October 31, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
C. iridiflorus.' — The specific name takes its origin 
from the great difference in size between the three 
outer and the three inner segments of the perianth. 
The former are much the largest and of a rich dark 
purple ; the latter are small and of a soft lilac or 
lavender colour. The species flowers in September 
and October, 
Hotes. 
Keepsake Gooseberry. 
In the course of an extremely interesting address 
Mr. J. R. Petch gave on the second day of the Fruit 
Conference at Manchester—an address full of 
interesting scraps of information that will, I believe, 
be fully reported in the published proceedings of the 
Conference it is the intention of the council to issue 
—he alluded to and strongly recommended Keep¬ 
sake Gooseberry. It is a white variety, and Mr. 
Petch says it is better than Wenham’s Industry ; the 
latter is good for jams and preserves, but Keepsake 
for market work ; and he said the latter will keep 
for a fortnight after being gathered. Gooseberries 
are a very lucrative crop for market, producing a 
greater return than any other fruit, while as the 
berries can be sold both green and ripe, there are 
two chances of a market. Of white varieties for 
market, Whitesmith or Yellow, Yellow Rough 
or as it is sometimes termed Early Sulphur ; 
and of red varieties Crown Bob, Lancashire 
Lad, Rifleman and Warrington are also recom¬ 
mended. I think if Mr. Petch could be induced to 
put into a paper his remarks on Gooseberries he 
would be giving some very useful information to the 
readers of The Gardening World.— R. D. 
Apri.ES for Manchester and District. 
On the occasion of the recent show at Manchester, ~ 
prizes were offered for Apples grown in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of that city, though the radius seemed 
a rather wide one, namely, twenty miles from the 
city. As a matter of course this took in certain 
places in Cheshire, where one wculd think fruit can 
be grown under somewhat favourable ' conditions. 
The best collection of twenty-four dishes came from 
Mr. A. W. Jones, gardener to A. H. Smith Barry, 
Esq., M.P., Marbury Hall, Northwich. The kitchen 
varieties were of good size, but they were somewhat 
green, and lacked the colour and finish of the fruit 
from Worcester, Hereford, North Wale's, etc. Mr. 
Jones' best kitchen Apples were Warner’s King; 
Malster, a greenish-yellow mid-season variety, and 
of an apparently hardy character ; Lord Suffield ; 
Duke of Devonshire, a good, hardy culinary variety 
of great excellence, and a good bearer, the fruit will 
keep until May; Peasgood's Nonsuch, Alfriston, 
New Hawthornden, Pott’s Seedling, Stirling Castle, 
Ecklinville Seedling, and Lord Grosvenor. These 
sorts were repeated in all the collections shown in this ■ 
class. In the class for twelve dishes, the first prize 
was taken by Mr. H. W. Brown, gardener to W. W. 
Sherwin, Esq., Ashley Hall, Altrincham, and he had 
similar fruit to Mr. Jones, his leading varieties being 
Warner’s King, Lord Suffield, Grenadier, Blenheim 
Orange, Lord Derby, Ecklinville Seedling, Alfriston, 
and Stirling Castle. The best dessert Apples, and 
they were very sparingly shown, were Ribston 
Pippin, King of Pippins, Cox’s Orange Pippin, and 
Worcester Pearmain ; but they were generally small. 
I think Mr. Petch gave the Lancashire and Cheshire 
gardeners good advice when he advised them to grow 
Lord Grosvenor Apple in the place of Lord Suffield. 
Mr. Jones had the best twelve dishes of Pears grown 
within the same radius, and like the Apples they were 
green- and lacking colour. The best varieties were 
Beurre Clairgeau, Duchess de Angouleme, Pitmaston 
Duchess, Flemish Beauty, Doyenne Boussock, 
Beurre Diel, Beurre de Capiamount, Louise Bonne 
of Jersey, Beurre d’Aremberg, Beurre d’Amanlis,. 
Marie Louise, and Fondante d'Automne. In the 
second prize collection shown by Mrs. Grundy, 
Westleigh, were, differing from the foregoing, Sou¬ 
venir de Congres and Beurre Ranee. All the Pears, 
no doubt, were gathered from walls. 
