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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



t Jannary 93, 1888. 



west, in the State of Wisoonsin. He took a very prominent part 

 in the service, and joined so heartily that he was noticed by all. 

 At a pleasant reunion in the afternoon, during conversation 

 with him, he unbnrdened himself, and said to me, " I begged 



Mr. ," mentioning our clergyman's name, "to let me take 



part in the service. I wanted so to pray once more for my 

 Queen and my country — my home ! " And so he did, and with 

 a fervour unknown to those who had never experienced " heart 

 sioknesB." 



" WiLTSHiEE Rector " is correct in his belief that this is no 

 time for emigrating. Sixty thousand men are now lying idle, 

 aye starving, in the city of New York alone, and the horror of 

 an almost Arctic winter aggravated by want and misery, may 

 well make one tremble at the mere contemplation. The English 

 labonrer and mechanic, although they have their trials and 

 troubles, are far better off and happier at home than they 

 would be in any colony or foreign land. The colonies offer but 

 a poor field for the gardener, and the farmer finds he has again 

 to learn everything, and in the majority of cases his experience 

 is dearly bought. My advice is — and it is the advice of one 

 who, to nee an Americanism, " has been through the mill " — 

 Stay at home. Practice economy ; but above all, cultivate a 

 contented mind. The dreams of fortunes to be made by emi- 

 grating seldom prove realities ; and many a poor heart that 

 otherwise might now have been beating, has throbbed its last 

 in misery, uncared-for and unknown, a stranger in a strange 

 land. 



It is true that we of the Journal fraternity have a tie which 

 mutually binds us to each other, and which makes home seem 

 nearer to the dweller in far-off countries; and although it is 

 pleasant to exchange courtesies, and to stretch hands to one 

 another across a broad ocean, yet it is pleasanter still to drop 

 into 171, Fleet Street, as I have lately been privileged to do, 

 and to shake hands personally with the highly esteemed Editors 

 of " our mutual friend." 



And now one word about " errant writers." " Although 

 science and direct instruction come from other pens," who 

 among our circle would be willing to lose " Madd," or " Wilt- 

 shire Rector." 



" All work and no play 

 Make Jaoli a dull boy," 



And although we all admire and enjoy the exemplification of 

 " The Theory and Practice of Horticulture," as set forth by the 

 host of scientific and practical contributors to the Journal, yet 

 would not some of its brightest pages be wanting were the 

 " errant writers " to discontinue their favours, and much 

 moral instruction be lost? — W.T. Goldsmith. 



VISITS TO GARDENS PUBLIC 'AND PRIVATE. 



MESSRS. CARTER & CO., CRTST.AL PALACE NURSERY, FOREST HILL. 



It was on the day of the Crystal Palace Autumn Exhibition 

 that, through the kindness of the Messrs. Carter, I was enabled 

 to take a look over their grounds. September is not at any 

 time the best month in the year for seeing gardens, still less 

 BO was it last year ; but notwithstanding this, and that the 

 firm had sent a large stand of plants to the Crystal Palace, 

 there was abundance to recompense one for the visit. I was 

 accompanied by Mr. Boston, the manager; and I can only say 

 that if any visitors to the nursery could get him to tell them 

 Ms own history, they would come away, as I did, heartily ad- 

 miring the perseverance and determined energy which had 

 characterised it. He could tell them of Italy under the old 

 regime, and of the Crimean war ; and I would ask no better 

 incentive for a young man than the success which has attended 

 him by adhering to the principle of using every fair and honest 

 opportunity of improving his position. 



It would be useless to attempt a description of the nursery, 

 for it is similar in its outward appearance to many others 

 near London. There are several large greenhouses, a stove, 

 and pits, with a large space out of doors devoted to the harden- 

 ing-off of bedding plants, the object being to make as much 

 of the space and in as short a time as possible ; and as the 

 market gardener pushes on to see how many crops he can 

 obtain from the ground, so here it is how many crops in pots 

 can be obtained out of the houses. There is a house 130 feet 

 long by 18 feet wide, which was filled with about 800 Vines 

 in pots, well-ripened excellent canes of the very best kinds, a 

 large proportion being the Black Hamburgh — after all, perhaps, 

 the most useful Grape we have ; but in the spring this house 

 ■was filled with 120,000 pots of bedding plants, among them 



abont 10,000 plants of Mrs. Pollock. Another honse, holding 

 about 400 "Vines, had formerly held about 60,000 pots (60'b). 

