January 25, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
341 
B. boliviensis was introduced. Dictionary of 
Gardening has it 1857 ; the history of The Tuberous 
Begonia says 1864. Granted the latter, it is at once 
apparent that between introduction and distribution, 
there is a margin of four years to work up a stock. 
The second Begonia—viz., Pearcei—came in 1865. 
The third and contending one, B. Veitchii, landed in 
1867. Therefore, it must have been exhibited soon 
after its arrival, and the inference only remains that 
a fair consignment of the genuine species in question 
arrived, ready to take its place along with B. 
boliviensis in 1868. 
It is a very pretty picture to see the Ivy, the 
Honeysuckle, and the vine clinging to the sturdy Oak 
and rafters ; there is plenty of Ivy about me, but I 
declare, there seems a lack of something substantial 
for the mental tendrils to cling to; but— a la 
Micawber —I will accept Mr. Outram’s date until 
something better turns up. Adverting to the abstracts, 
your correspondent excludes from the list, one of the 
most beautiful of decorative plants—namely, Aralia 
Veitchi. Ah! affinity again, obviously a good 
guarantee in plant nomenclature. I notice a dis¬ 
crepancy in my last ascribing to “ A Lover of the 
Begonia” that B. Veitchii was put into commerce in 
1870 ; his reference was to B. Sedeni. In all our 
dealings let good fellowship, truth, honour, and 
justice have precedence.— B. L. 
- 
BEGONIA WOODMANII. 
The identity of my critic, who writes under cover of 
an assumed name, is now an open secret with certain 
of my friends; at any rate, it will suffice for my 
present purpose to hint that he has come too far 
north for me, and that my converts on all sides do 
not require any more of his statements. This 
" Lover of the Begonia ” has certainly from the first 
tried to prove that my walks of asphalte are 
quagmires (p. 290). Remember, too, gentle reader, 
that our quarrel on Begonias was none of my seeking, 
for he forced me into it and charged me with 
“ gassing ” (p. 242); and furthermore denounced me 
as a perverter of the truth. Moreover, in his last 
instalment (p. 2gr), he has the audacity to contradict 
the handwriting of the illustrious dead, which is 
indefensible and in direct opposition to that sacred 
injunction familiar to every seventh standard school¬ 
boy : “ De mortuis nil nisi bonum.” 
I have also noted the remarks of another writer 
(p. 291), where he speaks of my critic’s verbosity as 
being “ fair and courteous in tone, and a fine testi¬ 
monial of common-sense, &c.,” and so it may be for 
some people. My critic’s observations on Polystichum 
Grayii and the new Roses of 1872, described in 
Messrs. Lucombe, Pince & Co.’s old catalogue, du’y 
produced by me, remind me that I had some weeks ago 
drawn the editor’s attention to them in confirmation 
of the date of publication ; and if “ Lover of the 
Begonia " had been faithful to his advertised love of 
truthfulness, he would have candidly confessed that 
the prices of these, and other novelties therein quoted, 
were the current prices of 1872 and not 1873. Permit 
me therefore to re-state my amended proposition in its 
integrity—viz., 11 that Samuel Pope, formerly chief 
propagator to the late Dr. Wm. Robt. Woodman, 
when trading as Lucombe, Pince & Co., raised at the 
Exeter Nursery the first round-flowered, hybrid 
tuberous-rooted Begonia, out of B. Veitchii crossed 
with B. Pearcei—to wit, B. Woodmanii— and which 
grew up under our care." 
