490 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 2, 1887. 
NEW PLANTS CERTIFICATED 
At the Crystal Palace, March 26 Hi, 1S87. 
Brownea cocci nea hybrid a. 
A handsome specimen of this in a small pot was 
shown on Saturday last, and proved a great attraction to 
visitors. The long leafy branches drooped so consider¬ 
ably as to detract from the apparent height of the 
plant. The leathery pinnate leaves were of a deep 
green colour, excepting the young expanded ones, which 
were beautifully blotched with brown. The delicate rosy 
scarlet flowers were borne in a huge semi-globular truss, 
and owing to the central ones being unexpanded, re¬ 
sembled one huge flower. Exhibited by Mr. W. G. 
Head, Crystal Palace. 
Cyclamen, Royal Jubilee. 
The habit of the whole plant was of a dwarf compact 
character, including the leaves, which were marbled 
with pale grey, and the purple peduncles. The petals 
were broad, and the whole flower of an intense crimson. 
Exhibited by Mr. J. Odell, Hillingdon. 
Tea Rose Princess Beatrice. 
This is a Rose of small or medium size, and rather 
compact in the centre, with a few of the outer petals 
arranged loosely. On first expanding they are creamy 
yellow, shaded with pink, but after a time fade almost 
white. The pink tint would, probably, be more 
strongly developed if grown in the open air. The 
foliage, when young, at least, is neat, and more or less 
stained with red ; the flowers, however, are not highly 
scented. Exhibited by Mr. Henry Bennett, Shepperton, 
Middlesex. 
Cinerarias. 
Stella and Blue Bonnet were also Certificated at 
Regent’s Park, and described on p. 474. Admiration : 
The flower heads of this variety were large, with the 
upper half of the rays pale lilac-purple, while the lower 
half was white, constituting in the aggregate a broad 
white eye. Monarch : The flower heads of this form 
are large, deep purple, and self coloured. Dante : 
The flower heads in this instance are also large, deep 
rosy purple with a white eye, and rather attractive. 
All the above Cinerarias were exhibited by Mr. J. 
James, Farnliam Royal, Slough. 
-->2:o- 
Hardening Miscellany. 
Kitchen Gardening Made Easy. — The 
longer I live, the more I am convinced that we employ 
too much labour in all matters connected with kitchen- 
garden cropping. A number of years of experience 
here points to the fact conclusively, that everlasting 
digging is a delusion, particularly if £. s. d. is a con¬ 
sideration. To illustrate my meaning more clearly, I 
may take at random a portion of our garden, beginning 
with the quarter occupied with early Broccolis, consist¬ 
ing of Veitch’s Giant, Autumn Protecting, etc. These 
useful inmates of our garden were all cut and cleared 
off by the 4th of January last; instead of manuring and 
digging the quarter, we marked it out in 4 ft. beds and 
1 ft. alleys, the latter forming the trenches : we then 
threw out the. trenches as if for Celery, but not so deep, 
manuring each one as the work proceeded. After 
digging in the manure, leaving the soil unbroken, we 
let it rest until the middle of February, when the action 
of the frost had pulverised the soil, making it like a 
bed of ashes. AYe then drew a shallow drill in the 
middle of each trench, where we sowed our second 
batch of Peas, utilising the top of each ridge by 
sowing Turnips, Carrots, Radishes and Spinach. It 
will be seen that we placed the manure exactly where it 
is wanted—viz., under the Peas ; when they break the 
ground, we cover them entirely over with coal-ashes to 
keep away the slugs, and when sufficiently high we 
earth up nearly to the top of the ridge. It is a great 
mistake to think that frost hurts young Peas ; the 
great drawback to early Peas is the cold surface-winds 
of March, and my Peas being sown in trenches, the 
wind blows right over them. Adjoining this quarter, 
we have our early Cabbages on a south border, the 
variety being Stuart and Mein’s Early ; they were sown 
on the 15th of July, and remarkably well they look, 
with no “bolters” at present. This crop will be all 
cleared by the middle of June, and the ground planted 
with early Brussels Sprouts (now up), without either 
being manured or dug ? I may be asked the question, 
“When do you dig,” and here is my answer: The 
Sprouts being early, they are all cleared by January, 
when we not only dig deeply but manure heavily, 
and plant Wilson’s Ashtop Potato the first week in 
April. Our early border of Peas, sown in November, 
are peeping through the ashes, and they will be staked 
in the course of a few days, which protects them very 
much. This crop comes off in July, when the land is 
cultivated with a tool sailed a cultivator, and sown 
with Spinach the first week in August for standing 
the winter.— It. Gilbert, Burghlej. 
