October 1, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
71 
Tomato, from Sandwich Islands (Carter) ; Webb’s 
Jubilee (Webb); Jubilee (Nutting). 
12. — Hackwood Park Prolific (Yeitcb) ; Invicta 
(Veitch); General Grant (Farquhar); No. 3 (Watkins 
& Simpson); Trentbam Early (Yeitch). 
13. — Trophy (Farquhar) ; Trophy (Yeitcb). 
14. — Hepper’s Goliath (Veitch). 
15. — Acme (Yeitcb) ; Acme (Farquhar) ; Acme ; 
Brookwood A1 (R. Lloyd) ; Early Essex (Farquhar); 
The Pomegranate (Sharpe); No. 2 (J. Banstead) ; 
Livingstone’s Beauty (Farquhar). 
16. — Vick's Criterion (Veitch). 
17. — The Mikado (Watkins and Simpson) ; The 
Mikado (Farquhar) ; Universal (Yeitch). 
18. — Plum-shaped (Farquhar). 
19. — Yellow Cherry (Farquhar). 
20. — Greengage (Farquhar); Greengage (Veitch). 
21. — *Goldcn Queen (Williams); Yellow Tomato (J. 
Smith). 
22. — Blenheim Orange (Carter). 
23. — Prince of Orange (Hurst). 
24. — Large Yellow (Farquhar) ; Large Yellow 
(Veitch). 
25. — White Apple (Farquhar). 
26. —Currant or Grape (Farquhar). 
-- 
NEW PLANTS CERTIFICATED 
By the Floral Committee of the R. H. S. 
September 27th. 
Dahlias. 
Frank Pearce.— Fine forms of the fancy class of 
Dahlias to which this belongs continue to be produced, 
and this must be classed amongst the finest of recent 
productions. The flower head is even, regular and 
close, and the marking which consists of numerous 
crimson spots and stripes of various sizes on a soft 
rose-coloured ground, constitute the flower head (bloom 
of the florist) an object of great attraction. While 
the markings are numerous, the ground colour is pale, 
so that the contrast is good, making the coloration 
neither dull nor heavy. Exhibited by Messrs. Rawlings 
Bros., Romford, Essex. 
Plutarch.— While this is only of medium size, at least 
the specimens exhibited, the form is fine, and, on the 
whole, very attractive. It is finely striped and mottled 
with crimson on the buff-yellow ground, constituting 
the variety one of the fancy class. The markings are 
also clear and definite and occupy the florets closely. 
Exhibited by Mr. Charles Turner, Slough. 
Henry Patrick.— Great rivalry is being evinced by 
raisers of the Cactus or decorative class of Dahlias of 
which Juarezi is the original and recognised type. The 
latter is a shy flowerer in whatever part of the country 
we see it ; but the seedling or new forms are greatly 
improved with regard to floriferousness. The variety 
under notice is large and pure white, flat top, recurved 
at the sides, and flowers with remarkable freedom. 
Exhibited by Mr. T. S. Ware, Tottenham. 
Mrs. Harry Whitfield.— The ray-petals of this 
single form are very broad, much imbricated, and 
somewhat recurved at the apex. The disc is yellow, 
the whole head being very large for a single Dahlia and 
of a bright uniform yellow. Exhibited by Messrs. 
Paul & Son, Cheshunt. 
Canterbury Tales.— The most striking feature of 
this single variety is the peculiar combination of colours 
in the ray-florets. The base of the latter is occupied 
by a combination of scarlet and yellow, while the 
apical half of each is distinctly tinged with violet or 
purplish violet. The whole flower-head is large, with 
much-imbricated ray-florets. Exhibited by Messrs. 
Paul & Son, Cheshunt. 
-■»> :£< —- 
Hardening Uotes from 
COTLAND. 
_ 
Edinburgh Chrysanthemum Show.— 
(November 29th and 30th). At a meeting of the 
Council of the Scottish Horticultural Association, held 
on the 22nd ult., the president, Mr. D. P. Laird, in 
the chair, it was arranged to hold the above show in 
the Music Hall, the scene of many a floral fete in days 
gone by, and before the erection of the spacious 
Waverley Market. The season having been very 
favourable, a large display may reasonably be expected, 
and although the prize list is confined to Scotch 
growers, it is to he hoped that some of our southern 
friends will put in an appearance as exhibitors. 
