November 11, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
425 
Instead of large, rich, and melting, here it is small and worthless, and in 
Kent I have found it of fairly good quality as a rule. Josephine de 
Malines is of no use in this neighbourhood ; it is small and poor in 
quality. 
Doyennb du Cornice ripens here middle of October, and also in Kent I 
have noticed it the same time, instead of December as stated on page 404. 
The following varieties do well here, and are placed as near as possible 
in the order of ripening. 
Doyennd d’Etd, Beurr6 GiSard, Jargonelle, Williams’ Bon Chretien, 
Brockworth Park, Fondante d’Antomne, Louise Bonne of Jersey, 
Doyennb du Comice, Marie Louise, Pitmaston Duchess, Emile d'Heyst 
syn. Beurrd d’Esperen, Beurrd Bose, General Todleben, Winter Nelis, 
Easter Beurrd, Passe Colmar, Bergamotte Esperen, Ne Plus Meuris.— 
W. H. Diveks, Ketton Hall, Stamford. 
COMMON FLOWERS FOR CUTTING. 
Of hardy flowers there is a goodly number either to select from 
or to grow as a collection. At this period of the year we are 
approaching the end of these for another season, but of the few 
which bloom during the dull months of winter we have already some 
stray flowers appearing. Of these are Schizostylis coccinea, many 
spikes of which are now well forward, and some open. In moderately 
open winters this does very well planted so as to have the protection 
of a south wall ; on a south border and protected by rough frames 
very fine spikes of clear bright flowers are freely produced. The 
plant must have good cultivation, and requires breaking up and 
transplanting every spring in rich soil. Christmas Roses are also 
now beginning to show, strong clumps of the rnaximus form pushing 
up numb»rs of buds. This is the most prolific of what are termed 
the “minor” varieties, three good blooms on each stalk being quite 
common. The blooms of all the Christmas Roses are easily damaged, 
the roughest method of gaining purity in the flowers being to cover 
the plants with dry leaves or fern. Large beds we cover 
with old sashes, and when we want a large number of 
flowers quickly they are cut in the bud state and put into a stove 
temperature, in which they open quite full out in the course of two 
or three days. For vase work we use half-expanded blooms ; these 
open quite pure, and last much longer than fully opened blooms do. 
Christmas Roses as a rule are much the best used in glasses by them¬ 
selves, using as a setting a good leaf of their own foliage, and at 
most a very good frond of Maidenhair Fern. Another indispensable 
winter flower is the Czar Violet. This variety flowers well in most 
winters if the stock is annually replanted ; April or May is the best 
time for this work, rooted runners being taken and planted in good 
soil well enriched. To bloom in winter we plant under the protec¬ 
tion of walls. The same plant flowers well at the usual flowering 
time, but bets in the open garden do best for spring flowering. In 
early spring there are not many flowers which grow in the open 
borders which are suitable for cutting. True, we can on occasion 
make use of Snowdrops, Crocuses, &c., but that is only “ on occasion.” 
But a good early-flowering plant is to be found in Doronicum 
caucasicum, a pretty starry yellow flower ; D. austriacum may also 
be grown, but these are much alike. Helleborus atro-rubens is a 
pretty flower—-exceedingly pretty, but unfortunately does not stand 
well when cut. Then the earlier of the 
Daffodils should be planted in quantity, Narcissus minimus being 
both pretty and useful. Other good and cheap Narcissi are the 
common Lent Lily, N. bicolor, N. telamonius, N. poeticus, N. poeticus 
ornatus, N. p. flore-plena, N. incomparabilis, N. i. Leedsi, and 
the double form of incomparabilis. These grown in quantity will 
yield a lengthened harvest of their beautiful flowers. A point worth 
noting in their culture is this : the bulbs flower much better if occa¬ 
sionally lifted and planted thinly. One extensive grower we know 
lifts annually, but that is hardly necessary, every third year doing 
very well. It may be noted that Daffodils make up into beautiful 
wreaths, and that the double poeticus is most useful for all decorative 
floral work. Then, of course, we have Wallflowers, of which we 
may say here that selected plants ought to be grown and seeded in 
pots in order to keep the strain select. The dark blood-red strains 
are very beautiful, but I by no means object to some Bhades of red. 
The old “ double ” black form is a most useful variety, and of this 
we grow a goodly number. Very charming flowers, too, are these 
improved strains of Polyanthuses, which everybody should grow. A 
bed of good whites and another of yellows is well worth the little 
care they require to have good, though they do under the most ordi¬ 
nary treatment. Seed sown early in April with us blooms in the spring 
succeeding. 
Taking now the best cutting flowers as they come to mind we 
first note Chrysanthemums. Of these the very finest is undoubtedly 
Madame C. Desgranges, a variety which has taken a foremost place 
with all who have to produce quantities of good flowers for cutting. 
