The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-10-22 00:00:00

Rgrtruitural anb Wain!ltural.

The cultivation of the Fancy Pelargonium has now
become a regular portion of the florist's business. Three
short years have sufficed to establish this lovely flower as
an especial favourite with the public, and never was popu-
lar favour bestowed upon a more worthy object.
It is worthy the consideration of the floriculturist, what
points in this flower have brought it so rapidly into favour,
when such extreme perfection seemed to have been at-
tained in the old style of Pelargoniums. We think such
reflections will lead to the following conclusion, namely,
that in the endeavour to bring the old style of Pelargo-
nium to perfection, the real beauties of the flower were
sacrificed to certain rules considered imperative by florists
or flower-fanciers. The consequence has been, that for-
mality and sameness have brought this beautiful plant
into disfavour with persons of real taste. At this crisis
the fancy Pelargonium, which is only a return to the
older style, came out, and, without any of the characte-
ristics of the florists' flower, became instantly the favour-
ite. In the fancy flower, according to the florists' rules,
there was an entire absence of the exact circular form
which the rules of the art prescribe as essential to perfec-
tion ; but in its place was an irregularly-formed petal,
pleasing even from its irregularity. We think it bears,
in this respect, an apt comparison to the wavy ringlets of
some of the fair sex, as contrasted with the perfectly re-
gular but formal curls of others. This comparison is not
so imaginary as may appear at first sight. It was gene-
rally :ell; and the fancy Pelargonium became a great
favourite in the adornment of the hair. For the last two
seasons, wreaths of the natural flowers have been most
fashionable. Besides its want of regularity in form, it
had a corresponding irregularity of colouring ; but what
the florist felt to be a terrible violation of artistic rules,
was pleasing to the eye of true taste, from the life which
the irregular play of colours gave to the whole flowers.
Mr. George Glenny, who deservedly stands at the head
of the florists of this kingdom, has directed his attention
to the fancy Pelargonium, and we fear its fate is sealed.
It is a favourite because it is an aberration from the too
severe rules of the florist's art ; but we have lately seen
Mr. Glenny's diagram of a fancy Pelargonium, and
henceforth it will have to be judged by the compasses,
and be discardad, unless it can be brought into the strict
circles prescribed by that imperious gentleman.
There are certain flowers which appear to submit natu-
rally to the florist's art, and we are content to let them ;
but there are others which suffer from such restraint, and
we must raise our voice against the grasping disposition
of the flower-fanciers, who formerly were content with
their tulips, auriculas, polyanthuses, ranunculuses, and
so forth, but now seek to confine every other favourite
flower within the same tight-laced forms. We would,
however, beg of those severe judges to recollect, that
although the line of beauty is not straight, neither is it
circular; and although the strictly circular forms of some
flowers may be pleasing, the wavy lines of others are no
less so • indeed, the endless variety of floral beauties
constitutes, in our opinion, the greatest charm in flori-
culture.

MISCELLANEA.
Villa and Suburban Gardening.—Villa gardeners have
peculiar tastes ; some delight in the culture of cucumbers,

others prefer growing melons; why, then,
should there
not he individuals desirous of producing in their little
gardens their own cayenne pepper? A vast nut7'ber who
have only limited glass coverings, might easily a."-com-,
plish the operation, and when once they have partaken et
the produce of their own gardens, manufactured with
their own hands, they will for ever afterwards eschew the
foreign article. A small long kind grown by market
gardeners for the India pickle manufacturers, will be most
coitahic, for th

is pungent in quality, and being an exceedingly profuse
bearer, it will be found not only the most eligible kind,
but also the most profitableand best suited for hot pickles.
Some of the other varieties are ennallv pandlifnr both nar-

bearers t

r 3 -
beginning of March), is the season for sowing it, in order
that the plants may be sufficiently advanced to enable

them to have the summer months to ripen in. A small
portion of seed will suffice. It should only be slightly
covered, if covered at all ; and the pot in which it is sown
. .

