436 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 21,188?. 
Bergamotte d’Esperen succeeds well as a pyramid or bush, there 
being no heavier cropper in cultivation. The fruits are rather smal^ 
and of fairly good quality as late as March. Much the same 
remarks apply to Olivier de Serres, this variety keeping even later 
Jean de Witte is also small, but it is sure cropper either grown as 
pyramids or wall-trained trees. We have a large specimen against 
a wall facing north-east, and this rarely fails ; it keeps till April 
and is fairly good in quality. 
Beurre Clairgeau, though much grown, is lit only for stewing ) 
and the same may be said of Duchesse d’Angouleme and General 
Todleben. Oansel’s Bergamot is gritty ; Doyenn6 Boussoch very 
large and handsome, but mealy unless eaten quickly ; Yan Mons 
Leon Leclerc, though handsome and good in quality, ripens 
when there are plenty of other better varieties available ; but room 
ought to be found for Napoleon in large gardens. Beurre Bose 
is sometimes good in quality, but as a rule is much too gritty, and 
Thompson’s keeps but a short time. Hacon’s Incomparable is a 
fairly good November Pear, and sometimes keeps well into 
December. Knight’s Monarch, where it ripens well, is very 
delicious, and is especially good at the present time, but who can 
account for or prevent the premature dropping of the bulk of the 
crop ? Beurre Sterckmans is unreliable, but is good this year- 
Nec Plus Meuris generally bears well, though in most instances is 
nearly all core. The best stewing Pears are Black Worcester 
Catillac, Spanish Warden, and Uvedale’s St. Germains. Remarks 
on the selection of trees must be deferred. —Fruit Grower. 
SILENE SCHAFTA. 
The Silenes or Catchflies are among the most ornamental of 
our rock plants, and the above-named species, while it cannot be 
called either a new or rare plant, has a great claim for considera¬ 
tion in respect of its late period of flowering. The most enthusiastic 
c f the lovers of Alpine plants cannot deny that the rock garden in 
autumn is comparatively deficient in bloom, and from July to 
September this little Silene opens its flowers to our admiring eyes, 
showing us that with its aid the rockery need not be devoid of 
brightness. 
The late-flowering Catchfly was first brought before the public 
by Dr. Hohenacker, who published an account of it in the “ Pro¬ 
ceedings of the Imperial Natural History Society of Moscow ” for 
1838 under the name of “ Silene Shafta of S. G. Gmelin,” and 
stated that “ it grows naturally in rocky places, on a mountain 
called Keridach, in the district of Suwant, in the Russian Province 
of Talysch, at the height of from 2500 to 4000 feet, flowering in 
October.” 
S. Schaftawas sent to the Horticultural Society of London in 1844 
by Dr. Fischer, who obtained it from the Botanic Garden at Dorpat, 
and was described in the Journal of the Society as a “ beautiful little 
herbaceous plant, producing a great number of spreading slender 
downy stems, which form compact tufts, and are terminated near 
the extremity by four or five bright purple flowers more than 
an inch long.” “ Of these flowers that at the extremity of the 
shoot opens first, and those below it one after the other in succession, 
so that the branches are by degrees quite covered with blossoms. 
Its stems do not rise above G inches high.” It is rather curious 
to observe the various statements as to its colour. Mr. Wooster 
says it is not purple, but pink ; another author, in “ Alpine 
Flowers,” calls it purplish rose ; and Glenny’s “ Handbook to the 
Flower Garden” calls it deep rose. For my own part I am dis¬ 
posed to agree with Wooster, although it is certainly darker in 
colour than it is figured in that author’s “ Alpine Plants,” to 
which work I am indebted for the history of the plant. It is 
impossible to be dogmatic on the question of the precise shades of 
flowers, and no one need envy the one first called upon to describe 
the colour of a new flower. 
S. Schafta differs greatly in appearance from the hard com¬ 
pressed-like tufts of the other Alpine Silenes, having a more trail¬ 
ing habit, which renders it admirably suited for hanging over 
rockwork or for a raised edging. Its strictly herbaceous habit 
prevents it being of much value where dwarf evergreen plants are 
required, but from its first showing its leaves until the termination 
of its flowering period it forms a neat and attractive object. The 
flowers are about half an inch across, and are produced so freely 
that little foliage is seen. It is perfectly hardy in the south of 
Scotland, and probably so throughout Great Britain, and is of easy 
cultivation in light rich soil. The plant may be propagated by 
division, but the best method is by means of seeds,, which are 
cheap and easily obtained. — S. Arnott. 
