October 10, 1891. 
THE GARDE NING WORLD 
87 
ceeding which might result in loss and disappoint¬ 
ment. I think, however, there may be many who 
have surplus stock who would like to make a trial of 
this method of Cape bulb culture, and again, there 
may be some—indeed I know there are some who 
are now doing it—who would like to grow tnem in 
the open ground, if possible, but who either cannot, 
or do not care to give them space under glass. 
But for the general culture of Cape bulbs in a 
manner in which they may all be grown together 
with certainty, the cold greenhouse is the best ; and 
as they prefer a dry rather than a moist air in the 
house they occupy, there is no class of plants better 
adapted for growing in conservatories, either in 
town or country ; indeed, so grown, they thrive far 
better than they do in the warm plant-houses, in 
which too many of them meet their end. 
Generally speaking the Nerines and many other 
Cape bulbs grow' through the winter, and careful 
observation of their foliage will give the grower a 
good guide as to his procedure in the matter of 
giving water. As soon as the leaves turn yellow 
(generally in May) water should be withheld from 
the deciduous kinds, and not a drop given until the 
flower-spikes appear in the end of the summer, or 
until, by the advancing growth of the leaves, it is 
seen that water must be given. During the resting 
season, if the atmosphere of the house in which the 
Nerines and other deciduous Cape bulbs are grown 
cannot be kept dry and airy, or if a shelf in a well- 
ventilated place cannot be found for them, they had 
better be placed in a cold frame, with the lights 
tilted back and front (but still left oyer them to keep 
rains oft), for abundance of air they must have, or 
degeneration and inability to flower results. These 
remarks apply especially to N. curvifolia and others 
grouped with it. N. flexuosa and its hybrids; 
N. angustifolia, N. pulchella, and their hybrids, par¬ 
take more of an evergreen character, and require a 
shorter dry period than the others. As requiring 
the same treatment as the Nerines should be men¬ 
tioned the Haemanthus, Brunsvigia, Buphane, 
Hessea, and the Gastronema section of Cyrtanthus, 
which appears to me to differ mainly from the 
Monella section in the treatment they require by 
their being deciduous, and consequently wanting a 
distinct dry season of rest. —From a paper by Mr. 
James O'Brien, read at a meeting of the R.H.S. on Ap.21. 
(To be continued.) 
T ♦ . 
INTERNATIONAL EXHI¬ 
BITIONS. 
Though International horticultural exhibitions 
held in this country never strongly bring out the 
cultural capabilities of other nations, as Industrial 
exhibitions, when of an International character, do 
as regards the arts and sciences, it is very probable 
that at such an exhibition as that recently held at 
Edinburgh, were good prizes offered to foreign fruit 
growers, exhibits from foreign countries would have 
been forthcoming. Doubtless, many of your readers 
remember the grand Fruit Show held at South 
Kensington in October, 18G2, at which fruits of 
foreign growth were strongly represented. The col¬ 
lections of foreign grapes were certainly very interest¬ 
ing, and to those engaged in the wine trade were 
especially so. 
The immense variety of grapes, as seen both in 
form and colour, many of them brown or " grizzly," 
and the berries mostly small, in compactly set 
bunches, were very characteristic, but the exhibits 
of which I retain the most vivid recollection 
were the grand pyramids of fruit set up in 
such an imposing manner by the Covent Garden 
salesmen, and by the Messrs. Soloman in particular. 
It was freely asserted by experienced fruit growers 
and salesmen that finer Apples and Pears had never 
previously been seen in this country, certainly never 
by myself, and both before that time and since I 
have spent much of my time in the best fruit growing 
counties of England. 
