376 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 12, 1887. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOWS. 
Challenge Cups and Trophies. 
Committees of Chrysanthemum societies have been, 
and are now, busy framing their schedules for next 
November exhibitions ; and in all probability there is 
no little excitement and emulation as to which society 
shall offer the most tempting and costly prizes, with a 
view to drawing to their respective exhibitions the 
best exhibits, and greatest number of exhibitors. This 
is very laudable and praiseworthy, and shows a very 
health} 7 and desirable state of things so far. But there 
are societies springing up around us, who, in return for 
their valuable prizes, are determined to have their 
“pound of flesh,” aye, and “blood” too ! 
One stipulation is, that these valuable trophies must 
be won, by the same competitor, twice out of three 
times, or twice in succession, before they can become 
his own ; or in a general way, a man must compete 
three consecutive years to become the possessor of one. 
Putting the sterling value of a nominally 25 guinea 
Cup at £20, the actual annual value of his prize is 
represented by the magnificent sum of £6 13s. id. ! 
Is this sum anything like a fair equivalent for the im¬ 
mense strain on the mind and body of exhibitors for 
twelve consecutive months in these classes ? There can 
only be one answer, and that is, No. Is it even a 
liberal prize to offer? To that I again answer, No, 
considering the requirements of the case. "When the 
case is one of individual effort, and when that effort 
has to be a severe, continuous and protracted one, to 
gain the prize once ought to suffice. 
I think there are few gardeners who desire to do their 
work twice or thrice over, when once is sufficient ; and 
I do not see why competitors at flower shows should be 
required to win, two or three times over, a prize which 
after all would be but a moderately liberal one for one 
effort, when we come to consider the subject matter of 
the competition. Exhibitors may be masters of the 
position. They need not compete ; and if no competi¬ 
tors appear, then those societies must adopt other 
measures. Trophies to be won several times in suc¬ 
cession before they can become the property of the 
■winners are all very well when their possession depends, 
not upon individual effort, but upon collective and 
united.effort, such as district v. district, county v. count} 7 , 
or north v. south ; and I confess that I should very 
much like to see some such “Chrysanthemum tourna¬ 
ments ” organised. For instance, Lancashire might 
compete against Yorkshire, or Middlesex against Surrey. 
In such cases as these, the baneful effects on the health 
of the competitors would scarcely be appreciable, and 
much good to horticulture would result.— J. TJdale, 
Elford Gardens, Tamworth. 
-- 
TOMATOS IN THE OPEN AIR. 
Having had, previous to the four last summers, 
some unfortunate experience with these out of doors, I 
had, till last season, practically given up growing them 
in this manner. On several occasions previous to that, 
just as the fruit was about to colour, the Potato disease 
appeared, and made short work of fruit and plants 
alike. My plan of growing them was that usually 
recommended—namely, sowing the seed at the end of 
February or beginning of March. My failures in the 
past forced the conviction on me that earlier sowing 
would be desirable—in fact, indispensable—to ensure 
success. The Tomato is a heat-loving plant, and our 
summers are often too cold and short to bring the crop 
to maturity sufficiently early to escape the ravages of 
disease. 
Last summer we had fine crops of them on walls and 
trained on the single-rod system to stakes, the varieties 
grown being dwarf Orangefield, Laxton’s Outdoor, 
Stamfordian and Abundance, the dwarf Orangefield 
and Laxton’s Outdoor being the earliest. Those trained 
to stakes were a great success, and I would urge on all 
who have a warm aspect to try the plan. Could we 
ensure summers like that of 1886, an acre or two of 
these would be a profitable investment. We made our 
sowing for planting out this summer on the 30th 
October last, and are now (Feb. 1st) about to put them 
into 48-sized pots. They required careful watching 
during the severe weather we have recently passed 
through, for in their young and tender state they are 
very susceptible of cold. We keep them as near the 
glass as we can, in order to get a strong stocky growth. 
One of the worst things that can happen to them is to 
be drawn up. When they become fairly established in 
the above size, they will bear a lower temperature, and 
can be placed in a more airy situation than is at present 
desirable. From thence onward a slow steady growth 
is the object till planting out time. 
