August 22, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
815 
Hew Fruits. 
Cucumber Matchless. —Twelve samples of this 
Cucumber were shown at the last meeting of the 
Fruit Committee, by Mr. S. Mortimer, Swiss 
Nursery,Rowledge, Farnham, Surrey, when a First- 
class certificate was awarded it. Each fruit was 
about 16 ins. to iS ins. long, cylindrical and only 
slightly tapered at either end. The skin was of a 
rich dark green and almost smooth, the prickly 
points being few and scattered. 
Melon Meritorious.— This is said to be a hybrid 
between Castle Gardens and Flero of Lockinge. 
The fruit is globular and of large size with a pale 
yellow surface closely netted with raised grey lines. 
The flesh is scarlet and of remarkable thickness, but 
a considerable amount attaches to the rind and 
evidently never softens. The greater thickness is 
however pulpy, sweet and palatable. A fruit was 
shown on the same day as the above, by Mr. C. Ross, 
The Gardens, Welford Park, Newbury, when an 
Award of Merit was accorded it. 
Plum St. Etienne. —Notwithstanding the late¬ 
ness of the season, the fruits of this Plum are now 
ripe. They are of medium size and globose or 
slightly oblong, clear yellow, except on the sunny 
side, where they are of a golden yellow. They are 
slightly acid but pleasant, and would evidently be 
very suitable for preserving or in tarts, stewed or 
otherwise cooked. Altogether it may be described as 
pretty. A dish of it was brought up from the gardens 
of the Royal Horticultural Society at Chiswick, 
when it received an Award of Merit, 
Sutton’s Scarlet-fleshed Melon.— A i. This 
is the best scarlet-fleshed Melon I have ever 
met with. It was certificated by the Fruit Com¬ 
mittee of the Royal Horticultural Society under the 
name of Advance, and it has also been shown under 
the name of Barkham’s Seedling. I had the pleasure 
of calling on Mr. James Barkham the other day, 
when in the Isle of Wight, and he showed me two 
unheated, six light pits devoted to its culture, and 
which when the crop is ripened off will have given 
him ii2 fine fruits, It is a robust grower and very 
prolific; a cross between Scarlet Invincible and 
High Cross hybrid. The fruit is large, perfectly 
spherical, with a pale skin and beautifully netted; 
the flesh is of a deep, rich scarlet colour, and 
delicious flavour. I have tasted a good many Melons 
within the last few weeks at flower shows and in 
private gardens, but A i, is by far the best flavoured 
and most handsome one I have come across this 
season.— Rusticus. 
THE NEW YORK 
LETTUCE. 
After learning from your columns that a sample of 
this Lettuce had been sent to you from Knebworth 
and which was duly reported upon in The Gar¬ 
dening World, vol. v., p. 756, I determined, when 
the proper time came, to give the New York a trial; 
consequently have grown the variety for the last two 
summers, and can emphatically corroborate every 
word which your correspondents have said in its 
favour. A question of mine at the time as to whether 
the sample submitted had not undergone some 
special treatment to bring it up to such colossal pro¬ 
portions elicited a reply from Mr. Kipling, to the 
effect that no special treatment had been given, 
merely ordinary cultivation. 
. This observation led me to think that perhaps a 
little extra good treatment would lead to extra¬ 
ordinary results, and this season I have not been 
disappointed, for on the 6th of the present month, I 
cut a specimen nearly reaching the reported 
American record. My specimen measured 22 ins. 
in diameter, and 68 ins., or nearly two yards in cir¬ 
cumference. The heart, or edible portion, was over 
10 ins, across, and the total weight when cut at the 
ground level, undressed, was 6 lbs. 70ZS. Unlike 
“All the Year Round," the seed of New York is 
white, and when in the seedling stage of growth it 
resembles a Cos, and having such strong midribs, 
and erect oblong leaves, the plants could easily be 
mistaken for the former, but as the leaves become 
older they assume broader proportions. 
All who have seen the New York here this summer 
have declared that they thought they were cabbages 
at first sight. In my opinion this American intro¬ 
duction possesses every essential qualification for a 
main cropping and exhibition variety,— B , Lockwood, 
LiiUllcy, West Yorkshire, August 17, 
BATTERSEA PARK. 
