March 13, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
443 
NARCISSUS MONOPHYLLUS. 
In the pure white satiny flowers of this plant we 
have one of the loveliest gems of winter ; yes, truly a 
winter flowering Daffodil, coming with the snow. All our 
readers will readily admit that we have at least had a 
taste of the much talked of “ old fashioned winters ” of 
our forefathers, and even this has not kept it from 
flowering at its wonted period. It usually flowers 
during January and February, when ruthless biting 
winds and nipping frosts seem to join hand in hand to 
bring about its destruction, yet, with all the hardships 
it has to endure, it certainly ranks among the hardiest of 
its family, and though the innocent delicacy of its'flowers 
are such as to require protection, this may be given in 
such a simple manner, that none knowing the chaste and 
lovely blossoms which it produces, would deny it this 
little protection. Indeed, without some such protection 
afforded it, it soon loses its beauty and grace ; for com¬ 
bined with its general elegance and purity, its loveliness 
at this season of the year may be said to be unique, and 
not the least charming feature in connection with it, is 
that it emits a perfume, not overwhelming, but delicate 
and pleasing in the extreme. Need one word more be 
added to give the reader an idea of its charms, for its 
delicate satinyflowers with undulated margin, semi-erect, 
and in many instances fully erect, together with its 
golden anthers rendering it the more conspicuous, are 
sure to meet with many admirers. 
It usually grows about 6 ins. high, and is one of the 
delights of anj r garden in mid-winter Its culture is 
simple as the following will show. Anyone having a 
handlight say 15 ins. square can grow this beauty to 
perfection, such a space being capable of containing at 
least a hundred large-sized bulbs ; plant these not more 
than 2 ins. deep in very sandy light rich loam, or if the 
latter be heavy remove it, and fill in a depth of 1 ft. of 
good soil, such for example as equal parts of turfy peat, 
leaf-soil, and loam, making all rather sandy ; it succeeds 
well in such a compost. At the present time we have 
in the open grouud a great number showing flower, 
planted in ordinary pasture loam, which have only had 
the protection of a light during the recent bad weather ; 
these are from collected roots only twelve months 
planted, and all appear to be producing flowers. The 
other varieties of these charming plants are N. bulbo- 
codium citrinus, a fine telling flower of a pale citron- 
yellow, and sulphureus with straw coloured flowers ; all 
are beautiful, and ere long I venture to predict that other 
equally beautiful forms will be brought to light.— J. 
-- 
NOTES ON PEAS. 
As the season is at hand when most amateurs 
will decide upon their arrangements for the cul¬ 
tivation of Peas for the coming season, a few notes 
supplementary to those I contributed to The Garden¬ 
ing "World twelvemonths since upon “Peas for Exhibi¬ 
tion,” gathered from the experience of the past year 
may, perhaps, not be unacceptable to some. 
I have never been a special admirer of or advocate 
for the cultivation of dwarf Peas requiring no sticks, 
considering that -where others can be grown they are 
far more profitable, but there are many whose gardens 
are limited, and where the situation is too exposed, or 
sticks are unattainable, where dwarf Peas can alone be 
grown. During the last few years considerable im¬ 
provements have been made in these, and as far as 
cropping and quality is concerned, coupled with the 
fact that four rows can be grown upon the same space 
of ground as two of the ordinary rows, I have of late 
considerably modified my opinion as to the profitableness 
of this section for amateurs and small growers. Last 
spring I determined to have a good trial and test 
half-a-dozen of the best sorts by sowing them side by 
side at the same time, and treating them exactly 
similar, and the following is the result. All the six 
rows were sown at the latter end of February, and the 
weights appended refer to the yield of green pods fit 
for the table when gathered ; each row was 24 ft. long. 
McLean's Little Gem. —This has long been a general 
favourite, and is a true type of what a dwarf Pea should 
he—never growing too strong to require supporting. 
It is also very early, and one of the best in quality ; 
yield, 14 lbs. 
American Wonder. —A modern introduction of the 
Little Gem type, and growing side by side with 
that variety I could detect very little distinction, both 
coming in at the same time, and of the two I am 
inclined to prefer the old favourite ; yield, 12| lbs. 
