460 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 22, 1890. 
The greenhouse was also very gay with Hyacinths 
and other spring bulbs, Primulas, Cinerarias, green¬ 
house Rhododendrons, Azaleas, &c. The stove contains 
many good examples of plant cultivation, such as 
specimen Crotons, Draccenas, Palms, and other orna¬ 
mental foliage plants. Some grand pots of Eucharis 
amazonica were very conspicuous ; these are done well 
here. A case devoted to filmy Ferns contained nice 
specimens of Todea superba, T. Wilkesiana, T. pellucida, 
and Hymenophyllum radicans and H. demissum, all 
doing equally well, and seemingly enjoying the treat¬ 
ment they receive from Mr. Tabor.— liusticus. 
rARDENING MISCELLANY. 
Conserving' Heat in Glasshouses. 
With a coal famine staring us in the face, gardeners 
should pay strict attention to the important matter of 
conserving as much as possible of the natural warmth 
obtained from sun-heat, in their plant and fruit houses, 
and also keep a watchful eye on all heat-producing 
materials under their care. Dampers, draught doors 
and ventilators should alike be closely regulated to save 
tuel on the one hand, and keep heat in the houses on 
the other. Happily for us gardeners the sun is daily 
gaining in power, and by practising strict economy we 
shall be able to pull through, but unfortunately the 
sun heat, so precious to us, will not drive the mills too. 
I do not know how gardeners in non-coal-producing 
centres will fare, but the outlook here this Monday 
morning, so far as the men are concerned, is as black 
as the coal itself. There has been nothing to equal it 
since the Franco-German War. Let us hope that 
before the week is out, the famine may be averted by 
mutual concessions on all sides.— West Riding. 
The Prizes for Vegetables at the Reading 
Show. 
I HAVE received a notice respecting the prizes for 
vegetables, offered by the Messrs. Sutton, at the August 
exhibition of the Reading Horticultural Society, and 
would like to offer a few remarks thereon. The 
departure taken by the Messrs. Sutton is a new one, 
but in my opinion is not calculated to bring out the 
best samples that can be grown. They offer six prizes 
for a collection, “number of varieties unlimited,” 
which means that the awards will go to those near at 
hand, who can stage fifty or more dishes, no matter 
how inferior the produce ; and the men living farther 
off, who can only stage, say from twenty to thirty 
dishes, though of the best quality, will stand no chance 
whatever. Had they confined the number of dishes to 
twenty or thirty, many growers I feel sure would have 
competed, who will now have to stand aside. Is it too 
late to hope for any alteration in this direction ? I am 
sure, if a reasonable limit were put upon the number of 
dishes to be shown, and the stipulation for their own 
varieties were restricted to, say a dozen, there would 
be more competitors than they can now expect, and a 
much finer display of produce.— One who ivould like to 
Show. 
Rhododendron arboreum nilagericum. 
This fine variety is often spoken of as a distinct species 
under the name of R. nilagericum ; but it is merely a 
geographical form of the Himalayan R. arboreum. The 
leaves are ample and oblong or elliptic, leathery and 
densely clothed beneath with a rust-coloured tomentum, 
quite distinct from the more common typical form, 
which has the leaves of a silvery white beneath. The 
flowers of the form inhabiting the Neilgherrieshas large 
blooms with undulated, slightly bilobed segments of a 
beautiful pink, intensified to rose towards the margin, 
and more or less spotted with purple internally. A 
large bush of it is a fine sight owing to the quantity of 
bloom produced. Almost every shoot terminates in a 
short, flattened, umbel-Hke raceme, forming a huge truss 
of bloom. A beautiful specimen may now be seen in 
the temperate house at Kew. 
Carex baccans. 
Notwithstanding the large number of species of 
Carex, natives of this and other countries, chiefly in 
the northern hemisphere, few are of any horticultural 
value. C. pendula is a handsome sedge for the margins 
of ponds, rivers, and pieces of ornamental water, and 
some few have variegated leaves ; but C. baccans is 
chiefly notable for its remarkable fruit. The latter is 
produced in elongated panicles, the branches of which 
are subtended by long bracts, and the flask-shaped 
bodies enclosing the true fruits are of a deep coral-red 
colour, sometimes deep shining purple. These, although 
individually small, become conspicuous by their great 
number. The species is a native of tropical and sub¬ 
tropical regions of the Himalayas, but may be grown in 
a moderately warm greenhouse, as in the temperate 
house at Kew, where it is about 2 ft. or 3 ft. high. 
