792 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 11, 1888. 
FLORICULTURE. 
The Florists’ Laced Finks. 
The florists’ laced Pinks are most undeservedly and 
ungratefully neglected at the present time. My dear 
old friend, the late Samuel Cooper, of Timperley, a 
thorough good man and a most ardent florist, who died 
some years ago, was, unlike most florists and poets 
of his time, a very successful man in business. Up 
to the last days of his life he used to recount with great 
glee how he spent in Pinks the first entire sovereign 
that he ever possessed, walking nearly forty miles 
one fine Sunday, over fifty years ago, to look over a 
celebrated grower’s collection, and investing the said 
coin in these deliciously sweet and fascinating flowers. 
He always said that no day in his life—a long, active 
and useful one—gave him more pleasure to look back 
upon than this, which was to the end oi his life a big 
red-letter day. 
Standing beside a large well-bloomed bed of choice 
Pinks, now in their fullest beauty, in my own garden, 
I cannot but think of my good old friend, and admire 
his warm-hearted enthusiasm as a young florist when 
he laid out his capital in the purchase of Pinks. At 
that time, a palmy one for the flower, the Pink was, 
par excellence, the florists’ summer or July flower. 
Exhibitions for Pinks were common over the northern 
counties, both in great centres of industry and in very 
small villages and towns. The Ranunculus ranked 
next in estimation, and the Rose was creeping up 
slowly and contesting with the Pansy for the honour of 
third place. 
From about 1848 to 1855, at the great July shows 
at Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton, Bury, Bolton, and other 
places, the money given in prizes would be in about 
the following proportions Four-tenths for Pinks, 
three-tenths for Ranunculi, two-tenths for Roses, and 
one-tenth for Pansies. Since then full justice has been 
done to the glorious development of the Rose, and it 
may be just that the then last should be now first, 
but hardly just that the then first and second—the 
Pink and Persian Ranunculus (that perfect model of a 
double flower)—should be entirely ignored and left 
out in the cold. 
These remarks have been forced from me by the 
circumstance that, already possessing a fine collection 
of the best Pinks grown, I procured last spring, from 
a well-known firm of nurserymen, a dozen of their best 
laced florists’ Pinks, expressly stating that they must 
be finely laced, or they would be of no use. These, 
on trial, I find to be simply rubbish, with no redeem¬ 
ing quality about any one of them. The best of them 
would not have been allowed a chance of blooming 
twice in any Lancashire cottage-garden fifty years ago. 
I make not the least imputation on the firm from 
whom they came, they are too honourable and well 
known to attempt guile or deceit, but it is clear to me 
that they are not sufficiently informed as to the good 
laced Pinks now in existence, and it is no wonder that 
if the public buy and grow these wretched imposters— 
these thin electro-plated Brummagems for real silver, 
the Pink lies low in the flower-growers’ estimation. 
The varieties grown forty or fifty years ago are, I 
fear, mostly extinct; some of them may, perhaps, be 
lingering here and there in old-fashioned gardens, but 
it is very unlikely that many of the under-named 
beautiful old varieties will ever be seen on the ex¬ 
hibition table again. Among the purple-laced section 
the best kinds were, Jones s Huntsman (a variety 
which generally took the first prize), Faulkner’s Duke 
of St. Albans, Taylor’s Mango, Wild’s Albion, 
Whittaker’s Two to One, Bradshaw’s Greensides, Bow’s 
Suwarrow, and Black-eyed Susan. The best red-laced 
sorts were Lee’s Jcseph Sturge (generally took first 
prize), Etchell’s Susanna, Cook’s Joseph Hume, 
Tricket’s Adam Smith, Cant’s Criterion, Brundrett’s Sir 
William, Hill's Favourite, and Little Wonder. The 
best black and whites were Kay’s Mary, Gregson’s 
Lady Bold Haughton, Beauty of Home, Fairbrother’s 
Beauty of Blackburn, Virgin Queen, Baker’s Overall, 
and Snowball. 
We were then content with small flowers, but quality 
was essential. The Pinks grown in the south were 
larger, yet not so refined. Notwithstanding the loss 
of most, if not all, of the old varieties, there are now 
man y flood Pinks in cultivation. I have, at the present 
time, in bloom on my bed the following first-rate 
Varieties 
Red-laced. Mrs. Thurstan, Mrs. Dark, a charming 
Variety, which should be largely grown, being deliciously 
Clove-scented, large, free flowering and excellent; 
Brown’s Double Red, Harry Hooper, Emily, and 
Bertram. 
