114 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ August 9, 1877. 



glass for the same quantity of water, and found that it can 

 then be safely and advantageously used to very many plants 

 for the destruction of vermin of all kinds. — S. 0. S. 



THE CAENATION AND PICOTEE BLOOM 



AT SLOUGH. AND CLAPHA1I. 



At the date of the National Carnation and Picotee Show 

 held at the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, many good flowers 

 were not in bloom, and some that were exhibited required a 

 week longer for the properties of the flowers to be fully deve- 

 loped ; I therefore gladly availed myself of an invitation from 

 Mr. Charles Turner of Slough to inspect his collection when 

 at its best, which was a week after the Exhibition. At that 

 time Mr. Turner could have exhibited a very much better lot 

 of blooms than he did at the Show. I had seen the plants 

 about the end of May, and thought they were in better con- 

 dition than our own at Loxford Hall, and the state of the 

 plants at the time of my visit fully verified the expectations 

 formed at that time that there would be a most magnificent 

 bloom. Besides the largest and most select collection I may 

 safely say in the world of the oldest and most recent named 

 sorts, there are perhaps several hundred pots of unnamed 

 seedlings, and amongst them a few that have been selected 

 for distribution during the ensuing autumn. It is a very diffi- 

 cult matter to select a batch of seedlings in which every flower 

 will be superior to others in the same class which have already 

 been sent out. Indeed, no one who has been accustomed to 

 purchase new flowers expects to find this to be the case. What 

 we have a right to demand is that they are quite distinct from 

 other varieties already in existence, and that they are quite 

 equal to them in those properties recognised amongst florists. 

 I believe a goodly number of the Slough seedlings satisfy these 

 requirements, and some of them are not only distinct but 

 superior to the finest varieties already in existence in the same 

 class. 



To do the Carnation and Picotee well the plants must be 

 grown in pots, and the pots should be removed to a glass 

 house where they can be protected from wet, high winds, and 

 bright sunshine. The arrangements at Slough are, as one 

 would expect, perfect in this respect. There are two large 

 houses, one a lean-to against a wall facing south. Eunning 

 along the front of the house is a platform about 2 feet wide 

 filled with plants, which can be inspected to the best advantage 

 from the path between this platform and the back stage, on 

 whioh other pots are arranged. This house is well adapted 

 for bringing plants forward for exhibition, but the exhibitor 

 always requires to retard as well as to push flowers on, and for 

 this purpose there is a similar houEe against the same wall 

 facing north, and at the time of my visit both structures were 

 a perfect blaze of beauty. There were also large numbers of 

 plants in other positions: some out of doors quite unprotected, 

 others were under old frame lights with the air circulating 

 freely underneath night and day. The growera seem to be 

 devoting their energies more to the raising of Picotees than 

 Carnations, which is a misfortune if not a mistake. I noted 

 the following amongst the new flowers — viz., 



Moma (Fellowes). — Heavy red, the white is very pure ; 

 flowers large, colour brilliant ; there are a few bars on some of 

 the petals. 



Horace K. Mayor (Fellowes). — Another heavy red, the colour 

 very brilliant, and white pure. If Mr. Fellowes can raise a 

 flower with an edge like this and without any bar on the 

 white it will be a grand hit. 



Rev. J. B. M. Camm (Fellowes), heavy purple, is a large 

 flower with clear white petal edged with broad rich purple. 



Isabella (Matthews) is quite a novelty and a very full showy 

 flower, which will be well adapted for the border or home stage, 

 as it is of very free growth ; the edges of the petals are 

 bizarred with maroon and purple. 



Estelle (Fellowes). — Light rose edge ; the petals are beauti- 

 fully formed, clear white, with wire edge like Mrs. Allcroft. 

 There is not a spot or bar on the white. The best flower yet 

 raised in this class. 



Lady Louisa (Abercrombie). — This is a heavy rose already 

 described, but as seen at Slough it was finer than the blooms 

 exhibited at the Eoyal Aquarium. Fanciers will reoognise the 

 merits of the flower when I say it has a better petal and purer 

 white, with the beautiful distinct rose shade of Niven's Fanny 

 Helen. 



All the above are Picotees, and the only Carnation I noted 

 as 'tew and good was a fine crimson bizarre raised at Slough, 



named Unexpected. It is a flower of good properties and 

 gained the highest honours in its class at the Eoyal Aquarium. 

 It is a better flower than Eccentric Jack. I noted many fine 

 older flowers, but it would be waste of space to go into details 

 of them. I will therefore merely give the best in each class 

 for the guidance of those forming collections. 



Carnations. — Scarlet Bizarres. — Admiral Curzon (Easom), 

 Campanini (Turner), Garibaldi (Heap), Lord Derby (Heap), 

 Lord Lewisham (Bann), Mars (Hextall), Mercury (Hextall), 

 Sir J. Paxton (Ely), and True Briton (Hepworth). Grimson 

 Bizarres. — Albion's Pride (Headly), Eccentric Jack (Wood), 

 Graceless Tom (Wood), John Simonite (Simonite), Lord Milton 

 (Ely), Lord Baglan (Bowers), Marshal Ney (Headly), Eev. G. 

