292 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October «, 1887. 
and hearty, set the fashion in Scotland in Hollyheck exhibiting in 
conjunction with Mr. John Downie and others. I have seen glorious 
displays of Hollyhocks in the old experimental garden shows and 
others in the City of Edinburgh, and well do I remember the old 
B shop Auckland displays when Mr. John Downie and I were Judges 
together for some years. 
The disease question should have full information thrown upon 
it by our growers. In some plants I had from Bath this year the 
disease was perceptive in young plants, and I wrote to the sender 
about it, and he replied that the plants would grow out of it, and 
they did. With the winter before us there is ample time for a dis¬ 
cussion as to the Hollyhock disease and its remedies, and our growers 
will do “ the State some service ” if they will give your readers 
their experience.— William Dean, Walsall. 
Mr. Steel will find the following twenty-four varieties of 
Hollyhocks to be the best he could grow, twelve of which I have 
marked with a star as being the best twelve. Four of this number 
have been certificated by the Royal Horticultural Society and at 
the Crystal Palace during the last two seasons. Mr. Chater of 
Cambridge (son of the veteran grower), and an enthusiastic 
amateur grower himself, has pronounced Crimson Queen and Wm. 
Archer to be the finest he has ever b len. It is almost needless to 
add that these are most of the late Mr. Chater’s own raising, and 
appeared in his last catalogue. 
* Alfred Chater, mottled rose ; Bijou, scarlet suffused with 
buff; * Carus Chater, fine glowing reddish crimson ; Constance, 
delicate flesh ; Crimson Queen, intense crimson, first-class certifi¬ 
cate 1886; ° Cygnet, pure white, large and full ; c Exultum, blackish 
maroon, requires shading ; 0 Fred Chater, pale yellow, fine ; * Fire 
King, intense glowing scarlet ; ° Golden Drop, deep canary yellow ; 
° Grace, apple blossom, first-class certificate 1886 ; 5 Jessie Dean, 
soft silvery rose tinted with buff ; Marion, purplish rose ; Marvel¬ 
lous, deep orange buff ; Mr. Chater, deep amber, at times tinted 
with carmine; Perfection, delicate silvery flesh ; Purity, deep 
salmon flesh ; ° Primrose Gem, pale primrose ; Prince Arthur, 
pale yellowish buff ; Peri, sulphur white ; Purple Prince, fine in 
the spike ; 0 Scarlet Gem, scarlet flushed with cerise, first-class 
certificate 1887 ; Victor, bright cerise ; * Wm. Archer, deep reddish 
purple, first-class certificate 1887.—G. Webb, Saffron Walden. 
The Frost. —Mr. Wm. Jenkins, Aldin Grange, Durham, writes :— 
“On the morning of the 28th we were surprised, to find there 
had been 8° of frost. Chrysanthemums were all drooping their heads 
and looked almost as if there had been a fall of snow, so dense was the 
frost on the foliage, and the soil was frozen hard in the pots. The late 
varieties, the points of which were soft, have suffered the most. About 
a dozen plants of Boule de Neige, upon which I was depending for 
blooms in January and February, are injured almost beyond recovery. 
Mrs. C. Carey is drooping its head with the leaves quite black. I 
do not find that the earlier varieties have suffered at all where the bud, 
hal been taken and the foliage became hard and mature; in all cases it 
is where the growth is soft and immature. Dahlias, of course are quite 
done for, and nearly every Potato top in the district is killed to the soil 
In the case of third early varieties of course this is not a serious matters 
but a few weeks’ more growth for the Magnums and Champions would hav e 
benefited the tubers greatly, especially after the heavy rains we have 
been 1 aving, and we hope our friends in the south have fared somewhat 
letter.” 
- We learn that The United Horticultural Benefit and 
Provident Society will hold a dinner to commemorate its twenty-first 
anniversary, on Tuesday, October 11th, 1887, at 7.45 P.M., at the “Cale¬ 
donian ” Hotel, Robert Street, Adelphi Terrace, Strand, W.C., Harry 
Veitcb, Esq., in the chair, supported by Mr. R. Dean. Tickets 5s. each- 
The Committee hope to have the company of as many friends as possi¬ 
ble, so that the gathering may be really a success, and of ultimate benefit 
to the Society. Tickets can be obtained from any member of the Com¬ 
mittee and from Mr. U. C. Foil, The Putney Floral and Horticultural 
Depot, 8, Salisbury Pavement, Putney, and to whom applications must 
be made not later than October 7th. 
