188 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ December, 1881. 
can be had, at mid-winter, than this beautiful 
Calanthe, which our gax-dens owe to the successful 
efforts made by Mr. Downing to hybridise this race 
of plants. 
— Kn order to improve tlie quality of some 
of our best Winter Pears, Mr. Sheppard, of 
Woolverstone, suggests planting on the north 
side of the wall, and carrying the branches over to the 
south side. “ I generally find,” he says, “ that our 
finest fruits are those gathered from branches that 
overtop the wall, and hang on the coping looking to 
the south-east, where, getting more sun, the crude 
juices are converted into saccharine matter.” This 
result, indeed, has often been observed by others. 
Mr. Sheppard adds :—“ I was much struck by a re¬ 
mark made by Mr. Creswell, the intelligent gar¬ 
dener at Stoke Park, about planting Pear trees on 
north walls, and running them over and down the 
other sido ; and he pointed to some he had trained 
in that way, which were bearing high-coloured, 
splendid-looking fruit.” Many persons, he thinks, 
may ask why, if Pears aro to grow on south walls, 
they are not planted there ? But the advantage of 
having the roots in a more shady and moist border 
is great, as there they are not likely to suffer from 
want of water, and the south side would still be at 
liberty for Peaches and Apricots, which may be 
trained to fill the lower part of the wall, or the 
Pears could be led cordon fashion along the top as 
a sort of coping. 
— ®he new Pose Thomas Gerrard origin¬ 
ated with Mr. G. 0. Garnett, an accomplished 
rosarian, residing near Dublin, and will be pro¬ 
pagated and distributed by Messrs. Keynes and Son, 
of Salisbury. It is a sport, and the following is its 
history :—In July, 1878, a dwarf standard of Letty 
Coles, hex-self a sport, was budded with Niphetos; 
the bud did not push, but l-emained dormant during 
the winter. In the spring of 1879 it produced a 
shoot, which ultimately died away. The blooms of 
that year and 1880 were those of Letty Coles, very 
fine, but true to colour and character. In April, 
1881, a strong shoot appeared, producing two flower- 
buds, which, when fully developed, were both parti¬ 
coloured or piebald, the colours white and salmon- 
rose. After Mr. Garnett had cut away the wood to 
forward for propagation to the Messrs. Keynes, a 
second sport of three blooms appeared, all i-ose- 
coloured, and only one showing the colour and per¬ 
fection of the first sport. Some of the most note- 
worthyroses in cultivation have resulted from cross¬ 
budding. Marshal Niel, the finest of all yellow roses, 
it is said, oi'iginated in this way ; a bud of Cloth of 
Gold was inserted on wood of the American Isabella 
Gray, the result of the union being the famous 
Marshal Niel. Then, again, Mabel Morrison was 
produced from bud variation produced thi-ough the 
inoculation of Baroness Bothschild with Niphetos. 
Belle Lyonnaise is the outcome of Gloire de Dijon 
budded with Celine Forestier. Finally, Letty Coles 
herself is a bud sport from Madame Willermoz. 
Jtn jflmortam* 
— John Reid, formerly gardener at 
Haigb Hall, Wigan, died at Appley Bridge on 
October lltb, aged 70 years. Mr. Reid was 
was born in the parish of Erskine, and at an early 
ago was apprenticed under Mr. Shields, gardener to 
Lord Blantyre, at Erskine House, whence he removed 
to Cawdor House, and thence to Woodhall (Campbell 
of Islay’s), then one of the most extensive places in 
.Scctland. After three years, he was appointed gar¬ 
dener to the Lord Justice Clerk (Hope), at Granton 
House ; and afterwai-ds entered the service of Profes¬ 
sor Syme, near Edinburgh ; that of the late Marquis 
of Huntly, at Orton Hall j and that of tho present 
Dowager-Countess of Crawford and Balcarres, at 
Haigh Hall, where he completely remodelled the 
grounds, as well as made extensive additions to the 
gardens. 
— (SJeorge Curling Joad, Esq., of Oakfield, 
Wimbledon Park, died on October 24th. Mr. 
Joad was comparatively little known outside 
his own immediate circle of fx-iends, but he loved 
plants, and not only knew- them, but cultivated them 
well. His gai-den was richly stocked, and so varied 
in arrangement, that while herbaceous and alpino 
plants had special attention, no other department 
was neglected. Mr. Joad’s gax-den was, indeed, one 
of the most interesting in the neighbourhood of 
London. 
— ffin. Alexander Ingram, gardener to 
the Duke of Northumberland, at Alnwick 
Castle, died on November 5th, after a very 
short illness. He was born in Aberdeenshire in 
1821, and commenced his career as garden boy at 
Pitcaple Castle, whence he left for Haddo House ; 
and from thence moved successively to Newby Hall, 
Yoi-kshire ; Moor Park, Herts ; and Messrs. Knight 
and Pen-y’s nursery, at Chelsea. In June, 1854, he 
was sent by the late Mr. James Veitch, to Bighgrove, 
Reading, then the residence of the late J. J. Blandy, 
Esq., in whose service Mr. Ingram px-oved himself 
to be a clever cultivator, and a successful exhibitor 
of choice plants and fruits. In October, 1867, after 
Mr. Blandy’s death, Mr. Ingram became gardener 
at Alnwick Castle, the gai-dens of which ho almost 
entirely remodelled. 
— 3(ohn Denny, Esq., M.D., died on 
November 18th, at his residence, the Dis¬ 
pensary, Stoke Newington, from a second 
attack of paralysis. Dr. Denny has long been 
known as a breeder of high-class Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums, single and double, many of his varieties 
now occupying a prominent place in our collections. 
An account of his modus operandi, from his own 
pen, will be found in our volume for 1872, pp. 10, 
34, 50. In 1875 he was elected on tho Council of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, on which he has 
continued to hold a seat ever since. Ho was, con¬ 
jointly with the late Mr. John Pearson, the founder 
of the Pelargonium Society, which has done so 
much to foster the development of that popular 
flower, and the successful career of which has been 
much influenced by his active energetic Treasurer- 
ship, which he only resigned last year. As a kind- 
hearted, genial fi-iend, and an uncompromising and 
instinctive supporter of the true interests of gar¬ 
dening, ho will be greatly missed, as well as deeply 
regretted by those with whom ho w-as associated 
in horticultural work. 
%* It is intended to make tlie Florist and 
POMOLOGIST AND SUBURBAN GARDENER also a 
Register of Garden Novelties, including 
New Plants , New Flowers , New Fruits, and 
Neiv Vegetables. In order to make this Register 
as perfect as possible, we shall be glad to receive 
from our correspondents notes of any such sub¬ 
jects which wo ourselves may not be likely to 
fall in with. 