Stifftia clirysantlia. —When out of flower, and 
developing its curious fruits, this evergreen shrubby or 
arborescent composite possesses an equal or even greater 
amount of interest than when in full bloom. This and 
another species from St. Catherine’s Island differ from 
their congeners in the great size of their flower-heads. 
The flowers are orange, but the long saffron-coloured 
shining pappus is a conspicuous object long after the 
flowers have faded and dropped away. It is one of the 
many curious and ornamental things grown in a warm 
conservatory by Air. F. Ross, gardener to Sir George 
Macleay, Pendell Court, Bletchingly. 
The Giant Pera Cucumber. —Eureka! The 
Jubilee Year is to be one in the way of horticultural 
surprises, and one of the earliest to greet it is the 
above. Where it comes from nobody seems to know ; 
but it is announced by a Transatlantic house as the 
“finest Cucumber for table use ever introduced.” It 
grows from 18 ins. to 22 ins. in length, and the cir¬ 
cumference 11 ins. “The green Cucumbers are fit to 
eat at any stage ; the flesh is entirely white, very clear, 
peculiarly crisp, tender, and brittle, with very few 
seeds, and free from the obnoxious green Cucumber 
taste.” How is the time to make a fortune. Let 
John, Sandy, Pat, and Taffy join hands, and dance for 
joy at the advent of this illustrious stranger. Who 
will make the first bid for a ton of seed ?— It. D. 
The Snowdrops. — Since writing the article 
(p. 472), under the above heading, I have again fallen 
in with Galanthus poculiformis in considerable quantity 
and in a truly wild state, thus corroborating what I 
pointed out regarding the origin of this pretty Snow¬ 
drop. I have also been fortunate in finding a few bulbs 
of the pink form of G. nivalis, the pinky suffusion being 
almost analagous to that in the pink Lily of the Valley. 
It will, Lconsider, be a decided acquisition. By some 
mistake of mine I mentioned G. nivalis virescens as 
apart from G. nivalis Sharlocki. This should not be 
so, for they are one and the same. G. nivalis lutea is 
a little beauty that I had sent from Park House, by 
Air. Allen ; the flowers have a decided yellow tinge, or 
rather the green portions of the common Snowdrop are 
converted into yellow, and a suffusion of the same 
colour permeates the whole flowers.— A. D. Webster, 
Llandegai. 
Weather in the Midlands.— Only yesterday, 
as I saw how the Crocuses were springing up after the 
disappearance of the snow, I thought How does Air. 
William Ingram’s beautiful spring gardens at Belvoir 
Castle fare this spring with so much frost and snow 
about ? and lo ! this morning (the 23rd) brought me a 
letter from him, in which he states: “Such a Alarch I 
do not remember ; we have had eleven days consecu¬ 
tive frost, amounting to a sum of 96° of cold. This 
morning (the 22nd) the ground was covered with snow; 
a change has come since, and we have sunshine and a 
temperature of 50°. Spring flowers will be late ; Iris 
reticulata has only just opened, Anemone blanda has 
struggled through all the bad weather, and Chionodoxa 
is just showing.” How the matchless spring gardens at 
Belvoir is generally at its highest, or rather, interesting 
beauty about the middle of Alarch ; this season the 
period will come much later.— It. D. 
Wiring Walls. —To obviate the serious amount 
of damage done to walls by nailing, many owners of 
gardens have had them wired, a system concerning 
which much has been said for and against. Alany of 
our leading gardeners recommend the plan, and no 
doubt it has advantages, which in due time will lead 
to its general adoption. The method of wiring mainly 
followed now is to strain the wires along the courses of 
the brickwork, either close to the wall or a little.way 
from it, and to tie the shoots of the trees to the wires 
in whatever fashion the trainer may most favour. The 
tying process takes up as much time as nailing, if not 
more, and to reduce this to a minimum, Air. Ward 
(the raiser of the famous John Hopper Rose) has 
designed and patented a system of fixing studs to the 
wires, to which the shoots can be secured by means of 
eyletted shreds—work that can be done at a very quick 
rate. The studs can be fixed to the wires, in process of 
manufacture, at any distance apart, and of any strength, 
so as to meet all requirements. AVe have not seen the 
plan actually carried out on a wall, but it seems to be 
worthy of a trial. Alessrs. Hammond & Ward, 112, 
Allan Road, Ipswich, are the manufacturers. 
