September 19, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
89 
be rather difficult to manage. But from what source 
■does this impression arise ? Is it indeed a fact that 
they are really so difficult to grow, that we as 
gardeners feel justified in condemning them as un¬ 
worthy of notice ? Or is it because of the wholesale 
mania of the fashions of this age for cut-flowers in 
rooms, which has brought them down to such a low 
ebb, and well nigh ousted them from our midst ? This 
atter is, I believe, one cause of defective cultivation ; 
and if so, here is the key to the whole matter. We 
are not sufficiently versed in their simple require¬ 
ments, because they do not supply the demands for 
eut-flower decoration. Camellias do still hold 
their own, Azaleas partly so ; but these owe their 
existence possibly because they supply the wants of 
fashion, by adorning dead bodies and their graves ; 
and I sometimes think that if flowers were only 
brought into requisition when the life of a person 
had been a fitting resemblance to the purity of 
flowers, there would be but a small demand, there¬ 
fore we owe gratitude to fashion for the popularity 
of some of our best hard-wooded subjects. 
But to return to our subject culturally, what is the 
cause of so many miserably grown specimens of 
Heaths and Epacris and Azaleas, Chorizemas, 
Libonias, etc. ? In private gardens where they are 
permitted a place I find there is a prevailing idea 
amongst the majority of under gardeners that the 
family of Heaths and Azaleas must not be watered 
until the pots ring as though they were empty. 
This to me is a serious and mistaken notion, and the 
sooner we do our best to stamp o"ut such belief and 
to advise some more reliable guide, the earlier I 
think we are likely to see better examples of this 
beautiful race of plants in private collections. Too 
scanty a supply of water at the roots has, I believe, 
been the cause of the majority of unsightly objects. 
Some may say the opposite is the more likely cause. 
Well! I beg to differ. My belief, which is formed 
by observation and a love of these plants, is, that 
they are more frequently than otherwise allowed to 
go unwatered several days after they require it, the 
result being that the very small fibrous feeders be¬ 
come withered and die; and when water is applied, 
and that liberally, it may be too late. In conse¬ 
quence of this a partial shedding of the foliage takes 
place, and as time goes on (if left to the discretion of 
the inexperienced) the same treatment is repeated, 
and the ultimate result is death. 
I have recently had to deal with two houses 
almost full of such plants ; many have been con¬ 
signed to the fire, and many which remain are 
hardly worth shelter ; but every plant has been 
overhauled since June, and the change of colour in 
those plants, and which is already giving evidence 
in their favour, has pleasantly surprised me though 
I expected it in some degree. I ho more believe in 
a Heath or Azalea becoming dry, or any hard- 
wooded plants, than that forest trees should all be 
lifted and stored away in winter. My advice on 
this point then is, never allow the plants to become 
dry at the roots. Syringe Camellias and Azaleas 
all the year round, except when in bloom ; Heaths 
and Epacris syringe only during the period of early 
growth. Soot water given alternately with other 
manures is beneficial to Camellias after flower buds 
are formed, but not during the period of growth, as 
it causes soft wood, which will only produce buds of 
short duration, and which will fall undeveloped. 
Stove Plants. 
Dracaenas are a class of fplants which usually 
come in for a more liberal amount of water from 
the syringe than is good for them. That they grow 
and thrive under a fairly free use of the syringe 
cannot be denied, yet if anyone will test the matter 
for himself he will find that Dracaenas will retain their 
foliage much longer under the practice of cleansing 
by the sponge than they do by excessive syringing. 
But do I hear some say, we cannot spare the time 
for sponging ? If so, my answer is that you are 
compelled to sponge, or have dirty plants. Syringe 
as you will it increases the needy sponging, rather 
than diminishes it. Crotons you cannot very well 
injure by the syringing mode of cleansing; but 
examine the difference in the two plants just named. 
The foliage of Crotons is so constructed that it 
throws off any amount of water, while Dracmnas 
will conduct the water direct to each leaf axil, and 
you only need to examine them after the customary 
deluge to find that each leaf is converted into a sort 
of reservoir at the base. 
