February  17,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
145 
and  wherever  this  has  taken  place  all  hopes  of  a  good  truss  from  the 
same  plant  are  at  an  end.  There  has  been  little  damp  to  contend  with, 
and  the  plants  now  look  well  and  strong.  We  used  to  be  very  particular 
about  this  time  as  to  top-dressing,  but  that  has  been  almost  abandoned,  as 
the  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  plants  proved  it  to 
be  unnecessary — the  truss  has  been  already  formed,  and  therefore  any 
fresh  stimnlus  was  not  required.  Those  who  admire  big  trusses  and  large 
dowers  may  perhaps  be  inclined  to  give  some  liquid  manure,  but  I  have 
always  deprecated  anything  which  would  interfere  with  that  refinement 
which  forms  one  of  the  chief  beauties  of  the  Auricula.  Little  need  now 
be  done  but  taking  away  all  dead  foliage  and  seeing  that  the  plants  are 
free  of  aphides.  Air  should  be  given  now  on  all  favourable  oceasions, 
and  as  the  plants  begin  to  push  they  will  require  more  water.  Good 
ventilation  and  freedom  from  damp  are  the  two  points  on  whieh  most 
stress  should  be  laid  at  this  season. 
Carnations  and  Picotees. 
The  great  change  which  has  taken  place  with  these  beautiful  dowers 
still  continues,  and  while  in  some  respects  one  regrets  it,  I  do  not  think  it 
can  be  wondered  at.  Visitors  saw  at  our  exhibitions  grand  stands  of 
beautifully  mai’ked  and  regularly  formed  flowers,  and  they  were  captivated 
by  the  brilliancy  of  the  scarlet  bizarre  or  the  delicate  edging  of  the  rose 
Picotee.  They  must  have  them  and  try  to  do  the  same.  But,  alas  ! 
although  their  gardener  might  grow  them  successfully,  they  found  that 
the  flowers  were  not  regular,  and  had  nothing  of  the  symmetry  that  they 
had  admired,  and  they  then  found  the  grower  who  wished  to  succeed  at 
the  exhibitions  must  not  only  be  able  to  grow  them  well  but  to  dress 
them.  Some  petals  had  to  be  taken  out,  and  the  whole  regularly  arranged 
so  as  to  present  the  appearance  so  much  desired.  The  gardener  naturally 
thought  this  beneath  him,  and  the  time  required  would  be  much  more 
profitably  spent  on  other  things.  Then  came  the  border  varieties  and  the 
yellow  grounds  which  Mr,  Martin  11.  Smith,  Mr.  Douglas,  and  others 
have  succeeded  in  raising  ;  they  comprise  all  shades  of  colour,  and  are 
vigorous  in  growth,  and  free  blooming.  Ladies  especially  delight  in 
them,  because  they  are  so  good  for  cutting,  so  fragrant,  so  tloriferous,  and 
so  to  a  great  extent  they  have  ousted  in  many  instances  the  delightful 
varieties  which  were  so  prized  sixty  or  seventy .  years  ago,  and  when  I 
have  known  as  much  as  £2  2s.  to  be  paid  for  a  pair. 
There  are  some  growers  who  make  up  their  l)eds  of  these  in  the 
autumn,  and  of  course  this  year  they  have  had  an  exceptionally  good 
time.  I  have  always  maintained,  however,  that  it  is  best  to  keep  them  in 
pots  during  the  winter.  iMy  small  collection  looks  very  well ;  the  plants 
are  vigorous,  and  there  is  no  sign  of  black  spot  or  mildew  amongst  them. 
They  will  now  require  looking  over,  all  dead  leaves  to  be  taken  away,  and 
the  surface  of  the  pots  stirred.  I  shall  shortly  remove  mine  from  the  pit 
where  they  have  been  wintered  to  a  more  open  position,  where  they  will 
be  sheltered  from  wet,  but  fully  exposed  to  the  air,  and  in  this  position 
they  will  remain  until  it  is  time  to  plant  them. 
Gladiolus. 
It  will  be  rather  too  soon  at  present  to  think  of  planting  the  corms, 
but  I  notice  that  some  of  mine  are  sending  out  shoots,  and  these  I 
shall  therefore  put  into  small  pots  and  place  them  somewhere  where  they 
will  be  free  from  frost  and  ready  for  planting  when  the  proper  time 
arrives  early  next  month. 
Pansies. 
