February 22, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
397 
The Scotch gairdner.—-" Ay, Mr. Le Vert ” (see p. 
380), “ the Scotch gairdner never gangs ower ony 
border for naething, and never gangs back whaur he 
can gae forrit—a guid gairdner never does.”— Tam. 
Flowers from the Continent—Our winter supply of 
flowers comes largely from the south of France, 
where the climate is much earlier than ours. Roses, 
Violets, Roman Hyacinths, and other flowers are 
extensively grown in the valley of the Siague, near 
Grasse, where the Queen spent one spring recently. 
Several species of Acacia, amongst which A. deal- 
bata is very conspicuous, are grown at Cannes and 
find a profitable market here. Carnations are a lead¬ 
ing feature at Nice. Every grower confines himself 
to his own specialities and does them well. One of 
them grows about 20,000 Marechal Neil Roses. 
Fruit from the Cape.—The Union Company's 
steamer Moor, brought the first consignment of 
Peaches from the Cape in excellent condition. The 
second consignment was brought by the Castle Com¬ 
pany's steamer, Grantully Castle, which arrived at 
Plymouth on the gth inst. Each fruit was wrapped 
in tissue paper and packed with wood-wool, so that 
it had a very tempting appearance whon the boxes 
were unpacked. The only consignment of Apricots 
consisted of 1,200 boxes which had the effect of 
glutting the market by this injudicious plan of send¬ 
ing them all at once. 
Shirley Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Association. 
—The monthly meeting was held on the 17th inst. at 
the Parish Room, Shirley, Southampton, when Mr. 
B. Ladhams, F.R.H.S., presided over a very good 
attendance of the members. Mr. J. Jones, The 
Gardens, Terrace House, Southampton, gave a most 
exhaustive paper on the “ Winter and Summer Treat¬ 
ment of Peach Trees,” dealing with all the points of 
culture, and touching on the different diseases the 
tree is subject to. Quite an animated discussion 
followed, espec ially as to the preparation of the soil 
previous to planting, and the method adopted by 
some of putting in a concreted bottom to prevent 
the roots penetrating bad soil. A hearty vote of 
thanks was accorded to Mr. Jones at the close of the 
discussion. 
A Valuable O/chid.—Many thousands of Orchids 
in bloom or only newly imported annually pass under 
the hammer of Messrs. Protheroe and Morris at their 
Central Sale Rooms, 67 and 68, Cheapside, London. 
All the more common kinds, however great their 
beauty, find purchasers at reasonable prices, but do 
not cause that commotion and excitement of which 
a rara avis amongst Orchids is capable of exciting. A 
magnificent variety of Odontoglossum wilckeanum 
made its appearance at the rooms on Friday, the 14th 
inst, lrom a Continental source, and immediately it 
was put under the hammer there was eager and 
exciting bidding on the part of would-be possessors 
of a small but well-flowered plant that would be a 
valuable addition and a decided ornament to the 
most select collection of Orchids. Finally it was 
knocked down to H. T. Pitt, Esq., Rosslyn, Stamford 
Hill, at the princely sum of seventy-four guineas. 
This in itself is sufficient to show what good 
varieties of Orchids will yet fetch by genuine lovers 
of this popular family of plants. 
- •* . - 
ILLUSTRATED NURSERY 
CATALOGUES. 
I am always pleased when these come to hand, and 
l admire and highly appreciate them, and though I 
am not in a position to repay the senders for their 
kindness in posting them to me, I make the best 
use I can of the coloured plates, most of which have 
been pasted on stiff cardboards by members of my 
family to form newspaper cases, and these are pre¬ 
sented to bazaars held in aid of various charitable 
and religious objects. They always sell well. 
When giving a few lectures for the Technical 
Instruction Committee some time back, I was de¬ 
lighted to see the coloured plates issued by various 
nurserymen adorning the walls of two schoolrooms. 
