600 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 24, 1890. 
FLO^idi/RVi/S^. 
-- 
Carnations and Picotees. 
Judging from what I have seen at the Royal Nursery, 
Slough, and elsewhere, Carnations look uncommonly 
well ; there is a vigorous and clean growth, and an 
abundance of grass. It seemed to me to be almost 
impossible for Carnations to look better than the hun¬ 
dreds of plants at Slough. Present appearances seem 
to point to an early bloom, but we may encounter 
great and trying changes in the weather. We are now 
experiencing warm and drying days, and the sun and 
atmosphere acting upon the pots causes a good deal of 
evaporation, quickly drying the surface soil in the pots. 
Close attention is therefore necessary in the matter of 
watering. A nice steady shower is very helpful; it is 
nature’s method of watering, cleansing the foliage also, 
and imparting health and vigour. On the other hand, 
should the weather be cold and dull, drying influences 
will not be so active, and watering should be carefully 
done. This is the time of the year for green-fly to 
gather on the points of the shoots, but they should not 
be allowed to find a resting place; either the plants should 
be fumigated or the fly brushed away into space. The 
maccmt must be looked after, and snails are sometimes 
troublesome ; they have a voracious appetite, and in a 
single night can work great mischief. 
It is desirable to go over the plants with a pair of 
scissors, and clear away any decaying foliage. Weeds 
must have no quarter ; they will grow, and the most 
carefully prepared compost is full of their seeds. They 
should be pulled up as soon as they can be handled, 
but when the soil is moist, not dry, as then but little of 
it will come away with the roots. The surface soil 
should also be frequently stirred ; rain is certain to beat 
it down, and frequent waterings have the same result. 
Staking the plants must be done. The shoots grow 
quickly, and they need support to keep them from 
being broken off by the wind. This is the period of the 
year when the grower should be active with small and 
frequent attentions, as they have much to do in working 
out the sum of success.— It. D. 
Selections of Decorative, Pompon and Single 
Dahlias. 
What are the best twelve decorative or Cactus Dahlias 
to grow for exhibition purposes ? My selection is as 
follows'.—Mrs. Hawkins, Panthea, Henry Patrick, 
Juarezii, ' Honoria, Beauty of Brentwood, Charming 
Bride, Empress of India, Annie Harvey, Asia, Mrs. 
M. Marsham, and Cochineal. As a matter of course, 
I am selecting varieties that make attractive and taking 
banks ; and when the decorative Dahlias are well set 
up in this way by one who has some claim to a capacity 
for artistic arrangement they are very effective indeed. 
Out of this dozen I should name as the best six— 
Mrs. Hawkins, Panthea, Empress of India, Beauty of 
Brentwood, Honoria, and Henry Patrick. 
Now for the best Pompon varieties for show purposes. 
To select them is a more difficult task than in the case 
of the decorative varieties, as there are so many more 
to select from. A good selection of the best twelve 
will be found in Gem, Golden Gem, Favourite, 
Eurydice, Rosalie, Little Nigger, White Button, Red 
Indian, Mabel, Isabel, Leila, and E. F. Jungker. The 
best six varieties from the foregoing will be Gem, Leila, 
Mabel, Eurydice, Favourite, and Rosalie. 
Single Dahlias are very much a question of in¬ 
dividual taste, but I haye no hesitation in naming 
Amos Perry, Duchess of Westminster, John Downie, 
Miss Linnaker, Miss Gordon, Mr. Kennett, Paragon, 
Lutea grandiflora, Florrie Fisher, Miss Roberts, 
Defiance, and Victoria. The best six would probably 
be John Downie, Duchess of Westminster, Miss 
Linnaker, Mr. Kennett, Lutea grandiflora, and 
Paragon,— R. D. 
New Tuberous Begonias. 
Princess Victoeia. —The flowers of this variety are 
single, large, of great regularity, and of a soft rose 
colour, fading to pink towards the centre, where the 
mass of yellow stamens form a fine contrast. 
Rost Morn. —In this case the flowers are also of 
large size, and double, with broad, wavy, rose-coloured 
sepals, which, resemble those of some varieties of 
Hollyhock. 
