232 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 13, 1890. 
--i-- 
The Gold-laced Polyanthus. 
I quite agree with “R. D.” that the gold-laced 
Polyanthus is a captivating little beauty, and in my 
opinion as beautiful and interesting as the Auricula. 
It is evident, however, that they are more difficult to 
produce good than Auriculas, and I may therefore ask, 
Is it the right policy of the National Auricula Society to 
curtail their prizes for Polyanthuses at the coming 
spring meeting, at a time when “ R. D.” and others are 
under the impression that they are coming to the front ? 
I well remember that early in the fifties they were very 
popular in the south of London, and good beds were to 
be seen in many gardens. I was foreman at that time 
at an establishment on Clapham Common, and it fell to 
my duty to raise 1,000 annually for spring bedding. 
In 1853 the old gardener died, and a new man was 
appointed, who was fairly astonished on seeing the beds 
of gold-laced Polyanthuses. The plants were just 
beginning to open their pips, and he, having an eye to 
business, had the best laced ones potted up, and at the 
South London Metropolitan Society gained a certificate 
for one, Prince of "Wales, which that good old florist, 
Mr. Keynes, of Salisbury, was so taken with that he 
purchased it. Unfortunately it was never increased, 
but died off the following summer. I have five nice 
beds of the same strain, having of late years paid some 
attention to fertilising the best laced flowers, and I 
hope to have some good laced ones next spring. They 
have to stand the various changes of the weather, 
therefore only the hardiest survive, and as they unfold 
their pips in spring, I hope to pot up the best to fertilise 
for seed saving. — Havenholme, Balham. 
The Newer Fancy Pansies. 
I HAVE recently read in the North British Agriculturist 
some remarks (taken from your columns) by Mr. 
"William Dean, of Birmingham, upon which, with your 
permission, I should like to offer a few observations. 
Being an ardent admirer of these charming flowers, I 
always read with interest anything I see concerning 
them, and it gives me great pleasure to see really good 
varieties described in glowing terms. But I am equally 
shocked when I see weeds that should never have been 
named or put into commerce, lauded up as something 
grand. Par too many of the latter class are sent out 
every year, and so hardly have many Pansy lovers been 
bitten in this way, that they have lost all confidence 
in traders’ descriptions of new varieties, and now wait 
until they can see for themselves what a new sort is like, 
or get more trustworthy information than the vendors 
give, before investing. 
Such remarks as those of Mr. Dean would have been 
of the greatest assistance to many amateurs had he 
described the varieties after growing them, instead of 
from flowers sent through the post. As it is, his 
conclusions aie somewhat misleading. However, he 
begins well. Maggie A. Scott and Robert Jamieson are 
both splendid flowers, having size, symmetry, and 
quality, and if at all well grown, are fit for the very 
best company. Lord Hamilton is also a grand flower, 
but is more difficult to grow, being very apt to run ; 
indeed, so much was this the case last season, that 
many growers did not get a bloom fit for competition. 
I fear his lordship wants staying power. Mrs. Maxwell 
is a very pretty pure white with intense violet blotches 
but the lower petal is nearly always so small and badly 
formed, as almost to totally disqualify it as an ex¬ 
hibition flower. 
I cannot at all agree in Mr. Dean’s opinion that 
Bonnie Annie Laurie should be in every collection, nor 
that Bella Coutts is an improved My Lady. I grew 
both of these last season and considered them perfectly 
worthless for competition." I can say ditto to nearly all 
the remarks of your correspondent on the other new 
varieties he mentions ; and 1 also think the sorts he 
recommends, with a few exceptions, first-class. But 
he omits to mention many of the very best varieties, 
both in commerce and to be sent out next spring ; of 
the former, Endymion, J. J. Ashton, Catherine Agnes, 
Tom Travis, Eveline Bruce, Arthur Folkarde, Archie 
Buchanan, James Alexander, and even Princess Beatrice 
can still be grown into first-class competition flowers. 
Among the latter are such splendid varieties as David 
Rennie, Miss M. J. Atkinson, May Hynd, Miss Jane 
Jamieson, Agnes Mable, Mrs. David Strachan, Mrs. 
David Allan, R. C. McFarlane and others, whose names 
I do not now call to mind. 
