July 26, 1890. 
the gardening world 
747 
be found almost as expeditious, and certainly more 
comfortable. These remarks are intended to suit 
present-day requirements, and to point out the 
importance of thinning in a wide sense ; still, being 
cognisant of their inadequacy in a general sense, I may 
revert to the subject at some future time.— J. Proctor, 
Glenfinart. 
-->X<-- 
Hardening Miscellany. 
-- 
Eckford’s Sweet Peas. 
It is no laughing matter, but if it were, the fact of a 
Dean rebuking a Saint would be a fair cause. Since 
penning my note about the Primrose Sweet Pea, I have 
to-day (21st July) had another look at the row, and I 
am bound to say that I am more convinced than ever 
that it has been misnamed. I admit, as readily as Mr. 
Dean does, that Mr. Eckford has done the gardening 
fraternity a service by turning his attention to the 
crossing of Peas, but I think he would have done a 
greater service if he had been more patient and seen 
that the new varieties were fixed before he launched 
them on the trade. The seeds under notice cost me 
three-halfpence each. The colour of the flower was 
described as a near approach to yellow, whereas it is 
only a creamy white at the best, and hardly distinguish¬ 
able from a good strain of the ordinary white Sweet 
Pea. Mr. Eckford is not an amateur, for he publishes 
a printed price list, offering his introductions to the 
seed trade in the orthodox way. I do not therefore see 
that I should say “ God bless the giver, and never look 
a gift-horse in the mouth.” Mr. Eckford has sent out 
over twenty new varieties of Sweet Peas, but, so far as 
I can see, there is not one of them anything like so 
distinct a variety as Princess Beatrice, sent out some 
years ago .—Saint Andrew. 
Fuchsia Riccartoni nana. 
A line of plants of this pigmy Fuchsia surrounding or 
forming a margin to a bed may be seen in the gardens 
of the Royal Horticultural Society. The plants do not 
exceed 9 ins. or 12 ins. in height, and are flowering 
with great freedom. The variety, probably, is not 
new, but finds its way into different gardens unde 
various names. The tube of the flower is very short, 
and inflated in the middle, and as well as the spreading 
sepals, are of a deep crimson-red. The corolla is short 
and blue, and the long exserted style and stamens are 
similar in colour to the sepals. This plant might long 
ago have been used as a bedding subject with fine effect, 
and in preference to the Pelargoniums, which have 
been repeated year after year ad nauseam. 
A Climbing 1 Fumitory. 
There are several plants of a climbing nature amongst 
the members of the Fumitory family, but the term is 
specially applicable to Adlumia cirrhosa, which is a bien¬ 
nial, and sends up climbing stems to a height of 12 ft. or 
15 ft., attaching itself to whatever object may be most 
convenient. The foliage is thrice divided, with slender 
Maidenhair-like segments, and is most ornamental the 
first year, owing to the size and finely-divided 
character of the radical leaves. These mostly die 
down in winter, and the leaves developed upon the 
climbing stems are smaller and less conspicuous. The 
flowers produced from their axils toward the top of the 
stems compensate for any deficiency in the size of the 
leaves. They are generally produced in clusters of 
three or four, pink in colour, and in shape resembling 
those of Dicentra, but the petals are of more spongy 
character. Seeds are freely produced, and from these 
a stock of plants can always be kept up. In favourable 
situations and seasons self-sown seedlings also ger¬ 
minate freely. 
Tuberous Begonias. 
H. M. Stanley. —The leaves of this tuberous variety 
are very broad, dark green, shining, and cover the 
surface of the pot. The flowers are also of great size, 
deep scarlet-red, double, and made up of very broad 
flat petals, arranged in a single rosette. Lafayette. 
—The leaves of this form are rather small, deep velvety 
green, and about the size of those of B. Davisii. The 
flowers are small, numerous, brilliant scarlet, and 
carried nearly erect on short stalks. The petals are 
arranged in a single or a few rosettes. Both were shown 
by Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons at the last meeting of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, held at Chiswick on 
the 22nd inst., and Awards of Merit were granted 
them. 
The Ox-eye Daisy. 
Under the name of Marguerites and Paris Daisies the 
flowers of Chrysanthemum frutescens have attained 
great popularity, both in this country and on the Con¬ 
tinent ; but our native Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum 
or Ox-eye Daisy grows almost neglected in the fields. 
