October 19, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD* 
111 
show, for they are already plump with buds. There 
are about 200, mostly dwarf, well-grown plants. 
Some of the early ones, such as W. Holmes, James 
Salter, Lady Selborae, L'lncomparable, etc., are 
now in bloom. No wonder these plants are com¬ 
paratively dwarf and early, for they receive such 
copious supplies of sunshine, that they cannot make 
much upward growth against such odds. Many of 
them, however, although only struck in February 
and March, and in 12 in. pots, are about 5 ft. high, 
and sturdy in proportion. These are “ cut backs.' 1 
Mr. Chaston favours Ichthemic guano, but also 
administers liquid cow manure and soot. 
The vegetable and fruit gardens alike exhibit 
robustness of growth and much fertility, but we can 
only just glance at the latter. Here the Apples. 
Pears, Quinces, and Plums have borne and are 
berring heavy crops. Cattillac, a good culinary 
Pear, had fruits last year over a pound in weight 
apiece, and this year there is also evidence of a 
repetition. The wall fruits have, likewise, succeeded 
beyond belief, for the walls are of stone, and that is 
not considered such good material for fruit growing 
as brick. That the gardens, however, should look 
so well, generally, in the third week of September 
speaks volumes, by implication, for spring and 
summer contrasts. 
To those interested in lawn tennis, the courts here 
would commend themselves, for they overlook the 
town and bay. What, then, shall be said about the 
observatory, which is above the courts, and has a 
splendid view. Here one may get de profundis, so I 
will only say that while the telescope commands 
“heaven and earth,’’ the observatory walls are 
covered with astronomical information and other 
matters relating to abstruse things. The roof is so 
constructed that it can be opened to the sky, and as 
we made our exit we were reminded by a quotation 
from Young, that— 
•' An undevout astronomer is mad.” 
In addition to two conservatories and other glass 
structures, there is a fine range of houses devoted to 
Peaches aud Vines. Little or no artificial heat 
obtains here, enough can be collected from the rays of 
old Sol. The Peaches, of course, are conspicuous 
by their absence, but the Vines are just in their 
prime condition. The Muscat, house is represented 
by Muscat of Alexandria and Bowood, both of which 
are in their finest form. The other house contains 
Black Alicante, a beautiful variety ; Black Ham¬ 
burgh, always good; Mrs. Pince, prolific and fine ; 
Madresfield Court, similar in appearance to Alicante, 
and in very good condition; and Lady Downes, 
which may be said to be extra fine, Mr. Chaston is 
especially proud of these results : in fact, he regards 
them as the piece de resistance, and with him I heartily 
concur.— C.B. G., Acton, W. 
- - -*• - 
A GIANT CAULIFLOWER. 
The annual general meeting of the Ayrshire Gar¬ 
deners’ Mutual Improvement Association was held 
on the 3rd inst., and the office-bearers and com¬ 
mittee for the ensuing session were elected. The 
first meeting of the new session will take place 
on Thursday evening, November 7th, at half-past 
seven o'clock, when the president will read a paper. 
An exceptionally fine Cauliflower, Veitch's Autumn 
Giant, was exhibited by Mr. D. Mackie, Mont¬ 
gomerie Gardens, Tarbolton, which weighed fully 
seven pounds, and measured almost three feet in cir¬ 
cumference, while the quality was first-class. Mr. 
Mackie was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks. 
It is extremely gratifying to the management to 
know that members at a distance take so great an 
interest in the association. Another interesting 
feature of the meeting was a cluster of Pears exhibi¬ 
ted by Mr. Maxwell, The Knowe Gardens, the 
number exceeding fifty, while the branch on which 
they were borne was only a little over a foot in 
length. Mr. Maxwell was accorded a vote of 
thanks. 
Mr. Mackie furnishes us with a few details as to 
cultural treatment in the hope that they may prove 
interesting to the readers of The Gardening 
World, but particularly to vegetable growers or 
those who take special interest in a well-kept 
and well-supplied kitchen garden. The specimen of 
the Cauliflower he exhibited on this occasion was 
slightly smaller than another which he exhibited 
before the same society in October, 1894. Both 
specimens were grown on land which for a number 
of years has been dressed with bone meal in seasons 
when Peas were to be grown in shallow trenches. 
