146 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 7, 1891. 
contains over 150 plants of Louis Bcehmer which 
were three parts expanded w-hen we saw them last 
week, and certainly presented a fine appearance. 
The plant is dwarf and vigorous with foliage of great 
substance, more or less bronzed on both surfaces, 
and evidently a variety that can be grown by any¬ 
body. This is saying a great deal for the constitution 
of the plant when we compare it with Mrs. Alpheus 
Hardy. The florets of Louis Boehmer are pink, 
varying almost to w'hite in some blooms, distinctly 
bristly on the back and the incurved and unexpanded 
tips are yellow'. Close by were some plants of 
Viviana Morel, a reflexed Japanese variety having 
huge, compact heads of silvery lilac-pink flowers. 
The blooms are neater than those of Etoile deLyon, 
which still however holds its own for size. 
Amongst standard kinds E. Molyneux and Ava¬ 
lanche show that they are capable of producing four 
blooms of large size on one plant. The same may 
be said of Sarah Owen, which varies so much with 
yellow or partly yellow blooms. W. H. Lincoln is 
a dwarf variety with large golden yellow heads and 
broad golden yellow florets. When fuily developed 
the fimbriated w'hite heads of Album Fimbriatum 
appear quite globular, and Mr. A. Tricker 
is similar in form but of a silvery, soft pink 
colour. The vigorous and easily grown Stan- 
stead White is a favourite with most growers. 
W. B. Smith is very dwarf, and light chestnut tinted 
with gold, and, as well as Puritan, is an incurved 
Japanese kind. The latter keeps up its character for 
large pink blooms with very broad florets. What 
may be the ultimate character of Florence Davis 
cannot yet be determined, but if the centre opens 
properly it will be a good pure white Japanese sort. 
Madame Mezard is somewhat similar in form to 
Madame J. Laing, but the florets are white. The 
darkest of the E. Molyneux and Mrs. C. Wheeler 
type is a variety named Murillo, with rich maroon- 
crimson florets tipped with gold. It is by no means 
full in the centre, but if it could be grown as a single 
with two or three rows of florets it could hardly fail 
to become popular on account of its rich colour. 
A defect in Eynsford White for exhibition purposes 
is the small size it sometimes attains, but here the 
heads present a semi-globular mass of large size and 
pure white, somewhat resembling Avalanche, but with 
broader florets. Quite another thing is Madame 
Mary Hoste, having broad heads and broad, white 
florets more or less tinted with pale lilac, especially 
at the edges. Few varieties present the rich, dark 
magenta colour of Alberie Lunden, and it has several 
times shown its value on the exhibition table. 
Incurved varieties are not extensively grown at 
Swanley, but we noted a few', including Robert Can¬ 
ned, the florets of which are crimson on the upper 
surface, and bronzy-chestnut on the under surface, 
tinted with gold. The heads attain good exhibition 
size. Amongst reflexed varieties Dr. Sharpe takes a 
high rank, and the dark chestnut sport from it re¬ 
cently certificated under the name of R. Smith, will 
probably be as great a favourite with growers. 
Amongst Pompons we noted a very beautiful dark 
magenta-purple variety shaded with crimson in the 
centre, at least in the early stages. The blooms are 
of good average size and freely produced. 
White Flowers of Chrysanthemums. 
In January last Le Jardin called attention to a 
method of procedure followed by the florists in 
some parts of France, to have white flowers of 
Chrysanthemums by a given date. Gardeners in 
this country would do well to try the method for 
themselves, and to take measures to protect the 
Chrysanthemums they may still have growing in the 
open air before the advent of frost injures them. By 
placing them in pits where hard frost is just kept 
out, the opening of the flowers will be retarded till 
within a few days of the time they are required. 
Then the shoots showing buds of good size should 
be cut and put in bottles of water, and hung on the 
walls of a close house furnished with ample means 
of heating and of evaporating w'ater so as to saturate 
the atmosphere with vapour. The temperature 
should range from 55 0 to 65° to produce this effect ; 
and in the course of five or six days the buds will be 
completely expanded. Light should be entirely ex¬ 
cluded so as to ensure the-purity of the flow’ers. 
