October 26, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
117 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution.—We are 
requested to announce that the annual card collection 
for this year will close on the 31st inst., and that Mr. 
Cutler will be glad to receive any outstanding cards on 
or before that date. We are pleased to learn that the 
collecting cards have this year brought into the 
treasury of the Institution, a clear net sum of about 
£980. As an item of news we may mention also that 
the committee of management has sold the twenty-five 
shares in John Rylands & Co., Manchester, left to the 
institution by the late Mr. John Rylands, and they 
have produced the sum of £511 10s. 9 d., which will be 
added to the reserve fund. 
Something New in Church Decoration.—We cut 
the following from the Fishing Gazette :—The good 
folk of St. Mary’s, in the Scilly Islands, believe, with 
the late Frank Buckland, that fish form the harvest of 
the sea. Therefore, at their church harvest-home 
festival, instead of fixing up the altar and surroundings 
entirely with Wheat and Corn, Turnips, Carrots, 
Grapes, Mangel Wurzels, and other trifles one sees at 
country churches on such occasions, they have worked 
in lobsters, crabs and crayfish. Good old simple- 
minded fisherfolk ! And why not, pray ? The fish 
repose in a bed of Parsley—most appropriate ; but why 
not seaweed ? 
Hie Fruiterers’ Company.— On Wednesday the 
Master, Wardens, and Court of the Fruiterers’ Com¬ 
pany waited upon the Lord Mayor at the Mansion 
House, and admitted him to the freedom and livery of 
their Guild and to membership in their Court in 
recognition of the laudable efforts he had initiated for 
the improvement of fruit culture throughout the 
country. The Master (Mr. R. S. Mason) mentioned that 
in the long history of the guild there was no previous 
instance of a person being admitted in one day to the 
freedom, livery, and court of the Company, and they 
intended the Lord Mayor’s admission as a personal 
compliment to him in grateful appreciation of his great 
interest in fruit culture. 
A Floricultural Tradesman Wants a Wife.—An 
advertisement in the Warrington Guardian runs as 
follows :—“A RESPECTABLE Gentleman in Business, 
with Home and large Garden, in which he takes great 
interest, in place of vices, is desirous of becoming 
Engaged to a Lady of moderate means, to join advertiser 
in a happy home and care of each other. Proofs to a 
suitable partner will be given, by those who have 
known the whole life of advertiser, for quietness and 
sobriety, the love of the cultivation of flowers, which 
soften the selfish faculties of man, also other proofs in 
favour of a good husband. This advertisement is 
genuine. Letters, with name and address, will receive 
the privacy and honour due from a gentleman. Letters 
will he returned if desired.—Address A. Ward, care of 
Mrs. Conyard, Willian, Hitchin, Herts.” Pray, dear 
ladies “ of moderate means,” don’t all write at once ! 
-- 
CRANBERRIES. 
Fruit of the American Cranberry—Oxyeoecus macro¬ 
carpus—is now being brought into our English markets. 
It is a powerful rival to our common English Cranberry 
(0. palustris), as it is a much larger and stronger species, 
more ascending in habit, and produces berries more 
oval in figure, larger, and of a brighter colour, ap¬ 
proaching even crimson. They are sent to this country 
packed in small kegs with a sufficiency of spring water, 
and the annual import is now very considerable, 
amounting, it is said, to thousands of tons yearly. The 
Bell Cranberry appears to be the favourite with the 
American growers, and they make excellent tarts and 
preserves. The common Cranberry grows in moun¬ 
tainous districts in the northern regions both of the 
Old and New World, and it is also found in many parts 
of Britain. 
It is a swamp-loving plant, requiring wet, peaty 
soil in order to thrive well. It might be cultivated by 
the side of a shallow stream of running water, but then 
it would be necessary to dig out the soil, and put in 
its place bog peat and some stones mixed with it. It 
is said to succeed better in running rather than in 
stagnant water. Seeing that such large quantities of 
fruit are imported annually from the New World, it 
is a question whether the production of Cranberries 
might be made a home industry. One would think 
there are large quantities of swampy land in this 
country lying idle that might be turned to account. 
