804 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 20, 1887, 
We understand that the Metropolitan Board of 
Works has accepted the tender of Mr. B. S. Williams, 
Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway, N., 
for the supply of Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissus, &c., 
for Finsbury Park, Victoria Embankment, Southwark 
Park, Leicester Square, and other gardens under the 
jurisdiction of the Board. 
We are led to believe that there is a desire in many 
quarters to inspect the Tobacco Experiments now 
being conducted by Messrs J. Carter & Co., Forest 
Hill, and can inform those wishing to see the crop that 
they can obtain an order to do so from the firm. 
On Tuesday next, the 23rd inst., the Fruit and 
Floral Committees of the Royal Horticultural Society 
will meet at 11 a.m. in the Conservatory, South 
Kensington. The National Co-operative Flower Show, 
to be held that day under the auspices of this society, 
will be open to the public at 1 p.m., at the reduced 
charge of 6d. There will be a conference at 3 p.m. in 
the upper West Quadrant, when the subject for 
discussion will be ‘ 1 Possibilities of Co-operative Allot¬ 
ments and Associated Gardens,” by Edward Owen 
Greening. 
In the event of the Labourers’ Allotments Bill 
becoming law, as it seems likely to be in a short time, 
we may surely expect a greater supply of home-grown 
fruits, being at present greatly indebted to continental 
and other sources for our supplies. At all events, we 
should encourage such a thing by advising our fellow 
workers to plant fruit trees against the walls of rural 
buildings and other structures wherever possible, as 
Mr. Charles Joly has recently been advising his fellow 
countrymen in a note upon the importation and ex¬ 
portation of horticultural products in France from 
1884 to 1886. Labour of this kind would assist in 
keeping back our countrymen from the already over¬ 
crowded towns and cities. 
It is stated that the largest and most important 
Sale of Orchids in America, since that of the 
Morgan collection, took place at Messrs. Young & 
Elliott’s on July 26th last. Three hundred species of 
unique Australian Orchids were sold. 
Our American cousins have begun to feel the 
ravages of the Hollyhock Disease in some quarters, 
such as at Beverly, Massachusetts, and in the Boston 
Public Garden. Hollyhocks and Malope are the 
subjects affected, and it is stated that the disease has 
been introduced to the United States from Europe on 
the seeds of the latter. Happily, by a judicious 
system of culture, the pest has been greatly subdued 
or almost eradicated in many districts in Britain. 
The Cercle Horticole tan Houtte of Lede- 
berg, Ghent, Belgium, will hold their first exhibition 
of Plants and Flowers, in the Town Hall of Ledeberg, 
on the 28th of this month. 
-->A<--— 
A VISIT TO SWANLEY. 
A few days ago I had the pleasure of a visit to the 
Home of Flowers, at Swanley, where are to be seen 
plants in countless numbers, so many, in fact, that one 
would think that no demand for the class of plants 
grown could be made without being met. The houses 
are about 100 ft. in length, and built mainly to grow 
plants in at as cheap a rate as they can be consistent 
with quality. The first house I entered was devoted 
to zonal Pelargoniums, and a more dazzling and 
glorious display of floral beauty can scarcely be imagined. 
Before making notes of particular varieties, there are 
three things that at once arrest attention—firstly, 
the extraordinary health and vigour of the plants, 
combined with dwarf bushy growth and freeness of 
flowering ; secondly, the method of heating, for to 
this much of Mr. Cannell’s success in flowering these 
so well during the dark damp days of winter must be 
attributed ; and thirdly, the beautiful Othonna cras- 
sifolia, which is used here as an edging plant. Being 
arranged along and creeping down the front of the 
walls which form the staging, this is admirably 
adapted for all purposes to which the Lycopodiums, 
Panicums, and Tradescantias are generally used, and 
forms a pleasing contrast to them. 
