May 9, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
573 
of old. My country friend has thousands of Alpine 
Auriculas from the seed 1 gave him last year of my 
laced Alpine strains. The contrast between his on the 
hill to mine in the valley is great indeed. The pure 
rich loam and the purity of the atmosphere constitute 
such a paradise of peace and beauty as the Polyanthus 
and Auricula delight to occupy. I send you a few 
pips taken at random from his stock, and which, if 
placed in a pan of wet sand, will give you a treat for 
days. If we can have such things from a packet of 
seed sown and grown in the open ground, why should 
we despair for the gold-laced Polyanthus?— W. War dill. 
[As border flowers, the specimens sent us by our old 
friend were certainly rich and varied, and of good size 
as gold-laced Polyanthus are generally reckoned. As 
he must be aware, however, ordinary seedlings cannot 
be expected to give rise to varieties having the perfect 
lacing of named sorts that come up to the florist’s 
standard. The lacing varied between golden yellow 
and lemon, and in some instances became so broad as to 
make the dark ground colour appear as velvety black 
blotches on a lemon-yellow ground, while the broad 
centre was golden. The ground colour of the lobes 
varied between a velvety brownish crimson and velvety 
black. There can be no doubt that seed¬ 
raising is the best and quickest method of 
getting up a large stock of laced Poly¬ 
anthus, and that stock so raised will 
generally be healthier and, as a rule, more 
floriferous than named varieties that have 
been propagated for years past by means 
of division, and often grown under un 
favourable conditions.— Ed.] 
thirty years ago—tall in growth, lanky, delicate, 
small-flowered, and the varieties much restricted in 
number. How different it is now with the Calceolaria ! 
The flowers are of great size, characterised by immense 
variety of marking, and in the Reading Strain show 
some tints and combinations of colours of a singularly 
attractive character. The tallest plants are scarcely 
more than IS ins. in height, from the rim of the pots 
to the crown of the head of bloom. As a matter of 
course the plants will become a little taller through 
being kept in a house, but it is well to point out that 
by growing the best strain, admirable specimens for 
exhibition can be had 18 ins. in height. The plants 
occupy two divisions of a long span-roofed house, 
where they have plenty of light and abundant venti¬ 
lation.— E. D. 
-•»£<*- 
DAFFODILS AT VALLEYFIELD. 
Among the many floral beauties which this garden 
possesses there is one in a high state of culture, namely, 
the Daffodil, which has become so popular of late years 
through the efforts of the Narcissus Committee. To 
see all the finest varieties in cultivation we have only 
DEATH OF MR. JOHN 
WILSON. 
With much regret, which will be shared 
by very many personal friends in \ ork- 
shire, and outside that famous county of 
broad acres, we have to announce the 
death at Maida Vale, W., on the 1st inst., 
after a short but painful illness, of Mr. 
John Wilson, for nearly thirty years the 
well-known and much respected secretary 
of the Great York Gala. Mr. Wilson 
was a native of York, and for over forty 
years successfully carried on the business 
of a law stationer in the ancient city of 
Eboracum. He was closely associated with 
the promotion and management of many 
popular movements which took place in his 
native city, but to the gardening com¬ 
munity he will be best remembered as the 
able and courteous sectetary of the Great 
York Gala from 1859 until some three 
years ago, and it was mainly due to his 
untiring energy and able generalship that 
the famous Gala so soon after its establish¬ 
ment became a great financial success. 
Mr. Wilson ever strove to make horticul¬ 
ture the sheet anchor of the annual Gala 
programme—he gave special prizes himself, 
and organised others for the encouragement of special 
classes of plants, such as Roses and Orchids, and by 
exhibitors and others connected with the Gala he was 
held in sincere respect and esteem, so courteous was 
his demeanour to all. 
Mr. Wilson remained a bachelor until 1885, when 
he married the widow of Dr. II. B. Beck, of Bermuda, 
a daughter of Dr. S. Gordon Warner, of Trinidad, in 
whose family the celebrated “Essex” ring has long 
been a cherished heirloom. Thomas Warner, to whom 
it was presented by James I, placed it on his shield of 
arms with the motto, “ I hold from the King,” and an 
illustration of the ring will be found in Jones’ Ring 
Lore. Mr. Wilson received two presentations from his 
friends during his secretaryship, and retired some three 
years ago, when the present able and most energetic 
secretary, Mr. Simmons, was appointed to succeed him. 
-- 
HERBACEOUS CALCEOLARIAS. 
Three weeks ago I alluded to a very promising collec¬ 
tion of herbaceous Calceolarias at Messrs. Sutton & 
Sons’ Portland Nursery at Reading. During the next 
fortnight they will be in the full glow of their floral 
beauty, and will repay a visit. The plants are finely 
grown, sturdy, dwarf, clean and healthy, and they are 
carrying heads of bloom of an extremely handsome 
character. I am comparing, in my mind, the superb 
specimens at Reading with the Calceolarias I remember 
The Late Mr. John Wilson. 
to walk through this garden, and we see all the varie¬ 
ties of the Trumpet Daffodil, the Hoop Petticoat 
Daffodil, white, yellow, and double varieties, and the 
Peerless White varieties. We see here Barrii, Leedsii, 
Nelsoni, Humei, Backhousei, Macleaii, Haworthii, 
Burbidgei and Hartlandii. 