Duchess of Portland.— Here again the flowers 
are double, but consist of numerous distinct rosettes, 
the component parts of which are narrower than in the 
last case. They are scarlet, with a white centre, at 
least when at their best. 
Profusion. —The leaves of this variety are broad, 
lobed, and deep green. The large flowers are single, 
almost orbicular, orange coloured, and tinted with red 
externally. All the four were exhibited at the Royal 
Botanic Society’s show on the 14th inst. by Messrs. 
J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, who received Flori- 
cultural Certificates. 
Tea Rose, The Queen. 
The leaves of this variety are dark green, with flat, 
ovate, serrated leaflets of good substance. The flowers 
are compact and pure white, with broad petals. As a 
variety it is somewhat similar to Souvenir de S. A. 
Prince, but is claimed to be distinct. It was shown at 
the last exhibition of the Royal Botanic Society, on 
the 14th inst., by Messrs, ffm. Paul & Son, who 
received a Floricultural Certificate for it. 
Viola, Eynsford Yellow. 
The flowers of this bedding variety are of large size, 
longer than broad, and somewhat wider at the upper 
than the lower end. The lower petal or lip is of a 
golden yellow, while the two upper petals are a shade 
or two paler. The variety is very free flowering. 
Specimens were shown at the Drill Hall on Tuesday by 
Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, who received an 
Award of Merit for the variety. 
Primula Sieboldi alba magnifica. 
This is a large white variety we have several times 
described. It was exhibited at the Drill Hall, West¬ 
minster, on the 13th inst., and an Award of Merit was 
accorded for it to Messrs. Ryder & Son, Sale, Man¬ 
chester. 
-- 
THE nursery and seed 
TRADE ASSOCIATION, 
We learn from the thirteenth annual report of the 
committee of management, to be presented at the 
annual meeting on Wednesday next, at the offices, 
25, Old Jewry, E.C., that the number of debts applied 
for during the year was 870, and the amount recovered 
£3,512 ; and that thirty new members had been 
added to the roll as against fifteen in the previous 
year. The association has during the past year suc¬ 
cessfully undertaken two criminal prosecutions—one 
for the adulteration of seed, in which case the full 
penalty was enforced; and the other for obtaining 
flowers, &c., under false pretences, in which case 
exemplary punishment was enforced. The committee 
wish to call the attention of the members, and of the 
trade generally, to the fact that by reason of there not 
being any fund for the purpose of meeting the costs 
of these prosecutions, such costs had to be borne in the 
former case by a few members of the trade, whilst in 
the latter case his Grace the Duke of Bedford 
generously offered to discharge them. The committee 
is of opinion that if a fund were raised which would be 
available for meeting the expenses connected with 
such prosecutions, and if prosecutions were instituted 
in all cases which came under their consideration, the 
result would be that the frauds to which the trades are 
peculiarly liable would be very considerably diminished. 
As regards the assessment and rating of nurseries, 
the committee regrets that the members have not taken 
advantage of the facilities offered by the association to 
so great an extent as they might have done. In all 
cases which have been taken up by the association 
reductions have been obtained in the amounts of local 
rates hitherto paid. The committee wishes again to 
call the attention of the members to tbe fact that 
nurserymen are liable to be assessed for the purpose of 
local rates to the extent of one-fourth only of the 
assessment to the poor, and that by communicating 
the particulars of their rating to the secretary the 
necessary steps will be taken for their protection. 
With regard to the assessments of nurseries to the poor 
rate, the inequalities pointed out in the last report 
still exist, but the committee is watching the progress 
of the Bill recently introduced into the House of 
Commons relating to the assessment of trade machinery, 
with a view to the possible insertion therein of such 
provisions as will place the nurserymen on the same 
footing as manufacturers. 
The committee has watched with interest the 
progress of the railway rates inquiry, and has from 
time to time given it their most careful consideration. 
The inquiry is still proceeding, and great uncertainty 
exists as to the result ; but the committee records with 
satisfaction the fact that already the various railway 
companies have withdrawn some of their exorbitant 
proposals in consequence of the great opposition with 
which they have been met by all sections of traders. 
