October 5, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
79 
Begonia Royal Sovereign (See p, 77). 
above which they show themselves very plainly and 
conspicuously compared with other Fuchsias, whether 
garden or otherwise, and which have almost without 
exception, pendulous flowers. F. erecta has white 
sepals, pink petals and large, horizontal, deep green 
leaves. A circular bed of the variety may be seen 
by the side of the broad walk at Kew, leading 
towards the Palm house from the main entrance. 
PYRUS MAULEI. 
Whether trained against a wall or planted out in 
the open, Maule’s Quince fruits abundantly; and 
although the numerous small, yellow fruits are 
neither very conspicuous nor showy, their strong 
pronounced odour soon draws the attention of any 
one going near the plants at this season of the year. 
The odour or smell is by no means disagreeable at a 
short distance away, and affords a pleasing variation 
to the scent of Heliotrope, Night-scented Tobacco, 
Petunias and Lilium auratum on a dewy morning or 
evening. 
TOMATO AUSTIN’S ECLIPSE. 
The fruit of this variety is moderate in size and 
suitable for general use, a statement that cannot be 
applied to any of the excessively large sorts in culti¬ 
vation. In shape it is globular, but slightly deeper 
than wide, and of a rich crimson-red. Mr. A. 
Porter, Stone House, Maidstone, grows it largely 
and thinks very highly of it. We are not surprised 
at this, for a large batch of plants was fruiting freely 
in the open air on the occasion of our visit to his 
place the other week. The Tomatos are grown in 
moderate-sized pots plunged to half their depth in 
the soil of a south aspect border. The crop was 
much finer and altogether in better condition than 
that of the plants in a house close by. The indoor 
plants did indeed give an earlier supply, but were 
longer jointed than the outdoor specimens which 
were about 4 ft. high and bore a greater number of 
bunches on the same length of stem. Mr. Porter 
had no fear of worms getting into the pots, which 
were furnished with Porter’s Patent Invincible 
Crocks, as were those of the pot Strawberries in 
front of them. A fine crop of well-flavoured fruit of 
Mrs. Pearson Grape is now ripe in a cool vinery. 
The Marechal Niel Roses under glass are fine and 
Mr. Porter cuts about 1,000 blooms from them in 
their season. 
MAXIMILLIANA MARTIANA. 
Very seldom do any of the species of Maximilliana 
flower in this country. They are noble-looking 
Palms but must be allowed to attain a considerable 
size before they can develop j their remarkable, 
woody, and boat-shaped spathes. The species under 
notice is flowering in the Palm House at Kew. The 
spathe was only 12 in. to 18 in. long when we saw it, 
but a tree in a tub could hardly be expected to 
develop such spathes as are produced by M. regia 
in its native habitats of South America, and which 
vary from 2 ft. to 6 ft. in length. The leaves of M. 
martiana at Kew, number ten or twelve, each about 
15ft. to 20ft. in length, and bear linear pinnae 
18 in. to 24m. long and arranged in irregular clusters, 
forming several rows as in Cocos plumosa, but on a 
far grander scale. It is a graceful Palm but requires 
a deal of space to show off its handsome proportions. 
OPHIOPOGON JABURAN VARIEGATUS. 
A most unfortunate plant this, to have become 
encumbered with such a string of unwieldly names, 
but apart from this it is a handsome little plant that 
might with advantage be far more extensively culti¬ 
vated than it is. As edging material for the green¬ 
house and conservatory stages it is simply invaluable. 
The flowers themselves are blue, produced in 
crowded spikes, whilst the berries, which contrast so 
admirably with the variegated foliage, are nearly of 
the same colour as the flowers and about the size of 
small Peas. Like its type the plant is of Japanese 
origin, being discovered and brought to England 
about thirty years after the species. A stock may 
be easily and quickly worked up by division of the 
roots in spring, potting up the pieces into light 
sandy soil and placing them in a gentle heat, where 
they soon recover themselves of the slight check. 
By far the best coloured batch of plants which we 
have yet seen we noticed quite lately in Messrs. 
W. Cutbush & Sons’ Nurseries at Highgate, where 
it is highly thought of for decorative purposes. 
THE ELGIN PANSIES. 
What we described in our miscellany last week as a 
new variety coming from our friends at Pinefield 
Nurseries, Messrs. Morrison and Cunningham, turns 
out to be the new Pansy “ Countess of Moray.” It 
is a yellow of a new school, and the raisers consider 
that nothing finer has been produced. The new 
Pansy is of strong bushy habit and the soft yet 
brilliant yellow, almost flaked white on the upper 
petals, harmonises exceedingly with the centre of 
rich purple and orange. Our correspondent's note 
regarding this new specimen did not reach us until 
after going to press last week, whilst the flowers 
themselves arrived fresh and early some days in 
advance. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM MISS ALICE M. LOVE. 
This is a distinct acquisition to the ranks of early- 
flowering Chrysanthemums, for, although not equal 
in size and depth to a November flower, it may be 
grown to a remarkable size for an early variety. A 
bloom of fair size, it is of the purest white, with 
broad florets of great substance, the outer ones being 
somewhat twisted and drooping. It made its first 
appearance at the meeting of the floral committee of 
the National Chrysanthemum Society, held on 
Wednesday, September 25th, by whom it was 
deservedly awarded a First-class Certificate. It 
was exhibited by Mr. H. J. Jones, Ryecroft Nursery, 
Hither Green, Lewisham. It should prove a great 
favourite when it becomes better known, as there is 
still a scarcity of early-flowering, pure white 
varieties such as this. 
-- 
BRITISH FRUIT AT THE CRYSTAL 
PALACE. 
The great exhibition of British-grown fruit,- 
inaugurated by the Royal Horticultural Society, 
was held at the Crystal Palace on the 26th, 27th, 
and 28th inst. under the most favourable conditions 
as to weather, and was largely attended. The 
display of good fruit was a most imposing one, 
the Apples, Pears, Grapes and Tomatos being the 
lions of the show, because, though many other fruits 
were represented, the above were the most con¬ 
spicuous and Apples certainly took the lead. The 
classes specially reserved for nurserymen and the 
miscellaneous collections of fruit, mostly trade 
exhibits, were arranged along the centre of the west 
end of the Palace ; and the competitive exhibits of 
gardeners and amateurs, as well as the open classes 
for collections of fruit, Grapes, and Tomatos grown 
under glass or otherwise, occupied the whole of the 
east end, so that the display as a whole was a very 
imposing one. Here also some miscellaneous trade 
exhibits were arranged including a remarkable one 
of Tomatos. 
The premier award for twelve dishes of ripe fruit 
was taken by Sir Joseph Pease, Bart., M.P. (gardener, 
Mr. J. Mclndoe), HuttonHall, Guisborough. In the 
centre of the second line was a fine bunch of Bananas, 
and three fine bunches of Foster’s Seedling Grape 
occupied the right, while three bunches of Gros 
Maroc was on the left. Golden Eagle and Exquisite 
Peaches were handsomely coloured, and the samples 
of Pears, Apples, Figs, Plums, and Yorkshire Beauty 
Melon were all good and admirably well selected. 
C. E. Keyser, Esq., Stanmore, was second with 
nicely finished bunches of Muscat of Alexandria and 
Alicante Grapes, a fine sample of Ripley Queen 
Begonia Miss M. Griffith (See p, 77), 
