CULTURE OF PELARGONIUMS. 
W HEN properly cultivated nothing can exceed the 
pelargoniums for the window-garden. Mr. Hen¬ 
derson, in “ Practical Floriculture,” gives them high praise. 
Most of them come from the Cape of Good Hope and are 
natives of arid plains, therefore they are subject to ex¬ 
treme dryness at certain seasons. The roots are few, 
and, after blooming, they need a long period of rest. 
The colors are so rich and the shades so varied that it 
is a matter of surprise to me that they are not more used 
as house-plants. I believe they are generally thought 
difficult of culture, but I think this a mistake. I have 
excellent success with them, and they are, during late 
winter and through the spring, the chief attraction of my 
window-garden. 
What is more lovely than the pelargonium, Cambridge 
Pet, so covered with blossoms as almost to hide the 
foliage. I have counted twenty-five and thirty clusters 
of buds and blossoms at a time on this variety. All the 
dwarf varieties are very free bloomers. 
The new sorts, Fred Dorner and Freddie Heinl, are 
very early and free bloomers, both beginning, with me, to 
flower in December, and continued in full bloom for a 
long time afterward, not as full, but still never without 
buds and blossoms till time to get them out of doors in 
the spring. 
There are many lovely new fringed varieties, but the 
most beautiful 1 have ever seen is the “ Duchess of Edin¬ 
burgh,” very large, ruffled edge, pure white, with delicate 
purple spot. This belongs to the Regal class, like Beauty 
of Oxton, though much finer. 
About the last of July or the first of August, I cut 
back my old plants to three or four inches in height, 
always with a view to making them symmetrical, and 
cutting so as to leave good places for leaf-buds to 
start. I then select such cuttings from the branches as 
seem well ripened or hardened, and start them in pots 
measuring two-and-a-half or three inches across the top. 
They root easily in sand, but I like best to root them in 
the earth, in small pots, in which they are to grow. When 
new shoots have started on the old plants to about an inch 
in length, I re-pot them, shaking off all the old soil, using 
the same sized pots again, being careful to have them 
clean outside and in. I “ pot them low,” as it is called ; 
that is, I leave a space of one and a half or two inches 
unfilled at the top, so as to give them less earth and less 
root room, to insure success. Set them so that they will 
be planted even with the soil as they were before, though 
not having as much in depth. 
The old plants, when well trimmed, will make fine 
bushy plants when the blooming season arrives. By old 
plants, I mean those that are one year old, and have 
bloomed one season. For soil, I use two parts good 
loam, one part sand, and two parts good rich leaf-mold ( 
the latter two or three years old, well rotted, upon which 
has been poured suds, slops, &c. This is sufficiently rich 
without manure, which I never use for them. I always 
bake the earth to kill worms, insects and larvae, and start 
my cuttings in two-and-a-half or three-inch pots, in the 
above soil, and place in warm sunny windows, near the 
glass. This is much better than rooting in the open air, 
and care must be taken not to give too much water, as 
they would be likely to “ damp off.” 
After the cuttings are well rooted, I pinch out the top 
at the third or fourth leaf, which causes side branches to 
start. As soon as these small pots are filled with roots, I 
re-pot into those from three and a half to four inches 
across the top, according to the size and vigor of the 
plant. Care should be taken not to injure the white 
working roots, also not to over-water at any time. 
A four-inch pot is sufficiently large for one or two-year- 
old plants, but last season I kept several for the third 
year, and they were magnificent when in bloom. I gave > 
them-five-inch pots, which seemed plenty large enough. 
The old plants that I “ potted low,” as it is called, 1 
re-set again in November in the same pots, and put suffi¬ 
cient soil at the bottom to raise the old ball of earth the 
desired height, that is, within a half inch of the top. 
Most persons err with these plants in giving too much 
pot-room, which induces growth of foliage rather than 
flowers. 
They do not like a hot dry atmosphere, but do best in 
winter in a room but slightly warmed. I keep mine in 
south windows, in a room warmed slightly by means of a 
register communicating with the room beneath, where a 
constant fire is kept. Through November and December 
I keep them rather dry, after that give a little more water, 
and still more when blooming. 
I give liquid manure once a week while in bloom, but , 
never on any account give it till buds are large and well 
formed, or you will get “ nothing but leaves,” as it will 
have the same effect as over-potting. As fast as the 
plants show well-formed buds I take them to the sitting- 
room and place them in the sunny bay-window. I have 
had them in bloom all the past winter.. I give two good 
smokings, one day intervening between them, to kill the 
aphis, and with an occasional washing (say, once every 
two or three weeks) 1 have very little trouble from insects.' 
I am more and more delighted with these plants each 
year, and think they should be more generally cultivated. 
In the summer, after blooming, I let them remain 
rather dry, giving only sufficient water to sustain life. 
G. J. M. 
[The above practical article on pelargonium culture 
refers to what is known as fancy pelargoniums, the de- 
scendentsmf P.grandiflorum. Botanically, all our bed¬ 
ding geraniums are pelargoniums, and in many catalogues 
are classed as such. We make this note to avoid con¬ 
fusion, and to stimulate the culture of the “ fancy pelar¬ 
goniums,” with which our correspondent has been so 
successful. — E d.]. 
