July 19. 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
57 
- Gardening Appointment.—M r. H. A. Joy requests us to 
announce that he has left the gardens at Falconhyrst, Penrath, to take 
charge of those at The Heath, near Cardiff, his employer, R. A. Bowring, 
Esq., having removed from the former place to the latter. 
- Violas and Pansies at Wolverhampton Show. —In our 
report of the Wolverhampton Horticultural Exhibition on page 43 the 
name of the winner of the gold medal for Violas and Pansies is in 
error given as Mr. Septimus “ Page.” It should be Mr. Septimus Pye, 
florist, Catterall, near Garstang, a comparatively young cultivator, 
whose exhibits were of a high order of merit. 
- A Giant Chestnut Tree. —There are many flne Chestnut 
trees in this country, but that which M. Ed. Andr6 recently described 
in the “ Revue Horticole” is probably one of the largest in existence. 
The tree is growing on the property of M. le Comte Montais, at Drouilly, 
and the dimensions are as follows :—Circumference of the trunk at a 
yard above the soil, 25 feet 2^ inches; height about 70 feet, approxi¬ 
mately 70 feet; spread of the branches 214 feet in circumference. 
- Wimbledon Horticultural Society.—T he twenty-second 
annual exhibition, promoted by the Wimbledon and District Horticul¬ 
tural and Cottage Garden Society, was held on Wednesday, July 11th, 
in the grounds of Draxmont, Wimbledon Hill. In the two salient 
respects of quality and quantity, this year’s show evidenced considerable 
deterioration, not only upon that of last year, but upon the average 
standard of the last dozen shows, which was the more regretable, in that 
the attendance was probably the largest on record. 
- Melon Beauty op Sion.—W ith us this Melon has proved 
itself to be a useful addition to the numerous varieties already in cul¬ 
tivation. Grown not under the most favourable conditions it has shown 
itself to be good in flavour, constitution, and appearance. We have cut 
fruits about 4 lbs. in weight grown in pots 1 foot in diameter, three and 
four fruits to a plant. The flesh is thick and bright scarlet in colour, 
while the flavour is excellent. It is handsome in appearance, the 
outside being of a rich orange colour and very evenly netted. 
—W. H. W. 
- The Hollyhock Disease.—I n the Jotirnal of Horticulture 
for March 29th, page 239, there appears a note extracted from the 
“American Florist,” and contributed by Mr. John Clark, Wemyss Castle 
Gardens, Fifeshire, Scotland, in which he says that he has battled 
successfully against the Hollyhock disease by syringing with a weak 
solution of permanganate of magnesia. I have tried at several large 
chemists in London and elsewhere to obtain it, and they all say there 
is no such thing made. There is evidently some mistake. I should be 
very pleased if Mr. Clark could rectify it.—W. S. E. 
- Six Good Violas. —In the Journal of Horticulture for July 
12tb, page 31, are some notes on “ Violas at Chiswick,” which seem 
to apply more to the miniature or Violetta section, which are of dwarf 
growth, have very small flowers, and so far as I have seen are not so 
effective bedding plants as the larger flowered kinds. Still, in cooler 
districts they are pretty, and are generally strongly perfumed. The 
writer of the notes asks for the names of “ the very best six self- 
coloured Violas in existence, free and enduring.” No person acquainted 
with Violas can give the names of the six absolutely best varieties in 
cultivation, because we have so many which are good bedders, and 
tastes vary ; but as I hold that good constitution, close habit, very 
floriferous and continuous bloomers, with suflicient substance in the 
flowers for withstanding rough weather, combined with clear self 
colours free from any dark blotch, and not subject to die off in 
hot weather, should be the main essentials, then I think that the 
following six are safe ones to meet the requirements of your corre¬ 
spondent :—Countess of Hopetoun, the best all round white in every 
way ; Bullion, deep rich yellow, and a very profuse bloomer ; Wonder, 
pale creamy yellow, close sturdy habit, excellent ; Lilacina, variety 
*• Mauve Gem,” bright mauve-lilac, a wonderful bloomer of excellent 
habit, standing all sorts of weather, a variety not yet known much 
beyond Birmingham, but a great acquisition ; True Blue, the best all 
round blue tinted variety, of a deep colour, and of close sturdy habit, an 
early and continuous bloomer; William Neil, always a pretty pink 
shade, but paler in hot weather, and of an excellent constitution, and 
of a distinct colour. These are some really hot-weather resisting sorts 
which can be relied upon. I And that some sorts die in hot weather, 
while Ardwell Gem, Duchess of Fife, and others are doing so this year. 
