350 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 5,1887. 
shoots begin to run peg them down into position. Thin them out 
weekly, and above everything do not crowd them. This is the 
great mistake in frame Cucumber culture, as a crowd of shoots and 
leaves only cause the young fruit to become yellow and fall prema¬ 
turely, and as soon as one shoot has fruited cut it out and allow a 
young one to take its place. This is the way to secure a succession 
of fruit. Do not shade from the sun at any time, as they are much 
more short-jointed and fertile when grown in the sun. Admit air 
when the temperature exceeds 70°, and never allow the plants to 
suffer by want of water. Give water at the same temperature as 
the frame or bed, but liquid manure is not needed until the plants 
have been bearing for two months or more. — A Kitchen 
Gardener. 
THE GARDENERS’ ORPHAN FUND. 
After our very satisfactory meeting of last week, and the progress 
the Orphan Fund has made, I wish to return my sincere thanks to the 
members of the Prefes, Committee, and our excellent Chairman for the 
very able and willing help they have given to this scheme. I hope no 
gardener in the kingdom will let the next fortnight pass without re¬ 
sponding heartily to the call of charity. tVe unfortunately had a sad 
experience of the need of an Orphan Fund only a few days since, when 
our poor brother Mr. Carr met with such an untimely end ; whether his 
widow and children will need help I know not, but if they do, out of our 
small beginnings I should suggest sending them what we can. In start¬ 
ing this scheme I could not possibly have thought of myself or that it 
would be useful to me, and I am sure no one who has given me their 
support will draw back on account of my shortcomings in originally 
placing it before the public. It certainly is not given to every man to 
write on or start a scheme off-hand, and I can only hope that those who 
have so ably assisted me may live to see it a growing and great institu¬ 
tion.— Chas. Penny, Sandringham . 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND THEIR CULTURE. 
Mr. Garnett is evidently bent upon “ treading on the tail of my 
coat ” when he says I wished to show up his ignorance. Passing that 
allegation, I do think his teaching on Chrysanthemum culture is based 
largely upon theory. I have very good reasons to judge what was the 
quality of the blooms which Mr. Garnett’s plants supplied him with, 
even during the last Chrysanthemum season, for a friend who knows 
good blooms when he sees them says Mr. Garnett “ bad a very 
good home show, but no flowers that would compete successfully at our 
leading shows—as, for instance, Kingston, and such like.” Now I con¬ 
tend that a person who assumes the rule of a teacher, and even an 
improver of other people who have in the past had reason to be satis¬ 
fied with success, should be in a position to point to something more 
substantial than pen-and-ink theories and scientific terms. When I 
said, on page 2(50, “ We are as far from the desired point as we were 
before,” I ought to have added, “ if we are far from it at all.” I can 
only judge we are through Mr. Garnett’s attempted alteration in the 
system of culture which has carried not only myself but others to suc¬ 
cess, and placed us “ shining by the reflected light of silver challenge 
cups.” I can well afford to pocket the mild satire, and I daresay others 
can who shine by such lights. Mr. Garnett advances Mr. Midgley’s 
success at the late Huddersfield Show as substantiating his own argu¬ 
ments. No one was more pleased than myself to hear of the success of 
Mr. Midgley, whom I look upon as a personal friend, and from a conver¬ 
sation I had with him here last summer I xrnderstood that his plants 
were grown under the same system as ours, therefore I am surprised 
to hear from Mr. Garnett that it was not so. Even if I am mistaken 
in this it is a point in my favour when Mr. Garnett admits that Mr. 
Midgley did not win first honours with his incurved blooms in the open 
class competition. Perhaps Mr. Garnett will think that I look upon 
those growers of Chrysanthemums who do not exhibit them as not being 
capable of growing them as well as those who do compete. Such is not 
the case by any means, because I know there arc gardeners who are not 
allowed to show their produce ; therefore, the public have not an oppor¬ 
tunity of judging what they can do in cultivating this grand flower. I 
ought to have written this paragraph directly after the one relating to 
Mr. Garnett’s own plants. Mr. Garnett should not blame me for not 
acting up to my professions of being anxious to give the full benefit of 
my experience to the large number of Chrysanthemum growers. He 
should blame himself for not bringing better evidence to prove my 
practice wrong ; but I presume, because I do not contradict (for Mr. 
Garnett’s advantage) what I have written in my book I am to be 
accused of not lining willing to assist the great body of growers. I take 
my stand by the book, as it certainly contains my whole experience. I 
know nothing more that lean add for the benefit of others, and the 
practice which I defined has stood many others besides myself in good 
stead at critical times. I am quite willing to listen to sound reasoning, 
and will do all I can to help beginners, but I cannot admit that Mr. 
Garnett has proved my teachings wrong. 
