362 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 5, 1887. 
Hardening Miscellany. 
The Tuberous Begonia as a Winter- 
flowering Plant. —The usual treatment of this 
class of plants, as the winter approaches, is gradually 
to withhold water, and so let them wither and fall ; 
but my experience this season with one or two plants has 
led me to imagine that, with proper treatment, these 
Begonias, or some varieties of them, at least, might be 
made to bloom far on into the winter. A severe early 
frost here, either towards the end of October or the 
beginning of November, cut down in one night all my 
Begonias in an unheated greenhouse, and I found them 
in the morning all discoloured, fallen and rotting. 
Two plants, however, in my dining-room window 
escaped—one, a line golden-flowered variety, with 
large spreading velvety purplish leaves ; the other, a 
white one, with moderate-sized Lily-like flowers. These 
two I continued daily to give water, in which a little 
fish-potash manure had been steeping, and, to my 
surprise, they continued flowering—the golden variety 
up to the beginning of January, and the white one up 
to the present time, still putting forth fresh leaves and 
flower-buds at the top of its two stalks. Now, if this 
could occur in one case, we are led to ask why should 
it not in many, or in most ? Might it not be worth 
while to put the question to the test of experiment, by 
treating the plants with'-a variety of liquid manures, 
re-potting, top-dressing with fresh soil, or in such 
other ways as the experience of horticulturists may 
devise ? Often, when a plant is going out of flower, 
there are still undeveloped flower-buds, which it has 
not the requisite strength to bring to perfection ; might 
not some method be devised of imparting the required 
vigour ?— F. H. Brett, Carsington Rectory, Derby, 
January 31sA 
Narcissus calathinus. —This long-lost kind 
of reflexed Daffodil, or Ajax, is now flowering in a 
cool greenhouse in Trinity College Botanical Gardens, 
Dublin, to which it was introduced, last year, by 
A. YV. Tait, Esq., of Oporto. It is not a showy species, 
but is most interesting botanieally, its appearance and 
its structure being different to that of any other Daffodil 
whatever. The plant, although never before flowered 
in Great Britain or Ireland, was long ago known on the 
Continent, being figured in Jardin du Roy (1,623), and 
in Theatrvm Florae (1,631). 
White Hyacinth Paix de l’Europe. —This 
is a good general decorative sort, and is one of my 
favourites amongst single whites. Its pure white bells, 
of medium size, are thickly set around a stout spike of 
good length and well proportioned. The proper selec¬ 
tion of sorts in this class of bulbs is a most important 
matter, as on it largely depends a good show. The 
bud of the future flower-spike being already formed, 
moisture, air and warmth alone will develope and bring 
it to perfection, as testified by their culture in Hyacinth 
glasses that we see yearly. — B. L. 
Potato Abundance. —So much has been pub¬ 
lished of late respecting Potatos, that it may appear a 
waste of space to add more notes or more names to the 
columns of The Gardening 'World, but the one 
above named I found to be really good at all points 
last season, when I grew it for the first time. The 
question is not infrequently being asked, “Have we 
any Potatos as good, from a cooking point of view, 
as Regents ” ? I say we have, and to my taste, better. 
In Abundance you can have all the dry mealy properties 
of that good old Potato. With me, in this place, the 
crop is three times more abundant than that of 
Regents ; and I have had Abundance on my table 
frequently since lifting time, and I think it equal to 
that high-flavoured kind, Woodstock Kidney, which is 
so subject to disease ; it is handsome and has no deep 
eyes, as the Regent type has. Last spring we planted 
forty-four sets of Abundance in one row beside several 
other sorts, in rows 3 ft. apart, and at lifting time we 
had close on four bushels of as grand a lot as could be 
wished ; and 1 now have some that would be no disgrace 
to an exhibition collection. Last season we grew from 
twenty to thirty sorts, but this was the best.— Con. 
Lime-washed Walls. —Mr. A. Laing’s recipe for 
cement wash, is a very simple and, no doubt, a good 
one, both as to colour and adhesiveness, especially for 
plant houses ; but your correspondent’s worst fault in 
using it, is not exactly the look, but the bespattering 
of fruit growing against such walls when plying the 
syringe. This is why I recommended the addition of 
alum as a preventative of the evil to which I allude. 