Minimum (Laxton’s)—The dwarfest of all Peas with 
me, not reaching 1 ft. A white wrinkled producing a 
complete mass of well-filled small pods of fine quality, 
coming in the earliest of all ; a curiosity in its way, 
and might be sown in rows 1 ft. apart ; yield, 84 lbs. 
Advancer. —Although recommended as a dwarf re¬ 
quiring no sticks, this is a mistake, with me it grew the 
most robust of all, quite 2| ft., and while those of the 
dwarf type fairly escaped the ravages of insects during 
the dry weather, this was sadly infested, which no 
doubt accounted for the small yield, 7| lbs. 
Multum in Parvo. —This, although set down in 
catalogues at 1 ft., was with me as strong growing as 
the former, and about as useless for the purpose, rods 
having to be placed along the sides of the rows to keep 
it from covering the adjoining rows of other varieties. 
It was likewise a long time in podding ; yield, 10 lbs. 
William Hurst (Laxton’s).—A new pea sent outlast 
year, and one which I think will eclipse all others. It 
is doubtless a very superior strain of Little Gem, of the 
same habit and growth, but larger pods, and is far more 
prolific. It was admired by all who saw it, large fine 
shaped pods being produced at the axles of nearly every 
leaf, mostly in pairs. From the one row 174 lbs. of pods 
were produced. Doubtless, this variety requires only 
to be better known and cheaper in price to supersede 
all the preceding. It is the only one belonging to the 
section that I shall grow this season, it being very 
early, of fine quality, and immensely productive. 
Exhibition Peas. 
Having during the last season again secured the 
majority of the new Peas introduced, and again been 
successful as an exhibitor, I have no reason to alter the 
opinion I' expressed last year, that Duke of Albany 
(Abbott’s) is the best of all the large-podded Peas for 
exhibition. Throughout the Midlands, in nine cases 
out of ten where it was exhibited it carried away the 
honours. It is, however, a source of regret that last 
year several of the large seedsmen priced this variety at 
2s. 6 d. per quart, when the wholesale price was 5s. 
The result is that an inferior variety has got into 
commerce, producing lighter coloured foliage and 
thinner and lighter pods, causing in this district and, 
no doubt, in others much annoyance. 
Messrs. Harrison, of Leicester, are sending out this 
season an improved variety of the well-known Ne Plus 
Ultra, and having received from them a sample for 
trial last spring I am much pleased with it, the pods 
being finer than the original, and this is saying much. 
With this one single exception and that of William 
Hurst, referred to above, none of the new introductions 
of last season will find a place in my grounds against 
such grand varieties as the following six:—Duke of 
Albany, Staffordshire Marrow, Payne’s Conqueror, 
Paragon, Stratagem, and Ne Plus Ultra Improved.— 
J. Knight, Bilston. 
-—>* 4 ,- 
FRDITS, FLO WERS & V EGETABLES. 
Setting the Fruits of Strawberries. —Your 
correspondent “ W. P. R. ” in his extremely interesting 
and instructive communication on setting the fruits of 
Strawberries, omitted to state whether he sets them 
artificially or simply trusts to the maintenance of a dry 
atmosphere of which he writes. I have always found 
that during March and onwards, that there is no need 
to “set ” the flowers, at least, when the weather is at 
all favourable, but before that time a judicious use of the 
camel’s-hair brush is indispensable. Will “ W. P. R.” 
kindly state his experience on this point ?— Dartfordian. 
