January 4,1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
i5 
kinds were finer than usual. Unfortunately, early Gladiolus had 
been killed by frost, and the display of these was wanting. The 
same frost destroyed nearly all our plants of Hyacinthus candicans, 
and also a large collection of Montbretias, as well as crippling 
Schizostylis coccinea and Tritomas. The other Gladiolus were 
somewhat crippled by want of water, and the spikes were not so 
good as usual; but as a set off the corms have never turned out 
cleaner or better ripened. The feature of the late autumn months 
was doubtless the Michaelmas Daisies. Aster amellus was beautiful 
for ten weeks, and A. novse-anglise and A. novae-belgae produced 
abundance of flowers. The season favoured Zonal Pelargoniums, 
and among these nothing was prettier than the clear pink Christine. 
Henry Jacoby next to this was the best. In our dry soil, notwith¬ 
standing much watering, Begonias did not prove successful. We 
had eleven beds of Begonias, and if it had not been that a ground¬ 
work of Koniga was growing among them, these beds would have 
been an eyesore. Dahlias were very floriferous; too much so, 
perhaps, as by autumn the flowers were small. We had some very 
beautiful forms of Cactus, such as St. Catherine, Kyneritb, Beauty 
of Arundel, Panther, Juarezi, Yellow Juarezi, and many more. 
Roses were particularly poor. They had been badly frostbitten, 
and then the drought made the period of flowering very short. 
However, many of the plants have made excellent growth, and the 
prospects for another year are encouraging. Rosa rugosa fruited 
freely, and the heps were very beautiful. Autumn Roses have 
been fairly plentiful. There has always been a few blooms of 
Gloire de Dijon ; last week we had some charming buds of Henry 
Bennet. Christmas Roses again are much earlier than usual; 
Helleborus maximus is almost past, H. angustifolius is just 
opening its pearly buds, and some of the species, such as atro-rubens, 
are opening flowers not a few. 
Regarding Chrysanthemums, the earlier varieties were very 
early, but the others have kept back exceedingly well—so much so, 
indeed, that we have a splendid Christmas and New Year supply. 
Our best at present comprise, in white varieties. Lady Margaret, 
Fair Maid of Guernsey, Madame Louise Leroy (a fine sort), 
Florence Percy, Princess Teck, Mons. Astorg, Condor, and some 
plants of Soeur Melanie kept cool. In yellow flowers we have 
Peter the Great, Miss A. Lowe, Guernsey Nugget, and Yellow 
Ethel in light shades ; Alice Bird, Old Gold, and President Hyde 
in dark shades. Red varieties are represented by Val d’Andorre, 
Julie Lagravere, and E. Molyneux; and rosy shades by Maiden’s 
Blush, Amy Furze, and Etoile de Lyon. Of earlier kinds I have 
never seen Elaine finer than this year. These, of course, are all 
grown as bush plants. 
Of annuals. Asters were excellent. Comet improves on 
acquaintance, and among white flowers this must be termed one 
of the best for cutting. I had a long-continued display of Sweet 
Williams, raised from seeds sown the previous year. Mignonette 
again from June until November was most attractive. I had a 
number of varieties, and allowed each plant room for development 
with a most pleasing result. Though the season was one of the 
worst for Sweet Peas flowering, by keeping the pods from develop¬ 
ing the bloom was generally good and continued as long as usual. 
The sorts I shall grow in largest numbers in 1894 will be Her 
Majesty, Venus, Blushing Beauty, Cardinal, Firefly, Countess of 
Radnor, Emily Eckford, Captain of the Blues, Mrs. Sankey, Lady 
Penzance, and Orange Prince. The only essentials to be observed 
with these are to give the plants plenty of room, to grow only the 
best kinds, and gather all the flowers as they open.—B. 
AFRICAN FLOWERS. 
When at times I read about the yellow Arum it occurs to me I 
may copy portions of letters received from my nephew in Swaziland, 
Africa, sent to me in 1891. Having to search for some other matter 
I came across these African letters, and am of an opinion that they 
will he of interest to* many readers of the Journal of Horticulture. 
My nephew writes as follows :— 
“ The seeds I sent home were those of a very pretty fluffy Grass, 
some white, some a coral pink, and also seeds of the Sensitive Plant 
which I think most probably the kind you had ; it grows to a fine 
bush here and has a very pretty blossom. Grasses are now coming 
on, and I hope to be able to send you some seeds shortly, though I 
do not know if they will come to perfection in your country. 
“ The Ferns are very prett}'^ and varied in the streams and gullies ; 
some I have pressed. The Tree Fern grows like a Palm in almost 
every kloof. 
“ We have a great variety of Lilies and Orchids. The Arum Lily 
is very plentiful in moist places, though the prettiest is a pink and 
white striped one which grows in great clusters, and which the 
natives dry and eat when short of food. When in blossom I used to 
have bunches, which the Kaffirs bring for a few matches, all over the 
place. 
