116 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 20,"1888. 
Split Pods. 
I AM pleased to hear through my old friend Mr. 
Dodwell that Carnation Mrs. Reynolds Hole did not 
hurst its calyx with him. In addition to my own 
experience, a Carnation-growing friend, writing a few 
weeks ago, made the same complaint, and said that in 
almost every case his flowers had split pods. I hope 
that it is an accidental defect, and after Mr. Dodwell’s 
statement would fain believe it is so. I take a great 
interest in this flower, because it was mainly through 
my exertion that a Certificate of Merit was given to it 
at Manchester, in 1886 ; and at my suggestion it was 
named by the present Dean of Rochester after his wife. 
It is a little unfortunate that it should bear two other 
names, for it is known as Gravetye Gem, under which 
designation it was certificated by the Floral Committee 
of the Royal Horticultural Society, and it was subse¬ 
quently figured in The Garden , and re-named Apricot. 
This seriously complicates matters, and leads to confu¬ 
sion. I cannot follow Mr. Dodwell into the region of 
poetic sentiment, and term a Carnation with a split pod, 
“a veritable cascade of glowing colour.” Such blooms, 
always loose, ragged, and irregular, resemble rather to 
me a kind of floral lunacy or inebriation, and I dislike 
them for decorative purposes ; but my old friend and 
myself know and appreciate each other too well to 
wrangle, and he will not esteem me any the less for 
controverting his conclusion.— E. D. 
Carnation Germania. 
Those who have described this as a winter-flowering 
variety are, after all, not far wrong. Two of my 
plants that bloomed in the summer are throwing 
up flowering stems, and so bloom can be had at 
Christmas or soon after, also. In this respect it 
seems to be very accommodating. "When I had 
taken the rooted layers from the plants, I turned 
them out of the pots, shook some of the soil from the 
roots, placed them in smaller pots, and added some 
fresh soil round the balls; the result is that they 
are making a free growth from the dead wood, and the 
young shoots so produced will no doubt flower next 
season. I look upon this as one of the most valuable 
varieties of yellow Carnations which can be grown for 
cutting from, and I should not be surprised if, when it 
is better known, it quite displaces Pride of Penshurst 
for general cutting purposes.— E. B. 
Decorative Dahlias. 
A selection of the best twelve varieties for cutting 
should consist of Cochineal, rich shaded crimson, 
excellent habit; Charming Bride, white, tipped with 
soft lilac pink, very pretty and distinct, but the flowers 
are so much hidden by the foliage ; Empress of India, 
crimson, shaded with maroon, excellent habit ; 
Flambeau, very bright scarlet, shaded with orange, 
remarkably free, and excellent habit; Glare of the 
Garden, scarlet, an abundant bloomer, and good habit ; 
Henry Patrick, pure white, the best in fact; Juarezii, 
intense scarlet; Lady Kerrison, amber-yellow, edged 
with crimson, very distinct and good habit ; Lady M. 
Marsham, of the type of Juarezii, but of a pale salmon- 
red colour ; Mrs. Hawkins, sulphur-yellow and rose, 
very free, but bad habit; Prince Alexander, fawn, 
shading to salmon ; and William Pearse, bright golden 
yellow. This is the selection I should grow for 
bunching, but if it were necessary to reduce the number 
to nine varieties, then I should leave out Glare of the 
Garden, Lady M. Marsham, and Prince Alexander. 
Glare of the Garden is certainly very free and useful, 
but I look upon it as being distanced by Turner’s 
Flambeau.— E. D. 
--- 
LOBELIA CARDINALIS AND 
HYBRIDS. 
I quite agree with your correspondent, Mr. Muir 
(p. 88), that these plants do not like to be kept dry at 
the roots. With us, north of the Tweed, it is not safe 
to leave them out in the open all the winter, even with 
protection, as many of the plants die off. As soon as 
they are killed down, we lift them with good balls of 
soil attached, and place them in boxes, which are kept 
in frames all the winter, never allowing the soil to 
become dry. 
In spring, when the young growths are about 2 ins. 
long, we divide them into single crowns, securing a 
few roots to each, and insert them in boxes about 3 ins. 
apart. When the young plants are well rooted and 
hardened off, we place them in an open situation on 
Well-manured land, administering copious waterings 
during dry weather. From plants treated in this way 
many of the hybrid varieties attain a height of 4£ ft. 
and 5 ft., branched down to the ground. By placing 
two or three plants together of a sort at intervals in 
herbaceous borders, they make a fine show during the 
autumn months. How seldom one sees a collection of 
these Lobelias in private establishments ! 
