570 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 5, 1888. 
Hardening 
HJjscellany. 
Hybridising and Raising Narcissi from 
Seed. 
My attention has been drawn to this matter by seeing 
fine pods forming on pot plants of the Bicolor section, 
Ajax, Cernuus, and a variety of single Incomparabilis, 
such as Sir "Watkin, Leedsi, Stella, Albicans, &c., all 
put out in the borders to fully ripen and mature. I 
should be glad if any of your readers—say, Messrs. 
Barr, Burbidge, Hartland, Walker, of Whitton, or any 
other gentleman—would state their experience (if any) 
of hybridising or raising Narcissi from seed. Do the 
several sections freely cross ? Unfortunately, most of 
the Tazettas are gone before Poeticus appears, and the 
Trumpet Daffodils before either. Mr. Burbidge, in his 
excellent book on The Narcissus, does not speak of how 
to treat seed when obtained. Now that moist weather 
has set in, the difficulty of saving the flower-stems from 
slugs until the seeds ripen will be increased ; they 
crawl any distance to them. — IV. J. Murphy, Clonmel. 
The R. H. S. Associateships. 
When the pro’s and con’s of this question are discussed 
by such able pens as those of Mr. Smee and Mr. G. F. 
Wilson on the one part, and “A. D.” and Mr. D. T. 
Fish on the other, perhaps it may seem unnecessary to 
say more on the subject, but though an outsider as 
regards the affairs of the society, I am a gardener, and 
as such take an interest in these matters, and I hope to 
see the society firmly established on such a basis as to 
make it popular with all parties concerned, for the 
well-being of the craft generally, and for raising the 
standard and advancing the science and practice of 
horticulture. I notice in your columns that “ A. D.” 
writes very strongly against the proposed Associateships, 
or, at least, the benefits they confer ; while Mr. A. H. 
Smee, on the other hand, urges their claim, and justly 
hopes to see the title a necessary adj unct to prove the 
hand fides of the gardener who would take the charge 
and management of a garden establishment. Well, in 
the first place, the proposed half-guinea is not such a 
formidable barrier but that it may easily be got over by 
any gardener in ordinary circumstances, who has an 
innate love for his profession, but I can well understand 
the objections made being on principle. Mr. Smee, I 
notice, hopes to see the Associateship become the gar¬ 
deners’ guild, which should be worth at least £5 a year 
to the possessor. Yes, so it should, but the question is, 
would the “good man and true ” Associate stand any 
better chance of meeting with an engagement than the 
non-Associate. and would he always find that such 
credentials were appreciated by employers, and be held 
in their proper light and esteem ? I am afraid he would 
soon find such discriminating possessors of gardens as 
the owner of “My Garden.” It is a saying, “there’s 
nothing like plenty of cheek,” and that is just where 
the men that can “ talk a dog’s hind leg off”—as Mr. 
Smee so aptly puts it—too often carry the palm. Then 
again, how often do we find that the individual worthy 
of being a so-called Associate has any time on his hands 
to avail himself of the benefits such a certificate would 
allow ? The “ good man and true ” has often to work 
early and late to keep pace with the requirements of his 
establishment, for in these days employers do not usually 
keep more dogs than can bark. Of course the Associate- 
ship would be more beneficial to suburban gardeners 
than it would be to their country brethren, as train fare 
would be a serious item to the latter if they often 
attended, even if they had the opportunity to do so. 
The quiet plodding stay-at-home gardener is the man 
for many situations, though he may not be looked upon 
as a genius by his contemporaries; but we have known 
instances of those who having a horse and trap kept for 
their use, have eventually found that it has greatly 
contributed to drive them from their berths.— 
Pathfinder. 
Peach Culture. 
Peaches that were started in December will now have 
passed their stoning period, therefore a higher tem¬ 
perature will be required to bring them to perfection. 
If the outside border has been protected during the 
winter months, the material used for that purpose may 
now be removed with safety, and the border carefully 
forked over, care being taken not to go deep enough to 
disturb any roots that may be near the surface. The 
inside border should now receive a good mulching with 
cow-manure, afterwards giving a thorough watering, 
which will assist the swelling of the fruit considerably. 