I have often thought that something ought to be 
done to restore public confidence in the descriptions 
given to new Pansies when sent out. The Rev. E. N. 
Pochin, writing to a friend of mine lately, suggested 
the formation of a Pansy club or society, for the 
purpose of determining what seedlings were worthy of 
being added to the list of named varieties, and granting 
certificates according to the relative merits of the 
seedlings to be sent out. This was to be done by a 
committee of judges appointed by the society, if such 
an idea could be successfully worked out it would give 
the public greater confidence in the value of certificates 
of merit, and really good things would not be so apt to 
get smothered amongst the mass of rubbish annually 
thrown at the public through the trade growers’ cata¬ 
logues.— Veritas. 
-***<«- 
WINTER BLOOMING ZONAL 
PELARGONIUMS. 
Not that there are varieties which bloom only in the 
winter, but a house full of these, of so many shades of 
colour, in bloom in “dreary dark November” and 
onward through the winter, is a sight worth seeing. 
There are not a great number of private gardens where 
a goodly sized house is devoted entirely to this plant, 
but in order to do them well they should have a house 
to themselves and be grown near the glass. 
Highbury, the residence of the Right Hon. Joseph 
Chamberlain, M.P. close to Birmingham, is a pretty, 
well-known place for good gardening and good collec¬ 
tions of Orchids and other plants, and it is necessary 
there to keep up very large supplies of flowers for 
cutting. A span-roof house is now full of “all a 
blowing, all a growing ” plants, a mass of rich colours 
from quite 400 plants in 48 and 32-sized pots chiefly, 
and will go on flowering for a long time, and are most 
valuable for conservatory decoration. I did not count 
the number of varieties, for they are numerous, but I 
jotted down the names of the following as being very 
fine and distinct, and sorts that amateurs may safely 
add to their collections, and will welcome them. They 
are Lord Chesterfield, bright rosy pink, shaded with 
lilac, and of fine form and good size flower ; Lady 
Chesterfield ; Guinevere, a fine white ; Triomphe de 
St. Amande, rich glowing pink, with large white centre ; 
Rev. J. H. Harris, light rosy carmine, extra fine ; 
L’lmmortelle, pale pinkish lilac blotched with rose, 
distinct and lovely ; Mrs. Barriff, a partially striped 
variety, ve,y bright, distinct and beautiful ; and John 
Bright, deep rich crimson, a very fine and distinct 
variety.— D. S. IT. 
-- 
THE CULTURE OF ONIONS. 
For a good number of years I have had to deal with 
kitchen-garden soil that is light in texture, and also of 
insufficient depth for the roots of plants that have to 
defend themselves against protracted drought, by 
striking well downwards. The difficulty of course 
becomes more formidable with certain crops when the 
quarters which they occupy are not too freely manured, 
and dug only one spit deep. In seasons of average 
rainfall and sunshine combined, which, unhappily, do 
not occur so often as we could wish, many crops can 
be got from light soils with comparatively little labour 
or anxiety. In 1885, for instance, we gathered one of 
the best crops of Onions, for ordinary use, I had 
seen for many previous years, from well-manured land 
dug only one spit deep, but I believe that such a result 
was promoted chiefly by favourable weather conditions, 
free and uninterrupted growth having been general 
among vegetables most of the season. 
According to notes of the weather taken in various 
districts of Scotland for the last twenty years there 
seems to be only two or three seasons in each decade 
in which we are favoured with anything like a propor¬ 
tionable balance of moisture and sunshine, the 
remaining years being about equally divided by 
seasons of extreme droughts and excessive rainfalls. 
In either of these emergencies deeply tilled land is 
one of our best resources, and is calculated to avert 
many failures which might otherwise occur. Land 
that has been merely dug for several consecutive years 
will, together with a manure-poisoned surface in many 
instances, give much trouble with the Onion maggot, 
more especially in dry hot seasons. I have therefore 
resorted to a system of regular trenching as a necessity, 
and have found that the extra labour is followed by an 
adequate reward in the bulk and quality of the crop.* 
As is well known, the most critical period for the 
attacks of the maggot is towards the end of June. Yet 
in the autumn of 1889, following one of the driest 
midsummers on record, I harvested a most satisfactory 
crop of Onions. These were sown between the lines of 
a plantation of Strawberries, which were planted 30 ins. 
apart, on a deeply trenched and heavily manured 
border. Again, this season, though it is said to have 
been bad for Onions all over the country, we have 
secured a heavy crop of good-sized bulbs from ground 
similarly dealt with. 