The following year Cauliflowers were planted along 
the lines previously occupied by the Peas, without 
further manuring, resulting in many extra large 
heads. We may add that great interest is taken in 
vegetable culture by Ayrshire gardeners, who come 
to the front both at the leading and local exhibitions 
north of the Tweed, 
SOLOMON’S SEAL. 
The value of this as a forcing plant for house and 
conservatory decoration is getting'more widely 
known than it was, and those having a stock of it 
in the borders should now go over them and mark 
the strongest stools to lift later on for potting up. 
This plant admits of quicker propagation than the 
generality of those growing it are aware of; for after 
lifting it and making the points of the creeping 
rhizomes into suitable lengths for potting into 48 or 
32-size pots the root of the plant goes to the rubbish 
heap and finally disappears. Only the strong points 
being reserved for forcing, a great deal of the plant 
which might be made use of to increase the stock is 
wasted. These apparently useless pieces of stem, if 
cut up into pieces about 2 in. in length and planted 
in rows 2 in. under the surface and a foot from row 
to row, will all eventually make plants. They may 
be planted close in the rows ; but the novice at this 
work must not be disappointed if he sees no result 
from his labour the first season, because they lay 
apparently dormant the first year, and not till the 
second do they appear above ground. Let them 
remain two seasons in the cutting beds, after which 
plant them at a greater distance apart, following on 
this course for a few seasons. A large stock may 
be reared from very small beginnings. —IT. B. G. 
-~fr.- 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Hand-list of Herbaceous Plants Cultivated in 
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. London : 
Sold at the Royal Gardens, Kew. Printed for 
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office by Eyre & 
Spottiswoode. 1895. Price is. 
The object of this hand-list is to show what species 
are actually grown at Kew, and to reduce, if possible, 
the nomenclature to a standard. The first list 
published was in 1768, and recorded 2,712 herbaceous 
plants. In 1853 this number had mounted up to 
4,494 species, after excluding about 1,000 for 
synonyms, shrubby, and greenhouse plants. The 
number is now, approximately, 6,000, including 
about 1,000 well-marked varieties. Independently 
of the above-mentioned objects of the hand-list, we 
may state that it will constitute a useful guide to 
nurserymen and amateurs alike who have a collec¬ 
tion of herbaceous plants that require revision as to 
nomenclature. We do not notice a great alteration 
of the names with which we are familiar, though a 
few may be noted, such as Echinops bannaticus for 
E. Ritro, Erodium chamaedryoides for E. Reichardi, 
Maianthemum Convallariafor M. bifolium, Hordeum 
secalinum for H. prateuse, etc. There is no Geum 
coccineum mentioned, as the plant in cultivation 
was shown some years ago to be G. chiloense. We 
are somewhat in a fog about Ononis repens and O. 
arvensis, both recorded as species. The former has 
been given in some books as a synonym, and others 
as a variety of O. arvensis. 
The list of names with their authorities and native 
countries is printed on every alternate page, leaving 
the other blank for the addition of names of species 
which collectors may have in their gardens or 
nurseries, or for notes, etc. The text is printed in 
large and bold t}pe, while the few synonyms given 
are printed in smaller type. Diphthongs have been 
uncoupled in most cases, but a few have been 
allowed to slip the editor. For instance, we have 
Iris Mariae and Lilium Jankae as the adopted style, 
while, on the other hand, Iris Helenas, Jasione 
Jankas, and Kniphofia Northias have evidently been 
overlooked. The Hand-list follows the corrected 
plan of commencing all Latin adjectives with a small 
letter, whatever the declension to which they may 
belong ; but here again a slip may occur as Lilium 
Washingtonianum. The old error of using capital 
letters for the adjectival form of a person's Dame was 
and is so prevalent that some mistakes of this kind 
are almost certain to escape notice while passing 
through the press. The large number of species of 
many popular genera cultivated at Kew is surprising. 