Purple-laced. —John Hodgkinson, Tom Sayers, 
Florence, Frank Simonite, and Boiard. 
Each and all of these I can strongly recommend to 
be grown ; and after blooming them, if the grower can 
tolerate the rubbish referred to he is no florist. To 
the thirteen varieties above named, if they can be 
obtained, add from the old list Huntsman, Mango, 
Greensides, Joseph Sturge, Mary, and Lady Bold 
Haughton, and he will have a collection to be envied, 
and one that will provide for him a perennial pleasure.— 
Samuel Barlow, StaJcehill House, Castleton, Manchester. 
[Mr. Barlow kindly sent us a box of blooms of the 
thirteen varieties which he names, and which more 
than deserve the words of praise he bestows upon them. 
It is greatly to be regretted that the public are not 
more often shown at exhibitions the difference between 
the recognised florists’ varieties and the rubbish too 
often sold.— Ed.] 
New Violas. 
From Messrs. Dobbie & Co., Rothesay, N.B., we have 
received some lovely bunches of new Violas, raised by 
that noted grower, Mr. Baxter, of Daldowie, and which 
will be sent out next spring. The colours in them¬ 
selves are exquisite, and they are blended in such a 
way as no artist’s brush can imitate. Improvement 
continues to be made in the regular and rounded out¬ 
line of the flower, which, ffom the florists’ point of 
view, is perfection—the goal towards which they 
desire to move with all flowers that they take in hand. 
Queen of Scots, an improvement on Countess of 
Kintore, is violet shaded with purple in the centre, 
and fading insensibly into a broad white border to each 
petal. An improvement on Duchess of Albany, named 
Hugh Ainslie, is several shades darker than the last, 
with a pale but seldom or never white margin. Sun¬ 
rise exhibits a new and desirable shade, consisting of 
an indescribable blending of violet, purple and red, 
while the orange-yellow eye in the centre gives expres¬ 
sion to the whole flower. In the way of Mearns is 
Lady Gertrude, but the centre is so intensified as to be 
almost black, and the upper petals are white faintly 
suffused with lilac. Gipsy Queen is not so rounded in 
outline as the others, but it is really a charming flower, 
of the palest lavender, and irregularly flaked with sky- 
blue and lilac. It is deliciously fragrant, though, like 
all other Violas, not powerful. Lucy Ashton, recently 
certificated, is white shaded with the faintest blue, 
with radiating blue lines from the base, and a broad 
rosy margin. The best of the margined type is Crown 
Jewel, of a rich velvety crimson, with a finely crisped 
white margin. 
■White Pink, Mrs. Sinkins. 
I AM afraid that, grown under any circumstances, this 
Pink has the fatal defect of splitting its calyx. I do 
not think that pot culture will remedy it. Many 
Pinks, unfortunately, split the calyx when expanding 
their blooms, and many Carnations also. I do not 
grow Mrs. Sinkins in pots ; but I have two or three 
seedlings from it of a promising character, but, owing 
to the wet weather, the present season’s bloom has not 
proved a fair test.— R. D. 
Fuchsia, Countess of Aberdeen. 
This is a new white variety with medium-sized, but 
extremely pretty flowers, having both the sepals, 
petals, and tube of the flower all coloured alike, a 
circumstance that is by no means of common occurrence. 
Most varieties of garden origin as well as botanical 
species are characterised by having the calyx and 
corolla of the same flower coloured differently. The 
plant is of close, sturdy, erect habit, and flowers very 
freely, even in a small state. It may be seen in Mr. 
B. S. 'Williams’ Nursery, Upper Holloway. 
--*$<-- 
VEGETABLE NOTES. 
The great contrast between the summer of 1887 and 
1888 is most marked in the vegetable department of 
the garden. Take Peas for instance : in this garden, 
varieties which last season only grew 3 ft. high, are at 
the present time 6 ft. high, and all the other sorts have 
grown in the same proportion. Another great draw¬ 
back is the fact that the pods do not fill, for although 
the Peas look large, the yield is very unsatisfactory. 