Mr. A. Laing does not say whether alum was the cause of 
fragments flying off or for the want of it, but I have used 
it and seen it used in range after range against walls, 
just as adhesive at the end of the year as when first 
applied ; the walls being carefully brushed and washed 
down with the hose or syringe before commencing, 
fragments are not so liable to fall off. Lime-wash 
answers a twofold purpose ; it is one of our best 
deodorisers, and a coating over the walls and in the 
crevices arrests and kills the germs of vegetable and 
insect life, absorbing and decomposing them ere they 
spring into life ready to vitiate the air of our houses 
or destroy our plants. Doctors have again and again 
asserted that we should hear less of their bills and 
taste less of physic v T ere we to use it more freely upon 
the walls of our houses. But, ah ! there is still the 
same objectionable look compared with the gilt and 
flowery wall papers ; yet behind that gilding and 
flowers, perchance may be lurking the germs of disease, 
suffering and death. YVe are apt to despise it, but 
what wonders the application of a pail of lime-wash 
will sometimes do ! However, I am glad your cor¬ 
respondent has given us another, for our motto is, or 
ought to be, stick to the best whatever it is till we 
can get a better. — B. L. 
Narcissus monoph.yllus. — This beautiful 
Narciss deserves the best attention of all who require 
good white flowers from November to the end of 
February. I send you some blooms.— Con. 
English-grown Lily of the Valley.—I 
wish to bear testimony to the high excellence and suit¬ 
ability for very early forcing of the crowns of this Lily, 
as grown and supplied by Mr. Jannoeh, of the Lily 
Nursery, Dersingham, King’s Lynn, Norfolk ; and to 
assure gardeners who annually have to supply flowers 
of this lovely Lily that they may overcome the difficulty 
and disappointment so often experienced by their 
crowns going blind instead of throwing up spikes of 
bloom, by purchasing them in future of that celebrated 
grower. Last season, I was advised by a friend 
acquainted with his nursery to give his crowns a trial, 
which I did, the result being that I had splendid batches 
of blooms throughout the month of January, and I 
counted on some stems as many as thirteen flowers. 
This season I again patronised him, and had 1,000 
crowns for forcing, receiving them towards the close of 
November, and placing 300 immediately in a strong 
bottom-heat of 90° or 95°, covering them with inverted 
pots, and finally with leaves. By the middle of 
December I was rewarded with a magnificent lot of 
flowers, which were used as button-holes on the occasion 
of the Nottingham Ball. Had the crowns not been 
well grown and thoroughly matured, they would have 
failed under such early and high pressure. My next 
batch consisted of 100 crowns, which came into flower 
this month (January), every crown producing a bold 
waxy spike. I find the crowns to be nearly double the 
size of those obtained from Berlin ; they are, moreover, 
very firm in texture, and of a russety brown colour. If 
those of my brother gardeners who require more this 
season will give the English-grown roots a trial, they 
will, I am sure, have no cause for regret.-— John Craw¬ 
ford, Coddington Hall Gardens, Newark-on-Trent. 
Chrysanthemum La Favorite. — Mr. G. 
Bolas, Hopton, YYhrksworth, sends us some fine fresh 
blooms of this pretty Pompon. The flowers are of 
good depth, reflexed, and bright rose-pink in colour. 
Our correspondent gives it an excellent character as a 
late bloomer. 
Notes from a Derbyshire Garden. — The 
snow, frost and ice are fast leaving us here in north 
Derbyshire, and I am happy to say without leaving many 
traces of their ill effects. A wall, 100 yds. long, 
covered with a good collection of plants looks well; 
Ceanothus Y r eitchii is loaded with buds ; Jasminum 
nudiflorum will soon be a mass of golden blossoms ; and 
the variegated Euonymus that suffered badly last year 
on walls is looking perfectly fresh. Escallonias that 
flowered late look scorched. Thuja pyramidalis again 
suffered from the snow and frost more than any other 
evergreen plant; T. gigantea, 20 ft. to 30 ft. high, is 
one of the most rapid-growing species. Cupressus 
Lawsoniana, C. L. argentea (Smith’s silvery), a very 
compact sturdy plant, throws off the snow well, with 
C. L. lutea, a beautiful hardy Cypress. Fine specimens 
of Thujopsis borealis, T. dolobrata, &c., have not 
suffered the least injury. To day I forked up a bed of 
Gladiolus that could not be done before the frost set in, 
and every bulb turned up perfectly sound, while some 
were making fresh roots, though near to the surface. 
