370 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 9, 1889. 
but such was not the case. The facts are these. A few 
young men from neighbouring gardens visited Formack, 
and when going round with the foreman, were shown 
a plant of the old Tom Thumb which had produced 
variegated shoots, and were offered cuttings by him. 
Some accepted them, and during the journey round, a 
cutting was observed peeping out of the pocket of one 
of the party. By way of a joke this cutting was taken 
by one who did not accept any from the foreman. It 
was taken to Bretby Park, the seat of the Earl of 
Chesterfield, where it was struck, and eventually others 
were propagated from it. The then gardener at Bretby, 
seeing, I suppose, that it was an acquisition—which it 
was at that time—sent a plant or so of it to the Boyal 
Horticultural Society, and the official report of it was 
that it had a better flower than Flower of the Day, but 
the variegation was not so good. It was eventually 
sent out by Osborn, of Fulham.— Geo. Potts, Junr. 
-- >X< -- 
PRIMULAS AT FOREST HILL. 
A fine display of the Chinese Primula is now to be 
seen in the nursery of Messrs. J. Carter & Co., at 
Forest Hill, where several new houses have been built 
since last season with all modern improvements, for 
the special culture of this class of plants. Four of 
them are now occupied with Primulas, which being in 
full bloom, give a very fine effect. One house, 150 ft. 
in length, is especially notable, because the visitors 
can see the Primulas extending from one end to the 
other. In another case three houses are built parallel 
to one another in a single block, and two of them are 
filled with Primulas ; large batches of the different 
varieties are staged in each house, and the regularity 
and evenness with which they have been grown adds 
much to the effect. Two or three houses are filled 
with plants that were sown in the last week of July, 
1888, and these are mostly in 4S-sized pots ; while 
another house is filled with plants sown in the first 
week in March. These latter are considerably larger, 
and are grown in 32-sized pots. 
Fern-leaved Varieties. 
Holborn Elaine. —The flowers of this variety are 
of the purest white, large and beautifully fringed. 
Singularly enough the petioles of the oblong finely 
cut leaves are of a deep red tint, and in this respect 
do not correspond to the purity of the flowers. 
Holborn Blush. —The flowers of this variety are, 
as the name indicates, normally of a delicate blush 
tint, especially when well exposed to light, as we had 
evidence in those stood near the glass. A large batch 
in another house has sported into two distinct forms, 
namely, a pure white, and a mauve one, fading at the 
margin into an almost white line. The two batches 
are stood alongside of each other, and have large and 
well-formed trusses. The petioles of the leaves are red 
in both cases. 
Holborn Queen. —The superior merits of this sort 
are easily detected when placed alongside of the other 
kinds. The flowers are pure white, as in the case of 
Elaine, but the leaves, both blade and petiole, are of a 
pale green, giving the whole plant a delicacy of tint 
not seen in the dark-foliaged plants. The individual 
blooms are large, with an ample angular golden yellow 
eye, and are borne in large trusses. 
Seedling. —An unnamed seedling with small white 
flowers may be mentioned in this group on account of 
its leaves being oblong. In the early stage they are 
slightly lobed ; but long before the plant comes into 
bloom they become much narrower, and deeply 
laciniated or twice cut, so that Laeiniata would be a 
very appropriate name. 
Holborn Buby. —Here the flowers are rosy red, 
with a white line surrounding the greenish yellow eye. 
They are borne in large trusses. 
Holborn Carmine.— This variety is a strong 
grower, bearing good trusses of flowers of an attractive 
rosy carmine hue. 
Holborn Salmon. —When the flowers first expand 
they are pale in colour, as frequently occurs, but soon 
deepen to a rosy salmon, and different shades are 
noticeable in the truss at one and the same time. 
Fern-leaf Vermilion.— Amongst dark varieties 
none are more highly coloured than this one, with 
large flowers of a deep vermilion-red, and fine dark- 
coloured foliage. 
Seedling. —An unnamed kind, with small rose- 
coloured flowers slightly striped with white, offers in 
its foliage something from which to develop a new race. 
The petioles are of a deep crimson-red, while the blade 
is red beneath, and so deeply tinted with the same 
colour above that it appears of a dark bronzy green. 
