June 18, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
663 
place or even be planted largely. It is both a showy 
and well flavoured fruit of large size, somewhat 
flattened and broadest at the base, with a clear 
yellow skin more or less heavily suffused and streaked 
with crimson on the exposed side, more particularly 
In some soils and localities. The flesh is white, 
tender but crisp, and of very agreeable flavour. It 
may be used with equal propriety both for dessert 
and culinary purposes till a very late period. Those 
who have the convenience of a suitable fruit room 
could keep it in good condition till the month of June, 
for I have kept it till the beginning of the present 
month in a room fully exposed to the varying atmos¬ 
pheric conditions and temperature. Till the very 
last the skin remained plump and shining, and more 
presentable than those kinds that get dried up and 
shrivelled. It was first brought before the public 
twenty-four years ago, and is slowly gaining in 
favour. When the British fruit grower comes to 
realise its merits, it will be more extensively planted 
to furnish a late supply of fruit. 
ASTER ALPINUS SPECIOSUS. 
Although the bulk of the Asters flower late, and 
grow very tall, we have the opposite extremes in this 
species, which flowers in May and June, and is very 
dwarf with large blooms. The variety under notice 
grows about 6 in. high and has flower heads ranging 
from 2 in. to 3J in. across, differing in this respect 
from the type. There can be little doubt that it 
would meet with more favour were it not for the 
wealth of hardy flowers so universally plentiful 
during the months of May, June and July. Owing 
to its dwarf habit it is well adapted for rockwork, 
and because of its compact and tufted nature it is 
not liable to overrun its neighbours. It is easily 
propagated by division during the early spring 
months, or by seeds; but it is a question whether 
the variety A. a. speciosus would come true from 
seeds. That however is a matter of small regret, 
seeing that there is no difficulty in getting up a 
stock sufficient for the requirements of any private 
establishment in a few years with generous treatment, 
Those who intend getting up a stock of it might 
plant it in rich ground in the reserve garden, and if 
the soil is at all inclined to be dry a mulching of 
well-rotted manure should be given. The variety as 
well as the type is flowering freely in the nursery of 
Messrs. Barr & Son. 
CIRRHfEA SACCATA. 
About six species of Cirrhsea are known to science, 
and it is to be regretted that their flowers are not 
possessed of more attractive colours, for they are 
certainly highly interesting and even pretty. A 
correspondent sent us the other day a fine specimen 
of the species under notice, and which is anything 
but common. The piece consisted of a pseudo-bulb 
with its large, lanceolate, plaited leaf, and two long 
racemes of bloom. The great number of flowers 
compensates for their lack of size, but had the 
colours been more attractive, the species would be 
highly popular with growers on account of its 
floriferousness. The sepals are brownish-green, and 
the petals and lip greenish yellow, except the middle 
lobe of the latter, which is saccate and of a uniform 
deep purple brown. The specimen figured in the 
Botanical Magazine shows this curiously shaped organ 
to be spotted with purple instead of being equally 
suffused with that hue. The habit of the plant 
strongly reminds one of a Gongora, and the odour 
is comparable to that of newly varnished furniture, 
strong but not disagreeable. The plant should be 
grown in small baskets or pans, and suspended from 
the roof to show off the pendent racemes of bloom 
to advantage. 
MECONOPSIS NEPALENSIS. 
This Himalayan representative of the genus to 
which the Welsh Poppy (M. cambrica) belongs is 
very different in habit from the latter, but unfortu¬ 
nately is only of biennial duration, and therefore 
requires to be propagated every year from seeds in 
order to secure a constant succession of plants. The 
foliage is however rather striking in its way, the 
leaves being oblong, pinnatifid, and thinly covered 
with long rusty hairs. It naturally looks best at the 
end of the first year as in the case of most other 
biennials, and is fine in proportion to the vigour with 
which the plants have been grown. In the spring of 
the second year the flowering stems rise to a height 
of 2 ft. to 5 ft. according to the strength of the 
plants, and are erect with short lateral branches 
bearing flowers of various shades of yellow on 
different individuals. A cool shady place, but not 
overhung by trees, is the best position for it, and the 
soil if somewhat peaty will help to keep the plants 
cool in summer when throwing up their stems. 
