October 26,1882. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
385 
of them. Balgowan is a good late Nectarine, but were we plant¬ 
ing now we would plant Pine Apple instead, as being rather later 
and larger. A tree of this latter variety on a south wall ripened 
a few good-sized fruits this year. The colour and flavour were 
fine. Our surest cropping tree on walls is an old one of 
Walburton Admirable, which I think a very good late Peach. 
Late Admirable is a fine-looking Peach, but scarcely ever worth 
eating either indoors or out, which in my opinion is the most 
important point in Peaches. Before concluding I wish to draw 
your leaders’ attention to a Peach I have already mentioned 
— viz., Bed Nectarine. It is a hardy variety. The fruit is of a 
fine size and colour and splendid flavour both under glass and 
outside. It is not included in many catalogues ; in fact the only 
place I have seen it mentioned, and from whence all the trees of it 
that have come under my notice have been procured, is the fruit 
catalogue of the Messrs. Yeitch, Boyal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, 
where it is described as a new Syrian variety of great excellence. 
—H. J. Clayton, Grimston. 
THREE USEFUL PLANTS. 
GLADIOLUS COLYILLI ALBUS. 
Where choice white flowers are in demand during May and 
June the above should be grown. To have a succession the bulbs 
should be potted from now until Christmas. The earliest could 
be grown in pots for the conservatory, and the later ones planted 
out in the borders in April, where they will soon commence 
blooming. Place about eight bulbs in a 48-pot, and keep them in a 
cold frame during the winter. I have never forced them, but 
when the flower spikes are showing I should think they would 
force well. It would be worth trying. This Gladiolus should be 
grown by everyone having a garden, and it is very cheap. 
TRJTELEIA UNIFLORA. 
This is a pretty little bulbous plant. It is generally grown in 
the border, but it is very useful in pots. Place about twelve bulbs 
in a 48, and treat similarly to Crocuses, introducing a few pots 
at a time into an intermediate temperature. 
SCHIZOSTYLIS COCCINEA. 
This bulbous plant is generally planted out in the open and 
potted in September ; but 1 find the best plan is after the plants 
have bloomed to place them in a cold frame until the spring, then 
turn them out and select the strongest plants, arrange them in 
16-size pots about 2 inches apart, and stand them in the open until 
this time of the year, then place them in a cool house. When the 
flower spikes appear assist them with liquid manure.—X. 
FRUIT-JUDGING AT EDINBURGH. 
“ The Judges did award the first prize to the undoubted best 
twelve bunches ” of Grapes “in competition ” at the above Show, 
so writes the winner of the said prize. Now who ever heard a 
competitor express a doubt of the correctness of a decision that 
conferred upon him the distinction of being the winner of a first 
prize ? It is, however, somewhat unusual for the person in whose 
favour a decision is given to be the first to come forward as a 
defender of it when its correctness is disputed by outsiders. The 
person most benefited cannot be admitted as an arbitrator in the 
case. Still, as he has thought proper to compare his own produc¬ 
tions with those of his “respected brethren,” I may be permitted 
to say a few words in reply. 
Where, as at Edinburgh, a prize is offered for the best twelve 
bunches of Grapes, six varieties, two bunches of each, Mr. Maclndoe 
says “in cases like this it requires something more than simply 
the best varieties ripe and fit for table early in September and 
I would ask him to kindly explain what is the “something more” 
required. Perhaps the word “best” in this case means largest, 
and has no reference to variety, ripeness, or finish. If this is the 
meaning intended, then the sooner it is understood so by exhibitors 
of Grapes the better. This will simplify matters very much, as it 
will reduce the number of competitors to the fewwhqse employers 
prefer as dessert fruit large bunches of coarse ill-flavoured sorts to 
the more symmetrical smaller bunches of the superior flavoured 
varieties. 
