September 6, 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
225 
value is not less than £40,000. Nicaragua exported 8000 bunches in 
1883, and in four jears the quantity had increased to 255,332. The 
fruit trade of Jamaica has been remarkably successful, being now more 
valuable than the sugar crop, once the staple production of the island. 
Bananas and Oranges are the principal fruits exported. Less than 
twenty years ago the annual value of the fruit shipped was £15,000; 
now it is probably not less than £400,000. 
- WIDDHINGTONIA Whytei. —This is a new Conifer which has 
lately been introduced from Nyassaland to Kew by means of seeds 
brought home by Mr. Whyte, who collected specimens of animals and 
plants in that region in 1801 for the British Museum. The seedlings 
are 6 inches high, and from their behaviour they are likely to do well 
under cultivation. The genus, says the “ Garden and Forest,” is closely 
related to Callitris, also African, and of which several species are in 
cultivation. W. Whytei is, according to Mr. Whyte, a large tree, 
specimens measured by him being 140 feet long, with a clear straight 
stem 90 feet long and nearly 6 teet in diameter at the base. The cones 
are smaller than a chestnut, and of the same shape—longer than broad. 
The foliage is Juniper-like, and the wood is dull reddish white. 
- Zonal Pelargoniums. —Truly may it be said of these 
brilliant flowers at Swanley that “ Years may come and years may go^ 
but these go on for ever.” Not the same plants, I suppose, although 
they look like it; but there is to-day in several houses just the game 
marvellous show of bloom that has been seen at any time during the past 
twenty years. Summer and winter, no matter what the time of year, it 
is there. Of course, neither plants or sorts are the same. Perhaps out 
of those there twenty years since not one sort remains. If the show of 
singles and doubles is wonderful, so is the advance. The size of truss 
and pip now excels all earlier expectations. Even still numerous 
seedlings are coming into bloom, and a few singularly fine and curiously 
marked flowers have been selected. Nothing, I presume, will satisfy 
now until even the single Begonia has been beaten in size and colouring. 
— D. 
- Talauma Hodgsoni. —This was discovered in the Sikkim 
Himalaya by Sir Joseph Hooker, and figured by him in his “ Himalayan 
Plants,” where he describes it as a small tree, 20 to 40 feet high, with 
large, handsome, coriaceous evergreen leaves, and fleshy, fragrant, white 
flowers nearly as large as those of Magnolia grandiflora. it is common 
in the Sikkim forests at 2000 to 4000 feet elevation. A writer in the 
“ Garden and Forest ” says there are two large specimens of it in the 
temperate house at Kew, and one of them recently flowered for the first 
time in cultivation. Its leaves are 2 feet long by 8 inches in width, and 
the flowers, which are borne on short lateral branches, have plum- 
purple sepals and ivory white petals, their odour being powerful and 
aromatic. T. Hodgsoni was named in compliment to B H. Hodgson, 
Esq., F.L.S,, late of the Bengal service, whose death, at the age of 
ninety, occurred a few weeks ago. 
- A Note on Strawberries. —It seems to be the general 
opinion of most gardeners in this neighbourhood (Liverpool) that the 
present season’s crop of Strawberries has been one of the poorest on 
record. Last year after doing all I knew with Sir J. Paxton, Dr. Hogg, 
and British Queen I was obliged to discard them, purchasing in their 
place Sharpless, Captain, and Commander. The plants made excellent 
progress after being planted on ground which had been previously 
occupied with early Potatoes, the flower stems being stout and strong, 
but the May frosts played sad havoc amongst those that were open. 
We had sufficient fruit left to give me hope that Sharpless is likely to 
be with us superior to Noble, which is one of its parents, both as to 
constitution, flavour and earliness. Captain proved excellent both 
indoors and out, giving a supply of large, solid, firm fruit, our heavy 
land suiting it admirably. Commander is a good robust grower, 
although the flowers seemed rather more susceptible to the cold, but it 
is one of much promise. La Grosse Sucree was fairly good. Pauline, 
although an unshapely fruit, if the stock is renewed every two years, is 
a useful sort, proving itself so this season. John Powell, the sweetest 
Strawberry grown, was in 1892 and 1893 a great cropper, but an entire 
failure this season, as was Exonian. James Veitch, President, Sir 
Charles Napier, and Waterloo cannot be surpassed. The crop has not 
been above half, and soon over, but they never fail in any season ; the 
fruit of the latter has this season been especially fine and firm. A 
variety highly spoken of by Mr. Craven, of Allerton Priory, is Jubilee. 
It is a very late sort of fine Pine flavour, moderate foliage, its only 
objection being that it does not quite ripen out at the end, but worth 
growing for its lateness.—E. P, K. 
