186 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 19, 1887. 
To ensure good, clean flowers for show, it will some¬ 
times be desirable to give a slight shade from the fierce 
rays of the sun for a few hours during the day ; this 
is easily managed by placing two strong stakes at a 
convenient distance from the spikes, and stretching a 
piece of muslin on them. Growing for show : thinning- 
out must occasionally be resorted to. This requires 
great judgment, and beginners had best err by under¬ 
doing rather than over-doing it. An ideal Hollyhock 
flower should have guard petals of sufficient breadth to 
be clearly discernable when staged. The build of the 
flower should be about four-sixths of a circle. A half 
circle from the guard petals makes rather too flat a 
flower. Extreme doubleness in itself is not so great 
a desideratum as freedom from pockets ; the least ten¬ 
dency to this defect in a flower should debar it from 
the show-table.— TV. B. G. 
-»>:£<•«■- 
Hardening Miscellany. 
Berries for Indoor Decoration. —The desire 
for some bright and durable natural object indoors no 
doubt prompts people to buy freely of the bunches of 
black-berried Privet or scarlet-berried Guelder Eose, 
and scarlet-fruited Dog Eose which we see so plentifully 
exhibited on stalls, and in the baskets of the flower- 
girls in town. Only quite recently have the value of 
these berries, and of the beautifully coloured leaves of 
Ivy and other subjects been generally recognised, but 
now an increasing demand exists for them. 
Schinus molle (Pepper Tree). —With most 
things commercially, as soon as demand is known, 
supply is forthcoming. It is the demand for berried 
plants for indoor work which has, no doubt, brought 
this into the market. In Covent Garden we recently 
saw a good supply of sprays of it, with its elegant 
Fern-like foliage, and long sprays of ivory-white, rose- 
tinted berries. In California, Mexico, and South 
America it grows into fine shade trees. It belongs to 
Anaeardiaceas, and its leaves are charged with a 
resinous gas, which causes the leaflets to dart about 
like fishes when fresh plucked and cast into water. 
Carter’s Provident Sick Fund. —The second 
annual meeting w T as held on Tuesday, the 8th inst., in 
the warehouse of Messrs. James Carter & Co., High 
Holborn. It was attended by about 250 members, 
who, by the keen interest displayed in the proceedings, 
showed their appreciation of the benefits which had 
been obtained by the establishment of the fund. The 
chair was occupied by the manager, Mr. C. H. Sharman. 
The report and balance sheets were read and adopted, 
various suggestions for increasing the usefulness of the 
fund being given, and the necessary amendments of the 
rules made. During the second year of the society’s 
existence the number of members on the register had 
risen from 268 to 353, all of w T hom were employes in 
various departments of the business. A further sum of 
£20 was added to.the reserve fund. A donation of 
£10 was made to the “Hospital Saturday Fund,” and 
not the least pleasing feature in the meeting was the 
solicitude displayed by the members fo make a 
provision so early in the society’s existence for the 
assistance of widows or orphans of deceased members, 
a proposition being made that a subscription should 
be given to the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund recently 
established, and which it was thought would secure 
the objects in view. After a fair discussion, it was 
seen that the benefits to be derived from that source 
would necessarily be very limited in extent, not being 
available for the relief of any but the orphans of 
gardeners, foremen in gardens, and managers, or 
departmental foremen in nursery and seed establish¬ 
ments ; an amendment was therefore proposed and 
carried unanimously that the reserve fund should be 
charged to the extent of £10 per annum for that object 
when required. The officers and members of the com¬ 
mittee were re-elected with acclamation, and a hearty 
vote of thanks to the chairman brought the proceedings 
to a close. 
Early Cauliflowers. — I am interested in noting 
a reference to yet another so-called early Cauliflower, 
Methven’s Extra Selected Forcing. Without doubt 
Mr. Eobertson sends you that note in absolute good 
faith, believing that this designated Cauliflower is new. 
Possibly he has never met with the Snowball, which 
has been in commerce for some fourteen or fifteen years, 
and which has in point of earliness, dwarfness or 
quality, never been excelled. Evidence of that fact 
was afforded at Chiswick during the past season, when 
in an exhaustive trial of first early Cauliflowers our 
stock of Snowball was found to be the very best of 
the whole. If in Scotland there are any doubts on 
that head, let some seeds of this assumed novelty be 
sent to Chiswick for trial at once.— A. Bean, Bedford. 
