August 18, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
143 
Annie Douglas, another yellow ground, with a bright rose edge, 
is a grand bloom. 
A fresh departure is marked in the variety Old Coin, which 
was certificated on the 9th inst. It is a flaked flower on a yellow 
ground, the distinctive colours being crimson and rose. It is 
very distinct, and many will consider it beautiful, while it lasts 
wonderfully well. Romulus is a yellow ground with a deep rose 
suffusion. Victory is a yellow ground Fancy Carnation flaked 
with red, handsome and free. Ruby is a superb ruby self, with a 
fine petal and shapely bloom. Rose Wynne is very fine and 
distinct in colour, being a rich velvety purplish crimson, and 
has a broad smooth petal. Rose Unique is lustrous, rosy pink 
with excellent petal. Lady Mary Currie is a fine rose flake which 
runs into a magnificent rose self. It is difficult to say which is 
the more beautiful. Mr. Clements is a fine primrose self, dis¬ 
tinctly paler than Germania and with many of the good points of 
that grand flower. Iver White is a remarkably pure self and very 
free flowering. It should prove to be an excellent border variety. 
We noted these as a few good things picked out from many others 
in passing through the houses, but after all they are only a fragment 
of the splendid Slough collection, which grows in numbers and 
beauty every season. 
BEGONIAS AT BEXLEY. 
In a tranquil retired spot close to Bexley Heath, hemmed in by cool 
shady lanes, and apparently far from the City smoke, is Crook Lodge, 
in the nursery and fields attached to which a Begonia home has been 
established by Mr. T. S. Ware. It is a delightful house, creeper-covered, 
as all houses should be ; a cool, retired dwelling that the passer-by 
would find a word of admiration for, and then proceed on his way. But 
there is a keynote struck of the treasures within, for the neat front 
garden is all ablaze with noble Begonias, and involuntarily he stops to 
make a fuller inspection. There are Begonias everywhere ; the house 
is half clothed with them, the garden is full of them. They shine and 
shimmer in the summer sun, a glory of scarlet, orange, rose, yellow, and 
white ; not common material poorly grown, but having the hall-mark 
of high quality about them, and in magnificent condition. Those 
unaware that a cutting of the great Tottenham tree had been struck 
here and become firmly rooted would wonder what the meaning of it 
was, and conclude, perhaps, that he had dropped by chance on the 
retreat of some amateur with Begonias on the brain, who gratified a not 
ignoble taste with a lavish hand. 
For all its countrified air Crook Lodge is not so far from the 
metropolis. It is reached, inspected, and returned from in the course 
of an afternoon without difficulty. Those who do not object to half an 
hour’s walk should take the train from Charing Cross, Cannon Street, 
or London Bridge to Bexley, and if the day be fine they will find the 
walk through the Kentish corn fields and fruit gardens not the least 
pleasant of the day’s experiences; but if it is wished to avoid this, a 
train to Woolwich Arsenal and a ’bus from the Station door will 
between them carry the visitor through with a walk of 20 yards at 
the outside. It is a matter of taste as to which be chosen ; both 
are pleasant and in bright weather enjoyable, while when the end 
is reached and the visitor is safe in the hands of that illustrious 
dignitary Mr. Pope there is no fear that he will have occasion to regret 
his journey. 
I need hardly dwell on the reasons that induced Mr. Ware to 
establish a Begonia nursery at Bexley Heath. Doubtless he thought he 
perceived an opening for a profitable business in the great tuber, and 
with characteristic thoroughness went to work to establish one. A 
capable man was secured to conduct the enterprise, and expense was not 
spared in putting it on a sound footing. Although but a short time has 
elapsed since a start was made successful progress has to be recorded, 
and the sagacity of the Tottenham directorate receives one more proof. 
The quality of the varieties and the excellence of the culture bestowed 
on them are manifest directly the inspection is begun. A magnificent 
house of singles is the first one to be entered, and with the serried ranks 
of superbly bloomed plants it is a splendid sight. The habit of the 
plants is of the highest order. They are a sturdy, self-supporting race, 
with huge flowers borne well above the leaves on substantial stems. 
In glancing from plant to plant, noting their fine qualities and 
robust healthy appearance, it is impossible to resist a hearty “ well 
done,” for assuredly there is material for any raiser and grower to be 
proud of. 
One of the first to arrest attention is Pride of Bexley, blush, large 
and very free, with stout flower stems raising the blooms above an 
ample canopy of foliage. Bexley White, pure white with a faint rose 
edge, is large and fine. Goliath is a grand orange with very large 
flowers and handsom# foliage. Moravia is conspicuous for its rich 
crimson flowers. Leonora is a lovely carmine, very rich and free, cer¬ 
tainly one of the most beautiful, though not the largest. Yelleda is a 
fine yellow, bright in colour, and very free. Purity is an excellent 
white, a profuse bloomer, and with long stems. Venus, carmine with 
white centre, has the good qualities of pleasing appearance and 
abundant floriferousness. Superba is a high-class scarlet, very brilliant 
in tone, and Dean Swift is another equally vivid in hue, with well- 
rounded flowers, like a good Zonal Pelargonium. May our leading 
raisers give us many more like it, and so replace by degrees with 
superior material the old pointed-petalled, quartered flowers. A note 
of praise must be sounded for Marginata, pure white with deep rose 
edge; and also for Devonia, a very fine yellow with salmon 
centre, the flowers borne on enormous stems. Crimson Bedder 
is small but full of bloom. The habit of the plant quite 
reminds one of a Persian Cyclamen, for the flowers are borne erect above 
a cluster of evenly disposed leaves. Here again we have a model for 
exhibitors to work by, particularly with a view to bedding material. 
