66 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January S6, 1888. 
must be of merit in itself, and also with small vases of cut flowers, 
but the flowers employed should, like the plants, arrest attention 
by some merit of their own. To particularise somewhat. We use 
for the larger public rooms specimen Palms, such as Latania bor- 
bonica, a grand decorative sort; Chamserops excelsa, also fine ; 
Chameedoreas, &c. Crotons are good, also large Dracaenas, tall 
Bamboos, and any handsome foliaged plant. Flowering plants 
include free-grown specimen Chrysanthemums of the type of 
Simon Delaux, Elaine, Peter the Great, &c. Tall Fuchsias are 
very good; so are specimens of Celosia pyramidalis, a grand 
decorative room plant which stands very well, Statice profusa is 
not easily injured. Large plants of double Ivy-leaf Pelargoniums 
are useful, but require light to stand well. Azaleas and Rhodo¬ 
dendrons are very suitable. Richardias, on account of their foliage 
being so striking, are extra good. Another season I hope to have 
Cannas. Liliums are indispensable, hut the scent of L. auratum in 
some cases is offensive in rooms. However, nothing can be more 
beautiful than the common L. candidum in a large mass. Of small 
plants the choice ought to be limited to good Dracaenas or Crotons, 
well coloured variegated Ficus elastica, the variegated Pine Apple 
and Yucca fllamentosa, well-grown Ferns, of which nothing surpasses 
the common Maidenhair. Platycerium alcicorne also does well, 
and of green foliage plants nothing is better than Aspidistra lurida. 
Cyprus alternifolius from seed, and Asparagus plumosus nanus are 
also useful. Amongst flowering plants Hyacinths, Tulips, almost 
all kinds of Narcissus, Lily of the Valley, Solomon’s Seal, Chinese 
Primulas, Cyclamens, Statice profusa. Carnation Souvenir de la 
Malmaison, Mignonette. Some of the hardier Orchids are suitable 
plants which I recall to mind as good for finishing a table. 
For furnishing tall glasses at present we may employ spikes and 
foliage of Pampas Grass, both excellently effective ; Richardia 
spathes and foliage cut with long stalks Late Chrysanthemums 
are also good cut in bunches with stalks from 18 inches to 3 or 
4 feet in length. During the time of Chrysanthemums nothing 
cm be better than these. It does not matter how large the flowers 
may be if they are set in freely with long stalks and as much 
foliage left as possible. Varieties of the type of Gloriosum with 
narrow florets stand much longer than the broad and close petalled 
varieties. Gladiolus cut foliage and spike are grand. Many of the 
large Irises are fine, using some of their foliage with them. Cactus 
Dahlias and some oif the self Dahlias are also good. Occasionally 
used are side shoots of Hollyhocks, and tall Michaelmas Daisies cut 
in long pieces are very effective. Liliums are of course a host in 
themselves, two or three good spikes cut with long stalks well 
furnishing a large vase. 
In arranging flowers they may either be set in just a few good 
pieces with foliage, or if a very massive arrangement is wished for 
more tall flowers may be used, and a few on shorter stems with 
plenty of foliage, set in lower and outside these. These re¬ 
marks apply to vases standing 4 to 6 feet in height. The same 
class of flowers may be employed for glasses 18 inches to 3 feet in 
height, but as a rule such tall stems as advised above may be dis¬ 
pensed with. In the shorter glasses we can choose from a much 
wider class of flowers, as, for instance, just at present nothing 
prettier need he wanted than a few stems of the rose-coloured 
Begonia semperflorens, not merely the flower stems, but the entire 
stems glossy foliage and all. B. Carrierei and the white B. semper¬ 
florens are also suitable. Mixed glasses may be prettily arranged 
with a few spikes of Zygopetalum Mackayi, Phalaenopsis, Coelogyne, 
or Calanthes, an odd bloom of Lilium Harris!, and a few leaves of 
Aspidistra, Croton, or Calla giving each bloom spike or leaf a clear 
space in itself. In summer Iris graminea is a most useful plant, its 
foliage mixing well with Gladiolus and many other flowers, while 
it stands exceedingly well. Single Dahlias constitute pretty 
arrangements alone. The foliage and flowers of Solomon’s Seal 
are extra fine. Few flowers are more useful, because so effective, 
as are Pyrethum uliginosum, white Sweet Sultan, and Chrysanthe¬ 
mum maximum. Salpiglossis form by themselves a quaint and 
pretty arrangement.—B. 
(To be continued.) 
PRIVATE VERSUS TRADE GROWERS. 