Its flowers will compare very favourably with those of 
C. maximum, concerning which so much has been said, 
and they are more graceful—in fact, approaching those 
of the Marguerite. The Oxe-eye Daisy we recently 
noted flowering splendidly in a garden, and it seemed 
to fully repay for the space it occupied, notwithstanding 
the fact that it grew in the fields and on the banks 
close by. If a double form of it could be obtained, an 
impetus would, no doubt, be given to its more general 
cultivation. A semi-double form is already in culti¬ 
vation under the name of C. L. semi-duplex. This 
form we noted recently in the nursery of Messrs. J. 
Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. 
Coreopsis grandiflora. 
This plant is sometimes mistaken for C. lanceolata, but 
it differs greatly in the leaves, for whereas those of C. 
lanceolata are always entire, those of C. grandiflora 
are often pinnatifid, the lower ones having a few broad 
segments, and the upper leaves a few narrower ones. 
A variable number of the radical leaves are linear- 
oblanceolate, and altogether undivided. This is not 
the case with C. lanceolata, whose leaves are all 
undivided and closely similar, except in size. The 
flower-heads are also different, for although in both 
cases they are yellow, they are easily distinguishable. 
The ray florets of C. lanceolata are shallowly four- 
toothed at the apex, while those of C. grandiflora are 
deeply and irregularly five-toothed, the lateral teeth 
being the longest and the narrowest. We noted a 
quantity of C. grandiflora in the collection of Messrs J. 
Laing & Sons at Forest Hill. 
Tlie Meadow Crane’s Bill. 
Of the stronger growing species of Geranium, few of 
them excel the showiness of G. pratense, which is 
found in almost every garden in some form or other. 
It has probably given rise to more variation than any 
other Geranium, whether wild or cultivated. The 
typical form has large bluish purple and showy flowers. 
In gardens there is a variety with pale lavender flowers 
under the name of G. p. pallidum, and a white variety 
G. p. pallidum. . Then there are unnamed forms with 
white flowers, more or less striped or banded with blue. 
The most ornamental as well as the most durable of all 
the forms is the double one, G. p. flore pleno, which 
has perfectly double flowers, not quite so large, perhaps, 
as those of the type, but much about the same colour. 
Not only does it last longer in bloom than the single 
varieties, but it comes into flower later, and therefore 
serves to prolong the season. 
The Judging at Chiswick. 
In your report of the Chiswick show last week you say 
that the groups were placed equal first, except as 
regards the award of the Medal, and make the comment 
that it was a curiosity in judging. In fairness to the 
judges, I think you ought to know that they did not 
so make the award. They put Brown first and 
Fromow second, and the second-prize card was on 
Fromow’s group till about five o’clock, when to the 
surprise of most of the exhibitors and visitors it was 
removed, and an “equal first” card put on. It 
subsequently transpired that a few members of the 
committee (the others knowing nothing about it), with 
more zeal than discretion, agreed to make up the second 
prize to the same money value as the first, for reasons 
best known to themselves. Had they have done so 
without changing the tickets, no harm would have 
followed, but in changing the tickets without the 
sanction of the judges they did a very foolish thing, 
and placed the judges in a false position.— W. Brown, 
Senr., Richmond. [The case as reported to us 
seemed so stupid and irregular that we could not 
forbear the mild comment, which we now withdraw, so 
far as the judges are concerned, with an expression of 
regret that they should have been so discourteously 
treated by those who are responsible for altering the 
awards.—E d.] 
Campanula Van Houttei. 
Some cultivators consider this one of the best border 
Bellflowers in cultivation. With C. latifolia macrantha 
in view, and one or two others, it might be rash to jump 
to conclusions, seeing that the whole thing is a matter 
of taste; for there are several showy Bellflowers, 
including C. persiciefolia grandiflora alba, C. glomerata, 
C. lactiflora ccerulea, and the stately C. pyramidalis, 
together with their varieties. The stems of C. Van 
Houttei vary from 1 ft. to 2 ft. in height, bearing a 
terminal raceme of drooping flowers. The latter are 
tubularly bell-shaped, pendulous, dark blue, and ins. 
to 2 ins. long. The dwarf stems and large flowers taken 
together certainly offer important features for border 
decoration, and would recommend the plant to many 
cultivators. It is of garden origin, and lays some claim 
to affinity with C. latifolia, found in copses in some 
parts of this country. A specimen may be seen in the 
herbaceous border in the gardens of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society at Chiswick. 