The durability of Chrysanthemums even in a cut 
state is well known, and even after such unnatural 
treatment they are stated to last in good condition 
for a whole week. 
The Temple Gardens. 
A new house has been built here since last year 
for the accommodation of the Chrysanthemums, and 
it takes the curved and angled outline of a dwelling 
house against which it abuts. The display is hardly 
equal to those to be seen in any of the parks, 
and the blooms are smaller. Stanstead Suprise, Mrs. 
J. Wright, and F. Marrouch are very tall, and occupy 
the back line. Other representative sorts are Etoile 
de Lyon, Gloriosum, Red Dragon, James Salter, 
Condor, Sarah Owen, Phcebus, Florence Piercy, La 
Triomphante, Middle Temple, and Ada Spaulding, 
the lilac-purple incurved Japanese variety. Incurved 
sorts are represented by Empress of India, Lord 
Alcester, Golden Empress, and Prince of Wales. 
Cloth of Gold and Dr. Sharp are still good reflexed 
varieties. 
♦ 
A LESSON FROM NATURE. 
On the lawn in the garden of R. P. Gill, Esq., 
Ashton-on-Mersey, near Manchester, stands a huge 
Chestnut tree, whose branches, like the one alluded 
to by Longfellow in his poem entitled “The Village 
Blacksmith,’’ spreads its branches in all directions 
until they touch the ground—consequently no grass 
will grow under its dense shade, thus rendering the 
space beneath bare and unsightly for several months 
in the year. But Mr. Gill’s excellent gardener, Mr. 
W. Plant, taking a lesson from Nature, has succeeded 
in rendering the spot quite an attractive one from 
the end of January until the tree becomes clothed 
with its bold foliage. He has accomplished this by 
planting bulbs, such as a large quantity of Snow¬ 
drops, which bloom first, followed by Crocuses. I 
may state that Mr. Plant blooms every year a num¬ 
ber of Crocuses in pots, and, when they have gone 
out of flower, they are planted out under the tree ; 
and so there is gradually accumulating quite a plan¬ 
tation of varied coloured Crocuses. 
Following the Crocus comes Scilla sibirica, of 
which about 2,000 bulbs were planted a year ago, 
with a large bulk of the common Daffodil, Narcissus 
Telemonius plenus. The latter did not bloom so 
well as might have been expected, which I attribute 
to the fact that clumps of Daffodils require to be 
pulled to pieces at certain times and re-planted, 
say about once in three or four years. It would be 
possible to carry on the flowering period even longer 
by planting the blue and white varieties of the Blue¬ 
bell, the white and blue forms of Scilla trifolia, and 
Muscari botryoides, blue and white. None of the 
bulbs- employed are expensive. They can be pur¬ 
chased at a cheap rate in quantities, and their 
employment in this manner shows how many barren 
spots, wanting in picturesqueness, can be brightened 
and made pleasant through their employment.— 
James Percival, Smithy Bridge, Rochdale. 
[The winter Aconite is well worthy of a place among 
the spring flowering plants mentioned by our corres¬ 
pondent. We saw some years ago in the park of 
Castle Ashby near Northampton, the seat of the 
Marquis of Northampton, a huge spreading Chest¬ 
nut tree, and the ground beneath extending a 
considerable distance literally swarmed with the 
winter Aconite, and when in bloom the effect was one 
of a remarkably striking character. It is astonishing 
the way the Aconite will extend itself under ground, 
spreading with remarkable rapidity. Our corres¬ 
pondent adds as a footnote that the planting of 
Crocuses and Snowdrops on lawns does not seem 
to answer, as they invariably fail to flower well after 
the first time or two of blooming : the scythe or 
mowing machine cuts away the foliage, with the 
result the bulbs gradually dwindle and die. — Ed.] 
Caladium sagittatum. — The leading aspect of the 
leaves of this Caladium is their relative length and 
narrowness. The apex of the leaf is drawn out to a 
long, narrow point, and the two basal lobes, giving 
the leaf its sagittate or arrow-shaped outline, are 
similarly elongated and pointed. Along the centre 
of the main body of the leaf as well as the basal 
lobes runs a broad band of a beautiful red, running 
out into tongues or flames into the dark green hue 
pervading the rest of the leaf. The petioles are 
slender and spotted with brown. The species is a 
native of Para and other provinces of Brazil, 
watered by the majestic tributaries of the Amazon, 
from whence it was introduced last year by the 
Messrs. Linden, of the L’Horticulture Internationale, 
Brussels. There is a well executed figure of it in 
L' Illustration Horticole, PI. 13S. 
