September 26, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
51 
Crimson Queen, May’s Favourite, 490 (Cooper) 
Devonian, Waite's Glenhurst Favourite, Clibran's 
Tomato, Perfection Surpass^, Turner's Hybrid, and 
perhaps Barr's Long Keeper, but the latter seems 
earlier, having one or two of the lower bunches ripe, 
and a heavy crop. The unripe fruits of Daniels’ 
Harbinger are remarkably pale in colour compared 
with the others while yet in the green state. 
Cooper's Luscious proves to be identical with the 
Peach, and is notable for its downy skin and sweet 
though not always very rich flavour. The peculiar 
red colour proves objectionable to some, but colour 
is not always a guide to quality. The Flying Dutch¬ 
man is a heavy cropping sort, dwarf, slender stemmed, 
with medium sized flattened scarlet fruits, of which 
about two of the lower bunches are ripe. It would 
evidently prove suitable for cottagers. The same 
might be said of Barr's Early Ruby, which is similarly 
dwarf, and early. Challenger and Race Americaine 
are other sorts with fine, deeply globose fruits compar¬ 
able to those of Chemin. It bears heavily. May¬ 
flower bears an even crop of medium sized deep red 
fruits ; but Jackson's Favourite is rather thinly 
fruited. The same may be said of Bountiful, a fruit 
of the Ham Green Favourite type. Courtet has 
small, globose fruits apparently similar in colour to 
those of Dedham Favourite, but the crop is only fair. 
Gilbert Surpasse and the Hovey are others of the 
Ham Green Favourite type, cropping heavily, and 
one or two of the lower bunches are ripe. Arlington 
crops well and has globose or slightly flattened 
smooth fruits. Scovill’s Hybrid has medium to large 
sized, red fruits, but few of .them are yet ripe, 
although the crop is sometimes good. 
A large number of sorts have more or less corru¬ 
gated or ribbed fruits of the old Large Red type, 
and although they cannot compare in appearance 
with the smooth fruited kinds yet they are generally 
hardier in constitution and fruit more freely in the 
open air in many cases than varieties of the Perfec¬ 
tion type. Smooth varieties of hardy constitution 
and free fruiting qualities may yet however drive 
them from the field. Earley’s Defiance crops w^ell 
and is only slightly ribbed. A larger fruit perhaps of 
the same type is Carter’s Market Favourite, which 
crops well. Early Evesham Prolific is a small or 
medium sized kind with the lower two bunches ripe. 
Sutton's Main Crop is medium sized, ribbed, free 
fruiting sort. Dobbie's Prolific and Glamorgan are 
dwarf, heavily cropping sorts, with one or two of the 
lower bunches ripe when we noted them. Harefield 
Grove Selected has much larger fruits, but the crop 
is not a heavy one. Goldfinder is perhaps less deeply 
corrugated and the crop only a fair one. Orange- 
field and Rouge Nain a gros fruit are dwarf kinds 
with small, ribbed, red fruits. Those of Rouge 
Monstreuse d’Enigma are much larger but very ugly 
and deeply fluted. Rouge a gros fruit is evidently 
simply the well known Large Red. Rose Fruited 
Giant bears heavily, and probably differs from the 
last chiefly in colour. The Shah is a deep-red kind, 
but is only a moderate cropper, judging from the 
plants here. The same may be said of President 
Garfield, which has very large, ribbed fruits. Broad 
Leaved Dwarf is a large fruited, late kind. Abun¬ 
dance (Barr) has medium to large sized fruits and 
crops well. The same may be said of Hundred 
Day; but New Puritan fruits thinly. 
A number of varieties are characterised by their 
small fruits, which might be useful in certain cases 
by way of ornament or variety. Yellow Pear-shaped, 
so called, has oval, golden-yellow fruits about the 
size of a small plum, and very pretty, but the crop is 
thin. Queen of Tomatos is red and truly pear-shaped. 
Sutton’s Cluster and Cherry Red have small red 
fruits about the size of Cherries, but do not crop 
heavily. Sutton’s Golden Nugget has small, oblong 
golden-yellow fruits and bears well. 
fellow varieties are now pretty numerous, but few 
of them bear heavy crops in the open ground at 
least in bad seasons. Carter’s Harefield Gem is 
exceptional, and bears a heavy crop of large flattened, 
somewhat ribbed fruits close to the ground. Webb’s 
Sensation is a stronger grower, with smoother fruits 
but later in ripening. The fruits of Daniels’ Golden 
Eagle are flattened, deeply ribbed, and plentiful. 