-- 
THE FERN CONFERENCE. 
The great bulk of the Ferns, British and exotic, as 
well as the Selaginellas, exhibited at Chiswick on 
Tuesday and Wednesday, were arranged in a long tent 
situated about the middle of the gardens of the Royal 
Horticultural Society. Some exhibits were also staged 
in the large tent on the lawn along with the Carnations. 
The weather was not only propitious, but what was 
altogether unexpected, exceedingly warm after a spell 
of something more like November than midsummer. 
This had an encouraging effect upon visitors, who 
attended in good numbers during the afternoon. All 
were much charmed with the splendid array and the 
cool inviting appearance of the Ferns, and warm 
admiration was expressed of some of the British Ferns, 
which were truly magnificent, and quite put the more 
familiar exotics in the shade. This was, of course, 
more particularly in reference to the plumose varieties 
of the Soft Prickly Shield Ferns and the crested 
and plumose Lady Ferns. 
British Ferns. 
E. J. Lowe, Esq., Shirenewton Hall, Chepstow, was, 
as might be expected, the largest exhibitor of British 
Ferns, and his collection was both extensive and 
magnificent. The common Maidenhair was represented 
by some magnificent pieces, including a green and 
yellow-leaved variety named Adiantum Capillus- 
Veneris autumnale, also A. C.-V. admirabile, A. C.-V. 
Lucasii, and A. C.-V. Loweoe. Aspleniums were 
represented by A. marinum decorum, A. Trichomanes 
congestum, A. T. incisum, and the beautifully cut 
A. T. Moulei, an Irish variety. A hybrid between A. 
marinum and A. lanceolatum was also shown with 
triangular pinme. The Lady Ferns were both numerous 
and magnificent. In the plumose or feathery section 
was a fine piece of Asplenium Filix-fcemina Willsii. 
The cruciate section was represented by A. F-f. calome- 
lanos, A. F.-f. Stemma, with red petioles and cruciate 
or crossed pinnae ; also A. F.-f. Rhea, with entirely 
green fronds. A. F.-f. congestus Grantire reminded us 
of Lastra Filix-mas crispa. Two of the most handsome 
crested forms were A. F.-f. cristatum coactum and 
A. F.-f. olympicum, the latter having not only the 
pinnae but the pinnules crested. Very pretty also was 
A. F.-f. concordia, with graceful, green-crested fronds. 
Those of A. F.-f. lunulatum Fortunei were very narrow 
and graceful, somewhat after the style of the old 
A. F-f. Frizellise. The golden scaly form of the Male 
Fern (Nephrodium Filix-mas paleaceum cristatum) was 
represented by fine pieces of the type, as well as some 
varieties. The plumose or feathery section of the Soft 
Prickly Shield Fern included Aspidium angulare 
plumosissimum, with closely imbricated pinnae ; also 
A. a. divisilobum plumosum and A. a. d. densum. 
The last named is certainly the finest and most richly 
ornamental of all the British Ferns, and attracted 
great attention. The Prickly Shield Fern was repre¬ 
sented by a beautiful variety named Aspidium aculeatum 
pulcherrimum, and others. The crisped and crested 
forms of the Hart’s Tongue were both numerous and in 
splendid condition. There were handsomely crisped 
and large plants of Scolopendrium vulgare crispum 
Conburnii, and S. v. c. robustum. Deeply branched 
and heavily-crested forms were S. v. inequale-cristatum 
Nericallesand S. v. ramosum Alexandra. A singularly 
pretty crisped and compressed form was S. v. crispum 
angustum, and S. v. c. Kitsoniae and S. v. c. Bowdenii 
were also fine. A number of crisped forms variegated 
with yellow, were both curious and interesting to the 
physiologist. Two of the best were S. v. variegatum 
luminare and S. v. v. fulgore. 
Another fine though less extensive collection of 
British Ferns was exhibited by C. T. Druery, Esq., 