The trees should now be carefully gone over, and all 
superfluous shoots removed. Avoid the crowding 
system which is too often practised, and which only 
leads to weakly and ultimately unripened growth. 
Two shoots will be sufficient to leave—one at the 
extremity to convey the sap up to and past the fruit, 
the other at the base for next year’s fruiting. These 
should be carefully laid in their places on the under¬ 
side of the trellis, but must not be tied so tightly as to 
injure the young shoots. The fruits may now be 
finally thinned, leaving one to about every square foot 
of trellis, provided the tree is in robust health. In 
this operation remove first all the fruits from the under¬ 
side, and those that are badly placed, leaving only 
those that can be exposed to the sun’s rays. The 
temperature should not be allowed to fall below 65° at 
night, with a rise of 5° during the day, and 10° with 
sun-heat, when air should be carefully admitted, and 
increased as the day advances. Let the day temperature 
range from 80° to 85° with solar heat, keeping the 
paths and border well damped during the day, but not 
so as to create a stagnant or saturated atmosphere. 
The same rules apply to the closing as well as the 
opening of the house—that is, it should be done by 
degrees. It may be done with safety when the tem¬ 
perature of the house falls to 78° or 80°, when the trees 
should receive a thorough syringing, which will dis¬ 
lodge and at the same time prevent the attacks of 
aphides, to which the Peach is so liable. Syringing 
should be discontinued when the fruits begin to colour, 
and a cooler and drier atmosphere maintained, which 
gives them a higher flavour, as well as adding con¬ 
siderably to their appearance, which is the main feature 
in Peach culture.— P. C. 
Cytisus. 
Among the numerous classes of plants for winter 
and spring decoration, there are few which do 
more valuable service in the show house and for cut 
flowers than Cytisus. The four or five kinds which are 
usually used for the purpose indicated are each, in their 
own way, good free growers, especially for cutting 
purposes, and the dwarf kinds bloom long and freely. 
They can be had in flower from autumn to summer, as 
by forcing on the growth early in the season—the 
present being a most suitable time—the plants complete 
and mature their flowering wood in time to have a long 
rest in autumn, when they are turned out of doors in 
full sun. They are, by gentle heat, easily excited into 
flower, say, in November, and the golden racemes are 
produced in continuous succession till May. Good 
sandy loam suits them well, and root action may be 
aided with applications of clear soot-water. Other 
kinds of liquid-manure also benefit them materially 
when in full growth. They are better managed when 
the pots are filled with roots, but not allowed to starve. 
Good top-dressings are very helpful after flowering 
begins. As plants for training up rafters, especially 
when planted out in borders in the glass structures, 
they are very charming when allowed to hang. Annual 
cutting in and thinning of the wood is nearly all they 
require when established. They are valuable subjects 
in cold districts, not being so dependent on sun as 
many kinds. When not required for early flowering— 
say, after the new year—they can be planted out in a 
south border, keeping the balls intact, and making the 
soil thoroughly firm about the roots. They can then 
be lifted in autumn and potted, without giving a check 
to growth. We have seen a Scotch amateur grow 
Cytisus in the open ground all the year round, but the 
flowering of them was not a success, even in the 
sheltered quarters of his garden.— Caledonian. 
Select Forms of Pteris. 
Many beautiful, distinct, and new varieties of the 
more useful garden and market Ferns are continually 
cropping up amongst the thousands that are annually 
raised from spores in the nursery of Mr. Henry B. May, 
Dyson’s Lane, Upper Edmonton. Of these we should 
mention P. serrulata compacta, the dwarf and compact 
arching habit of which leaves nothing to be desired as 
a decorative plant. The fronds and pinnae are beauti¬ 
fully tasselled or crested. P. cretica nobilis is more 
erect than the former, with bold and massive crests at 
the apex of the frond and primary branches. P. cretica 
Mayi is a low bushy plant of great beauty when well 
grown. The pinnae are tasselled, but to this is added 
a broad silvery band along the centre of each segment, 
giving the whole a light and elegant appearance. Some 
changes have also been effected in Pteris tremula, 
resulting in a variety with long-tailed undulating 
segments of a deep green. The large fronds have a 
massive and crisped appearance. A more interesting 
form is that named P. t. grandiceps, the fronds of 
which are furnished with a large tassel at the apex, as 
the varietal name implies, and the pinnules are also 
crested, giving the whole plant a very distinct appear¬ 
ance. All of the preceding have been honoured with 
First Class Certificates. 
