94 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOTJLTTJBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ August 2, 1877. 



England, no such sheltering aid is wanted by the London 

 market gardeners for this crop. Tomatoes are now grown in 

 the open quarters with apparently the same ease and cer- 

 tainty as Potatoes or any other crop. In one garden alone 

 we lately saw 11,000 plants in one square, and 9000 more 

 were growing in the same " grounds " — thoBe of Messrs. Bagley 

 at Fnlham. The plants are in rows 3 feet apart and 18 inches 

 between the plants. Trenches are prepared much after the 

 manner of Celery trenches, and the plants well established 

 and hardened are turned out of pots. The manure is used 

 during the course of its fermentation, and the trenches are 

 levelled-in. Each plant is trained to a short stake and is 

 stopped when about 2 feet high, and when five or six clusters 

 of fruit have formed no further growth of shoots is permitted. 

 Already the fruit is of large size, and there is every prospect 

 of a very heavy crop ripening during the season. The soil 

 near walls and fences is considered by the market growers to 

 be too dry and poor for Tomatoes, which are found to thrive 

 much better in the open and highly manured fields. The 

 variety grown resembles the Orangefield. It is surprising to 

 notice the lavish yet profitable manner in which manure is 

 used in these fields, nearly or quite ten times as much as is 

 nBed by some agriculturists, and five times as much as is 

 used in many gardens. 



In 1875 we published a very favourable notice of two 



Double Clakkias — Salmon Queen and Purple King. They 

 were raised by Mr. Hardy, seed-grower, Buree, Suffolk. He has 

 sent us specimens of this year's growth of the same variety, 

 and we can testify they are very fine. 



• Me. J. Lindsay, gardener, enclosed to us a spray of a 



gp.een Eose. It has been grown in the gardens of Wybrants 

 Olphert, Esq., Ballyconnell House, Falearagh, Co. Donegal, 

 for the last eight or ten years. Its entire green colour is not 

 attractive. In growth and foliage it is described as neat and 

 pleasing. It is a good example of E. viridiflora. 



Villa gaedens are yearly growing in numbers. Small 



enclosures of a few rods of ground, or even a few yards, fre- 

 quently afford much pleasure to their owners and yield also 

 instruction to visitors. One of the latest instances — not, 

 perhaps, of the mere attractiveness of a villa garden, but of 

 its value to the owner and the general interest attaching to it 

 which has come under our notice — is that of W. Clifton, Esq., 

 at Fulham. Mr. Clifton is a gentleman who has long been 

 engaged in matters connected with the public service, and he 

 has brought his scientific attainments to bear on the manage- 

 ment of his garden. His residence is half surrounded with a 

 capacious glass structure, and from thiB he has had the honour 

 of having cut and forwarded to Her Majesty nine hundred 

 blooms of Devoniensis Bose in one week. That was some 

 years ago ; and Eoses are not grown now, but instead Tube- 

 roseB, Begonias, Liliums, Hippeastrums, Phloxes, &o., are cul- 

 tivated and increased. Phloxes are grown by hundreds — 

 home-raised seedlings. These are very varied in colour, and 

 it is worthy of note that one variety has been exclusively relied 

 on as the seed-bearing parent. Many varieties are very good, 

 and as flowering in pots and growing in semi-wild luxuriance 

 in the garden produce an excellent effect. Several Geraniums 

 have been raised in Mr. Clifton's garden, amongst them the 

 excellent golden bicolor Crown Prince. The outside garden is 

 also noteworthy. It is not a trim and formal enclosure deBigned 

 on geometrical principles and ornamented with carpet beds ; 

 on the contrary, it iB as informal as a garden can be. The 

 centre has been hollowed out, and contains a little water, little 

 lawns, several beds of shrubs, and a thicket of Conifers. Wel- 

 lingtonias raised from cuttings in 1861 are now fine trees, 

 equal if not superior to those raised from seed. There are 

 many kinds of Conifers, and almost every tree has a history. 

 There are dozens of Hollies raised from seed by the owner and 

 now laden with berries. The shrubs and trees cannot be par- 

 ticularised, but a variety of the Deodar demands mention — 

 Cedrus Deodara robusta. It is most striking and handsome ; 

 the main branches being as close, flat, and dense as those of 

 the Cedar of Lebanon, while the terminal growths are almost 

 fountain-like by their graceful drooping character. C. africana 

 is also very fine. Mr. Clifton with the aid of his clever young 

 gardener " Bill " (Mr. W. Chisholm) proves how varied and 

 interesting a villa garden may become when it is intelligently 

 managed. 