The greater portion of the salesmen’s grand collec¬ 
tions came from France, but of course the Grapes as 
regards quality were not to be compared with those 
seen at the great Edinburgh shows. The magni¬ 
ficent samples of Muscat of Alexandria, from a 
Mr. Drummond, however, were regarded as the 
finest ever seen in London previous to that time. I 
remember well that the late Mr. G. Tillyard’s splen¬ 
did bunches of the same variety, 18 in. long, had to be 
placed second, Mr, Tillyard also had Hamburgh 
such as admirers of that excellent black Grape 
would go a long distance to see, yet Mr. Drummond 
had better and was placed first. Mr. Tillyard’s 
collection of fruit from Stanmore Priory was also of 
great excellence, and certainly would have compared 
most favourably with any of the collections at the 
late Edinburgh show. 
The memorable exhibition of May, 18G6, is still 
more within our recollection, but that was chiefly a 
great plant show and mostly English. Foreigners 
can easily bring fruit to this country, but would not 
so readily risk the journey with collections of plants. 
Reverting to the show of 1SG2, it may be remarked 
that Scotland took high honours for a most meri¬ 
torious collection of Pears exhibited by Lord Stair’s 
then gardener, Mr. Anderson. I could say much 
about the first International Show held in Britain, 
and which although got up in a hurry brought to¬ 
gether the greatest assemblage of horticulturists of 
all classes that I have ever seen, the predominating 
influence no doubt being the second great World’s 
Fair which was held the same year. What the 
horticulturists did so grandly in 1862 and in 1866 
they could easily do again if they so willed it.— 
Stirling. 
Gardening Hiscellany. 
CjL ’x^Ti 
BOLTONIA ASTEROIDES DECURRENS. 
The resemblance between the stems and flower 
heads of this plant and those of an Aster is consider¬ 
able as implied by the specific name. The variety 
is more valuable for garden purposes than the type 
in several respects. The stems are dwarfer, but 
being 4 ft. to 4.$ ft. high, may still be considered tall. 
The lanceolate, elongated, deep glaucous green 
leaves are decurrent upon the stems, as implied by 
decurrens, and herein lies a leading distinction, for 
botanical purposes. The flower heads are of rela¬ 
tively large size, rosy-lilac and slightly deflexed, 
showing a bold and prominent golden-yellow disc. 
Those of the’type are smaller, white, and considerably 
less ornamental. The most suitable place for it is 
in the back line of a herbaceous border, or in the 
shrubbery, where it would be seen to great advantage 
by contrast with the usual occupants. It is at its 
best during October, but commences long previously 
to that, and is, therefore, worthy of consideration 
for autumn flowering. 
WHITEWASHING. 
Ix most gardens at this time of the year there is 
generally a good deal of cleaning going on in plant 
and fruit houses, conservatories, &c., and it occurs 
to me that many may be glad of a wrinkle in connec¬ 
tion with whitewashing. It is often a cause of 
complaint among gardeners that ordinary whitewash 
put on the walls of the houses comes off when the 
syringe is used, to the disfigurement of the occupants 
of the houses, but I find that this is easily avoided 
by adding some paraffin to the lime when it is of the 
consistency of putty. Mix one pint of the oil with 
about half a pail full of lime, as I said before when 
in the putty state, and thin down the mixture with 
water to the consistency desired. The paraffin effec¬ 
tually hardens the lime, and when put on the walls 
will neither rub off on to clothes, nor come off when 
syringed. The preparation also acts as a disinfect¬ 
ant and insecticide, effectually killing mealy bug, 
thrips, red spider, &c., that may be in the walls. 
Those who try the mixture will find it a great boon.— 
H. B. 
COLOURING GRAPES. 
I saw the “ dewy" Grapes at Edinburgh, the intense 
bloom on which it was alleged had been laid on by 
the aid of sulphur or some other agency. I know 
what colour the Gros Maroc will sometimes lay on, 
and have some now which are daily becoming much 
like those at Edinburgh, and it is certain that sul¬ 
phur has never been used in the house, nor any¬ 
thing else but clear water. The vines were lifted 
last year and are somewhat stunted, but have not 
given a bad crop of fruit, notwithstanding. I re¬ 
member distinctly the amount of interest that was 
centred in some Grapes shown at one of the Manches¬ 
ter exhibitions by Mr. Coleman, of Eastnor. They 
were almost white, but no one suspected that they 
had been in any way tampered with. The question 
is, will sulphur change the colour of Grapes, or 
add to the bloom in any form ? I never used sulphur 
with Grapes hanging on the vines, but often have 
sulphured the fruit room when the Grapes have been 
hanging in bottles of water, without noticing any 
visible change. Sulphur may be used in this way to 
destroy mealy bug; but I have never put it to -the 
test .—Stirling. 