NOTES ON OUTDOOR TOMATOES. 
Tiie past summer has been a very good one for Tomatoes* 
grown out of doors. With us the plants made strong growth free 
from disease, and the yield of fruit from nearly all varieties was 
extremely good. Tomatoes have become very popular in the last 
few years, so popular in fact that the supply is not equal to the 
demand, nor is it likely they will ever cause a glut in the market, a* 
unlike Apples, Plums, and most other fruits, they do not ripen all* 
their fruit at one time, but continue to ripen a few every week over 
a lengthened period. There is no reason why everybody with a 
small amount of glass and a moderately sheltered position out off 
doors should not successfully grow good Tomatoes, provided the 
plants are properly prepared previous to placing out. Our summer* 
are so short that the best results can only be obtained when strong 
plants that will begin setting fruit as soon as placed out are used,, 
and these should be ready by the last week in May or the first 
week in June. Many failures in outdoor Tomato culture can be 
traced to this cause alone—viz., planting thin lanky objects that 
have been too crowded whilst under glass. More fruit will be 
obtained from six sturdy short jointed plants than from two- 
dozen weakly ones that have been drawn up in strong heat and 
much crowded. 
For our main outdoor crop we sow seed thinly in G-inch pot* 
early in March, and place them on a shelf near the glass in a tem¬ 
perature of G0°. When the seedlings have made a few rough leaves 
they are placed into large thumb pots and returned to the same house* 
They are kept close for a few days to give them a start, after which 
abundance of air is given, to ensure slow yet sturdy growth. 
When the pots are full of roots the plants are placed either singly 
into G-inch pots, or two are placed in 8-inch pots, always pressing- 
the soil in firmly, for that induces a short-jointed growth and a 
disposition to fruit. As long as the plants are in the house they 
are kept well up to the glass, and abundance of air admitted on all 
favourable occasions. The first week in May we stand them out" 
of doors in front of a south wall and cover them at night with 
tiffany, and in very cold weather the tiffany remains on all day. 
They grow very little the first week or ten days, but then it induces, 
them to show fruit, an object which should always be secured 
before planting outdoor Tomatoes. 
Our best crops were obtained from some planted in front of a 
Melon house with a south aspect. On the hard path and 14 inches- 
from the wall we fixed planks 1 foot wide edgeways, which served 
to keep in the soil from the other part of the path. We placed in. 
4 inches of rough ballast for drainage, and on this 6 inches of com¬ 
post, consisting of equal part of rather heavy loam, Mushroom 
manure, a fine ballast with a good sprinkling of bone dust. The 
plants were placed 1 foot apart on the 1st of May, and protected 
with tiffany on cold nights for a fortnight. Each plant was- 
secured to a stake 9 feet high, at which height the growths were 
stopped ; and this had the desired effect of concentrating the whole 
strength of the plants on the fruits and ripening nearly the whole 
of them before the frost set in. Of course the plants were grown 
on the single stem system, and all side shoots removed whilst very 
small, for I am convinced there must be neither loss of time nor 
material to ripen good crops of Tomatoes out of doors in the 
midlands. 
Other plants from the same as above were placed out the last- 
week in May under a south wall between fruit trees, and they carried 
very heavy crops but did not ripen so well as those planted on the 
path. This we attribute to the fact that they had unlimited root 
rnnin a cold heavy soil. Outdoor Tomatoes should have very little 
soil to grow in, and the roots if possible should be under control. 
We grew several varieties, all of which were good and remunera¬ 
tive, but we accord the premier position to a variety obtained from 
Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons, named Ham Green Favourite. It would 
be difficult to conceive a more perfect Tomato for outdoor culture. 
With us it set freely and swelled enormous crops of beautiful 
bright red smooth fruits, weighing from 8 ozs. to 12 ozs. each. It 
is very solid and heavy weighing, and has all the characteristics of 
a first class market fruit. Mr. Crocker, who is said to be the 
fortunate raiser of this splendid variety, is to be congratulated upon 
giving to the public a Tomato, the all-round qualities of which- 
will only be surpassed with difficulty. 
Carters’ Traveller finished off a good crop of fruit. It is a- 
very smooth in dium size variety with a thin tough skin, and so 
far as appearance goes is a model. 
Hackwood Park carried an enormous crop, but the fruits were 
very distorted and ugly, on which account we shall not grow it out 
