780 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 8, 1896. 
duly weighed in making a selection from 
the annual batches of seedlings ; but the 
habit of the plant is also taken into account 
as well as the length and relative stoutness 
of the peduncles, and the substance of the 
flower itself. He raises 10,000 seedlings 
annually, and when one considers that 120 
to 130 of the very best of these are selected 
for pot cultivation the following year, it is 
easy to imagine that the most is made of 
the resources at command, otherwise it 
would be impossible to get so many really 
excellent varieties every year in the face of 
the already existing and magnificent types. 
We were informed, moreover, while 
examining the collection of pot plants, that 
scarcely a plant we looked upon was older 
than the 1894 selection." This alone will 
indicate the rapidity of the progress that 
has been made. As soon as new varieties, 
that considerably excel the old ones, are 
obtained, the latter are discarded, as they 
perforce must be, to make room for the very 
best. 
While looking at the beds of seedlings as 
well as the plants reared from the small 
tubers of last year, or the cuttings of this, 
we were impressed with the high standard 
of excellence pervading the whole. Our 
opinion of them was evidently higher than 
that of the Rev. E. Lascelles, who said 
that visitors who were not specialists, in 
looking at his plants had an idea that they 
were simply perfection, and that nothing 
remained to be done. His own opinion 
was that scarcely a single flower had 
reached the limits of perfection anywhere. 
There was a defect somewhere, either in the 
flower or the plant, and until these defects 
had been eliminated, something yet 
remained to be done, something to be 
accomplished under the guidance of a care¬ 
fully trained eye. Furthermore, a great 
deal remains to be done, and those who 
have gone furthest in this special culture, 
see more defects, even in the finest varieties, 
than anybody else. 
Double flowers are the favourites at 
Newton St. Loe— in fact, it would be 
difficult to find a really single flower 
amongst the numerous beds both in the 
flower garden and the kitchen garden. A 
very high percentage of the flowers are not 
merely double but of a high standard of 
merit, and those which are indifferent the 
first year often become more decidedly 
perfect the second year when grown in pots. 
The first flower of a seedling may be nearly 
single, but succeeding ones show a decisive 
improvement even on the same plants. The 
seedlings are the most advanced we have 
seen this year and in the course of a 
fortnight they will be worthy of a long 
journey with the express object of seeing 
them. What then shall we say of the 
collection of pot plants which fill three 
houses entirely and several frames. They 
have been flowering for the last three 
months, but nevertheless are in full vigour 
and a perfect blaze of bloom, in all the 
colours peculiar to this class of plants. 
Almost every bloom has a telling effect 
from the fact that it stands just above the 
foliage on stout, upright peduncles. The 
getting of this desirable habit has been the, 
aim'of the raiser for years past; and our 
first impression upon entering one of the 
houses was that Mr. Lascelles had an 
object in view and was successfully carrying 
it out. Thathe was working upon a scientific 
method we had no doubt whatever. For 
some time after the plants commence to 
bloom, the flowers are perfectly upright, 
but as the season advances and the 
temperature rises, necessitating shading, 
the heavier flowers are almost bound to 
bend a little. With the exception of two 
or three small sticks to support some of the 
ponderousJMooms, staking has been entirely 
dispensed with. The same varieties in the 
open ground are perfectly upright, and 
therefore highly effective. We felt inclined 
to speculate as to how many years it would 
take to have every private collection in the 
country up to this standard of merit. 
During the last five years the seedlings 
have been grown upon the same ground in 
the kitchen garden without apparently 
exhausting the soil in the least. Mr. C. F. 
Langdon, gardener to the Rev. E. Lascelles, 
fully understands the cultivation of 
Begonias. The ground is deeply dug every 
year, said he, and heavily manured at the 
same time. As the Begonias are shallow 
rooting plants, their roots find fresh material 
simply by the method of deep digging, and 
independently of any manure which may be 
supplied. At present the beds are covered 
with cocoanut fibre, for very little rain, 
beyond a mere sprinkling, has fallen here 
since last March. Out of doors and under 
glass, Mr. Langdon is a first class cultivator 
of a flower he must love in order to succeed 
so well. We must revert to a description 
of the best named varieties on another 
occasion. 
--f-- 
Sandringham Horticultural Show —This show was 
held in the park on the 29th ult., and was visited by 
Prince and Princess Charles, as well as by some 
thousands of visitors. 
Harvest has commenced as far north as Fyvie, 
Aberdeenshire. A field of bere was cut on Fyvie 
glebe on the 24th July, and probably beats the 
record for many years past. 
The big Gooseberry is now in season. Some fruits 
weighing 1 oz. to 1^ oz. each, and grown by Mr. 
John Rae, water balifl of Ellon, N.B., may be seen 
in the window of Mr. Walker, chemist. 
Mr. F. W. Cavill, for the past five-and-a-half years 
foreman at Upleatham Gardens, R.S.O., Yorkshire, 
has been appointed head gardener to the Hon. 
Thomas Dundas, Ainderby Hall, Northallerton, 
Yorkshire. 
Spiraeas like Lily of the Valley may now be had 
in bloom at any or every period of the year. They 
may be had during winter and spring by forcing, in 
early summer by natural growth, and in late summer 
and autumn by retarding the crowns in a refrigerator. 
Those treated in the latter way flower as well as 
those obtained by the older methods. 
Best Kept Gardens at Cromar.—Lord and Lady 
Aberdeen had offered prizes for the best kept gardens 
on the Cromar estate, and these were awarded 
recently under the auspices of the Cromar Horticul¬ 
tural Association. For the best kept gardens, six 
out of seven prizes were won by people in Tarland. 