Plain-leaved Kinds. 
Holborn White.— Like those of Holborn Queen, the 
leaves, both blade and petiole, are of a light green, but 
of the ordinary triangular or roundly heart-shaped 
outline, and here spoken of as Palm-leaved. The 
flowers are pure white and borne in trusses thrown well 
above the foliage. 
Holborn Elaine. —This differs from that of the 
same name in the Fern-leaved group only in the foliage. 
Holborn Venus. —The flowers of this variety are 
striped and mottled all over with crimson and purple 
on a white ground. 
Holborn Blue. —Improvements continue to be 
made in the intensity of the so-called blue colour of 
this strain, and in some cases there is a distinctly 
purple tint. The trusses are well thrown up, and the 
flowers are of respectable size. A large batch showed 
some seedlings of sterling merit, especially with regard 
to the size of the flower. 
Holborn Magenta. —Flowers of a dark magenta, 
with a greenish, angular eye surrounded by a white 
line. 
Holborn Vermilion. —The Fern-leaved variety, 
already mentioned, differs from that under notice only 
in the foliage. 
Holborn Fawn. —The flowers of this variety are of 
a rosy mauve, giving place to a white margin, and the 
segments being beautifully cut ; the whole has a very 
fine effect. It is much admired by visitors. Seedlings 
give rise to plants having both the ordinary and Fern¬ 
leaved foliage. 
Semi-double Varieties. 
Snowflake. —Being of that strain which is now 
popularly termed semi-double, this variety is readily 
propagated from seed, which it produces with great 
freedom. The flowers are white, while the leaves are 
wholly of a pale green colour. For cut-flower work it 
is admirably adapted, as the blooms hang on the plant 
for a much longer period even when cut. The same 
remarks apply to the other semi-double varieties. 
Carmine Empress. —Like the last named, this is 
also very floriferous, and differs from Holborn Carmine 
only in being semi-double, having flowers of the same 
colour and Fern-leaved foliage. 
Prince of Wales. — The flowers of this sort are 
semi-double, salmon-pink, and very freely produced. 
The variety comes very readily from seed. The foliage 
is of the ordinary type. 
Holborn Double Blue. —This variety is uniformly 
of a much darker shade than the single-flowered sort, 
and semi-double. All of this group owe their 
characteristic appearance to an out-growth at the back 
of each stamen. This stands erect over the centre of 
the flower, and externally is of the same colour as the 
rest of the corolla, whatever that may be. The upper 
or inner surface in all the group is white, but it is 
hidden in a normal state of the flower. 
-- 
ANTHRACITE COAL. 
'Your correspondent, Mr. J. Peebles, has, I think, 
been unfortunate in the article supplied to him as 
Anthracite. I have reason to know that there are 
various kinds of coal supplied by local men for it which 
differ very considerably from that supplied by Mr. 
Essery, of Swansea, some of which are difficult to 
manage well even where there is a good draught. Before 
trying the Swansea anthracite, I wrote to one whose 
judgment I thought I could fully rely upon, and 
received a most unsatisfactory reply ; but having confi¬ 
dence in some other names on Mr. Essery’s circular, I 
gave it a trial, and am well satisfied with the result. I 
may say that very much depends upon the stoker, and 
the notion that any idle ignorant fellow is good enough 
for this job ought to have been exploded long since, 
because the difference as regards the consumption of 
fuel when the fires are attended by an intelligent man, 
who will do his best to get the utmost amount of heat 
from the fuel, and when the same fires are attended by 
a careless inattentive man, is something considerable, 
and forms a very apt illustration of the saying that men 
are not all of the same value at the same kind of work. 
In this case the careless—and therefore worthless—man 
will burn away from a third to one half more firing 
than the attentive one, and then not keep up the 
required amount of heat. 
In these days, when so many have to economise all 
they can, this is one of the things that ought to be well 
looked after, both as regards the kind of fuel and the 
method of using it, for a stoker who attempts to manage 
anthracite in the same way as coke will soon either 
find himself wrong, or be found out by those above him. 