The following hybrid varieties, obtained from L. car- 
dinalis and L. syphilitica, are worthy of extensive 
cultivation—namely : Amethyst, blue ; Apollo, rosy 
purple; Challenger, rosy purple, free; Don Juan, 
mauve-purple ; Etna, purple-crimson ; Jupiter, rose- 
purple ; Mizza, magenta, large flower, fine ; Neptune, 
ruby-scarlet, dark foliage ; Orion, crimson-scarlet, very 
fine; Purple Emperor, deep rose-purple; Queen 
Victoria, vermilion, dark foliage, fine; Queen of 
Whites, white ; Stromboli, magenta ; Sunrise, cherry, 
large flower, fine ; and Vesta, magenta, fine.— J. C. B., 
Kelso. 
[Our correspondent obligingly sends a box con¬ 
taining twelve of these named varieties, all of which 
are very interesting, especially considering it is so late 
in the season, and hardy plants in general have been 
ruthlessly killed down, except in the most favourable 
positions. We noticed a long line of Lobelia splendens 
Queen Victoria some 200 miles farther north the other 
week, which was equally late, if not later, but very 
healthy. Amongst the red, crimson, or scarlet kinds 
in the collection sent us, Orion, Mizza, Neptune, and 
Queen Victoria are brilliant and showy sorts. Neptune 
has dark foliage, but not so lustrous or crimson a 
black as is Queen Victoria, which we still consider is 
the best of the varieties in cultivation. It is a form of 
L. splendens. It is not clear whether L. fulgens has 
been used as a parent; but it is certainly a grand 
thing, differing from L. splendens in having pubescent 
stems and reddish leaves. The flowers are quite equal 
in size and colour, however, to those of L. splendens. 
Purple Emperor, Don Juan, and Sunrise are splendid 
violet-blue or purple kinds, the last named being the 
most robust, with thicker stems, larger leaves, thicker 
flower-tubes, and very large calyx segments.— Ed.] 
-►>*«*- 
THE FAREHAM NURSERIES. 
The nurseries of Messrs. W. & G. Drover have 
within the past few years become widely known 
amongst the Chrysanthemum fraternity, and in all 
probability many growers of “ Mums ” are under the 
impression that little or nothing else besides these 
plants are cultivated at this establishment. Such, 
however, is not the case, for in spite of the present rage, 
which for the current year will soon be at fever heat, 
they of themselves are not the class of plants to make 
a fortune out of, or perhaps I should say a very good 
living, with a small margin of profit. Cut flowers for 
marketing, both wholesale and retail, may be said to 
form the staple trade of the firm, and these are produced 
in vast quantities, such as would astonish many a 
private grower, considering the comparatively limited 
area of land-space at their command. The principal 
part of the establishment, and which for convenience 
may be termed the home nursery, consists entirely of a 
series of glass structures, varying in length from 40 ft. 
to 150 ft. each. The first range we enter is a lean-to, 
in two divisions, of the combined length of 300 ft., 
devoted principally to the growing of Tuberoses, Roses 
—a greater portion of the back wall being planted with 
Niphotos—and Cucumbers in the summer months. 
The next house is also a lean-to, filled with Camellia 
alba plena, all planted out, the back wall being utilised 
with the same kind of plants, and Rose Niphetos. 
Close by is a somewhat lofty span-roofed house, 40 ft. 
by 30 ft., occupied entirely with Stephanotis and 
Gardenias, the latter planted out. If one ventures on 
the spot to comment on the quantity of bloom that 
such a house will afford, you receive the rather laconic 
reply, “Yes, we cut such and such a number of barrowfuls 
of Stephanotis last summer.” Perhaps the most note¬ 
worthy feature was the healthiness and cleanliness of 
the plants ; not a single mealy bug was to be seen, and 
in answer to our inquiries as to how they manage to 
battle with that well-known enemy, the answer is, 
“We don’t let them come in at the door, sir”—certainly 
a very terse and suggestive reply, and one that gar¬ 
deners would do well to bear in mind. Start with a 
clean and healthy stock of plants and a clean house, 
adhere strictly to the above rule, and you will have no 
need for tedious labour, or to spend money on insecti¬ 
cides for the purpose of waging war on mealy bug. 