Williams’ Golden Queen bears large shallowly 
ribbed fruits, but few of them. The fruits of Sutton’s 
Golden Perfection are of medium size and fine shape, 
but the crop is poor. On the contrary Sutton’s 
Golden Queen is dwarf with a heavy crop of 
slightly ribbed fruits. The crop rj poldep Eagle i 9 
thin; while the slightly ribbed fruits of Daniels’ 
Golden Sunrise are large and late. Daniels' Golden 
Drop seems rather uncertain in character. A fair 
crop of large, slightly ribbed fruits are borne by 
Dicksons' Yellow King. Round Yellow is a medium¬ 
sized, globose, often ribbed fruit, produced in fair 
quantity. The same may be said of Golden Sunrise, 
but the fruits are smooth, with one or two of the 
lower bunches colouring. Barr's Golden Surprise 
has large, smooth fruits in fair quantity and just 
beginning to colour. That named Golden Rod has 
large, ribbed fruits rather thinly produced. A few 
of the kinds having been destroyed by disease are 
not included in the above new trial. The old sorts 
on the same border we may discuss on a future 
occasion. 
■» 
JAPAN ANEMONES. 
Hardy border flowers are still moderately plentiful 
in our locality, but a large proportion of them con¬ 
sist of the autumn flowering Phloxes (hybrids of P. 
paniculata, P. accuminata, and P. decussata), also 
perennial Sunflower, Golden Rod—species of Soli- 
dago, late-flowering Aconites, and some others of 
that class. Anemone japonica and its varieties, 
therefore, take a leading place as the choicest of 
hardy plants either for beds or borders. Compara¬ 
tively a few years ago the ordinary rosy-purple form 
was the commonest in the northern counties, if 
indeed it was not the only one obtainable. Now the 
white variety (A. japonica alba), often styled 
Honorine Jobert, is gradually finding a place in every 
good collection of herbaceous plants. This will no 
doubt continue to be so, as summer bedding plants 
are getting less popular than they used to be on ac¬ 
count of frequently recurring wet seasons, which 
entirely spoil such things as Pelargoniums and 
Lobelias of the dwarf or Cape type. Our moist 
climate induces a great amount of growth, but 
flowering is reduced to a minimum. 
Some years ago the old Anemone japonica was 
considered worthy of a place as a bedding plant on 
the outskirts of the flower garden, but although not 
ousted by A. j. alba, the latter is more than a rival 
for it, on account of its more graceful and freer 
flowering propensities. The great size of the flowers 
in each case may well be compared to single Dahlias, 
than which they are hardier and cost much less 
expense, both in the matter of labour and artificial 
heat, the Anemones being perfectly hardy and easily 
propagated either in winter or spring. The rosy- 
purple flowers of A. japonica are rather smaller than 
those of the white one, but they have much more 
numerous and narrower sepals ; and the plant is as 
a rule the dwarfer of the two, although that may be 
a matter of cultivation or richer soil sometimes. 
For cut flowers the white one is the most popular, 
being well adapted for vases either by itself or 
mixed with other flowers with which it associates 
well. The long flower stalks enable it to be inserted 
without crowding, and the purity of the flowers 
when not spoiled by storms of wind and rain is very 
telling amongst blooms of a darker hue. The neat 
cluster of yellow stamens in the centre improves 
rather than detracts from the beauty of the whole. 
I cannot pass over another variety which, although 
less common, is yet highly ornamental and distinct. 
I allude to A. j. elegans, rightly so named, for the 
long flower stems are elegantly branched, and show 
off the rosy flowers to advantage. It is highly suit¬ 
able for cut flower purposes, and exhibits an inte- 
mediate shade of colour between the two already 
mentioned. All the three blend together very well in 
mixture, and when set up with a few orange and 
scarlet single Dahlias, with sufficient foliage of some 
kind or other, the effect is charming. The rosy 
variety resembles the white one to a certain extent 
in having but a few broad sepals to each flower; but 
the plant grows taller than either of the other two. 
