October 10, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Japanese variety .'with long recurving florets, very handsome, and of 
good substance. 
ALLERTON PRIORY. 
Allerton Priory, the Lancashire residence of J. G. Morris, Esq., 
is situated about six miles from Liverpool. The house is a fine built 
structure, designed by Waterhouse, the celebrated architect of the 
Manchester Town Hall. The grounds have been tastefully laid out, and 
there are some fine trees of Sequoia gigantea, Araucaria imbricata, 
Quercus, and Ilex. The flower garden looked well, some of the beds 
being very effective. The kitchen garden appeared to be stocked with 
useful vegetables. In the orchard the fruit crop is not a heavy one, 
but the following were bearing satisfactorily :—Apples — Lord Suffield, 
Cellini, King of Pippins, Cox’s Orange ; Pears—Williams’ Bon Chrfitien, 
Beurre Clairgeau, Beurre d’Amanlis, and Durondeau ; Plums—Ivirke’s, 
Dennison’s Superb, and Magnum Bonum. 
The glass houses constitute the chief feature at Allerton, there being 
some really fine and useful structures, the greater part devoted to fruit. 
In the early houses the crops were gathered, but the Peach trees and 
Vines looked clean and healthy. In a vinery where most of the Grapes 
were cut were hanging several good bunches of Madresfield Court and 
Black Hamburgh, the former being exceptionally fine. Another large 
span-roof contained good bunches of Black Hamburgh and Duchess of 
Buccleuch ; the latter is a Grape that is seldom grown well, but still 
one of the best for flavour. In the late house were some good samples 
of Mrs. Pince, Lady Downe’s, and Alicante. The Pines and late Peaches 
looked remarkably fine, as did also the Melons, Cucumbers, and 
Tomatoes. In the plant houses everything seemed to be perfectly clean 
and healthy. In the stove were some fine plants of Ixoras, Dipladenias, 
Allamandas, and Bougainvilleas, all in flower. 
The greenhouse was bright with colour. Abutilons, Ivy Pelargoniums, 
Liliums, Begonias, and Fuchsias were flowering freely. I also noticed 
several pots of Torenia Fournieri in full bloom ; it is a graceful plant, 
of easy culture, and flowers a considerable time. In the fernery were 
large banks of Maidenhair and some fine specimens of Microlepias, 
Davallias, Todeas, Adiantum cuneatum, A. farleyense being par¬ 
ticularly fine. The houses are heated by two large horizontal tubular 
boilers ; the stokehole is the largest I have seen, and for tidiness is a 
pattern for any young gardener, as these are generally the most 
neglected places in a gentleman’s garden. The gardener, Mr. Craven, 
has greatly improved the establishment during the few years he has 
been there.—W. R. 
THE DUTCH HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The Dutch Horticultural Society has resolved to follow the example 
of similar societies in England and elsewhere, and to award at its 
meetings, the dates of which will be fixed beforehand, certificates to 
growers of products belonging to the vegetable kingdom, plants, vege¬ 
tables, and fruits which are remarkable for their novelty or exceptional 
qualities. For this purpose it has formed committees entrusted with 
the task of examining such products as are submitted to them. One is 
specially devoted to plants and flowers, another to vegetables and 
fruits. The third is a scientific committee for the examination of 
interesting and abnormal peculiarities which may be valuable to 
botanical science. 
Each committee has the right to award first and second-class certi¬ 
ficates according to the merits of the products. 
The meetings this year were fixed for September 10th, October 23rd, 
and December 3rd. 
It is intended to send after each meeting an extract of the proceed¬ 
ings of every committee. 
We enclose with this request the report of the meetings yet held.— 
W. Baron van Goltstein ( President ), H. C. Zwart (Secretary'), 
Amsterdam. 
Floral Committee, June 27th. —First class certificates awarded 
to Messrs. Zocher & Co. at Haarlem for a collection of branches and 
leaves of new or recently introduced trees and shrubs, among which 
were the Pinus Strobus zebrina, Aeer pseudo-platanus atro-purpurea, 
Acer negundo aurea marginata, Viburnum Tinus fol. aur. var., Castanea 
japonica, and Kelsey’s Plum. 
To Messrs. Jac. Jurrissen & Son at Naarden for their Cupressus 
Lawsoniana Westermanni of very remarkable size and colour. To Mr. 
C. G. Overeynder at Apeldoorn for Dimorphantus mandschuricus fol. 
aur. var. elegans. 
To Messrs. E. II. Krelage and Son at Haarlem for a large collection 
of cut flowers and bulbs, among which were some Gladiolus incom- 
parabilis Madame Blanche Bourdin and Palmyre, and among the Iris 
Krempferi varieties were Alexander von Humboldt fl.-pl., Rainbow, 
with pure white flowers, and Princess. 
Second-class certificates were given to Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son 
at Haarlem for Albuca Nelsoni, a novelty introduced in 1886, and for a 
new variety of the Iris Kaempferi W. Cochrane with large and pure 
white flowers. The same firm also sent a nearly complete collection of 
the varieties of Lilium elegans, and samples of Allium sphrerocephalum 
atro-purpureum, newly introduced in 1888. The Zoological Garden of 
Rotterdam sent some flowering plants of Cycnoches Loddigesi, Gattleya 
nobilior, C. gigas, and C. Gaskeliana. 