Lifting Plants for Winter Flowering.— 
Where plants for winter and spring flowers are grown 
extensively, and much demand for cut flowers is made 
on the means, possibly scant and not very efficient for 
the purpose, it is well, before the growing season has 
closed, to get a good batch of East Lothian Stock 
lifted and potted firmly in good sandy loam, leaving 
plenty of space for a good soaking of water, which 
must be repeated till the soil is moistened to the 
bottom. If they are put in a close frame and sprinkled 
overhead for a few days, root action soon takes place, 
and the newly lifted plants grow and form flower-buds 
en masse. Calceolarias (shrubby) of the more compact¬ 
growing kinds are of great value for spring use ; a few 
dozen plants mixed among other decorative subjects 
are most attractive, and when liberally treated may 
give a fair display (like the East Lothian Stocks) for 
four or five months. Pots used as small as possible 
now, and a shift to good rich soil thoroughly firm, at 
the turn of the year, cannot fail to please. The old dark 
Sultan is a grand plant for such a purpose, and pretty 
common in northern gardens. We are (last week of 
September) lifting our first-flowering lots of things 
in considerable variety ; the Calceolarias are special 
favourites. The first impression made by these has 
been lasting. When a boy, I saw, in a large con¬ 
servatory at Blackheath, Kent, such a display of 
Sultan Calceolarias in pots as time cannot efface.— 
Caledonian. 
Earthing-up Vegetables. —The practice of 
earthing-up crops, we have observed, has been always 
more rigidly followed in northern gardens than is 
generally done in English by horticulturists and 
agriculturists, and we think there are stronger reasons 
for doing so in the north than in the southern parts. 
When we notice the splendid fields of Potatos highly 
earthed up by the plough, with plenty of room between 
the rows, it is very conclusive that such a practice is 
not carried out without the most tangible reasons, and 
we note that where some farmers are of the highly 
scientific class, as well as being thoroughly practical, 
the details of earthing up have the most careful atten¬ 
tion. The grand fields of Swedish Turnips, and 
immense breadths of fine yellow kinds, stand on ridges 
of the surface soil well thrown up at sowing time, and 
are arguments of the strongest kind that this earthing 
up is done for special reasons ; on the low-lying ground 
one would naturally suppose that it is a most essential 
practice, but on the high and lighter soil we are not so 
certain that it need be so carefully adhered to. We 
confess that in gardens we seldom ever earthed up any 
kinds ol plants, and believe in summer it is of no 
benefit, but the reverse, and we know many things are 
really injured by bringing the crop to a speedy termina¬ 
tion. Pea earthing-up scarcely requires a comment to 
denounce the fallacy of the practice. — Caledonian. 
Pansies and Violas. —Undoubtedly seedlings 
of these are better adapted to stand drought and flower 
longer and better than cuttings, but for bedding 
purposes the seedlings are not so suitable, because one 
must have definite colours in each bed and know what 
they are doing before planting, to prevent confusion. 
However, for border planting, where distinct colours 
are of no great importance, but a mass of flowers, say 
six to eight months in the year, is of great moment, we 
would go in for seedlings ; and at present we are 
pricking out in sheltered positions large breadths for 
border purposes. A frame or some handy protection 
will be used in severe weather. The quantities of 
bedding Pansies and Yiolas are now being put in, and 
the great means of success we always find is to keep 
the cuttings front extremes of cold, damp and heat 
during winter. The cuttings in rich sandy soil lift 
well during April; and if placed in a rich ground of 
deep tilth made moderately firm, a great display must 
follow.— Caledonian. 
Ravenswood, Melrose. —Admiral Fairfax is 
to be congratulated upon having got together within a 
very few years a choice collection of Orchids, and 
under the skilful management of Mr. Yea, the plants 
are pictures of good health. Considering the season of 
the year, the houses were remarkably full of flower 
when I called recently, and the following may be 
named as being the most noteworthy:—Cattleya bicolor, 
a fine variety ; C. Forbesii, C. Harrisoniie violacea, 
C. Gaskelliana, Coslogyne Massangeana, Cypripedium 
Lawrenceanum, C. Spicerianum, C. barbatum, &c. 
Dendrobium Jamesian um, D. Dearei, Angriecum 
Scottianum, Epidendrum vitellinum majus, Lnslia 
autumnalis atrorubens, L. elegans, a very fine variety; 
L. Dayana, many ; Masdevallia amabilis, M. Bella, M. 
Chimcera, M. Roezlii,&c. Miltonia Candida, M. Clowesii, 
M. spectabilis purpurea, Odontoglossum grande,nineteen 
blooms, in 9-in. pot ; Oncidium Barkeri, 0. dasytyle, 
0. flexuosum, 0. Forbesii, 0. incurvum, O. ornithor- 
rhynchum, 0. Limminghii, 0. Phalsenopsis, a fine spike; 
0. papilio, many ; 0. Krameri, 0. Jonesianum, &e. 
