180

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S FLORAL EXHIBITION.

opportunity afforded us to examine minutely the plants shown, and we could not find a poor-grown one; but eminent skill had been displayed by the cultivators. The collections, too, contained a much greater number of the best species or varieties of their respective classes than we ever saw before; indeed, so many admirably, even-grown, beautiful specimens, we believe, were never previously brought together.

NEW PLANTS.

Escallonia macrantha (Messrs. Veitch).—Stated to be a hardy shrub. The leaves are large, of a glossy green. The flowers are of a rosy-red, tube-shaped, one inch long, wide. They are produced numerously, in long racemes, and in clusters of from four to six. It will be a valuable acquisition to our shrubs, whether as a standard or trained to a wall or trellis. It is a native of Patagonia.

It is a

Mirbelia dilatata (Messrs. Veitch).-The flowers are borne in long terminal spikes, of a pretty lilac colour, with a white centre. handsome plant.

Lisianthus pulcher (Messrs. Veitch).-The flowers are tube-shaped, about an inch and a half long, having a five-parted limb (mouth), an inch across. They are of a bright scarlet colour. It will thrive with a similar treatment to the older species, and merits a place in every greenhouse. The plant shown had been drawn by forcing it rapidly for the exhibition.

Posoqueria longiflora (Mr. Jack).-The tube of the flower is six inches long, narrow, a greenish-white; the terminating limb is a pure white, an inch across.

Gardenia amæna (Mr. Jack).—The plant is a dwarf grower; the flower is single, white.

Gompholobium venustum (Messrs. Henderson).-The flowers are borne in clusters, a lilac-purple colour, with a yellow eye. The foliage, too, is pretty.

Hoya bella (Messrs. Veitch).-This charming new species had eleven pendulous heads of its most lovely blossoms, recommending itself to all.

Hoya imperialis (Mr. Glendinning).—The flowers were not expanded enough to show the singular body colour.

Portlandia grandiflora (Mrs. Lawrence). This is a fine old, but rare plant. The flowers very much resemble those of small blossoms of the well-known Datura (or Brugmansia) arborea. It merits a place in every stove collection.

Mitraria coccinea (Messrs. Veitch).-We cannot forbear again to mention this beautiful shrubby plant, with its lovely bright scarlet pendulous flowers. It is worthy of growing in every collection.

Lilium lancifolium punctatum, and album.-Mr. Groom has attempted to force this fine class of Lilies into bloom at so early a period of the season. This he has succeeded in very satisfactorily, without drawing up the plants. The twelve he exhibited were in fine bloom, thus proving we may enjoy their beauty and fragrance from May to November.

BUDDING THE RHODODENDRON.

PELARGONIUMS (Seedlings, 1849).

181

Ajax (Hoyle).-Upper petals very dark, with a fiery crimson margin; lower petals a light purple. A first-rate formed flower.

Cecil (Hoyle).-Upper petals scarlet, with a large dark spot; lower petals a light scarlet. The centre of the flower is nearly white. Of first-rate excellence.

Rosa (Hoyle).-Upper petals a large dark blotch, edged with crimson, shading off lighter to the margin; the lower petals crimson; centre of the flower a pure white. It is a very showy variety, but the margin of the petals is slightly notched.

Duesma (Beck).-Upper petals very dark, with a fiery crimson margin; lower, pink, slightly veined. Very good form.

Macready (Beck).-Upper petals dark velvet, with crimson edge; lower, rosy-crimson; flower, a white centre. Very good form.

Lord Gough (Hoyle).—Upper petals a large dark blotch, with a scarlet-crimson margin; lower, purple; flower, a light centre. Of first-rate excellence.

Crusader (Hoyle).-Upper petals a large dark blotch, shading off with scarlet-crimson, slightly veined; lower, a fine rosy-scarlet; flower, a light centre. Of first-rate excellence.

Nandee (Hoyle).-Upper petals black, with a purple margin ; lower, pink; flower, a white centre. A beautiful variety.

May Queen (Hoyle). - Upper petals a dark blotch, shading off with crimson, and the margin very light; lower, flesh-colour, with white margin; flower, white centre, but the edges are notched. Very showy. Apollo (Whomes).-Upper petals a large dark blotch, with a crimson margin; lower, rosy-pink; flower, white centre.