These,  too,  have  had  a  good  time  in  the  open,  but  I  am  afraid  that  in 
the  South  of  England  they  are  not  so  much  in  favour  as  they  ought  to 
be.  Our  climate  is  too  dry,  and  they  seem  to  rejoice  more  in  the  North 
of  England  and  in  Scotland  than  with  us.  One  well  known  Scotch  firm 
has,  however,  begun  to  cultivate  them  in  the  northern  part  of  our  county, 
and  if  it  succeed  it  will  be  an  encouragement  to  others  to  try.  I  grow  a 
very  few  in  pots,  but  those  who  cultivate  them  in  this  manner  must 
now  see  about  repotting,  using  a  good  mixture  of  loam,  leaf  mould,  and 
well  decayed  manure,  with  some  sand.  Here,  too,  the  same  change  of 
taste  has  occurred  ;  the  old  florist  type  has  now  nearly  gone  out  of 
cultivation,  and  the  Fancies  hold  the  field  ;  they  are  bold  and  decorative 
looking,  and  are  more  robust  in  constitution  than  the  older  kinds. 
Ranunculus. 
The  ground  is  now  in  such  splendid  order  for  these  that  the  sooner 
they  are  planted  the  better.  The  beds  have  been  already  prepared,  and  a 
dry  day  is  all  that  is  necessary.  They  should  be  planted  in  rows  5  inches 
apart,  4  inches  in  the  row,  and  about  IJ  inch  deep.  The  one  great 
trouble  at  present  arises  from  worms,  which  have  an  unpleasant  way  of 
turning  the  roots  over  and  throwing  them  out  of  the  ground.  They  should 
be  closely  watched,  and  where  they  are  fonnd  so  served  replanted.  A 
little  firmness  in  planting  will  probably  prevent  a  good  deal  of  this  style 
of  injury  ;  it  is  a  great  pity  that  the  Dutch  florists  seem  to'  have  lost  sight 
of  the  old  kinds.  The  beds  should  be  kept  clear  of  weeds,  but  nothing 
more  will  be  required  at  present. 
Roses. 
One  can  hardly  as  yet  say  what  the  result  of  this  wonderfully  mild 
season  may  have  on  the  prospects  of  the  Rose  grower  ;  but  at  present  I 
have  on  my  wall  shoots  of  Fortune’s  Yellow  2  or  3  inches  long.  I  do  not 
think,  however,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  that  those  which  are  in  the  open  are 
moving  more  vigorously  than  one  could  wish.  Of  course  the  most  essential 
thing  now  is  that  of  pruning,  for  on  this,  in  a  large  measure,  depends  the 
future  well-being  of  the  Rose  garden.  It  is  an  operation  that  requires  to 
be  carefully  and  intelligently  performed,  and  it  is  one  which,  I  think,  in 
most  instances,  the  grower  will  himself  see  to,  as  the  special  characteristics 
of  the  plants  will  have  to  be  noticed.  Hybrid  Ferpetuals  are  generally 
the  first  that  require  pruning.  The  distinction  between  strong  and  weak 
growers  must  be  carefully  observed,  as  the  former  require  much  less  of 
the  knife  than  the  latter.  Teas  may  be  left  for  awhile — indeed,  it  is 
hardly  well  to  begin  the  pruning  operation  before  the  end  of  the  month  or 
the  beginning  of  March,  and  the  Teas  certain!}'  not  until  a  month  later, 
and  should  severe  weather  come  on,  it  will  be  better  to  postpone  it  still 
further,  and  after  this  excessively  mild  season  we  may,  perhaps,  have  to 
experience  a  very  cold  and  trying  spring. — D.,  Deal. 
Weather  in  London. — The  mild  weather  still  continues,  and 
save  for  a  light  frost  on  one  or  two  mornings  of  last  week,  and  a  little 
snow,  we  have  seen  no  signs  of  winter.  On  Thursday,  Friday,  and 
Saturday,  though  dull  at  times,  it  was  dry,  but  rain  fell  heavily  on 
Sunday  morning.  During  the  afternoon  it  brightened,  and  the  sun  shone 
at  intervals.  Monday  was  dull  with  occasional  drops  of  rain,  while  on 
Tuesday  it  was  dull  with  a  very  little  rain.  On  Wednesday  morning 
it  was  bright  and  cool. 
