136 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 16, 1883. 
and bushes, should be noted. Superior arrangement and clean¬ 
liness should each receive a maximum of four points, and a 
garden stocked with well-managed fruit trees and bushes I 
would give a maximum of six points, a less number to be 
given in each case according to merit ; the tower garden, or 
border devoted to flowers, to be judged similarly to the fruit 
trees. It may be a mistake to encourage large flower gardens; 
but here, again, we may suppose the cottager to be the best 
judge of his own circlin'.stances. If by any chance the total 
number of points be equal in two or more cases, it may be 
necessary to settle the matter by comparison, but I never 
found it necessary to remember anything about the gardens 
inspected. The gardens ought to be judged not later than 
August.—W. Iggulden. 
AMERICAN BLACKBERRIES. 
It is very good of Mr. Ward (page 118), to give information about 
these, but the cultural details he mentions represent the treatment to 
which the plants have been constantly subjected here, and the results 
have not been satisfactory. Being captivated with the grand-looking 
picture which accompanied the solicitation for our order, and the pro¬ 
spects of securing such a splendid addition to our dessert fruits, led us to 
give these Blackberries more attention than our best and most fertile 
Kaspberries ever had, and then only to be rewarded with a quantity of 
hedgerow-like fruit is, I think, enough to prevent us jumping again at 
any bait of the kind. Ever since I can remember American Blackberries 
have from time to time been glowingly pictured and praised, and by 
this time it might have been expected they would have been found in at 
least every parish, as anything really good is never long in being gene¬ 
rally cultivated ; but instances of their successful culture are still as rare 
as the song of the nightingale. Speaking of autumn-fruiting Rasp¬ 
berries, I may say they are most useful and deserve to be generally 
grown.—J. Muir. 
WHITE BORDER FLOWERS IN AUGUST. 
The following are a few white flowers blooming in my flower 
borders that I think, for decorative purposes inside or outside, 
should have a place in every garden. 
Hyacinthus candicans.— A noble flower with handsome 
pendulous bells, cream-coloured, with a shade of green, and 
reaching with me about 3 feet h’gh. Single bulbs in 10-inch pots 
reach close on 4 feet high, with twenty-live perfect blooms on 
an average to each flower stem. Those outside not yet fully 
expanded I do not expect to be so good. 
Matricaria inodora fl.-pl. —This beautiful double white 
Camomile should have been placed first if purity of colour, per¬ 
fectness of bloom, or persistency in flowering until frost comes, 
be taken into consideration. 1 should hardly have mentioned 
frost, as even that it denes, and has been planted in the same 
bed for the past thi'ee years with me. I cut it down in October, 
taking cuttings in September, and its handsomely cut foliage in 
rosettes forms the brightest green tufts through winter and 
spring, except Saxifraga atro-purpurea. 
Achillea ptarmica ei.-pl. —Another deserving favourite 
for cutting purposes, and as pei’fect a double and persistent a 
bloomer as the last, and, like it, merely requires to be cut down 
in autumn and top-dressed. 
Campanula persicifolia alba fl.-pl. —This combines all 
the qualities named in the last two, with this qualification—it 
produces no seed; so when tbe first flowers show signs of dege¬ 
neracy cut it down, and it will bloom again by the aid of liquid 
manure at least three times. Many have not the true flower. 
It must be of the purest white, as double as a white Camellia, 
and fully 1£ inch i n diameter, with a number of blooms produced 
along the stem. Possibly by allowing only one stem to each 
plant blooms much larger could be produced, but liquid manure 
must be used. I have a number of Campanulas including the 
double blue, but none can compare with this. 
Phlox paniculata alba. —A real satin-white beauty, but 
does not last like the foregoing. Except the first these can all 
be propagated by division, and now is a good time to do it. 
Thalictrum aquilegifolium. —Handsome in foliage and 
pretty in flower, and no border should be without it. Like 
most perennials it should be lifted and receive something to feed 
on for the coming season either in late autumn or spring. 
Spiraea filipendula fl.-pl. —Of this double Dropwort it 
is not easy to decide whether foliage or flowers are most deserv¬ 
ing admiration. It increases rapidly, and once had is not readily 
lost. Planted alternately with the hardier of the new pink kinds 
the contrast is very effective. 