(To be continued.)

BUDDING THE RHODODENDRON.

BY JUNIUS.

I HAVE lately visited the fine collections of Rhododendrons, &c., exhibited at King's-road, Chelsea, by Mr. Waterer, and those at the Regent's-park Garden; also Mr. Smith's, of Norbiton near Kingston, and have been delighted with the splendid and highly interesting hybrids that have been raised. There are flowers of almost every colour, as yellow, crimson, scarlet, primrose, purple, white, red, buff, rose, orange, maroon, &c., and these beautifully spotted, marbled, blotched, &c., with very distinct markings. I felt anxious to obtain some of the most superb kinds, but found the price very high, in consequence, it was said, of the small portion of stock, arising from the difficulty of increasing them rapidly. Now I think this may readily be remedied by having recourse to budding the fine species and varieties upon stocks of the commoner kinds. Several years since I obtained a plant of the pure white, and wishing to increase it I inserted buds into several young stocks of the R. Catawbiense. They all succeeded, and now are fine bushes. If the method was pursued with the fine yellows, white, crimson, primrose, and others, we might soon have them at a cheap rate. I practised the following process :

182

RAISING CARNATIONS FROM SEED.

The common method of extracting buds is to cut away a piece of the shoot, and afterwards extract the wood; but this destroys the very sharp edge of the knife, and the cut will invariably be found more or less rough. The bark should be cut all round the bud to the shape and size wanted, and the thumb pressed against the cut portion, at the side of the bud. If the shoot is growing and healthy, the bud will separate freely, and there will be no laceration of the edge; the bark will be cut as smooth as a piece of cheese, and the edge of the knife will be kept sharp, as no wood needs to be cut through. As far as mechanical operation is concerned, this cutting smooth is of far more importance than any method of inserting the bud; if the bud does not squeeze freely off the branch with the side of the thumb, it is very doubtful of succeeding.

The success, however, of budding depends greatly on the state of the stock; if this is growing vigorously, and the bark flies up quite freely on the introduction of the budding knife, the budding will hardly fail of success; if the young shoots of the stock are nearly ripened to the top, the bark is in the way of beginning to fasten to the wood; or if the shoots are small and weak, and the plant unhealthy, the bark most likely has not risen at all; in either case, the bark will not rise freely from the incision with the handle of the knife, the sap is not circulating freely, and it is in vain to attempt introducing a bud by forcing up the bark. The bud should be chosen from a vigorous young plant; the shoots from old trees have not so much sap or vitality; and the bud should be chosen when the bark is beginning to assume a ripe colour; if too ripe, it does not rise so freely from the bark, and vitality is beginning to get dormant; if too green it is apt to perish before uniting to the stock. The buds should be tied as soon as possible after the operation, to exclude air from the wounds; but if the stocks are vigorous, drawing very tight is not of so much consequence here as in grafting. When buds are nearly ripe, in which state they succeed best, the piece of wood which unites the bud to the branch is apt to break off far in, and leave the appearance of a hollow eye. Some operators attach great importance to this, and say that, though the bark live and unite, the bud will not push in the spring; but I have frequently inserted buds with very hollow eyes, and marked them for the purpose of experiment, and they always pushed as well as the others; the sap of the tree should soon fill this hollow. Much of the success also depends on having the edges of all the cuts smooth, and the operation done as speedily as possible; if the edges of the wound are rough, the vessels of the liber, where the living principle is most active, are bruised and lacerated; and, if long exposed to the air, they begin to spoil.

RAISING CARNATIONS FROM SEED.

BY AN OLD FLORIST.

OBSERVING in your CABINET that several of your correspondents solicit some information on raising Carnations from seed, I am induced,

RAISING CARNATIONS FROM SEED.

183

as a tolerably successful cultivator of that delightful flower, to offer a few remarks.