- Wakefield Paxton Society,— The following is the pro¬ 
gramme of meetings for the third quarter (session 1894). the meetings 
being held at the Paxton Room, Woolpacks Hotel, Corn Market, West- 
gate, each Saturday evening at eight o’clock ;—September Sth, “A Visit 
to America Long Ago” (continued), Mr. J. Burton ; 15th, “ The Dahlia 
Exhibition,” discussion to be introduced -by Mr. G. Gill; 22nd, “ The 
Available Plant Food in Soils,” Mr. H. Crowther, F.R.M.S., Leeds 
Museum; 29th, “A ITew Hints on Bulbs and their Forcing Qcalities,” 
Mr. L. Twigge; October 6 h, “Exhibition of Autumn Leaves and 
Fruits,” essay by Mr. G. Bott; 13th, “ Hardy Fruits,” Mr. J. Campbell; 
20th, " The Science of Manuring,” Mr. C. E. Pearson, Chilwell Nurseries, 
Notts; 27 th, “North Germany, from Hamburgh to the Hartz ” 
(illustrated), Mr. J. Swire ; November 3rd, “ Some FacU about Roots 
and the Useful Hints they Afford,” Mr. J. Wood, Kirkstall ; 10th, 
“ Organic and Vegetable Chemistry,” Mr. J. Parkinson ; 17th, “Wander¬ 
ings in Wexford and Waterford ” (illustrated), Mr. W. Webster; 24th, 
“ The Chrysanthemum Exhibition,” essay by Mr. J. Tnomas. 
HARDY ANNUALS AT ROATH PARK, CARDIFF. 
I HAVE often thought in bedding out too little has been made of 
some of our best hardy annuals, and a good deal of expense incurred in 
bedding Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, and other tender half-hardy plants, 
when as good and even better effects could be obtained with hardy 
annuals. Certainly they do not remain so long in good condition, nor 
do they make as early a show as some of the bedding plants employed, 
but the effect is, I think, such as to make up for these shortcomings. 
Annuals to be seen to the best advantage must be grown in large 
sized beds or borders, as it is only then their full beauty can be seen 
and appreciated. In the botanic garden of the Roath Park there are 
about a hundred parallel shaped beds, varying in size from 20 to 30 feet 
long, by 7 feet wide, which are intended for the cultivation of perennial, 
herbaceous, and medicinal plants. These beds have been sown this year 
with a choice selection of hardy annuals, which for the past ten weeks 
have been a fine sight, and much admired by the numerous visitors 
frequenting the Park. The seeds were sown in a portion of the beds 
about the end of March and beginning of April, and the seedlings 
thinned out during May were transplanted into other beds left vacant 
for that purpose. With the exception of the Poppies the majority of 
them transplanted very well, and flowered much earlier than those 
grown in the beds where they were sown. One of the most attractive 
beds is that planted with Nemophila insignis, which although coming 
early into bloom, is as charming as ever, and is likely to remain in 
flower until it is cut off by the frost. Sweet Sultan has proved itself 
to be admirably adapted for large beds, and the number and brightness 
of its blooms make it an invaluable plant for decorative purposes. 
Chrysanthemum tricolor and some of the newer varieties have given 
the greatest satisfaction as bedding plants. Their floriferous habit and 
the abundance of flowers they produce make them striking objects even 
at a distance, and the larger the bed they occupy the batter the effect 
will be. Some clumps growing in a border, with a shrubbery behind as 
a background, are seen to good advantage, and much admired by the 
general public. 
Beds of Candytuft and Shirley Poppies were exceedingly showy 
during the time they were in flower, but their flowering period is of 
short duration, and unless one has tuberous Begonias or something else 
to take their place when they have done flowering, it is not advisable to 
devote beds to them ; they would be better sown in mixed borders. 
Linum grandiflorum and Godetia Lady Albemarle are two good bedding 
plants ; neither of them grows much more than from 12 to 15 inches high, 
and they remain in bloom for a long time. Several beds in the park 
have been filled with these, and have been very attractive during the 
summer. Although some of the beds of Godetia are now losing their 
freshness, the Linum is as bright as ever, and looks as if it will continue 
so till the end of the season. 
The beds of mixed Larkspur, though longer in coming into flower 
than some of the others, have amply repaid all the trouble expended 
upon them, and proved themselves to be useful as bedding plants when 
employed in large beds. Gypsophila elegans, Gilia androsacea, and 
Saponaria calabrica are three good plants for small beds. Gypsophila, 
though perhaps less attractive in a bed than some of the others, is of 
great value in a cut state for filling glasses and vases in house decoration. 
The Gilia mentioned makes good beds, and from what I have seen of it 
this year in the park it would make a fine edging or groundwork for beds 
in which subtropical plants like Ricinus, Aralias, and Grevilleas are 
employed. I can never forget the scrolls of Saponaria calabrica I have 
seen at Drumlanrig forty years ago. 
Nigella damascena, with its light graceful foliage, makes a very 
attractive bedding plant, although the pale blue flowers are scarcely 
distinct enough to make it striking, yet it has proved itself to be as 
worthy of being grown in beds as many plants requiring more attention. 
The beds of dwarf Tropaeolums, Calliopsis coronata, Malopes, Whitlavias, 
and Clarkias have all made a good display this year, and the beds of 
hardy annuals have given greater satisfaction to the visitors than the 
others filled with half-hardy plants.— A. PETTIGREW, Castle Gardens, 
Cardiff, 