Even in our northern latitude it does exceedingly well out of doors, 
both as sheltered by a south wall and grown in open borders. As we 
have found it possesses a few little traits which must be studied and 
provided for, we may be allowed to note these here. Those anxious 
to get as much bloom as possible out of each plant very naturally 
expect that a judicious system of pinching will help them. In this 
instance such is not the case, as pinching has the effect of reducing 
the quantity of bloom. Well-grown plants of this variety break all 
the way up the stem, and when in full bloom a broad convex head is 
formed by the many dozens of flowers open at the same time. Then 
this sort does much better grown out of pots, even should they be 
wanted to flower in these, although when one has to limit the size of 
pot for house decorative purposes, it is necessary to grow them in 
pots. Generally, however, the best way is to grow them like 
Arums or other decorative plants. Old plants, again, flower much 
earlier than those from cuttings of the same year, and this is a point 
of considerable importance, as by using these old plants in pots we 
can girdle the year with good Chrysanthemums, there being no diffi¬ 
culty in keeping such sorts as Mrs. C. Carey and Fair Maid of 
Guernsey in bloom until the “ Desgranges ” cake their place. That, 
however, by the way. As to their adaptability for cutting, that almost 
goes without saying, although we have found full developed flowers 
drop their petals to a destructive extent, and that indeed is the only 
fault which this variety has. For wreath-making of the best class it 
is first-rate, the larger blooms 6 inches or so across being quite as fine 
as Elaine is later. It is also one of the best flowers for wiring for 
table decoration as at present in vogue, and for vase-filling nothing 
excels it. For the latter purpose the blooms may be used singly in 
the smaller glasses, or whole stems cut and employed quite naturally 
in conjunction with other flowers for large vases. The yellowish 
centre of the younger blooms are very often condemned as detracting 
from the beauty of the flowers, but for general purposes this does 
not hold. The yellow variety G. Wermig we fully expect to be, if not 
of actual va'ue, at least not very far behind the original form. It 
seems to have the property which so many yellow sports possess of 
flowering somewhat earlier than the white. 
Another very good early hardy sort is Precocite, a medium flower 
as to size, rich yellow, and flowering throughout the autumn. La 
Petite Marie is another very good kind, and useful for wreath-making. 
La Vierge maybe mentioned here, as it does exceedingly well planted 
out and lifted to open its flowers under glass. This we expect will 
take its place alongside Madame Desgranges, Lady Selborne, Mrs. 
Rundle, Elaine, and Fair Maid of Guernsey as a standard cutting 
sort.—B. 
REVIEW OF GRAPES. 
I beg to remind Mr. J. Mclndoe (page 415) that I have not said one 
word against Mr. Taylor in this discussion nor at any other time, neither 
have I tried to discredit any statement made by him. Mr. Taylor was 
not a successful rival of mine at the Crystal Palace Show, and I repudiate 
Mr. Mclndoe’s insinuation. Your remarks on the Gros Maroc Grape s c nt 
you by Mr. Stephen Castle, as well as those of “ A Medallist ” and many 
others, go to show that there were good grounds for discussion. It was 
your correspondent’s “ explanation ” of the difference in the two bunches 
of Grapes in question that drew me into this discussion, in the hope that 
he would prove conclusively the soundness of the grounds upon which he 
made his first statement; but instead of trying to do this, he has shifted 
his position in the case from that of defendant to special pleader, and 
attempts to make me the defendant by wrongfully accusing me of having 
attributed unworthy motives to Mr. Taylor, whom he makes an unwilling 
plaintiff. As I never write anything that I need be afraid or ashamed to 
put my name, I am sorry for the sake of Mr. Mclndoe that I have not 
given my name, as is my wont, at the beginning of this discussion, and 
which I most certainly should have done had I started the subject, but for 
the present I must remain to Mr. Mcludoe— An Exhibitor. 
[Our correspondent is quite within his right, and he is too high- 
minded to write with the object of attributing unworthy motives to 
anyone.] 
HARD WATER AND BOILERS. 
Where nothing but very hard water is available for filling the boilers 
and hot-water pipes it is astonishing how soon this proves destructive to 
the former. Here, for instance, we are continually worried with the 
boilers, and not a winter passes without a breakdown of some kind. In 
another.garden situated in Wales the boilers of all descriptions that have 
been tried seem equally unreliable, and many a young man has been 
thoroughly disheartened with the almost impossible duty of keeping up - 
the requisite heat of the forcing houses on ordinary occasions, and mire 
especially during frosty weather. Various remedies have been suggested 
and various experiments tried to soften the water, none of which is of 
much use when much water is constantly passing from the supply cistern 
into the boilers. When everything is in good working order or compa¬ 
ratively new very little water is wasted, and what therefore is let or 
poured into the feed cistern may be softened by some means and with 
advantage. But when the pipes run “ nobody knows where and nobody 
knows how,” many of them being very old, many buried out of reach of 
ordinary observation, and all connected in various forms and by various 
hot-water engineers, it is not at all surprising to find there is always some 