Catananche alba. —Handsome and effective for cutting, as 
the flowers, which resemble thi single Acroclinium and single 
-white Helichrysum, last a long time in water. 
Pyrethrum parthenium fl.-pl. —This gives perfect little 
balls of white flowers, some of them shaded yellow. Wherever 
cut flowers are much required a small bed should be wholly 
given to it. 
Lilies.— Among the white species and varieties I may include 
L. candidum, L. longiflorum, and L. lancifolium album. Noble 
flowers, but the two last I grow in pots. I am sure they would 
do well in a deeqi bed of peat loam. 
Single Dahlias (White).—I have Cannell’s Avalanche, 
Ware’s White Queen, and Kelway’s Alba, all splendid, and to 
my mind all alike. The one shortcoming they seem to have 
as compared with the fine hardy perennials mentioned is that 
the petals drop quickly; but then the flowers are produced in 
profusion. 
Gladiolus Colyilli albus (The Bride]. —This has opened 
within the past week, and of the white outdoor flowers named 
for bouquet or vase decoration with a mirror or dark back¬ 
ground, I cannot think any can compare with it. The flower is 
wonderfully large for the size of the bulb, and the comparatively 
s'ender stem and sparse foliage contrasted with the hybrids of 
gandavensis. 
Malva moschata alba and Nicotiana affinis. —The 
former a pure white Mallow, and the latter night-blooming and 
sweet-scented. I have had these for two years, and grow them 
potted inside, though a friend of mine has them outside.— 
W. J. M., Clonmel. 
A VINE MYSTERY. 
I shall be very glad if any of your readers can suggest a cause for 
my Vines being in the following unsatisfactory condition. The leaves of 
the leading shoot while they are small become shaped almost like an 
umbrella, their edges look as if they were scorched, and in time the 
foliage drops off ; the point of the shoot also seems as if it was scorched, 
and the points of the tendrils too. Yet the Vines seem to be in good 
health as regards making good canes. The Madresfield Court seems to 
be most affected, next Lady Downe’s, and then Bowood Muscat. Black 
Hamburgh is very little affected, and Buckland Sweetwater not at all. 
In consequence of the state of the leading shoot I have allowed the 
laterals to grow a little. They do not seem to be affected except when I 
allow a lateral to take the lead, and then it becomes affected in the way 
I have named. I have a number of Vines growing in pots (fruiting and 
otherwise) that are not the least injured. The border is composed of 
sods roughly broken up, lime rubbish, fresh lime, charcoal, inch bones, 
and a little stable manure. The Vines, one year old, were planted at 
the beginning of March last, they are making good canes, and yet I feel 
anxious about this shrivelling, and any information about the cause and 
cure will be greatly appreciated.—R. H. R. 
We learn that an International Horticultural Exhibition 
is to be opened at Nice on the 1st of December next in connection 
with an agricultural exhibition, 
- “ B.” writes:—“ Those who had not known of the cleaning 
qualities of chloride of lime ought to be grateful to Mr. Bardney for 
calling attention to it. My way of applying it is somewhat different 
from that recommended in his article. Whatever is to be cleaned is 
moistened with water, and the chloride dusted over it; but edges of steps 
require painting. I find the best way to purchase it is in jars which 
contain 9 lbs. each. These are hermetically sealed, and the chloride 
turns out of them in a dry powdery state. We have had it in 1 lt>. 
packets almost worthless.” 
-A northern correspondent writes “ Double Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums were recommended a few weeks ago as beiDg better adapted for 
travelling than the singles. 1 find no difficulty with single varieties 
when gummed and packed in single layers in flat wooden boxes. Doubles 
at the best are “ dumpy ” unattractive flowers, though some people are 
fond of them. To such allow me to recommend the dohble Ivy-leaf 
varieties. These are now numerous, and some of them are decidedly 
pretty. The trusses are looser than in the Zonal doubles ; they grow 
very rapidly, bloom profusely, and are of the easiest cultivation.” 
- Mr. Thomas S. Ware, Hale Farm, Nurseries, Tottenham, 