I am well aware that many who may read this will 
object to the time and room this will entail. Many 
have not the room, but to all who have it the extra 
expenditure will bring its own reward in an abundant 
crop of what is fast becoming the most popular culinary 
fruit of the day. You cannot get too many of them. 
We find the supply exceeds the demand. It will be 
found far better to get a few plants advanced early in 
the season like this than a larger number later on. A 
crop from good strong plants can be relied upon, even 
in adverse seasons ; whereas one from plants turned 
out of 60-size pots is at best very precarious. In most 
situations it will be desirable, when planting out, to 
elevate the plants from 9 ins. to 12 ins. above the 
surrounding soil on hillocks or ridges made fiat on the 
top, so that if watering has to be resorted to the plants 
may get the benefit of it. This ensures greater warmth 
and better drainage.— IF. B. G. 
-- 
GARDEN PLANTS ILLUSTRATED 
ThRIXSPERMEM ENGEICULATEM. 
At first sight one might readily mistake this for a 
species of Plialoenopsis, and it was, indeed, sent home 
from Burmali under that name. It flowered lately in 
the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, and surpasses T. 
lanieerum and others of a similar character that are 
only fit to be grown in botanical collections. The 
flowers are crowded in a short raceme at the end of a 
pendent stalk, and are almost comparable to Phalie- 
nopsis violacea in size. The sepals and petals are 
spreading and pure white, while the three-lobed labellum 
is marked or striped longitudinally with crimson on a 
white ground. This latter organ is comparatively 
small, and does not add materially to the attractiveness 
of the flower. The leaves are strap-shaped and some¬ 
what broader at the upper end ; of a leathery texture ; 
and resembling those of Phalienopsis grandiflora con¬ 
siderably.— Orchid Album, t. 266. 
SlLBHIEJJ ALBIFLOREM. 
The flower heads of this species are nearly white, and 
the plant is dwarfer, but of more robust habit than 
S. laciniatum. These two constitute the section in 
the North American flora, and are known as Compass 
Plants. The leaves are deeply pinnatifid and hairy, 
with linear-oblong segments, resembling the better- 
known species. It is a native of Reverchon, Texas, was 
introduced by Mr. Thompson, of Ipswich, and is per¬ 
fectly hardy and suitable for the herbaceous border. — 
Botanical Magazine, t. 6918. 
CATASETUM MACROCARPE1I. 
The flowers of this singular Orchid, if not very highly 
attractive, are exceedingly curious, of large size, and 
offer several features of interest for a general collection. 
The sepals are lanceolate and of a greenish yellow 
colour, almost entirely covered with small brown spots 
in transverse lines. The petals are larger and pale 
green. The deeply concave labellum is green and 
yellow externally, but orange internally ; and being 
three-lobed or toothed at the apex, the plant is some¬ 
times known as C. tridentatum.— L'Illustration Hor- 
tieole, 1886, t. 619. 
Ceanothes varieties. 
Several species and varieties of Ceanothus are hardy 
or nearly so in all ordinary winters in the south of 
England, but even those that are not perfectly hardy 
can be wintered in a cool house and planted out in 
summer. Gloire de Versailles produces terminal panicles 
of deep sky-blue flowers in great profusion. Madame 
Adele Bailly bears close bushy panicles of white flowers, 
while C. americana rosea is a rose-coloured variety of 
that species.— Bulletino della R. Societa Toscana di 
Orticultura, 1886. t. 14. 
Crineji Vanillodorem. 
The flowers of this species have a drooping irregular 
perianth, with broad white segments. The plant, 
therefore, belongs to a different section from that of 
C. Hildebrandti. The tube of the perianth is green 
as well as the styles and anthers ; while the other parts 
of the flower are white, thus offering a marked contrast. 
The flowers may also be compared to those of C. gigan- 
teum or C. podophyllum, and the plant, which is 
allied to the former, may be distinguished by the long¬ 
necked bulbs.— L'Illustration Horticole, 1886, t. 617. 
WORTHINGTON G. SMITH. 