In common with most old travelers I am naturally 
very chary of preachers, who talk so loudly of 
" truth and justice” (p. 143), for, generally speak¬ 
ing, they are ihe least likely to practise either, and 
it may be news to " Lover of the Begonia,” and his 
supporters to read the words of one of our oldest 
and best English authors on criticism, as follows : — 
“ Of all the cants which'are canted in this canting world — 
though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst—the cant 
op criticism is the most tormenting " 
My demand for two guineas from “ Lover of the 
Begonia” for the Dr. Woodman Memorial Fund, as 
specified at p. 261, is certainly a modest demand ; 
consequently I cannot believe I am the tyrant, 
which “ B.L.” insinuates at p. 291. Now, to close my 
second and last battle with anonymous critics, I wish 
to point out that “ Lover of the Begonia ’’ is either 
too old or too young to observe that fashions in flowers 
—like fashions in ladies’ hats—come and go, some 
more fleeting than others ; for instance, where is 
now the universal craze for Tulips, Ericas, Auricu¬ 
las, Camellias, Verbenas, show and fancy Dahlias, 
and plenty of others, that do not just now occur to 
one ? Take again Orchids (and fortunes have of late 
years been made with Orchids) ; yet fifty years ago, 
perhaps, the only collection of Orchids in this 
country, worthy of the name, was the Exeter Nur¬ 
sery collection, for it was a common saying among 
the old gardeners that if you wanted to see, at that 
time, Vandas and Saccolabiums in good form, you 
must go to Pince's; and then the privileged few 
who troubled themselves to view the show, simply 
valued them as botanical curiosities—mere bundles 
of sticks with gorgeous blossoms here and there—and 
regarded the growers with superstitious awe, as if 
they had been wizards. See alsc the present rage 
for Chrysanthemums, and many of those—through 
lack of enthusiasm on my part—I regard as mop 
sticks, with bunches of gaudy-coloured rags at the 
tops; but then, of course, many men many minds ; 
so with Begonias. Twenty-five years ago, before 
the tuberous-rooted section "had caught on” 
if my old firm ” from the country” had taken the 
trouble to exhibit our pearl of great price (p. 194), 
—of course, at considerable expense and incon¬ 
venience—they would probably have obtained a card 
(dear at a penny) with "vote of thanks" in large 
letters across the face of it. At the present time 
very few people care a dump for hybrid Cannas, yet 
in my humble judgment they will sooner or later 
become very popular.— W. Napper. 
-- 
THE DECIDUOUS LEBANON CEDAR. 
(Cedrus Libani decidua). 
The tree forming the subject of this note, which has 
been under my observation for eight years, is 70 ft. 
high, 2J ft. in diameter of trunk, and, although not 
really deciduous, is yet sufficiently so to warrant the 
use of the popular name that has years ago been 
bestowed upon it. Unless in the almost total loss of 
its foliage during the winter months, little difference 
is noticeable between this and the ordinary cultivated 
species. Generally the leaves are shorter, and the 
cones very sparsely produced, when compared with 
the ordinary run of Lebanon Cedars. 
The partially deciduous nature of the tree is the 
great distinguishing characteristic, for during the past 
eight years at least, fully three-fourths of the leaves 
fell off on the approach of winter and others in the 
early spring. An admirer of Conifers remarked in 
my presence to the late Earl of Derby, how unhealthy 
one of the large Lebanon Cedars appeared, hardly a 
leaf being present on the particular specimen. 
The Earl replied that every winter it appeared so. 
The particular specimen referred to was that which 
forms the subject of this note.— A. D. Webster. 
-- 5 -- 
RAASAY WEATHER REPORT. 
This meteorological report taken at Ihe gardens here 
may be accepted as representative of the north-west 
coast generally for the year 1895. The rainfall 
amounted to 60 81 in. This is considerably below 
the normal. It v.as distributed as follows January, 
372 in. ; February, -91 in. ; March, 4 92 in. ; April, 
4 76 in.; May 208 in.; June, 2 60 in.; July, 550 in.; 
August, 5 87 in. ; September, 5 70 in. ; October, 
9 72 in. ; November, 7-42 in. ; December, 7 61. 
Rain fell on 249 days, and the heaviest falls in 
twenty-four hours happened on October 12th, 
1 '21 in. ; November i6tb, i'26 in. ; and December 
5th, 1-23 in. The sun appeared on 247 days during 
the twelve months. The highest readings on the 
thermometer in the shade, 3 ft. from ground level, 
were on May 7th, 77 0 ; 30th, 8o° ; June 2rd, 83°; 
6th, 8i°; 25th, 84°; and September 29th, 77 0 ; 
while the lowest readings happened cn January 31st, 
16 0 ; February 7th, 12 0 ; 12th, 12 0 ; and 15th, 17 0 . 
As will be seen from the above, February, May, 
and June were very dry months. October, Novem¬ 
ber, and December the wettest. The early part of 
the year was characterised by cold and frost, with a 
heavy and continued snowstorm, by which consider¬ 
able damage was done amongst shrubs and hardy 
plants generally. 
