December 7, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
223 
tips. Award of Merit. Mr. H. J. Jones, Ryecroft 
Nursery, Hither Green, Lewisham. 
Chrysanthemum Surprise.— The rays of this 
Japanese Anemone variety are numerous, somewhat 
incurved at the tips, and of a soft rosy-purple. The 
disc is very prominent and closely similar in colour. 
It is a fine addition to a somewhat neglected class. 
Award of Merit. Mr. H. J. Jones. 
Chrysanthemum Golden Dart. —In the forma¬ 
tion of the pointed petals, this decorative variety 
reminds us of Yellow Ethel, but the blooms are 
larger and fuller even when grown under the same 
conditions for cut flower purposes. The blooms are 
golden-yellow, and in their ultimate stages are almost 
globular, though not by any means formal. Award 
of Merit. Mr. E. H. Jenkins, Hampton Hill, 
Middlesex. 
Chrysanthemum Wm. Slogrove. —The blooms 
of this fine incurved Japanese variety are golden- 
yellow, rather closely incurved, and the florets are 
more or less interlaced with one another. For this 
class, 6 in. is a good width. Award of Merit. Mr. 
Wm. Slogrove, gardener to Mrs. Crawford, Gatton 
Cottage, Reigate. 
Fruit Committee. 
Apple Stubbs' Seedling.— The fruit of this variety 
is of medium size, rather flattened and oblate with 
four or five rather prominent knobs surrounding the 
shallow, plaited basin in which the closed eye is 
situated. The skin is deep crimson, intensified to 
blackish-crimson in places. A small portion of the 
shaded side is greenish-yellow. Award of Merit. 
Mr. W. Palmer, Andover. 
The following Chrysanthemums were awarded 
First-class Certificates by the Floral Committee of 
the National Chrysanthemum Society on Wednesday, 
November 27th. 
William Slogrove. —For description of this new 
Japanese type see above. Mr. W. Wells. 
Olive Oclee.— A grand incurved Jap. For des¬ 
cription see above. Mr. H. J. Jones. 
Surprise. —A new Japanese Anemone. For des¬ 
cription see above. Mr. H. J. Jones. 
Early Pot Vines.— As soon as the canes have 
broken equally they may be tied up in their proper 
places. The syringings must still be continued as 
regularly as before until the plants are in rough leaf. 
The temperature, however, must now receive a sub¬ 
stantial rise, being maintained at 55 0 Fahr. by night, 
rising to 6o° by day, or a few degrees higher with 
sun heat. Of course, to do this necessitates the 
employment of more fire heat, and the atmosphere 
of the house will, as a result, show a corresponding 
tendency to become dry and arid. Damping down 
the walls and passages must, therefore, be practised 
in addition to the syringings, if required, to obviate 
the parching effects of artificial heat 
Early Permanent Vinery.— If the directions 
given in the last calendar have been attended to this 
house will now have been started. A night tempera¬ 
ture of not less than 48° Fahr. should be given here, 
as it takes a great deal more heat to start vines into 
growth at this, the fag-end of the year, than it does 
in the springtime. The same directions with regard 
to syringing as were given in the case of the pot 
vines must be observed here. 
General Work in the Vineries will consist 
of getting the pruning and cleaning of the canes, 
and the washing of the houses forward as much as 
possible. When mealy bug is very trouLlesome, 
winter cleaning has, as a result, to be thoroughly 
done, some little time is occupied in putting things 
straight, and thus once a start has been there is no¬ 
thing for it but to go straight ahead and get all the 
cleaning done. 
Vine Eyes. -If a number of these are required, 
sound, well ripened laterals should be selected, from 
which any number of plump, well-formed buds may 
be taken. The laterals may be picked out now from 
the prunings, neatly labelled, and their ends laid in 
a corner of the border in a perfectly cool house, 
where they will keep until they are called for. 
Early Peaches.— The earliest house will have 
been started at the beginning of this month, as pre¬ 
viously recommended, and for yet another week a 
night temperature of about 40° may be maintained. 
