228 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 6,1894. 
grown plants artistically arranged with a groundwork of Adiantum 
cuneatum, the colours ranging from pure white to the deepest scarlet. 
The blooms of the double varieties were especially fine and conspicuous. 
I noticed Earl of Warwick, bright scarlet and fine flowers, and Duchess 
of Teck, lemon yellow. Amongst the singles especially worthy of 
mention were Marchioness of Salisbury, Mrs. Laing, and Duke of 
Wellington. The collection of plants shown by Mr. E. Murrell, of 
Shrewsbury, were also well worthy of mention, and contained many 
charming varieties, chief amongst which were Princess May, a double 
white, and Mrs, Francis Fell, delicate shade of pink. Mr, B. R. Davis, 
Yeovil, exhibited a stand of blooms all exceptionally large and con¬ 
sisting of many shades of colour. 
Caladiums were well shown by Messrs. J, Yeitch & Sons, and the 
beauty of the plants elicited approbation from the visitors. The perfect 
and distinct colouring made many of the varieties worthy of note, 
principal of which were Ladas. Chelsea Gem, Princess of Teck, 
Madame Alfred Magne, Duke of York and Mrs. Harry Veitch. Another 
charming collection was that of Messrs. Peed & Sons, conspicuous 
amongst other varieties being Paris de Chavannes, a new kind with 
reddish-brown veins in the leaves and large white spots on a 
ground of bluish-grey ; Baron Adolphe de Rothschild with large leaves 
and brilliant red carmine centre ; Charlemagne with its rosy-red 
leaves, and Ibis Rouge, an attractive variety. As decorative plants 
these Caladiums deserve a high position, and with an average amount 
of care and attention can easily be grown. — G. Hollingwobth, 
Alton Toicers. 
RIPENED WOOD. 
I AM SO comfortably disposed of by “ Sceptic ” on page 195 that it 
may be in some measure presumption on my part to prolong the contro¬ 
versy. Doubtless there are other foemen worthy of his steel (pen), so I 
will but respectfully call his attention to the lessons of the doctrine 
conveyed by the different teachers in all departments of the JoiLvnal of 
Horticulture, To those who read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the 
weekly meal of mental food, it will, I venture to say, seldom be found 
wanting in the menu. For instance, in last week’s number, will 
“ Sceptic ” kindly note on page 194 “ D., Deal," on Roses, Mr. 
Molyneux on Muscat Vines, same page, and Peaches and Nectarines, 
page 210 ? 
As “ Sceptic ” takes the roasting process of last year's sunny summer 
to illustrate his views, he will perhaps allow me to go to the other 
extreme and ask h’'m what will be the result of a severe winter, should 
we have one, on the sappy immature growth of this practically sunless 
season, especially in the more prominent departments where the 
gardener’s hand may not have afforded that judicious help, timely 
applied, to counteract and subdue super-luxuriance. I do not take it 
that either, or any extreme, can form reliable data. Is planting Apple 
trees in far Ceylon an illustration to the point? No more, I think, than 
the transferring of Tea plants to our shores would be. Ripened wood— 
not roasted, please ?—means to my mind that perfect rest which enables 
trees and shrubs to go through the ordeal of winters of Arctic severity 
unscathed. Hence may be found the cause of failure with us in many 
examples from colder climates which vet obtain sunny growing condi¬ 
tions we cannot depend on having. But I have trespassed too far, so 
must fain pass over the sting in the tail of “Sceptic’s ” argument. Did 
time and space permit the subject to be thrashed out, “ Sceptic ” might, 
I think, be drawn into the fold of orthodoxy.—E. K. 
[We will find our correspondent the requisite space if he can find the 
time for effecting the conversion to which he alludes.] 
READING HORTICULTURAL SHOW. 
This is admirably reported in your last issue (page 209), but you 
may possibly have room for a few further remarks. Strange to say the 
day was fine, St. S within having just completed his reign here, winding 
up with an inch and a half of rain and a burned down theatre. Few 
towns in England have such an exhibition ground as Reading. The 
outer court of the old abbey, now called the Forbury, contained the band 
and a large proportion of the company. The grand old halls of the 
ruined abbey had the tents with the produce, the roofless chamber—in 
which three kings held their parliaments—being devoted to huge and 
bright Tomatoes, perfect Potatoes, and vegetables of all kinds. 
The Roses do not call for much comment. There were two bright 
boxes of Mrs. John Laing, and Mr. C. Turner had a charming box of 
cluster Roses in which, however, I did not notice his famous Crimson 
Rambler. Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons had a group of hardy flowers of every 
possible colour, and making a vast bank up one side of the ruins. 
The large prizes of the Messrs. Sutton & Sons brought out a most magnifi¬ 
cent show of fruit, but the most interesting exhibit of all to my mind 
was the Dahlia deoartment, the single and the Cactus varieties being 
shown by Messrs. J. Cheal x Sons and Eric Such in most wonderful 
perfection. These classes, in my opinion, are infinitely beyond the 
heavy, formal, faultless, changeless double Dahlias. These are flowers 
which certainly deserve more extensive employment, and the improve¬ 
ment in them during the last few years is enormous. 