Some plants have been flowering for weeks past in 
the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son. 
THE WELSH GOLDEN ROD. 
Those who live in hilly districts are generally well 
acquainted with the common Golden Rod, which 
grows from 1 ft. to 2 ft. in height, but the Welsh 
variety (Solidago Virgaurea cambrica) is much 
dwarfer, more branched and floriferous. The 
flowers are of a bright yellow and abundantly pro¬ 
duced on stems that are somewhat flattened at the 
top, and 10 in. to 14 in. high. The lower leaves are 
spathulate, the upper ones lanceolate and dark 
green. Most of the species of Solidago come from 
America, and flower late in autumn in company with 
the Asters, or, in most cases, just preceding the bulk 
of them, so that the present instance is an exception. 
It has been flowering in Messrs. Barr & Son's 
nursery for some time past. 
MYOSOTIS AZORICA. 
1 HEForget-me-not coming from theAzores has flowers 
about as dark as any in cultivation, and while they 
resemble those of M. alpestris they are larger and of 
an intense blue With a minute yellow eye when they 
first expand, but the yellow fades to a pale dusky 
hue and is then hardly noticeable. The stems 
usually grow about 6in. to 8 in. high, according to 
the soil in which it is grown, and is perfectly erect 
like the garden variety Imperatrice Elizabeth, better 
known in some parts of the country than the type it¬ 
self. The latter, owing to its habit of flowering on most 
of the stems, requires to be propagated generally once 
a year from cuttings. A large bed of M. azorica in 
full bloom may be seen in Messrs. Barr & Son’s 
nursery. 
P/CONIA BROTERI. 
In addition to the flowers of this Paeony, the stems 
are highly ornamental, not merely when young and 
developing, but all through the season so long as 
they last. Both the stems and the petioles are of a 
deep red, not the crimson of P. albiflora when push¬ 
ing up in spring, but a bright, almost coral, red. 
The flowers are single, and, when they expand, are 
of a deep purplish-red, with a mass of yellow anthers 
in the centre, but as they get older they go through 
a series of transformations, changing to rose and 
then to a rosy-pink, variously splashed or veined 
with purple. The plant is relatively dwarf, varying 
from 1 ft. to 2 ft. in height. We noted a quantity of 
it in the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long Ditton. 
ACHILLEA MONGOLICA 
The habit of this species is very similar to that of 
our native A. Ptarmica, with foliage almost identical, 
but the flower heads are much larger, with longer 
and purer white rays. Although the blooms are what 
are popularly termed single', they would be suitable 
for cut flower purposes. The plant is neat in habit 
and varies from 1 ft. to 2 ft. in height according to 
the conditions under which it is grown. In pots or 
on rockwork it is relatively dwarf, but in rich ground 
it behaves similarly to A. Ptarmica. A large bed of 
it in the grounds of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long 
Ditton, will keep in bloom for many weeks to come. 
By growing it in pots, sheltered in a cold frame, it 
comes into bloom early, and may be used for various 
purposes. 
DOUBLE-FLOWERED RHODODENDRONS. 
Our (Manchester Guardian ) botanical correspondent 
writes:—“Why there should be so few double- 
flowered Rhododendrons is part of the vastly larger 
and hitherto unanswered question, Why do certain 
genera and certain families of plants show a decided 
disposition to produce double flowers, while in others 
living under similar conditions they occur rarely or not 
at all ? While, for example, in the Ranunculaceae there 
are upwards of forty species that produce double 
flowers, among the Labiatae there does not appear to 
be a single instance. It is noteworthy that the great 
majority are natives of the northern hemisphere. In 
Australia they are scarcely known, and in Polynesia, 
it is said, not at all. Civilised man having long 
taken a fancy to them when found growing wild (as 
seems to happen not infrequently in wet seasons with 
Buttercups), they are at once transferred to the gar¬ 
den and there propagated. Hence it is that in 
countries celebrated from time immemorial for their 
devotedness to floriculture most double flowers appear 
to be found. Witness the queen of all, the Japanese 
Camellia. In the Journal of Botany for 1864, vol. ii.. 