and it a temperature of 60 degrees is maintained, it will
vegetate in ten days. As soon as the plants are two inches
in height, they may be potted in three-inch pots, placing

one plant only in a pot, and a good watering with tepid
water should be given them. When the water has in

the soil, place them in a similar temry

ature as before

close to the glass, to prevent their becoming drawn. Keep
them moderately moist, and in a few weeks the pots will
be filled with roots ; no time should then be lost in shifting
into the pots in which they are intended to produce their
fruit. Permit me, however, to direct attention to the
kind of compost best suited for them. Take good loam
(if of a turfy nature so much the better), and add to it
the charred refuse T formerly described, in the proportion
of one-fifth, and no other ingredient will be required.
Intermix them well, then' place:one crock over the bottom
hole of the pot, cast a little rough soil upon it, and no

other drainage will be necessary. -A
moderate-sized pot
should be employed; the great growers for the London
markets use what they term large 325. When this is
completed supply them with water, keep down insects by
the usual means, and your cayenne pepper may be said to
be grown. It may be ripened in some seasons under
hand-gl )sses in the open borders, but the produce is com-
paratively scanty. By following the course above de-
tailed, I have enjoyed home-made cayenne pepper for
seven years, and I esteem it a great luxury.—Pharo.—
[We know not who " Pharo" is, but the Gardeners'
Chronicle. from which we obtained the above paragraph,
is rich in the posession of such a correspondent.]
The Kamtchatka Rhodothan• (Rhodothamnus Kamt-
chaticus.)—For this great rarity and exquisitely beautiful
shrub we are indebted to Mr. Loddiges, whose predeces.
sors raised it from seed about 20 years ago. It appears to
be of slow growth, as the plant is now only about 10 inches
high, forming a compact bush. Mr. Loddiges finds it
perfectly hardy, but it is best kept under a north wall. It
is admirably adapted for rock work in a shady situation.
According to Pallas this charming plant grows abundantly
near the sea of Ochotsk, in the peninsula of Kamtchatka,
and in Bhering's Island in muddy mountainous places.
There it begins to blossom from the end of July, grows
vigorously to the end of August, and ripens its seed about
the end of September. Ihe root, he says, is woody, dry,
as thick as a quill, and forms creeping runners. From this
arise a great many leafy stems, which every here and
there break into flower. The leaves are close together,
alternate, sessile, somewhat ovate, tapering downwards,
somewhat five-nerved, rather sharp-pointed, perfectly en-
tire, and fringed with very perceptible hairs.

OCTOBER MEETING

Dr. Dickenson occupied the chair. The attention of
the members on this occasion was most profitably engaged
by Dr. Brett, who delivered a lecture on agricultural che-
mistry, in his well-known pleasing and forcible style. He
particularly pointed out the manner in which vegetable
take up their organic and inorganic elements. After de-
fining the terms in a plain manner, he shewed the presence
of silica by quoting well-known examples of plants con-
taining it—as, for instance, in wheat straw, and most
other graminaces ; he also shewed that this substance
must be taken up in solution. He proceeded to shew the
importance of carbon, which constitutes the bulk of the
vegetable kingdom ; he explained experiments which
demonstrate the presence of oxygen and hydrogen. The
important element nitrogen exists in large quantities, and
may easily be detected by any of the tests for ammonia,
!n which form it generally exists; it is found in abundance
in the cruciferte and in the gluten of various seeds, particu-
larly the cereals. The lecturer next proceeded to shew that
plantsderive their principal supply of carbon from the atmos-
phere. It is also derived largely from slowly decaying veget-
able matter. Thentmosphere contains about four parts in one
thousand of carbon ' • oxygen is formed both by the de-
composition of carbonic acid and water, which accounts
also for the presence of hydrogen. This last element is
contained in variable quantities in the different parts
of plan s; thus pure'gum and pure starch contain hydro-
een and oxygen in the exact proportions to form water
in the resins; the proportions are different, the hydrogen
being in excess, and in the vegetable acids oxygen is in
excess. Various other points were touched upon and ex-
plained, and the whole lecture was most satisfactory.—
At the conclusion, the president, Dr. Dickenson, pre-
sented the thanks of the society to the lecturer. Mr.
Robert M. Stark, of Edinburgh, was present to exhibit
some botanical implements, &c.: the principal were the
elegant and useful little trowel invented by Professor
Balfour, and samples of Weir's improved drying paper.