July ‘ 25 , 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
749 
premier with a well-varied and brightly-coloured let; 
second, Mr. F. Hooper ; third, Mr. Douglas ; fourth, 
Mr. Catley ; fifth, Mr. Divers, Ivetton Hall. For 
twelve, Mr. E. Rowan came in first, Mr. Nutt 
second, Mr. C. Phillips third, Mr. Chaundy fourth, 
and Mr Headland fifth. 
The premier Carnation was Henry Canned, 
scarlet-flake, shown by Mr. Keen; and the 
premier Picotee, Madeline, a fine new heavy-edged 
rose shown by Mr. Turner. I'irst-class Certificates 
were awarded to Mr. Martin Smith for Carnation 
Niphetos, a pure white self of superb quality, and for 
Lady Gwendoline, a pale dull-red Carnation with a 
very fine petal; and to Mr. Turner for Dr. Hogg, a 
crimson bizarre, rich in colour, and a fine smooth 
petal. The Messrs. Veitch sent a fine collection of 
border-grown flowers; and Messrs. Laing and 
Mathers, Kelso, sent a superb lot of blooms of 
Germannia, and of the blush, pink, and Lady 
Middleton varieties of Souvenir de Malmaison. 
pressed at either end, and is produced in large 
bunches from the very base of the stem upwards. 
This variety crossed with Conference has given rise 
to a sort which is greatly improved in size. The 
fruit is globular, smooth, and slightly compressed at 
either end. In short, it is about the size of Ham 
Green Favourite, one of the parents of Conference. 
The trusses of fruit are more compact, and shorter 
than in the parents, and there is less danger therefore 
in their getting broken down. Conference is a small, 
globular, deep crimson-red fruit, and is suitable either 
for pot or open-air culture. 
Another fruit of a useful size is that obtained from 
Tennis Ball crossed with Invicta. The fruit is 
globular, of a dark red colour, and intermediate in 
size between the parents. Fruit of medium size is 
not only a necessity, but a demand of the day, and 
will continue to be so for all but private consumption 
at least. It is argued by some that the heavier the 
fruits weigh the better, but for market purposes 
spikes the other day — in some instances two on a 
plant and with three and four blooms on a spike, a 
sight that would delight the eye of any orchid lover. 
Another fine species that growers of specimens for 
exhibition should look after, is the very distinct 
C. cenanthum, the dark purple-brown pouch of which 
is its distinguishing characteristic. Good-sized 
specimens flower most freely and at a time when 
specimen flowering orchids are none too plentiful. 
In the Vanda house a number of fine varieties 
are in bloom, and indeed in all the orchid houses 
there is something or other to interest, though 
naturally not so much as a few weeks ago. In the 
stoves we noted a very fine batch of variegated 
Ficus elastica, a plant of which no grower seems 
to be able yet to get enough to meet the demand. The 
house of greenhouse Rhododendrons is very fine, 
the numerous shapely half specimens showing 
promise of a rich harvest of bloom in due season. 
In one of the stoves Mr. Williams called our 
Exhibition House of Spri-g Bulbs at the Holloway Nurseries. 
TOMATOS. 
Tomatos, as well as Gloxinias, come in for a good 
share of attention at Tower House. A batch of 
plants sown early in the year escaped the fogs which 
did so much damage to Tomatos and other plants in 
the metropolis and suburbs in the early spring months. 
The aim of Mr. Bones is to select varieties from 
seedlings raised from crosses between the finest 
sorts, and to preserve those which have finely-shaped 
and richly-coloured fruit, possessed of a free fruiting 
nature, and having fruits of a moderate size. When 
the fruits are very large there are few of them in a 
bunch, and this is a disadvantage from several points 
of view, The plants are all grown in ioin. pots, and 
have been stopped about feet in height. When 
we saw them in the last week of June, they were 
gifnply loaded with fruit along the whole length of 
flje stems, and the bulk of it was nearly ripe. 
1 The first selection made was a free fruiting sort, a 
seedling from Perfection, and which is now named 
Jnvicta. The fruit is of a large size, but still smaller 
than Perfection, smooth and similar in shape and 
polour ; it is relatively deeper, but somewhat corn- 
huge fruits are not in demand; in fact the voice of 
the public proclaims against them. Medium sized 
fruits divide more equitably when used upon the tables 
of the hotel or restaurant, and are more useful in 
every way, and ripen more equally and perfectly. 
Smooth fruits, rich in colour both externally and when 
cut, with a thick flesh, few seeds, and rich in flavour, 
are what is wanted by the British public. 
_ , ♦ , _ 
♦ 
THE HOLLOWAY 
NURSERIES. 
The Victoria and Paradise Nurseries of Messrs. B. 
S. Williams and Son are looking exceedingly well 
just now, and contain a number of things in flower 
which are of special interest. The Cypripedium 
house alone is worth a special visit to see Cypri¬ 
pedium Morganiae alone. This grandest of all the 
Cypripedes has got the reputation of being a shy 
bloomer, which experience proves it does not deserve. 
When the plants were being continually divided to 
make stock, they would not—could not—bloom ; but 
let them get some size, as numbers of them are here, 
and they flower freely enough. We counted a dozen 
attention to a really good novelty in stove plants, 
an Allamanda of arboreal habit. It is a garden 
hybrid, probably between A. neriifolia and Chelsoni 
and is to bear the name of Williamsii. It flowers 
most freely (lemon yellow) at the tips of the strong 
willow-like shoots, and will make handsome bush 
specimens without any training as required by the 
climbing species. 
The Croton house is a delightful mass of colour, 
the specimens of all sizes having coloured up in a 
way that we have never seen equalled here before, 
and not often anywhere else. Keeping the plants 
fully exposed near the glass, and the glass clean, 
seems to be the secret of the plants doing so well. 
The New-Holland house is itself again, after being 
converted in the spring into a very attractive 
exhibition house for Dutch and other bulbs, as shown 
in the accompanying illustration, kindly placed at our 
service by the Messrs. Williams. It was very fine 
when decked out with Hyacinths and Tulips—the 
best that can be grown—and is no less interesting 
now, with its specially fine examples of Araucaria 
excelsa, and numerous young specimens of Mus^ 
ensete, a plant not always obtainable. 