Adiantums at Upper Edmonton. 
Of all the forms of A. Ghiesbreghtii—popularly known 
as A. scutum—the best of recent productions is un¬ 
doubtedly that named A. Reginae, and which was 
recently raised in the nursery of Mr. H. B. May at 
Upper Edmonton. It is considerably taller in stature 
than A. Yictoriae, and the fronds are more spreading 
and graceful, while, at the same time, the pinnules, 
which are obliquely triangular and obtuse, are of great 
breadth, giving the plant a somewhat massive appear¬ 
ance. It was deservedly awarded a First Class Certi¬ 
ficate recently ; and the same honour might have been 
conferred on A. scutum roseum, which is acknowledged 
generally to be extremely graceful and attractive, with 
the pinnules of the young fronds of a lively deep rose. 
The young leaves of A. macrophyllum are also equally 
beautiful, although more massive and less graceful. 
A. Weigandi is characterised by the pinnules being 
stalkless or almost so, and decurrent on the rachis ; 
and A. Pacottei, another garden form, proves by its 
popularity how useful a Fern it is for cutting purposes 
and button-hole work. These are hut a few of the 
choicer and less common kinds, which should also 
include A. rhodophvllum and A. Baiperi, an extremely 
vigorous and beautiful form of A. Capillus-Yeneris, 
said to be synonymous with A. Mariesi. 
A Silver-leaved Hawthorn. 
Amongst the trees at Devonhurst, constituting the 
remains of the arboretum originally forming part of the 
gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, at Chiswick, 
is a Thorn whose leaves, when they first expand, seem 
almost destitute of chlorophyll, inasmuch as they are 
wholly of a silvery grey colour, with the exception of 
the principal veins, which, although green, are slender 
and inconspicuous. The beauty of the tree is not, 
however, very durable, as the foliage assumes a green 
tint as the summer advances. As a shrubbery plant in 
spring, however, it is a conspicuous object when the 
growth is young and the leaves expanding. The 
variety seems to approach that named Crataegus oxya- 
cantha foliis argenteis, the leaves of which are described 
as being variegated with white, while in this case they 
are almost uniformly silvery grey or white. 
Rhododendron, Lady Alice Fitzwilliam. 
"Whatever may be the' parents of this fine garden 
variety, there can be little doubt but that R. formosum, 
generally known in gardens under the name of R. 
Gibsoni, is one of them. The leaves are small and 
leathery, just of that size which we should expect 
to see on a compact-growing greenhouse subject; and 
in this case the branches admit of being trained or tied 
in, so as to render the plant compact. We saw it in 
this condition in Messrs. John Laing & Sons’ nursery 
at Forest Hill. The large openly bell-shaped flowers 
are pure white, with the exception of a pale yellow 
blotch at the base of the upper segments of the corolla 
as in R. formosum, and on well-flowered plants serve 
almost to hide the foliage, so great is the expanse of 
the few flowered trusses terminating the stem. As the 
temperature rises, so does the fragrance of the flowers 
increase. 
Olivia, Mrs. Laing. 
In a large collection of numerous named varieties of 
Olivia miniata scattered through the houses of Messrs. 
J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, the above-mentioned, 
which was illustrated in our number for March 7, 1885, 
stands out prominently, both with regard to the size of 
the flowers, their colour and number. Twenty flowers 
are borne on a strong upright scape that requires no 
further support than that afforded by its own great 
leathery evergreen leaves, which are arranged in a 
distichous manner—that is to say, in two opposite series. 
Contrary to the usual rule, the three inner segments 
of the perianth are broad and much imbricated, while 
the whole flower so widens out that there is scarcely 
any tube. The throat is yellow and pure white, while 
the upper part of the segments is deep orange-scarlet. 
The general features of this fine variety are the great 
vigour of the plant, the number of flowers and their 
expansion. 