Mr. "W orthington George Smith is so well known to 
gardeners and botanists as an illustrator of plants, and 
a writer on their structure and diseases, that we have 
no doubt the accompanying portrait, engraved by his 
son, Mr. Arthur E. Smith, will be welcome to our 
readers. Mr. Smith was bom in 1835, and studied 
for the profession of architecture ; this study neces¬ 
sitated the observation and drawing of plants as orna¬ 
mental adjuncts to architecture, and some of Mr. 
Smith’s designs for ecclesiastical plate were, in 1859, 
engraved by the famous wood engraver, Orlando Jewitt. 
Mr. Jewitt was a good botanist as well as an archaeo¬ 
logist and wood engraver, and he advised Mr. Smith to 
study the botanical as well as the ornamental aspect of 
plants. Acting on this advice, Mr. Smith had made, 
in 1865, a large number of original botanical drawings 
of flowering plants and fungi, and of the former 150 
were at once bought by Messrs. Marcus "Ward & Co , 
and the drawings of fungi were ultimately all bought 
for the British Museum. 
Mr. Smith was awarded the Gold Banksian Medal of 
the Royal Horticultural Society for the drawings, and 
at a later date was awarded the Knightian Gold Medal 
of the society for his researches in connection with the 
Potato disease. The late Dr. Berthold Seemann advised 
Mr. Smith at this time to lay aside the practice of 
architecture for horticultural as well as scientific botany; 
and in 1870, meeting Dr. Masters, at his request Mr. 
Smith became chief engraver to the Gardeners' Chronicle, 
and soon established a high reputation for himself, the 
accuracy and beauty of his illustrations being admitted 
on all hands. Besides lending such valuable assistance 
to our contemporary, Mr. Smith’s services became in 
great demand for illustrating trade catalogues, and it is 
not too much to say that the vast improvement that 
has been made in these productions of late years is 
largely due to Mr. Smith’s accuracy and good taste as 
a draughtsman, and skill as an engraver. 
From 1869 to 1876, Mr. Smith illustrated, and in 
part edited, The Floral Magazine. Forty of his large 
water-colour drawings of Fungi are exhibited in the 
Bethnal Green Museum, and his coloured sheets of 
edible and poisonous Mushrooms, with accompanying 
small book, have had a large sale, and passed through 
several editions. Mr. Smith’s most recent work is one 
of Messrs. Macmillan’s scientific class books, being an 
illustrated work on the Diseases of Field and Garden 
Crops ; and he is also one of the writers and engravers 
for the new edition of the Encyclopedia: Brilannica. 
He has recently, too, illustrated Stevenson’s British 
Fungi, and his finest engravings have been prepared 
for the catalogue of the fungi and lichens in the British 
Museum. 
Mr. Smith’s architectural and archteological work is 
necessarily less known, to readers of horticultural 
literature than his horticultural and botanical, but we 
believe the quantity and quality of the first is equal 
to the second. His most remarkable archaeological 
achievement was his discovery of the “ Palaeolithic 
Floor” in the North of London, whence he extracted, 
in addition to a large collection of fossil bones, antlers, 
teeth, &c., about 1,000 implements of flint. Many of 
these implements were secured from Mr. Smith by the 
authorities of the British Museum, and a fully illus-. 
trated description of this “Floor” from his own pen 
and pencil was published a year or two ago in the 
Anthropological Review. 
Mr. Smith is a Fellow of the Linnsean Society, of the 
Anthropological Institute, of which he was elected to 
the council in 1884 ; of the Royal Historical Society of 
Ireland, and of several other societies. He has served 
for thirteen consecutive years on the Scientific Com¬ 
mittee of the Royal Horticultural Society ; and he is 
a member of, and draughtsman to, the British Archaeo¬ 
logical Association and the Cambrian Archaeological 
Association. 
But our esteemed friend has not devoted the whole 
of his energies to science and “wood cutting for 
popular and scientific publications. ” He took an active 
part in the preservation of Epping Forest, and after¬ 
wards in helping to effectually resist the railway 
scheme for partially destroying it. He has also 
helped to successfully resist other attempts at common 
land spoliation ; while his contributions to the press, 
both scientific and humorous (for our friend pos¬ 
sesses a fund of quiet humour peculiarly his own) 
have been many, valuable and always eminently 
readable. 
