70 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 1, 1887. 
flowers, Kinver Monarch, Early Mammoth, and New 
Tom Thumb ; in Cucumbers, Perpetual Bearer and 
Telegraph. But to enumerate half the varieties of the 
different crops would take far more space than is here 
available. No crop seems to be overlooked. Of all 
there are new and improved sorts, which are the result 
of much study and painstaking. 
The show of flowers, though not quite at its best at 
the time of our visit, was very striking. There was 
a large breadth devoted to Stocks. Webbs’ New 
Imperial Ten-week Stock hears beautiful double flowers 
on long massive spikes, and has a great diversity of 
colour. Another variety is Webbs’ Large Flowering, 
which is also very popular. Asters were very notice¬ 
able. There was a good bed of Miniature, a very 
favourite variety for pot culture. Messrs. Webb put 
up what they term the “ Wordsley Collection” of 
Aster seeds, which includes five of their favourite 
varieties—viz., Victoria, Quilled, Miniature, Dwarf 
Chrysanthemum - flowered, and Truffaut’s Peeony - 
flowered. There were fine beds of double Zinnias, 
Linum grandiflorum rubrum, Calliopsis Drummondi, 
and Chrysanthemum inodorum plenissimum. Nastur¬ 
tiums were in a variety of colours, and looked very 
brilliant. There were also beds of Golden Cloud 
Chrysanthemum, with large yellow flowers, looking 
well; of the new Sterling Poppy, a'diandsome floriferous 
sort of this now favourite decorative flower ; of purple 
and white Candytufts, white Rockets, Clarkias, &c. 
The new hybrid Mimulus, remarkably rich in colour ; 
the Invincible Sweet William, diversified in hue ; and 
the Pride of Kinver Verbena, very large in size of 
flower, and brilliant in colour, were other notable 
varieties. 
It must not he forgotten, though it does not come 
within the scope of the present article, that Messrs. 
Webb do an enormous trade in seeds for the farm as well 
as for the garden. The cereals were being harvested 
when we visited Kinver. There were 191 acres of 
Wheat, 201 acres of Barley, and 160 acres of Oats, as 
well as a large acreage of Swedes and Mangels. In 
each of these crops Messrs. Webb have made a special 
mark. Such varieties as their Kinver Chevalier Barley, 
their Kinver Giant Wheat, their Challenge Oats, or 
their Imperial Swede have a reputation which may, 
without exaggeration, be termed world-wide. 
There were also plots of other crops which are 
scarcely yet established in English cultivation, but 
which Messrs. Webb are experimentally growing. 
There are, for instance, Tobacco, of which twelve 
varieties are recommended by Messrs. Webb for growth 
in this country ; also some forward flourishing-looking 
patches of Maize and Sorghum, and a good plot of 
Belgian Carrots, the latter just fit to cut for seed. 
In addition to the farms at Kinver, there are the 
extensive warehouses and offices at Wordsley which 
claim attention. Here one gets still further insight 
into the magnitude of the business which Messrs. Webb 
conduct. Their trade, indeed, extends not only over 
the United Kingdom, but to the colonies and the 
Continent. There is a newly-established, but already 
flourishing, branch in New Zealand. In addition to 
the seed trade, Messrs. Webb are large manure manu¬ 
facturers, and have extensive works at Widnes, in 
Lancashire. They also deal largely in hops and wool, 
and may be termed, indeed, quite one of the notable 
firms of the present day. The machinery for cleaning, 
sorting, and despatching the seeds is of the most 
elaborate and improved description ; indeed, throughout 
all departments of the business there runs an air of 
thoughtfulness and thoroughness, which is, no doubt, 
accountable for the remarkable success which has been 
achieved by Messrs. Webb.— R. 
- — - 
BEEOHHILL AND ROSEMOUNT 
NURSERIES. 
When visiting the above nurseries of Mr. John 
Downie, at Murrayfield, Midlothian, recently, we were 
very much struck with the gay aspect of the place, the 
result of its favoured southern exposure, the general 
tidiness of everything, and the floriferous condition of 
the florists’ flowers—notably, Dahlias, Pansies, 
Pentstemons, Antirrhinums, and Phloxes. Being the 
second week of September, most of these things were 
in the height of their glory as compared with the same 
things in the more southern latitude of London, and 
its consequent earlier season. The long drought which 
tested the vitality of vegetation in Scotland as well as 
elsewhere, had terminated, and the long-wished-for 
rain had washed everything clean, and made flowers 
and foliage alike look fresh. 
