502 
THE GARDENING WORLD. April 12, 1890. 
wealth of telling colours, and few other plants 
can equal it in that respect. We doubt 
•whether, for the later winter months, after 
the bulk of the Chrysanthemums are over, 
there is any soft-wooded plant we can so ill 
spare from our greenhouses as the Cineraria. 
It is easily raised from seed; it is easily 
grown ; wants no forcing, and will thrive well 
even in primitive structures. Seed reproduces 
the highest quality, and we have so far got 
rid of the old legginess derived from the 
assumed original parent, Cruenta, that plants 
of any good strain now have an average height 
of about 12 ins., but many plants are shorter. 
It is difficult to conceive of any well-kept and 
furnished plant houses, during the winter and 
spring, which are not well supplied with 
Cinerarias. 
he Proposed Horticultural Hall. —In 
another column we print a letter from 
the Rev. W. Wilks, which is being extensively 
circulated, inviting the horticultural trade to 
meet in the rooms of the Royal Horticultural 
Society on the 22nd inst., “ to consider in 
what way the trade can best help on the 
movement ” for erecting a Central Hall of 
Horticulture in London ; and to that invitation 
we trust a hearty response will be made, 
because it is exceedingly desirable that the 
promoters of the scheme should know at once 
what are the feelings of the trade in the matter 
one way or the other, and what amount of 
support they are likely to get from that quarter. 
If the trade wants the Hall—and we suppose 
there can be no question as to its desirability, 
if properly managed, or as to the immense 
benefit that such a place would be to commer¬ 
cial horticulture—then the trade must be pre¬ 
pared to lend a helping hand at once, and act 
in no niggardly spirit. If it does not want it, 
then it is well that the fact should be known 
without loss of time. 
Unfortunately the trade, like ourselves, has 
no clear and definite idea as. to what the 
promoters of the movement actually propose 
to do, and how they propose to do it; we 
want information, clear and explicit, and until 
that is forthcoming we fear it is useless to 
hope for the support of any large number of 
persons connected with commercial horticulture. 
We cannot disguise the fact—nor would it 
serve any useful purpose to attempt to do so— 
that the trade up to the present time has 
severely let the movement alone. It is true 
that already some £10,000 have been guaran¬ 
teed, but that is only about one-fourth of the 
total amount that will be required, and has been 
promised by comparatively few persons, and 
of those guarantors a very few only represent 
the trade. There must be a reason for this 
utter want of interest on the part of the trade 
in a movement in which we see such great 
possibilities. What is it? Well, in the first 
place, as we said before, information is wanted. 
The trade wants to know where the proposed 
building is to be erected 1 Will it be suitable 
for the object in view ? Is it to be held in 
trust for the general good of horticulture and 
of horticulturists—to be in fact the Rational 
home of horticulture—or to be merely the 
head-quarters of the Royal Horticrdtural 
Society 1 What is to become of the building 
when the amount lent to erect it has been 
repaid 1 Will the original trust then cease, 
and the property be handed over to the Royal 
Horticultural Society 1 And, finally, when the 
society gets the new and permanent home 
that is so much desired, what is to be the 
fate of Chiswick 1 These are the questions 
which are agitating the minds of those of 
the trade with whom we have had any 
discussion oh the subject, and if we know 
anything of the body they represent, answers, 
clear, definite, and unmistakable will have 
to be given before much support will be gained 
from that quarter. Upon the nature of 
the answers also much will depend, and 
especially as regards the ultimate ownership of 
the property. If the Hall is to be held in 
trust during the run of the lease for the general 
good of horticulture—in the same way as the 
Lindley Library—then, we think, there need 
be little doubt but .that the scheme will be 
carried out, and practical men will be glad to 
help to do it; but if the Royal Horticultural 
Society is to have the management of the 
building, and ultimately to possess its title 
deeds, then Baron Schroder cannot too soon 
know that it is hopeless to expect much 
support from the trade. Before the meeting is 
held a plain statement of the case, of the 
nature of a prospectus, should be issued, and 
the points we have raised made clear, if any 
real good is to be done on the 22nd. 
