66 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 3, 1891. 
FLORICULTURE. 
The Florists' Laced Pink. 
With some diffidence I venture a response to the 
appeal of Mr. Thurstan anent the properties of laced 
Pinks. I have never grown the Pink for competition 
or for sale, and as my interest in it has mostly cen¬ 
tred in my own garden during the last forty years, 
I know but little of what the Florist would make of 
its standard of perfection. I am an amateur pure 
and simple, but love the Dianthus family in all its 
forms. I am pleased that my old friend Mr. Dod- 
well has quoted from the Rev. Geo. Jeans. I have 
read his observations as well as the opinions of 
others of the old school of Florists with much 
interest, and which are of great interest as far as 
they go. But the culture of the laced Pink is pro¬ 
gressive, and it was a good suggestion of Mr. 
Thurstan, that now there are signs of a vigorous 
revival, those who grow this charming flower should 
debate its points of perfection, as regards form, 
substance, colour, and lacing. The old laced Pink 
of our fathers was doubtless a thing of beauty in 
every way, and those who gave their attention to it 
in times past had cause to be proud of the degree of 
perfection to which they brought it. I would not 
restrict the size of the bloom, the number of the 
petals, or the particular hue of colour. I hope to 
see before I have done such flowers as in form and 
lacing have only yet been dreamt of, and the recent 
developments in the Carnation should encourage 
Pink raisers in their efforts. I have this season had 
such a show of border Pinks from seed sown in 1889- 
1890, as leads me to hope for great things ; and my 
large bed of seedlings of the laced and fringed 
section has given me a supply of cut blooms for 
decorative purposes since the commencement of June. 
The profusion of bloom, the purity of the ground 
colour, the delicacy of the fringing and the distinc¬ 
tiveness of the lacing have been a glory to my garden, 
but the rich aroma has been a charm to the neigh¬ 
bourhood. Oh ! say you, these are only the old 
fringed Pinks ! True, but they are sweet beyond con¬ 
ception, and with single or double blooms nothing 
could be more brilliant for a mixed border, or for the 
decoration of the table. Then as for size, I had Pinks 
galore from seed of Mrs. Sinkins and the Boiard class, 
which have had their own pgculiar charm in the 
brilliant purity of the white ground, and the richness 
of the aroma. Of course I must confess that each of 
these has been so full of petals that nearly every pod 
burst before it could develop its beauty, still for the 
table, the bouquet, or mural decoration, what could 
surpass them ? If, then, such advances can be made 
in one section, may we not hope for still further 
progress in the border Pink, and if so we may with 
confidence look for rapid advancement with the re¬ 
fined forms of the laced Pink. 
But what about the properties of the Pink for pre¬ 
miership honours ? I think the qualification should 
be the greatest size of petal, the best substance of 
petal, the most perfect form, most exact lacing, and 
the greatest number of petals consistent with the 
perfect delineation of the lacing, let the colour be 
what it may. Of course a split calyx should under 
any circumstance disqualify any flower exhibited, 
and no bloom should be worth a premier prize that 
will not bear itself in form without a collar or tie of 
any sort. Whilst I would make this a rule for 
selecting the premier I would not discard from the 
show table the charming things which may be found 
among the fringed section. I hope some other of 
your Pink-loving readers will give us the benefit of 
their opinions, on the principle of the old saw that 
“ in the multitude of councillors there is wisdom.”— 
IF. Wardill, Luton. 
ABOUT SNOWDROPS. 
The raising of seedling Snowdrops is not at all 
difficult. After gathering the seed.it should be kept 
in an airy place for a week or two to thoroughly 
ripen, and then it should be sown as soon as possible. 