One or two other houses are also devoted to the same 
purposes as the last-named, and we can hardly say how 
many more there are filled with double white Camellias, 
Palms, and Maidenhair Ferns, the last-named being 
grown in almost unlimited quantities. The whole of the 
plants are certainly pictures of health, a fact which is 
fully evidenced by the dark green hue of the foliage. 
Indeed, it does not pay trade growers in these days of 
keen competition to harbour siekly-looking plants. 
Arum Lilies are also made a specialty of, and at the 
time of my visit one large span-roofed house was filled 
from end to end with hundreds of plants, grown for 
the production of early flowers, these in their turn to 
be followed by other large batches from outside, so as 
to afford as long a succession as possible. To have an 
abundance of such flowers for Christmas and Easter 
decoration, they must receive liberal treatment through 
the summer months, and be afforded copious supplies of 
water, and when the flowers first begin to appear they 
must be fed with liquid manure. Amongst other 
subjects largely grown for cut blooms may be mentioned 
Azaleas and double white Primulas, the last named in 
vast numbers. 
Two or three out-lying pieces of land are occupied in 
a different way, and do not contain any glass ; one*is 
devoted chiefly to Roses, about 3,000 plants being 
grown. One thing that we do not often meet with 
may he mentioned— i.e., Apple trees dotted about here 
and there for the purpose of affording shade to the 
flowers, which, in such a warm climate as Fareham is, 
proves to be almost indispensable ; of course, the trees 
are judiciously pruned, and thinned out as occasion 
requires. Another piece of ground we find is occupied 
in the summer months chiefly with Bouvardias, 
Syringas, and similar subjects planted out, potted up 
in the autumn, and forced in the houses at a later 
period. 
"With regard to Chrysanthemums we can quite 
imagine that some of your readers will want to know 
how the “Mums” are looking. "Well, the reply is, 
my visit was in September, and at that time they gave 
every promise of producing high-class blooms for the 
November shows. M. C. Audiguier, Thunberg, Lord 
"Wolseley, Prince Alfred, and other tall-growing 
varieties were from 10 ft. to 11 ft. high, with wood as 
thick as a good stout walking stick ; other varieties 
proportionately high, all with dark green foliage— 
indicative of good health. Taking into consideration 
the remark made by the senior member of the firm— 
i.e., that they did not take any particular trouble with 
them, and that their requirements were attended to 
chiefly in the evenings, we can only say that the man 
in charge of the plants deserves every possible credit for 
his work. The firm has now been established for a 
period of over twenty years, and is a good illustration 
of what may be done from small beginnings by dint of 
perseverance and hard work.— J. H. 
-- 
VIOLETS IN FRAMES. 
Your correspondent “F. R. S.” (p. 83), writing on this 
subject, very wisely says that “violent heat at the 
bottom is detrimental to the well-being of Violets.” 
That is so, and artificial top heat, in the way of hot- 
water pipes, is generally productive of red-spider, a prey 
to which Violets are very liable, even during the 
summer months, when growing out of doors, if the soil 
is light and sandy, and they are in a too sunny position. 
Some of the best Neapolitan Violets I have seen were 
grown at Firle Park, in this county. The plants were 
put out early in April on a cool north border ; they were 
placed a foot apart each way, and well firmed and 
watered in. The ground had been well manured and 
dug during the winter, so that when planting time 
arrived the soil was well pulverised. The Dutch hoe was 
kept well at work during the summer, with frequent 
dampings overhead until well established, all runners 
being also cut off. 
About the middle of September, when a three-light 
Cucumber frame was at liberty, more soil, such as the 
Cucumbers had been growing in, was added, and the 
Violets were carefully taken up and transferred to the 
frame, keeping the plants well up to the glass, which, I 
need hardly add, faced due south. When planted they 
received a good soaking of water, and were kept shaded 
from the bright sun until they had recovered from their 
shift, and the roots had taken hold of the new soil. 
The lights were kept off until frosts were likely to 
occur, and they had ventilation, little or much, 
according to the weather. 
The linings were made up to the top of the frame, 
not so much for the sake of heat as for protection, and 
during severe weather the glass was covered with mats, 
on which was placed a good layer of long stable litter. 
The surface of the soil was kept stirred with a hand- 
