April 18, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
523 
SPRING FLOWERS AT READING. 
A call at Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Portland Nurseries, 
Eeading, enables the visitor to see many spriDg flowers 
of an interesting character. 1 can scarcely term the 
herbaceous Calceolaria a spring-flowering plant, but 
there are some 200 specimens filling two span-roofed 
houses worth going miles to see. They are all 
seedlings raised from seed of a very fine selected strain 
sown in June last, and grown on deliberately under a 
cool treatment until they have developed into giant 
specimens, and, like giants, remarkably strong and 
robust. A goodly number are large plants, 2 ft. or 
nearly so in diameter, and they are in 10-in. pots, while 
others are in those of a smaller size. They were not 
long since placed in their blooming-pots, and are 
getting well hold of the soil; the outer shoots have 
been pegged down, and are putting forth roots. The 
compost employed for the last shift is one made up of 
three parts loam and one of leaf-soil, a little heavier, 
perhaps, in texture than some growers would care to 
use, but which suits the plants well. Looking upon 
these superb specimens it seems difficult to say the 
Calceolaria is a plant by no means easy to cultivate. 
It is easy to grow if it can have the proper quarters 
during winter and the necessary attention. Here at 
Eeading one sees the finest quality in the herbaceous 
Calceolaria, in combination with a wonderful robustness 
of constitution and splendid development. By the 
middle and end of May the herbaceous Calceolarias 
will present to view a floral picture of the highest 
order of merit. 
It is remarkable how the Chinese Primroses are 
blooming at Reading, although the plants are laden 
with seed pods. As Messrs. Sutton & Sons send out 
certain varieties of the Chinese Primrose in the form of 
seeds, they by means of the most careful fertilisation 
do their utmost to secure that the variety shall be 
reproduced from seed, and this is accomplished to a 
very great extent. Some of the white Primulas 
especially, that began to bloom in December last, are 
flowering very finely indeed, and with a wonderful 
freedom. None of the late flowers are permitted to set 
their seed pods. 
Then there is in one of the houses an exceedingly 
attractive lot of Auriculas, the Alpines predominating. 
Among these are some fine yellows and several pretty 
fancy varieties, and a particularly noticeable one 
named Bridesmaid, cream, tinted with pink, which was 
awarded a First Class Certificate at the Royal Aquarium 
Auricula show last year. 
Seedling Cyclamens, from seed sown at the end of 
last summer, and seedling Gloxinias and Begonias, from 
seed sown in January and February, are coming on by 
the thousand. I saw a “ wrinkle ” in the case of tiny 
plants of Begonias pricked off from the seed pans. They 
are put into store pots and the soil i^ heaped up in the 
form of a mound, so that water should not stand among 
the tiny plants and injure them. 
In the open ground are large and interesting trials of 
Crocuses, Tulips, Hyacinths, Narcissi, &c. The former 
were in good condition to admit of notes being taken 
of them. Of the purple-flowered varieties, the deepest 
coloured appeared to be the old David Rizzio. John 
Bright, which blooms as early as the yellows, is a 
large and striking variety ; Garibaldi is also very good. 
Asa fine pale-coloured purple variety, Purpurea grandi- 
flora stands very high, but Yon Moltke is perhaps 
the deepest coloured, and very late. 
Dandy and the old Ne Plus Ultra are two purple 
varieties, the petals being tipped with white ; Dandy 
is the darkest, but both are very effective. Of the 
striped varieties, Empress is one of the darkest and 
largest; La Majestueuse is of a medium depth of colour; 
then comes Princess Alexandra, very fine ; but Sir 
Walter Scott is the palest of all. Four hetter-striped 
varieties could hardly be selected. 
The finest and purest white is a very scarce unnamed 
variety, and Marie Stuart is also very good ; both are 
white in all parts of the flower. Elfride is also a fine white. 
There is nothing new among the yellow-flowered 
varieties—the large yellow, in varying sizes of its root, 
holds the field. The larger the bulb the more flowers 
does it throw, so there is an advantage in ordering 
them, as the advanced price is more than compensated 
for by the greater abundance of bloom. C. Susianus 
(Cloth of Gold) is worth growing, because it is so very 
early ; so also is the pretty little Scotch Crocus 
(C. versicolor). This last is well worthy of note. 
In the open were some white Roman Hyacinths 
carrying eight to ten good spikes of bloom, and forming 
quite large tufts of white blossom. I was informed 
that they were some of the largest bulbs ever seen, 
which no doubt accounts for the prolificacy of bloom. 