They had been presented by those in the locality 
interested in horticulture, and the school managers 
had deemed them worthy of being enclosed with 
glass. I was recently asked by a schoolmaster 
where he could get similar coloured plates of a few 
familiar flowers or common plants. He thought it 
would be so nice for some of his scholars to know 
their names, and though he is located in a purely 
manufacturing district he thought the mill operatives 
took more interest in the names of flowers than 
those residing in rural districts. If you, Mr. Editor, 
or any of your readers can give information on the 
subject I shall esteem it a favour.— Wm. P. Roberts, 
The Gardens, Cuerden Hall, Preston. 
[Under certain conditions to be stipulated by 
the senders themselves, old or spare catalogues 
might be readily obtainable for the above purpose, 
and which, we think, might be agreeable and advan¬ 
tageous to both sender and recipient.— Ed.] 
--i-- 
THE SWISS STONE PINE 
(Pinus Cembra). 
This handsome tree thrives well on the chalk form¬ 
ation, as many specimens of large dimensions 
throughout various parts of Herefordshire clearly 
demonstrate. At Chaldron House, Boxmoor, it is 
producing cones in great abundance, and, what is still 
more uncommon in this country, the seeds are fertile. 
The cones are each 3 in. long, by about 2 in. in 
diameter, with thick leafy scales, each enclosing two 
of the large edible seeds. Two other beautiful and 
by no means common members of the Conifer family 
at the same place, are the weeping Arbor-Vitae 
(Thuia occidentalis pendula) and the tufted Cypress 
(Cupressus torulosa). The Syrian Hibiscus (H. 
syriacus) also does well at the same place, thus 
proving that it is not, as mentioned in some horti¬ 
cultural papers recently, averse to a chalky or 
calcareous formation. Here it flowers profusely, the 
large semi-double carmine flewers being at present 
both distinct and beautiful.— A. D. Webster. 
-- 
KEEP THE WORMS OUT. 
Now that the potting and re-potting of plants are 
being vigorously prosecuted, it may be well to recall 
the fact that long before the operation will be re¬ 
peated, in the case of many plants, worms may have 
Porter’s Patent Invincible Crock. 
entered the pots, choked up the drainage and killed 
many valuable subjects, owing to the water-logged 
condition of the soil. All this might be prevented by 
the timely use of Porter’s Patent Invincible Crocks 
at potting time. The crocks are cut to several sizes 
to suit the convenience of the pots. They consist of 
brass wire woven into a sort of netting with a very 
fine mesh, and while they exclude worms they permit 
the superfluous water to drain away readily. Brass 
wire is not liable to rust in the same way as iron, so 
that with ordinary care the crocks will last for 
twenty years. The accompanying illustration will 
show at a glance the simplicity of the invention. 
One crock should be placed over the hole in the 
bottom of each pot, and the drainage of potsherds 
placed over it in the usual way. The piece of netting 
—that is, the Patent Invincible Crock—may be 
saved each time the plants are re-potted just as the 
ordinary ones are. This preventive against worms 
has already been in use for about five years, and is 
finding its way into many gardens, where the culti¬ 
vators have already spoken in high terms of this 
remedy against worms in pots of Chrysanthemums, 
Carnations, Strawberries, Tomatos, Cyclamens, and 
various other subjects, both in the open air and under 
glass. Mr. A. Porter, of Stone House, Maidstone, 
the inventor of the Patent Invincible Crock, is a 
cultivator himself, and can speak from experience. 
-- 
FLOWERS AND DROUGHT AT 
CALCUTTA. 
As announced in our last issue Mr. Robert L. Proud- 
lock has been appointed to the Government Botanic 
Gardens, Ootacamund, but before leaving Calcutta, 
about the end of January he wrote as follows, the news 
reaching us in sixteen days :—" The weather is very 
pleasant here at present, and our annuals are making 
a good show in beds in the flower garden just now. 
