632 
Jtihe 5, 1886. 
She Gardening world. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
The condition of the soil and the weather still favouf 
transplanting, all seedlings that require more space 
should be attended to at once, for it is very probable 
that the weather will soon become unsuitable for that 
purpose. Cabbages, Cauliflowers, Brussels Sprouts, 
Parsley, and other vegetables, should be planted im¬ 
mediately, and it is surprising how rapidly they take to 
the soil, and commence growth. Our Vegetable 
Marrows are advancing steadily, though they suffered 
somewhat in the recent heavy storms, but a little pro¬ 
tection was afforded them and they have now recovered. 
Onions are not making very rapid progress, and a 
dressing of soot is applied occasionally, both as an as¬ 
sistant, and to check the Onion maggot, which too 
frequently appears at this time of year. 
A number of sturdy young Tomato plants will soon be 
ready for placing out-of-doors, but it is never advisable to 
do this very early, as if they receive a check after being 
planted, it is a long time before they recover, and the 
crop is, in consequence, thrown so late in the season 
that the fruits rarely ripen thoroughly. Tomatos should 
grow on steadily from the time they are placed out, 
until fruit is forming, and then there will be a chance 
of success. Against walls or on warm slopes there is no 
difficulty in obtaining ripe fruit in July and August, 
and Tomatos have become such general favourites now, 
that they are well worth a trial in all gardens. A sub¬ 
stantial soil, not too rich in manure is required, and the 
manurial assistance is preferably applied when the fruits 
are swelling, as before then it is apt to cause an ex¬ 
cessively luxurious but unfruitful growth.— Scolytus. 
--—- 
THE VICTORIA LILY OF THE 
VALLEY. 
Messes. Hawkins & Bennett, of the Lily Nursery, 
Twickenham, have just sent me a bunch of very fine 
spikes of the giant Lily of the Valley, which they term 
the Victoria, and which they grow so largely for market 
purposes. They make a speciality of Lilies of the 
Valley, not forcing them. The beds are in the open 
ground, and they give them the protection of cold 
frames when they are coming into bloom. They are 
grown in beds that last for six or seven years. When 
a new bed is made the soil is dug out, and a good layer 
of rotten dung put in at about 18 ins. from the surface. 
Then some of the soil is put back, the Lilies are planted 
5 ins. or 6 ins. deep at least, and the beds filled in in 
the ordinary way. No flowers are gathered from it the 
first year, the second year there is a good, and the third 
year a full crop. A good mulching is given annually, 
when the foliage has faded ; a mixture of dung and 
leaves is found to be the best. This is washed into the 
beds by the summer and autumn rains, and found to be 
of great advantage. Very large numbers of flowers are 
grown at Twickenham. The fine form known as the 
Victoria is said to be a selection made by Messrs. 
Hawkins & Bennett. 
The firm I have just named do not appear in the 
least to be deterred from prosecuting their ordinary 
business by reason of the superstition that prevails in 
Devonshire—namely, that it is unlucky to plant a bed 
of Lilies of the Valley, as the person doing so will pro¬ 
bably die in the course of the ensuing twelve months. 
No explanation is given as to the origin of this super¬ 
stition, but that it exists there can be no doubt. 
It is some satisfaction to know that this charming Lily 
is a truly British plant. It is no exotic obtained from 
abroad, but indigenous to this country. It is named 
Convallaria from the Latin convallis, a valley, and rica, 
a mantle—in reference, it is said, to the dense covering 
formed by the leaves. Bauhin, in his History of Plants, 
says it is called Lilium convallium, because it is pro¬ 
duced in shady places and groves, which is not a very 
satisfactory explanation, inasmuch as that convallis, in 
Latin, means a valley between two hills. Brumfells 
was a better namer in calling it Lilium sylvestre, or 
Lily of the wood. Majalis alludes to its blooming 
during May. In Gerarde’s time it was popularly called 
the Cornwall Lily, the May Lily, and in some places 
Lirianfancie, the last name being evidently derived 
from two French words, Lis, a Lily, and covjiance, 
hope—Hope’s Lily. 
There is a legend in Sussex, that in the forest of St. 