As to the zonal Pelargoniums, among so many fine 
varieties it is difficult to single out any for especial 
notice ; still, a trained eye will always rest upon some 
few which commend themselves for their intrinsic 
merits as being distinct and in advance of the rest—it 
may be in colour, size or freedom of flowering. I 
made a note of a few, thinking them worthy of special 
mention. A yellow one from the time of Donald 
Beaton’s Indian Yellow has been much sought after, 
and in Aurea perfecta I think we are brought some¬ 
what nearer the goal of our ambition. Queen of the 
Belgians still holds its title to be queen of the whites, 
for there is no better white at present. Miranda, deep 
magenta, has a good, free, dwarf habit, and extra fine 
truss ; Gabrielle Host is one of the salmon-centred 
varieties, truss very large ; Lady Reed is white, with 
scarlet centre, very fine pip, free, and effective ; Gloire 
Lyonnaise, this robust and free-flowering hybrid 
nosegay is a decided acquisition for large conservatories, 
baskets or walls, the individual flowers being very 
large, and the truss enormous, while the foot-stalks are 
stiff and not too long ; Queen Matilda, soft pink, with 
a white eye, has flowers large and flat ; Ferdinand 
Kauffer, magenta-purple, with orange-scarlet in top 
petals, is very bright, and one of the very best in this 
shade of colour ; Mrs. Barriff, deep rosy salmon, intense 
orange-scarlet centre, fine shaped flower, large truss, 
distinct; Swanley Gem is a good winter-flowering 
variety, rosy salmon, with white centre, fine shaped 
flower, and large truss ; Jean Ill, very deeply shaded 
purplish pink hybrid nosegay, with extra large truss ; 
Constance, deep rose-pink, free flowering ; Lord 
Churchill, deep crimson-scarlet, with a rich purple 
shade, and good in all respects. Years ago, when 
these extra dark colours first made their appearance 
among zonals, there was a difficulty with them on 
account of their burning in bright sunny weather. 
This seems to be overcome, and now they stand the 
hottest weather with impunity. C. H. Swinstead is 
bright scarlet, with a very large truss ; Lady Chester¬ 
field, salmon, is a splendid flower ; Her Majesty is an 
improvement on Vesuvius as a bedder, and a good one 
for winter blooming ; Henry Jacoby, well known as 
the best of the dark bedding varieties, has a rival in 
his brother—William Jacoby, who inherits all the good 
family qualities of Henry, but is still darker ; Mrs. 
Joynson, white, with red-pink centre, large flower and 
truss, an improvement on Sophie Birkin ; Mrs. Miller, 
dwarf, reddish crimson, large flower, and fine truss ; 
Niphetos, a white hybrid nosegay, of dwarf and free 
good habit, and fine bedder ; Madame Colson, deep 
salmon, shading off to a lighter colour, extra fine flower 
and truss ; Mrs. Strutt, pink, shaded purple, with 
well-formed flowers and truss; and Atala, orange- 
scarlet, a good winter variety. 
Among the doubles, to which a similar house is 
devoted, I noted Robus, reddish scarlet; F. V. Raspail, 
deep scarlet, fine large pips, good form, compact habit; 
Mrs. Garden, rosy cerise, full flowers of good form, free, 
a good winter kind ; Lord Derby, rich pink, flue large 
truss and pips ; General Millot, bright crimson ; Rosa 
Bonheur, soft rose, pink, dwarf; Romulus, rich shaded 
purple ; Maggie Hallock, soft salmon, a fine variety ; 
Madame Leon Dalloy, blush-white, very fine flowers 
and truss, a good winter flower ; James Vick, deep 
salmon, shaded pink, enormous truss ; Black Knight, 
intense dark crimson, very distinct; Erl King, bright 
orange-scarlet; Surpasse le Nain, deep pink suffused 
with purple, dwarf and good ; Gloire de France, white 
with salmon centre, very beautiful and distinct flower, 
and truss very large, too much cannot be said in praise 
of this, one truss measuring 7 ins. across ; Goldfinder, 
a First Class Certificate was awarded to this recently 
at Liverpool, bright orange-scarlet shaded with gold. 
In this unique collection, where all are good, it is 
difficult to make a selection, but I have done my best. 
The next house of the same size is devoted to Ivy- 
leaf Pelargoniums, and when it is remembered the 
comparatively short space of time since double flowers 
first made their appearance in this section, it is a 
surprise on entering the house to find it filled prin¬ 
cipally with doubles, some of which will make good 
bedding plants, notably, Madame Thibaut. Too much 
cannot be said in praise of this unique flower, which 
is deep pink, very double, and excellent for all purposes. 
Furstin J. Von Hohenzollern, deep scarlet, large pips 
and truss ; Le Printemps, rosy pink ; Jeanne de Arc, 
white, suffused with light lavender ; Lilliput, lilac, 
dwarf, very pretty ; Lang-Son, orange-scarlet, full fine 
flowers ; Souvenir de Charles Turner, deep rose-pink, 
large pip and truss, an acquisition ; Gloire de Orleans, 
crimson-magenta, a good bedder ; Isidore Feral, light 
rose, one of the very best; Alice Crousse, deep magenta, 
very good ; General Negrier, magenta-pink, distinctly 
feathered. The French and show Pelargoniums were 
mostly past their best, but a batch of Madame C. 
