472 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 26, 1887. 
ORNAMENTAL CRABS. 
I am afraid our finer ornamental trees and shrubs 
are not planted now by anyone so extensively as they 
were in the days of Loudon and Paxton, for then no 
place of any pretensions was considered to be well 
planted unless our finer and rarer ornamental trees 
found a place, especially deciduous trees. It would be 
easy to enumerate a good list of Crataegus, Amelanchier, 
Fraxinus, Fagus, Quercus, Liquidambar, Acers, Ulmus, 
Magnolias and many others amongst our fine deciduous 
trees, which are comparatively overlooked now, and 
are found only in a few leading nurseries, botanical 
gardens, or in some of our celebrated old gardens and 
pleasure-grounds. 
My object just now is to allude to a race of beautiful¬ 
flowering and fruiting trees—our Crabs ; and especially 
to a new variety, “John Downie,” raised by Mr. 
Edward Holmes, Whittington Nurseries, Lichfield, and 
sent out by him about a year since. I had an oppor¬ 
tunity of seeing it in fruit before he sent it out, and 
was much struck with its beauty, colour and dense- 
fruiting habit. The growth of the tree is erect, and 
the fruit of the size of a large acorn, which it resembles, 
in shape ; it is very bright in colour, and Mr. Holmes 
says it makes an excellent preserve. It is always a treat 
to me to have a chat with Mr. Holmes about old trees 
and shrubs, as he has such a thorough knowledge of 
them ; and not only at Lichfield, but also for a number 
of years whilst he was a partner in the celebrated firm 
of Messrs. Fisher & Holmes, at Sheffield, he has been 
constantly amongst them. Crabs have formed a subject 
on which he has something to say, and the following 
opinions may be taken as his. 
I look upon the Scarlet Siberian Crab, or Cherry 
Apple, as too well known to our older horticulturists 
to need much recommendation ; but to the younger 
gardeners it will be as well to state that it is a free 
bloomer, and a profuse bearer of small-sized roundish 
brilliant-coloured fruits. The yellow Siberian Crab 
has larger fruit, round in shape and is a good bearer. 
The Mammoth Siberian Crab is larger still, but the 
growth of this variety is of a more straggling nature 
than that of the preceding ; and all these fruit well at 
the Whittington Nurseries. Paul’s Imperial has a fine 
scarlet-coloured fruit, and is a beautiful ornamental 
tree in the lighter districts, but it does not fruit well at 
Lichfield. I do not know the old black-fruited Crab, 
but Mr. Holmes says that he used to grow it, more as a 
curiosity than for any commercial value it possessed. 
“The best fruiting crab,” writes Mr. Holmes, since 
I saw him, “and I say it with pardonable pride, is the 
‘John Downie’ of my own raising. The habit of 
growth is first-rate, and in the spring it throws a mass 
of flowers, which is always followed by a prodigious 
crop of fruit, which is excellent for dessert. Its texture 
and flavour is such that it might well have been named 
tonne touche. I, at one time, grew a Crab named The 
Fairy ; but owing to the very small demand for it, I 
have allowed it to drop out of cultivation.” 
There are also the American varieties of fruiting 
Crabs—viz., Hyslops, Minchall, Montreal Beauty, &c.— 
all with larger fruits than the varieties we grow, and 
are all well recommended from America ; but they 
have not yet fruited in the Whittington Nurseries. 
There is also a variety named Transparent, with hand¬ 
some waxy-looking fruit, striped with yellow and 
crimson, and fine for preserving. Again, there is a 
variety of the Siberian Crab, with an elongated fruit, 
differing from the old scarlet or yellow kinds to which 
I have referred. It is of a yellowish colour, and by 
some is confused with the scarlet Siberian or Cherry 
Apple. 
Looking back over an old catalogue of Messrs. 
T. C. & E. Brown, the founders of the Royal Nurseries, 
Slough, and bearing the date of 1834, the following 
varieties of Crabs are enumerated—viz., Siberian, 
Yellow-fruited Siberian, Tartarian, Striped-fruited, 
Black-fruited, Striped-leaved, and Transparent, some of 
which we have already mentioned. As ornamental 
trees in shrubberies only, these fruiting Crabs should 
have more attention than they do ; for when in fruit 
they are very ornamental, as well as being, in some 
instances, useful for preserving ; and they have another 
charm in being such handsome glowing trees. Surely, 
they are as much deserving of notice as the numerous 
Blackberries with which we are now inundated. 