I think there was one defect in the Fruit Con¬ 
ference. What seemed to be lacking was a paper 
on Fruit culture within twenty miles of Manchester. 
This would have been of great service to many, and 
we should have been made acquainted with the diffi¬ 
culties under which fruit is produced amid the gloom 
and vitiated atmosphere of the manufacturing dis¬ 
tricts.— R, D. 
THE SEED HARVEST. 
It is very probable that many seeds, especially of 
flowering plants, will be scarce next year, and perhaps 
of indifferent quality. It Is stated that some seeds 
usually found in large lists are this season not to be 
had either at home or on the continent. Those who 
have old stocks will perhaps be able to satisfy orders 
so far, but then so many seeds will not continue 
fertile after a year or so, hence to sow them will be 
but to reap disappointment. It is well that gardeners 
should be warned beforehand of the indifferent 
quality of some seeds, because then they may take 
more than ordinary precautions in sowing, whether 
out doors or under glass. 
I strongly advise that, as far as possible, all tender 
plant seed be raised next spring under glass, that 
every help may be given to imperfect germinating 
powers. Still farther, it will be well to give seed 
orders early, so that some of the scarce sorts may be 
obtained, whilst of those of indifferent quality ample 
opportunity will be offered for the testing growth 
under glass before sowing outside. Then it will be 
wise to reserve sowings outdoors next spring to a 
rather later date than usual, so much difference is 
there between the warmth of soil and air in March 
and in April. 
Seed growers have found the past season one of 
peculiar difficulty. In many cases there has been no 
seed resulting; in others it has been found almost 
impossible to ripen the seed which has formed; and 
in other cases—especially in relation to Beans and 
Peas — seeds thg.t have matured have suffered in the 
constant rainfalls before they could be housed. This 
weather trouble has not been limited to Great 
Britain, it has been just as evident on the Conti¬ 
nent ; and it is from France and Germany whence 
we derive our great seed supplies. Those who so 
readily cavil at the prices charged for good seeds 
know nothing about the labours and losses which 
seed growing involves ; if they did they would better 
realise that relatively good seeds never are dear— - 
A.D.. 
DEVONSHIRE FERNS. 
Mr. Dkuery's criticism in the Gardeners' Chronicle 
is highly interesting, and I am glad that that my 
few notes on Devonshire Ferns contributed to your 
columns have drawn out from so great an enthusiast 
such a valuable discourse. My paper, however, 
was not written in a comprehensive spirit, neither 
does it require that " discriminating eye ” spoken of 
to perceive this, as it is quite easy to do so in the 
ordinary way. 
I have now dipped a little deeper into the subject, 
and note that there were yet other kinds or species 
of wild Ferns in Devon, apparently unknown to 
Mr. Druery, since he has omitted to mention them, 
and I have also discovered that the Lomaria spi- 
cant was popularly known as the “rough Spleen- 
wort ” even, before the days of that quaint old 
writer Gerarde. So far so good — and now we come 
to the question of manipulation in reference to 
varieties. My contention is, that when a wild Fern 
having some variation from the species to which it 
belongs, is removed from its natural habitat to a 
garden where after a lapse of time it is proved that 
the said variation has developed, or even remained 
constant, then it may be regarded as a variety of 
that species — and this is precisely where the 
manipulation I spoke of comes in. 
When I was a traveller I was of course in touch 
with many rich collections of British Ferns in 
different parts of the country, and long ago was con¬ 
vinced that there were distinctions with little 
differences in many of the so-called varieties ; there¬ 
fore we can well afford to sweep off a great number 
of them and their tedious ugly names to boot ; in fact, 
to put the whole thing into a nutshell, there are said 
to be nineteen families or genera of British 
Ferns,, sub-divided into forty-five species, which 
according to Mr. Druery comprise some 1,800 forms 
or varieties. Now my candid opinion is that if all 
these could be brought together at a thoroughly 
rigorous Fern Congress, quite four-fifths would be 
cast aside as being insufficiently distinct. Then if 
the varieties that remain were re-christened with 
very short English names after the manner of 
florists’ flowers, examples :—Nephrodium filix-mas 
Adam, Asplenium iilix-feemina Eve, Aspicium 
aculeatum Eclipse, Scolcpendrium vulgare Unique, 
there would be more hope of finding a named 
collection of hardy Ferns in every well-appointed 
garden throughout the land. — W. Napier, Chelsea, 
135 
GARDENING fflSCELLANY. 
