March 7, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
427 
do with framing the schedule, he no doubt knew what 
was in his own mind, but I think the assistant secretary 
more correctly conveyed the impression produced in the 
minds of outsiders, who are not florists in the sense in 
which Mr. Harry Turner is one. If an exhibitor were 
to stage six bunches of border Pinks destitute of lacing, 
he would undoubtedly conform to the letter of the 
schedule. But it would seem we have to deal with what 
is intended, and not what is plainly expressed.— R. D. 
The Gold-laced Polyanthus. 
My friend “R. D.,” in his remarks on the above 
(p. 406), rather infers that I am the only one who feels 
that another weapon has been raised to cut down one 
of those florists’ pets which in the days of our forefathers 
were cultivated in the highest state of perfection, and 
cherished with every degree of the purest kind of love. 
If he will refer to the remarks of “Ravenholme” 
(p. 232), and to the previous writer, he will see that I 
merely support the views of others, He says: ‘ 1 Driven 
to desperation, I was daring enough 
to move that the money for six 
and three gold-laced Polyanthuses 
should be reduced, and the money 
given in the classes for ‘ fancy 1 
Polyanthuses and Primroses.” Now, 
I do not wish to be too hard upon 
my very old and esteemed friend 
but the proposition he made for 
such alteration seems to me to 
possess a tint of that old fable, 
“ The Dog in the Manger.” There 
are to my view two important 
features in connection with this 
proposition. 
First, the proposer has never 
succeeded in the cultivation of the 
“show” gold-laced Polyanthuses, 
whilst he has flourished in what 
he terms the “fancy” varieties 
and Primroses. Secondly, he is 
not, I fear, the enthusiastic florist 
he has hitherto been considered, 
and the course he has taken in the 
present case offers a suggestion as to 
whether he can fairly be termed a 
florist of the most refined type. If 
he is not, it is easy to conceive why 
he so strongly clings to the fancy 
varieties, and explains the following 
remarks he makes, viz., “The com¬ 
pany who visit the show gather in 
front of these plants, and are enthu¬ 
siastic in praise of their beauty, 
whilst they pass by the ‘ gold-laced ’ 
varieties with their inevitable same¬ 
ness as unworthy of notice.” 
What would have been the ex¬ 
clamation, I will ask, had there been 
staged beside his fancies three well- 
grown plants of George the IV., 
Cheshire Favourite, and Barlow’s L- 
Sunrise, each with a single truss 
containing twelve pips each, with 
their circular yellow eyes, glorious 
ground colours, and refined lacing ? 
I can imagine the visitors crushing 
through a crowd to get a glimpse 
of them, and wondering to themselves how it 
was that Nature had painted them so exquisitely 
beautiful, whilst those around them had apparently 
been neglected, except in size and variety ! I have 
seen the fancy Polyanthuses and Primroses exhibited 
at Manchester by Mr. Barlow and others, in great 
variety, and for my friend’s future guidance nothing 
that he can say or suggest in favour of them would 
now induce me to admire them except as border flowers. 
I would prefer devoting the whole of my love to one 
dear little “Lancer,” if my choice were left to the 
latter and a hundred of my friend’s best selection. 
Once more I will venture to assert that the “gold- 
laced show ” Polyanthuses may be satisfactorily grown 
in the neighbourhood of London, as in years gone by, if 
their nature of growth is thoroughly understood and 
practised; but the shelf of a cool greenhouse is certainly 
not the situation which Nature would provide for them. 
James Thurstan, Finsbury House, Richmond Road, 
Cardiff. -*»$<-•- 
THE OLD MAN DENDROBE. 
The specific name of Dendrobium senile and the 
popular name suggest themselves at once upon seeing 
this curious Orchid, which was first introduced to this 
with Hyacinths, Violets, and other common flowers. 
The bold character and lasting nature of the blooms 
of the Tenby Daffodil, and perhaps because the 
bulbs are scarcer, would account for the difference 
in value. The segments are short, broad, stiff, and 
spreading horizontally, while the corona is also short, 
of good texture, with a wide spreading mouth, and 
several shades darker in colour. This firmness of 
texture makes it a good market flower, and not only 
does it force readily and well, but it comes into flower 
early in the open ground. N. P-n. pallidus preecox also 
flowers very early in the open ground, and is varied in 
colour, but the flowers are thin in texture. 
-- 
MR. W. G-. HEAD. 
The opening on Tuesday of the horticultural exhibition 
at the Crystal Palace affords a favourable opportunity 
for including in our columns this week, a portrait of 
the worthy chief of the Palace Company’s garden staff 
and superintendent of its flower shows, and which 
will, we doubt not, be acceptable 
to our readers, among whom are 
numbered many of Mr. Head’s 
personal friends and gardening 
acquaintances. Since Mr. Thomson’s 
retirement from the superintendence 
of the beautiful garden at Sydenham 
some ten or eleven years ago, Mr. 