So easily is it cultivated, that wherever a little peat¬ 
bog can be formed into a garden, resting on a bed of 
porous material, and with free circulation of air above, 
success is certain, and the produce of blossom and fruit 
great and delightful. Really, it is a very pretty plant, 
with trailing filiform stems, handsome flowers with 
petals of a dark rosy hue, and a central cone of golden 
yellow stamens—these are followed by bright red berries. 
It is said the Druids called the plant Samolus, and 
used great ceremonies in gathering it. These consisted 
of a previous fast, in not looking back during the time 
of their plucking it, and, lastly, in using their left 
hand only. This plant was considered to be par¬ 
ticularly efficacious in curing the diseases of cattle.— 
THE BEARDED PENTSTEMON. 
Comparatively few Pentstemons, with the exception 
of improved varieties, enjoy a very wide distribution in 
gardens. That under notice—namely, Pentstemon 
barbatus—is, however, somewhat exceptional in this 
respect, for it finds favour with a considerable number 
of growers, and ought always to be included in collec¬ 
tions of any extent. It comes into bloom in July, and 
continues to flower more or less intermittently until 
severe or stormy weather puts a stop to vegetation 
generally so far as the outdoor garden is concerned. 
The stems attain a height of 2 ft. or 3 ft., hearing on 
the top a narrow panicle of generally brightly-coloured 
flowers. The species is liable to some amount of 
variation, inasmuch as the flowers vary from flesh and 
pinkish red to carmine or almost scarlet. The darker- 
coloured form, judging from its frequency of occurrence, 
is the most typical, and merits extensive cultivation. 
Most of the leaves, or all of the large ones, are radical, 
while the stems are slender and the corollas narrow but 
elegant, expanding from the base to the mouth, which 
is bearded, thus suggesting the specific name. The 
upper two-lobed lip is nearly erect, while the lower one 
is sharply reflexed. The plant is quite hardy, and 
may be propagated with great facility, either by division 
or by cuttings. The species is frequently grown under 
the name of Chelone barbata. 
-- 
HYBRIDS OF TRITONIA POTTSII. 
Growers on the Continent are much more enthusiastic 
in the raising of new varieties of this beautiful hardy 
plant than we are. A large collection of new or quite 
recently-raised varieties formed a source of great attrac¬ 
tion to horticulturists and the public generally in the 
grounds of the Trocadero Palace at the Paris Exhibition 
during the past summer and autumn. By thus bringing 
the varieties together, a good comparison could be made 
between the value and merits of different kinds for 
general decorative purposes. Both foliage and flowers 
are neat and beautiful, and well worthy of more atten¬ 
tion from the British horticultural public than they 
have hitherto received. They may be grown in warm 
light soils in the open air, and if a little peat is used it 
will serve as a medium by which the soil will keep cool 
and moist during droughty periods in the summer time. 
The neat and beautiful habit of the sword-like leaves 
also render the plant a useful subject for pot-work. 
When well grown, the leaves assume a rich dark colour, 
and when accompanied by flowers, a few pots of Tritonia 
constitute a beautiful and interesting feature in a con¬ 
servatory during the latter part of summer, when some¬ 
thing fresh is desired by way of a change from the usual 
routine of greenhouse subjects. For the hardy plant 
house also the appropriateness of the Tritonia is not to 
be ignored. 
All the undermentioned kinds are seedlings obtained 
from Tritonia Pottsii hybridised with the pollen of 
Crocosmia aurea. Size is obtained from the latter, and 
rich colouring from the former. Eldorado comes pretty 
nearly intermediate between the two, and has orange- 
yellow flowers. A tall-growing sort is Solfatare, with 
pale luteus-yellow flowers, similar to what may be seen 
in Hemerocallis lutea. Equally vigorous in habit is 
Grandiflora, but, as the name indicates, the flowers are 
of wonderful size, almost crimson externally, and 
yellow internally. Rayon d’Or may be compared to 
Eldorado in its orange-yellow flowers, and both are 
quite new. Etoile de Feu is a charming variety, 
having brilliant deep scarlet flowers, deepened almost 
to vermilion-red internally, with a yellow central eye¬ 
like spot, which renders it quite distinct from any yet 
mentioned. The translation of the name is Star of 
Fire, and is very appropriate in this instance. 