I see my friend, “E. M.,’’ the Dahlia Society President, has 
originated one of the finest singles, Rosebank Cardinal, which is just 
now in commerce.—A. C. 
American Chrysanthemums. 
A FRIEND who has recently gone to America and who has had a 
wide experience of Chrysanthemums in England writes me as follows; — 
“ Since my arrival in thin country I have not had much of an opportunity 
of inspecting many of the best collections out here, but from the little I 
have seen I do not think that their blooms will be anything like the best 
class of the Aquarium blooms. The growers here say that their blooms 
are much better, but that is what I cannot see. Many of the plants that 
the exhibition blooms are to come from have been planted since the 
23rd June. . . . Yery few of the plants are growing in pots, all on benches 
with about 6 inches of poor soil, and all under glass, and they have adopted 
the stopping system to a great extent. . . . Time will tell, and then 
I shall write you in full.’’ 
Chrysanthemums in New South Wales. 
The colonial growers of Chrysanthemums, but particularly those in New 
Zealand and the above named colony, seem to be quite as eager in adding 
the best of the novelties to their collections as we English admirers. 
Mr. S. B. Levick of Sidney in a lengthy, analytical article on the past 
season in Australia, which appears in a recent number of the “ Australian 
Agriculturist,” gives a list of the new varieties which were exhibited for 
the first time at the shows there. Those imported were Charles Davis, 
Robert Owen, Golden Wedding, Mrs. C. Harman Payne, Miss Dorothy 
Shea, Mrs. R. J, Biylis, Mrs. W. Herbert Fowler, Alice Seward, Mdlle. 
Marie Recoura, Lizzie Cartledge, Cleopatra, International, Felix 
Cassagneau, William Seward, King’s Daughter, Excelsior, G. 0. Schwabe, 
Mrs. Ltbbie Allen, Ivory, Walter Hunnewell, Shenandoah, Mrs. John 
Tyerman, and Miss Mabel Simpkins. 
It appears that there were also some new colonial seedlings, but the 
descriptions are not given. The names of these are Antipodean, Mrs. J. H. 
Horton, Oceana, Elwood Surprise, Ben Tillett, and Dorothy Turner. 
It is added that last season there were no fewer than thirty snows held 
in the country. Altogether there were three shows held in Sidney by 
the United Horticultural Societies, the first for early varieties on April 
10th, the second or principal show (equivalent to our November one) on 
19th and 20th April, and the third or late show on May 8th. The 
total blooms staged numbered 1452, and Mr. Levick comments on the 
fact that the incurved and reflexed varieties still appear to decrease, only 
142 blooms having been shown. 
The best six white Japanese, one variety, was Florence Davis ; the 
same number of yellow Col. W. B. Smith ; any other colour, Yiviand 
Morel. Only one bloom of Etoile de Lyon was staged, which is com¬ 
mented upon as being the most noticeable change in the season as 
compared with former ones.—P. 
BROCKLESBY PARK. 
Since the days of agricultural prosperity the glories of many 
splendid domains have passed away. When farming paid well, crops 
fetching remunerative prices, these estates were handsomely, in some 
cases lavishly, maintained, and were a constant source of pleasure and 
benefit to their owners and dependants. But look at the dlflfereiice now. 
Rents have, of necessity, had to be enormously reduced, and even then 
the most diligent, rational, and up-to-date farmer can only make a fair 
living. Such being the case landlords must suffer as well as their 
tenants, and those whose incomes are mainly or entirely derived from land 
under farm cultivation have found it essential to curtail their expenses 
to a very large extent indeed. Everyone is looking for this wave of 
depression to pass away, when all concerned will be enabled to resume 
the manner and style of living in vogue some years ago. Pessimists say 
that such can never be the case. Let us trust they are wrong, and that 
their prophecies may prove as groundless as they are incessant. The 
prospect, however, is not over-bright. Some farmers are stilt able to 
show a fairly good return, but it is those only who treat both land and 
stock in the most advanced style, and are unremitting in their search 
for any new idea or practice which is likely to prove of assistance to 
them in their, at present, most disheartening of avocations. 
Unfortunately for gardening and gardeners, when an estate owner 
commences to “pull in’’attention is given to the garden. The staff 
must be reduced, and expenses of firing and other incidentals lessened 
in every way that can devised. This is done, and look at the result. 
This and that part has perforce to be neglected in turn, and the best 
made of the inadequate means at command. But the real gardener who 
is heart and soul in his work never knows when he is bt-aten. There 
are hundreds of such cases throughout the country where the gardener 
perseveres in his endeavours to do his duty to his employer and credit 
to himself, and in his efforts overcomes what he, in palmier days, would 
have considered insurmountable difficulties. All honour to them for so 
well upholding the best traditions of their noble and most ancient of 
callings. And what does such a man receive for his earnest and 
assiduous labours? Occasionally he will have the approbation and 
