybridist as with the 
Tuberous Begonia, and as fine varieties may now be 
obtained from seed, it would be useless to give a list 
of named sorts, especially as these are so numerous, 
and are being constantly superseded by improvements. 
Therefore, we should recommend that anyone wishing 
to add to their collection should either leave the 
selection to any of the nurserymen, who make these a 
speciality, or make their own selection from plants in 
flower.— A. Hemsley. 
BALSAMS AND BALSAMS. 
“ The Balsams raised from the seed I had last year 
were perfect rubbish,” said a gardener to me the other 
day. I was a little taken back at first by this state¬ 
ment, because another person had told me, only a few 
days before, how good his were raised from the same 
lot of seed. The last was able, being neighbours, to 
qualify the statement of the first; he admitted that 
the seeds were put into a hot Cucumber-bed, and 
that the seedlings were allowed to remain there until 
they became so drawn and attenuated that it was im¬ 
possible they would ever make good plants. Is it, 
then, to be wondered at, that the flowers were unsatis¬ 
factory ? The one who had succeeded gave me his 
method of culture in the following words;— 
“ About the middle of April the seed was sown thinly 
and evenly over the surface of a shallow box, and 
enough of fine soil sprinkled upon the seeds to cover 
them up; they were put into a dung-bed, and as soon 
as up air was given, but without lowering the tempera¬ 
ture below 60 degs.; as soon as the plants were strong 
enough to handle they were pricked off round the sides 
of pots of rich light soil, about 2 ins. apart, with 
the seed-leaves about an inch above the surface ; as 
soon as strong enough, they were potted singly into 
sixty-sized pots, placing them so deeply in the soil, 
that the first leaves almost touched the surface, and 
as they grew the pots were plunged into a tan bed of 
moderate heat. As soon as the plants had grown 
strong enough, they were re-potted into 4-in. pots, 
and raised from the tan bed, so that the plants did 
not quite touch the glass; and as soon as the roots 
had reached the sides of the pot they were again 
re-potted in others, fully 6 ins. in diameter, and again 
lowered in the soil, for it is found that Balsams throw 
out roots from the stem.” 
Then followed another shift or two, because the 
cultivator was desirous of having large, robust, and 
well-managed specimens. A rich soil was used : good 
loam, leaf-mould, and well-decomposed manure. The 
buds were picked off until the plants had reached the 
required size, and then they were allowed to flower. 
Any that promised to be inferior—and some of these 
will come among the best strain of Balsams—were 
hardened off and placed in the open ground. As soon 
as the plants were too large for the frames they were 
placed on the front stage of a greenhouse, and turned 
round every day or two, so as to secure a symmetrical 
head of bloom. In this mode of treatment was seen 
all the difference between plants drawn up and lanky, 
and shifted only once, and those properly tended and 
grown on into good specimens. 
Now, a few words as to the treatment of Balsams 
for exhibition purposes. By constant re-potting, as the 
roots reach the sides of the pots, and keeping the 
plants near the glass, they can be grown very large, 
and flowers will cover the stems all round; if the buds 
are picked off from the middle stem until there are 
buds on the side shoots, and thinned out, so as to 
leave them nearly of a size, 2 ins. apart all over the 
plants, a good head of average blooms can be secured. 
The plants will be benefited by an occasional syringing, 
but not when in bloom. By keeping the stage about 
the pots moist, the plants shaded from the sun, and 
well watered, the best of exhibition Balsams can be 
secured.— E. JV. 
NEW GARDENING PATENTS. 
[Compiled by Messrs. Lulman db Co., Patent Agents , 
8, Essex Street, Strand, JV.C.] 
10,004. Preparing and Applying Lime for Agri¬ 
cultural Purposes (J. Brown, Edinburgh).—Anhy¬ 
drous lime, as taken from the kiln, is finely divided 
or pulverized, and is caused to be covered in or well- 
mixed with the soil. 
11,127. Manures (J. Mactear, Glasgow). —This 
relates to the manufacture of chemical manures. 
The manure, as discharged from the mixing-trough, 
is received upon a drying-bed formed over a horizontal 
furnace-flue. Above the drying-bed are two or more 
endless chains, having cross-bars to which prongs are 
fixed, these prongs serving to break up the manure 
materials as the chains are driven by pulleys. The 
finished manure is conveyed by a screw along a pipe 
or duct, provided with a number of outlets or deliver¬ 
ing-mouths fitted with slides. 
11,662. Fences (B.Scarles,Massachusetts, U.S.A.)— 
In fencing, consisting of vertical pickets with hori¬ 
zontal wires, the pickets are supported by hitching 
the strands of the wire round them. The wire may 
be composed of two or four strands, and one or 
more of these strands is hitched round the picket in 
single or double hitch. A cap is secured to the top of 
the picket, fastened to a flange, through a hole made 
for the purpose. 
4,805. Ornamental Window Boxes, &c. (G. Sutton 
Lancaster).—The surfaces of the articles are orna¬ 
mented by printing designs upon them. The printing- 
surface used being made of elastic material, in order 
to obtain an even impression upon the hard surface of 
the window-box. 
3,819. Boses of Watering-Cans, &c. (J. Ludlow, 
Birmingham).—The front perforated part of the rose 
is made of copper. The back conical unperforated 
part of zinc. The edge of the copper is spun round 
a bead of zinc. 
4,348. Anti-Fouling, Anti-Corrosive and Preser¬ 
vative Paint (H. J. Haddan, London).—This is a 
composition containing iodine, powdered carbon, 
spirits of turpentine, carbolic acid, red ochre, and 
linseed oil. Driers, and additional linseed may be 
added before use if necessary. It is applied with a 
brush like ordinary paint. 
4,352. Bakes (W. B. Lake, London).—Belates to 
hand-rakes for garden or field use. The rake-head 
consists of two narrow strips of rolled metal, with 
semi-circular depressions, having edge-flanges, or 
mid-ribs, which, when brought together, form slightly- 
tapered circular receptacles for the teeth. These 
teeth are tubular, having the upper ends slightly 
drawn in to form a taper thereon, while the lower 
ends are drawn down to a round or pointed shape. 
The teeth are secured to the rake-head by burring 
down their upper ends thereon. The handle socket 
has a V shaped recess to fit over the central rib of the 
rake-head. The bow-brace is formed of semi-tubular 
or inverted U shaped metal, flattened where it is 
rivetted to the handle and rake-head. 
