October 12, 1871. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTUBB AND COTTAGE GAEUENEB. 



275 



depend only on one boiler : there ought always to be two fixed, 

 so that if one should fail the other may do the work while a 

 new one ia being put in or the other repaired. 



There is a very interesting trial border planted with bedding 

 and other plants. I noted the following — Ageratum Chater's 

 Imperial Dwarf is a very fine variety either for beds or lines in 

 ribbon borders ; it grows only from 9 inches to a foot in height 

 and flowers profusely. It is rather more diffioult to preserve 

 through the winter than the old variety. Tiola Yellow Perfec- 

 tion. — This is also dwarf and free-flowering, and is well adapted 

 for small beds and edgings. I also noticed a well-filled bed of 

 Calceolaria Sultan, a sub-shrubby variety with large flowers 

 of a rich crimson maroon colour ; it is exceedingly effective as 

 a bedding plant in the north, but I find it will not succeed in 

 the neighbourhood of London. There were also in this border 

 two beautiful beds of a fine strain of Phlox Drummondi, the 

 difi'erent colours blending together ; pink-striped and rose- 

 coloured flowers shading to deep purple made a bed not easily 

 matched in chaste beauty. 



It is in this part of the nursery that the Gladioli are grown 

 for exhibition. They are planted on a narrow border sheltered 

 on the north side by a low wall ; the tallest spikes would grow 

 as high as this wall. The border was sloping to the south, so 

 that the sun would act upon it as much as possible. Then as 

 to soil : this is a very light loam resting on gravel. It ia natur- 

 ally poor, but no doubt trenching and manuring are resorted to 

 in order to improve it. A large number of roots is not grown, 

 but I noticed very few failures, notwithstanding the unprece- 

 dentedly unfavourable season. I believe it is intended to grow 

 Gladioli to a much larger extent, in order to compete with the 

 more exieasive growers in the south. I have nowhere else seen 

 such a healthy robust growth as in the plants here ; and Mr. 

 Manson, Messrs. Stuart & Mein's manager, makes no secret of 

 his Euccess, nor does he use any patent manure to attain such 

 splendid resulta. Nearly the same varieties aa we cultivate in 

 the south are grown here. I saw some of the present year's 

 new varieties which I had not seen previously, and I must say 

 that 75 per cent, of M. Souchet's new ones were not worth 

 sending out. Some of the high-priced ones, such as Phedre, 

 have no constitution, and many of the others have badly formed 

 flowers as well as indifferent spikes. It would be wrong, how- 

 ever, to condemn them too hastily, as this has been a very bad 

 season for them, and some of them are first-class flowers. The 

 best, I think, is Horace Vernet, a very brilliant purplish red 

 flower, stained white. Phidias is a fine flower of a new shade 

 of colour, violet purple lined with white. Talisman has well- 

 shaped flowers, violet, stained white ; the spike ia rather short. 

 Sir J. Franklin, very long spike, the flowers rather thinly 

 placed ; the upper petals rose, lower petals largely marked with 

 white. Edith Dombrain I have seen very fine. With me the 

 spikes were short ; the flowers are well shaped, ground white, 

 feathered with carmine purple. Nestor is the best yellow ; its 

 growth is robust, and it has a very long spike of deep yellow 

 flowers of large size, the lower petals slightly stained with red. 

 These are the best of this season's flowers aa far aa I have seen, 

 but we are all anxiously awaiting the report of " D., Deal," not 

 only on this season's flowers, but also of those for next year. 

 No one has better opportunities or is better qualified to judge 

 than he is. In the stand of thirty spikes of fifteen varietiea 

 which Mr. Manaon waa arranging for Edinburgh, and which 

 was awarded the first prize, I noted as the best — Shakepeare, 

 Qrph^e, Eosa Bonheur, Princess Mary of Cambridge, Newton, 

 Horace Vernet, Adolphe Brongniart, Michel Ange, Adauson, 

 Thomaa Methven, and Diomede. 



In the private garden attached to Mr. Mein's residence was a 

 long row of Parsons's New White Mignonette. The growth 

 was more robust, perhaps, but in other respects it is not dif- 

 ferent from the ordinary variety. I also noticed another row 

 of a new bedding Dahlia. It had, I was informed, been raised 

 in the neighbourhood of Kelso. It grows from a foot to 

 18 inches in height, and does not require sticks to support the 

 shoots. It is a most profuse bloomer ; the flowers are bright 

 scarlet, and as well-shaped as some of the show flowers. It is 

 a decided acquisition as a ribbon-border plant. It has been 

 named Sunrise. 



From Kelso a pleasant walk down the banks of the Tweed 

 for the distance of a mile brings you to Hendersyde Park. 

 The mansion is beautifully situated, and commands a fine view 

 of the river. This place now belongs to G. W. Griffiths, Esq. 