 Budrick (Eeevee), and Eifleman (Wood). Pink and Purple 

 Bizarres. — Falconbridge (May), James Taylor (GibbonB), Lord 

 Clifton (Puxley), Purity (Wood), Sarah Payne (Ward), and 

 Satisfaction (Bowers), a new flower with beautifully formed 

 petals ; very distinct. Purple Flakes. — Dr. Foster (Foster), 

 Earl Stamford (Elliott), Excellent (Hooper), Florence Night- 

 ingale (Sealey), Mayor of Nottingham (Taylor), James Douglas 

 (Simonite), Premier (Milwood), Squire Trow (Jackson), True 

 Blue (Taylor) . Scarlet Fla kes. — Af rieana (Puxley) , Annihilator 

 (Jackson), John Eayley (Dodwell) , Mars (Puxley), Mr.Battersby 

 (Gibbons), Sportsman (Hedderly), Superb (Ingram), and 

 Clipper (Fletcher). Pose Flakes. — Flora's Garland (Brooks), 

 James Merryweather (Wood), John Eeet (Whitehead), Lovely 

 Ann (Ely), Mrs. F. Burnaby (Turner), Eose Magnificent 

 (Reeves), Sybil (Holmes), Mary Ann (Fletcher), and Samuel 

 Newman (Hooper). 



Picotees. — Red-edge.— J. B. Bryant (Ingram), John Smith 

 (Bowers), Leonora (Fellowes), Miss Small (Fellowes), Mrs. 

 Bowers (Bowers), Mrs. Dodwell (Turner), Novelty (Matthews), 

 Mrs. Hornby (Turner), Peeress (Turner), Princess of Wales 

 (Fellowes), William Summers (Simonite), Thomas William 

 (Flowdy). Purple-edge. — Alliance (Fellowes), Ann Lord 

 (Lord), Cynthia (Turner), Alice (Lord), Jessie (Turner), 

 Minnie (Lord), Mary (Simonite), Mrs. Little (Hooper), Mrs. 

 Niven (Marris), Mrs. Summers (Simonite), Picco (Jackson), 

 Eival Purple (Hooper), Zerlina (Lord), Sylvia (Simonite), and 

 Prima Donna (Simonite). Rose and Scarlet-edge. — Brilliant 

 (Payne), Edith Dombrain (Turner), Ethel (Fellowes), Idalia 

 (Fellowes), Estelle (Fellowes), Lady Louisa (Abercrombie), 

 Fanny Helen (Niven), Juliana (Turner), Mrs. Allcroft (Turner), 

 Miss Wood (Wood), and Purity (Payne). 



There are many other interesting objects at Slough, which 

 must be reported on at another time. Especially fine were 

 the Chrysanthemums, a new flower for Mr. Turner, but he 

 has taken it up with his usual spirit, and has also hit on a 

 plan which promises to be a great success. There are two or 

 three hundred standards with stems 3 or i feet high. About 

 150 of these have been grafted with four or five distinct 

 varieties on each head, and the grafts have taken remarkably 

 well. These plants are quite a new feature in Chrysanthemum 

 culture, and will have a very remarkable effect. 



LABKHALL BISE, CLAPHAM. 

 The collections of Carnations and Picotees belonging to 

 E. S. Dodwell, Esq., I also visited, and found it in the same 

 condition as that of Mr. Turner's — just a week too late for the 

 show. There were many fine flowers at their best, and the 

 plants were also in Bplendid condition, showing the care that 

 has been bestowed upon them; and how well they repay the 

 ardent cultivator in our large cities and towns, this and many 

 other collections abundantly testify. Mr. Dodwell's collection 

 is most select as to varieties. Being an excellent judge of 

 what constitutes a first-class flower, and having ample oppor- 

 tunity of becoming acquainted with them when in the hands 

 of the raisers, Mr. Dodwell selects all that he deems worthy 

 of culture, and .after he has proved them under his own care, 

 if they do not come up to the florist standard they are rejeoted. 

 There are, for instance, some flowers which do well in the 

 north but are worthless under our treatment and southern 

 climate. I may mention in Picotees a light red-edged variety 

 named Thos. Jivens (Flowdy) ; its raiser has taken " premium " 

 with it at Newcastle, but Mr. Dodwell and I have both dis- 

 carded it. In Carnations Mrs. F. Burnaby is one of the finest 

 rose flakes under a northern sky. Mr. Dodwell I do not think 

 grows it, and with ; :e the colour is so pale that, though I had 

 good blooms of it at ihe show, I did not venture to place it in 

 the stands or even stage it as a class flower. GuardBman 

 (Turner), is a very Bbowy scarlet bizarre, but it is much better 

 adapted for the border than being placed as an exhibition 



