151 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 20, 188F, 
annually on the increase, so much so that I am at the present 
time acquainted with something like fifty good double varieties. 
To attempt to speak at length or give in detail the uses and 
variety of circumstances to which these plants adapt themselves 
would appear somewhat superfluous, since the name which has 
done so much to popularise them seems sufficient in itself. For 
hanging baskets, for brackets, for window boxes, for vases in 
the terrace garden, and in fact any position where hanging plants 
can be used with good effect, none can be better suited than these. 
Their thick, fleshy, and somewhat succulent leaves render them 
■capable of withstanding drought to a far greater extent than 
most plants, for it not unfrequently happens that basket plants 
•often suffer through insufficient waterings, simply because they 
.are not quite so conveniently placed. They thrive well in town 
houses and smoky districts much better than most plants, while 
as pillar plants for the conservatory they will vie with any plants 
I know for general effect; illustrative of which, I may remark 
that Messrs. Pearson of Chilwell grow them m this way in one 
of their long span-roofed houses, where they may be seen to 
advantage growing naturally and flowering in the most profuse 
manner. The best varieties only are grown in this way, and 
viewing them from either end of a house 100 feet long they 
produce a most telling effect. There are still other uses for these 
plants, for they may be trained on trellises either for exhibition 
purposes or for home decoration, and as such would prove both 
novel and charming, and as many varieties grow quickly and 
produce ample foliage they would hardly fail to produce the 
desired effect. 
Nor must we omit to give them their due as ordinary bedders, 
and as such they deserve of a more extended or general use. They 
flower for the most part with remarkable freedom, and are not 
quite so formal as the Zonal type in this respect. This season 
we have bedded out many hundreds in several of the best varie¬ 
ties, and considering that our soil is extremely light and stony, 
and that the weather has been exceedingly hot for weeks, they 
have proved a great success and form an agreeable change. 
Though during the past five or six years the hybridist has 
been busy among these plants and has been rewarded by many 
fine forms and great diversity of colour, we still stand in need of 
a good and pure white, which will take time in fixing no doubt, 
as the whites at present in cultivation are heavily suffused or 
veined with pink. I will now briefly describe the leading and 
most distinct forms at present in cultivation. Albert Orousse, 
light salmon shaded magenta, very large and double, and one of 
the most distinct and effective, good vigorous habit, and suited 
either for pillars or trellises; Anna Pfitzer, this is one of the 
freest flowering and considerably earlier in coming into flower 
than any other kind, it is adapted for any purpose, the colour is 
bright rosy pink, flowers semi-double, and quite a favourite; 
Candeur is one of the best whites at present, it is a good white 
and very double ; Comte Horace de Choiseul, a strong vigorous 
grower, having enormous trusses of rich rosy pink flowers, very 
free and effective, an excellent pillar plant; Comtesse Horace de 
Choiseul is of a satiny rose colour, having small compact trusses, 
which are freely produced; Faustin Hellic, though distinct in 
colour is not so attractive; Gloire d’Orleans has compact trusses 
of rich crimson magenta flowers, this makes an excellent bedder 
and is equally good for basket and such work, the trusses are 
borne remarkably free, and it continues a long time in flower, 
this is certainly one of the best; Isidore Feral, a most pleasing 
and delicate satiny lilac, very distinct. 
Madame Thibaut, no one who has seen this will for.a'moment 
doubt its superiority over all existing doubles ; it is extremely 
handsome and cannot fail to receive due appreciation. Those who 
had not previously made its acquaintance had a splendid oppor¬ 
tunity of doing so at the recent meeting of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society, July 28th, when Mr. Cannell of Swanley contri¬ 
buted a well flowered group of plants; the habit is sturdy aud 
vigorous, and the flowers, which are of a rosy pink, are good in 
form and produced in bold trusses. Jeanne d’Arc, too, among 
the newer varieties stands out rather prominently as a good 
white. The form of the flowers are better than in most varieties— 
indeed, in the trusses alone there is a marked likeness to a double- 
flowered Zonal; the same may be said of some few others. 
Mont Blanc is a white shaded or flushed with pink, of dwarf 
habit, and free flowering; M. Barrall is a silvery pink, very 
pleasing, trusses and flowers large, and freely produced; M. 
Dubus has flowers of a deep reddish pink, very distinct and 
pleasing; M. Pasteur has rich magenta flowers, well formed and 
good trusses. 
Madame Orousse is a free grower, in colour a charming rosy 
pink, good for pillars, trellis, or baskets; this and the variety 
known as Anna Pfitzer are so very near in colour that the two 
are not desirable in one collection, still both are excellent. 
Madame E. Galle has lilac blush flowers, very double ; Mdlle. J. 