I have not met with much success frcm sowings in 
the open ground, so I now' always use boxes, and I 
find that brandy cases are very suitable for the pur¬ 
pose, as they are strongly made of good wood, and 
are not so deep as most boxes of the size, I bore 
twenty-five $ in. holes in the bottom, and then nail 
8 2 jn square strip pf reel deal abopt ^ jn from 
each end. This keeps the boxes off the ground, makes 
them handy to move, and prevents stagnation. I use 
ample drainage and a free soil wfith plenty of grit in 
it to keep it sweet. The seed is sown in drills about 
J in. deep, the drills filled up with silver sand, and 
then £ in. of sifted soil put over the whole. Each 
box is numbered at the end or right side, and in my 
reference book I enter the particulars of the seed 
sown in each row. These boxes are placed about 
two feet from a low north wall, and are never pro¬ 
tected in any way. They require but little attention ; 
of course the weeds must be kept down, and a little 
fresh soil added after the second year. The Mar- 
chan tia and Spergula are the greatest pests in this 
work. I usually let the seedlings remain in the boxes 
until seme of them begin to flower, which generally 
occurs the fourth season. Galanthus seed comes up 
very irregularly, and when seedlings are removed 
from the boxes they will be found to vary from the 
size of a wheat corn to that of blooming bulbs. Seed 
of G. lutescens does not germinate for several years 
as a rulij. Last spring, in the same box, and from 
seed sown at the same time, I had G. Imperati in 
flower and G. lutescens making its first appearance. 
If Snowdrop seed is kept till the spring, it will not 
germinate until the following spring. The true 
quality and size of seedlings cannot be ascertained 
until the third or fourth year of flowering. 
With me G. nivalis grows freely in all soils and 
situations. G. plicatus is not very particular, but 
still seme of its varieties require extra care, 'as they 
have an unpleasant way of disappearing. G. Elwesii 
dees not do well in close, retentive soil. G. lati- 
folius and G. caucasius I believe prefer gritty loam, 
and I should say that G. Fosteri would also like it. 
Mr. A. D. Webster tells me that peat has quite a 
magical effect on Snowdrops, but I have not tried it. 
My ideal soil for Snowdrops in general would be half 
good sweet yellow loam and almost half unsifted 
river-grit, and a little leaf mould. The situation I 
should choose would be a gently sloping bank, more 
or less shaded by trees whose roots were allowed to 
wander freely among the Snowdrops. I believe 
that all bulbs are healthier when planted amongst 
active roots than in ordinary beds. When the bulbs 
are at rest it is very essential that the soil should be 
kept sweet by the activity of other roots. We too 
often lose sight of this fact. I think the autumnal- 
flowering Snowdrops should be treated as alpines. 
All my best Snowdrops are grown under trees, the 
soil being quite full of their roots. I do not use 
manure for them. In the same situation the white 
Daffodils do well, and even Nar. pallidus priecox 
seems happy, and the delicate little N. cyclamineus 
is sending up its buds for the third or fourth time. 
Here, too, the Irises of the reticulata group — sophe- 
nensis, hfrtrioides, Kolpakowskiana, and Krelagei — 
grow freely. The wonderful Iris Rosenbachiana, 
planted in 1888, has again just opened its beautiful 
flowers. I. Histrio I cannot manage. The only 
drawback to my situation for these spring gems is 
the soiling of the flowers from the droppings of the 
trees. I should mention that the climate is so trying 
that I cannot grow such hardy plants as Primroses, 
Pinks, Daisies, &c. All these disappear after a sea¬ 
son or two. 
I move most of my Snowdrops when in full flower, 
and do not find they are injured by it in any way. 
This is also the best time for moving Leucojum 
vernum. 
I have noticed that the more green colour there is 
in any Snowdrop the more freely it grows and the 
more rapidly it increases, whilst the absence of 
green, or the substitution of yellow for the green, 
makes the plant delicate and.slow of increase. G. 
Scharlokii, G. poculiformis, and G. lutescens illus¬ 
trate this point. 
In very frosty weather, when the young growth of 
Snowdrops appears to be shrivelled and dried up, I 
have an idea that the vital juices of the plant are 
instinctively drawn into the bulb, which acts as a 
reservoir. If the juices were left in the young leaves, 
would they not become frozen, and so destroy the 
tissues of the plant ? 
When lifting Snowdrops which are in full flower, 
I have often noticed that the bulbs are very soft and 
spongy, as though they had exhausted all their sub¬ 
stance in perfecting the flowers. 
