280 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 24, 1885. 
to make it distinct, a great difference would be noticeable as compared 
with the former occupants. I consider judges are quite right in award¬ 
ing the prizes to the eighteen variety stand over the one with twenty- 
four distinct (of course supposing the necessary quality to be there) for 
the reason that a bloom of Lady Slade, for instance, no matter how 
good it may he, cannot compare with a duplicate bloom of Lord Alcester 
or any other of the Queen family. As long as an exhibitor complies with 
the conditions of the "schedule that is all that is necessary. If it is con¬ 
sidered to he a fault offering prizes for twenty-four blooms in eighteen 
varieties, the remedy is quite easy in making the classes for eighteen 
blooms only, and they to be all distinct. For my part I have no fault 
to find with the system. I am thoroughly content, as an exhibitor, to 
leave the decision of awarding the prizes in the hands of the judges. 
For the information of “ Chrysanthemum,” I may say that when I 
have completed the experiments I have in hand I hope to redeem the 
promise I made in a former note, as no writings which I have yet seen 
make the matter sufficiently clear to the inexperienced grower.— 
E. Molyneux. 
Exhibiting Chrysanthemums. — Your correspondent, “Chrysan¬ 
themum,” in the last paragraph of his note has done what I had thought 
of doing—namely, given Mr. Molyneux a reminder of the promise he 
made some months ago, and which up to now he has failed to fulfil. It 
was just as the Chrysanthemum season was drawing to a conclusion that 
he treated us to a little lore in the Journal, but since then we have heard 
nothing from him on the subject, although, no doubt, many like myself 
have been on the look-out for what he promised. My object of the writer 
is to induce him to write if he will, although it would not be of much 
benefit this season to us. I hope Mr. Molyneux is not one of those men 
who does not intend for others to benefit by his teachings; he may have 
many grounds for excuse, which no one can deny, but I should hardly 
fancy he can see “ a red light.”— A Young Beginner. 
Exhibiting Chrysanthemums. — With reference to the letter 
from “Chrysanthemum” in the Journal of the 17th inst., I take it that 
one object of societies in providing classes for twenty-four blooms of not 
less than eighteen varieties, is to secure the most imposing stands possible. 
Therefore it follows almost as a matter of course that a stand of eighteen 
varieties would take precedence over one of twenty-four varieties, but 
with some smaller blooms, notwithstanding that in the case of the latter 
it might be that their natural growth was smaller. If this were not so 
we should soon have small varieties, say Mrs. George Bundle, taking equal 
rank with Empress of India.— Wordsworth. 
Chrysanthemums at the Temple Gardens. —The plants at the 
Inner Temple are looking well, and Mr. Newton is making his usual 
preparations for the annual display. This will be held in the glass house 
near the Thames Embankment, a very convenient position for visitors. 
I am informed that there is to be no public exhibition of Chrysanthemums 
in the Middle Temple this season, but I hope the rumour is unfounded, 
for Mr. W/ight has so steadily advanced the character of the show there 
that it deserves to rank amongst the best in the metropolis.—A. 
TREE PyEONIES. 
( Centinueil from page 25S.') 
For this purpose select two or three-year-old wood, with plenty of buds 
upon it, cutting it to single eyes, and at the same time removing one 
half of the wood, or, in plainer language, adopt the means employed 
in budding, excepting that in this case the wood must remain with the 
bud, and not detached from it: the plants thus raised, though small, are 
best adapted for pot culture. The next mode is by grafting, which is the 
best means of all, and attended with such good results generally that for 
general use it is the most expedient. The present is a good time, as 
there are plenty of good plump buds ready, and then comes the stock, which 
is generally to be found in most gardens. P. edulis makes the best 
stock, though they may be grafted upon almost any of the herbaceous 
section. Select some ordinary-sized tubers of these, and having obtained 
good buds (avoiding flower buds as much as possible), graft them in the 
usual way, tying them firmly, and making them air and watertight by 
means of grafting wax. They may then be potted, using pots according 
to the size of the fleshy roots ; and to avoid using larger pots than neces¬ 
sary, for these roots will not bend in any way, it will be well to select 
moderate-sized tubers for stocks, for they need to be buried below the 
graft, which is better performed in the potting than by any after cover¬ 
ing. When sufficient has been done they should he placed in a cold frame 
or pit, and if plunged in cocoa-nut fibre above the rim of the pots, so 
much the better. They should not be watered for the first few days. 
This, however, depends on the weather itself at the time the operation is 
performed, and consequently the operator will have to use judgment and 
discretion in the matter, They will require to be kept close during the 
first two or three weeks, and shaded on all sunny occasions. A union 
between stock and scion will have taken place by this time, when air 
may be admitted to them. In this place they may remain till spring, and 
being plunged will require little or no water, and at the same time be 
safe from frosts. It must not be overlooked that in all cases of after¬ 
management care must be taken to bury them below the graft, from 
which point they will in time emit roots, and consequently be not wholly 
dependent on the stock for their support. The last means of propagating 
them is by seeds, an operation of great interest, seeing the success which 
has attended the labours of some continental florists, and which have 
resulted in the gigantic blooms of which I have already spoken. Norjis 
there any reason why they should rest here. The seeds are best sown as 
soon as fully ripe, and provided they do not germinate by the spring of 
the year ensuing, they may be placed in gentle heat. The progress of 
the young plants will depend to a great extent upon the liberal treatment 
which they receive. 
