September 24, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
57 
oldest, so-called double varieties of Chrysanthemum. 
The strain exhibits great range of colour, from pure 
white to flesh-pink, mauve, rosy lilac and other tints. 
A full and comparative trial on rather an extensive 
scale has been made of the Chinese Aster at the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s Gardens, Chiswick, and the 
Chrysanthemum-flowered section, amongst others, has 
proved to be highly satisfactory. Our illustration gives 
a good idea of the average size of the flowers of a very 
fine variety, labelled flesh-coloured, which are very 
freely produced and measure about three inches in 
diameter or a little under it. 
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USEFUL VEGETABLES. 
As the season advances changes take place among 
vegetable products to such an extent, that some which 
were considered the most useful in the early part of 
the season, and such as should be retained as the 
permanent stock for time to come, have not behaved so 
well in the end; and such is likely to be one’s 
experience in numerous cases this year. Taking French 
Beans to start with, those which came in early and 
Chrysanthemum-flowered Aster, Flesh-coloured. 
with great promise were soon over ; others which were 
somewhat tardy at first stood the drought best, and 
were on the whole the most productive. The earliest 
in use was Osborn’s and Newington Wonder, which did 
their part well. But Ne Plus Ultra out-distanced all 
others, and now—middle of September—it is the best; 
were we to grow only one, Ne Plus Ultra would be our 
choice. We notice this has done well in many parts ; 
as a forcer, too, it is excellent, and those who have a 
sowing on the way to be succeeded by others, and for 
giving supplies all the year round, we would re¬ 
commend Ne Plus Ultra in preference to any which we 
have seen. 
Beet always gives some amount of anxiety, as this 
choice root often misbehaves under the best cultural 
attention. A number of kinds which we have tried 
this season are worthless, having got coarse, large and 
stringy in substance ; and two kinds, greatly praised on 
the packets which enclosed them, are mostly going to 
seed, and the coarse leaves are as yet of a dirty green. 
Two kinds which stand out distinctly among the 
others are Dell’s and Drummond’s new Nonsuch. The 
former is probably the darker of the two, but the 
latter has the advantage in form. It is of great 
moment to have the roots free from fibres, and to be 
melting in substance when served. The black colour 
so much coveted does not always give the finest 
quality ; tough roots like a mass of sinews are worthless, 
whatever the colour may be. The position and nature 
of the soil where the roots are grown has a deal to do 
with the quality. Our lots are all grown in one plot, 
on land which was turned up deeply and well broken, 
but free from manure of any kind. 
Brussels Sprouts : We notice more distinction in 
the half-dozen kinds we have this season than we ever 
have seen any year during which we have made special 
notes. Aigburth, which came into bearing early in 
September, promises to be far the best ; it is not so 
strong or so early as a selection named “Scotch saved,” 
the latter coming in plentifully about the middle of 
August, but is coarser, and the Sprouts do not become 
so compact and finely formed as Aigburth. I expect 
large supplies from the Scotch lot, and it may be also 
very hardy. We have four successions planted at 
different dates, but those planted in September 
generally go on bearing till April. 
Cauliflower has been a somewhat erratic crop this 
year, and had, more than most vegetables, to combat 
with drought and vermin. 
We notice that Autumn 
Giant has done well wherever 
we have seen it planted ; 
our earliest lot of it 
was nearly all destroyed. 
Walcheren and Early London 
were fairly good ; Early 
Erfurt was most useful, 
but not large. Large Cauli¬ 
flowers are seldom accom¬ 
panied with fine flavour. 
Snowball, much like the last- 
named, is good, and came 
in very early this year, and 
stood the drought fairly 
well. The plants were placed 
between the ridges which 
were turned up to frost, 
and seemed to be of great 
service to all the Brassica 
class planted in this manner. 
Cabbage I must pass over, 
as I must confess that 
some kinds in the early 
part of the season, which we 
considered were the finest 
ever raised, have ended in 
disappointment by allowing 
others of old standing to 
out-distance them altogether. 
Carrots, as usual, have 
been well represented by 
the Early Horn kinds, and 
the worst in every sense, 
except size, have appeared 
among the samples of 
Red Altringham. Celery has 
surprised us by its ab¬ 
sence (hitherto) of “bolting ’’ 
heads ; we could spare no 
water for the roots, except a 
dribble at planting time. 