Taking a random glance at the lists, we may say that 
the following are well represented :— Androsace, 
Anemone, Aquilegia, Arabis, Aster, Astragalus, 
Calochortus, Campanula, Chrysanthemum, Crocus, 
Delph'nium, Dianthus (surprisingly numerous), 
Gentiana, Geranium, Iris, LupiDus, Iris, Narcissus, 
Oenothera, Potentilla, Primula, Salvia, and many 
others. Althaea has been omitted altogether, doubt¬ 
less by oversight. Of Snowdrops, eight species and 
hybrids are recorded with numerous varieties. 
-•*-- 
Hardening ||iscellany. 
PARSNIP DISEASE. 
Will any of the readers of The Gardening World 
kindly enlighten me as to the best remedy for the 
prevention of the Parsnip disease. At the present 
time I have what would otherwise have been a 
magnifient crop of perfect roots spoiled through 
many of them becoming rotten on the crown. I 
have been told that heavy rain was the cause, but I 
noticed the disease in the summer before we had 
any heavy rain. I have also tried deep sowing, all 
to no good purpose. I shall be extremely glad to 
hear from any of your numerous readers its cause 
and remedy .-—James Gibson, Devonhurst, Chiswick. 
SAVE YOUR GREEN TOMATOS 
After all the sunshine and hot weather we have 
experienced up till the end of September, there will 
still be a large quantity of green fruits or Tomato 
plants grown in the open air. Do not throw them 
away, because by taking a little trouble with them 
you may have fresh fruits instead of canned ones 
till well into winter. It is astonishing how long 
they will keep perfectly fresh if stored in a dry 
cool place. Gather the fruits while dry, roll each 
separately in tissue paper and store them in a dry 
cool place, where the temperature should not 
descend below 35 0 Fah. Frost must certainly be 
excluded. A few days before they are wanted, take 
out the requisite number and expose them to heat 
and the light'of the sun. They will then assume a 
bright red colour, and if not equal in flavour to those 
ripened on the plants under the influence of sun¬ 
shine, they will at least surpass the canned ones in 
piquancy. Those who have heated glasshouses 
will have no difficulty in ripening these belated 
fruits ; but those who are less favourably circum¬ 
stanced may lay them on a tray, and place the 
latter sufficiently near to be within the influence of 
the kitchen range .—Fiat lux. 
CRAB APPLE JELLY. 
Collect good sound fruit and cut it up in pieces, 
core, seeds and all, as they greatly add to the flavour 
of the jelly. Fill some stone jars with the sliced 
fruits, adding about a cupful of water or even less 
to every six pounds of the Crabs, and stand the jars 
in vessels of water. Boil them for eight or nine 
hours and then cover the jars with a close lid, 
leaving them all night in this condition. The juice 
may then be squeezed out and made to boil over a 
fire. As soon as this happens, add a pound of 
sugar to each pint of the juice and as soon as the 
sugar is thoroughly dissolved, the jelly may be put 
into jars or glasses and covered up in the usual way 
till required for use. 
PINK ERNEST LADHAMS. 
A magnificent perpetual-flowering Pink named 
Ernest Ladhams has been recently sent out by the 
well-known specialist in herbaceous plants, Mr. B. 
Ladhams, The Shirley Nurseries, Southampton. 
Some large bunches of it formed a very conspicuous 
part of their exhibit of hardy cut flowers at the 
Crystal Palace on the occasion of the great fruit 
show held last week. The blooms are large 
and pure white, with a rich maroon blotch at 
the base of each petal, thus forming a distinct dark 
central ring which adds considerably to the attrac¬ 
tiveness of the flower which is also possessed of a 
strong and agreeable perfume. A plant of this kind 
which will flower so freely for so long a period is of 
the greatest value, and will doubtless be grown 
in large quantities, once it becomes well known, for 
supplying the demand for cut flower that in some 
establishments is so hard to keep up with. 