Conspicuous amongst other shrubs or trees in the 
nursery were Cupressus Lawsoniana erecta Fraseri, a 
beautifully distinct and glaucous form of the Knap 
Hill Cypress ; Populus canadensis aurea, a beautiful 
golden-leaved form of a North American species very 
similar to P. nigra ; and Ligustrum vulgare aurea 
variegatum, an elegant shrub that may be grown in 
gardens of a limited area. A dwarf Tropteolum named 
Mrs. Peeples was simply a sheet of scarlet. A bed of 
tuberous-rooted Begonias, the first attempt at bedding 
them out in that neighbourhood, were aglow with their 
rich and varied colours. The plants were dwarf and 
bushy, showing how well adapted they are for the 
purpose in the more favoured parts of Scotland at least. 
In the houses were a brilliant display of the same 
popular class of plants, in all the varied tints and 
colours for which they are noted, with the broad and 
narrow-leaved types intermixed, producing a fine effect. 
In another house close by were some handsome beau¬ 
tifully double and crisped Petunias in purple, white, 
and rose colours, blended in the same flowers. A 
purple and white variety named Etendard was notably 
fine. The popular Lilium longiflorum eximium, here 
as in many other places known as L. Harrisii, takes 
admirably, and annually finds many new homes. 
As already stated, florists’ flowers are a great 
speciality of these nurseries, and they are well cared 
for, a labour amply repaid by a rich and continued 
display of summer-flowering subjects ; and an equally 
good array of Dahlias, Pentstemons and Phloxes in 
autumn. An extensive collection of named Antir¬ 
rhinums are kept, but although past their best, enough 
remained to show their true character and what they 
had been. The following are some of the new sorts put 
into commerce for the first time this year : Elata, white 
variety, finely mottled and striped with rosy purple on 
a white ground ; Maria, mottled and striped with 
crimson on a white ground ; Neptune, marked in a 
similar way to the last, hut the ground-colour is bronzy 
yellow ; the ground-colour of Picta is rosy lilac, striped 
and marked with rosy purple ; but a more pleasing 
variety, and certainly a fine thing, is Jura, striped 
with rosy crimson on a pure white ground. These are 
but a few of the newest and finer-named sorts, and 
although some may be inclined to grow Antirrhinums 
from seed, it is an indisputable fact that choice varieties 
can only he perpetuated by propagation from cuttings, 
and there is ample room for selection from an incon¬ 
ceivable variety and arrangement of colours—-both 
seifs, spotted, striped and mixed colours. 
The Pentstemons struck us as particularly beautiful 
from their fresh and floriferous character ; a circum¬ 
stance, doubtless, due to the comparative lateness of 
the season in that part of the country and the recent 
and abundant rain. They had, likewise, so closely 
covered the ground that not 1 in. of room was wasted. 
Our space forbids description of any but some of those 
most recently put into commerce, but visitors intending 
to make a selection would find a wealth of variety from 
which to select either for exhibition or ordinary garden- 
decorative purposes. The wide and white-throated 
varieties, with their red, crimson, or purple pencillings 
are certainly very attractive, and must be considered as 
the cream of good things, although the more slender- 
tubed and brilliantly - coloured varieties are very 
effective and ornamental in the mass. Owing to their 
deep-rooting nature, Pentstemons are admirably adapted 
for resisting drought, and are, consequently, adapted 
either for the northern or southern part of this island. 
A fine new sort is Nestor, with large deep rosy salmon 
flowers and a white throat. Equally good is Aurata, 
a bright rosy salmon, with crimson pencillings in the 
white throat; from the latter Condor differs in the 
tube, being of a light rosy crimson, while the markings 
are similar ; B. S. Williams is a rosy crimson flower, 
heavily striped in the throat with a darker colour ; and 
Florence, a delicately-coloured flower, forms a fine 
contrast to the latter, and is nicely lined in the white 
throat with crimson, while the exterior is a soft rose 
tint. The white-throated forms are. the most popular 
of the recent productions, and the three following sorts 
belong to this type, namely, James McGlashan, lively 
rose-red, heavily marked with crimson in the throat ; 
Rosy Gem, bright rosy crimson ; and Rob Roy, a large 
and attractive flower of a brilliant scarlet. 
