October 7, 1880. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 329 
from large into small pots would effect a great improvement in 
the condition of many plants that are not tliriving'satisfactorily.” 
- "Referring- to the statement which we republished from 
the Irish Farmers' Gazette , that a Lord Palmerston Teach 
had been gathered 11 inches in circumference^ and [weighing 
17 ozs., Mr. F. Prothero of Malpas Gardens, St. Thomas, Exeter, 
informs us that he has gathered a fruit of this variety Ilf inches 
in circumference, and it only weighed 13 ozs. He has also grown 
fruit of Lady Palmerston lOj inches in circumference, the trees 
of both varieties being grown against a wall in the open air. 
•- Mr. Wm, Sutherland, late manager to Messrs. It. P. 
Ker & Sons, Aigburth Nurseries, and to Messrs.'[Ireland and 
Thomson, Craigleith Nurseries, Edinburgh, has been appointed 
manager to Mr. J. Cowan, The Garston Vineyard, Liverpool. 
- We learn from the Banffshire Journal that Mr. Stephen 
Osborn, late gardener and bailiff to the Earl of Effingham, Tus- 
more, Bicester, has been appointed gardener and bailiff to the 
Earl of Fife, Upper Sheen House, Mortlake, Surrey. 
-An attractive herbaceous plant that still continues flowering 
in the borders is Cuphea silenioides VAR. Zampari, It is 3 or 
4 feet in height, and bears the large rich purple peculiarly formed 
flowers near the upper portion of the branches. This is the best 
of the varieties of Cuphea silenioides in showiness, and succeeds 
admirably in any light rich soil, the flowers being produced 
throughout the greater part of the summer and autumn. 
- We are requested to state that “ The Amies Chemical 
Manure Company ” have removed from No. 79, Mark Lane, to 
more extensive and convenient offices at No. 75, Mark Lane, 
London, E.C. 
- We learn from the Gardeners' Magazine that 178 varieties 
of Potatoes were represented at the recent International Po¬ 
tato Show. The number of dishes staged of the chief exhibition 
varieties were as follow :—Magnum Bonum, 143 ; Schoolmaster, 
108 ; International, 94 ; Grampian, 85 ; Vicar of Laleham, 71 ; 
Snowflake, 00; Trophy, 58; Porter’s Excelsior, 56 ; Woodstock 
Kidney, 55 ; Triumph, 51 ; Blanchard, 43 ; Bed Emperor, 40 ; 
Manhattan, 35 ; Early Rose, 30 ; Covent Garden Perfection, 27 ; 
Early Vermont, 26 ; Climax, 25 ; Pride of America, 24 ; Brow¬ 
nell’s Superior, 23 ; Rector of Woodstock, 21 ; Bresee’s Peerless 
and Breadfruit, 20 each ; Bountiful and Pride of Ontario, 18 each ; 
Late Rose, Wonderful, and Mammoth Pearl, 17 each. The follow¬ 
ing well-known and useful varieties were represented by a few 
dishes—namely, York Regent, 2; Myatt’s Prolific Ashleaf, 15 ; 
Victoria, 5 ; White Don, 1 ; and Lapstone, 7; while 57 varieties 
were represented by single dishes only. 
- The Irish print which we were obliged to take to task a 
fortnight ago for press piracy, has confessed its fault, tendered 
its “most ample apology” to its copier, and thereupon, as might 
be expected, it sets to roundly abusing us, who are the only sufferers 
from its misconduct. The Editor of the print in question is an 
old offender, and we presume the consciousness of the fact vexes 
him. Last December the following paragraph appeared in the 
“ Gardener: ”— 
“ We would recommend the Irish ‘Gardeners’ Record’ to the at¬ 
tentive perusal of the horticultural press generally—it is worth 
watching. It is difficult to feel anything but commiseration and 
sympathy for a journal that has to pack its pages promiscuously 
with paragraphs about such subjects as ‘Holloway’s Pills,’ which the 
‘ Record ’ states, ‘ are as mild as they are efficacious.’ This statement 
is not given as an advertisement, and so we expect its Editor has 
tried therm There is no harm, of course, in a grateful acknowledg¬ 
ment of this kind ; but it is different when the ‘ Record ’ appropriates 
whole chapters from its contemporaries without acknowledgment, 
simply because it appreciates them as it does the pills. We observe 
that it has transferred that chapter of the Squire’s Gardener’s ’ on 
‘ Mixed Flower-Gardening,’ from ‘ The Gardener ’ to its own pages 
without as much as ‘ By ’r leave, sir.’ Bobbing the ample stores of 
‘ The Gardener ’ is perhaps not so heinous an offence; but what is 
anyone to think of the same paper abstracting matter in the same 
way from the pages of its humble contemporary ‘ The Villa Gar¬ 
dener ? ’ In the same number of the ‘ Record ’ is an unacknowledged 
article on ‘ Epidendrums,’ which appeared in the ‘ V. G.’ of August 
last. There are also articles on one or two other subjects we should 
like to know the parentage of.” 