A Scarlet Souvenir de la Malmaison 
Carnation. 
The original Souvenir de la Malmaison, as is well known 
has large, very double flesh-coloured flowers, broad 
glaucous foliage, and a compact habit. It was raised 
about thirty years ago by a gardener in the suburbs of 
Paris, who offered it to M. Dubos, a florist at Pierrefite j 
near St. Denis. M. Dubos refused it because it was 
defective, and for the preservation and dissemination 
of this grand Carnation to the horticultural world we 
are indebted to Louis Van Houtte, who acquired it from 
the raiser. Recently a pink variety has been put into 
commerce, and now the reddish scarlet variety under 
notice is becoming distributed in this country. It is of 
Continental origin, and has been named Madame Arthur 
"Warocque, under which name we noticed it in the 
nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, at Forest Hill. 
The leaves are broad and glaucous, and the habit dwarf, 
like the type. The flowers are large, reddish scarlet, 
sometimes fading to rose at the base of the petals during 
winter ; but when light increases, this latter defect will 
in all probability disappear. A grateful perfume is also 
given off by the flowers. Owing to its dwarf, compact 
and branching habit it is admirably adapted for pot 
culture, and also forces well. 
Anthurium margaritacemn. 
The fruit of this plant, contrary to the usual rule, is 
the most valuable from a horticultural point of view. 
The short spadix is covered with small globular berries, 
which, when mature, are of a pearly white, with a 
small black speck at the top, caused by the remains of 
the stigma. The spathe is small, green, and of no 
decorative value whatever. The leathery leaves are 
lanceolate, and somewhat similar to those of A. 
Scherzerianum, but much smaller, as, indeed, is the 
whole plant. It would therefore occupy but little space 
in a stove, and prove interesting as well as pretty if 
well furnished with fruit. It may be seen in the stove 
at Kew, and is a native of Tropical Africa. 
Plant Protectors. 
I have found the shelters of which I wrote to you on 
October 22nd, 1887 (p. 124), and again on December 
14th, 1889 (p. 235), so very useful in the sudden 
great changes of weather to which we have been lately 
exposed, that I will ask you to find room for another 
short notice. The osier coops which we first used, 
though protected by the green scrim, cannot, I find, 
last many years ; we have, therefore, had frames made 
of galvanized-iron wire. These are quite light to carry, 
and can be made of the size of an ordinary round hen 
coop, at about ‘Is. each, and in sets of four, 1 ft. high 
and 12, 13, 14, and 15 ins. across, at about 9 d. each 
shelter. So far we have only had the coop size in use, 
but I have no doubt the smaller sizes will be sufficient 
to protect small plants in flower from frost and rough 
weather. Cyclamen Atkinsii has been for some time 
in great beauty with us, also many of the species of 
Crocus and other spring flowers. The thermometer in 
a little house in Wisley Wood, fell to 8° the shelters 
have, therefore, been well tried. They would also be of 
service if placed over newly moved plants, and to shade 
flowers.— George Wilson, Heatherbank, Weybridge 
Heath. _ 
Primroses, Lord Randolph and Mrs. 
Langtry. 
The flowers of the new variety, Lord Randolph, may be 
described as hose-in-hose, but the calyx is much smaller 
than the corolla, and only partly coloured. The corolla, 
on the other hand, is probably the nearest approach to 
scarlet which we yet have in the varieties of the 
common Primrose. The segments of the corolla are 
broadly obreniform and overlapping, while the five- 
lobed eye is of a golden yellow. The flowers of Mrs. 
Langtry are of a soft pure rose, with a white speck at 
the tip of each segment. The five-lobed eye is golden 
yellow surrounded by a narrow white line. So flori- 
ferous is the plant, and so pleasing the colour, that it 
elicited a great amount of admiration from visitors to 
the Royal Aquarium, where both varieties were shown 
on the 12th and 13th inst., by Mr. Richard Dean, 
Ranelagh Road, Ealing. First Class Certificates were 
awarded to both. 