All may readily be propagated by division in the 
autumn or spring, but the tall does not increase very 
rapidly, at least with me. In the spaces between 
the old stools and on the margins of the beds plenty 
of suckers may be found, and which if dug up may 
be transferred to nursery quarters, or new planta¬ 
tions may be made with the stronger ones during 
the present or next month. They will have plenty 
of time to establish themselves before winter, and 
they will flower fairly well next autumn. Japan 
Anemones are gross feeders, and will repay the 
mulching of the beds during winter with old hot-bed 
manure —S. 
frmrn t Wvvlt r 
of 
Vitality of a Fritillary Bulb. — In the year 
1876, Mr. C. Packe, F.L.S., visited the Maritime 
Alps in quest of a yellow Fritillary which was found 
there by Moggridge, and coming across it in June of 
that year he collected five plants, three of which he 
dried for his herbarium, while the other two he 
planted in his garden. This occurred about four 
years previous to its introduction to this country for 
commercial purposes. In the spring of the two follow¬ 
ing years Mr. Packe visited his garden with the 
object of seeing whether his plants had come up, 
but there was no sign of them, and he concluded 
that the removal of them from their alpine home 
had caused them to die, as often happens when 
alpines are transferred to an uncongenial soil and 
climate. Thirteen years later, on the 5th of May, 
1889, his attention was called to a yellow Fritillary 
which had made its appearance, and on examination 
proved to be the identical plant which he had 
collected. One of the bulbs carried a flower, while 
the other had leaves only. There were no other 
yellow Fritillaries in the garden, so there could be no 
doubt that the bulbs had lain dormant in the soil for 
a period of thirteen years. Various names have been 
applied to the plant, but F. delphinensis Moggridgei 
is the correct one. 
Miraculous Berry.— There are about sixty 
species of Sideroxylon scattered through South 
Africa, Australia, New Zealand and one in Madeira. 
There are several of them in West Africa, known for 
their remarkable sweetness, and of these S. dulci- 
ferum is the most important, to which the name 
Miraculous Berry is applied. The fruits when eaten 
are so excessively sweet that it is possible to drink 
lime-juice, vinegar and tartaric acid without any 
unpleasant sensation. Several of the plants have 
been introduced to this country and grown in the 
economic houses of botanic gardens chiefly, but they 
are of no value for horticultural purposes, and can 
consequently never become popular here. They are 
either trees or shrubs, and require to get to some size 
before they will bear fruit. 
The Crests on Odontoglossum. —The crests 
on the lip of different species of Odontoglossum are 
usually well marked and very varied, so that they 
often assist greatly in discriminating between one 
species and another. The function these crests per¬ 
form is generally spoken of as an aid to fertilisation, 
that is, in compelling insects to enter the flower in a 
particular way when in search of food. In a very 
large number of them the crest is regularly forked in 
the centre of the middle line of the lip and also 
right in front of the main body of the excrescence, 
no matter how many branches or rays it may have 
on each side of the central fork. While the flower 
is in the bud state this central fork has evidently a 
function to perform; for it will be found that the 
gland to which the pollinia are attached, as well as 
the projecting rostellum on which the gland rests, 
fit nearly into this fork, and are thereby protected 
from undue pressure either by the lip in front or side 
ways. The depth of the ridges of the middle fork 
is sufficiently great to allow of the projecting ros¬ 
tellum and gland to be accommodated without being 
squeezed, and thus one of the most delicate pieces 
of mechanism of the flower is protected trom injury. 
-J. F. 
Proliferous Sheep’s Fescue. —The Brecknock 
Beacons are covered with vegetation to the very top. 
On the brow of the cliffs on one side, just above a 
perpendicular face, are several uncommon plants 
and some comparatively rare ones. On the top of 
the peaks the turf consists largely of Festuca ovina, 
and that to a great extent by the proliferous variety 
(F. o. vivipara), in which what should be seeds are 
replaced by plantlets bearing small green leaves 
capable of becoming plants when brought in contact 
with the soil. The reason probably why this par¬ 
ticular variety is so common would be that the great 
altitude and exposure are unfavourable to the ripen¬ 
ing of seeds. Being a long lived and durable grass 
the turf would not require very frequent renewing, 
and the plantlets of this proliferous variety would be 
quite sufficient to refill vacant spaces as they oc¬ 
curred. The wind would be quite sufficient to 
disperse the little plants. Some other mountain 
plants are occasionally or habitually proliferous, sy.cht 
U5 Sajqfraga stellarjs, 