THE MANCHESTER 
FRUIT CONFERENCE. 
On the first day of the late conference, held in the 
Town Hall, Manchester, after the opening address 
given by Lord Derby, a summary of which we gave 
in our last number, Mr. E. J. Baillie.of Chester,read 
a paper on 
The Fruit Growing Movement :—Present Day 
Features and Prospects. 
Mr. Baillie said there was an increased and increas¬ 
ing area devoted to fruit cultivation; the yield of 
home-grown fruit was increasing, and the importation 
of fruit was in no way diminished ; the quantity of 
fruit consumed was increasing, but there was room 
for enormous development here, and much more 
fruit ought to be consumed as food. Of the fruit 
grown much had to be sold at the barest profit to 
the producer, and much of it was not sold at all. 
The consumer had to take at a high price what he 
could get in the shape of fruit ; there were market 
complications, difficulties in obtaining deliver}', and 
no recognised agency for the removal of obstacles 
and anomalies, and the bringing of producer and con¬ 
sumer into nearer relationship. Although there had 
been a large increase in the quantity of fruit grown 
in England, we still paid millions of pounds to the 
foreigner for produce that might well be grown at 
home. Foreign fruit was grown, harvested, packed, 
and presented to the consumer in such perfection as 
to leave little or nothing to be desired, and this was 
the great secret of the ready disposal of such fruit. 
He complained that there was no'Government aid in 
the direction of fruit growing, though other indus¬ 
tries, and notably the fishing industry, had such aid. 
Neither was there an}'Government supervision. If 
they were anxious to provide a remedy, important 
market centres ought to be provided in the provinces 
where fruit could be sold without the intervention of 
the middleman. Then it ought to be made possible 
to sell all fruit by sample and brand. This, of 
course, would mean a reduction of the number of 
varieties, and, indeed, there was no reason why there 
should be so many qualities as there were. He 
urged that fruit ought to be more used as food than 
it now was, and especially in the poor districts ; and 
he expressed the hope that philanthropic societies 
would take the matter up. He indicated means by 
which fruit could be preserved, and suggested 
measures that ought to be taken to spread knowdedga 
of fruit culture. 
In the course of the discussion that followed, Mr. 
Findlay said for several years past he had made 
detailed examinations of orchards, not only in his 
own immediate neighbourhood, but in other more 
favoured localities, and he had come to the conclusion 
that more than half the trees ought to be grubbed up 
and burnt. They were cumberers of the ground, and 
it was of no use talking about digging about them 
and manuring them, because it would be labour 
thrown away. The causes of this state of things 
were various. One W'as improper planting, and the 
popular idea was that anybody could plant a tree— 
that one had only to dig a hole and stick the tree in. 
Another cause was that unsuitable varieties were 
planted. Many kinds that would grow in Essex and 
other districts would not grow' in Lancashire. Still 
another cause of failure was the old age of the trees. 
The great impediment in the way of the distribution 
of fruit was the high railway tariff. 
The Raising, Budding, Grafting, and Pruning 
of Apple Trees for Orchard and Estate 
Planting. 
On the subjects enumerated in the above heading 
Mr. William Crump, Madresfield Court Gardens, 
Great Malvern, said the business of raising fruit 
trees was generally understood as belonging to the 
trade of nurserymen—men who grew' trees for public 
sale ; but there were a few home nurseries estab¬ 
lished on large estates where trees were specially 
grown for estate purposes only, and annually dis¬ 
tributed gratuitously to the farm and cottage tenantry. 
Experiments had been made at Madresfield during 
the last ten years. These were intended to be more 
educational than economical in character, and it was 
desired to establish a fairly complete collection of 
Apples, Pears, and Plums in order to demonstrate 
the kinds best suited to the locality as well as to 
teach an object lesson to tenants and others con¬ 
cerned, to show the best method of cultivation, 
pruning, &c., and to encourage the home industry of 
fruit growing, and to further improve the property. 
