92 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 8, 1887. 
The Pedigree Tomato.—Seeing in your last 
number (p. 74) a note on this Tomato from Mr. George 
Fry, Lewisham, allow me to say that I have grown 
this variety for the first time this season, and it has 
proved to be a fine-looking sort—the fruit being nearly 
round and perfectly smooth, of medium size, and in 
flavour all that could be desired. Your correspondent 
complains that his fruit is dissimilar in form : mine 
have turned out a very even lot all through, and having 
examined them since reading Mr. Fry’s note, I may 
say that I cannot see much difference either in size or 
shape. Although not so large as some, I consider it a 
very useful sort, as being quite smooth, there is no 
waste as in some other varieties.— TV. Cotterell, Yotes 
Court , Kent. 
A Useful Sunflower.—At Style Hall, Gun- 
nersbury, amongst a collection of annual Sunflowers, 
there are several that appear different both from the 
typical forms of H. annus and H. cucumerifolius, the 
latter of which is now considered merely as a well- 
marked variety of the former. The plant under notice 
is very much taller and more robust than H. cucum¬ 
erifolius, and in fact appears intermediate between the 
two forms mentioned, both with regard to the size of 
the flower-heads and the individual leaves. The ray 
florets are deep golden yellow, while, the disk is black ; 
and the stem throws out short lateral branches along 
a great part of its length ; these all flowering at the 
same time afford a large quantity of bloom of a useful 
size for cutting purposes, while at the same time the 
plants themselves are very ornamental. 
Crocus speciosus and Colchieum au- 
tumnale. — The former beautiful species is now 
flowering finely with me. I have a bed of Crocuses 
and Scillas on a north aspect where there is but little 
sun, and though the bloom is late, it is always very 
fine. Found the edge of the bed is a circle of Crocus 
speciosus, and it is now throwing up its large and 
striking violet-coloured blossoms. When I was at 
Boston a few days ago, I saw in many of the forecourt 
gardens in the suburbs of the town very fine patches 
of Colchieum autumnale that in all probability had 
been there for years. Just when the summer bedding 
plants were commencing to give over blooming, the 
Colchieum takes up the floral service, and carries it on 
farther towards the winter season.— R. D. 
-- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOWS, 
1887 . 
October. 
11, 26.—National : Meeting of Floral Committee 
at the Royal Aquarium. 
November. 
1, 2.—Southampton. 
3, 4.—Havant, and Henfield. 
4, 5.—Crystal Palace, Bradford, and Leicester. 
7, 8.—Surrey, at Peckham. 
8, 9.—Highgate, Brighton, Kingston-on-Thames, 
and Snuthend-on-Sea. 
8, 9, 10.—Lambeth, and Southwark. 
9.—Croydon. 
9, 10.—National, at the Royal Aquarium, Ascot, 
Bath, Cornwall, Guildford, and Southgate. 
10. —Dawlish, and Walton-on-Thames. 
10, 11.—Portsmouth, Ipswich, Buxton, and Weald of 
Kent. 
11. —Hitchin. 
U. 12.—Lewisham, Canterbury, and Street, Somerset. 
13, 14.—Ghent, Belgium. 
14, 15.—Sheffield and Hallamshire. 
15. —Putney, and Reading. 
15, 16.—Finchley, Watford, Lincoln, and Winchester. 
16. —Ealing, and Chelmsford. 
16, 17. — Birmingham, Hull, and Dartford. 
17. —Taunton. 
17, 18.—Bury St. Edmunds. 
18, 19. —Sheffield & West Riding, and Chorley, 
Lancashire. 
19. —Ramsbottom. 
22. —Oxfordshire, and Hanley. 
22, 23.—Liverpool. 
23. —National: Floral Committee Meeting at 
Banbury. 
23, 24.—Bristol. 
25, 26.—Pontefract, and Eccles. 
29, 30.—Edinburgh. 
December. 