The carpet and other bedding in the sub-tropical 
garden at Battersea Park is much after the style of 
that of former years, but has hitherto suffered to 
some extent by the heavy rains that have prevailed 
for some time past ; and the late spring and com¬ 
paratively cold summer have retarded it. The 
autumn months may yet make amends for it and 
enable the flowering plants to make a good display 
of bloom. One of the carpet beds, however, is 
striking and novel in its way. It is circular and 
has six large, elevated, lozenge-shaped mounds 
regularly arranged round the centre, with six others 
outside and alternating with them, while there are 
twelve smaller squares also elevated and alternating 
with the others. A plant of Dracaena congesta 
occupies the centre on the ground level. Three of 
the inner rhomboid figures have their inner ends 
planted with Mesembryanthemum cordifolium 
variegatum, and the outer ends with Sedum glau- 
cum with a centre of Chamaepeuce [diacantha and 
some dot plants of Sempervivum tabulaeforme. 
The other three have their inner ends planted with 
Alternanthera amcena and the outer with A. parony- 
choides major. The next six are planted with 
Sagina pilifera aurea, quartered with Cotyledon 
secunda glauca, and having a plant of C. metallica 
in the centre of each quarter. The twelve outer 
mounds are flatly pyramidal and planted with Sedum 
glaucum, quartered with the same plants as the 
larger six inside them. Then follows a broad 
irregular or indented band of Alternanthera amcena 
with dot plants of Cotyledon metallica, C. clavifolia, 
C. pulverulenta, Aloe mitrasformis, &c. A line of 
Golden Feather and another of Antennaria tomentosa 
complete the edging. As a whole the bed proves 
very attractive to the visitors. 
The coffin-shaped beds are, as usual, very neatly 
planted. The circular bed betw.een the two oblong 
ones is planted with Alternanthera amcena in the 
form of a Maltese cross, and the ends of the cross 
consist of Mesembryanthemum. The groundwork 
of the figure consists of Sedum glaucum, and there 
is a triple edging. The bed on either side of this 
has a conspicuous scroll work of Alternanthera 
amoena, edged with a single line of A. versicolor; 
this is followed by a line of small plants of Cotyle¬ 
don secunda glauca, and another slender line of 
Alt ernanthera versicolor. After this comes a band 
of Mentha Pulegium gibraltarica, outside of which 
comes Kleinia repens, winding almost from the 
margin of the bed to the centres of the figures which 
are occupied with Mesembryanthemum. Then comes 
an outer ground work of Sedum glaucum, with 
patches of Alternanthera inserted at the angles. A 
triple edging surrounds the whole. Near these beds 
is an oblong bed of bronzy-red leaved Cannas in fine 
condition. Several other carpet beds are scattered 
about the grounds, but neither of them are so 
interesting to lovers of this style of bedding as those 
just mentioned. On the north side of the subtropical 
garden is some neat scroll work, done chiefly with 
Alternantheras and other low plants suitable for the 
purpose. 
Of the taller growing and fine foliaged plants there 
are numerous beds. A large one in the angle 
between two walks is planted with tall standard 
specimens of Datura Knightii, well furnished with 
flower buds when we saw it. The undergrowth con¬ 
sists of single striped Petunias, Nicotiana affinis, and 
Atriplex hortensis, terminating in tufts of red foliage. 
A large oblong bed is occupied with the broad¬ 
leaved Polymnia grandis, intermixed with dark 
flowered Heliotropes and Fuchsia Golden Fleece all 
standing clear of one another, and surrounded as 
usual with a triple edging. Another bold bed con¬ 
sists of Ficus elastica, 4 ft. to 8 ft. high, intermixed 
with Eucalyptus globulus, 3 ft. high, on a ground¬ 
work of Coleus refulgeus and Lantanas, surrounded 
with four lines of edging. Rather striking in its way 
is a bed of a crimson-leaved Coleus, with a varie¬ 
gated American Agave in the centre and five green 
ones around it. Dwarf plants of Pelargonium 
Crystal Palace Gem are planted around the Agaves 
so that the latter appear as if sunk in holes amongst 
the Coleus. Single stemmed plants of the broad- 
leaved Abutilon brasiliense on a ground-work of 
Alyssum maritimum variegatum and Lobelias, also 
has an attraction of its own. A pretty and light bed 
is planted with Abutilon Thompsoni and Eucalyptus 
globulus, shout a feet high on a ground-work of 
Cpleug rsiulgens jvith black foliage, and Lantanas, 
The Palm, Fern, and Cycas grove is occupied with 
well furnished plants this year. Amongst them are 
good samples of Encephalartos villosus, E. horridus, 
Cycas revoluta, Areca lutescens, ITowea Forsteriana, 
Asplenium Nidus, Sanseviera Zeylanica, the Stag’s 
Horn Fern and Dicksonia antarctica having its 
stems intertwined -with Vitis antarctica. In the 
alpine garden is a large white mound of Antennaria 
tomentosa in the background. Something of this 
sort might be attempted in private gardens using 
flowering plants as well as those grown for the sake 
of foliage only. For instance we might have mounds 
of Aubrietia deltoides, or even bulbs, such as Crocuses, 
and Chionodoxa Luciliae in spring, and dwarf 
Campanulas and other subjects during summer. 