Potatos have grown much too long, the haulm of many 
kinds being 5 ft. in length, nor do the tubers swell as 
one could wish, and they are far from being dry when 
cooked. I regret to say that the disease has presented 
itself for more than ten days past, and in so virulent a 
form that a large breadth of Beauty of Hebron have 
lost almost all their leaves. It is feared by many that 
the effects of this will be seen in the tubers shortly ; 
even now the low price tells its own tale. I asked a 
firm about taking these Hebrons, and the highest offer 
I could get was £3 per ton. What a contrast with 
last year, when the same firm gave £8 per ton ! VTe are 
cutting off the haulm and planting green stuff, and 
leaving the Potatos in the ground to see if the price 
will go up. 
Celery appears to be very much inclined to bolt to 
seed, or at least some kinds. As I want a quantity of 
Celery in October—a thousand heads—I planted four 
sorts, three white varieties and Major Clark’s Solid Red, 
They were all sown at the same time, and more than 
half of the white sorts have bolted, while not more 
than two per cent, of the Red have done so. I shall be 
very slow to plant these white varieties early again. 
"What is the experience of your readers in this matter ? 
I have always grown red before.— Con. 
Veitch’s Early Forcing Cauliflower. 
If we can have good heads of this variety in less than 
three months, as “Alpha” states in your last issue, 
it must eventually become exceedingly popular for 
early work, as there is a difference of thirteen days 
between it and the Early Erfurt. The point I should 
like to know more about is the difference in climate 
between the garden of your correspondent and Chiswick. 
Gardeners are fully aware of the usually high character 
of the novelties sent out by the Chelsea firm ; but it is 
possible that were the Early Forcing, The Early 
Erfurt, and Snowball to be grown under the same con¬ 
ditions by “Alpha,” there would not be the great 
difference of a fortnight between them. Here, if we 
can cut the Erfurt type in four months from the time 
of sowing we are more than satisfied.— B. L., Yorkshire. 
Tomato Drumlanrig. 
This is a new variety Mr. R. Greenfield is growing this 
season at the Priory Gardens, at Warwick. It is a large- 
fruited sort, plump, symmetrical, and of perfect shape ; 
and apparently a free-bearer and setter. It runs close 
upon the Perfection type, and it is one that would tell 
upon the exhibition table. Near it was one labelled 
Sharpe’s New Tomato, an oval-shaped fruit that closely 
resembles Chiswick Red, and indeed looks like the 
same thing. — Visitor. 
-- 
HOYA BELLA. 
The smaller species of Hoya, such as H. stenophylla, 
H. Paxtoni, and that under notice, are very neat and 
ornamental subjects for baskets ; but the latter two are 
the freest flowering, and resemble each other consider¬ 
ably. H. bella has short, ovate, fleshy, dark green, 
opposite leaves ; while those of H. Paxtoni are much 
longer, drawn out to a point, and pale green. Both 
are rather slow-growing plants, and being natives of 
India, require—or, at least, thrive best in—the warm 
rather moist atmosphere of a stove, although they grow 
tolerably in a cooler and drier house. The flowers of 
H. bella are waxy shining white, with an elevated, 
five-rayed, purple crown or centre. They are sweet- 
scented, and freely produced, under favourable circum¬ 
stances, in umbellate trusses from the axils of the 
leaves. It is a suitable subject for a basket, as the 
slender stems droop around the plant gracefully. Good 
results are obtained by setting a piece of tree Fern 
stem upright in the pot, and pegging the shoots to it 
as they grow. Under these circumstances roots are 
produced from the shoots penetrating the Fern stem, 
which should therefore be kept moist. A succession of 
bloom is kept up for a long time, fresh trusses con¬ 
tinuing to be developed from the axils of the leaves as 
the young shoots grow. The old trusses should not be 
picked off unless desired for cut-flower purposes, as they 
occasionally produce flowers a second time from the 
apex. 
-- 
BRITISH TOBACCO CULTURE. 
The following report of the judges in the recent 
Tobacco prize competition has recently been printed 
and circulated by the London Chamber of Commerce. 
“In deciding upon the merits of the various 
specimens of British-grown Tobacco forwarded for 
competition, we have, as far as possible, adhered to the 
conditions laid down by the tobacco trade section of 
the Chamber, when the prize was offered. 
“ Briefly, their conditions required that each 
specimen submitted for the competition should consist 
of a not less quantity of tobacco, grown on a com¬ 
mercial scale, than 400 lbs. in weight. It was also 
stipulated that each sample should embrace an average 
of the crop grown, and that such particulars should be 
given by the growers as would assist the judges in 
making ‘ a report on the yet doubtful question as to 
