September 7, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
5 
Good cultivation and plenty of feeding within limits 
ensures vigorous growth and large well-developed 
blooms. A bread-and-water diet, or, in other words, 
a lack of stimulants, encourages fertility in the pro¬ 
duction of pollen and seed. Wait till the soil within 
reach of the roots and the vegetative vigour of the 
plants are getting exhausted before you commence 
the work of pollination. 
-- 
BEGONIA’ FROEBELI INCOMPARA- 
BILIS. 
It has often been a wonder to me that this fine form 
of Begonia Froebeli is so seldom met with. Unlike 
other tuberous Begonias, it is slow to increase, and 
that may account somewhat for its non-appearance 
in collections, where one would expect to find it. 
Ever since it was sent out some years ago by M. 
Froebel, of Zurich, I have grown it for autumn and 
early winter bloom in the greenhouse, where it has 
constantly attracted notice as an uncommon plant. 
My plants recently potted are now (September ist) 
starting well. For its richly-coloured velvety foliage 
alone, which equals in beauty some of the Gesnera 
family, it is worth a place ; but the long succession 
of large and brilliant scarlet blooms produced on tall 
branching stems at a season when bright flowers are 
none too plentiful, makes this Begonia a distinct and 
valuable addition to autumn-flowering plants for the 
decoration of the greenhouse.— J. T. Bennett-Poe. 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The Council of the Royal Horticultural Society 
have read with surprise and regret the remarks which 
have lately appeared in some of the horticultural 
newspapers with regard to Mr. Barron's retirement. 
The Council have for some time had before them 
the desirability of making considerable changes in 
the gardens at Chiswick, and in the early part of this 
year they determined to initiate these changes in the 
near future. Fully aware of the value of Mr. 
Barron’s services for upwards of thirty years, 
recognising that he had well earned and thoroughly 
deserved a retiring pension, and anx : ous to show him 
every consideration, the Council felt that at his age 
they could not fairly place upon him the burden 
of such a re-organisation as they contemplated, and 
they considered that they were consulting his best 
interests as well as those of the gardens in offering 
him retirement on an allowance of /i8o a year. 
In replying to the Council’s communications, Mr. 
Barron thanked them for their generous recognition 
of his claims, accepted their proposal, and tendered 
his resignation from January ist, 1896. The Council 
are glad to know, and to be able to assure the Fellows 
of the Society, that he is perfectly satisfied. Having 
acted justly and generously towards Mr. Barron, as 
they believe, and to his satisfaction, the Council 
deemed the matter settled, and were themselves 
intending to promote a testimonial to him on his 
retirement when they found that steps in that direc¬ 
tion had already been taken. The Council regret to 
find that they are charged with discourtesy towards 
the Chiswick Board. The charge rests on their 
appointment of a special committee to advise them 
as to the future of the gardens without communica¬ 
tion with the Board. They freely admit that it 
would have been advisable to have conferred with 
the Board on the appointment of this committee. To 
any members of the Board who may have felt them¬ 
selves slighted at their omission to do so they offer a 
frank expression of regret. They need scarcely say 
that the omission was due to an oversight and not to 
any intentional discourtesy .—By order of the Council, 
W. Wilks, Secretary. 
-►>-- 
HABIT OF A BEDDING BEGONIA. 
If the plants are meant to entirely cover the ground, 
then by all means choose those seedlings that carry 
their flowers well above the foliage, as shown in the 
accompanying figure. For hanging baskets the 
more the flowers and stems droop, the better and 
more effective they will appear. It must not be 
supposed, however, that pendulous flowers are un¬ 
suitable for bedding. We have evidence to the 
contrary in the graceful-habited and popular B. 
worthiana as well as others of a similar character. 
Those with large flowers and of slightly nodding 
habit may not only be tolerated in beds, but even 
appreciated under certain conditions. Different 
designs in flower bedding, and especially when the 
Begonias are planted widely apart on a groundwork of 
something and in association with other subjects, not 
only permit of the use of slightly drooping flowers, 
Erect Flowering Type. 
but are capable of producing fine effects, inasmuch 
as the flowers may all be seen. Avoid those entirely 
which trail their flowers upon the ground. When 
closely planted in the old style like Pelargoniums, 
however, the more nearly the selected plants 
approach the habit of the specimen here shown the 
better the effect produced. 