Pansies are special favourites with Mr. Downie, whose 
name has long been associated with this class of plants, 
and the raising of the bedding Yiola, Countess of 
Kintore, has gained him an almost world-wide repu¬ 
tation, as glowing accounts of it as a drought-resisting 
variety have reached him from France, America, and 
other places, including testimonials from all parts of 
this country. Something in the way of the above, and 
a seedling from it, is Lady Amry, a dark purplish 
crimson, shaded white at the margin and over nearly 
the whole of the upper petals. These and the following 
have been proved admirably adapted to suit the climate 
of Scotland :—Lady Amry, together with Spark, 
purple and white on the upper petals ; Pytho, a fine 
round flower, dark plum-purple and white ; and Meta, 
shaded and marked with crimson on a dark rosa 
ground, have been put into commerce this year for the 
first time. Bullion, sent out about three years ago, is 
a bright golden yellow, and one of the earliest and 
latest to bloom, being, in fact, nearly always in 
flower. A free-blooming kind, with a strong consti¬ 
tution, is Archibald Grant, having deep rosy purple 
finely-shaped flowers. A good white has long been a 
requisition, and Countess of Hopetoun seems to snpply 
the want. We can speak of it as a free-blooming 
dwarf variety, that held its own as a bedder in many 
of the gardens we visited in the neighbourhood, and for 
some distance away, where it was reputed to flower 
even more profusely in the autumn than the Countess 
of Kintore itself. Lady Polwarth is another dwarf 
free-blooming white ; Duchess of Sutherland, bluish 
mauve and white; Duke of Albany, dark purple- 
maroon ; Golden Perpetual Improved, yellow ; Skylark, 
white margined with blue ; and Virginal, silky white, 
may be relied upon in the northern parts of the country 
to produce an effective display during the bedding 
season. 
Show and fancy Pansies are also grown extensively, 
a mere list of which is out of the question. They are 
planted out inthe open ground, without special attention 
or protection of any kind ; and although they suffered 
rather severely from the long-continued drought, they 
were rapidly recovering at the time of our visit, and a 
fine autumn display was expected. Amongst show 
kinds, Andrew Miller, a pale plum-coloured self, was a 
noble flower, well meriting cultivation. A smooth 
even flower is Mrs. Dobbie, with dark blotches on a 
white ground, constituting a fine contrast to a black 
self with a fine eye, and named Archie Ormiston. 
Undine, white with pale purple border ; Mrs. Ritchie, 
a large and well-formed flower, with violet-purple 
border ; and Miss Jessie Foot, margined purple, are 
all excellent sorts of the white-ground class. The 
Favourite is a handsome yellow, with a maroon-purple 
margin ; and John Elder is another grand exhibition 
variety, yellow bordered with maroon. Fancy Pansies 
exhibit no end of variability, calculated to suit the taste 
of the most fastidious. 
-- 
THE CHISWICK TRIALS OF 
TOMATOS. 
The result of the Chiswick trials of Tomatos has 
tended to reduce the chaos of names to something like 
order. The plants were grown out of doors on a south 
border under a wall, and as all received the same 
treatment the experiment is a conclusive one. The 
name printed in italics is the original under which 
each variety was first introduced, and the Fruit 
Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society have 
adopted it as the standard by which the varieties shall 
henceforth be known, all the others being merely 
synonyms. 
Those marked * received a First Class Certificate. 
1. — Open Air (Laxton) ; Faultless Early (Farquhar) 
2. —Early Dwarf (Vilmorin) ; Orangefield (Veitch) ; 
Oraugefield Improved (Rutley & Silverlock); Little 
Gem (Veitch) ; Conqueror (Veitch); Early Red 
(Vilmorin). 
3. — Large Red (Veitch) ; No. 1 (J. Banstead); Sen¬ 
sation (Webb); Canada Victor (Farquhar); Glamorgan 
(Hurst) ; Cooper’s Dwarf Prolific (Cooper) ; Wheeler’s 
Prolific (Wheeler) ; Nisbet’s Victoria (Sharpe). 
4. —* Horsford’s Prelude (Horsford & Pringle). 
5. —Paragon (Farquhar) ; Eclipse (Sharpe). 
6. — Chiswick Red (R. H.S.) ; King Humbert (Rutlev 
& Silverlock) ; King Humbert (Veitch). 
7. — No. 1 (Watkins & Simpson). 
8. — Pear-shaped (Farquhar) ; Nisbet’s Victoria 
(Veitch). 
9. — Cherry-shaped (Farquhar). 
10. — Hathaway’s Excelsior (Farquhar),; Emery 
(Farquhar); Hathaway’s Excelsior (Veitch) ; Key’s 
Prolific (Veitch); Large Smooth Red (Farquhar). 
11. — *Perfcction (Farquhar); Livingstone’s Perfection 
(Rutley and Silverlock) ; Livingstone’s Favourite 
(Farquhar); Livingstone’s Favourite (Dean); Perfection 
(Veitch) ; Reading Perfection ; President Cleveland 
(Farquhar) ; Cardinal (Farquhar) ; Stamfordian 
(Veitch); Mayflower (Veitch); Optimus (Benary); Red 
