January 5, 1S71. ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAUE GARDENER. 



foot of the border. Narrow span-roofed houses I have found 

 neither so warm nor even-temperatared as those which are 

 larger. 



A selection of Grapes for houses such as those above referred 

 to may consist of the following : — Black Champion, berries 

 roundish oval, good hunches ; earlier than the Black Ham- 

 burgh. Trentham Black, berries oval, large ; good bearer. 

 Black Hamburgh, berries oval, bunches and berries large. 

 Frankenthal (Pope's or Victoria Hamburgh), berries roundish 

 oval, large ; undoubtedly the most useful Grape in cultivation. 

 The above are all Black Grapes of first-class excellence. Of 

 the white or amber-coloured kinds I would recommend Buck- 

 land Sweetwater, berries round, large ; a great bearer. Poster's 

 White Seedling, berries roundish oval, of good size ; this must 

 supersede the Royal Muscadine. Chasselas Vibert, berries 

 round, large. General della Marmora, berries round, large; a 

 good bearer. Sarbelle Frontignan, berries round, small, but a 

 good early free-bearing kind with the full Frontignan flavour. 

 The foregoing are all first-class Grapes, having large berries 

 and bunches, except the last, which is given to meet the taste 

 of those requiring the Muscat flavour. White Frontignan I 

 have found ripen fairly in a cold house, but to do so fully it 

 requires a good heat, and then it is a first-rate Grape. — ■ 

 G. Abbey. 



THE GLADIOLI OF THE PAST SEASON. 



Of these there were thirty-two, divided into various sections 

 according to their price. The first class comprised Armide, La 

 Caudeur, Orphee, i'ericles, Robert Fortune, and Rosa Bonheur ; 

 the second Agathe, Delicatissima, Elizabeth, Horace, and Syl- 

 phide ; the third Adanson, Bijou, De Humboldt, Rosea Per- 

 fecta, and Saltane ; the fourth Lacepe.de, Livingstone, and 

 Rubis ; and the fifth Aagele, Anna, Canova, Cleopatra, Donna 

 Maria, Elegans, Hortenee, Irma, Liure, Marthe, Picturata, 

 Regina, and Spectabilis. As these are all seedlings of M. Sou- 

 chet, it will at once strike anyone acquainted with what raising 

 new varieties is, and the difficulty of obtaining good varieties, 

 that the number is a great deal too many : and so in truth we 

 have found. There are some even in the first class which will 

 not long remain in select collections, while in the fifth class 

 there is probably not one that will be grown. They are all 

 more or less pretty, but do not fulfil the requirements of those 

 who regard quality and excellence of flower and spike as amongst 

 the first requirements. It is ever thus with raisers. Nor are 

 they alone to blame. The craving of the public for novelties 

 is such that they will devour ariything ; and hence raisers are 

 tempted t ) select from their seedlings flowers that they would 

 have otherwise consigned to the rubbish heap, or, as in the 

 case of the Gladiolus, thrown into mixtures. The following 

 judgment on them is the result of observations on my own 

 bulbs, supplemented with, in a few instances, notes taken at 

 the Royal Horticultural Society's Special Show, and the Metro- 

 politan Florists' Society's Show at the Crystal Palace. 



Armide. — Large and good-shaped flowers ; of good habit. Tha 

 substance of the petals is such that it remains some time in 

 bloom. Colour, white tinged with rose, and flamed and blotched 

 with bright crimson. It seems to be an early-flowering variety 

 like Shakespere; at least my bulbs of it had flowered out before 

 August 15th. 



La Gandeur. — I cannot understand why this should have 

 been placed in the first series ; as a white it is inferior to 

 Madame Desportes, while the petals are pointed and the spike 

 by no means good. 



Orphee. — This I regard as about the best variety of the year. 

 It has along noble-looking spike, a blush white ground strongly 

 flamed with bright carmine, and is altogether a very fine flower. 

 A capital constitution, and prolific in spawning. 



Pericles. — This bloomed very late with me. It is another of 

 the light rosy ground flowers, margined and striped with rosy 

 purple, with pure white blotches. My impression of it is that 

 it will not hold its ground. 



Robert Fortune. — A very long spike ; cerise, largely margined 

 and blotched with dark crimson, violet throat. The petals have 

 a line of pure white in their centre. A very fine flower. 



Bosa Bonheur. — Very long spike ; the flowers large, white ; 

 fine large purple blotches. The top petal has the habit of 

 lapping over backwards, which somewhat detracts from its 

 merits ; but I believe, with all that, that it will make a valuable 

 variety. 