-- 
THE FIRST PRODUCTIONS. 
It would have been strange if no one had conceived 
the idea of intercrossing the species of tuberous 
Begonias when they were first introduced from their 
native wilds ; but we readily take it for granted that 
no one had the remotest idea of the magnificent and 
far-reaching results of to-day when the first hybrids 
were produced. The accompaning illustration will 
give some idea of the general appearance of those 
early productions, and the relatively puny character 
of their flowers. We refer to them here, not for the 
purpose of entering into details concerning the first 
results of the art of the hybridist, and which are 
now matters of history, but to give our younger 
readers a starting point from which they may pass 
on to realise the vastness and extent of the improve¬ 
ments which have been effected by the hand of man 
in the space of thirty-one years, and to stimulate 
and encourage them to go and do likewise with some 
other class of plants. By so doing they will 
deserve well of their brother gardeners and the 
community generally. 
In the bouquet of early hybrids something closely 
allied to the species B. boliviensis, the first intro¬ 
duction will be observed, and others closely 
resemble B. Sedeni, the first hybrid that was raised 
and put into commerce in 1870. All these have 
disappeared and are probably lost to cultivation, as it 
might be expected they would do when varieties 
with blooms 3 in. to 5 in. or even 7 in. have come to 
take their place. The law of the fittest determined 
the matter in this case. It is to be feared that the 
original species themselves have disappeared from 
cultivation, ,a matter that is to be regretted, for 
apart from the interest attaching to them as the 
progenitors of one of the most useful, varied, and 
beautiful classes of plants in cultivation, some of 
them are really beautiful, and none more so than B. 
boliviensis. The long, pendulous, orange-scarlet, and 
Fuchsia-like flowers, and the graceful habit of the 
plant, are qualities that recommend it for pot 
culture in private establishments, and we believe it 
would make an exceedingly beautiful subject for 
bedding purposes. It ought to be re-introduced. 
FISHER’S HOTEL, PITLOCHRY. 
A Begonia number of The Gardening World 
would be incomplete were it not to take some notice 
of the grand display to be seen year after year at 
Fisher's Hotel, Pitlochry. To the veteran hotel 
proprietor and keen horticulturist, Mr. Donald 
Fisher, is due the honour of being probably the first 
to recognise the value of the Begonia as a bedding 
plant; most assuredly he led the way in Scotland 
close on twenty years ago, and found no little 
Mr. Donald Fisher. 
difficulty in persuading his "professional” friends 
that our Scotch climate was one that favoured 
Begonia cultivation. Mr. Fisher bought his first 
tubers from Messrs. Laing, Forest Hill, and Cannell, 
of Swanley; but he very soon, by careful selection, 
got into a good strain of seedlings. 
From 4,000 to 5,000 are put out annually, and 
many of the tubers are six to eight years old. 
Nothing in the shape of weaklings are bedded out; 
hence, from July till " John Frost ” appears, there is 
a continuous bloom. There are some thirty beds of 
various sizes, and all selected to colour. Double 
varieties are also used and succeed well, although 
they hardly provide such a mass of blcom as the 
singles. The Scotch climate, it is constantly 
affirmed, is rather " moist.” Such at all events has 
been the condition of things for the past four weeks, 
and never during the many years I have been a 
visitor to Pitlochry have the Begonias looked better. 
As a matter of fact they do not like dry, scorching 
weather, and Mr. Fisher attributes his successful 
cultivation in great part to the fact that his garden 
does not get the full blaze of the sun until the day is 
somewhat advanced. Pitlochry is visited annually 
by thousands from all parts of the world, and it 
astonishes many to find horticulture so well to the 
front in the Scottish Highlands.— D. P. L. 
The National Chrysanthemum Society's Catalogue.— 
Centenary Edition. Containing 1,000 new varieties. All the 
novelties. A historv and complete bibliography of the Chrysan¬ 
themum by Mr. C. Harman Payne. Price, is.; post free, 
is. i£d. Publisher, Gardening World, i, Clement's Inn, 
Strand, London, W.C. 