The Eucharis Lily is smother of those subject^ 
which become abused by a too liberal use of water, 
or it may be the opposite extreme of drying off, a 
system that a few years ago found favour in the minds 
of many. But this, which I arn disposed to call a 
mad practice, is I believe, almost put aside. The 
Eucharis does require large quantities of water, 
providing the temperature in which the plants grow 
is well maintained, and that the soil is moderately 
porous. Anything like a stagnant compost, aggra¬ 
vated further by a low temperature, are the most 
favourable conditions for an attack of the ao-ealled 
Eucharis mite, a creature. I never fear, so long aa 
the required treatment is .accorded the plants. 
Therefore,"syringing of plants with discretion is bene- 
ficial, outside that limit it becomes abusive, 
(To be continued.) 
——- 
WHAT IS A FRUIT OR A 
VEGETABLE ? 
NoTiciNoin your issue of September 5th, pp. 4 and 5, 
as to what is a fruit or a vegetable, Tomatos and 
Cucumbers being alluded to, also as to how they should 
be classed at exhibitions, I myself have never seen the 
Tomato staged with a collection of fruits, neither 
should I think of doing so. As a general rule, 
we see them staged with good collections of vege¬ 
tables, which I consider carries considerable weight 
in those exhibits, providing they are good. Neither 
have I seen a collection of vegetables disqualified 
through the Tomato being admitted, when judged 
by practical men. I have staged three collections 
recently, each time including a good brace of Cu¬ 
cumbers, and a good dish of Tomatos, and secured 
three first prizes. Considering the different ways 
the Tomato is used, and consumed as a vegetable, 
my decided opinion is that it is a vegetable, and not 
a fruit.— J. Carter, Wombourn Gardens, Wolverhampton. 
The Tomato, I consider, has only two recommenda¬ 
tions to be classed as a fruit, namely, because it is 
the produce of the plant, and secondly, on account of 
its colour, and in this there is nothing in the whole 
range of the finer fruits that can excel the Tomato in 
its beautiful glowing crimson. This is where exhi¬ 
bitors are betrayed by admitting them into their 
fruit trays ; but exhibitors are not alone in this 
respect by any means. Amusing cases have come 
under my own personal knowledge where friends 
have been led to purchase them by their charming 
colour alone. Quality or taste is the predominating 
factor which consigns all to a proper place. Toma¬ 
tos are acid and pungent in taste, and I unhesitat¬ 
ingly pronounce them a vegetable, more fitted for the 
culinary department, such as for soups, sauces, 
salads, pickles and other savory dishes, hot or cold, 
cooked or raw. Their want of a sufficient amount 
of saccharine matter, or sugar, prevents them com¬ 
peting with the commoner pastry fruits, as the 
Strawberry, Gooseberry, Apple, Pear, etc., leaving 
out the higher dessert fruits, such as Grapes, Figs, 
Peaches, Melons, and others. ‘-J. F.” is a capital 
vegetable expositor, knowing how to steer clear of the 
botanical and public expressions.— B.L. 
SEEDLING CARNATIONS. 
Mr. William Wardell has sent me from Luton, on 
two occasions, a collection of blooms of his fancy 
Carnations, as he states in a letter accompanying 
them, for the purpose of enabling me to see what 
he is doing in the way of producing novel colours in 
this class of Carnations, one in which he takes the 
greatest interest. Every season Mr. Wardell raises 
many hundreds of seedlings—he obtains the best 
seeds he can procure, and perhaps in growing and 
blooming his plants in the open border, gets more 
genuine pleasure out of growing his Carnations than 
any other person in the county in which he resides. 
In the collection there are nearly 100 blooms, all 
fully double, and beginning with pure white seifs, 
they run up through many gradations of colour and 
variations in combinations and markings to rich deep 
maroon seifs. 
Some of the Fancies have slaty blue grounds of 
various shades, with stripes of various colours, bright 
carmine preponderating; and they are extremely 
showy. Mr. Wardell grows nothing in pots, but all 
in the open ground. He does not thin out his flowers, 
nor card or dress them in any way ; they grow and 
bloom according to their own bent, and make his 
garden a true Carnation parterre. He can cut hun¬ 
dreds of flowers without any difficulty, and many a 
friend experiences the delight of receiving a bunch. 