Again in February of the present year it was observed in the 
same paper—• 
“ Since we recommended the Irish ‘ Gardeners’ Record ’ to the at¬ 
tentive perusal of the horticultural press, that paper has been wonder¬ 
fully profuse in its acknowledgments of its sources of information, 
and its contents now show to what extent such prints are indebted 
to their contemporaries for their matter, one might almost say for 
their existence. The horticultural portion of the ‘ Record ’ consists 
of about nine pages of large type, and that space in the number 
before us contains no fewer than twelve borrowed articles and 
extracts, and these, it need hardly be said, form the pith of the 
paper.” 
WINDOW GARDENING. 
At page 305 “B. T.” reminds us that the season for damping- 
off is at hand, and gives some advice as to saving Primulas from 
its effects. That his plan is effectual I readily admit, but it is 
possible that some who cannot carry out his instructions may 
grow Primulas as well as those who do, and that simply by the 
exercise of additional discretion and care at critical moments, 
thereby saving a goodly item in expenditure. There has been 
unfortunately of late too much credit given for results without 
regarding the costs. I know that in the horticultural world it is 
difficult to judge how much credit actually belongs to a man, how 
much to natural and other advantages, and how much to accident. 
But gardeners themselves ought to be able to judge of their own 
achievements in an unbiased way. I believe many of the best of 
them do this, and that although outsiders and employers may 
praise and even flatter, there is a meek inward feeling that the 
result, brilliant as it may be, is not worth the cost. 
To have Primulas 18 inches across in February or March after 
growing them all winter in a temperature of 50° to 55° may be 
creditable, but it is nothing extraordinary, as I have many of this 
season’s plants as large as that already, which have been simply 
grown in cold frames, and which would in a cottage window or 
an airy greenhouse flower through the greater part of the autumn 
and winter. Let it be understood that I do not want to boast of 
my own doings—indeed they are not mine, for I have never either 
potted or watered one of the plants—and would prefer not men¬ 
tioning them except for the sake of illustration, not to disparage 
the achievements of “ B. T.,” which may be much more creditable 
than I imagine ; but I want to see the growing of such simple 
and beautiful flowers as Primulas, Begonias, and Cyclamens 
become more popular and take the place to a certain extent of 
the Pelargoniums one everywhere sees in the cottage windows. I 
ought not to say much against Pelargoniums, as the cottages in 
this neighbourhood are greatly enlivened by their presence, and 
they make a gorgeous display for the benefit of the passer-by. 
But what about the background ? It is simple ugliness itself, and 
to produce it the inmates consent to sit in semi-darkness. 
There are many plants of easy growth which are naturally of 
symmetrical habit, such as the three I have mentioned among 
flowering plants, and Ferns, Palms, Dracmnas, and Ficus elastica 
among foliage plants, to which may be added others which, if not 
quite symmetrical, have at least some beauty on both sides, as 
Richardia asthiopica and Vallota purpurea. Two or three of any 
of these plants will furnish a window without obstructing more 
light than a narrow blind, for which generally they may be sub¬ 
stituted, and will give pleasure both to the traveller and the 
resident. Once let the cottagers know that the most beautiful of 
Tuberous Begonias may be easily had flowering in their windows 
through the summer, and that one of the best of all winter flowers, 
the Cyclamen, will take the same position in winter, I should 
expect to see a rapid change in window gardening. I advise, then, 
that when there is a choice of doing the same thing by extra care 
as by spending a comparatively large amount of money, we should 
to a great extent recommend the former method, for care begets 
love.— Wm. Taylor. 
HEAVILY CROPPED VINES. 
One of the greatest and most common mistakes made in Grape¬ 
growing, and which has often been commented on in this Journal, 
is overcropping. This heavy cropping, however, may under 
certain conditions be repeated with impunity, as some of the most 
heavily cropped Vines that I have yet seen, and which I have 
every reason to believe have been equally as heavily cropped in 
previous years—and still remain vigorous—are those in two fine 
span-roofed houses at The Deodars, Meopham, Kent. Mr. Phillips, 
