492 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 2, 1887. 
popular large-flowering kinds. It would seem to flower 
at different seasons, but at present may be seen in fine 
condition at Homefield, Ealing, where Mr. J. Baird 
grows numerous specimens of it. The flowers are 
produced in considerable numbers along the pseudo¬ 
bulbs, and are pure white with the exception of a 
variable blotch on the labellum ; while not the least 
of their characteristics is the delicious odour emanating 
from them. 
Coelogyne flaocida. —Although no match for 
the popular and useful C. cristata, this pretty Coelogyne 
is decidedly worth a place in every collection. The 
intermediate house suits it admirably if potted in the 
usual compost of peat and sphagnum, in well-crocked 
pots or baskets, and well supplied with water during 
the growing season ; the supply of water must be 
reduced as the pseudobulbs reach maturity ; thus 
treated it grows and flowers freely. One of our plants 
in a basket bore upwards of twenty spikes of its pretty 
creamy white flowers, of which there were nearly 200. 
Suspended, with the flower spikes drooping over the 
sides of the pot or basket and among the foliage, a well- 
flowered plant is strikingly pretty .—James S. Brown. 
-->X<-- 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
_ 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
Climbing Plants. —Almost daily attention should 
now be given to plants of a trailing nature, as they are 
making a rapid growth, and speedily become an 
entangled mass, which cannot he separated without 
injuring the tender bine. Allamandas, if on a trellis, 
should have their growths trained upward, so that 
they may become ripened, or they will not flower 
satisfactorily. Likewise Stephanotis, but the last- 
named is so much more floriferous if trained on wires 
near the roof, that one now seldom meets with trellis 
plants in pots, unless where required for exhibiting. 
The old Manettia bicolor when carefully trained is a 
pretty object, though one that is seldom seen nowadays. 
It well repays any care bestowed upon it. 
The trailing Clerodendrons make first-rate specimens, 
and being so amenable to spur treatment, after once a 
specimen is formed are but little trouble, but when 
growing must be kept regularly trained, or the wood 
becomes twisted, and then will not break freely the 
following spring, necessitating the training of young 
wood to replace that not well furnished with spurs. A 
specimen plant well grown will last for years, and 
flower profusely with simply laying in here and there 
a shoot to furnish foliage, which should then be pruned 
back at resting-time. 
Ipomeas, too, are another class, but require regulating 
every morning to keep them in order, and if this is not 
done now, when flowering time comes it is of an uneven 
nature, from the bine not having been kept in pro¬ 
portion, thus utterly spoiling the effect produced by 
these free-flowering occupants of the stoves. Again, 
there are the Tropseolums (tricolor section), and to keep 
which in good order must absolutely be trained each 
day ; their growth is so fragile that they will not bear 
much handling, so that whether trained on trellis or 
birch twigs, as is generally done, they must not be 
neglected, or perfect specimens are quite out of the 
question ; they are, moreover, well deserving of all the 
attention bestowed, so ornamental are they when staged 
as raised specimens in the greenhouse or conservatory. 
There are many more which might be enumerated, 
but these will be sufficient for the purpose to draw 
attention to the fact that all climbers at this season 
require an extra amount of care, so that their full 
beauty may be developed when the flowering period 
arrives. In trailing-foliage plants the advice is even 
more urgent, so that the young foliage, which should 
afford pleasure through the season, may not be damaged. 
Primulas. —Our first sowing of Primulas has not 
come so well as usual, so we have sowed again ; there 
is yet good time to produce a good stock for autumn 
flowering, which is our object in sowing them early. 
For spring flowering sow much later, as the plants flower 
much more satisfactorily and there is no necessity to 
pinch out the first trusses, which, almost without 
exception, give by far the finest flowers and trusses. I 
will advise later on for the sowing to be made for the 
production of the stock for spring flowering, and to 
those who have not yet tried a late sowing, I would 
say, give it a trial. 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
Late Peach House. —By adopting the plan advised 
at p. 460, in the treatment of the late Peach house, we 
have obtained an abundant set of fruit, and the trees 
will, in a few days, be ready for disbudding. This is 
what we like to see—good stout growth at the time 
the trees are in flower, denoting full vigour. In the 
early house we have continued the tying-in of the 
growths, removing superfluous spurs as the main 
growths progress, and also thinning down any fruits 
where too thick or badly placed, delaying the final 
thinning down of the crop until stoning is completed. 