-- 
Gardening Engagements.—Mr. A. Alderman, lately 
foreman to Mr. Chuck, at Brodsworth Hall, Doncaster, 
as gardener to J. D. Ellis, Esq., Thurnscoe Hall, 
Rotherham. Mr. James Wood, late of Sonthpark Cove, 
Dumbartonshire, as gardener to D. McClure, Esq., 
West Bank House, Heaton Mersey. Mr. G. A. 
Bishop, late of Grove House, Teddington, as gardener 
to J. Mander, Esq. ,Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton. 
A Primrose-scented Amaryllis.—Mr. F. Lee, Lyn- 
ford, writes The Primrose-scented Amaryllis I wrote 
you about last week (see p. 494) is one of a batch of 
seedlings raised and flowered here for the first time this 
season. Although we have several most beautiful 
varieties, we have failed to detect the least fragrance in 
any of the other seedlings. 
The Japan Quince.—A writer in the American 
Agriculturist, commenting on the newer varieties of 
Cydonia japonica, remarks that the one known in some 
nurserymen’s catalogues as C. simplex alba is perhaps 
the best white, as there is no tinge of colour in the 
flowers. C. Maulei is probably the best of the light 
scarlets. The fruit is very ornamental, as it assumes 
a bright golden colour long before it is mature. C. 
tricolor is a beautiful variegated-leaved variety with 
pale scarlet flowers, but unfortunately a feeble grower 
on its own roots, though moderately vigorous when 
grafted on Paradise Apple stocks. C. Gaujardi is a 
beautiful variety with orange-red flowers. The plant is 
of a low, spreading habit, with vigorous and almost 
thornless branches. 
Garden Walks.—In a paper read at a meeting of the 
Cardiff Gardeners’ Association, Mr. Kettlewell said in 
order to judge the width of a walk the size and arrange¬ 
ment of a garden must be taken into consideration, 
straight walks being always wider than curved ones. 
From 6 ft. to 10 ft. or 12 ft. will be about the general 
width of straight walks, including terrace walks, while 
from 5 ft. to 8 ft. the average width of curved walks. 
Drives vary from 10 ft. to 16 ft. in width, according to 
their length and object. The materials for a walk or 
drive should be composed of coarse gravel, clinkers, or 
any angular material to the depth of 12 ins. to 15 ins. 
and then fine gravel to the depth of 3 ins. The rough 
gravel should be well beaten before the fine gravel is 
laid down, and the whole well rolled. 
Sliort-jointed Melons: Old v. New Seeds. — We 
have often heard gardeners affirm that old Melon 
or Cucumber seeds give the shortest jointed Vines, but 
have no knowledge of any proof of the assertion being 
afforded by trials conducted in this country. The 
same idea would seem to have obtained some credence 
in America, but an extensive trial which was conducted 
last year at the Cornell University experimental station, 
gave no evidence whatever of the correctness of the 
general belief. “In fact,” the report of the trial 
states “ there was no uniformity of behaviour between 
seeds of like ages. The largest Vines in some instances 
came from the oldest seeds, in others from the newest, 
and in others from those of intermediate ages. All this 
variation is evidently due to heredity of the individual 
seeds, or to conditions of growth of the immediate 
parents, rather than to age of seeds.” 
Plant and Fruit Houses: Metal v. Wood.—In a 
paper recently read at a meeting of the Birmingham 
Gardeners’ Association, Mr. Henry Hope thus sums up 
the merits of iron versus wood houses :—-Metallic houses 
are said to be very cold, although admitting a large 
amount of light, and are said to expand and contract to 
such a degree as to break the glass. Wood houses have 
none of these objections, but they cannot be made so 
lightly as to the timber of the rafters, sash-bars, &c., as 
metallic ones. In my opinion, for fruit-growing pur¬ 
poses especially, a properly constructed metallic house 
is as conducive to good results as a wooden one ; but it 
must be constructed in the very best manner in framing, 
and sashes with light copper sash-bars, and provided 
that the heating apparatus is perfect, the only real 
objection I have named—viz., that of cold—is 
non-existent. Any breakage of glass from expansion 
and contraction is simply prima facie proof that the 
house is wrongly constructed, and I may say that a 
badly constructed metallic house is the worst form of 
house possible, and the existence in many gardens of 
houses of this type has tended in a great degree to 
condemn metallic houses as a class. To sum up, I con¬ 
sider in the following points wooden houses are excelled 
by metallic ones. Kept properly painted, their wear is 
everlasting, while wooden ones are always liable to rot. 