Wouters is of a beautiful rose, interspersed with carmine, very 
distinct; Robert Fortune is a bright carmine pmk, flowers very 
double and beautifully formed. In Vice-President Joly we find 
flowers of a soft pink, slightly suffused blush, very pretty ; 
Gloire de Nancy, moderate sized flowers of rosy lake, quite 
distinct; Congo is one of the most effective of newer varieties, 
of good size and substance, and of a light lilac, with rosy centre, 
the margins being lightened with silvery white, and Abel Carriere 
has soft magenta coloured flowers, shaded maroon, very fine; 
Madame Jules Menoreau, rich rosy salmon, wellformed; Souvenir 
d’un Ami, clear rosy lilac, flowers well rounded; Aglai Anderson, 
rich magenta, silvery reverse ; M. Chevereul, rich carmine, bold 
and telling; Floribunda, deep salmon rose, of good form. 
Having only a short experience with several of the latter and 
newer forms I cannot speak confidently respecting them; 1 may, 
however, remark that those cited are the best among many new 
varieties, and are possessed of the good qualities so desirable 
among these plants— i . e ., good constitutions, and so far they 
appear free bloomers.—J. 
MR. TAYLOR’S ALTERED PRACTICE. 
Many of your readers besides myself must be curious to know the 
reason of Mr. Taylor’s altered practice in regard to pruning Vines, as 
described by “ W. I.” last week, and who states that the Vines in Mr. 
Taylor’s new charge were propagated and planted last year, that “ all 
made most satisfactory progress,” but “ all the black Grapes were cut 
down to within 14 inches of the ground” at pruning time ! It will be 
well within the remembrance of readers o£ Mr. Taylor's book on the 
Vine that he has there declared that “ he had become a confirmed exten- 
sionist,” that he explained that extension meant leaving loDg canes the 
first year; and in bis chapter on “the first pruning” he states that 
“ cutting down the stem of a Vine does not add to the vigour of growth ;” 
adding, “ the growth at the end of a young healthy Vine left 12 feet long 
will not compare unfavourably, even at starting time, with that of a 
similar Vine which is cut down to the ground.” At the beginning of the 
same chapter he alsoexplains that “having taken the greatest care to 
grow the Vines through the first twelve months, he dared say it would 
surprise professionals that he did not choose to follow the fashionable 
plan of cutting them down, adding, that if he did cut them down, and was 
asked which part he would throw away, “ in his case the top would be the 
most valuable.” These being Mr. Taylor’s sentiments so lately as a year 
or two back, and seeing his Vines last year made “ most satisfactory ” 
growth, I ask his reason for reverting to restriction in its most barbarous 
form, and which be has himself so energetically condemned. Teachers 
like Mr. Taylor ought to be held to the principles they profess, or be made 
to explain their vagaries. Nothing could be more damaging to the exten¬ 
sion system of pruning Vines than the admission by one of its most 
earnest advocates that he ha3 himself been one of the first to abandon it 
and go back to the practice of those he so severely condemned.—J. S. W. 
PEA G. F. WILSON. 
I writs to say what an excellent Pea for dry weather is the G. F. W ilson. 
I proved it to be so last year and again this season. I am in the habit of 
sowing four sorts at one time—viz., Caractacus, William I., Veitch’s Per¬ 
fection, and G. F. Wilson ; they come in capital succession to each other. 
This year they were sown on March 12th, and from that time till they 
came in for use there was only one rain to benefit them, and that was on 
Whit Monday. Nevertheless, G. F. Wilson Pea maintained its sturdy 
stout growth, and deep green colour throughout; the pods were filled, 
with from eight to ten peas in most of them, and when sent to table it 
was pronounced first-rate in flavour, and a first-class Pea.— Thomas 
Record, Royston . 
BRITISH QUEEN STRAWBERRY. 
Having to provide a family with Strawberries I grow a good patch of 
Sir Joseph Paxton and President, but towards the end of the fruit¬ 
gathering a dish of British Queen, grown in the village, was presented to 
me, and I decided to plant a few as a trial. When I had lifted the crop 
of Potatoes, manured and dug the land at the end of September, the 
runners were planted in the following fashion :—The runners being very 
small were planted three in a clump, the clumps being 30 inches apart. 
They grew well, and produced a very fair crop the following year. I 
kept them free from runners after I had laid what I wanted, and no 
digging was done in the autumn, but we gave them a good dressing of 
manure, in the spring hoed between the rows, again giving them some 
stable manure, which being rather long acted as straw, and kept them 
clean. The crop this time was very heavy, the fruit also large, and the 
flavour good. 
Last October having some large runners I lifted them with balls of 
roots, planting firmly, and they produced a very good crop of fruits this 
year. These British Queen Strawberries have surprised not a few, myself 
included, as I was always led to believe it was a very tender variety. I 
believe the success is due to the ground being in good condition, firm 
planting, no digging, which destroys the best roots, and lastly plenty of 
stable manure. My fruiting plants, two years old, 1 kept entirely without 