 The gardener, Mr. Small, I have long known as one of the most 

 successful exhibitors in this neighbourhood. He is now an 

 ardent cultivator of the Gladiolus, but the number of losses in 



his beds was very considerable. The soil is much the same as 

 that at Kelso, so that in this case something else was the cause 

 of failure. I would attribute it to the garden being very much 

 surrounded by trees, so that the beds were shaded by them ; 

 the plants, although strong and healthy, were drawn. The 

 Hollyhock has also been taken in hand by Mr. Small. Two 

 seedlings raised by him were in flower at the time of my visit. 

 They have been sent out, I believe, by Messrs. Stuart & Mein. 

 One named Mrs. Atkinson is a buff-coloured flower, and the 

 finest of its colour I have yet seen. The other, William Mein, 

 rosy crimson, is a well-shaped flower of great merit. There is 

 some good gardening to be seen at Hendersyde Park ; there is 

 rnuch of general interest in its extensive woods, and Mr. Small, 

 like all true gardeners, makes no secret about the culture of his 

 favourite flowers. — J. Douglas. 



THE BLACK PRINCE STRAWBERRY. 



We gathered the first dish of this variety on the 24th of 

 May, and a very heavy crop in the first week of June. After 

 gathering the crop, not wanting the runners, we kept them 

 and any old withered leaves cut off, and the beds well cleared 

 of weeds. On the 9th of September we gathered a dish of 

 perfectly ripe fruit off the same plants, and we picked several 

 dishes since that date. There are at the present time (October 

 2nd), a good many ripe fruit remaining. The plants have been 

 in their present position for three or four years. I attribute 

 the second bearing and ripening to the earliness of the first 

 crop, and to our immunity from spring frosts, which are so 

 destructive to the Strawberry crop in many places more in- 

 land. In a direct line we are only three or four miles from 

 the sea. It would be interesting to know if there are many 

 cases of this kind in the dull sunless season that we have just 

 passed. — E. H. Cooke, TIte Gardens, Pcniarth, South Wales. 



SELECT ROSES. 



YotiK correspondent " P.,'' gives a list what he considers to 

 be the best twelve Hybrid Perpetual Eoses, with a view of 

 eliciting from other growers their opinion, and if my experience 

 is worth anything to growers in the northern counties of Eng- 

 land, I give it with pleasure. 



Taking "P.'s" list of twelve I quite agree with him that 

 Marie Baumann, Baroness Eothschild, L^ France, Charles Le- 

 febvre, Marquise de Caatellane, Monsieur Noman, and Edward 

 Morren are among twelve of the best Eoses grown. I very 

 much question if Louis Van Houtte will prove a superior Eose 

 to Xavier Olibo, much in the same line of colour. Marie Bau- 

 mann, described by ' P." as a good grower, is only moderate 

 here, and it is diffioult to get good blooms from cut-back plants, 

 but from maiden plants it is magnificent, and on going through 

 a plantation of about thirty thousand plants, comprising all the 

 best varieties grown, I thought it the finest of all. In place of 

 the others mentioned — viz., Comtesse d'Oxford, Mdlle. Eugenie 

 Verdier, Madame Vidot, and Comtesse de Chabiillant, I should 

 prefer Alfred Colomb, one of the very grandest Eoses raised ; 

 Madame Victor Verdier, which has been magnificent this year ; 

 Pierre Notting, the finest of the very dark varieties ; and Mar- 

 quise de Mortemart, the best of the very light varieties ; but 

 like Marie Baumann and some others of weak growth, it ought to 

 be budded annually to have it in perfection. Closely follow- 

 ing these are John Hopper, Dr. Andry, Comtesse de Cha- 

 brillant, Abel Grand, and Emilie Hausbnrg. The following 

 are also first-rate and ought to be in every collection — viz., 

 Duke of Edinburgh, Due de Wellington, Baron Haussmann, 

 Nardy Fieres, Elie Morel, Due de Eohan, Senateur Vaisse, 

 Maurice Bernardin, and Leopold Hausburg, the last named 

 of weedy growth, but of excellent form and indispensable to 

 exhibitors. Madame Vidot, which " P." places high in his list, 

 is a beautiful Eoee when caught good, which is very rarely the 

 case, and I think Marquise de Mortemart, of similar colour, 

 will be more suitable to the generality of growers. 



Of Eoses of recent introduction, first, I will take Comtesse 

 d'Oxford and Mdlle. Eugenie Verdier, which are both highly 

 praised by " P." The first is good, but nothing remarkable, 

 whilst Mdlle. Eugenie Verdier is a coarse variety without any 

 refinement whatever, my plant not having produced a single 

 good bloom, and from about two or three dozen I saw growing 

 near here during the past summer, I could not find a single 

 bloom fit to put into a stand. It is, however, a good garden 

 Eose, being very free-blooming, and pretty in colour. Of 

 others not mentioned above, I think Dupny-Jamain, Ferdinand 