Calceolaria cuttings under hand glasses, without the 
slightest protection, are not the least affected. A flat 
of Sutton’s Late Queen Broccoli remains intact. All 
Lettuces killed out of five varieties, stated to be hardy 
in catalogues, except Hardy Hammersmith, though all 
had the same treatment. —George Bolas, Hopton. 
Chrysanthemum La Belle Blonde. —Can 
any of your readers inform me of the whereabouts of 
the old Chrysanthemum La Belle Blonde ? It is an 
incurved flower, white shaded with rose or pink, and 
beautifully violet scented, even more so than Progne. 
I lost it about ten years ago and have not been able to 
obtain it since. This variety is easily distinguished 
from Blonde Beauty by its beautiful perfume. Any 
information will greatly oblige.— E. F. Kemp, 6, 
Avenue Road, Clapton. 
Daphne odora. —This useful and old-fashioned 
winter-flowering shrub is generally known in nurseries 
and private establishments under the name of D. indica, 
and is another instance of the conservatism of nomen¬ 
clature in gardens. It was pointed out, many years 
ago, that the true D. indica was a very different thing 
with much smaller flowers, and has probably never 
been introduced alive to this country. This is the less 
desirable, seeing it is a much inferior plant to D. odora 
in every way, and would require a much higher tem¬ 
perature to grow it. On the other hand, D. odora will 
flourish in a greenhouse temperature all the year round, 
or even in a frame where frost is merely kept out. 
Hundreds of gardens throughout the country can boast 
of it ; -but in small establishments its merits seem to be 
better recognised even than where the collection is 
larger or special in its kind. From the latter it is apt 
to be ousted by newer, though often less serviceable, 
introductions. The flowers are white faintly suffused 
with a blush colour ; but a much deeper tint of purplish 
red in the variety D. o. rubra. Fine, bushy service¬ 
able plants are grown in a greenhouse at Homefield, 
Ealing, where Air. Baird, by putting it in an inter¬ 
mediate temperature, getsit to flowerfreely by Christmas. 
The delicious odour of this species is particularly strong, 
diffusing itself through the whole house in which the 
plant is growing. There is a figure of the species in 
the Botanical Magazine, t. 1587. Its introduction 
dates from 1771. 
Gooseberry Bushes and Bullfinches.— 
Residing in an extensive woodland district, I find it a 
first-rate plan to tie each bush tightly round, early in 
December, with a YVillow twig, and to leave them so 
tied until the buds burst. YVhen tied up in this way, 
it is impossible for the bullfinches to injure the crop ; 
and when untied, I find that those injured are what, on 
my system of pruning, would otherwise have to be 
dispensed with. It is also better for manuring and 
digging amongst the bushes.— E. B., Frant, Sussex. 
Asparagus Kale. —This is a pale green smooth¬ 
leaved variety, with a thick white-fleshed mid-rib, quite 
hardy and of dwarf habit ; so called from the flavour 
being somewhat similar to that of Asparagus. Couve 
tronchuda is sometimes substituted for it, but it will 
not stand the winter, although the flavour is equally 
good. Buda Kale is a purplish one, and not so good in 
flavour, but is useful in northern climates. Your 
correspondent, “A Perplexed One,” should try the 
three varieties to ascertain which he prefers. — TFatch- 
man. 
Daffodils: Early Blooming.— I see a notice 
in your issue of last w r eek about the early blooming 
of Daffodils at Biarritz. I fancy that except, perhaps, 
in one winter out of ten, the bloom in the South 
of Ireland is just as early. I have at present the 
following plants in full bloom :—Narcissus pallidus 
prsecox, since January 10tli ; paper-white Narcissus, a 
few ordinary Tazettas, single Snowdrops, since the first 
week in January ; Galanthus Imperator and plicatus, 
double Snowdrops, Dean’s Hybrid Primroses, in great 
abundance ; different sorts of Polyanthus and double 
Primroses, Christmas Roses, in great quantity inside 
and outside (what are within doors in tubs have been 
magnificent) ; Megasea cordifolia and crassifolia ; these 
can be forced in gentle heat, and if in partial shade 
come white like lilac ; they are beautifully scented like 
Hawthorn, or, probably, nearer to the perfume of 
Choisya ternata. Grown in tubs like Christmas Roses, 