Propagating Dracaena. Goldieana.— The 
stem of this species is much smoother and harder than 
most others coming under the care of the cultivator, 
and, accordingly, most propagators find it much 
more difficult to root than the others. So much is this 
the case, that many prefer to ring it and tie wet moss, 
or a pot containing soil, round the stem, and root it 
into such before severing it. Air. Hudson, Gunners- 
burv Park, however, succeeds perfectly by removing 
the top, without any preparation, and inserting it in 
sandy soil in a close propagating frame, where it roots, 
retaining the foliage down to the soil. 
Sisyrinchium grandiflorum. — Flowering 
specimens of this fine hardy spring-flowering plant 
recently received from Scotland, and now planted on 
the new rockery at Devonhurst, show that even in the 
cold north nature is not so unkind as one is liable to 
imagine ; indeed, before the recent snowstorm, outdoor 
vegetation was in a very advanced state, as was 
evidenced by Primroses and other things in full flower 
or growth from the same place. 
Cyclamens. —About 1,000 plants are now blooming 
in a lean-to house in Air. Henry Little’s garden at The 
Barrons, Twickenham. The plants, which are healthy 
and vigorous, are carrying individually scores of large 
flowers of good substance, and the colour from the 
purest white to intense purplish crimson. The name of 
Air. Little has long been associated with this popular 
flower, and perhaps no amateur has done more in the 
way of hybridising to bring it to such perfection than 
he has. In the same house, on stages by the back wall, 
are grand specimens of Pelargoniums, measuring from 
3 ft. to 4 ft. across. Mrs. H. Little, Delicatum, 
Alagenta Gem, Alauve Queen, Princess Teck, Miss 
Little, and many others are in robust health, and 
showing well for bloom with short-jointed growths. As 
many as ten trusses have been counted on one growth 
in a season. It is interesting to note that the plants 
are grown quite cool, and have withstood on one or two 
occasions 2° or 3’ of frost, and a cleaner or more healthy 
lot one could not wish to see. The best sorts of zonals 
are also grown in large specimens.— G. IV. C., 
Wallington. 
Orchid Peat. —Good peat is a great desideratum 
with all Orchids growers, but it is more often wanted 
than obtainable. A sample sent us by Alessrs. AV. Wood 
& Son, AAood Green, Hi, shows an amount of fibre 
rarely seen in peat of this class. It is dry, brown, and 
forms a perfect mass of slender-matted fibre, which, 
when broken up with the hand, will constitute with 
sphagnum and charcoal or crocks an excellent and 
lasting compost. We are informed that they have 
recently commenced cutting on a new estate, and if the 
peat proves equal to the sample sent to us, and the 
field is extensive, the prospect for Orchid growers is a 
good one. 
Arborescent Polypody.— We are so accus¬ 
tomed to associate creeping stems and rhizomes with 
the numerous species of Polypodium, that it would 
seem to be the last thing possible for us to imagine or 
expect a species resembling a tree Fern. Hature, 
however, has no end of resources ; and there are some 
species in Hew Zealand, with erect stems and tufted 
fronds, bearing the exact counterfeit appearance of a 
tree Fern, so that a close observer even is liable to be 
deceived. There are several specimens of P. penni- 
gerum showing erect stems from 12 ins. to IS ins. in 
height in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural 
Societ 3 T , Chiswick. 
A Transplanting Bos.— An apparatus called 
the Patent Transplanting Box has been sent to us by 
Air. C. B. S. Webb, AVellesley Place, AVellesley Road, 
Colchester. It is of simple yet novel construction, and 
is wider at the bottom than the top. The bottom is 
of sheet iron and removable, so that when seeds that 
have been sown in it are ready to be transplanted or 
transferred out of doors, all that is necessary is to pre¬ 
pare a trench, and holding the box in to remove the 
bottom, when the soil drops out bodily without dis¬ 
turbing the roots. These boxes are made of various 
sizes, and can be made to order. After the plants are 