Experience has proved to me the error of sowing seed from self colours, or those possessing bad properties, as, by repeated trials, I am satisfied that the only chance of obtaining superior flowers is to sow your own seed, produced from those acknowledged to be first-rate. The course I have adopted, and which I recommend, is, when the petals are dead, to pluck them out of the calyx, or cup containing the seed-vessel, leaving the two styles, or what are generally called the horns; by removing the former, the pods are kept dry, and more exposed to the sun and air; they should at all times be protected from rain, by placing over them the shades used at the time of blooming; and care should be taken that the vessels wherein the legs of your platform stand, are constantly supplied with water, to prevent the approach of those nocturnal enemies-earwigs. When the seed-vessels become hard, and present a brown appearance at the tip, they should be gathered, and in that state preserved, in a perfectly dry situation, until the following April or May, which is the period for sowing in pots or boxes filled with rich loam, taking care not to cover the seed more than a quarter of an inch; give them a slight watering before they are plunged into a hot-bed of about 65 degrees; occasionally moisten the surface with soft water, of the same temperature as the air in the frame; and as soon as the plants appear, admit the air freely during the day-time, to prevent their being drawn up. When about three inches high, transplant into larger pots or boxes of rich turf mould, five inches apart; place them in a southern aspect, at first protecting during the nights with matting, and applying moderate light watering in dry weather; but invariably avoid wetting the plants, as too much moisture frequently decays the hearts of the shoots, and prevents their blooming the second year. In about six weeks again transplant them, a foot asunder, into beds prepared of good sandy loam, mixed with rich garden mould; keep the beds clear from weeds, and water copiously in the evenings during the summer. By adopting the above course, the plants will be found exceedingly strong towards October, and require little or no protection in the winter; but should any appear particularly weak and unhealthy, take them up, and after examining the roots, which is generally the seat of disease in plants, replant them in a different compost, and during the severe weather protect with pots raised about two inches upon pieces of tile. I have always found a long bed in the centre of a grass plot, about three or four feet wide, so as to admit of two or three rows, by far the best situation for seedlings, being more easily protected when necessary by mats or hoops, and decidedly less liable to be injured by snails, &c. In the following April let the beds be well cleaned, and the surface carefully loosened, to receive a thin top-dressing of rotten manure, the application of which will be found materially to renovate the mould, as after so many months it necessarily becomes much impoverished. I am not, however, an advocate for planting seedlings in very rich compost, as it is much more practicable by cultivation to put colour into a flower, than to extract it. When the shoots are grown about a foot high, they

should be supported by sticks; at this time they will also require to be frequently watered; and as they bloom, pull up all that come decidedly bad; the best, of course, should be piped or layered at the proper

season.

Some persons sow the latter end of May, allow the pots to remain in the open air, and prick the plants out at once into beds. The disadvantage of this system is obvious; for, in the first place, they do not come up so soon; and secondly, when planted in beds at so tender an age, they are rendered more liable to be destroyed by worms and slugs.

REMARKS.

AURICULAS.-Now is a favourable time to commence shifting and re-potting these plants for summer growth. Should this business be deferred (as is the practice with some) till August, the plants grow sickly, and are more difficult to preserve during the hot months.

POLYANTHUSES.-We recommend nearly similar treatment for this class, with the exception of planting out, which may be done with advantage as soon as the plants are done blooming. A bed having been prepared for them in a nice cool situation, they should be parted from the roots and placed at equal distances, carefully watered and protected when needful, vigilantly watching for the appearance of red spider, which you may consider yourselves fortunate if they do not wait upon you by thousands—and, what is worse, are seldom induced to quit their quarters, unless extreme measures are resorted to.

ON BUDDING ROSES.-Being a novice in the art of budding Roses, I shall feel much obliged if either yourself, or any one of your numerous correspondents, will kindly inform me what is the best way of pruning the stocks. I have now procured two hundred, having last year's shoots left five or six inches long. Should these be left, so that when they put out in summer I shall bud on two years' old wood, or is it better to prune the stock to a single straight stem, and then bud on the wood of one summer's growth?—X. X.

[An article on the subject is inserted in the number for April, 1842, vol. x., to which we refer our correspondent for the entire process, extracting only the following:-" Transplant strong, clean, straight stocks, as just mentioned; cut them over at a height to suit your taste, say from three to six feet; and cover the wounds with a cement, directions for making which will ensue. In the spring, when they begin to shoot out, rub off all buds but three or four at the top, so situated as to promise an uniform head. Carefully pinch off fresh buds, which arise afterwards, and remove suckers as soon as they appear. In the progress of summer the stocks will require to be staked, and demand continued attention to the disbudding of them (of other shoots which push) and the regulation of those retained for budding upon." "Early in July displace the thorns where it is designed to make incisions for the buds."