Leonard, where the hermit saint once dwelt, fierce 
encounters took place between the holy man and a 
dragon which infested the neighbourhood, the result 
bung that the dragon was driven back into the inmost 
recesses of the forest, and at last disappeared. The 
scenes of their successive combats are revealed afresh 
every year, when beds of fragrant Lilies of the Valley 
spring up wherever the earth was sprinkled by the 
blood of the warrior saint ( Folkarcl's Plant Lore). — P. D. 
-- 
MOVEABLE FRAMES. 
There are few gardeners that are overdone with 
these, which are so useful for hastening vegetable crops 
in the early part of the year, as well as for protecting 
different subjects during the winter. We find them 
far more serviceable than brick pits for some purposes, 
even when the latter are heated, as the heat from hot 
water pipes does not seem to suit young vegetables so 
well as that supplied by a mild hot-bed. We are never 
afraid of our hot-beds being too violent, as they are in¬ 
variably composed of leaves, of which we have an 
abundance, but scarcely a sufficient supply of litter to 
support the sides. They have one special advantage 
over pits, that when the crops are lirst sown or planted, 
the soil or the tops of the plants may be within a few 
inches of the glass, and by raising the frame on bricks 
as the plants grow, stocky growth is secured. When 
glass protections are no longer necessary, the frame 
may be lifted off and devoted to some other purpose. 
By adopting this plan all of our two dozen lights are 
doing duty the second time this year, and many are 
covering their third crop. Never have we experienced 
their value so much as this season, when there was no 
chance of anything progressing in the open ground. 
In the autumn we fill them with Violets, Lettuce, 
Radishes, Cauliflowers, Carrots, Parsley, and Strawberry 
pots, and those covering the latter are first set at liberty, 
aud are used for successional Carrots, Lettuce, Cauli- 
flower, and Radishes, also Brussel Sprouts, generally 
about the end of January. This year a three-light frame 
v r as utilised for Spinach, as we particularly required 
some at the end of March, and previous experience led 
me to conclude that it would be ready, and so it was, but 
I have seen it finer ten days earlier. More than half of 
the plants in the open of this esculent were destroyed 
in the winter in this garden. As soon as we became 
independent of our frame Spinach, off comes the frame 
to be fixed on another bed for Asters, Zinnias, and other 
tender seedlings. The same frame is again ready for 
Cinerarias or Primulas. Early in March the frames over 
the Violets are removed in order to secure a successional 
lot of Potatos ; the produce from these is four times 
those in the heated brick pits. The early date of 
planting will partially account for the difference, and 
the distance they are from the glass in their early 
stage must be credited with the balance. When the 
Potatos are ready for use, as is the case now T , we either 
move the frames on to other beds to protect Vegetable 
Marrows, or we take up a few r Potatos in the centre of 
each light and put in a Marrow plant, and as the 
Potatos are required we continue to dig away from the 
Marrows so that their roots which travel rapidly may 
not be disturbed, which they most likely would if we 
began at one end of the frame, for before we reached 
some of the Marrows their roots would be amongst the 
Potatos. 
The lights covering Lettuce are numerous, as the 
demand is great in December, January, and March, 
and half of our stock was used this year before Christmas, 
and half of those left were cankered, the Brown Bath Cos 
suffering more than the Paris Cos. The latter variety 
seems different from the one grown in the neighbour¬ 
hood of London under that name—at an}' rate, I fancy 
so. Probably, it may be the Alexandra Cos. How¬ 
ever, I send you a sample of the few left. They are 
nothing wonderful to visitors to Covent Garden or 
growers in the south ; but with us, in the north, we 
shall not have anything like them for six weeks or two 
months to come from the open ground. [A better 
sample than any in the market just now.—E d.] The 
gaps made by canker were filled up by sowing a few seeds 
and pricking out other Lettuce sown in a box ; also 
Onions sown in a similar way, as nearly the whole of the 
autumn-sown ones perished in this garden like many 
others in the locality. Some parts have been more 
fortunate, for about the time we planted ours out three 
weeks ago, plenty four times as large could be bought 
in the local markets at 2d. per bunch. They had pro¬ 
bably come from Cornwall by sea to Barrow, as I 
understand much of the produce of that county does 
now for supplying our northern markets. The frame- 
ground is of so much interest to me, that before re¬ 
cording all our doings I feel sure I should weary your 
readers. — IV. P. 11. 
POLYANTHUS NARCISSI. 