In training in the wood avoid, as much as possible, 
the shading of the fruit; for unless thus early exposed 
it will never fully take on that intense colouring so 
much admired. Particularly is this necessary with 
regard to pale varieties, such as Barrington, Princess of 
Wales, and others of the Noblesse type. The Mig- 
nonne, Bellegarde, and Royal George, and such-like, 
as a rule, always colour well. The early Figs should 
now shortly commence their final swelling, and as soon 
as this is perceptible the most liberal treatment must 
be adopted. Half-measures in the forcing of this fruit 
only result in disappointment by the production of a 
second-rate crop. Manure-water must be given when¬ 
ever watering is resorted to, giving a change upon each 
occasion. A temperature of 80° may be safely main¬ 
tained, and the trees be kept heavily syringed, or red 
spider will be apt to make its appearance. Syringing 
must, of course, be discontinued before the fruit 
changes colour, or splitting will follow ; and as it 
ripens less water should be applied at the roots. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Salads. —Special preparations should now be made 
and every care be devoted to the production of a good 
salad ; the supply of Chicory roots should be looked 
over and any faulty ones removed, re-stacking the 
remainder ; according to demand so introduce the roots 
to the Mushroom house, to keep up a constant supply 
of tender heads, which are most useful iu the making 
up of a full salad. Fortunately, we have a skeleton 
pit of All the Year Round Lettuce, which are growing 
freely and will come in most useful used in conjunction 
with Chicory. Radishes, too, are nearly fit for drawing, 
and with Celery and small salading we consider our¬ 
selves very well off. 
Seed Sowing. —We have sown the seeds enume¬ 
rated in last week’s calendar, with the exception of the 
Peas, which we hope to put in within a day (or two. The 
easterly winds have played sad havoc with recently 
planted crops, such as Tripoli Onions and Cabbage ; 
the beds have been looked over and blanks made good. 
The weather having become so much milder we have 
planted out the autumn-sown Cauliflower in a warm 
situation, and in case of severe weather we shall give 
protection by placing Laurel and Spruce boughs 
amongst them. We have pricked out. spring-sown 
Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Lettuce and Snow’s 
Broccoli which was sown inside. 
We are also giving a good rolling to all the turf, 
especially to the verges, preparatory to edging and 
putting all into trim. We hope to sow during this 
week such annuals as Candytuft, Esclischoltzia and 
Mignonette, which, as a rule, can never be had in 
flower sufficiently early.— Walter Child, Croome Court. 
--»*«- 
FLORICULTURE. 
_ 
Alpine Auriculas with Gold Centres. —I may 
say, at the outset, their name is legion ; and I suppose 
I shall be quite within bounds when I state that of 
every dozen seedlings raised every year by Mr. C. 
Turner, at Slough, ten, at least, have gold, and two 
only white centres ; but we have grand golden-centred 
flowers allied to finely-shaded margins. In London, it 
will be remembered that at the April exhibition of the 
National Auricula Society Alpine Auriculas were 
divided into two classes—white centres and golden 
centres. I am afraid I omitted to state, in my last 
paper, that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, 
to have a white-centered Alpine Auricula with a self- 
coloured margin. I am not sure if seedlings come in 
this way ; but all the named Alpine Auriculas I know 
with white centres have shaded margins. At the 
exhibition in London flowers with self-margins are 
admitted to competition ; but at Manchester, at the 
exhibition of the Northern Section of the National 
Auricula Society, unshaded flowers are not admitted, 
and shaded varieties only can compete. The northern 
florists are very strict on this point, and term all 
unshaded Alpine Auriculas nondescripts. 