Then followed a heavy 
mulching, which had enough rain to moisten it 
through about the end of July ; immediately after¬ 
wards a coating of soil was placed over all, and out of 
about 15,000 or 16,000, I do not suppose the whole 
loss amounts to a half-dozen heads. If we were com¬ 
pelled to grow one red and one white, the kinds would 
be Major Clarke’s Red, and Turner’s Incomparable 
White. These have been our favourite kinds for years 
past, and at present they are the best. They go under 
other names, but Turner’s dwarf kind is the grand type 
of this variety. Cucumbers, both here and elsewhere, 
have been of the finest form, especially those good kinds, 
Verdant Green and Rollisson’s Telegraph. 
Leeks, which are leaders at exhibitions—and a grand 
bed we have examined to-day at Carbrook, Larbert, 
cultivated by a prince of growers—are mostly from seed 
saved by the growers themselves. The Lyon, Giant 
Carentan, a fine selection of Musselburgh, and Ayton 
Castle are largely grown. We have three kinds, of 
which The Lyon is the largest under ordinary culture. 
Onions have always a special interest, and in the 
north they have been extra fine this year. The largest 
we have seen are Cranston’s (to-day, at Carbrook), 
which were under special treatment ; but for all-round 
work we have been better satisfied with Veitch’s Main 
plant is to graft it upon seedlings, or good strong- 
rooted cuttings of P. ccerulea, taking care to destroy 
any suckers of the stock should they make their 
appearance after the stock and scion have become 
united. I have grafted it upon P. Constance Eliott as 
an experiment, but whether the white variety will 
have any effect upon the colour or production of the 
flowers of P. princeps remains to be seen. To all 
appearance the plants are growing equally as well as if 
worked on P. coerulea.— W. G. 
SPRING CAULIFLOWERS. 
Custom may have altered, but the sowing of seed of 
spring Cauliflowers used to take place about the 20th 
of September in open beds, and towards November, 
when the weather was beginning to become wintry, 
frames and hooped beds were got ready on light rich 
land. The plants were then pricked out, not more 
than 4 ins. apart each way, and during the winter kept 
dry, no rain being allowed to fall upon them ; but 
whenever practicable, plenty of air was given. Frost 
had but little effect under hoops ; but if the plants 
were excluded from air for 
a few days, and kept in 
darkness, they s u ff e r e d 
from damp. After this they 
were planted out in the 
richest and earliest ground in 
February or the beginning 
of March. 
Sowing takes place, as a 
rule, earlier now—generally 
during the first three weeks 
in August—in drills in the 
open ground, the spot being 
shaded if the weather is 
hot and dry; and as soon 
as the plants are large 
enough they are pricked 
out into frames, where they 
are wintered, protecting 
them from rain, and giving 
air on all favourable 
occasions. At the end of 
February, or early in March, 
the plants are placed in 
fully open richly-manured 
ground in patches of three 
or four, so that they can 
be covered with hand-lights 
or cloches. Air is freely 
given according to the 
weather, and as the plants 
increase in size the hand- 
lights are raised on bricks. 
When the plants can be 
freely exposed the cover¬ 
ing is removed altogether. 
Some growers of early 
Cauliflowers find it expedient 
to allow some of their 
Cauliflower to seed. I have 
known a London market 
gardener to make a good sum 
of money by allowing a 
number of his plants to bear 
seed ; but, as a matter of course, the piece was far 
away from anything else of the Brassica tribe also 
flowering. The late James Cuthill used to recommend 
that in seeding Cauliflowers the whole of the centre of 
the inflorescence should be cut out, except an outer 
rim, to run up for seed. If this was not done the 
mass of flowers proved so great, that unless a very fine 
season occurred the seed did not ripen. The sort of 
Cauliflower grown by the London market gardener is 
that known as the Early London .—R D. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM-FLOWERED 
ASTER. 
This belongs botanically to Callistephus chinensis, 
which is generally recognised in gardens as Aster 
chinensis or the Chinese Aster, and has been cultivated 
for so many years that the skill of cross-breeding 
and selection has resulted in a great number of what 
are popularly known as double forms, brought about 
by the elongation of the disk florets into flat strap¬ 
shaped ones, like the ray of the typical or normal 
flower head. The variety under notice belongs to this 
section or type, and is described as Chrysanthemum- 
flowered from its resemblance to the commoner or 