The Cockpit Apple. 
Is this favourite Yorkshire Apple grown under any 
other name ? I never see it mentioned in catalogues or 
in the papers, and presume it is gradually beiDg edged 
out of existence by other varieties. I have often seen 
fine crops of it, equalling the old Hawthomden, and, 
like that sort, the trees of it never attain a great size, 
but assume a pendulous habit through the branches 
being so often weighted down with fruits. The flesh 
of the Cockpit is not of good quality, and that may 
account for its dying out.— B. L. [We have never seen 
it out of Yorkshire, and should not consider it worth 
growing now.—E d.] 
Anthurium splendidum. 
Accohding to early experiences, this plant proved 
very difficult to cultivate with any degree of satis¬ 
faction. Possibly in the near future it may prove as 
tractable as other subjects that originally proved 
equally difficult to grow. The leaves have a heart- 
shaped lamina suspended from the petiole much in the 
same way as other large-leaved kinds, like A. crystal- 
linum and A. Waroqueanum. They are strongly rugose 
all over the surface, that is, presenting a blistered 
appearance, deep velvety green along the course of the 
veins, and paler on the blistered parts. The young 
leaves are quite different in hue, and very attractive. 
They are of a delicate buff tint, with the midrib and 
principal nerves red, while numerous small pinkish 
veins traverse the spaces between each elevation, 
giving the whole a beautifully delicate appearance. 
There are three fine plants of it in a glass case in the 
stove at Kew, where the young leaves, contrasting 
with the old, are much admired by visitors. 
Chain Pumps. 
I have been interested in the letters anent the chain 
pump from Mr. Wilson and Mr. Kipling. They are 
certainly an advance on the old suction pumps for 
emptying liquid-manure tanks. We have had one 
for three years, and only on Saturday last when the 
stable and other drains were flushed as they usually 
are, once a fortnight, the man who works the pump 
remarked, that he wished those who were so keen at 
the flushing, had to do the pumping afterwards ! The 
amount of physical effort required is naturally increased 
according to the height of the lift ; ours is 18 ft., but 
the man gets intervals of rest between each barrel 
filled. At the time ours was fixed it was not much 
appreciated, and we had thoughts of replacing the 
wheel with a drum, to be turned by the engine used 
for chopping and grinding, but it was not found 
practicable. The arrangements of our manure heap 
and tank are very good. The heap—36 fr. long and 
18 ft. wide—is enclosed by a 9-in. brick wall, 5 ft. 
high, and has a 6 ft. gangway down the centre that we 
can back a cart into. The floor is glazed, with a 
gentle fall to each side, and there are gratings at one 
end on each side, through which the drainings pass 
into the tank below.— B.'Lockwood. 
Columnea Kalbreyeri. 
The leaves of this singularly curious but beautiful 
species are oblong, sickle-shaped, and arranged in two 
ranks. They are about 1 ft. in length or more, and 
curve in such a manner as almost to conceal the flowers 
clustered on the stem beneath them. They are of an 
intense velvety green above, and red beneath. The 
sepals are ovate-cordate, serrated at the edges like the 
leaves, of great size, and pale yellow. The five-lobed 
tubular corolla is also of great size, deep yellow, and 
were it not so' much hidden by the leaves the plant 
would take rank as an ornamental flowering subject. 
As it is, the foliage constitutes the ornamental value of 
the plant. There is a fine specimen in one of the 
stoves at Kew. 
Monstrous Chinese Primulas. 
Amongst a batch of Chinese Primulas at Tower House, 
Chiswick, some very curious freaks occurred on some 
plants of Swanley Red. The calyx of individual 
flowers had become very much enlarged, leafy, and 
split up into several distinct pieces, resembling the 
involucral leaves normally subtending a truss of 
flowers. Inside of this an attempt had been made to 
form several separate blooms. The corolla was also 
more or less torn up in the same way, and imperfect 
calyxes and corollas occurred in conjunction or 
separately. Sometimes a petal would appear by itself, 
and resemble a corolla by having a long slender tube 
and a funnel-shaped torn lamina. Segments otherwise 
coloured like a calyx had portions coloured bright red, 
like the corolla. 