Aijathe. — Large flowers, and a good spike flamed with rose 

 and yellowish blotches, carmine margin. This, too, I believe 



to be a good variety, although some have dissented from my 

 view of it. "^v^''~ 'M 



Delicatissima. — I was greatly pleased with this flower. It is 

 of a peculiar shade of colour — white, slightly suffused with lilac, 

 while the lower petals are white. A very distinct sort. 



Elizahetli. — Long spike ; large flowers, deep rose, strongly 

 flamed with purple ; large purple- carmine blotches with white 

 stripes. A fine variety, and at times very brilliant. 



Horace. — A good scarlet, with white lines in the centre of 

 each petal ; brilliant in colour, and I think likely to be valuable. 



Sijlpliide. — White ground, slightly flamed with carmine. 

 Although the spike is good the petals are pointed, and I do not 

 think it can be regarded as a good exhibition variety. 



Adanson. — Large and well-opened flower of a peculiar colour, 

 somewhat in the style of Anais, and very desirable for the con- 

 trast of colour. It would do well for the front row of an exhi- 

 bition stand. 



Bijou, did not bloom with me (cerise orange), but I heard 

 it but poorly spoken of by those who had bloomed it. 



Dc Humboldt. — Large, bright carmine, flamed and margined 

 with carmine ; crimson blotches on white ground. 



Rosea Perfecta. — A very pretty variety, rose tinted with 

 violet ; all the petals with a white line in them. 



Sultane. — Bright rose purple blotches, not first-rate. 



Lacejpcde. — I did not bloom this, but Mr. Kelway (no mean 

 judge) thinks well of it. Rosy violet, and striped with lilac. 



Livingstone. — Small, but exceedingly pretty ; bright violet 

 cerise with a sort of metallic reflection. Very good for the first 

 row of a bed. 



Rubis. — Long spike and large flower, blotched carmine on a 

 white ground. All the petals with a white line. 



Of the other flowers I know nothing, but I fancy from the 

 estimate placed on them as to price that I have no great loss. 

 It will thus be seen that I regard Orphee as the premier flower 

 of the season ; that I have a good opinion of Robert Fortune, 

 Rosa Bonheur, Armide, Agathe, Delicatissima, Horace, and 

 Rosea Perfecta. My estimate may be wrong, but I question if 

 it will be very far out. Our hopes of getting the new Gladi- 

 oluses of 1870 are becoming fainter every day. Oh ! what a 

 terrible comment on the message of " peace and goodwill " is 

 that cruel devastating war. — D., Deal. 



ORCHIDS FOR A CONSERVATORY. 



I SHALL be very much obliged by your stating the names of a 

 few Orchids that could be successfully grown in pots in a con- 

 servatory, where the temperature ranges from 46° to 55° day 

 and night. I have now only one Orchid, Dendrobium nobile,. 

 v/hich last year flowered beautifully, and I should be very glad 

 to add a few others that a similar treatment would suit. — 

 Sigma. 



[The following would succeed in your conservatory :— Cypri- 

 pedium insigne, Odontoglossum grande, Odontoglossum Alex- 

 andra:, Lycaste Skinneri, Lyoaste Harrisonia3, Epidendrum 

 vitelliuum, Zygopetalum Mackayi, Oncidium bifolium, Lfelia 

 majalis, Laslia albida, Barkeria Skinneri, and Barkeria spec- 

 tabilis.] 



FRUIT TREES FOR THE NORTH. 



The result of my continued experience in fruit-growing in 

 these parts may be interesting and of importance to those of 

 your readers who contemplate planting new and improved 

 varieties of fruit trees. It is a very fatal mistake to be guided 

 entirely by " descriptive catalogues " of fruit trees which refer 

 only to the climate of the south of England ; but those sub- 

 scribers who reside in the north of England, or in Scotland, 

 may presume that varieties which succeed in this latitude wiU 

 also prove successful with them. It is not uncommon to flnd 

 a gardener occupying his attention and a valuable space on his 

 garden wall in an abortive attempt to grow Chaumontel Pears, 

 or some other variety of fruit equally unsuited to the climate ; 

 and it is to guard against such a tantalising proceeding, as well 

 as to encourage the growth of the many new hardy and deli- 

 cious varieties of fruit that have lately been brought into cul- 

 tivation, that I venture to record the result of my experience. 

 Some of the finest fruits ripen in great perfection with us. 

 You must excuse me reminding you that for Marie Louise and 

 nine other varieties of dessert Pears, my predecessor in this 

 garden was, at Chiswick, awarded a Banksian medal. 



About twenty-five years ago there were upwards of ninety 