“ The Black Hamburgh Vine at Kinnell, 
a former seat of the MacNabs, near Killin, at the 
western end of Loch Tay, in Perthshire, is one of the 
great sights of the Breadalbane country. It is now the 
largest specimen of a growing Vine in the United 
Kingdom. The Marquis of Breadalbane, on whose 
grounds of Auchmore it is situated, is justly proud of 
this splendid Vine, and has arranged that it may be 
seen by the public every Wednesday, between the 
hours of ten and tw 7 o o’clock. When we saw it this 
autumn about 500 bunches of luscious Grapes were 
hanging from it, which, at an average of 2 lbs. per 
bunch, means about a J ton of Grapes. The yield of 
this prolific Vine in recent years is interesting. In 
1879 the yield was 1,179 bunches; but 376 bunches 
being taken off green, only 803 were left to come to 
maturity. In 1880 the yield was 1,274 bunches—560 
taken off, and 714 left to mature. In 1883 the yield 
was 2,102 bunches; in 1884, 2,172 ; in 1885, 2,844 ; 
in 1886, 2,868 ; and in the present year it yielded 
2,548 bunches, 500 being left to mature. It now fills 
a glass house 270 ft. long, is growing as rapidly as 
ever, and is remarkably healthy looking. The stem— 
a little way above the ground before it sends out its 
branches—measures 1 ft. 10 ins. in circumference. It 
shoots out for 5 ft. or 6 ft. before it runs to branches. 
The only extra ‘ food ’ the soil now receives is old bones 
broken to about J in. It is now about 56 years since 
it was brought, as a young and healthy shoot, to 
Kinnell. It may be mentioned that the famous Black 
Hamburgh Vine at Hampton Court is less in size than 
this Kinnell Vine, the leading branches—according to 
a recent authority—being about 110 ft. long ; but its 
principal stem is 38 ins. in circumference. The story 
of the Vine, as told by the oldest inhabitant, is briefly 
this : There happened to be an English shooting 
tenant in. one of the MacNab residences, called Auch- 
lyne, in Glendochart. He was fond of sport, but at 
the same time had paid so much attention to horti¬ 
culture as to organise a glass house in the garden, in 
which this shoot of the Black Hamburgh brought from 
the south was planted. This sporting tenant having 
suddenly gone abroad, the healthy shoot was removed 
to Kinnell, near Killen, and planted there. It took 
root and flourished fairly w T ell. A genius of a gardener, 
named Eobertson, now took means to aid its growth. 
He had a substantial subsoil of leaf-mould brought 
from Finlarig, the burial-place of the Breadalbane 
Campbells, on the shores of Loch Tay. This soil he 
prepared in the usual way for use, and with his best 
gardening skill and experience, the roots were sunk in 
this compost. The first year after this treatment the 
result did not appear very satisfactory—a few scraggy 
Grapes were the total yield ; but immediately after¬ 
wards it began its remarkable growth and fruit-bearing 
until it has attained its present magnificent condition. 
It is worth adding that the fruit of this Vine is not 
sold or selfishly used in any way ; but, with com¬ 
mendable liberality, the Marchioness of Breadalbane 
sends, perhaps, a hundred bunches at a time of these 
luscious Grapes to the hospitals and infirmaries 
of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee.’’— Chambers' 
Journal, November. 
Zonal Pelargoniums in Winter. —A good 
batch of zonal Pelargoniums in full bloom at this 
season of the year when flowers are scarce are much 
appreciated ; in fact, one seems to value them more now 
than in summer, as the brilliant colours of their flowers 
are so effective at this dull time. Cuttings propagated 
last spring, and grown on for winter flowering, will 
now be rewarding the grower for the labour bestowed 
upon them during the summer, by helping to brighten 
up the conservatory with their beautiful and varied 
colours. The best place to grow them during the 
summer is in a cold frame, keeping the plants close to 
the glass. They should be pinched early in the season 
to make them bushy plants, and all flower-spikes kept 
off until about the second week of August. Six-inch 
pots are large enough to flower them in, and when 
they are full of roots the plants should be liberally fed. 