The frost in some districts, notably that of 
Braemar, in Aberdeenshire, was intense, some 40° 
being registered there. May and June though dry 
were cold months, north winds being most prevalent. 
July was a dull month. The closing days of Septem¬ 
ber were remarkable for their abnormally high 
temperature, after which one of the most sudden and 
striking changes occurred from tropical warmth to 
Arctic cold in the meteorological annals of the country. 
October was_ushered in with a sharp snowstorm and 
hard frosts, and the remaining part of the year was 
wet and squally. Altogether, the weather of 1895 
was of a somewhac erratic and uncongenial nature.— 
W. Minty, Raasay, N.B. 
-•*-- 
Hardening ||iscellany. 
TOMATO FROGMORE SELECTED. 
We have now so many good varieties of Tomatos 
that gardeners and amateurs can scarcely make a 
mistake in their choice of sorts. Each year we see 
some new variety brought to the front by our seeds¬ 
men. Frogmore Selected ought to be classed as one 
of the very best varieties, being very prolific, its 
fruits well-shaped and of a bright scarlet colour. 
Last year we grew some thirty plants on the smgle- 
stem system. The clusters of fruit were a perfect 
sight the whole season through ; they kept on setting 
fruit well into September, so that we had plenty 
right up to the end of the year. We grow in 10-in. 
pots, allowing half the depth for top-dressings, which 
are given as the plants grow on and set their fruit. 
The pots are placed on a row of turves with the 
grassy side to the stage. The plants root freely into 
this, and they are also fed liberally with manure- 
water as the season advanced. A good plan to 
economise roof space is to tie each plant down to 
the neck of its neighbour before allowing them to 
run up the trellis. We thus have the fruit down to 
the rim of the pot, and save a foot or more of room 
for fruiting at the top.— H. C. Lees, Berwickshire. 
BEGONIAS AT KEW. 
Fibrous-rooted Begonias are always more or less 
a difficult class of plants to deal with, especially 
within the region over which King Fog exercises his 
aristocratic sway. Whether we have experienced 
a comparative immunity from such visitations during 
the latter part of the year just ended or no, 
the Begonia house at Kew is looking very much 
better than it has dore fcr some years past at this 
particular season. The plants, indeed, appear to be 
in especially robust health, and excellent samples of 
B. haageana, B. corallina, B. socotrana, B. poly- 
antha, and President Carnot are to be observed. A 
neat little batch staged at one end of the house of 
the lovely variety Gloire de Lorraine is very con¬ 
spicuous, for although barely 10 in. in height, the 
plants are bearing a veritable profusion of the 
bright rosy-pink flowers. There is no doubt that 
this variety at least is a perfect gem for winter 
flowering. 
POMPON CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
The neat little plants of these grown for the London 
markets are good examples of what can be accom¬ 
plished by simple and inexpensive methods of culti¬ 
vation and are admirably suited for window plants 
and the side stages of small conservatories. The 
cuttings are taken from old plants grown in some odd 
corner for this purpose, and inserted thickly in sandy 
soil in frames, cold pits, or under hand lights in 
June. Keep them well watered and shaded till 
rooted, then let them have air and sun freely. When 
well established transplant into sandy soil about 
eighteen inches apart. Stop them once or twice, as 
may seem advisable, then lift aqd pot as soon as the 
buds are set, placing them in partial shade until they 
require protection from frost. Never let t£em suffer 
from drought, or many of the leaves will be lost and 
the plants be disfigured.— W. B. G. 
THE SIBERIAN CRAB. 
Most gardeners are now aware of the beauty of the 
Siberian Crabs, for there are now several varieties 
and forms of Pyrus baccata in cultivation differing in 
size and colour. Visitors to Kew Gardens at the 
present time are delighted with the fine appearance 
of two broad-headed trees of this species near the 
Palm house. In the dusky atmosphere of the 
London suburbs at this time they appear quite red 
all over the top owing to the heavy crop ot Cherry 
like fruits with which they are coloured. One would 
have thought that the birds by this time would have 
cleared them away; but the open nature of the 
winter hitherto may be held accountable for it to 
some extent at least. If they had been soft fruits like 
Cherries, or the fruit of the Gean, they would no 
doubt have been devoured long ere this time. The 
fact that they are allowed to remain on the trees as 
long as Holly berries and Haws, should be an 
additional incentive to planters to use them for orna¬ 
mental purposes. 