I have not exhausted the list of fruiting Crabs, for 
there is the Tartarian, and probably other newer kinds, 
which I have not met with ; but judging from Mr. 
Holmes’ success with his “John Downie,” there is 
yet much to be done by hybridising fruiting Crabs. 
Pyrus malus floribundus must be placed first, for it 
flowers abundantly as a low bush as well as when 
larger. It gives an enormous quantity of rich rosy 
pink and white blossoms, and its good qualities as a 
spring-flowering deciduous shrub is not yet generally 
recognised. It should be in every garden, and grown 
as a standard, in which state it is very beautiful. 
There is a variety of it named P. atrosanguinea, with 
deeper-coloured flowers, but it is not particularly 
distinct from the other.— Pyrus. 
-—>X<->- 
GROWING VEGETABLES FOR 
EXHIBITION. 
There are many gardeners, amateurs and pro¬ 
fessional, that do not appear to me to be sufficiently 
alive to the importance of thoroughly preparing the 
ground for seeds, preparatory to sowing them. I 
frequently notice this in the case of the allotment 
gardeners in my neighbourhood, and especially such of 
them as have to deal with stiff soils. I fear these 
negligent gardeners are largely represented throughout 
the country ; and it is by way of remonstrating with 
them that I commit these lines to paper. 
Supposing the ground intended for vegetables has 
been thoroughly dug and manured in the winter ; the 
next question arises how best to go to work to prepare it 
in the most fitting condition for such seeds as Cauli¬ 
flowers, Broccolis, Cabbages, Onions, &c. A finely 
pulverized surface is needed, and advantage should be 
taken of a drying day, when the soil will nicely crumble 
to pieces, to fork it over, beat it about, throwing aside 
any hard lumps and stones, and securing on the surface 
2 ins. or 3 ins. of fine powdery soil. In this sow the 
seeds. I have had something to do with examining 
and judging allotment gardens for a few years past, and 
I have found that the gardens having the best pulverised 
and workable surface soil on the top, produced the finest 
and handsomest crops of vegetables. 
Such a surface soil as this would suit the smallest 
and tenderest of annuals that will grow and flower in 
the open air ; and very rarely I should think will the 
seeds perish. A soil so prepared could be worked when 
fairly moist. I have seen it done in this way :— 
Supposing Onions were to be sown, and the soil was a 
little too moist to tread, it was forked over with a four¬ 
pronged fork ; then the seeds were sown, and a very 
little fine soil thrown over them ; it was then pressed 
down with a bright spade, and covered with a fine 
compost to the depth of I in., making the surface quite 
even, and then gently patted down with the spade. 
I have always found the growth to be rapid, and good 
strong plants produced. Should the earth on the 
surface form a crust, it is one that soon crumbles to 
pieces. 
At some country flower shows I attend—I could name 
three or four particularly in one county—very fine 
Parsnips and Carrots are produced, and in this way, so 
I am informed :—Beds are marked out 4 ft. wide, then 
a line is passed along its length 6 ins. from the side, 
and the next three lines are 1 ft. apart from each other, 
and that leaves the fourth line 6 ins. also from the other 
side ; then the garden line is put along the first line of 
the bed, and holes are made by means of a crow-bar or 
a stout stake 2 ft. 6 ins. in depth and 9 ins. apart, 
working the bar in the hole a little so as to make it 
wide enough ; and as each hole is made, it is filled in 
with a rich compost—generally by a lad who follows the 
dibbler. Two or three seeds are placed in each hole, 
and a little more soil pressed down upon them ; and 
then a further surfacing of good soil is thinly spread 
over the bed. As a matter of course the plants are 
thinned out to the strongest. In this way I have seen 
wonderful Parsnips and Long Surrey Carrots grown and 
shown, that were marvels of symmetry and beauty.— 
R. D. 
Thyrsacanthus rutilans — Plants of this most 
showy winter-flowering Acantliad may be seen at 
Gunnersbury House, Acton, where Mr. Hudson pro¬ 
pagates and grows great numbers of small plants for 
table decoration. Subjects of this class are very liable 
to lose their leaves when they attain any size, and can 
be kept in good condition only by careful attention 
and annual propagation. The pendulous racemes of 
cylindrical scarlet flowers are very handsome. 
THE SNOWDROPS. 