Judging from its dwarf habit, Gerbe d’Or might 
form a suitable subject for pot work. The flowers are 
of a rich golden yellow, slightly tinted with orange 
externally, —at all events when grown out of doors on 
French soil, and under the clear sunny skies of Paris. 
The flowers of Aurea are also of a beautiful golden 
yellow, and in that respect comparable to those of the 
last named. The most striking of the whole group 
coming under our notice was that named Transcendant, 
which has large, drooping, deep crimson flowers, giving 
place to a deep orange on the inner face. The whole 
plant is very dwarf, with deep green foliage, and might 
be used as a pot plant in the same way as Gerbe d’Or. 
A rich yellow kind is Drap d’Or, while Pyramidalis 
is notable for its erect habit and orange-salmon flowers, 
which are yellow internally. The six best and most 
distinct kinds are Transcendant, Etoile de Feu, Gerbe 
d’Or, Grandiflora, Pyramidalis, and Solfatare. 
- »I - < -- 
THE RUDBECKIAS, OR GONE 
FLOWERS. 
The popular name of the Rudbeckias, namely, Cone 
Flowers, refers to the elevated disc or receptacle, which 
is always very conspicuous in some way or other in the 
members of the genus, and is frequently elongated and 
conical, sometimes cylindrical. There are some twenty- 
five known species, all natives of North America and 
mostly hardy. They are strictly speaking border 
plants, but some of them are used in bedding, such as 
R. speciosa, while others might be used in the same 
way. The fine foliage of R. maxima entitles it to a 
place in sub-tropical gardening. A number of them 
are tall and bold plants, well deserving of more atten¬ 
tion than they receive for affording a supply of flowers 
late in summer and autumn. 
The most popular is R. speciosa, already mentioned, 
having broad yellow rays and a black disc. It seldom 
exceeds 15 ins. or 18 ins. in height, and being easily 
and rapidly increased by division is much used for 
making beds or edging large ones. R. hirsuta is 
similar in habit and height, but is more liable to perish 
apparently through wet in this country during winter. 
The leaves are narrower, lanceolate, three-nerved and 
very hairy. The rays are yellow while the disc of the 
flower heads is black. In its native country it grows 
in dry sandy fields and meadows, and this might be a 
hint to cultivators of it in this country. R. fulgida, 
under certain conditions, is somewhat similar, but it 
varies from 1 ft. to 3 ft. in height, and has the disc 
dark purple, with the ray florets equalling or somewhat 
longer than the bracts of the head. 
Of the tall-growing species R. maxima is certainly 
the finest on account of its glaucous and distinct-look¬ 
ing foliage. The radical leaves are elliptic and of great 
size, while those of the stem are smaller, ovate and 
stalkless. The ray florets are long, and pure yellow, 
while the disc is elongated, conical and deep coloured. 
Similar in habit but dwarfer is R. californica, with 
ovate, sometimes three-lobed, and long-stalked radical 
leaves. The ray florets are long and deep yellow, 
while the disc is stout, conical, and very much 
elongated. Another plant that may be grouped here is 
R. nitida, a late-flowering kind that may be seen in 
northern gardens in flower shortly before it gets cut 
down by frost. The radical leaves are ovate or elliptic, 
deep shining green, and undivided. The stems rise to 
a height of 5 ft. or 6 ft., and bear large yellow heads 
with a conical disc. 
R. amplexicaulis, also known as Dracopis amplexi- 
caulis, is remarkably variable in its foliage. The radical- 
leaves may be shallowly or deeply serrated or even 
pinnatifid, with rounded angles, while those of the 
stem are ovate, clasping and almost entire. All are 
of a light green, and render the plant quite distinct in 
general appearance from most other kinds. The stem 
is much branched, bearing moderate-sized heads with 