Konig, which had been cut back, arrested attention, 
for it seemed determined to flower. This is pure white, 
and probably the best white in its class for cutting and 
general decorative purposes. 
I found, in another house, some of the summer¬ 
flowering Chrysanthemums in bloom. These are 
among the most useful plants for late summer and 
early autumn, either in the conservatory or planted 
out in the herbaceous borders, where they seem to 
thrive best, and yield a harvest of flowers unequalled 
by any other subject. They have withstood the 
excessive drought of this season better than anything 
else. Golden Fleece, St. Mary, Mrs. J. R. Pitcher, 
Toreador, Blushing Bride, and Pompon Toulousain are 
among the best. 
Mr. Cannell still devotes one of his long houses to 
the Coleus, and the collection—or, rather, selection— 
it would be difficult to surpass. Among the very best 
are Jules Chretien, LaTeted’Or, Marquis de Nadaillac, 
Matterhorn, Resplendent, andTriomphedeSt. Donatien. 
This has produced a sport which bids fair to become 
one of the most popular and beautifully-coloured foliage 
plants we have. The leaves are long and narrow, and 
very unlike any other kind ; the colour is deep rich 
plum, variously shaded with crimson, and quite unique. 
One growing under the name of C. Verschaffeltii 
splendens robusta is all that its name implies, being 
much larger in foliage and stronger in growth than the 
original type, and of the same colour. Among other 
things once common, but which have become rare and 
almost unknown to the rising generation of gardeners, 
are Verbenas. From thirty to forty years back, about 
one-half of the bedding out was done with these, and 
now we seldom find much beyond the old Purple King 
used far that purpose. When well done they are good 
things for pot-work. The size of numbers of the indi¬ 
vidual flowers here would astonish many, as I found a 
shilling-piece too small to cover some of them. These 
have a house devoted to them ; so have Petunias, 
many of the double varieties of which are beautifully 
scented, and when well managed make a splendid 
addition to the occupants of the conservatory during 
the early spring and summer months. There are large 
houses full of Bouvardias for autumn and winter 
blooming. For bouquet and button-hole flowers, 
nothing excels these in their season. 
The tuberous Begonias next came under notice, and 
so much' has been written respecting these by abler 
pens than mine that it needs some amount of assurance 
to say any more, and nothing short of the glorious 
exhibition of them at Swanley would induce me to pen 
a line on the subject. Here is a sight of dazzling 
splendour ; anywhere the plants are in the rudest 
health, and covered with bloom, which for size, form, 
and brilliancy of colouring is truly remarkable. Any 
lover of flowers who may visit Swanley, would be well 
recompensed for his journey if there were nothing else 
to see. A few of the best among the singles are Miss 
Malcolmson, white; Mr. Cockburn, orange-scarlet; 
Mrs. Bellew, pink ; Mrs. Edwards, light pink ; Our 
Leader, soft red ; C. Fellowes, red, suffused crimson ; 
Lady Kirk, soft salmon ; Countess of Bessborough ; 
yellow. The flowers of many are immense, the shape 
of the flowers are much improved, and they are getting 
to have shorter and stiffer foot-stalks, so that the 
flowers are better seen ; this remark applies to both 
double and single varieties. There is getting to be as 
great a diversity of colour among the doubles as the 
singles, and some of the flowers remind one very 
forcibly of Camellias ; so large and perfect are they 
becoming. 
In the Fuchsia house I could not but admire the 
beautiful varieties of Canna which were arranged 
among them, producing a most pleasing effect, as, in 
addition to their handsome foliage, the greater part of 
the collection has very beautiful flowers, for which 
alone they are well worth cultivating. Time failed us 
to go through the collection of Fuchsias, but I noted 
President, Alphonso, Improvement, Mr. King, Gaiety, 
Phenomenal, Lady Heytesbury Improved, and Venus 
Victrix, of which I had not seen a good plant for 
thirty-six years. It is still one of the most distinct 
and pretty Fuchsias we have. I saw Lobelia, King of 
the Blues of very dwarf and compact habit, intense 
blue, with a conspicuous white eye ; and Heliotrope 
Mirado, which, in respect to habit and freeness of 