The syringe may be used early in the afternoon 
whenever it is practicable to do so, but we do not 
advise much syringing during such cold damp 
weather as characterised the latter part of Novem¬ 
ber and the beginning of December. Should the 
house have an outside border a good layer of long 
stable manure should be given. This will serve the 
purpose of protection from hard frost, as well as 
adding nutriment to the soil—both important con¬ 
siderations. 
Late and Mid-season Houses. —The leaves have 
now practically all fallen from the trees, and the 
winter part of the programme may therefore be 
gone through. After pruning, the branches may be 
tied together in loose bundles, so as to enable the 
men to wash the glass and woodwork of the house 
without wholesale injury to the buds. A few, of 
course, are sure to come to grief. Next proceed to 
wash the larger branches with a solution of Gishurst, 
as in the early house, working the mixture well into 
the crevices of the bark with a soft brush. 
Tying In.—A Peach or a Nectarine tree well tied 
is a good thing of beauty to the eye of the practical 
gardener, but what shall be said for those that are 
badly tied, or to be more expressive, bungled ? 
Nothing speaks so forcibly of incompetence in 
under-glass fruit culture as to see trees with growths 
overlapping each other, some pointing this way, 
and some that, and all in a state of inextricable con¬ 
fusion. If the tying of the trees is committed to 
the care of young ant! inexperienced workmen, this 
state of things is almost sure to occur to a greater 
or a less degree. A few words of advice from the 
foreman or the head gardener ought, therefore, to be 
given these young fellows. The main and leading 
branches must always be tied in first, and then the 
smaller ones laid in after them, taking care to keep 
them straight throughout their whole length, and 
yet at the same time to so distribute them that the 
whole of the space allotted is covered evenly. Still, 
it is no use being particular now, and then lapsing 
into a state of carelessness when the summer wood 
has to be laid in, for good summer training must be 
closely followed by careful winter training if we are 
to get our heart’s desire—viz., evenly balanced and 
fruitful trees. 
--- 
Now that we are in the thick of the planting season 
it may be as well if we give a few moments’ con¬ 
sideration to the kind of trees we are to plant as well 
as to the not less important question of varieties. 
Apples. —These, there is no doubt, are the kings 
of the dessert table, and the hardy fruit which of all 
others command our attention. There are so many 
methods of growing this tree, all of which are 
practised more or less extensively, that it will be well 
worth our while to stop and consider which is the 
best for our individual purpose. 
Standard trees, worked on the crab stock, are 
undoubtedly the best for forming orchards, for the 
crab sends down a strong tap root that gives the tree 
a good hold and enables it to withstand the enormous 
pressure exercised upon its head by even a 
moderately strong gale. There’s no doubt but that 
these are the kind of trees to fill our store-rooms with 
bushels of fruit, but it is also evident that they do 
not furnish the finest fruit, with regard to size and 
appearance. 
Dwarf Pyramidal and bush trees worked upon 
the Paradise Stock are excellent for planting in 
localities where the soil is naturally shallow. The 
roots are produced nearer to the surface than in the 
case of trees upon the crab stock, and as a natural 
consequence it becomes much easier to give manurial 
stimulants when necessary. Such trees also come 
into bearing at a very early age, whilst they are 
specially suitable for planting in small gardens on 
account of their dwarfer stature. 
Espaliers and Cordons of all shapes may be 
obtained for planting along the edges of walks, 
against walls, etc. Some splendid fruit is generally 
borne by trees of this class. 
Needless to say the number of varieties is 
practically legion. The following, however, are a 
few of the very best dessert sorts, coming into season 
from August to March Lady Sudeley, Duchess of 
Oldenburg, Irish Peach, Ribston Pippin, Cox's 
Orange Pippin, King of the Pippins, Mannington's 
Pearmain, Scarlet Golden Pippin, Adam’s Pearmain, 
Reinette du Canada and Court Pendu Plat. 