They admit 25 per cent, more light, and have a cleaner 
and neater appearance. 
A New Resurrection Plant.—A small Fern, named 
Polypodium incanum, originally from Kansas, in the 
United States, was received at the Jardin des Plantes, 
Paris. In its native home it grows spontaneously on 
the old bark of Birch trees. It was in a dried-up state, 
but after immersion for eight or nine hours in water 
warmed to a temperature of 40° or 50°, it assumed its 
natural appearance, even to the unfolding of the fine 
serratures of its foliage, and passed from a state of com¬ 
plete desiccation to that of fresh vegetative growth. 
Life had previously rested in a state of dormancy until 
revived by heat and moisture. The Revue de L'Horti¬ 
culture Beige states that M. Bureau, who made the 
experiments, placed several specimens of this curious 
Fern before the members of the Academy of Sciences, 
Paris, on the 17th of February last. 
Birmingham Gardeners’ Association. — At the 
meeting on April 1st, Mr. T. B. Grove, Sutton Coldfield, 
read a paper on “Insect Pests,” and Messrs. Hewitt & 
Co. sent cut blooms of Magnolia Lennei, a very fine 
variety of M. Soulangeana flowered in a cool house, 
and a well-flowered example of Staphylea colchica, a 
hardy shrub of easy culture and admirable for forcing. 
The plants are kept under glass to make early growth, 
and if any shoots take a lead away, they are pinched 
back to about 3 ins. in length. The roots are kept 
confined in pots, plunged outside in a sunny position 
so as to get the wood well ripened. The plants are 
early introduced into a cool greenhouse, amd gradually 
advancing into more warmth, so as to get the pla'nts 
well flowered by Easter, and this can readily be done 
by cool-house culture ; it is most worthy of general 
cultivation. 
Blue Navelwort.—In 1787, that is about 103 years 
ago, Omphalodes verna was figured in the Botanical 
Magazine, ( t. 7, under the name of Cynoglossum Omphal¬ 
odes. A foot-note states that Tournefort separated it from 
Symphytum, and called it Omphalodes pumila verna, 
with the foliage of a Symphytum ; ami. LinnEeus, who 
called it Cynoglossum Omphalodes, did not consider 
the roughness or smoothness of the fruit sufficient for 
the construction of a new genus. Bauhin called it 
Symphytum minus, with the appearance or facies of a 
Borago. Robert Morison, in his Plantarum Historia 
Universalis Oxoniensis, 3, p. 437, f. 11, t. 26, fig. 3, 
called it Borago minor verna repens, folio hevi. The 
binominal method of naming, invented by Linmnus, 
enabled us to dispense with the long names of previous 
botanists, and which were practically specific descrip¬ 
tions. The trivial name verna applies very forcibly to 
the present species, which comes into bloom in March, 
and continues, more or less, till May. The flowers 
are small and deep blue, with five pinkish white lines 
running through them, and greatly resemble those of a 
Forget-me-not. The species is an old inhabitant of 
British gardens, having been introduced from South 
Europe in 1633. 
Salmon Berry.—The usual flowering season of Rubus 
spectabilis is May ; but this year it seems to be in 
advance of its time, as the bushes were in fairly full 
bloom by the last week of March. The dark rosy red 
flowers appeared as large, richly coloured and uninjured, 
as if they had made their debut in May. Coming as 
they did somewhat slightly in advance of the leaves, 
they were seen to the best advantage, whereas later on 
they will be almost concealed by the foliage. The fruits 
are also red, and about twice the size of those of the 
common Raspberry, to which they are inferior in flavour, 
but do not often develop or reach maturity in this 
country. When grown in a shrubbery, it forms an erect 
much-branched self-supporting bush about 6 ft. high, or 
more. This is all the more striking, because the foliage 
bears some resemblance to that of the Raspberry, except 
that individual leaves consist only of three leaflets. It 
is a native of North America, and proves perfectly hardy 
in this country, although we occasionally see it grown 
against a wall. 