I consider my reason given on page 266 for placing Mr. Bunn in the 
list where it is in my book a very good one, and I thought it of sufficient 
importance to explain why it was placed there. Does Mr. Garnett deny 
that many growers besides myself grow a large number of plants on the 
lottery system ? If he could teach everyone to turn them all up as 
prizes he would confer a boon on many a struggling individual. I do 
not evade the question of the complications of bud formation at all. I 
have no reason for so doing, simply because I do not know what they 
are. I am happy to say that the buds “ do ” come, or I should not have 
been “ shining by that reflected light ” as I fortunately have been in the 
past. I did say that Mr. Garnett was “ very full ” in his description of 
the bud formation (but I meant in the “ scientific terms ” he used, not that 
I thought he was as “ clear ” as he was full) ; but why does he not 
quote me a little farther, where I said, “ He is not sufficiently clear and 
plain to beginners ?" Allow me to answer Mr. Garnett’s inquiry re July 
buds forming on Meg Merrilies, Princess Teck, or Boule d’Or. Under 
ordinary circumstances of growth I never saw these varieties form 
buds at that time ; therefore it is not necessary to say when the next 
buds will form, but I will say what these varieties generally do. They 
make their first natural break early in June, the next break is then 
generally early in August. It is such varieties as Elaine, Madame 
Bertier Rendatler, Mr. Bunn, and Lord Wolseley that sometimes show 
this July bud. This answer will, I trust, be sufficient for Mr. Garnet 
on this point. 
In referring to Mr. Garnett’s assertion anent the variety Belle Paule 
not producing blooms last year of the same quality as in the previous 
season, though receiving exactly the same culture, but not the same con¬ 
ditions as regards the weather, it may be stated that many growers had 
no flowers of it. Neither do I think it was scarce in stock ; certainly 
not with those growers who had seen it the year before. Therefore the 
formation of the buds was not a matter of chance as far as the time wished 
for was concerned, but it was climatical influence that wrought such 
havoc amongst plants of this variety. If the plants were grown by the 
same method as Mr. Garnett would teach us, how does he know that 
unsuitable weather would not take place at the time least required by 
his method ? Therefore to an extent it is somewhat of a lottery.— 
E. Moryneux. 
LATE-BEARING MUSHROOM BEDS. 
In support of Mr. Muir’s article on late-bearing Mushroom beds, I 
send you a clump of Mushrooms gathered from a bed here, which was 
spawned on January 6th. The size of the bed is 8 feet long 3 feet wide, 
and 1 foot 3 inches deep, made in a cool inner shed about 4 feet from 
the floor. The manure heated rather violently at first, and soon became 
quite cold. Instead of pulling it down again I fastened a couple of 
mats under the bed in the form of a hammock, and then filled the space 
between the bed and mats with six or seven barrowfuls of manure ; 
this soon caused a nice heat about 70° in the Mushroom bed. At this 
stage I inserted the spawn and covered the surface of the bed with fine 
soil to the depth of 2 inches, then covering the whole with hay. 
The heat in the bed was retained for three weeks, and then all went 
cold again. The additional manure was soon afterwards taken away 
and the mats dried. There was no sign of Mushrooms until about a 
fortnight ago, when I examined the bed and found a quantity of 
“ buttons ” appearing ; the hay was then removed and the bed watered 
■with tepid water. I have now gathered quite 100 fine Mushrooms, and 
the surface of the bed is at the present time white with them, having 
every appearance of bearing full crops for some weeks longer. Mush¬ 
rooms may not be produced in as short a period grown with cool treatment 
as they can in a specially provided structure, but for flavour and 
appearance I think they surpass the latter.— G. Garner, Amberrvood 
Gardens, Hants. 
[The “clump” referred to comprised sixteen firm fleshy Mushrooms.] 
SWANLEY FLOWERS. 
It matters little what time of year is selected for a visit to Messrs. 
II. Cannell & Sons, Swanley Nursery ; from midwinter to midsummer, 
and onwards again to the cold period, there is a never-failing succession 
of flowers that make the out-of-doors attractions look comparatively 
dull at any period. To enter one' of the numerous houses devoted to 
Zonal Pelargoniums is to find oneself amidst a dazzling variety of 
colours, and when these are brightened by an unclouded sun, as was the 
case when we recently visited the establishment, we can realise some¬ 
thing of the brilliancy of such plants. They always seem fresh, are 
always flowering profusely ; they are, indeed, one of the standard 
features at Swanley which equally impresses those who see them fre¬ 
quently or seldom. Their. appearance is heightened by a neat graceful 
fringe of Othonna crassifolia, which drapes the margin of the walls, the 
succulent foliage and growth of the plant fitting it for the companion¬ 
ship of the Pelargoniums, and when covered with its, starry golden 
flowers is still more pleasing. The number of varieties amongst the Pelar¬ 
goniums is so great, and them merits are so nearly equal, that selection 
becomes a difficult task, and it is only possible to name a few of those that 
attract one’s attention. Some of the most notable at the time of our 
visit were the following Single : Nora, pale pink, large, handsome; 
Cato, scarlet, very free, large truss ; C. Swinstead, scarlet, rich, free, 
immense truss Victor Hugo, salmon scarlet, free, and dwarf ; Mrs. 
Robertson, bright pink, white eye ; Kentish Fire, a most brilliant scarlet, 
an excellent variety ; Plutarch, another fine scarlet form, with large 
flowers and trusses ; Atala, scarlet, large, and handsome ; Edith George, 
bright pink, white eye, flower large and well formed ; Ferdinand Chaf- 
folte, rich magenta, very distinct and beautiful shade ; Queen of the 
Belgians, an excellent winter-flowering white variety; Swanley Gem, 