 The plan here is to plunge the pots in spent hops, which afford 

 them moisture, and do not harbour vermin. 



Bedding Pelargoniums, which are every year driving other 

 bedding plants out of the field, are largely cultivated, and the 

 race for new varieties bids fair to open out fresh fields of 

 beauty. In this race the Messrs. Carter are not behindhand, 

 especially in the more select class of Tricolors and Bicolors ; 

 in the former they have two sweetly pretty plants — Titania 

 and Oberon, while Red Gauntlet is a striking plant. They 

 have, moreover, in their Prince of Wales a plant which, if it 

 bear out the promise it has given as a seedling, will be one of 

 the very finest Tricolors ever raised. The leaf is very large 

 and most vividly marked, while the habit of the plant is of the 

 most luxuriant character. Again, in the class of Bicolors, 

 there is one here which, the moment I saw it, struck me as 

 being the very best of its class that I had seen. This variety 

 is called Egyptian Queen, and is to be sent out in May. 

 It has a bright yellow ground, with a beautifully marked bronze 

 zone, which gives it a most striking appearance. It begins 

 now to be felt that most probably these Bicolors will be more 

 serviceable as bedding plants than their more refined neigh- 

 bours the Tricolors. I can quite conceive what a grand display 

 a bed of Egyptian Queen must make. It has, too, such a thick- 

 ness of leaf, that it cannot fail to be, as it has been proved 

 this summer, one that will stand weather a great deal better 

 than most of its compeers. Another very beautiful variety is 

 Madeleine Schiller; while Dr. Primrose, with a plain yellow leaf, 

 is also excellent. Of course, all the best varieties of other 

 growers are to be seen, and in large quantities ; but my interest 

 was mainly in those sorts which are peculiar to this establish- 

 ment. 



There is the nnclens of a good collection of Orchids here, 

 and a plant of Pbalaiuopsis amabilis was as fine a specimen of 

 good culture as I have seen anywhere. Here also I noticed a 

 nice collection of a charming little plant which every one ought 

 to have — the curious little Australian Pitcher-plant, Cephalotus 

 foUieularie. I say advisedly every one, for it is every one's 

 plant. I have had a neat little specimen of it growing in my 

 dining room for some months, and although it does not grow 

 so fast as in a stove, yet it thrives well and looks healthy. 1 

 have it potted in sphagnum and peat, and covered with a bell- 

 glass to exclude dust ; this is tilted a little at the bottom. The 

 plant is kept well watered, and is always an object of attraction 

 to visitors. 



Eucharis amazonica I found here treated very differently 

 from what I had seen it anywhere else. It was grown in a 

 cool house and allowed to dry off in winter. The plants were 

 small, but were evidently thriving. That fine Fern Lomaria 

 gibba is evidently in great request ; and well it deserves to be, 

 for this is another plant that stands well a sitting-room window, 

 as I have a plant which has grown admirably under my wife's 

 care, and has now attained a good size ; so that here are two 

 valuable plants for those who wish to try their hand at window 

 gardening. 



Where there is such an extensive seed business as that of 

 the Messrs. Carter, great care is needed in the selection of 

 seeds, that they may be good in quality and true to name. 

 Hence the necessity of their trial ground ; for they are not 

 only obliged to have their own seed farms, but many persons; 

 throughout the country grow various seeds for them, and these 

 must all be tested before they can be sent out. In one border 

 I saw two thousand different kinds of flower seeds in small 

 patches. These are subjected to two trials — first to see if the 

 seed will germinate, and then if it be true to character. If the 

 seeds fail in either of these respects they are at once discarded, 

 and a supply from some other source has to be obtained. On 

 another long border were samples of the various vegetable 

 seeds undergoing the same sifting process. Here were rows of 

 different kinds of Beet, there of Turnips, there again Savoys 

 and the different varieties of the Brassica tribe. The samples 

 are impartially drawn, and hence it is not much within the 

 verge of probabihty that seeds not true to name will be sent 

 out. 



Just previous to my visit Mr. Boston had been through parts 

 of France and Belgium searching for novelties, and had formed 

 the same conclusion that I came to — that never were there 

 fewer to be seen abroad than in 1867. He mentioned an Ire- 

 sine, which I have since seen at Ghent, of a dark copper colour, 

 that may be useful — more so than the golden-leaved variety 

 of I. Herbstii, which, however pretty for the dinner table, will 