We have received the schedule of the National Cas- 

 sation and Picotee Society's Show, which is to be held in 

 the Botanical Gardens, Manchester, on August 4th, 5th, and 



6th. The classes are not quite bo numerous nor the prizes so 

 large as those provided for the southern Bhow recently held at 

 the Westminster Aquarium. Many northern florists — to their 

 honour be it said — appear to be prompted by a real earnest 

 love for their flowers rather than tempted by high prizes for 

 their cultivation'; hence good exhibitions result, the last of 

 which we trust will be the best. In order to secure uniformity 

 in the stands the Hon. Sec, the Eev. F. D. Horner, requests 

 that the standard of dimensions given below, which was dis- 

 cussed at the general meeting in January, 1876, will be adopted 

 by all the exhibitors this year. The collections of twelve mast 

 be shown in boxes of three fours, of the following dimensions 

 —viz., from centre to centre, 3} inches ; from centre to out- 

 side, 2J inches ; outside length, 15J inches ; width, 12 inches ; 

 depth, 4J inches ; to be painted a bright green. The collections 

 of six blooms, in boxes of three twoB, of similar distances with 

 those of the twelve-blooms class. An unregulated size of 

 stands interferes seriously with the good effect of the show ; 

 and this matter is now upon so prominent a footing that 

 flowers shown on stands not in accordance with the Society's 

 regulations are liable to disqualification. 



The Eiddeeminstee Hoeticultueal Exhibition, 



which closed on the 26th ult., was, we are informed, very 

 successful. The exhibits were not only numerous but of 

 superior quality. Nearly £200 were offered in prizes. The 

 chief winners in the plant classes were Mr. Tudgey, gardener 

 to J. F. W. Williams, Esq. ; Mr. Cypher and Mr. Pilgrim, 

 Cheltenham ; and Mr. Plevey, gardener to E. J. Morton, Esq. 

 In the fruit classes Mr. Cox, gardener to Earl Beauchamp ; 

 Mr. Moffatt, gardener to H. Alsopp, Esq. ; Mr. Child, gardener 

 to the Earl of Coventry, were successful exhibitors. "Vege- 

 tables were very good, especially Potatoes. Carter's Main 

 Crop, Snowflake, Early Eose, Mona's Pride, and the Emperor 

 were the leading varieties. 



One of the most graceful and effective of flowering 



shrubs for imparting an air of lightness and cheerfulness tc- 

 the prevailing greenness of shrubberies in July is Spie.ea, 

 aeuefolia. This Spiraea is profusely laden with its elegant 

 pearl-white flowers in summer, as is the Deutzia in the spring. 

 A valuable quality possessed by this Spiraea is that it grows 

 and flowers freely under the shade of trees. Our attention 

 was drawn to this fact by Mr. Harding, gardener to Eev. W. 

 Arthur, Clapham Common, who pointed out a ehrub growing 

 under the denBe shade of some large Elms, and which was 

 flowering with the greatest freedom. Mr. Harding, who has a 

 large acquaintance with hardy flowers and shrubs, esteems 

 Spiraea aricefolia as one of the most useful for cultivation in 

 sun or in shade, and for affording a great supply of elegant 

 sprays for vase and room decoration. 



We remarked a few weeks ago on the probability of 



false alarms being heard of the • advent of the CoLOEADr> 

 beetle into this country. An alarm of this nature has 

 originated at Hereford, where the dreaded beetle turnB out to 

 be the gardeners' friend, tha ladybird. The Potato beetle, as 

 everyone ought to know, is not spotted like the lady-bird, but 

 is clearly marked with ten stripes down its wing eases. When 

 we published in 1874 an engraving of the Colorado beetle a 

 correspondent predicted that if the pest arrived in this country 

 it would probably be in the pupa state, or some enthusiastic 

 naturalist would nurse over some precious specimens and ex- 

 pect a medal for his pains. The members of the York Chamber 

 of Agriculture do not appear to regard the last-named source 

 of danger an empty one, for at a recent meeting the following 

 resolution was proposed and carried : — " Considering the- 

 danger to which we are exposed from the ravages of the inseet 

 in question, it is to be regretted that over-zealous naturalists 

 are having beetles brought over alive from America, and are 

 keeping and experimenting with them as to their habits and 

 the food they will eat." The best means of becoming ac- 

 quainted with the appearance of the beetle is by obtaining 

 models of it from Mr. Louis Stollwerck, 145, Cannon Street, 

 London. The insect in its various stages is more clearly re- 

 presented by these models than by illustrations. 



Shoetly after the Kirkcudbright Flower Show was 



opened to the public last week Lord Selkirk presented a hand- 

 some marble timepiece to Mr. James Seevice, nurseryman, 

 aloDg with a silver teapot for Mrs. Service, in acknowledgment 

 of the hearty interest which he had always taken in the exhi- 

 bitions, and of his exertions to promote their success. His 

 lordship remarked that he understood Mr. Service had been 



i one of the most zealous promoters of these exhibitions, anfl 