5- — National: Floral Committee Meeting at 
the Royal Aquarium. 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
The Stock of Anthuriums should at once be 
attended to, and if the soil has become soured the plants 
should be shook out, and, before being re-potted, the 
roots should be dipped in warm water to cleanse them 
from the old soil ; be careful that the material used is 
free from fine soil, and a liberal use should be made of 
lumpy charcoal ; after potting let the plants be stood 
on the floor of the house, and the surface be well 
sprinkled through the rose, so that all may settle 
firmly. They will start more readily if they are 
kept lightly sprinkled two or three times a day ; care 
must be taken that insects do not attack the young 
foliage, as woodlice are extremely fond of it, and com¬ 
pletely spoil the plants if unnoticed ; for, no matter 
how good the spathes may be, much of the beauty of 
the plant lies in its foliage when well grown. 
Calanthes will be throwing up their spikes of 
bloom now, and must be guarded against slugs, &e. 
Let those on duty he cautioned to look over the plants 
once or twice during the evening, and a few Lettuce 
leaves be placed on the stages, which may result in the 
capture of the depredators. The stoves should be 
damped down frequently during the day, but syringing 
generally should be withheld, except, perhaps, now 
and again at closing time on fine afternoons, and while 
the weather keeps mild the open air should be admitted 
for a few hours each day to harden the foliage as much 
as possible. 
Intermediate House. —We have re-staged the 
intermediate house, dispensing with nearly all the 
tuberous Begonias, which have been placed in a cold 
pit to gradually ripen off. B. Frcebelli is now coming 
into bloom, and its bright scarlet flowers have a 
cheering effect when staged amongst Ferns and foliage 
plants at this dull season. The batch of Libonias are 
just now coming into flower, and have been placed in 
this house together with other autumn and winter¬ 
flowering plants, so that we expect this house to be 
quite gay until the commencement of the new year, 
when it will be required for forcing purposes. 
Cyclamens have been given more room, as they were 
becoming crowded ; care must be taken that they are 
not overwatered, but when the pots become filled with 
roots, occasional doses of liquid manure should be 
given. Lachenalias having made a good start, have 
been removed from the cold pits on to the ledges in 
the greenhouse, where they have plenty of light, and 
air is freely admitted, so that they do not get drawn. 
We have also staged in this house all the early 
Cinerarias and Primulas ; a considerable quantity of 
the latter will now be allowed to flower, as they come in 
very useful for decorative purposes. 
The Show House. —We have turned out the show 
house, re-arranging it with early-flowering Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, Salvias, late-flowering Fuchsias, Eupatoriums 
and zonal Pelargoniums ; a few plants of the old Salvia 
patens, dotted through here and there, look very bright 
and effective. Much care is now necessary in the 
watering and ventilating of this house, and fire heat 
must not be used, as it would excite the plants into 
growth, which is undesirable ; all fading flowers and 
foliage should be carefully picked off every morning, 
and the doors and sashes fully opened upon every 
favourable occasion to admit of a thorough circulation 
of air ; at the same time avoid the admission of cold 
cutting winds, which are very destructive to flowering 
plants. - 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
Vineries. —If not already done, prune back the 
laterals in the Lady Downes vinery. Those not carrying 
fruit may be cut in to two or three eyes with advantage 
to next season’s crop. Let the pipes in this house be 
warmed morning and evening, but avoid, by all means, 
making the atmosphere hot. No special temperature 
need be given—simply let it feel dry and cool, and then 
the Grapes will hang and keep well ; whereas, if kept 
too warm, the first sign will be in a loss of colour, and 
next a shrivelling of the berries. No matter what 
excuses may be made, this is the chief and sole cause. 
It will be advisable now to cut and bottle any Ham- 
burghs that may be left in the succession houses. As 
a rule, they are bad keepers from the present time 
onwards, and to preserve them more fire-heat than is 
desirable or good for the Vines has to be resorted to. 
We once used it to such an extent as to cause them to 
start prematurely. It is a great risk to run, and 
should be avoided by all means. 