“ A few months ago we had a flower more co.mmon than the 
Primrose in Sussex, but oouble the size and more like a Primula. 
The country is now a deep pick wi h a flower that grows like a 
Foxglove, only the petals are thick and waxy. That is the drawback 
in pressing flowers here, the flowers bt ing mostly of a waxy nature. 
This is a fine country for anything to grow provided seedlings get a 
fair start before being put out in the sun. 1 have started a number of 
plants by sowing in the ordinary way, but no sooner they begin to 
show than the sun scorches them. I tried by putting matting over, 
but if only left off for a few minutes they are destroyed. 
“ The Granadillas (a Passion-flower with eatable fruit) are 
covering the place. Young Peaches are forming, and four of pur 
Banana trees are in fruit. We also have Pawpaws lipe, like a Melon 
in appearance and shape, but grows on the stem of a tree 20 feet 
high ; of Granadillas we have a cartload. 
“ The red leaf enclosed makes a very pretty hedgerow ; the plant 
from which it was taken grows very thick, about 3 feet 6 inches high. 
Any slip will grow, and in a very few months makes a heavy bush. 
It produces feathery white blossoms twice a year and is an ever red, 
never losing any foliage. The green and white kind is a variety, how 
caused I cannot tell, as on the same root half may spring up red and 
half the green and white. It is easily trimmed with a sickle or bush 
knife. 
“I expect some Oranges this year. Wattle?, Gums, and Pinus 
insignia do wonderfully well and grow at a tremendous rate. Gums 
grow 15 feet a year, but in the first year we lose about three out of 
five from white ants, and about five out of ten afterwards. ; 
“ I have found a very pretty wild flowering plant which makes 
excellent garden edging. It is a Daisy as large as a Mars^uerite, but 
only grows about 8 inches high. It is a free bloomer and has much 
improved by cultivation. 
“ We have a scarlet Marguerite, very showy, which grows a few 
miles off and which I want to try in the garden ; also a large bright 
yellow flower as large as a Chrysanthemum and like a Dandeliqti in 
looks, only a brighter colour and about six times the size, growing 
about 18 inches high. 
“ My patch of Sunflowers was not a success for food use. The 
plants grew beautifully, but 80 per cent, of what should have been 
seed had no substance—merely husks. 
“Business is very quiet, and I think we shall have to take tf- 
farming. I am going to try Oaffee and Tea, as I fancy from repoil 
the country is suitable for them, though I think they have not yeA 
been tried. Cotton is spoken well of on the flats.’’ 
1 sowed seeds of the coral-pink Grass, but the seedlings perished 
quickly after commencing growth. The seeds of the Sensitive Plant 
did not germinate. Some other seeds sent were described as belonging^ 
to a climber that had round white scented flowers as large as a plate, 
and locally called the “ Moonflower.” Seeds of it germinated, but 
do what I would after growing the plants about 2 feet they suddenly 
flagged and some started again from the bottom, but all eventually 
died. I have the red leaf and green and white leaf, but do not 
know the botanical name of the plant.— J. H. Verrall. 
[We are very much obliged to Mr. Verrall, and we quite agree 
with him in thinking that the citations in question will be perused 
with interest by many of our readers.] 
APPLE WINTER MAJETIN. 
With this I enclose for your inspection some Apples, the fruit of 
which is described to me as remaining on the tree till March, and then 
being fit for use. In a walled garden by Friar Street, Sudbury, stands a 
tree from which these Apples were gathered. The leafless branches are 
covered with a good crop of fruit, only very few being blown down by 
the violent gale about a fortnight since. The tree is quite healthy, and 
I should say from ten to twelve years old. It appears to be budded dose 
down on the ground, or it may be raised from a “ burr knot,’’ a not 
uncommon practice in Norfolk and Suffolk. In appearance it reseipbles 
the old Kent sort called “ French Crab,” but it differs in one or two 
particulars.— Thomas Bunyard. 
[The Apple is Winter Majetin—a good culinary variety in use till 
May, preserving its deep green colour. “ This variety,” says Dr. Hogg, 
in the “ Fruit Manual,” “ is, strictly speaking, a Noifolk Apple, where 
it is much grown for the local markets. It was first made public by 
Mr. George Bindley, who introduced it to the notice of the London 
Horticultural Society. In the ‘ Guide to the Orchard,’it is stated that 
the Aphis lanigera or ‘ mealy bug,’ so destructive to most of our old 
orchard trees, seems to be set at defiance by the Majetin. ‘An old .tree 
now growing in a garden belonging to Mr. William Youngman of 
Norwich, which had been grafted about 3 feet high in the stem, has 
been for many years attacked by this insect below the grafted par t 
but never above it, the limbs and branches being to this day perfectly 
free, although all the other trees in the same garden have been infected 
more or less with it,’ ”] ; 