In 1SS9 the Snowdrop fungus appeared in my gar¬ 
den ; last season it visited me again, and this year it 
is working destruction amongst seme of my choicest 
varieties The feeling of utter helplegspess is very- 
depressing. I can hear of no remedy or preventive. 
Still I do not intend to give up in despair, but intend 
to work on and hope for ‘' a good time coming '' when 
the terrible fungus shall be a thing of the past. A 
faint heart never made a good gardener, and with 
that sentiment I will conclude my rambling remarks 
on Snowdrops . — James Alien, Shepton Mallet, in the 
Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. 
MARKET GARDENING. 
Until a few weeks ago it had not been my privilege 
for some years to visit the neighbourhoods of Ches- 
hunt, Broxbourne and Sawbridgewcrth, which, so 
far as building operations are concerned, show com¬ 
paratively few changes, and yet some of the old 
landmarks have been removed. In the march of 
human progress, however, these comparatively quiet 
districts are in some respects quite abreast' of the 
age, and particularly in Horticultural matters. 
Indeed, in some departments of horticulture 
they are quite to the front, and are leaders rather 
than followers. Cheshunt was long ago famous for 
its Roses, Hollyhocks and Orchids ; and Sawbridge- 
worth for its Orchard houses. 
The names of Paul and Rivers are almost house¬ 
hold words throughout the gardening community, 
and more recently there'has sprang up in Cheshunt 
parish what is almost a new industry—we allude to 
the enormous establishments of' Messrs. Rcchford 
for the cultivation of Grapes, Cucumbers and 
Tomatos, etc., for the London market. The bare 
statement of actual facts relating to these establish¬ 
ments would almost appear to be mythical to many, 
and yet an inspection of these monster glass houses 
with crops of Cucumbers hanging by the thousand 
dozens, Grapes and Tomatos by the ton. The 
quantities grown make it a good paying business at 
prices on which the small grower would almost 
starve. 
In addition to these fruits they are growing 
Palms by the million, made up of enormous 
quantities of Seaforthias, Latanias, Areca lutescens, 
Kentias, Cocos, and others. A very large batch of 
Lomaria gibba was one of the best I have ever seen. 
The stock of Adiantum cuneatum for cutting from 
during the winter was out in cold frames freely 
exposed to the sun, in fact a goodly number were 
standing outside without any protection. Chrysan¬ 
themums are grown in No. 16 pots for cut flower 
purposes in large quantities, and well done 
too. The stock consists in one nursery of 
1,500 plants, all in the rudest health. To give some 
idea of the extent of the vineries I may say that one 
of them covers an acre of ground, and there is 
another in which over a thousand Vines are planted. 
In this house they are planted out all over the 
border and trained upright, no canes being trained 
under the glass in this house. There is in this, and 
all the other houses, a splendid crop ; but the fruit 
hanging among the foliage and branches will not I 
think stand so good a chance of getting well 
finished as where the rods are trained under the 
roof and the bunches hang clear of both foliage and 
laterals. None but late Grapes are grown in the 
nursery I looked in at, and only three kinds, viz.. 
Gros Colmar, Alicante, and Muscat of Alexandria. 
The favourite with the Messrs. Rochford, judging 
by the extent to which it is grown, is Gros Colmar. 
If these monster fruit growing establishments could 
be distributed all over the country and be worked at 
a profit, the labour problem would be getting nearer 
a solution, for where one member of this enterprising 
family employs 150 hands there were in all pro¬ 
bability not more than two or three receiving weekly 
wages for working on the same ground. Years 
back the building of an additional labourer's cottage 
would be a very rare event, but one of the brothers 
Rochford has frcm sheer necessity been obliged to 
erect a long row of cottages for the proper housing 
of his employees. 
On the journey down to Cheshunt I was very 
much struck with the totally different methods of 
cropping the ground now as compared with the time 
I went about the fields gathering wild flowers and 
Blackberries. Then it was all farm land, mostly 
under Corn and Potatos, now down to Waltham the 
land is almost all under garden crops. There are 
literally miles of market gardens, and very many of 
them have glass erections upon them, and some of 
them of considerable extent, All this means the 
cheapening of produce which not so v?rv lb! 1 *' §in?ff 