The Fig House. —We have given a last watering to 
the Fig-house, the trees in which are now swelling off 
a nice crop of fruit, which will be found extremely 
useful for dessert. Blanche du Soissons is one of the 
very best with us, and always fruits freely. Where 
Grapes are required early next season, whether from 
pot or established Vines, preparations for a start should 
be made. In the case of pots, let the house they are 
to occupy be thoroughly cleansed and painted ; and if 
bottom-heat is to be produced by fermenting material, 
let piers be made upon which to rest the pots, placing 
a good sod of turf upon the top of each. If at all 
available, let tan be the fermenting agent employed. 
If a vinery is to be started, let the Vines be pruned at 
once, and the house be washed and painted preparatory 
to a start being made at the beginning of next month, 
notes as to which will appear. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Potatos —In the digging of Potatos we are agree¬ 
ably surprised in finding a much better return than at 
one time we could have hoped for. It is yet a moot 
point how they will cook later on, so variable are they, 
particularly Magnum Bonums. Light lands obtain a 
decided advantage this season in this respect, the crops 
lifted being in every way satisfactory. 
The Gathering of Fruit takes up much time, 
but after this week there will only remain out of Pears 
Glou Morceau, Josephine de Malines and Easter Beurre, 
and of Apples, Norfolk Beaufin, Scarlet Nonpareil and 
French Crab. The last-named Apple comes in useful 
very late in the season, though still is of but little 
value. The mild weather has been conducive to the 
growth of weeds, and if neglected they become very 
unsightly. Let the hoe be kept at work upon every 
available opportunity ; but while the weather keeps so 
open it is useless to do this unless the weeds are 
removed. The operator should have a bucket or some 
other vessel wherein he may, as he walks backwards, 
deposit the largest of the weeds which he gathers as 
the work proceeds. 
Pay attention to the earthing up of Celery, and do 
not let an opportunity slip of finishing the moulding 
as the crops advance. The frosts of last week effectually 
cut off the French Beans outdoors ; but those in the 
pits will keep us going for a long time, whilst, in 
addition, we have made a sowing in pots, and placed 
them on the shelves in the Cucumber houses.— 
Walter Child, Croome Court. 
-- 
ORCHID NOT ES AND GLEANINGS. 
Orchid Growers’ Calendar. —Bolleas, Pesca- 
toreas and Batemannias are among the worst managed 
of Orchids ; and, generally speaking, they do not seem 
to thrive well in many collections. The main points 
in their culture are, to give them as nearly as possible 
an even temperature in a moist and shady house all 
the year round ; certainly they will not do well in the 
temperature which is usually known as cold, and it is 
equally certain that in a high temperature their course 
is short. In more than one place I have seen them 
doing well in an intermediate-house temperature, but 
where the atmosphere has been kept more moist than 
usual in the Cattleya house. Those who can arrange 
a sheltered shady spot for them in such a house as I 
have indicated, should do so, and if suspended or 
brought near the glass, but not so near as to feel 
the effect of the outside cold, they will be found to do 
better. 
Phalsenopsids, too, are plants which I should never 
recommend anything approaching cool treatment for in 
winter, although I know that the greater part of them 
are lost by excessive heat at that season. A tempera¬ 
ture of 60° to 65° keeps them in perfect health through 
the winter, and in that heat they do not want heavy 
watering. So wintered, they are ready to push growth 
vigorously in spring. I have thought that these plants 
are safest in north houses in summer, as they are easily 
injured by direct sunlight, but against that I can but 
cite the three best instances of Phalienopsis culture I 
ever saw, viz., Mr. Partington’s, at Cheshunt ; Mr. 
Hill’s, at Lord Rothschild’s, Tring ; and a lot I had in 
my own care many years ago. All these were, or are, 
in houses of sunny aspect, but carefully shaded with a 
thin blind in spring, and a thicker one over that in 
summer. This seems to say that Phakenopsis, although 
not liking direct sunlight, is beneficially affected by 
the extra light it gets in winter in a house of sunny 
aspect. 
The Temperatures for the Month of October 
should be :—East Indian or warm house, 70° to 75° by 