In his admirable retrospect of “ Horticulture in 1887,” “ D., Deal,” 
alludes to one very important matter in these terms “ The question 
as to the equity of proprietors disposing of their surplus produce has 
been much debated, but personally I do not see why a gentleman should 
be thought mean if he disposes of surplus Peaches, any more than of 
his surplus shorthorns or Berkshire pigs. He is not regarded as a 
butcher if he does the one, why should he be called a market gardener 
if he does the other ?” If it were a question of surplus only the matter 
might be regarded in a little different light from what is now by those 
most deeply concerned; but when, as is the case nowadays, we have 
gardeners to noble lords issuing catalogues, just as those in trade do, the 
time has arrived for speaking out on the subject. The “ mean ” part, (if 
any) of the transaction comes in at this point, that such private growers 
are not put on the same footing with regard to assessment of rates as 
the less favoured, in this respect, trade growers and nurserymen. There 
would appear to be an injustice here, though possibly it may not be 
discernible by your esteemed correspondent, above referred to. 
JUSTITIA. 
GROS COLMAN GRAPE 
Mb. J. H. Goodacbe having sent us an excellent photograph iby 
Mr. W. Winter, Derby, of a bunch of Gros Colman Grape, we have had 
it reproduced by a process that displays Jthe faults equally with the 
merits of the subject. As many of our readers who have seen the best 
examples of Elvaston Grapes iat exhibitions know, the bunch and its 
berries are not so large as some that have been staged, but our page did 
not permit of a larger, and the present one suffices for showing a fair 
sample of the work of the cultivator. The Grapes were covered with a 
dense bloom, some of which, as will be seen, has been rubbed off, and in 
that respect the bunch is faulty, and it also contains a few small 
berries towards the top ; still, with all its faults, the bunch is creditable 
to the grower, and is such that not a few persons would be satisfied with 
as representative of their crop of this handsome Grape. Accompanying 
the photograph was the following cultural note. We have another 
communication from Mr. Goodacre on “Fallacies in Grape Culture,” 
with which all cultivators may not perhaps entirely agree, but for that 
article we cannot find room at present. 
Geos Colman when well grown is the handsomest of all black 
Grapes. When grown with fire heat and allowed to hang on the Vines 
a couple of months after the fruit is coloured the flavour is not so bad 
as is frequently represented, and it is probable that this variety is 
destined to be more extensively cultivated than all other Grapes put 
together ; the appearance is so grand that it more than counterbalances 
any little deficiency of flavour. We are told that Grapes are grown to 
eat, and in my case they are also grown to look at, and I find a keen eye 
is quite as difficult to satisfy as a keen palate. At the present time good 
“ Colmans ” are realising considerably more money in the market than 
any black Grapes. 
The accompanying photograph represents what can be grown with¬ 
out much difficulty. The bunch is one of fourteen cut from a Vine 
the weight of the crop being 40 lbs. Some of the berries are 6 inches 
in circumference, and are fairly well coloured. Last year the same 
Vine carried seventeen bunches, the berries larger and much better in 
colour. Why this should be so I am unable to judge, unless the exces¬ 
sive heat of last summer ripened them prematurely. 
The Vine in question is growing near a water tank, which some of 
my friends consider the secret; but when this tank was kept full the 
berries did not colour, so the last two seasons it has been kept empty, 
with more favourable results. The Vine is planted in pure loam from a hill 
side, not a particle of any other ingredient being used with it. We start the 
Vines early in March with fire heat, and commence thinning these “ Col¬ 
mans ” almost before the flowers expand. We give a few good soakings of 
weak liquid manure from the farm, the first when the berries are the size 
of peas, the last when they show signs of colouring. About four doses 
are sufficient for our very stiff soil. In another vinery Gros Colman 
colours as black as jet without fire heat, but they lack sweetness and are 
not relished like those grown with fire heat. 
In writing the above, I hope I have succeeded in my endeavour to 
avoid self-exaltation, but it is difficult to stop all the holes in one’s 
coat; be that as it may, no notice will be taken of pseudonyms, but all 
hona fide inquirers will be gladly answered by— J. H. GOODACEE, 
Elvaston. 
UNDER GARDENERS AND EXHIBITORS. 
Youe correspondent, “ An Under Gardener,” argues well for under 
gardeners, but I cannot help thinking he is giving us the darkest side of 
the picture. When a subordinate I have frequently had to assist in 
exhibiting, and on two notable occasions was not permitted to leave the 
group of plants we had staged until the show closed at 9 p.m. ; but if 
my memory serves me truly, 1 raised no objection to my task, considering 
myself amply repaid with the insight I received in staging plants and 
many other things, not including the valuable lessons I had learnt in the 
gardens on growing for exhibition. Your correspondent does not think 
this experience valuable—he may one day have a different tale to tell 
us—being under the impression that gardeners who grow for exhibition 
are only men “ who can grow a few things superlatively well.” Now 
that I contend is an erroneous idea, for in good exhibition places is 