Just now, when outdoor flowers are scarce, the 
Snowdrops are of great value, and help to brighten up 
many a comer that otherwise would look cold and 
cheerless. 
Galanthus Imperati. —Amongst the half-dozen kinds 
that are now flowering in my garden, none, in my 
opinion, can compare with this grand free-blooming 
plant. The large flowers are of the very best sub¬ 
stance—that is, in the best forms, for the kinds sent 
out under this name are legion, and the long slender 
pedicels give to them a character and distinctness that 
is quite their own. This fine Snowdrop is said to have 
been introduced by Messrs. Backhouse, of the York 
Nurseries, about 1877 ; but I am inclined to think that 
it was established in plenty in a certain wood not a 
couple of miles from Bangor, at least half a century 
previous to that date. 
G. nivalis Sharlocki .—To my friend Mr. Allen, of 
Snowdrop renown, I am indebted for bulbs of this 
singularly beautiful plant. "What renders it so distinct 
and conspicuous from Snowdrops in general is the green 
spot on the exterior of the outer petals, and the two 
long spathes with which each flower is supplied. Here 
it grows freely, and blooms rather later than G. nivalis. 
G. poculiformis .—The singularity of this plant con¬ 
sists in the flowers being entirely destitute of green 
markings, while the inner petals are of the same length 
as the outer. It is very distinct, and when well grown 
and true, a most desirable acquisition. Credit for 
raising this form is generally accorded to Mr. Melville, 
of Dunrobin Castle ; but as I have found it in consider¬ 
able quantity, and disseminated it amongst my friends 
from a woodland near here, I cannot help thinking 
that it is of spontaneous origin. Could some of your 
readers tell me when it was raised by Mr. Melville, for 
by a certain method of bulb computation I can fix 
pretty accurately the date of its appearance in this 
locality. It is a pretty Snowdrop, and comes true in 
fair numbers. 
G. plicatus is rendered very distinct and attractive 
by the broad silvery-lined leaves ; these, in very best 
form, being almost 1£ ins. wide. "With us it blooms 
later than G. Imperati, which, as may be supposed, is 
a plant not to be despised. 
G. nivalis, our common Snowdrop, when seen in 
good bold clumps and growing in fairly rich soil, is a 
gem that requires not one word of praise from me ; but 
oh ! the difference in size and substance between well- 
cultivated flowers and those of plants growing in poor 
soils is great indeed. In addition to the double- 
flowered form of G. nivalis, we have likewise a twin- 
flowered plant, and another that regularly produces 
four outer petals instead of three—the usual number. 
By careful selection, all the cultivated Snowdrops may 
be greatly improved, while to those persons who are 
interested in these flowers, a sharp look-out where 
they abound in quantity will often reveal new and 
distinct forms that may be worth perpetuating. 
There are several other interesting Snowdrops in 
cultivation, such as G. n. virescens, G. n. prsecox and 
G. n. octobrensis ; but as I have never succeeded in 
falling in with such, I cannot speak of their value in 
gardening from actual experience and observation, and 
so leave them alone. — A. D. Webster, Llandegai, 
Bangor. 
-- 
VARIETIES OF LiELIA ANOEPS. 
We have recently received dried flowers of different 
forms of Lcelia anceps from“D. L.” From dried 
specimens it is difficult to determine whether they 
exactly correspond to those described underneath, but 
they resemble the figures of our illustration sufficiently 
near to be classed under those varieties. Lselia anceps, 
the typical form which has given rise to so many 
varieties yearly finding their way into cultivation, has 
rosy sepals and petals, with the upper part of the 
labellum of a dark purple. In L. a. Yeitchiana we 
have a beautiful form that deserves to be classed 
amongst the whites, for, with the exception of the 
labellum, which has the usual crimson lines in the 
throat and lateral lobes, together with the middle seg¬ 
ments stained with bluish purple, it is pure white, L. a. 
Williamsii has even more right to the title of a white 
form than the last. The flowers are large, handsome 
and pure white, except in the throat, where the insect- 
guiding lines are unusually dark and conspicuous by 
contrast with the purity of all the other parts. One of 
the most beautiful and striking of the varieties, is that 
known as L. a. Dawsoni. The sepals and petals are 
white, while the latter are also conspicuous for their 
great breadth ; excepting the type, this variety has 
more purple on the labellum than the others, and 
rejoices in white lateral lobes and a yellow disk. 