It will not do to fill the furnace so full as with coke, 
for if this be done, unless, indeed, the furnace is dis¬ 
proportionately large, failure will be the result from 
the fire burning sluggishly. I am referring to saddle 
boilers like our own, having had no experience in using 
anthracite with other forms of boilers. "We find that 
when making up the fires, to fill them about two-thirds 
is best ; we have very few clinkers, and find there is 
much less labour attached to the use of this coal than 
coke. Where there is a fair draught, and an efficient 
amount of piping, twice a day will, in ordinary weather, 
be found often enough to attend to the fires, but a great 
deal depends upon the draught. There is a consider¬ 
able difference in the amount of attention required by 
our fires on account of the position of one of the boilers. 
In one case we have to leave the ash-pit door open very 
much more than we do with the other boiler, under 
which the coal burns so well that all draught, both 
top and bottom, is almost constantly shut off, and the 
coal burns to a clean white ash. Care should be taken 
that the ash-pit is well cleaned out daily, because the 
ashes which fall through are intensely hot, and retain 
the heat if allowed to remain in the pit for any length 
of time, and which, I think, is the cause sometimes of 
the bars being melted. It is not so much the heat 
above that melts them as their being for a time exposed 
to two fires. On asking one of my men how, in his 
opinion, the melting of furnace bars was occasioned, 
he answered promptly, and I think truly, “lazy 
stokers.” I should have said that the Swansea coal 
does not cake in the way that Mr. Peebles complains 
of, and must not be continually poked about as coke 
oftentimes is.— TV. B. G. 
A correspondent (at p. 359) asks if anthracite 
should be broken up before using. I say it depends 
upon the size of the fuel space in the boiler. If this is 
at all limited, the coal should be broken up. I have 
now had some year’s experience of anthracite both in 
an upright tubular and in several of the Loughborough 
style of boilers. In a large boiler good-sized pieces 
may be put in, but in smaller ones like the latter it is 
most essential that the fuel should be well broken up, 
otherwise there is no certainty of the fire keeping in. 
Mine has only been out once since Christmas. I find 
this coal can be had broken up into nut form, which 
is a boon, as it is very tough stuff to deal with one’s 
self.— J. F. Kew, Southend. 
My experience with anthracite has led me to the 
conclusion that it is the best fuel that can be had, but 
unless the furnace is set so that a good draught can be 
obtained, it is useless for anyone to attempt to burn 
it. I have used it in the tubular, the saddle, and 
horse-shoe boilers, for the last eight years. I have 
also used ordinary coal, coke, wood, and cinders, and 
for heat-giving power, cleanliness, and little trouble in 
stoking, give me anthracite coal before any other. 
"When lighting the fires I use rather more wood than I 
should do if using ordinary coal ; having got the wood 
thoroughly alight I put on two shovelfuls of coal 
broken into small pieces, draw the damper out to 
obtain a good draught, and in about twenty minutes I 
have a bright fire ; I then put on more coal, using it 
this time in larger pieces than before, and when this 
has got well alight, I ash it over with anthracite dust, 
or the ashes from previous fires, and at the same time 
put the damper in to allow of but a very little draught. 
I have no difficulty in keeping a good fire for twelve 
hours without attention in this way .—Joseph Parris , 
Junr., Northiam, Sussex. 
In your issue of January 26th (p. 340) Mr. J. Peebles 
related his experience with anthracite coal, and which 
to many horticulturists, bcth gardeners and amateurs, 
would, I fear, act as a bar to its use. Although your 
correspondent’s experience of anthracite has been so 
unfortunate, I am pleased to see that he remarks he 
has no desire to raise an argument against it. That 
the heating power of anthracite is greater than that of 
coke is, I believe, an undisputed fact ; but the mode of 
stoking in the two cases is somewhat different, and to 
secure all the advantages to be derived from the use of 
anthracite the stoker must apply the wisdom obtained 
by experience in the case of each fire over which he has 
charge. On the point of economy, there is no doubt 
that the use of anthracite reduces the labour of stoking 
from thirtyto fortypercent. for any kind of boiler. I was 
like Mr. Peebles in my first acquaintance with anthracite, 
being so unfortunate as to procure a truck load of some 
nine tons which was mostly dust, and I should think 
selected from the most inferior kind of coal, though it 