Before concluding these remarks I have yet one more point in favour 
of their more general use, this time as pot plants for conservatory decora¬ 
tion. These may be had in flower in the early part of February without 
undue forcing, and should be protected in frames and brought on gradu¬ 
ally. And who will gainsay the telling effect which a few will produce ? 
There is yet time to procure them and give them a trial, for it well 
repays the outlay ; and having once tried them, I feel sure that many will 
be aroused to a full sense of their usefulness and high decorative qualities, 
and that ere loDg these noble plants will be lifted from their now 
neglected state to that prominent position which their merits entitle 
them to hold.— E. Jenkins. 
CACTUSES. 
It is astonishing what an interest the New Orleans Exhibition has 
awakened in Cacti. True, they only need to be seen to be admired, and yet 
the majority of florists cannot bear them—perhaps because there is no 
money in them. I have a collection of about 400 varieties, mostly small 
plants, but good bloomers; and even when not in bloom they are always 
interesting to me. To watch the plants grow, develope their many-coloured 
spines, form their buds, expand their beautiful flowers and bring forth their 
brilliant seed-pods, is tome just as fascinating as to look over a collection 
of valuable paintings. When I say florists can’t bear them I must except 
our friend Mr. John Thorpe, who in answer to that imputation writes me as 
follows : “ You are mistaken when you say I hate Cacti; I love them, but 
in this greed to live there is no opportunity to make Cacti what they will 
be in twenty-five years. When I tell you that two of my most intimate 
friends are Pfersdorff of Paris, a man that has actually slept with a Turcs- 
head for his pillow, and Mr. Peacock of Hammersmith, London, who has 
had Cereus cylindricus for a bed-fellow, you will not say your friend John 
Thorpe hates Cacti.” Mr. Thorpe, by the way, has probably the finest 
Pileocereus senilis in this country. It stands 46 inches high. 
Although for some years I have been supplying leading European houses 
with rare Cacti, yet I found it almost impossible to get anything like a 
complete collection for my private use ; so at last I have concluded to send 
to Europe for specimens of every variety catalogued there, which amounts 
to nearly 900. It is probably about the best way to get them correctly 
named, which is a very important item. I have had much trouble in this 
respect, with some thirty correspondents in Mexico and out West. Ask 
them for Echinocactus Sileri, Astrophytum myriostigma, or the Red Night¬ 
blooming Cereus, and they answer : “ Oh, yes, we have them.” When at 
last you pay ten dollars expressage on a box of samples, you get some 
Opuntias or a Cereus peruvianus. 
Many Cacti may well be grown for their beauty of form and spines ; for 
instance, Echinocactus Sileri, Whipplei, viridescens, &c. I think one of 
the handsomest is E. Ottonis; the flower also is splendid although not 
fragrant. Cereus are my favourites, especially the night-bloomers. I have 
a C. nycticaulis, raised from a 3-inch cutting three years ago, that to this date 
(July 6th) has opened sixteen flowers this season, and has yet twenty-one 
buds to open. Until this year I kept it growing to one stem in a 6-inch pot, 
and trained it along the roof of my small greenhouse, where it received 
plenty of sunlight during winter. It made a growth of 15 feet in two 
seasons. I have about ten other varieties of night-bloomers, but I find but 
little variation in the flowers, except as to size and perfume. The true red 
bloomer, Cereus Schmidti, has not bloomed for me yet, neither has the 
variety sent to me from Mexico as a red night-bloomer, and of which I do 
not know the name. 
The Astrophytum myriostigma, called in Europe “ Bonnet d’Eveque,” 
(Bishop’s hood) is a very interesting Cactus, being, I believe, the only one 
without spines. I don’t see how Aloe longiaristata could ever have been 
mistaken for it.—A. Blanc (in American Gardeners’ Monthly). 
THE BURTON CONSTABLE NURSERIES. 
But few people can have any idea that within so short a distance of 
Hull there are nurseries so extensive and productive as those which have 
been established by Mr. E. P. Dixon at Burton Constable. About two 
miles from the Burton Constable station, on the Hull and Hornsea Rail¬ 
way, there are under the most perfect cultivation ten acres of land which 
are devoted to the rearing and growth principally of forest trees, orna¬ 
mental trees and shrubs, fruit trees and Roses, and it was a rare treat we 
had the other day in going over these well-cultivated and productive 
grounds, which were formerly the kitchen gardens and the sites of the 
vineries connected with that palatial residence of the Constables, Burton 
Constable, which is not now occupied by any member of the family. 
The whole of the land occupied in the ten acres is under the most com¬ 
plete and scientific cultivation by Mr. Dixon, whose fame as a seedsman 
has extended far beyond the borders even of his native land, for he does 
a large export trade to America, Australia, and the Continent of Europe 
in seeds, shrubs, and fruit trees. Burton Constable is not a great seed¬ 
raising ground, hut still it may indicate the extent and importance of 
this trade if we state that on our arrival at these famous nurseries we 
found that there had just been thrashed out about three tons of Turnip 
seed, which was about to be despatched to those extensive seed ware¬ 
houses in High Street, Hull, which have previously been described in our 
columns. As we have said, however, seed-producing is not the object of 
these nurseries. They are devoted to shrubs and trees of all kinds, and 
we saw them in all stages of grafting, budding, and striking. There are 
acres of standard Roses of the very best varieties known, acres of young 