Our Orchids too, are coming into flower fast, and the 
Orchid house is beginning to assume a gay appear¬ 
ance. The past rainy season has been a drier one 
than usual, and we are feeling the full consequence 
now, for everything is getting very dry. This compels 
us to do a great deal of extra watering, even so early 
in the dry season as at the present time. I do not 
know how we shall get along until the rain breaks in 
June, but it will mean that a great number of people 
will have to be kept watering young trees and shrubs 
regularly all through the coming season.— Robert L. 
Proudlock." 
--*•- 
THE CHELSEA PRIMULAS. 
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
thy might ” is a golden rule for which Messrs. James 
Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, have evidently a great 
respect. No matter what the subject may be that 
they take in hand, no trouble is spared to make the 
results worthy of their world-wide reputation. 
Chinese Primulas, amongst other things, have been 
taken up with enthusiasm, and some of the loveliest 
strains of this lovely flower that are now in cultiva¬ 
tion owe their origin to the painstaking labours of 
the Chelsea firm. A box of blooms, picked 
from plants that are being cultivated for seed 
purposes, was recently forwarded to us for our 
inspection and approval. The inspection was replete 
with interest, and the approval, we are bound to say, 
fully earned and as freely given. 
Size of bloom is evidently, in the estimation of the 
Messrs. Veitch, a sine qua non to the making of a 
good Primula, to which is added great substance of 
petals, with distinctness and yet delicacy of colour, 
A considerable number of shades of the latter were 
in evidence, the whole forming a collection of the 
most comphrehensive character, the charm and 
variety of which it would be exceedingly difficult to 
over-praise. 
Among the single-flowered varieties, the palm for 
size was borne off by Gigantic Red; and surely 
never was a name more aptly bestowed, or more 
fully justified. One of the blooms upon measurement 
proved to be exactly 2J in. in diameter. The edges 
of the petals are delicately fimbriated, and are of 
surprising substantiality. The blooms are not a pure 
white, except in the early stages, but become 
slightly tinged with a delicate flesh-pink as they get 
older. Gigantic Red is the counterpart of Gigantic 
White. The petals, however, are more profusely 
lobed, and are scarcely so fleshy, although the 
flowers themselves are fully as large. The distinctive 
title affixed to the variety sufficiently indicates the 
colour of the flower without further description on 
our part. Another gem which evidently belongs to 
the " Gigantic ” section, but which has not hitherto 
received a name, is of equal merit to the foregoing, 
with flowers of a rich rose hue and very charming. 
Superb White is a jewel of the first water. No spot 
of colour other than the yellowish-green eye, mars 
the pearly lustre of its prettily-fringed petals, and the 
blooms are well over 2 in. in diameter and of great 
substance. Superb Red is a rather smaller flower 
than Gigantic Red, from which it also differs in 
being several shades darker, closely approaching to 
crimson-scarlet. The same fringing of the petals, so 
characteristic of Superb White,,is to be observed. 
Chelsea Rose is the name given to a variety 
bearing rosy-pink flowers of more than ordinary 
merit. This is a very charming vahety, and as 
distinct as it is pretty. Chelsea Scarlet is a rich 
glowing crimson-scarlet in hue, a colour that can 
scarcely fail to be conspicuous in our plant houses 
during the winter months, when bright-hued flowers, 
as a rule, give place to washed-out shades of colour 
as if in sympathy with the general gloom of the 
surroundings. Chelsea Scarlet is one of the best of 
its class, and we predict no inconsiderable share of 
popularity for it. 
Chelsea Blue is the nearest approach to a true 
blue Primula that we have yet seen. But even more 
remarkable than the improvement in colour is the 
notable increase in the size of the bloom, which 
measured in. in diameter. A glorious advance 
this from the tiny weakling of a few years ago which 
heralded the new race of blue Primulas, and which 
bespoke the fact that yet another gulf had been 
bridged over by the florist. 
The ranks of the double-flowered section have 
received undoubted acquisitions in Double Red and 