The committee believes that even now the members of 
the trades generally do not sufficiently appreciate the 
extent to which their interests will be affected if the 
proposals of the railway companies are allowed. 
-—> 3 ?<—- 
CINERARIAS AT BEECHHILL. 
After reading your notes on Cinerarias at Forest Hill 
in the number for April 19th, I was induced to visit 
Mr. Downie’s nursery at Beechhill, near Edinburgh, to 
see the fine collection there, of which I had heard so 
much. Arriving at the nursery, I was fortunate in 
meeting Mr. Downie himself, who, with his customary 
courtesy, volunteered to show me over the glass depart¬ 
ment, and very kindly gave me a deal of interesting 
information regarding the varied assortment of plants 
which he grows. The Cinerarias, however, were the 
chief attraction, and to them 1 shall confine these brief 
notes. Mr. Downie informed me that during a number 
of years past he has been carefully selecting and crossing 
fine varieties, so as to obtain a good strain, and this 
year he considers he has made a decided advance on all 
previous years—in fact, far exceeding his most sanguine 
expectations. 
Taken as a whole, they have a gorgeous appearance, 
and are certainly the finest batch it has ever been my 
lot to see. There is not one single plant in the whole 
batch which is not suitable for seed-saving purposes. 
Should one happen to appear it is immediately con¬ 
signed to the rubbish-heap, thus avoiding all danger of 
bad blood getting into the strain. 
The house in which the plants are grown is a span- 
roofed structure 52 ft. long, with a pathway running 
up the centre and side stages on which the plants (over 
400 in number) are arranged. The plants, which are 
mostly in 6-in. or 7-in. pots, are of a fine useful size 
for decorative purposes, varying from 1 ft. to 2£ ft. in 
diameter, and from 10 ins. to 15 ins. in height, and 
are in the best possible health. 
I was particularly struck with many of the self- 
coloured sorts, especially the whites, blues and purples, 
which were exceptionally fine, not so much as regards 
the size of the individual blooms, although these 
ranged from 2J ins. to 3 ins. in diameter, but in their 
perfect form and the excellent texture of the petals. 
Many of the bicoloured varieties were also very 
attractive and showy, and added very much to the 
brightness of the whole display. Noteworthy amongst 
the bicoloured blooms were several plants with bright 
magenta flowers, having a circle of white round the 
disc. Many more might be enumerated would space 
permit, but pages of letterpress cannot convey anything 
like an adequate idea of the brilliant show made by 
these useful plants. Mr. Downie is certainly to be 
congratulated on the success of his efforts in im¬ 
proving this very useful decorative plant.— Arbutus. 
-- 
CYPRIPEDIUM NIOBE. 
Garden Cypripediums have been greatly increased in 
numbers within recent years, but none are more 
welcome than those which present a decided improve¬ 
ment upon existing types. There is a great sameness 
amongst many of the kinds which have been brought 
before the public, for the simple reason that the same 
parents have been used over and over again to effect a 
cross. This does not apply to C. Niobe, which comes 
to us as a decided novelty. It was derived from C. 
Spicerianum crossed with the pollen of C. Fairieanum ; 
and what is remarkable, its flowers partake more of the 
nature of the pollen than the seed parent. The upper 
sepal is of the same shape as that of C. Spicerianum, 
but besides possessing the broad purple midrib of that 
species it has other pale purple lines pursuing the 
course of the lateral veins all over it, with numerous 
more slender reticulations of the same hue, and is 
greenish at the base. The petals are strongly deflexed, 
wavy, and ciliate on both margins, but particularly on 
the upper edge, and revolute at the tip, all of which 
characters have been strongly impressed upon them by 
C. Fairieanum, although the wavy edges are also well 
marked in C. Spicerianum. The ground colour is 
whitish, except at the base, which is greenish yellow 
spotted with brownish purple, while the median 
portion is striped with that colour, and the margins 
suffused with it. The lip is of large size, pubescent, 
brownish, and tinted with yellow in places, and the 
infolded sides of the claw are yellow dotted with 
purple. The staminode is lunate, with a deep sinus 
on the lower edge, and is creamy yellow, with a purple 
band around the sinus, above which it is tinted with 
green, thus pointing very strongly to C. Fairieanum. 