The Narcissi were, only beginning to bloom ;7but 
Henry Irving, among the Trumpet section, is very 
early and remarkably fine. 
The Hyacinths are throwing up wonderful spikes of 
bloom, but they are late, which is not to be wondered 
at. Albertine, white, is very early, and would force 
well I should think ; Mont Blanc is early, and so is 
Queen of Holland, a variety specially recommended for 
forcing; old La Tour d’Auvergne, double white, is 
also very early ; Norma, single pink, leads the way 
amongst the reds ; and Charles Dickens, La Joyeuse 
and Charlerans are very early. One of the very earliest 
is Homerus, while Elizabeth and Alida Catherina are 
the earliest double reds. Amongst the single blues are 
Leonidas, Blondin, Emmeline, and Pasquin (double). 
O’Connell and William I. are both good early dark 
varieties. 
But the foregoing are but,a tithe of the spring 
flowers grown in this nursery. They serve to indicate 
how interesting and instructive a visit can be made at 
this season of the year.— R. D. 
-■»*$<«- 
THE MEGASEAS OR LARGE- 
LBAVED SAXIFRAGES. 
With one or two exceptions, the large-leaved Saxi¬ 
frages are of robust growth and of easy cultivation. 
The foliage alone of most species commend them to the 
attention of the hardy plant lover, as it is evergreen 
and conspicuous at all seasons of the year. For this 
reason the more robust-growing kinds are suitable for 
planting on the margins of shrubberies, in the herba¬ 
ceous border, and also in elevated positions on rockeries 
and banks, both in the well-kept part of the garden as 
well as in the wild garden, where they may be planted 
in bold and massive clumps, The less rampantly 
growing kinds, but especially those that flower early, 
are suitable for cultivation in pots, to adorn the green¬ 
house or hardy plant-house in early spring. Propa¬ 
gation is easily effected by division, by removal of the 
offsets, and by cuttings, which root with the utmost 
freedom in a short space of time. Strong shoots taken 
off towards the.end of summer, inserted in 60-size pots, 
and rooted in a cold frame, kept close, will flower the 
following spring or even at Christmas if placed in a 
greenhouse with a slight warmth. 
Saxifraga ligulata.— This is one of the earliest to 
flower, as well as easiest to manage, more especially in 
pots for early work. It is relatively hardy out-of-doors, 
but owing to its habit of commencing to bloom in 
March, the flowers are liable to be destroyed, if severe 
weather afterwards supervene. This accident may be 
avoided to a certain extent by planting in sheltered 
places, where the soil is also well drained. The 
leaves are obovate, sharply toothed and ciliated, 
but otherwise smooth. The flowers are produced in a 
short compactly branching panicle and are usually of a 
soft pink, but are often pale, verging to blush and 
pure white. The latter may sometimes be seen in 
gardens under the name of S. 1. alba. It is a native of 
Nepaul, and was introduced in 1818, or according to 
others, in 1821. 
S. thysanodes. —The plant so named by Lindley 
has received various other names, the most common of 
which is S. ciliata. Others make it a variety of S. 
Stracheyi, to which no doubt it is closely allied. 
The leaves are obovate, deeply and bluntly toothed, 
and covered on both surfaces with coarse hairs, but 
especially beneath. The specific name, meaning coarse- 
fringed, refers to the coarsely hairy character of the 
leaves. It is a native of various parts of India, and 
unfortunately is less hardy, probably, than any of the 
rest. In the open air it loses its foliage, even as far 
south as London, during severe frost even of short 
duration, so that it is leafless when it comes into 
bloom during March and April. In order to avoid this 
it may be grown successfully in pots kept beyond the 
reach of frost. Its dwarf habit, curiously hairy leaves, 
and beautiful white flowers produced in compact slightly 
branching racemes, render it an ornamental and 
suitable subject for this purpose ; and in spite of its 
tenderness it ought not to be omitted from a collection 
of hardy or half-hardy herbaceous plants. 
S. Stracheyi. —The leaves of this species are obovate 
or inclinod to be wedge-shaped, irregularly toothed and 
ciliated, but otherwise smooth, differing in this respect 
from the last mentioned. The flowers are pink, and 
are produced during March and April in branching 
panicles of an ornamental character. There is a white 
variety—namely, S. S. alba. The type was introduced 
from the Western Himalayas in 1851. The variety 
S. S. Milesii has white flowers, and also differs in 
having longer leaves, which are more decidedly or 
deeply toothed towards the base, while the orbicular 
petals are distinctly clawed. The different forms era 
relatively very hardy. 