Scientific Committee, June 27th. —Messrs. E. II. Krelage and 
Son at Haarlem submitted to the Committee dormant bulbs of Fritillaria 
3ia 
persica. According to a communication of Mr. M. C. Parke, Stretton 
Hall, Leicester, some bulbs of a species of the Fritillaria had started 
growing again after being dormant for thirteen years. The Committee- 
decided that some of these bulbs should be planted in the Botanical 
Garden at Amsterdam in order to ascertain how long their rest would 
last. The same firm sent a branch of Maclura aurantiaca which came 
from Hungary, where that shrub, originally from North America, 
endures the winter in the open air. Professor de Vries sent specimens 
of Dipsacus sylvestris with distorted stalks in the form of a spire, which 
abnormal growth had continued during three generations. With the 
above-named large numbers of plants and flowers with abnormal 
characteristics were also exhibited. 
Floral Committee, Seftember 10th. —First-class certificates were 
awarded to Messrs. E. II. Krelage & Son, Haarlem, for their new plants, 
Crocosma aurea imperialis and Nerine excellens Moore. To Mr. J. J. 
Jansen, gardener to Mr. Beckeringh, Driebergen, for his new variety of 
Anthurium with a white spathe. To Mr. J. F. van den Berg, Jutfaas, 
for a collection of cut flowers of Tuberous Begonias gigantea and 
gigantea duplex. To Messrs. Zochar & Co., Haarlem, for a collection 
of Tuberous Begonia with single and double flowers, and to Mr. II. J. 
van Heyst, Wyk Cy. Duurstede, for an interesting collection of Ferns, 
grown in the open air. To Messrs. Groenewegen & Co., Amsterdam, for 
seven varieties of dwarf Cannas with large flowers. To Messrs. J. Mater 
and Son, Leyden, for some plants introduced from Japan. 
Second-class certificates were awarded to Messrs. Groenewegen & Co., 
for four new varieties of Cactus Dahlias with gigantic flowers, and for 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. Burrell. To Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son for a 
collection of cut flowers from bulbous and tuberous plants. The same 
firm sent a collection of cut flowers from varieties of Montbretia and 
Kniphofia, among which was Kniphofta aloides grandiflora gigantea 
(Krelage). In this collection were cut flowers of Alstrcemeria peruviana 
Ostade (Krelage) remarkable for their dark reddish brown colour. 
Ornamental Plants Committee. —A first-class certificate was 
awarded to Mr. K. Wezelenburg, Hazerswoude, for Cupressus Lawsoniana 
filiformis glauca (Wezelenburg). Second-class certificates were given 
to Mr. K. Wezelenburg, for the new Cupressus Lawsoniana, Souvenir 
de Leide. To Mr. A M. C. Jongkindt Coninck, Dedemsvaart, for 
Cupressus Lawsoniana robusta, recently brought into the trade, and 
remarkable for its hardiness. 
Fruit Committee.— A second-class certificate was given to Messrs. 
Boog & Crans, Elden, near Arnheim, for the Peach Antoinette. This 
variety is remarkable for its fertility and excellent fruits, and still 
more for its volume and beautiful colour. 
Scientific Committee. — The Botanical Garden of Amsterdam) 
sent a Beschorneria multiflora, with a great number of young plants on, 
the inflorescence. 
Professor de Vries sent two specimens of Zea Mais totally infertile 
in two generations. 
Messrs. Krelage & Son sent some seedling plants of Agave filifera, 
showing very different characters. It is not likely that they are hybrids, 
while there were no other in the neighbourhood that bore flowers at the* 
same time.—H. C. Zwart, Secretary. 
PEAR GROWING EXTRAORDINARY. 
A WORD or two about one who has risen to some eminence as a 
grower may not be inopportune. We allude to Mr. James Butler, 
manager of Mr. A. J. Thomas’s Nursery, Orchard Lane, Sittingbourne. 
The garden, about 4 acres in extent, was formerly a Cherry orchard— 
one of the oldest plantations in Kent—but it ceased to exist some 
twenty years ago, when the soil was excavated to a great depth for 
brick earth. Since then, by good management, the ground has again 
been brought under cultivation, and it is indeed a fruitful spot, every 
year seeing crops on the trees of the finest quality. The situation is low 
and well sheltered, and the soil is good, well-drained loam, resting on a 
subsoil varying from chalk to a good deep loam—principally the latter. 
The greater portion of the ground is enclosed by a substantial and lofty 
brick wall, against which are trained not far short of 200 Pear trees, 
principally as oblique cordons, the remainder being trained vertically. 
While Apple trees are studded here and there, the garden itself is prin¬ 
cipally devoted to the cultivation of Pears, trees of which stand in ranks 
over the whole place. Here, with a south-west aspect, and aided by 
extensive supplies of manure, Pears are grown to a high state of per¬ 
fection. Not only is the fruit large and shapely and of the first quality, 
hut it attains a superb colour ; and it is, really, the combination of these 
qualities which has gained such fame for Mr. Butler’s Pears. Over 140 
varieties are now in cultivation here, and when the trees are at the 
height of maturity—although at the time of this visit it should be men¬ 
tioned that some of the trees had been thinned of the earlier sorts—a 
unique sight is presented to view. One variety, Beurre d’Amanlis, was 
well represented. The branches were heavily laden with fruit; so much 
so, that props had to be largely resorted to. Louise Bonne of Jersey, 
one of the best quality, and on which there is a great run, is another 
sort largely cultivated at Orchard Lane—dwarf trees of about 4 feet or 
5 feet in height, with branches spreading over an area of from 12 feet 
to 14 feet. Duchesse d’Angouleme next claimed attention. Mr. Butler 
said, “ That’s a very valuable dessert Pear, and one that I have been very 
successful with.” Questioned a little further, he said, “ Those Pears 
often fetch is. a dozen in the market.” “ And what quantity of that 
particular kind of Pear do you send to market during the season l 