There is one great advantage in growing Carnations 
in this way — there is an overflow of bloom, enough and 
to spare — and others can participate in the pleasure 
a sight of pretty flowers can impart, Mr, Wardell 
sows in autumn and spring bo.h, and there is a long 
and plentiful succession of flowers during the bloom 
Ing season.— R. D. 
_ _ 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
A meetins of the Fruit and Vegetable Committee 
of the Royal Horticultural Society was held at Chis¬ 
wick, on the 3rd inst., when the collections of 
Potatos, Turnips, Runner Beans, and Tomatos 
growing in the gardens were examined. Of Potatos 
the crop in general was found to be inferior, the 
tubers large and coarse, and most of the varieties 
greatly diseased. The following sorts were selected 
by the Committee for appearance, cropping, etc., 
and then cooked:—Malshanger Kidney (Kneller), 
Radclyffe Kidney (Selby), The Gentleman (Veitch), 
Lord Salisbury (Wiles), The Times (Ross), Elling¬ 
ton’s Prolific (Ellington), Seedling (Studd), Mottled 
Beauty (Wiles), Market Favourite (Ellington), 
Crawley Prizetaker (Cheal), and Renown (Nye) 
Mottled Beauty, Ellington’s Prolific, and Crawley 
Prizetaker receiving three marks (xx x) each. 
Of Turnips, forty-eight lots were grown, the 
following receiving x x x :—The Early Milan (Veitch, 
Benary, Harrison), the Early White Strapleaf 
American Stone (Vilmorin), the Large White Globe 
Purple-Top (Vilmorin), the Large Green Globe (Vil¬ 
morin), and Early Snow Ball (Veitch). 
Scarlet and other Runner Beans.—Forty-four lots, 
These were found to be scarcely in condition for 
examination, with few exceptions. A First-class 
Certificate was awarded to Sutton's Tender and True 
—a Runner Bean of the dwarf kidney section, with 
fine, long, straight pods. 
Tomatos.—Of these 117 lots were grown under 
glass, the following receiving x x x :—Golden Sunrise 
(Veitch, Barr, Daniels), Golden Nugget (Sutton) 
Italian Wonder (Hooper), 
Gardening Miscellany. 
IS SOIL INEXHAUSTIBLE? 
The American Agriculturist practically says no. 
This is how it arrives at this conclusion:—• 
“ One foot in depth of a fairly good agricultural 
soil contains 4,000 pounds of phosphoric acid, 8,000 
pounds of potash, 16,000 pounds of nitrogen and 
lime, magnesia, soda, chlorine, sulphur and silica 
to afford food for all the crops which these 
three elements can feed per acre. After farmers, by 
careful and skilful cultivation, have exhausted all 
this great store of plant food in the uppermost foot 
of this soil, which will require several centuries, will 
the soil be exhausted ? Not at all. As the land is 
gradually changed into vegetable growth, and the 
surface is removed as farm crops, as it gradually 
deepens, the subsoil which contains the very same 
elements becomes fitted for plant food. And thus 
the imperishable nature of matter applies to the soil, 
which can never be exhausted during all the ages 
which are to come. All that mankind has to do is 
to use its arts, under the instruction of science, to 
develop this latent fertility of the soil, and to go on 
feeding the human race until the end, if an end ever 
shall come, when the earth will no longer exist as a 
fit habitation for mankind." 
CHELONE BARBATA. 
In the happily-reviving taste for herbaceous plants 
this old-fashioned perennial should not be overlooked. 
It comes freely from seed, and once established, holds 
on most persistently. At the foot of a hedge or paling, 
or anywhere where it can have something to cling to 
for support, it is happy. The long slender racemes 
of coral flowers make it a most charming subject 
to use for filling tall epergnes, and, if tastefully mixed 
with asparagus foliage, it is as bright and graceful a 
thing as th: most fastidious could wish.— Deticniensis, 
LABURNUM TREES |N TOWNS. 
What a pity it is that the pods of this, one of the 
very best ornamental town trees w; have, should be 
rather poisonous, Scarcely a year passes in this 
locality but emetics have to be. given to chfldrerj 
through eating them, go where \y§ may in mo§ 