Let me first of all name a few good golden-centred 
Alpines with shaded margins—by shaded I mean a dark 
shade at the base of the margin, paling off into a lighter 
tint. In the case of some of Mr. C. Turner’s new seed¬ 
lings, the two colours have the .dividing line between 
them sharply defined, like they are in the case of the 
laced Alpines. Here then are a few good shaded flowers, 
viz., Amelia Hartridge, gold centre, maroon-crimson, 
shading to reddish crimson ; Diadem, maroon and 
cerise-crimson—a lovely variety when in good form, and 
one that has not only proved very useful as a parent, 
but it opens lemon, and changes to a dull cream tint, 
which gives it a dead appearance ; King of the Belgians, 
extra fine, a splendid circular pip, deep gold centre, 
maroon and bright crimson, one of the best ; Mariner, 
large pips, good golden centre, maroon and dullish 
cerise-crimson ; Mr. Dodwell, a pretty maroon and pale 
crimson flower that opens with a sulphur centre, and 
changes to cream, yet an attractive flower. Mrs. Ball, 
bright lemon centre, dark ground shaded with rich 
crimson, a beautiful variety, and one that deserves to 
find a place in every collection ; Mrs. Llewellyn, dark 
shaded with violet, good pale golden centre, a very 
pleasing and well-shaped flower ; Mrs. Phipps, dark 
ground shaded with pale violet-purple, good centre, 
extra fine ; Sensation, a bright and striking flower, 
sufficiently shaded to admit of its being shown as such 
—when well caught, very attractive ; Vesuvius, crimson 
shading to purple, fine and striking ; and Unique, one 
of the very best, rich golden centre, dark shaded to a 
reddish cinnamon ; extra fine exhibition variety. 
Of self-margined flowers there are Colonel Scott, 
Fred. Copeland, John Ball (extra fine), Mercury, Mrs. 
Thompson, Napoleon III, Plicenix, Spangle, Sydney, 
Thomas Moore, and William Braggs, a good useful lot. 
I thing it is very easy to over-pot Alpine Auriculas, 
and I found that at Slough a good many of them are 
grown in small pots. They do not appear to require a 
great deal of pot-room, and it is surprising to see what 
fine pips are produced on plants that look as if they 
were starved in under-sized pots. They should have a 
free lightish compost, made up of good loam, leaf-soil, 
well-decomposed manure, and a little sand to keep it 
open. John Ball, Mr. Turner’s grower at Slough, 
states that they like a little peat, and, therefore, he 
puts some in the compost with which he pots them. 
Anyone desirous of seeing Alpine Auriculas in all their 
beauty should visit the Royal Nursery at Slough 
between the 11th and the 30tli of April.— E. D. 
-- 
HORTICUL TURAL S OCIETIES, 
Crystal Palace.— March 2 6th. —The exhibition 
of spring flowers took place in the Palace, at Syden¬ 
ham, on Saturday last, when in addition to those prizes 
offered in the schedule, a number were awarded 
for extensive miscellaneous collections of Narcissi, 
Cyclamen, Orchids, Roses, and groups of mixed plants. 
Certificates were awarded for several new plants, chiefly 
florists’ flowers, and described in another column. In 
the open classes, Mr. H. R. Wright, Turner Road, 
Lee, Kent, was first for both Hyacinths and Tulips ; 
while Messrs. H. Williams & Sons, Fortis Green, East 
Finchley, were second in those classes, but first for 
Narcissus and Lily of the Valley. Mr. J. Odell, 
Gould’s Green, Hillingdon, received the first award for 
a group of Cyclamen ; Messrs. Paul & Son, The Old 
Nurseries, Cheshunt, Herts, first for Amaryllis ; Mr. 
J. James, Woodside, Faruliam Royal, first for Cine¬ 
rarias; Mr. Henry James, Castle Nursery, West 
Norwood, first for a group of stove and greenhouse 
flowering and foliage plants ; Mr. R. Wells, Longton 
Nursery, Wells Road, Sydenham, first for greenhouse 
Azaleas. In the amateurs’ classes, Mr. J. Wiggins, 
gardener to W. Clay, Esq., Kingstou-on-Tliames, 
obtained the first prize for Cyclamen ; Mr. C. J. Salter, 
gardener to J. Southgate, Esq., Selborne, Streatham, 
for Cinerarias ; and Mr. A. Luff, gardener to R. R. 
Hyatt, Esq., Hetherset, Streatham, for Lily of the 
Valley. An extra prize was awarded to Messrs. Barr & 
Sou for a large group of Narcissi, supplemented by 
other spring flowers, such as Iris reticulata, Anemones, 
Chionodoxa, and Galanthus Elwesi. Messrs. John 
Laing & Co., Forest Hill, received an extra prize for a 
fine group of Orchids, consisting of Cattleyas, Den- 
drobiums, Lselias, Odontoglossums, and others. Mr. 
T. S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, ex¬ 
hibited a group of Narcissi, with Anemones, Chionodoxa 
Lucilise, Freesia refraeta alba, varieties of Iris reticulata, 
Korolkowia Sewerzowi, and other spring flowers, for 
which he received an extra prize. Messrs. H. Williams 