The fore part of the garden in the park, usually 
planted with succulents, is jthis year occupied with 
flowering plants, such as Lilium auratum, L. cana- 
dense, L. longiflorum, Tuberous Begonias. Lobelia 
splendens Victorias, Alonsoa Warscewiczii and 
others. Several subjects are also interspersed 
amongst them for the sake of their foliage, including 
the New Zealand Flax, Dracaena congesta, D. aus¬ 
tralis, Thalictrum adiantifolium, and others inter¬ 
mixed in an informal way. A border along the front 
is covered with a neat carpet of Leptinella dioica, 
which requires no attention in the way of clipping 
nor mowing like grass in order to keep it low. The 
finely-lobed leaves hug the ground in a pleasing way 
and form an excellent substitute for grass. 
_ , ♦ , 
GLOXINIA FLORAL GEM. 
There seems no limit to the arrangement of colour 
which may take place in Gloxinia flowers, and now 
that the strains are so varied it will be the duty of 
raisers to secure regularly funnel-shaped flowers, 
and a regular and beautiful arrangement of distinct 
colours. The variety under notice has slightly 
nodding funnel-shape flowers, with seven segments 
shaped like a cheese-cutter or garden edging iron, 
and which greatly overlap one another. The tube is 
pure white, with exception of some faint purple dots 
or markings near the base internally. The segments 
are wavy at the margins and bright crimson, lightly 
suffused with rosy-purple round the margin of the 
crimson colour, especially at the base, where a wavy 
line of purple separates the white of the tube and 
the crimson of the lamina. The edges of the seg¬ 
ments are pure white, thus giving the flower as a 
whole a very lively appearance, reminding us of 
a regal Pelargonium of the Madame Thibaut type. 
The peculiar shape of the segments favours the 
overlapping of the same, and wherever such shape 
occurs we generally find a greater number of seg¬ 
ments than the primitive number five. The same 
thing occurs in the highly-improved forms of the 
Chinese Primula. The Gloxinia just described was 
raised at Devonhurst, Chiswick. 
Early Savoys. 
A collection of Savoys may be seen in the Trial 
Grounds of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chiswick. 
There is a great difference in the earliness of the 
varieties. An unnamed sort has been fit for use for 
some time past, and compared with the others there 
can be no question that it is the earliest. The head 
is conical, the outer leaves are coarsely wrinkled, 
and of a light green compared with Savoys generally. 
In fact the plant appears half way between a Savoy 
and a Cabbage, whatever may have been its origin ; 
and speaking of it as a Savoy it is certainly an early 
one. Next in point of earliness is another sort 
named Early Diana. It is of dwarf, spreading 
habit, and the much wrinkled leaves are of a deep, 
glaucous green. The heads are round or slightly 
conical, and not much more than half the size of 
those of the unnamed sort, but they are nevertheless 
fit for use, and would apparently keep good for. a 
long time to come. The unnamed sort appears more 
tender, and should evidently be used as soon as the 
heads attain their proper firmness or hardness. The 
Early Ulm is another dwarf habited variety and a 
very old one that is likely to find a place amongst 
collections of winter greens for many years to come. 
It is rather later than Early Diana, but will never¬ 
theless be fit for use in a week or two. The leaves 
are of a very dark glaucous green and much wrinkled. 
The heads are of moderate.size and keep ag well gs 
most Savoys in winter, 