—W. Dean, SparMill, Birmingham. 
- Begonias at Antwerp.— We are informed that Messrs. John 
Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, gained the gold medal at the Antwerp 
exhibition recently for their group of single and double Tuberous 
Begonias. 
- Marton Flower Show. —We are informed that the Marton 
(Yorkshire) flower show will be held on August 8th. Special prizes of 
£4 and £1 will be given for the largest Cabbages. Messrs. Hogg and 
Snaitb, Marston, R.S.O., Yorkshire, are the Hon. Secretaries, from whom 
particulars may be obtained. 
- The National Chrysanthemum Society’s Annual 
Outing. —Mr. Owen Thomas writes from the Royal Gardens, Windsor, 
to say that the members of the National Chrysanthemum Society have 
permission to see the east terrace flower garden, Windsor Castle, between 
9 a.m. and li A.M., on the occasion of their visit to Windsor, on the 
23rd inst.— Richard Dean, Hon. Secretary. 
- A Novelty at Flower Shows. —In your report of Hitchin 
show last week you omitted to mention the washing competition which, 
though scarcely coming within the range of a gardening paper, is surely 
worthy of a short notice in your columns if only as a novelty. It was 
promoted by Messrs. Lever, Bros., and every competitor was provided 
with a stool and a bucket and a piece of the famous Sunlight soap. As 
may have been expected the competition attracted great attention, and 
created much amusement, though how judgment was passed I am at a 
loss to know. I am thankful to say I was neither a washer nor a judge, 
as I am convinced that neither of the tasks could be termed a sinecure. 
—Outsider. 
- Sweet Pea Emily Henderson.—I was very pleased to read 
the favourable opinion expressed by “ E. M.” (page 9) on the merits of 
this novelty. I have grown one row for a trial, and have already 
formed such a good opinion of it, that I intend to save the whole row for 
seed purposes. It is certainly the best white Pea for market work, the 
flowers being pure in colour and of great substance, while the stalks 
have been grown 18 inches long, an important item where the flowers 
are grown for cutting. I am not sure the stalks will grow so long 
under ordinary culture, but by feeding freely with manure this result 
may always be attained. The other white varieties are smaller in size 
and more creamy in appearance.—J. B. R. 
- TACCA cristata. —This is a handsome stove plant, which is 
rarely seen or heard of outside botanical gardens. A good specimen of 
it was recently in flower in a stove at Kew, where its extraordinary 
looking heads were a source of much speculation on the part of visitors. 
From a fleshy root-stock spring long-stalked, lanceolate, dark green and 
purple leaves, not unlike those of Eucharis, but larger and more 
lanceolate. The scapes are nearly 2 feet long, and each one is terminated 
by a cluster of small roundish flowers and long filaments, springing 
from the base of four large conspicuous spathe-like bracts. Mr. W. 
Watson informs the “Garden and Forest” that the flowers last about a 
fortnight. Grown in a hot moist atmosphere, and potted in a rich open 
soil, this plant soon forms a handsome specimen. It is a native of 
Malaya. Another name for it is Ataccia cristata. The order Taccaceae 
is closely allied to the Amaryllids. 
-Apples at Chiswick. —When at Chiswick Gardens the other 
day I specially noticed the really wonderful crops of Apples growing 
on the young trees in the north-west corner of the garden. Most, if not 
all, these trees are on the Paradise stock, and have been planted at 
various times during the past ten or twelve years, and comprise most of 
the best sorts. They are in both bush and very low standard form, but 
in not a single instance are hard pruned. So far from that being the 
case the branches rather run out long, loose, and drooping. Mr. 
Barron’s practice is to thin out, but not to shorten back. The result 
seems to be found in good crops almost every year, that of the present 
being a very heavy one. Whether under such conditions of training the 
bloom becomes more robust than is the case with hard-pruned trees, or 
whether it be that it is somewhat protected from the action of frost in 
the spring, in any case the result fully justifies the practice, and places 
it entirely outside of criticism. Oddly enough there are no Peaches on 
the wall close by. One or two leading gardeners present at Chiswick 
at the same time told me that whilst they had large crops of Peaches 
they had no Apples. The causes operating to produce these very 
diverse results are hard to ascertain or explain. Nature in her 
extremely varied operations is always furnishing problems that the 
greatest of experts cannot fully solve. Still I cannot well in the case 
of the Apples at Chiswick come to another conclusion than that the 
practice there adopted is the right thing in the proper place.— Visitor, 