- The fruits or “ keys ” of Ailantus glandulosa are un¬ 
usually abundant this year, as they sometimes are after a hot summer, 
and we recently saw a row of trees in Messrs. Rivers and Son’s nursery 
at Sawbridgeworth that had an exceedingly handsome appearance. 
Some of the “keys” were of a rich mahogany tint, and all were ex¬ 
tremely brightly coloured. A correspondent also writes :—“ We have a 
good specimen of Ailantus glandulosa from forty to forty-five years old. 
This tree flowered freely in July, and is now covered with large bunches 
of seeds, similar in form to those of the Ash, but of a bright red colour. 
The effect is beautiful when the sun shines on it.” 
- Mr. H. Osman, The Gardens, Harefield, Romsey, remarks that 
“ Plum Mirabelle Petite is a most valuable Plum for preserving, 
and with us is very free bearing. The tree under notice has been planted 
about six years, and covers a space of about 16 feet by 8 feet on a wall 
facing due east, a position which seems to suit it very well indeed, as for 
the last four years it has produced a very heavy crop, this season being 
the heaviest of all. Consequently, with that and the drought experienced 
here, the fruit has been smaller than usual. The fruit has been made 
into jam, and it has all the appearance of Apricot jam. Therefore any¬ 
one having a difficulty in growing Apricots in sufficient quantity for 
reserving purposes I should recommend to plant this Plum. It never 
makes much wood with us, therefore requires very little pruning.” 
- The Eighth Annual Cryptogamic and Botanicaa. 
Meeting of the Essex Field Club will be held on Friday and 
Saturday, the 28th and 29th of October, in Epping Forest. It is 
intended to devote the Friday to the collecting of specimens of Fungi, 
their examination and arrangement, and on the Saturday to hold am 
exhibition of Fungi, fresh and preserved botanical specimens, micro¬ 
scopical objects, drawings, &c., as well as of other objects of natural 
history likely to interest those present. The named series of the species- 
of Fungi gathered during the two days’ hunting in the Forest, which, 
has always proved to be such a valuable and interesting feature at theoe 
meetings, will, as before, be kindly arranged by the experts under the 
direction of Dr. M. C. Cooke. The Exhibition will be opened at about 
four o’clock on Saturday, October 29th (in the large ball-room attached 
to the Roebuck Inn, Buckhurst Hill). Ample time will thus be afforded 
for its inspection by the visitors present, and ample space and all possible 
facilities will be given to exhibitors. 
-Hull and East Riding Chrysanthemum Society.—W e 
are requested to state that from the present date all communications 
should be addressed to Mr. Edward Harland, Hon. Sec., Manor Street, 
Hull. 
- From Mr. T. Laxton, Bedford, come blooms of Invincible. 
Blue Sweet Pea, one of the finest varieties of its kind that we have 
seen. The flowers are of unusual size, of a fine clear blue tint, and 
their value for cutting will be considerable. 
-- a Peculiar Potato Growth. — Messrs. J. Carter k Co., 
High Holborn, send us tubers of their King of the Russets Potato, which, 
they state were set aside last spring in a box without any covering. In. 
place of the usual sprouts from the eyes they have produced clusters o£ 
small tubers, some of which are again developing shoots. At the crown, 
of the tubers there are dense clusters of growths, apparently arrested 
buds, and amongst these are the secondary tubers of several sizes. 
_ Mr. John Roberts, The Gardens, Tan-y-Bwlch, Merioneth¬ 
shire, favours us with some extremely fine Double Neapolitan. 
Violets, very large, full of excellent colour and fragrant. Packed, 
closely in a tin box they arrived in remarkably fresh condition, and if 
others of our correspondents who send flowers for naming or for an. 
expression of opinion would adopt this method it would save us some 
trouble. 
_ The Winchester Horticultural Society will hold theiv 
fifth annual Exhibition of Chrysanthemums, fruits, and flowers on 
November the 15th and 16th next. A total exceeding £70 will be given 
in prizes, and we hspe there will be the same steady improvement in 
the Exhibition that has been so noticeable in the past two or three 
yearp. 
- Violet Cultivation. —“ There are few flowers,” says 
“Juvenis,” “which in their cut state are more appreciated by ladies- 
than the modest Violet. It is very easy to have them for at least six 
months of the year when flowers are as a rule scarcest. We grow ours 