In process of trenching, the depth of which is not 
less than two spits, we are careful to keep the manure 
as near the surface as is practicable. On light soil 
manure should be applied liberally, and the shovelling 
of loose soil at the bottom of the trenches laid over it 
as each of these are being finished. Besides forming a 
good surface for operations at seed-time, this system 
presents two distinct advantages which enables the 
seedlings to fortify themselves against the inroads of 
the maggot. The first, and in some instances the 
primary object of trenching, is the layer of fresh soil 
brought to the surface ; the second being the ready 
access afforded the roots of reaching the manure. The 
usual firm treading of the ground is also one of the 
most important points in Onion culture, and should 
not be overlooked. 
Referring to varieties, one of our leading authorities 
on vegetable cultivation has remarked that quick¬ 
growing sorts should be selected for gardens where 
worming is more or less troublesome, and strongly 
recommends the Banbury as one of the best for this 
purpose. Besides this variety, our crop this season 
includes Bedfordshire Champion, James’s Keeping, and 
Cranston’s Excelsior, which are good keepers and other¬ 
wise worthy of cultivation. The Blood-red, though 
rejected by man) T growers, seems to be less liable to the 
maggot than most other varieties.— Ayrshire. 
—-->£<—- 
LILIUM LON GIFLORUM 
HARRISII. 
The accepted botanical name of this Lily is L. longi- 
florum eximium, but that by which it is best known in 
gardens and in the trade, is the heading of this note, 
or more often, perhaps, simply L. Harrisii. It is also 
called L. floribundum, and although a native of Japan 
and China, is extensively cultivated in the Bermudas 
for export to this and other countries. Hence we hear 
of it popularly spoken of as the Bermuda Easter Lily, 
just as if the Bermudas were its original home. The 
typical form bears only one or two flowers on a stem, 
but the splendid variety under notice generally bears a 
greater number of larger and finer flowers, which have 
a funnel-shaped tube, a wide spreading campanulate 
lamina, and are deliciously scented. The accompanying 
illustration, for which we are indebted to Messrs. J. 
Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, will give an idea of a bank of 
this favourite Lily. It is most useful for forcing 
purposes, and is grown in tens of thousands by most of 
the larger growers. Out-of-doors it also succeeds 
admirably for one year, but owing to the early growth 
which it makes, it is liable to get injured from frost in 
the open ground. 
-- 
AN ORCHID COLLECTOR ON 
HIS TRAVELS. 
Mr. Albert Milligan recently delivered in the Lecture 
Hall of the Harris Institute, Preston, a recital of his 
experiences of camp life amongst the South American 
Indians while collecting Orchids in the North Andes. 
The lecture was illustrated by eighty lime-light views 
from photographs taken on the spot, and an interesting 
collection of several hundred natural history specimens, 
native arms, and curiosities were on view in the 
laboratory of the Institute. In front of a screen was 
suspended a rough map of the route of Mr. Millican's 
American travels. The lecturer preceded the series of 
lime-light illustrations by some general observations, 
referring to the map in order to impress his hearers’ 
minds with a conception of the route taken. Mr. 
Millican was born in AYestmoreland ; he has travelled 
over half the world, and speaks French, German, and 
Spanish. He pointed to the town of Bogota on the 
map as the great centre of his travels in the Andes, in 
search of those flowers for which such large sums were 
paid some few years ago, and which grow there in such 
beauty and luxuriance. 
Orchids grow over three parts of the world, and 
there are some 4,000 species and varieties of them in cul¬ 
tivation, but Columbia, in South America, yields the 
most in quantity that can be found in any one given 
place. The lecturer, however, avoided entering into 
any of the names of Orchids, so as not to detract from 
the popular interest of his narrative. Bogota, he 
pointed out, was 7,000 miles from here, S,000 ft. above 
the sea-level, and had 40,000 inhabitants, at least 
15,000 of whom were as well dressed as English people. 