Hybrids and Varieties. 
The first place which takes the eye of the visitor is 
immediately in front of two large vineries at the east 
end of a greenhouse. Gay with bloom are three large 
open frames in which are growing about 120 varieties 
of various flowers, many of which are in beautiful 
bloom, a few of which I note, namely, Henry Irving, 
Golden Spur, Ard Righ, Capax Plenus, Rip Van 
Winkle, Butterfly, Colleen Bawn, William Goldring, 
Edwaid Leeds, Silver Spur, General Gordon, Katherine 
Spurrell, Obvallaris, Rugilobus, John Stevenson, Gem, 
Ellen Barr, &c. Un the north side of these frames 
which contain so many beautiful Narcissi is a brick wall 
12 ft. high, and a large border facing the south is 
planted with about 2,000 of these charming Daffodils, 
in about 100 varieties. Only a few of them I will 
here note, namely, General Murray, Wolley Dod, 
James Walker, Dean Herbert, Burbidgei, Harrison 
Weir, Duke of Buccleuch, Mrs. Syme, and Leedsii. 
They are planted in large beds, which run north and 
south, and in rows which run east and west. 
At the west end of the garden I observe other six 
large beds of Daffodils in grand bloom. These are also 
sheltered from the north by a high brick wall, and are 
planted in rows across the beds which run north and 
south. Each bed has its own name — which I will here 
give :—Princess, Empress, Emperor, Sir Watkin, 
Horsfieldii, and Grandis. I also note a few other beds 
of very fine varieties, and many clumps of beauties 
blooming on the grass terraces of the flower garden. 
Apart from these beautiful Daffodils in the garden, 
I observe beds and clumps on the wooded slopes of the 
pleasure grounds ; and here let me note two large beds 
in bloom under the shadow of tall trees. Some of the 
names of the varieties let me give :—N. poeticus 
angustifolius, N. p. grandiflorus, N. p. poetarum, 
N. p. recurvus verus, Marvel, N. p. maximu3, N. p. 
tortuosus, Bishop Man, Stella, N. p. ornatus, Edith 
Baxter, General Gordon, Giant Irish Cernuus, Cernuus 
pulcher, Minimus, Variiformis, Aurantius, and Tela- 
monius. Notwithstanding the very hard and dry 
weather which all the Daffodils have endured here 
this spring, they seem in the best of health, from big 
Henry Irving down to little Minimus. When I look 
at the diversity and showy effect of nearly 300 varieties 
of this tribe, you will forgive me if I suggest that this 
place is surely their Scottish home.— W. L. Lyons. 
--»$«-- 
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE 
NOTES. 
The Weather. 
Winter in some seasons lingering long 
in the lap of spring is a poetical phrase I 
have heard employed to portray the fickle 
and inconstant nature of the climate of a 
considerable part of the British Isles, but 
I am apprehensive that the word summer 
may be apporpriately substituted for 
spring as applied to 1891. Not since 
1883 has the mean temperature of March 
and April been so low, and vegetation 
in general shown so little activity up to 
this date. Probably the light rainfall has 
helped to retard growth, although with 
frequent slight frosts in the mornings a 
minimum of moisture is rather an advan¬ 
tage to fruit trees and bushes at such 
a critical period. Quoting meteorological 
records from the Ayr Advertiser, a 
journal much devoted to agricultural 
interests, we find the average rainfall of 
the western or Ayr district for the last 
thirty-four years to be 9'02 inches for 
the first quarter of the year, while the 
register for the present year up to the end 
of March was only 4 '81 ins. 
In the extreme eastern district, the 
average for the first quarter, extending 
over fifteen years, was 12 73 ins., but 
only 6 '49 ins. during the corresponding 
period of 1891. There is very little 
danger of any serious injury being done 
by frost in the hardy fruit gardens. 
Birds have been our worst enemies this 
season, their work of destruction on the 
buds of Black Currants having been the most complete 
of which I have any knowledge. The crops of these 
have usually been very good, and occasionally extra 
heavy, but the payment of such a heavy discount to 
the feathered tribe is more than can be afforded. 
Early vegetables come in very slowly, and the retard¬ 
ing of Broccolis by the frost of March makes the 
situation more embarrassing. We have, however, a good 
breadth of Cattell’s Eclipse. Leamington and Hanan’s 
Late, which escaped the frost, will prove very service¬ 
able for a month or more hence. For two years 
previous to the present one we had our first gatherings 
of Peas about the middle of June, from sowings made 
in November ; but a sowing made about the same time, 
as well as those forwarded in boxes, are this season 
outdistanced by outside spring-sown crops. A large 
and strong lot of All the Year Round Lettuce, which 
isere pricked off in a makeshift frame in a well-sheltered 
nook in October, have doubled in value since being 
planted at a wall’s foot, where they are growing 
strongly. Those left in the seed beds were reduced to 
units. Early Cabbages are small, but hearting nicely. 
— M., N.B. ^ 
London seems suddenly to have burst forth into an 
exquisite flower city ; and the women and girls, having 
got through the winter as best they may, turn joyfully 
to their favourite flower selling as a summer means of 
livelihood. The London flower girl has to work hard, 
and have her wits about her ; however, if all goes well, 
a fair sum may be made each day, and the initial 
capital wanted to start a “ basket ” is only five shillings. 