About the twelve dishes of fruit. Mr. Maclndoe admits “ that 
Charlotte Rothschild Pine Apple in the first-prize lot had a few 
green streaks round some of the pips,” the fact, however, being 
that all the pips from top to bottom had a few green streaks round 
them. I noticed “the Queen Pine at the other end of the collec¬ 
tion,” which was, as Mr. Maclndoe describes it, “as perfectly 
finished as any Pine in the Show.” 
Mr. Maclndoe particularly refers to the three bunches of Muscat 
of Alexandria Grapes as being small in the third-prize collection. 
True, they were small in bunch as compared with the bunch of 
Trebbiano in the first-prize lot, but they were of good average size 
both in bunch and berry for the variety, and they were ripe and 
fit to eat, whereas if the unripe berries had been removed from the 
Trebbiano more wool in the way of padding would have been re¬ 
quired to make the bunch appear presentable than was employed 
in the case of the Muscats. 
Then as regards the black Grapes in the first and third-prize 
collections. The latter contained a dish, three bunches, of finely 
finished Madresfield Court, and the former a dish, one bunch, of 
partially ripe Gros Guillaume. True, the one bunch of Gros Guil¬ 
laume was of greater weight than the three bunches of Madresfield 
Court ; but then, as a dish of dessert fruit the latter was much 
superior to the former. Mr. Maclndoe is mistaken if he supposes 
I “ fancied” that the first-prize lot should have occupied the third 
place. The fact is, there were only nine dishes of fruit in the first- 
prize lot ripe enough to include in a first-class dessert, and there¬ 
fore in my opinion—and I am not alone in this—it was not in the 
race from the first.—H. B. 
The storm of Tuesday the 25th instant, which was so 
violent in many parts of the country, was also very destructive in 
London and the metropolitan district. Suburban florists and 
market gardeners have sustained much loss by the breakage of 
glass. Trees have been battered and broken to a serious extent, 
and Dahlias and similar tall plants in gardens have been swept off 
the ground. A driving rain prevailed, with sleet at times ; but 
no snow fell as in some of the midland and northern counties. 
The hurricane subsided as suddenly as it commenced, and the 
evening was perfectly calm. The temperature is much lower, 
and it will be unwise to delay making everything safe in gardens 
for the winter. The first frosts, because coming suddenly and 
unexpectedly, are not unfrequently the most destructive. 
- The annual Exhibition of Chrysanthemums in the 
Inner Temple Gardens will be opened to the public to-day 
(Thursday), the plants being arranged as they were last year in 
a glass erection near the Thames Embankment, where there is a 
very convenient entrance for visitors. The plants are in good 
condition, healthy and strong, buds being plentiful, and a number 
of early flowers are fully expanded, so that there is already a 
display of some interest. A very important feature this year is 
the number of new varieties, chiefly of the Japanese section, re¬ 
presented in the collection, and some of these appear to possess 
considerable merit as far as can be judged at present. The 
majority have been recently sent out by Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons, 
Chelsea, and were raised by Mr. Salter. Very noticeable is Lord 
Beaconsfield, with flat florets of a rich bright red colour on the 
upper surface and yellow bronze below. La Charmeuse, of a 
fine crimson hue, is also good ; L’Ue de Plaisir, orange yellow; 
Reverie, deep red ; Curiosity, yellow tipped with bronze ; Dr. 
Macary, rosy tint ; Mary Major, white ; Rex Rubrorum, deep 
red ; and others are similarly noteworthy, but will be more readily 
judged when their characters are fully developed. The best of 
the older varieties are included in the collection, such well-known 
favourites as Elaine, Mrs. G. Rundle, Empress of India, and Mrs. 
Dixon being very promising. With fine weather the interest of 
the display will now increase daily, and in a week to a fortnight’s 
time will probably be at its best. 
- A Maidstone correspondent, “ F. 0. M.,” sends us the 
following :—“ In accordance with your request on page 375 of the 
Journal for records of heaviest Pears, I inform you that on a 
tree six years old of Pitmaston Duchess, bought from Messrs. 