TROP/EOLUM SPITFIRE. 
Several varieties of Tropaeolum are recommended 
for bedding purposes. I have used the above two 
seasons and like it much. It is not a creeper or 
trailer, but forms a compact plant, and with me 
scarcely exceeds Sin. in height. The foliage is very 
dark green, and the flowers are a fiery scarlet. It is 
a continuous bloomer, and a shy seeder. I propagate 
it by cuttings, and allow them to remain in the cut¬ 
ting pots all the winter. It blooms until destroyed 
by frost or bad weather, and does not run riot to¬ 
wards the end of the season as so many bedding 
plants do.— T. W. 
VERONICA BIDWILLI. 
The stems of this species are very slender and pro¬ 
cumbent, in some respects resembling those of some 
of our native annual Veronicas, but the general 
appearanee is that of a sub-shrubbery type from 
Australia or New Zealand. The shoots have a wiry 
look about them, and the small, ovate, serrate leaves 
are of a rich dark green. The flowers are white, 
and borne upon axillary racemes, after the style of 
V. Teucrium or some of its varieties. A specimen 
on a small rockery in the herbaceous ground at Kew 
has been flowering for some time past. 
THE JEPHSON GARDENS, LEAMINGTON. 
Principal amongst the many attractions of the beau¬ 
tiful town of Leamington are the Jephson Gardens 
which are situated in the very heart of the town, 
and being of easy access are consequently well 
patronized by inhabitants and visitors. The gardens 
are very extensive and exceedingly well kept; the 
various kinds of bedding being well done. The 
ordinary bedding is grand, and carpet bedding is a 
specially fine feature, some of the designs being very 
beautiful and well carried out. The borders are 
well filled with herbaceous plants and annuals. 
Tuberous Begonias do remarkably well and are used 
with telling effect, some of the beds being now in 
great perfection. Some well-grown standards of 
Pelargonium Henri Jacoby are most attractive. 
This variety needs no commendation from me, as it 
has proved itself to be one of the very best, and 
grown as a standard and used as it is here it will 
still maintain its reputation. Mr. Dell, the enthusi¬ 
astic superintendent, is to be congratulated upon the 
condition of the place, which is so great a credit to 
him as well to the town of Leamington.— Rusticus. 
BLACKBERRIES. 
I think it may be safely assumed that the American 
varieties of Blackberries which were introduced a 
few years since have settled down as failures in the 
old country, for we hear nothing about them now. 
I was in a garden close to a very large manufacturing 
town in the Midlands, and when a great flourish of 
trumpets was being made about these American 
varieties, a few of what were supposed to be the 
best kinds were planted, but, although free growers, 
very little fruit was to be seen upon them. In the 
same garden were several plants of the old Parsley¬ 
leaved Bramble, some on trellises and others planted 
out singly and tied to stakes, and in both cases the 
plants had an abundant crop of fine fruit. This 
variety does not grow so wildly as the others, and 
the handsome foliage makes it a pretty ornamental 
plant. I think it was at the Handsworth nurseries, 
Sheffield, where I first saw it in fruit, a long number of 
years since, and I h.ave seen it in other nurseries and 
gardens, when cared for, producing large crops of 
excellent fruit.— Riibus 
EVERLASTING FLOWERS 
These beautiful flowers are so much used for 
decoration that perhaps a few hints on how to pre¬ 
pare them for bouquets may be useful to some of 
your readers. The flower heads should be gathered 
with a small piece of the flower stalk when they 
show signs of opening, as this will not only insure 
good centres, but well-coloured flowers. The indi¬ 
vidual flower heads should be wired immediately 
after being gathered Push the wire through the 