Head, with a very small staff for 
so large an area of dressed grounds, 
has been singularly successful in 
his efforts to keep the gardening at 
the Palace up to a good standard, 
and his able management of the 
flower shows is attested by his 
popularity amongst exhibitors. 
Whether the amount spent on 
the maintenance of the Palace 
gardens and pleasure grounds be 
large or small, a good man is 
wanted in the position of chief, 
and Mr. Head has proved himself 
quite equal to the demands made 
upon him. But then he comes 
of a good gardening stock, and had 
had wide experience before he 
entered the Palace Company’s 
employment. He was born in the 
Worthing Nursery, where his 
grandfather some sixty years ago 
erected the first glasshouse in the 
district for Grape growing. At 
that time glass was subject to a 
heavy duty, and the house in 
question was constructed with 
heavy sash bars, and glazed with 
odds and ends from a local work¬ 
shop. What a contrast between 
sixty years ago and to-day—the 
one small house then, and the acres 
of glass now to be seen in the 
same pleasant south coast town ! 
In 1853 Mr. Head as a young 
man was sent to Arundel Castle, 
under Mr. McEwan (afterwards 
superintendent at Chiswick), and 
in 1856 he followed Mr. Barron 
(who subsequently became and still 
is the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden superintend¬ 
ent), at Shrubland Park, Suffolk. In 1857 Mr. McEwan 
sent him to Mr. J. McIntosh, at Drumlanrig Castle, as 
foreman of the glass "department, and after staying 
there four years became gardener at Castle Dykes, 
Dumfries, where he put up a lot of new glass. On 
account of ill health he had subsequently to return to 
the south of England, and in the spring of 1863 tock 
a foreman’s place at Abernant in South Wales. From 
thence he went as foreman to the late Mr. J. Wilson, 
at Arundel; and subsequently about 1867 was on the 
garden staff at Chiswick. On the appointment of the 
late Mr. Woodbridge to Syon House, Mr Head suc¬ 
ceeded him_in the charge of the flower and general 
decorating department at Kew. In 1872 on the recom¬ 
mendation of his medical adviser he went out to 
Calcutta, and there formed a new garden and nursery 
for the Agri-Horticultural Society of India. He stayed 
at Calcutta six years and returned home in 1878 with 
health restored and energy renewed. His appointment 
to the Crystal Palace we have already referred to, and 
conclude this brief notice with an expression of hope 
that his health may long continue such as to enable 
him to discharge the duties of his onerous position. 
Mr. W. G. Head, 
Garden Superintendent, Crystal Palace. 
almost papillose hairs ; the base of the lamina is yellow, 
the base of the lateral lobes is striated with brownish 
red, and about a quarter of the terminal portion is 
similar in colour to the petals. The greenish yellow 
does not form merely a blotch on each side of the 
column, as sometimes stated in hand-books, but is 
continuous from the disc on to the lateral lobes, forming 
a semi-circle round the column. A correspondent sent 
us a flower for name. 
-— >X<- - 
THE TENBY DAFFODIL. 
There is no doubt that this form of the Daffodil is 
becoming extremely popular for forcing purposes, for 
the market has now been supplied with it for many 
weeks, and at the present time the quantity of flowers 
to be seen in the market is quite a conspicuous feature. 
It is now accompanied by N. odorus, or more frequently 
by its variety N. o. rugulosus, in considerable quantity. 
Judging from the different purposes to which the two 
kinds are put, the most value is placed upon the Tenby 
Daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus obvallaris), for it 
is worked up in various wreaths and crowns of the 
more valuable description, while the other is even 
now so common as to be hawked about the streets 
country from Moulmein in 1864. The pseudo-bulbs 
are short and stumpy, usually not exceeding 2 ins. or 
3 ins. in length, but sometimes 4 ins. or 5 ins., and 
are densely clothed with shaggy grey hairs, as are the 
leaves. The latter are deciduous, leaving the pseudo¬ 
bulbs or stems naked during the winter, save for the 
long hairs with which they are clothed. The flowers 
are produced singly or in pairs from the sides of the 
stems. The sepals and petals are lanceolate, and 
when the latter are spread out they measure about 2 ins. 
from tip to tip ; all are of a clear Buttercup-yellow, 
and shining or glistening in the same way. The lip 
never seems to have been very accurately described, as 
the late Professor Reichenbach had only dried specimens 
from which to make his description in 1885. It is 
triangularly ovate, very obscurely three-lobed, with the 
lateral lobes standing erect at the sides of the 
column, but not convolute over it; the whole disc is 
greenish yellow, not orange as some have described it, 
and it is also velvety, with a covering of short fleshy 