Wintering Strawberry Plants in Pots. — 
I noticed in your columns “ R. D. ” telling your readers 
how Mr. Roberts winters his Strawberry plants. Now 
I am not going to find the slightest fault with the 
talented gardener at Gunnersbury, because I well know 
he does not only winter them well, but he also grows 
and fruits them well, and the latter I look upon as the 
main object in view. But it must be remembered we 
are not all gardeners to millionaires, so that we cannot 
afford the roughest of pits to winter our Strawberries 
in ; and I am not at all certain, even yet, whether the 
old plan is not the best. I will just mention how my 
Strawberries are behaving at the present time. The 
first week in December we put our first lot inside, 400, 
plunging them in good oak-leaves, using little or no 
fire-heat until they began to grow and show their 
flower-spikes. We then shifted them on to stages 
about 2 ft. from the glass, keeping the temperature 
from 45° to 50° with fire-heat, and raising it from 
55° to 60° when well in bloom. Here they set their 
fruit in a manner that I have never seen early 
Strawberries set before. They are at this moment in 
the last stage of swelling, and occupy shelves round 
the Cucumber and Melon houses. Only yesterday I 
saw six pots of these Strawberries blind, and on making 
inquiries of my foreman how many blind ones there 
were in the first batch, he said “those six are the lot, 
sir.” Now, as the proof of the pudding is in the eating, 
I feel sure “R. D.” will at least say, “well done.”— 
R. Gilbert, March 6th. 
Preserving Grapes and Peaches.— My 
attention has been called to the report in The Times 
of March 1st on the horticultural display in connection 
with the “Paris Fat Stock Show.” Mention is thus 
made that “it is a horticultural show as well, for in 
the galleries used for the pictures in the months of 
May and June there is such a collection of fruits, 
flowers, and vegetables as would lead one to imagine 
that we were in autumn instead of being at the end— 
if it be the end—of a long and cold winter. The fruits, 
one would think, must at all events have been forced, 
especially the Grapes and Peaches, which have as much 
bloom upon them as they might have in September ; 
but they were grown in the open air at Thomery, near 
Fontainebleau, though it is only right to add that they 
were gathered in the autumn, and kept fresh by a 
process which enables the famous Grape known as 
Chasselas to be enjoyed in May as well as in autumn.” 
I should be glad to be informed by what process the 
two mentioned fruits were preserved so as to be shown 
in such great perfection, especially the Peaches. I did 
not think the Chasselas varieties of Grapes -were good 
for keeping, as I imagined them to be early ripening. 
I suppose the Grapes were kept in water, but what 
about the Peaches that looked like forced ones?— Strcbon. 
Two Useful Old Begonias.— B. manicata 
and B. fuchsioides were grown extensively for room 
decorations over thirty years ago where I was employed 
as a journeyman, and they are both still favourites of 
mine for the same purpose. The latter one I cut freely 
from for vases, and good-sized plants will throw out a 
lot of bloom. We have to cut the flowers with 6 ins. 
or 8 ins. of stem, and thus the plants get closely cut 
in ; but we do not keep the plants longer than two 
years. We propagate every spring, and the plants 
make nice little furnishing stuff for autumn, and are 
then grown into good specimens the second year for 
cutting from. — T. W. 
Primula floribunda.— It may perhaps appear 
superfluous to make any comment on this lovely 
Himalayan Primrose, seeing that it was so beautifully il¬ 
lustrated in a late issue. I can, however, only endorse 
the remarks there made upon it, and add that it is one 
of those continuous and free flowering subjects that all 
those who are seeking for beautiful and interesting 
winter flowering plants, and especially such as are so 
easily grown, should be possessed of. As therein stated 
it is easily and readily reproduced from seeds, which is 
an advantage to all, the seedlings generally possessing 
a vigour we do not see at all times in older plants. In 
the greenhouse or cool conservatory it is so widely 
distinct from all else, that its presence is welcomed as 
a departure from the usual inhabitants of the greenhouse 
at this period of the year. — J. 
The Onion Fly. —Much has been written recently 
in these pages, and also in the pages of your contem¬ 
poraries, in reference to the destruction of this pest, 
which appears to abound in great numbers in those 
localities where the soil is loose and sandy. In such 
places (and I’m sorry to say this is one of them) it is 
impossible to procure anything approaching to what 
may be called an Onion crop. I was made acquainted 
with this fact, soon after my arrival here, by a neigh¬ 
bouring gardener, who said, “ I have given over grow¬ 
ing Onions ; I have tried and tried till I got tired. 
The maggot destroys them all.” This warning, how¬ 
ever, did. not prevent me from trying for myself; on 
the contrary, I determined to try all the more. I 
accordingly looked up all the Onion “lore” procurable, 
with the result that soot, salt, lime, wood-ashes, &c., 
were wheeled on to the ground, where it was intended 
to grow the Onions, and from which Celery had been 
removed, and dug in, leaving the surface rough till 
dry, when it was levelled with a wooden rake, trodden 
down firmly, raked again, and more soot applied. 