We have been feeding our plants this season with 
Standen’s Manure, which is very effective in producing 
fine foliage and strong flower-spikes. A few good 
winter-flowering varieties are Eureka, white ; Queen 
of Whites ; John Gibbon, crimson ; Lady Sheffield, 
pink ; Lady Bailey, rosy pink ; Polyphemus, bright 
scarlet, large white eye ; Euby, rosy scarlet; West 
Brighton Gem, bright scarlet, dwarf, and very free 
flowering ; Fanny Catlin, rosy salmon ; Mrs. Moore, 
white, scarlet eye; Madame Thibaut, semi-double 
pink, the flowers standing a long time in winter. A 
great many more might be named that would flower 
equally well in the winter if duly prepared during the 
summer.— J. Robertson, Covvdenknowes, Earlston. 
Pansies in November.— The persistency of 
Pansies from early spring till late in autumn, even in 
the rough and generally boisterous climate of Scotland, 
is a remarkable characteristic of this class of florists’ 
flowers. We have also seen them in flower at 
Christmas in a mild open winter. A box of flowers 
lately sent us by Mr. John Downie, Beechhill Xurseries, 
Murrayfield, Midlothian, contained a charming variety 
of bright-coloured blooms, which were large, round, and 
varying from 2 ins. to 3 ins. in diameter. The largest 
blooms are, however, not always the most desirable, as 
greater substance generally accompanies the rounded 
and compact flowers. The blooms were picked from a 
bed of seedlings, which would account for their great 
size and persistency in blooming. Besides Pansies 
proper there were a number of bedding kinds related 
to such fine varieties as Countess of Kintore and 
Holyrood. There are also white and yellow grounds, 
and numerous fancy arrangements of two, three, or 
more colours in the same flower. The large blotches 
on the three lower petals are very dark and conspicuous, 
almost black in some varieties, while the yellow kinds 
are very well defined. A remarkably striking flower 
was one with sulphur-coloured broad rounded petals, 
having beautiful violet-purple blotches on the three 
lower ones. 
Clubbing of Cauliflower. Considerable 
difference of opinion seems to prevail as to what causes 
clubbing in various members of the Brassica tribe ; but 
the probability is that it differs in various eases. When 
the roots are very much swollen, it would appear to be 
caused by the curious animal-like fungus, Plasmod- 
iophora Brassicee, one of the Myxomycetes. Having 
examined a root of Cauliflower that was very much 
affected, the tissues were greatly swollen and filled with; 
dense black or very much discoloured masses of material 
which, even under a low power, appeared to be masses 
of spores of a large size. The root had been pulled a 
week before examination, and by that time had begun 
to stink. A slice was put under the microscope in a 
drop of water, when the spore appeared of various 
shapes and dark in colour. In a short time they burst 
or melted away, when myriads of active shortly and 
roughly club-shaped bodies commenced to swarm about 
with great activity. This would seem to correspond 
with the zoospores that are developed from the spores 
of the fungus in question after it has gone into the re¬ 
productive stage. Whether it had been in a sporiferous 
condition when the Cauliflower was first pulled I cannot 
say, having had no time to examine it then, or whether 
the drying up and decay of the root had brought about 
that result. — Gardener. 
Berries of Guelder Rose.— Whoever has seen 
this native plant in a fruiting condition cannot but 
have admired the handsome appearance of a good-sized 
bush well laden with its brilliant scarlet berries. The 
sterile form, known in gardens as the Snowball Tree, 
bears no fruit, but owes its popularity to the fine 
appearance produced by all the flowers of the cyme 
developing similar to those ordinarily occupying the 
circumference, the latter of which are naturally sterile. 
This particular form or variety has ousted its less- 
favoured parent from the garden and shrubbery, and 
we consequently seldom enjoy the pleasure of seeing 
the plant in a fructifying condition, except in a wild 
state, where it grows unheeded by all except a scattered 
few and those who systematically collect it for sale. 
So fully are its merits recognised by the latter for this 
purpose, that the bushes are annually despoiled of their 
burdens long before the berries are properly ripened. 
The ripening process takes place gradually, and in the 
earlier stages the fruit is green on the shady side, 
changing to a bright red, with a pale or almost white 
spot, ultimately becoming of a brilliant shining sub- 
translucent scarlet, similar to the fruit of Crata?gus 
macrantha, but even of a more glistening colour. In 
this condition large quantities might have been seen 
recently in Covent Garden Market. Might not this 
be more frequently grown and utilised to better purpose 
than it is at present in parks, gardens and shrubberies ? 
A native plant boasting of such rare qualities should 
not be so neglected.— Taxus. 
The Granadilla. — Such is the popular name 
given to a species of Passion Flower that is largely 
cultivated in the tropics for its fruit, which grows to 