Pleione lagenariaand Wallichiana,Saccolabium Blumei, 
Zygopetalum Gautieri, extra fine varieties ; Z. crinitum 
and maxillare, &c. 1 may mention that the tuberous 
Begonias receive great attention at Ravenswood, both 
in and out-of-doors, and as a bedding plant Mr. Yea 
finds it unequalled. The scarlet Pelargonium is a 
thing of the past at Ravenswood.— D. P. L. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
-- 
Strawberry Runners. —Now is the proper time 
to make fresh plantations where such is necessary. 
We are well aware it is a favourite plan with many to 
collect the runners when the beds and plots are trimmed 
and cleaned after the crop has been gathered, and to 
heel them in sometimes very thickly in some convenient 
place or piece of ground, with the intention of leaving 
them there till spring, when the best of them are 
planted in their permanent quarters. The advocates 
of such a principle may fortify their position by stating 
that they thus fill their ground with live plants after 
the severity of the winter has passed, and thereby 
avoid a large percentage of deaths. The mere fact of 
laying in the plants thickly in autumn prevents them 
making that robust and vigorous growth of which 
young plants are capable ; and it also prevents that 
deep rooting which takes place in autumn after the 
accession of rains, and while the ground is still warm 
and favourable to root development. Anyone may 
assure himself of this fact by lifting some plants for 
examination a short time after they have been layered, 
when it will be found that the quantity of healthy 
white fleshy roots is simply astonishing. By planting 
in autumn these vigorous roots are preserved intact, 
and by rooting deeply before the cold of winter sets in, 
the young plants are better able to withstand drought 
than if they had been planted ever so carefully in 
spring, when they ought to be in a position to throw 
up vigorous flower stems, and bear a crop of fruit quite 
sufficient to recompense the cultivator for mulching or 
layering them with straw, and other necessary attention 
required by fruiting plants. 
The ground intended to be planted should be trenched 
to the depth of 2ft. or 3 ft., according to its nature, and 
if the top soil is old and rich in decayed vegetable 
matter from long cultivation, it will be greatly ad¬ 
vantageous to the Strawberry plants to turn up some 
of the fresh loam to be incorporated with the surface 
soil in the process of trenching. At the same time, if 
the subsoil is very poor it would be unadvisable to sub¬ 
stitute the surface soil for it, or, indeed, to bring up 
any large quantity of the former. Good stable manure, 
preferably cow manure if obtainable, should be 
trenched into the ground, about a foot beneath the 
surface ; and if the soil is poor, a quantity of good 
rotted manure, well worked into the surface soil, would 
be highly beneficial. Should the soil be stiff, old hot¬ 
bed manure, rotted leaves or leaf-soil may be worked 
into the upper spit, and will prove of immense benefit 
to the plants. 
"When this preparation of the ground has been com¬ 
pleted, planting should be accomplished immediately. 
Various distances have been recommended, both be¬ 
tween the lines and between the plants themselves, 
but, for general purposes, 2 ft. between the lines and 
18 ins. from plant to plant has been found to answer 
admirably ; and this distance is found necessary for the 
proper working of the various operations in Strawberry 
culture, and for the proper ripening and colouration of 
the crop. The planter himself must be guided by 
experience as to when a plantation should be renewed, 
as that will depend on the locality, and on the nature 
of the soil. Plantations become unprofitable to culti¬ 
vate in a period varying from one to twelve years, and 
the cultivator will be able to judge for himself when 
fresh plantations should be made. 
Ripening Vines. —One of the chief points to be 
noticed in the culture of the Vine is the proper ripen¬ 
ing of the wood, and to this—especially in the case of 
late vineries—artificial heat has often to be employed. 
When Vines are allowed to start naturally, that is, -with 
the aid of sun-heat only in spring, ripening by the aid 
of fire-heat is necessary, if the weather prove dull and 
cloudy, in autumn. As soon as the crop is gathered, 
keep on plenty of air night and day, and to dispel 
damp and raise the temperature of the atmosphere, 
keep a gentle fire burning. The effect of this on the 
ripening of the Vines will be apparent in the course of 
a week or ten days, or even a shorter time. The ripen¬ 
ing will be indicated by the falling of the leaves and 
the wood turning of a rich brown colour. When the 
foliage has all fallen, or nearly so, the firing may be 
discontinued. Should a few bunches of fruit still 
remain on the Vines, and the owner wishes to retain 
them as long as possible, he may cut them with a 
portion of the branch attached, and insert the latter 
in bottles of water, which may he stored away in some 
dry cool room, where they will remain fresh a long 
time. The insertion of some pieces of charcoal in the 
bottles will help to keep the water fresh, as the Vine 
branches will necessarily imbibe a quantity of the 
water in which they are placed. The Grapes if left on 
the Vines during the ripening process would be liable 
to shrivel, but by attending to the process above 
described, greater chances of a good crop next year are 
ensured.— F. 
