August 16,1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTaUE GARDENER. 
159 
PINKS AT HANDSWORTH, BIRMINGHAM. 
As the collection grown by Mr. A. E. Brown, Crompton Eoad, 
Handsworth, Birmingham, is one of the best representative collections 
in the Midlands, and he was again the champion winner at the Great 
Midland Pink exhibition recently at Wolverhampton, I send you my 
annual notes of his blooms after inspecting his plants, as they may 
be of some use to amateurs. Mr. Brown adopts layering as his mode of 
propagation, and plants out in beds in September, and does not grow his 
plants too strong, under the impression that with such treatment he 
obtains more refined flowers. 
Amy (Brown).—Large, of good form, large well formed petal, dark 
maroon purple lacing ; a very fine kind. 
Arthur Brown. —Raised by Mr. George Chaundy,jun., of Oxford, but 
cannot be sent out until autumn 1895 ; a very fine flower, which 
received a certificate at Wolverhampton, and was fully described in the 
Journal of July 19th. 
Bertha (Brown).—Red laced and bright, not a very large flower, but 
of good form and petal, bright in colour. 
Bertram (Turner).—Very much like, but not so good as Minerva, 
and both should not be shown in the same stand. 
Bessie (Fellowes). —Large and full, fair petal, well laced, and 
decidedly worth growing as a good useful back row flower. 
Boiard (Turner).—Red laced and bright, a large full flower, shown 
fine at Wolverhampton ; a useful old variety. 
Captain Kennedy (Fellowes).—Bright reddish purple lacing, a full 
sized flower with good petal, and well laced ; very distinct, and one of 
the best. 
Device (Maclean).—Dark purple lacing, and good petal of fine form, 
perfect lacing, and was adjudged “ the premier ” at the London Pink show. 
Duke of York (Thurstan).—Rough in character here, and not so fine 
as Boiard this season. 
Bthel (Brown).—Reddish purple lacing, large and full, extra fine 
petal, and well laced, 
Emmeline (Paul).—Dark purple lacing of fine form, with superb 
large petal, well laced ; an excellent flower. 
Emerald (Hooper).—A small petalled very full flower, and large, 
but will not be grown here again. 
Empress of India (Douglas).—Has flowers larger than usual, but 
has laced badly here and generally about Birmingham, but will always 
be grown for its fine petal and good quality. 
Enchantress (Fellowes).—Good form and petal, and well laced, and 
an improvement on that useful old variety Zoe. 
Ernest (Maclean).—Bright in colour, large and full, very closely 
resembling Ada Louise and Emerald, but will be grown here now to the 
exclusion of the two others, having larger and better petals. 
Favourite (Fellowes).—As seen here this variety gives evidence of 
very little quality. 
George Hodgkinson (Thurstan).—This variety is of excellent quality, 
beautifully laced, but small, and here a weak grower. 
George White (Paul).—A light purple laced variety, with a clear 
white ground colour ; a well-built flower. 
Godfrey (Turner).—A purple laced flower, still a good old variety. 
Harry Hooper (Hooper).—Purple laced bloom ; a really good useful 
flower, and of dwarf habit. 
James Douglas (Hooper).—As seen here this is a small bloom, of poor 
form and petal. 
James Thurstan (Thurstan).—This is not a promising variety as seen 
here ; the petals are small. 
Jeannette (Fellowes).—A large and very full flower; requires a 
great deal of dressing, and comes best on a weak plant. 
John Dorrington (Thurstan).—A large and full flower, but rough as 
seen here. 
John Ball (Maclean).—A good old Pink still, and as seen this season 
petals and marking excellent, and so bright. This fine variety is the 
parent of Amy. 
Lustre (Fellowes).—A very useful large flower, with light lacing, 
and something like William Paul, but with a tooth-shaped petal. 
Lorina (Fellowes).—Somewhat resembling Boiard and especially 
Duke of York in colours, but is a large confused flower. 
Maggie (Fellowes).—A red laced variety, a very full flower, small 
petal, and requires much dressing to be presentable. 
Mary Gray (Paul).—A flower as seen here greatly wanting good 
qualities, and will not be grown again. 
Minerva (Fellowes).—A red heavy laced flower, not bright in colour, 
but always of fine form. 
Modesty (Paul).—Grand in petal and form, but has laced badly this 
year, and hitherto it has been invariably so fine. 
Mrs. Dark (Brown).—A good old Pink, and valuable as a border 
variety. 
Mrs. F. Hooper (Hooper).—A rose-laced flower, bright in opening 
and fading to a lighter colour ; very large petal, and difficult to dress. 
Olympia (Fellowes).—A very confused flower and rough, and will 
be discarded. 
Ophelia (Fellowes).—A large and full flower, good petal and form, 
but irregular in the lacing. 
Pandora (Fellowes).—Light purple lacing and a pointed petal, and 
will not be grown here again. 
Rival (Paul).—This flower has light red lacing, soon fading to a 
paler colour, and with serrated edge. 