-  Weather  in  the  North. — The  threatened  spell  of  wintry 
weather  of  last  week  did  not  last,  and  there  has  been  no  frost  since  the  8th, 
The  past  week  has  brought  a  succession  of  south-westerly  gales,  some 
of  the  nights  being  very  stormy  with  a  good  deal  of  rain.  Sunday  was 
very  cold,  and  the  hills  around  had  another  covering  of  snow.  On 
Tuesday  morning  a  very  high  wind  was  blowing  from  the  S.W.,  with 
a  dense  rainy  drizzle,  and  the  thermometer  at  49°.— B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
-  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  —  Fruit  Flavour 
Classes. — ^.Vlr.  W.  H.  Divers,  Belvoir  Castle,  was  first  for  Apples  with 
( 'ox’s  Orange  Dippin,  and  Mr.  Woodward,  Barham  Court,  second  with 
Calville  Blanche.  For  Fears  Mr.  Woodward  went  to  the  front  with 
Passe  Crassanc,  ivff.  Divers  coming  second  with  Olivier  des  Serres.  These 
results  were  omitted  from  our  report  of  the  last  Drill  Hall  meeting. 
-  Horticultural  Club.— The  twenty-third  annual  house 
dinner  of  the  Club  was  held  on  Tuesday,  the  8th,  when  there  was  a 
larger  gathering  than  on  any  previous  occasion.  The  chair  was  occupied 
by  Sir  ,1.  T.  D.  Llewelyn,  Bart.,  M.P.,  Chairman  of  the  Club.  There 
were  also  present  the  Revs.  W.  Wilks  and  J.  H.  Pemberton,  with  Messrs. 
Harry  J.  Veitch,  J.  Gurney  Fowler,  J.  Hudson,  J.  Walker,  G.  Bunyard, 
G.  Monro,  C.  J.  Wise,  P.  Kay,  II.  Turner,  .1.  Assbee,  J.  R.  Featherby, 
A.  G.  Williams,  G.  Paul,  H.  J.  Pearson,  C.  Pearson,  P.  Crowley, 
A.  Watkins,  .1.  Sweet,  R.  G.  Salmond,  H.  T.  Armitage,  R.  Pinches?,  and 
the  Secretary.  I^Ir.  G.  Bunyard  arranged  for  an  excellent  selection  of 
instrumental  and  vocal  music  to  be  given  during  the  evening.  An 
admirable  dessert  was  provided  by  the  kindness  of  Messrs.  G.  Monro, 
.1.  Assbee,  and  P.  Kay,  while  the  tables  were  beautifully  decorated  with 
flowers  and  plants  from  Messrs.  J.  Veitch  &  Sons.  The  usual  toasts  were 
given,  and  altogether  a  most  snccessful  meeting  took  place.  The  condi¬ 
tion  of  the  Club  was  stated  to  be  very  satisfactory,  and  several  new 
members  were  added. 
-  Shropshire  Horticultural  Society.— The  annual  general 
meeting  of  the  members  of  this  Society  was  held  at  Shrewsbury  last  week, 
in  the  absence  of  Lord  Kenyon,  President,  under  the  presidency  of  Major- 
General  the  Hon.  W.  H.  Herbert.  There  was  a  large  attendance  of 
members.  The  statement  of  accounts  showed  that  the  total  receipts  of 
the  year  amounted  to  £4517  4s.,  the  largest  amount  yet  received.  This 
included  £437  13s.  6d.  subscriptions,  £752  Os.  3d.  received  at  the  gate  on 
the  first  day,  and  £1825  Os.  lOd.  received  at  the  gate  on  the  second  dav. 
Cheap  tickets  were  also  sold  previously  amounting  to  £550  18s.  4d.  The 
e  penses  of  the  year,  excluding  the  spring  show,  were  £3384  10s.  3d. 
(excluding  special  gifts).  Of  this  sum  no  less  than  £982  Is.  was  given 
in  cash  prizes,  medals,  &c.  The  gross  profit  on  the  summer  show  a,lone 
was  £1130.  Hearty  votes  of  thanks  were  given  to  the  Worshipful 
Company  of  Fruiterers,  London,  for  their  splendid  medals,  the  Veitch 
Memorial  Trustees,  and  the  late  President,  Lord  Kenyon,  for  his  special 
medals,  and  to  donors  of  special  prizes.  T.  F.  Kynnersley,  Esq.,  of 
Leighton  Hall,  Salop,  was  elected  President  for  1898.  Considering  the 
special  expenses  of  the  year  the  result  is  most  gratifying,  and  almost 
astonishing.  We  have  heard  that  grants  of  £35  were  made  to  Mr. 
Cypher  and  Mr.  Finch  for  injury  to  their  plants  throngh  the  collapse 
of  a  marquee. 