It seems only a few weeks ago that we Were looking 
upon the collections of Hyacinths, Narcissi, Tulips, 
&c., in flower ; and now we are reminded that the time 
is at hand for ordering from the Dutch growers, for 
already the wholesale lists are putting in an appear¬ 
ance. This means that orders should be made up 
during the next month and dispatched so as to ensure 
an early delivery in August. 
Among the collections of Daffodils shown during the 
past spring were some representatives of the Polyanthus 
Narcissus section. Now this section is very useful 
indeed for bringing on early to flower in pots in the 
greenhouse with Hyacinths and a few other forced 
plants. They are easily grown, very free of bloom, 
sweetly fragrant, and with reasonable care last a good 
time in flower. I made a note of some of the many 
varieties shown, with a view to get the best, and I now 
set down the names of those I thought to be well 
worthy of cultivation. I commence with Milton, a 
fine variety having a large broad yellow perianth and 
orange cup ; one of the best of the yellow varieties ; 
Queen Victoria has a white perianth, with deep 
orange cup ; Soleil d’Or is another fine yellow, 
broad deep yellow perianth and orange cup ; 
Bizart orientalis is a very striking variety with 
a large white perianth, and yellow cup margined with 
dark, like the cup in Narcissus Poeticus ; Prince of 
Wales has a primrose perianth and orange cup ; British 
Queen is white and deep golden cup ; it appeared to be 
distinct from Queen Victoria as shown, though par¬ 
taking very much of the same character ; La Favourite 
is w'hite with a deep orange cup ; Regie d’Or has a 
pale sulphur perianth and yellow cup ; Imperator, 
yellow perianth, and rich golden cup ; Juno is a taking 
variety—primrose in the deep golden cup; White Pearl 
has a pure white perianth and sulphur cup ; chaste 
and pleasing ; Jaune Supreme is another yellow—clear 
yellow perianth with orange cup ; the Scilly White has 
small flowers, the petals pointed, but it is very free 
and common in the Scilly Islands where it is much 
grown for cutting. 
The names of some of the foregoing are not found in 
ordinary bulb catalogues, but the descriptions of those 
I have given may assist some seedsmen who are desirous 
of adding a little novelty to their catalogues. 
In addition to the double Roman, there are two 
other double forms of Polyanthus Narcissus, viz., 
Quantibus plenus, yellow, with deep golden centre ; 
aud Noblissimus, white with yellow centre.— Quo. 
-- 
ORNAMENTAL GOURDS. 
The same family that gives us the much valued 
Cucumber, and the delicious Melon, also includes a large 
number of remarkable plants that are occasionally em¬ 
ployed in this country for ornamental purposes, and in 
their native lands are used as food or medicine according 
to their respective properties. In late years some ad¬ 
ditional attention has been drawn to these plants at the 
summerexhibitions of the London horticulturalsoeieties, 
who have provided classes and offered prizes for col- 
lectionsof the best. On the continent the Curcurbits and 
Gourds generally have been made specialities for some 
time, and from there we have procured most of th.e 
handsomely coloured varieties which often surprise 
visitors to shows where these fruits are staged. In the 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden at Chiswick, for 
several seasons large and varied collections have been 
grown and exhibited. Mr. Glen, gardener to Mrs. 
Montefiore, Worth Park, Crawley, and Mr. C. Osman, 
South Metropolitan Schools, Sutton, have also become 
noted as cultivators of Gourds, aud all have helped to 
bring the plants into greater prominence. 
There is an astonishing diversity in size, form and 
colours of the fruit, from the miniature Gooseberry Gourd 
to the Pumpkin and “ Great Gourd ” as the Curcurbita 
maxima is termed, the fruitsof which weigh from 100 lbs, 
to 200 lbs.; the gradations are numerous. In form they 
vary from the cylindrical fruits of the Cucumber type 
to huge globular or oval fruits of the species just 
named ; they are Pear-shaped as in the squashes, like 
a turban as in the Turk’s Cap, or bottle-shaped as in 
the Lagenarias, with innumerable intermediate forms 
as in the Custard Marrows, which are curiously flat¬ 
tened and regularly indented round the margin as if 
they had been placed in moulds. The colours are 
chiefly tints of yellow, orange and red, strangely com¬ 
bined in stripes, rings, spots or marbling, and various 