Princess Louise (Fellowes).—A superb purple-laced flower of very 
fine quality, but not a good grower as seen here, and no stock of it. 
Rosy Morn (Fellowes).—One of his first and also finest varieties, 
well laced, and good petal. 
The Rector (Fellowes).—A fine variety, and should be in every 
collection. 
William Paul (Paul).—A really fine flower, large, stout petal, and 
very good in every respect. 
Zoe (Fellowes).—Large and fall, good petal and form, and early, 
being one of the first to bloom. 
I wish it to be distinctly understood that these remarks apply to the 
blooms this year at Mr. Brown’s, for in some other collections some 
varieties may have proved worthy of higher praise. In the year 1782, a 
Mr. James Maddock, a celebrated florist in those days, said of the Pink, 
“ The great improvements made in the Pink are of very recent date, and 
hitherto chiefly, if not wholly, confined to this kingdom ; in short, we 
may venture to assert that a Pink called Major’s Lady Stoverdale, 
raised from seed in the southern parts of England by the person whose 
name it bears, was the first that deserved to be classed amongst such 
as are now held in esteem by florists, and was the first Pink possessed of 
that singular and beautiful ornament called a lacing, which is a con¬ 
tinuation of the colour of the eye round the white or broad part of the 
petal.” Eighteen years after this was written sorts almost free from 
the serrated edge were obtained, and the work of progress is still going 
on.—W. D. 
THE STRAWBERRY CROP. 
T QUITE agree with Mr. Dunkin (page 98) that many a useful hint 
might be gathered this season by growers giving a short account of any 
crops which may have been saved, more particularly perhaps as to 
position, as where growers have a choice of sites this is of great 
importance. 
Were I starting in this district to cultivate for market I am not at 
all sure that I should plant the bulk in an early position ; in fact, from 
the experience we have had of late frosts on two occasions during the 
last four years in this locality I should be safer, I think, in choosing a 
site facing north or north-west. This, of course, only applies locally, 
for have them as early as we can the south country growers are before 
us, and so the price is down. On the other hand, a late crop would 
prove quite remunerative in a thickly populated locality like this, My 
experience with Garibaldi and President differs from those cases met 
with by Mr. Dunkin. I have had an excellent crop of both; in fact, 1 
may almost say I grow no other, for after trying between thirty and 
forty kinds these two are our mainstay. I wish Loxford Hall grew 
better, as it would prove very useful for dessert could it be induced to 
succeed, but 1 am almost tired of coaxing it on and waiting for it. The 
same remark nearly applies to Laxton’s Latest of All, but it may be I 
want a fresh stock of this, 
I must say, however, that the success I have met with this year is by 
no means general even in this district. In a garden not half a mile 
distant, where the crop is usually a good one, there was only quarter of 
a crop with the same two varieties, this being due entirely to the fact 
that the latter occupied an early position facing southward, and the 
former a northward one with a cold soil resting upon clay, consequently 
the flower stalks were not far advanced when the frosts came. 
Raspberries have not been injured so much as I once feared, in fact 
we have an abundant crop ; also Gooseberries and Currants, both Red 
and Black, are very light, but on walls are a full crop. The same 
remarks apply to Apples and Pears. It is the more disappointing as 
there was such an abundant blossom this season.—W. A. Jenkins, 
Durham. 
TOMATOES SETTING versus NON-SETTING. 
From various sources I learn that Tomatoes have not set their fruit 
freely in some localities this summer. A rather dry atmosphere is, as 
a rule, recommended for growing the plants in, as it is most favourable 
for them. Last summer was certainly one which suited the growth 
and ripening of both plants and fruit. There was no lack of sunshine, 
and abundance of blossom which set freely. This year I have some 
plants in one house, the temperature of which has been kept as suitable 
to the growth of the plants as possible ; but although the first flowers 
set those which opened later and during the dull July weeks failed to 
set, although they were fertilised. At the same time I had some plants 
growing in an unheated Peach house. The Peach trees were regularly 
syringed with the garden engine on all fine days ; the Tomato plants were 
in full flower at this period, and all came in for a good drenching from 
the engine. As a consequence there is a splendid crop of fruit swelling 
on every plant in that house. 
“ A Young Scribe,” in his interesting and instructive notes on Sand- 
beck Park Gardens (page 112) mentions a case there of the syringing 
of Tomato plants, and the good results which followed. It was that 
reference to the subject which caused me to pen these notes, as in my 
case the result is also satisfactory, but the syringing was not purposely 
done. . . 
Two houses under my charge haie Tomato plants growing in them, 
one heated and the other not, and the set of fruit is now good in both, 
but I am referring only to the unheated house. The difference in the 
two houses of plants caused me to ponder the matter over a good deal 
during the past few weeks, espeeially so as the disease has appeared on 
a few of the plants in the warmer house and not on those in the UU’ 
heated one. I can only guess at the cause of failure to set in the one 
house and success in the other, which is this—viz., that those plants in 