Nerissa is a rosy pink, charming in colour, large and fine. Blushing 
Bride is a soft pink, but drooping with quite excessive modesty. In 
Perfection, orange, we have another beautifully rounded bloom, and 
Sovereign possesses the same quality of good shape allied with a rich 
yellow hue. Shelley, rosy crimson with white centre, has long pendent 
stems, and was evidently born to adorn a basket. Bicolor, white, tinged 
with yellow in the centre, claims the triple attraction of a rosy 
margin. Bexley White is a magnificent variety, combining purity of 
tone with perfect roundness, large size, vigorous stems, and freedom 
of blooming. We cannot have too many like it. Challenger, rich 
purplish crimson ; Alba Fimbriata, white, noteworthy from the petals 
being deeply dentated ; Angola, lovely pink; Zanda, salmon ; Lord 
Byron, scarlet with white centre, and Sunset are other beautiful singles. 
The latter is fiery orange with a glow about it that at once suggests its 
name. 
There are many more fine singles, but the collection of doubles is 
also both large and fine, and the choicest of the varieties must have 
their turn. Duchess of Teck is a grand yellow, having good flowers and 
a fine habit. Miss Jeannie Fell is a delightful rosy red, Camellia-like 
in form, and as graceful and shapely as any of them all. Princess May, 
white and with crimped petals, is a beautiful companion to it. Baronne 
de St. Didier, also with crimped petals, is of a clear sulphur hue. 
Victory is a fine Hollyhock-like scarlet. Triumph is a splendid crimson, 
still hard to beat. Mrs. F. Fell, salmon, is a fine handsome flower. 
Alba Magna is a grand white of fine habit. Picotee, blush with yellow 
centre, is noteworthy for its clear rose edge. Claribel, salmon with 
white centre ; Marquise de Trevise, blush with a rosy suffusion ; Hen- 
shaw Russell, scarlet, a very free bloomer and of good habit ; Messina, 
salmon, full of bloom ; Comtesse O’Gorman, clear canary yellow ; and 
Una, rosy pink, are all excellent. Beauty of Belgrove, a silvery pink. 
Camellia-like bloom, of good habit and very free, is beautiful and 
striking. It would be interesting to know whether Mr. Gumbleton 
thinks that it merits its name, for his standard of excellence is high. 
Pavona, pink, has fine form and pleasing colour to recommend it. 
Solferine, sulphur with rose tip, is distinct. Serica is a charming button¬ 
hole flower, but I hardly care to venture on a description of its colouring. 
Duke of Teck, brilliant scarlet-crimson, a fine Hollyhock-like flower ; 
Alice Crousse, soft pink ; and Procida, blush, are a trio with which my 
notes may worthily conclude. 
It is noteworthy that large pots are not believed in. The largest 
size used is 24’s, and many of the best plants are in 48’s. The 
visitor should not leave without inspecting the field where 200,000 
Begonias are bedded out. It is wonderful to see, with the broad 
masses of bloom in all the unexampled richness of colour which these 
noble flowers command. They are splendidly grown, full of bloom, 
and in great variety. To describe them would be impossible, and it 
needs the full strength of a burning reflection that less than half an 
hour remains to reach a station nearly two miles away to turn from the 
flowers and say farewell.—W. P. W. 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
Land : Its Attractions and Riches. The Land Roll Office, 3, 
Lincoln's Inn Fields. 
Amongst a number of books that have long awaited notice, which 
the pressure incident to the show season has hitherto precluded, is one 
of considerable size and importance under the above comprehensive and 
attractive title. It embodies the work of fifty-seven authors, and is 
edited by Mr. C. F. Dowsett, F.S.I. Probably it has proved a somewhat 
costly undertaking ; and it seems to contain matter of interest on 
almost all subjects connected with the land. There is a good deal in 
the book of a controversial character, but a great deal more of general 
interest to landowners, and not a little that may be fairly regarded as 
of substantial value to landworkers. 
Instead of enumerating the chapters in the book we prefer to take 
brief extracts from some of them as indicating its character, and which 
may be suggestive or interesting to our readers. Thus, Dr. W. B. 
Richardson, in treating on “ Health in Relation to Land,” says :— 
“ Agriculture provides aliment for health. But it does more ; it 
provides health for the body ; it is, indeed, the great factor of health. 
As agriculture declines perfect and typical health declines, and a people 
that had no land in cultivation would soon be as poor as the land itself. 
Our great cities and towns are the markets of the world in respect to 
material things and produce ; they are the markets also of health—no 
less, no more. We have to send our produce into the markets, and we 
have to send our health there from the country—from the land. Health 
is a crop good or bad, according to its cultivation. It may be bad 
although it be bred in the country and on the land ; but it thrives 
best when the land thrives best, as if the two were one and the same. 
In the eyes of the sanitarian land is the test of health. Good land, 
rightly cultivated, is the cradle of health for all oops, animal or 
vegetable.” 