The undermentioned will be found to be some of 
the best culinary varieties—Lord Suffield, Early 
Rivers, Cellini, Peasgood’s Nonsuch, Ecklinville 
Seedling, Lane's Prince Albert, Dumelow’s Seedling, 
Warners King, Mere de Menage and Norfolk 
Beaufin. 
December here, and still a remarkable absence of 
wintry weather! Surely we are being favoured 
somewhat—a state of things that should encourage 
us to buckle to and take advantage of the clerk of the 
weather’s unwonted geniality. The tidying up move¬ 
ment should be strong upon every gardener at this 
time of the year. It is not possible to have flowers 
outdoors ; then the next best thing to be achieved, 
should be absolute cleanliness. What matter if our 
beds are destitute of flowers ! There is always a 
pleasure, keen and deep, in walking round a well- 
kept garden where everything is in its place. 
Planting, of course, must be pushed on with all 
speed, although the rainy weather is a sad hind¬ 
rance. Still, we may get an even greater one later 
on in the way of hard frost and snow. 
Thinning of Shrubberies. —At this season of the 
year boughs of Coniferae of all kinds come in very 
handily for purposes of protection. Where this 
element has been planted pretty extensively there 
are usually a few trees that need to be taken 
out to make them for others. Or it may be 
some having outgrown their limits, have become 
shabby, or been broken by winds. If these 
are removed from the places they occupy now, we 
shall get the benefit of their boughs for covering up 
our tender plants which it is feared may not pass 
the winter unaided. Any thinning of this kind that 
is necessary in shrubberies should therefore be done 
without delay, even if the vacancies are not filled up 
until the spring. 
Ornamental Vases. —If these are not of too 
heavy a nature they should be taken in out of the 
way of the frost; for if left exposed through the winter 
they not only get green and dirty and hence very 
difficult to clean, but they are apt to get chipped and 
broken through the action of the intense cold. A 
vacant shed or outhouse may, with profit, be utilised 
for their shelter. 
Empty Flower Beds. —There is almost sure to 
be a greater or less number of these about in 
different parts of the flower garden. Steps may now 
be taken to give these a dressing of manure if re¬ 
quired. In this, however, due discretion must be 
exercised, having an eye to the kind of plants it is 
proposed to fill them with next year. Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums, for instance, must not have the soil in 
which they are growing made too rich, otherwise 
they will make a lot of gross succulent growth, and 
flower trusses will be scarce in proportion. For 
Dahlias, on the other hand, the soil can scarcely be 
made too rich. After the manure has been applied 
a good deep digging may be given, the surface of 
the soil being left fairly rough. 
Box Edgings. —Much has been said and written 
at various times against box edgings to beds and 
walks, and still they have survived it ■ for they are 
to be seen in almost every garden, to some extent at 
least. There is no doubt that* the box is the 
most suitable of the dwarf green edging plants, 
and a nice edging of it looks very well indeed, 
when it is properly kept up. The great objec¬ 
tions to its employment are that it affords so 
much harbourage for slugs, and that it is liable, 
during spells of severe frost, to be killed off in 
patches. Any breaks that are observed in the line 
should now be made good, or if it has got too bad 
for the patching up process to answer, the whole 
must be taken up and relaid. 
Begonia Tubers. —If these have not been lifted, 
no time must be lost in getting them in. Choose a 
fine day, when the soil is fairly dry, and carefully lift 
with small handforks. They may then be placed in 
single layers in a cool shed or house to dry. This 
will admit of the greater part of the soil being 
removed, and the tubers may then be stowed away 
for the winter in the least possible space. Shallow 
boxes holding one layer of tubers only, and filled up 
with dry sand or soil, are very handy for keeping 
them through the winter, as they may be stood in 
tiers on the top of each other in a corner of the store 
house. The various colours should be kept 
separate, and a label, denoting the character of the 
contents, should be firmly affixed to each box in 
order to save confusion at planting time next spring. 