S. PURPURA,scens.— In this Himalayan species we 
have one of the choicest, and at the same time one of 
the most difficult to grow and flower satisfactorily. 
The flowers are purple, equal in size to any of the rest, 
but are not developed till June, being thus later than 
those of any other of this group of Saxifrages. It was 
introduced in 1850, but is comparatively little grown, 
and less often seen in flower. The best plan is to grow 
it in pots that are sheltered in a cold frame during 
winter. The leaves are smooth and glossy, often with 
a purplish tint, which makes them ornamental. 
S. crassifolia.— The hardiest are undoubtedly 
those species or forms which have been introduced from 
Siberia, including S. crassifolia. The latter was the 
first of it3 kind that reached our shores, being intro¬ 
duced in 1765. Besides Megasea it has another 
synonym in Bergenia crassifolia. The leaves vary 
from obovate or oval to oblong, and although the 
specific name crassifolia is aptly enough applied, yet 
there are several others with thicker or more leathery 
leaves. The large panicle of red or purple flowers 
remains hidden for some time amongst the leaves, 
but ultimately by the elongation of the peduncle, is 
thrown well up. The flowering period is during April 
and May, or a little earlier, provided the weather is mild. 
S. cordifolia. — By several authorities this is 
reckoned a mere variety of the last, from which, 
however, it is readily distinguished by its broader, 
almost orbicular, more or less undulated, but glabrous 
leaves. The flowers are similar to those of S. crassi¬ 
folia, and developed about the same time. The plant 
was introduced from Siberia in 1779. A form of this 
with orbicular but not undulated leaves was introduced 
from Siberia in 1819 under the name of S. media. All 
these Siberian forms are remarkably robust and easily 
cultivated in any moderately good garden soil ; and 
by reason of this vegetative vigour they are suitable for 
the margins of shrubberries and banks in the wild 
garden as well as elsewhere. 
fHipmmgs Jjrmtt ffp 
ulj jSrintrG 
Do Cucumbers Spoil Musk Melons? —If any 
dogma finds general acceptance amongst horticulturists, 
it is the opinion that Musk-Melons are rendered insipid 
and worthless by Cucumbers growing in their vicinity. 
Most growers suppose that this influence is immediate, 
but a few hold that it appears only in the offspring of 
the supposed crosses between the two species. Several 
years ago my observations led me to doubt this 
influence, but definite experiments were not undertaken 
until last winter, when a house of forced Melons and 
Cucumbers gave a good opportunity to make cross 
pollinations. In these trials we failed to produce 
Melons when the flowers were pollinated either by the 
common White Spine or the English forcing Cucumbers. 
Last summer the work was undertaken in the garden 
under the best opportunities. Ninety-seven Musk- 
Melon flowers of various varieties were pollinated by 
Cucumber pollen of many kinds. No fruits developed. 
Twenty-five Cucumber flowers were pollinated by 
Musk-Melon pollen. Only one fruit developed, and 
that was seedless. These figures certainly indicate 
that Melons and Cucumbers do not cross, and therefore 
that the influence of one upon the other is fictitious.— 
L. H. Bailey in the Bulletin of the College of Agri¬ 
culture, Cornell University. 
The Largest Apple Tree in the United 
States. —An Apple tree in the north-western part of 
Cheshire, standing in Mr. Delos Hotchkiss’ door-yard, 
is thought to be the largest in the United States. Its 
age can be traced by a family tradition to 140 years at 
least, and it may be twenty to twenty-five years older. 
It is at the present time of symmetrical shape ; the 
trunk is nearly round, without a scar or blemish on it. 
There are eight large branches; five of them, Mr. 
Hotchkiss tells me, have been in the habit of bearing 
one year, and the remaining three the next. He has 
gathered in one year from the five branches, eighty- 
five bushels of fruit, and his predecessor had harvested 
a crop of 110 bushels from the same five branches. By 
careful measurement, I find the circumference of the 
trunk, 1 ft. above the ground, above all enlargements 
of the roots, to be 13 ft. 8 ins. The height of the tree 
has been carefully measured, and found to be 60 ft., 
and the spread of the branches as the Apples fall, is 
100 ft., or six rods.— The American Garden. 