p. 176, the late Dr. Berthold Seemann gave a list of 
all the double flowers which had come under his ob¬ 
servation, amounting to 279 different species, 234 of 
the exogenous class and 45 endogens. Eleven more 
are specified on p. 318, raising the total to 290; 
and since then, 28 years having passed, doubtless the 
list has been still further enlarged. In the same 
periodical, vol. iii., p. 27 (1865), Mr. Leo Grinden 
dealt in detail with the general subject, citing many 
curious facts in readiness for those who may be in¬ 
genious enough to frame a theory or offer an expla¬ 
nation, which, of course, to be substantial must be 
one that will cover all the phenomena.” 
ARNEBIA ECHIOIDES. 
Of the yellow Borageworts few are more interesting 
than the species of Arnebia, of which that under 
notice is undoubtedly the finest in cultivation. 
Popularly it is known as the prophet flower, but for 
what reason is not apparent unless a fancy name 
given on account of the fading of the maroon 
blotches on the petals and which are very dark when 
the flower first expands, but soon fade until they 
become indiscernible, leaving the flower of a uniform 
bright yellow. It is a native of Armenia, and proves 
perfectly hardy in this country if grown in an elevated 
and rather dry position during the winter, and at the 
same time cool during summer. The leaves are 
linear-spathulate, mostly radical, including all the 
larger ones. The stem leaves are few and small, and 
the stems themselves do not as a rule exceed 6 in. or 
8 in. in height. If the plant does not prove long 
lived in any particular soil, a reserve stock of young 
plants may always be kept in frames. Propagation 
may be effected by means of seeds, by cuttings of 
the larger and fleshy roots inserted in sandy soil and 
placed in heat, or by taking off some of the shoots 
that have not flowered with a heel of the old wood, 
and putting them in sandy soil in pots stood in a 
cold frame in late summer and in autumn. 
■--*•-- 
THE SPARROW. 
I quite agree with E. V. B. (p. 642) that “the careful 
gardener need fear nothing so very dreadful from him, 
(the sparrow) with all his wicked cleverness.'' We 
may regard him as an ever-restless but wonderfully 
industrious little fellow, who has to make a living, so 
to speak, by the sweat of his brow. That he is 
successful beyond measure, and above all his kindred, 
his universal presence wherever a cottage or a palace 
rears its head throughout the land, amply testifies. 
His power for multiplication and the colonisation of 
new lands appears to be co-extensive with the Saxon 
race, for being introduced as a pet and in remem¬ 
brance of old associations in the mother country, he 
has overrun the new countries to such an extent that 
his erstwhile protectors have in not a few cases 
declared war to the hilt against him. In America, 
he is nicknamed the English Sparrow, the Americans 
forgetting that they themselves are Yankees, the 
Indian name for English against whom the Indians 
were even more the sworn foe than the Americans 
against the sparrow. 
Much has been said about the fighting inclinations 
of the sparrow, but their feuds are more amongst 
themselves than against other birds. The real fact 
of the case seems to be that the comparative scarcity 
of other birds is due to their shyness near the abodes 
of man, and their inability to make a living, 
especially in winter when their particular kind of 
food is scarce. Birds generally have not acquired 
the instinct of laying past a store of food when it is 
plentiful, but sparrows in particular can live on a 
great variety of materials, and living near the abodes 
of man, they have learned to appropriate whatever 
comes in their way, and have thereby aroused the 
hostility of man, farmers and gardeners in particular, 
whether professional or amateur. When the sparrow 
appropriates anything which is the object of man’s 
care he is accused of being thievish, and because he 
pulls the Crocuses to pieces he is mischievous. He 
eats the leaves of Carnations, Lettuces, young 
Peas, and many other tender and nutritive vegetables, 
