September so, 1880 . ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 308 
Some mixed beds of another kind are also extremely orna¬ 
mental ; they are totally devoid of formality, and are free yet 
rich. They are planted with Iresine Lindeni and Abutilon 
naevium marmoratum, and a few plants of Verbena venosa. 
The Abutilons, about 2 feet high, have large stately and finely 
coloured foliage, through which the darker yet free groundwork 
is seen to great advantage. These beds are much and deservedly 
admired. Another plant that has given great satisfaction this 
year is Cannell’s Dwarf Ageratum, which has formed dense blue 
lines a foot wide and about 4 inches high. There are only a few 
dozens of plants grown this year, but there will be thousands 
planted next year in these gardens. 
The coming Pelargonium for bedding is Henry Jacoby. The 
few beds that have been seen this year were so striking, that this 
rich, free, and dwarf variety is being largely propagated for 
bedding purposes. Mr. Graham has, after taking the tops of the 
plamts, cut up the stems into inch lengths, and is striking them in 
a little heat, the atmosphere being dry. When this practice is 
being adopted with a bedding Pelargonium now-a-days, when so 
many are good, it affords sufficient evidence of its value for a 
particular purpose. 
Ihe old kitchen garden attached to the Palace is not open to 
the public, but Mr. Graham and his friends have ready access. 
It is in charge of Messrs. Jackson & Son, Kingston, who rent it. 
About 10 acres are enclosed with lofty walls. These and sundry 
cross walls are covered with old trees, many of which are bearing 
good crops. There are 2 or 3 acres of glass—large, lofty, venerable 
old structures, heavy in appearance, and heated with flues. The 
\ ines are evidently centenarians, and it is surprising to see how 
admirably they bear under the system adopted by Mr. Latham of 
constantly cutting out old and training young canes. Some voung 
\ ines planted by this excellent cultivator have also made wonderful 
growth, 'the Peach house must be one of the oldest extant, and 
the plan of training the trees is certainly one of the best, probably 
the very best, for wide and lofty houses. Vertical trellises are 
formed across the border, reaching from the front of the house to 
the narrow back path, and from the ground to the roof. These 
cross trellises are 4 feet apart, and every part covered with 
bearing wood. By this plan light is admitted to every portion of 
the back wall, which is also covered with bearing wood from the 
ground to the roof. By no other plan could so much fruit-bearing 
surface be exposed so fully to the light, and hence the system is 
worthy of mention. The crop has been enormous this season, 
thousands of Peaches having been gathered from the trees. In 
another hotlse is a small forest of Tomatoes, the trees being 
planted 2 or 3 feet apart in the border and secured to stakes. A 
more modern structure is devoted to Cucumbers ; it is a low, wide, 
span-roofed pit, and the crop has been extraordinary. In a 
division is Vines in pots with hard short-jointed wood—good for 
either fruiting or planting. Such pits as these, with sunken path¬ 
way, and only the roof of glass, are inexpensive and most valuable 
adjuncts to any garden. 
The celebrated old Vine on the other side of the Palace is 
bearing its usual good crops of useful fruit for the Royal table. 
There are between twelve and thirteen hundred bunches, averaging 
about half a pound each. Thus there are a variety of features in 
this old Palace worthy of notice, and under Mr. Graham’s care the 
enjoyable character of the gardens is admirably sustained. 
TOMATO THE CONQUEROR, 
If I have the true variety, as I believe I have, as my seed was from 
one of the first seed firms in the kingdom, Mr. Iggulden is quite 
right in his description of Tomato “ The Conqueror.” I first tried 
it two years ago against several other varieties, including Criterion, 
Orangefield, and Excelsior, and found it earlier, more prolific, 
equal in size of fruit, and quite as good m flavour as any of the 
other sorts, and I now grow it exclusively. I have at this time a 
grand lot growing in a cool house and laden with fruit from 
bottom to top. They cover a trellis 12 feet high, and with a little 
help from fire heat will, I doubt not, keep a good supply of fruit 
till Christmas. All the fruits are more or less corrugated, some 
of the larger very deeply so, but I do not see that this is any 
detriment to them.—J. E. 
This is undoubtedly an excellent variety. It is a good grower, 
free cropper, early, firm, and of good quality when cooked. It 
resembles Vick’s Criterion in colour, being a reddish crimson, but 
the fruits are generally larger than those of Criterion, and not 
quite so smooth. Some of the medium-sized to small fruits may ap¬ 
proach somewhat to the smoothness of an egg, but nine out of ten 
are slightly corrugated. Mr. Igghlden appears to possess the true 
variety, at least if the one I have endeavoured to describe is true, 
and I have no reason to suppose it is not. Your correspondent 
“ Single-handed ” may also have the true variety—that is, if he 
has grown his plants in pots and cropped them heavily. Under 
these conditions the fruits of all Tomatoes are smoother than 
those produced by plants in rich soil or lightly cropped in pots, 
the plants being at the same time generously fed with rich top- 
dressings of liquid manure.—D. 
ZEPHYRANTHES CANDIDA. 
A coruespondent, who sent us specimens from which our 
engraving was prepared, writes as follows concerning the good 
Fig. 58.—Zephyrantlies Candida. 
qualities of this charming plant:—“ I now have scarcely a more 
attractive occupant of a border devoted to select hardy plants 
than the white West Windflower which is planted in moderate- 