Four out of five prizes offered for window boxes 
were also secured by the men of Tarland. 
The Temperate House at Kew when completed will 
be 600 ft. long or just twice the length of the Palm 
house. It will consist of a central block, an 
octagon at either end of this, and then a wing at 
each of the extreme ends. One of the wings is 
almost completed, and the other will be commenced 
as soon as possible. The original design projected 
by the late Prince Consort will then be complete. 
There will be a clear view from end to end along the 
central pathway. 
Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund.—At a meeting of the 
committee, held on the 31st ult., Mr. W. Marshall 
presiding, it was announced that the total amount of 
the contributions at the recent annual festival 
reached a trifle over £goo, of which sum no less than 
£341 15s. 6d. was contributed by friends in Covent 
Garden Market, per Mr. T. Assbee, the market 
superintendent. Other contributions announced 
were £7, resulting from the sale of surplus flowers at 
the Croydon show, per Mr. G. W. Cummins; a 
similar amount from the sale of flowers at Chisle- 
hurst, per Mr. J. Lyne; £5 raised by the sale of 
flowers by the Wimbledon Horticultural Society ; 
and 15s. from Mr. J. H. Witty, Nunhead Cemetery, 
S.E , collecting box. Votes of thanks were accorded 
to all the donors, and after deciding to invest 
another sum of £500, the committee adjourned until 
the last Friday in October, 
Lincoln’s Inn Gardens by permission of the benchers 
will be open to the public in future from 6.30 a m. 
till dusk, and from the 13th inst. till the nth of 
September they will be open from 5 to 7 inclusive. 
Collectors of our Coupons are respectfully informed 
that copies of " Ogilvie’s Encyclopaedia of Useful 
Information and World’s Atlas ” cannot be sent till 
after the 20th inst. On that date a new edition is 
expected to be ready. 
The Newport flower show has been revived after a 
lapse of ten years, and the public is highly pleased 
at the prospect. Entries are very numerous, and 
stove and greenhouse plants promise to be a fine 
feature. 
Fortune Green, West Hampstead, is to be purchased 
as an open space at a cost of £8,000. The London 
County Council will give £3,000 towards the pur¬ 
chase money, and the Hampstead Vestry will give a 
similar sum. The rest will probably be raised by 
public subscription. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next fruit and 
floral meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society will 
be held on Tuesday, August nth, in the Drill Hall, 
James Street, Westminster, one to five p.m. At 
three o'clock a lecture will be given on “ Fern 
generation normal and abnormal," by Mr. C. T. 
Druery, F.L.S. 
Newport Flower Show.—The annual show of the 
Newport and District Association, Essex, was held in 
the grounds of Newport house, on the 22nd ult., 
when prizes were awarded for fruits, flowers, vege¬ 
tables, honey, butter, needlework, and other 
industrial products. There was a very keen 
competition in the labourers' classes. 
Malum persicum was the ancient name of the 
Peach; the modern name Prunus Persica also serves 
to indicate that Persia was the country from whence 
the Peach was introduced to European gardens. 
Botanists do not consider, however, that Persia was 
its native country. The Bermuda Lily (Lilium 
longiflorum eximium) is a native of Japan ; and the 
Bermuda Buttercup Oxalis (Oxalis valdiviensis) is a 
native of Valdivia in Chili and Patagonia. Verily, 
there is not much in a name. 
A Gooseberry Show.—The sixth annual show of 
the Huddersfield and District Gooseberry Growers' 
Association, was held at the Spring Grove Hotel, 
Kirkburton, on the 25th ult. There was a splendid 
show of Gooseberries together with other fruits and 
vegetables. The lowest weight for a Gooseberry 
amongst the winning exhibits was 12 dwts., and the 
highest 21 dwts. 18 grs. This berry was the red 
variety Blucher, and the lucky exhibitor Mr. A. 
Morley, Scissett. Numerous other prizes were 
gained by fruits turning the scales at various weights 
between the two above given. 
Sutton’s Bulbs.—Before us as we write is a copy of 
the catalogue of bulbs offered to the British public 
by Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, during the 
forthcoming season. We are most concerned with 
the illustrations which are both numerous and 
admirably executed. Both woodcuts and photo¬ 
graphic illustrations jostle each other as if racing for 
the leading honours to their respective artists. It is 
difficult to say which style is best, though the larger 
illustrations, as a rule, are reproductions of photo¬ 
graphs, and if anything the most numerous. We 
must admit that the Hyacinths have been most 
admirably pourtrayed by the photographer. We 
could have wished that the three spikes of Hyacinths 
on p. 6 had been named as they are on pp. 8 to 12 
inclusive. The shape of the flowers and the charac¬ 
ter of the spikes are faithfully represented natural 
size,and show the peculiarities of individual varieties. 
What more is needed for the guidance of amateurs 
and young gardeners in making their selections. 
Daffodils of various kinds are represented under 
different conditions both by photographs and wood- 
cuts, the latter generally representing single flowers. 
The Tulips on pp.27 and 28 are represented by wood- 
cuts so finely executed that they constitute excellent 
imitations of the photographer’s art, and require close 
inspection to detect the difference. A full, page 
illustration of massive double Tulips on p. 30 has 
been brought out with wonderful clearness for such 
lumpy flowers, by photography. Numerous other 
bulbous and tuberous flowers are also illustrated. 