TWO COMPETITIVE PALMS. 
In a young state and even after they have attained 
some considerable size, Cocos Wedelliana and Geo¬ 
noma gracilis bear a considerable resemblance to 
one another on casual observation ; but they are 
perfectly distinguishable at all stages. Both have 
gracefully arching, pinnate, dark green leaves, and 
in the young state are much in request for table and 
other kinds of decoration. The pinnae of G. gracilis 
are rather broader than those of C. Wedelliana, and 
they are green on both surfaces, while those of the 
last-named are densely covered with a white coating 
of scurfy scales on the under surface, and which 
under certain conditions even assume a rusty ap¬ 
pearance. The extreme narrowness and the close¬ 
ness of the arrangement of the pinnae will always 
tell strongly in favour of C. Wedelliana, as young 
plants about 12 in. or 18 in. high, and well furnished 
with leaves, have an exceedingly gracefully appear¬ 
ance. Another point which tells greatly in favour 
of this plant is the amount of bad usage it will stand 
in the decoration of rooms, under the influence of 
gaslight, and the dryness of the atmosphere. The 
scurfy coating of the under surface of the leaves, no 
doubt, serves largely to prevent an undue loss of 
moisture, hence the preservation of the foliage under 
trying circumstances. G. gracilis has no such pro- 
tective covering, and does not stand well under 
unfavourable conditions. Both species are largely 
grown for decorative purposes, but C. Wedelliana 
will in future be the more extensively used. 
VARIEGATED CORNISH MONEYWORT, 
Many cultivators have failed with this plants through 
growing it in too .dry .and airy an atmosphere. The 
typical green form is a British plant which grows on 
moist rocks in somewhat shaded places, where it is 
kept continually moist by water oozing out of the 
rocks ; and the atmosphere 'is kept damp by the 
same means. Now to' grow it successfully some¬ 
thing of this sort must be attempted in hothouses, 
Messrs. E. D. Shuttleworth & Co., Peckham Rye, 
grow it in Palm houses, the atmosphere of which is 
always moist. It is grown in small-pots close to the 
glass, and therefore gets plenty of light, and appears 
happy. 
POLYGONUM POLYSTACHYUM. 
Several of the Polygonums, notably P. cuspidatum 
and P. sacchalinense, are favourites in parks, private 
and even villa gardens on account of their rampant 
and sub-tropical appearance. The foliage in itself 
is fine, but is doubly so with the addition of the 
flowers, which, although small, are produced in 
myriads on well-grown plants. The branching of 
the stems and the arrangement of the leaves upon the 
plant under notice, produce perhaps a less graceful 
effect than the other species mentioned, but the fact 
that the plant is still in full bloom and beauty should 
tell greatly in its favour. It forms bushes 6 ft. to 
8 ft. high, and as far through, terminating in pani¬ 
cles of pure white flowers. The lanceolate leaves 
are 4 in. to 18 in. long, with red petioles. The upper 
part of large rockeries, the shrubbery, or wild gar¬ 
den are suitable places for it. 
DRACAENA FRAGRANS AND ITS VARIETIES. 
The typical green form of this Dracaena is an old 
garden plant, but until the variegated forms appeared 
was practically of very little horticultural interest, 
more especially after the bronzy-red and variegated 
species or garden varieties became common. Some 
years ago a plant appeared in this country under the 
name of D. Lindehi, and in a short time became quite 
popular. After flowering it was determined to be 
D. fragrans, and some cultivators at the present day 
speak of it under the name of D. f. Lindeni, but by 
far the greater proportion simply call it D. Lindeni. 
Some gardeners are of the belief that there are good 
an I bad forms of it in cultivation, and that one of 
them always assumes the rich creamy-yellow varie¬ 
gation which renders the plant so ornamental. The 
centre of the leaf is green, with a broad creamy- 
yellow band on either side extending to the margin. 
In the other, the variegation is very poor, indistinct, 
and the greater part of the leaf green. Some culti¬ 
vators state that the difference is due to treatment; 
Certain if is that there is another variegated form 
