August 2, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
763 
Sutherland are of a soft light blue, shaded with mauve 
on the upper petals ; while Souvenir is similar, but 
shaded with purple. The deep purple flowers of Acme 
are shaded with maroon on the lower petals, and hand¬ 
some, but the plant is not particularly vigorous. 
Yellow varieties competing for attention are pretty 
numerous. A very choice and dwarf variety is 
Sovereign, with golden yellow flowers. Bullion is 
equally floriferous, and of the same colour, but is taller 
than Sovereign ; and Lord Eleho has the upright habit 
of a Pansy and golden yellow flowers. Another flori¬ 
ferous, golden yellow variety of the same habit is 
Royalty. Ardwell Gem is very distinct, of dwarf 
branching habit, with large soft yellow flowers, and a 
few black lines radiating from the lower edge of the 
eye. The most floriferous of the above-named kinds 
are Marchioness of Tweeddale, Crofthouse, Countess 
of Hopetoun, Crimson King, Duchess of Sutherland, 
Ardwell Gem, Sovereign, and Bullion. Archibald 
Grant is a fine Viola, but not particularly floriferous. 
--»3=<-- 
NOTES ON STOVE PLANTS. 
Crotons, 
These will be making rapid growth now, and the 
cultivator must encourage them to make good head¬ 
way before autumn. A great mistake in growing 
specimen plants is to allow the centre to get choked up 
with a quantity of puny growths, which are of no 
material use in forming a good plant. Remove them 
with a sharp knife, and leave only the best shoots to 
form the specimen. A much finer plant will be obtained 
in this way, and one which will produce larger leaves. 
I find to do Crotons well it requires a regular system of 
applying manurial elements in some form or other. 
Sulphate of ammonia is a first-class chemical when 
used with discretion. Superphosphate has much effect 
in bringing out the glorious colour which this beautiful 
genus of plants is endowed with, and coupled with 
an abundance of light, magnificent plants may be 
grown. The plants should be regularly looked over, 
in case red-spider is getting a footing on the undersides 
of the leaves, especially such sorts as Warrenii, Prince 
of "Wales and other twisted varieties, all of which 
require care in sponging, making sure that every part 
comes in for a share of the washing solution. These 
plants are getting more familiar every year, and 
nothing can excel some of the narrow-leaved sorts as 
table plants, their graceful habit and bright colouring 
being very pleasing. 
Dracaenas. 
These are also popular plants in every stove, and the 
narrow-leaved sorts are admirably adapted for table 
plants when well coloured, and to have that they 
require as much attention as Crotons. They are easily 
raised from pieces of the stem cut into lengths of 1 in., 
and placed iu coco-nut fibre where there is a good 
bottom-heat. Young plants will soon appear, and they 
will require potting on as growth advances. If a 
specimen is desired, the top taken from an old plant is 
much the best, rooting it in a small pot. Another 
good plan is to notch the stem and bind some moss 
around it, when it will strike with freedom if kept in a 
good moist atmosphere, shifting on into a larger-sized 
pot, and continued till the desired size is reached. 
They delight in a good rich compost, with plenty of 
sand to make it porous, as the roots will not live in any 
excess of water. Apply a fertiliser of some kind, and 
shade from bright sunshine, as they do not bear so 
much exposure as Crotons.— TV. Angus, Dumfriesshire. 
ARDENING MISCELLANY. 
Memorial to the Late Mr. B. S. Williams. 
I am pleased to hear that something is likely to be 
done in connection with this matter, and trust that 
some well-matured plan will be devised before further 
action is taken. I would suggest, as a committee is 
formed in London, that the same should be done in 
Manchester and Edinburgh. If this plan be adopted I 
have permission to say that the chairman of the Council 
of the Manchester Horticultural Society (Mr. Joseph 
Broome) will kindly undertake the duty of chairman¬ 
ship of a committee that would be formed in this city. 
My earnest desire is that something should be done 
worthy of the occasion. The effort, of course, must be 
a united one. There is no occasion for haste, therefore 
it would be better to wait for a week or two, in order 
that some united understanding be come to before the 
public appeal is made. I think that a memorial medal 
should form a feature of the undertaking, and the 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. This is a young institution, 
and is calculated to do a vast amount of good—besides 
which it appeals to the sympathies of all. I know 
that there is the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Insti¬ 
tution, which has done and is still doing excellent 
work, and in which I have for many years taken a 
lively interest ; but the appeals of late have been so 
numerous in connection with this institution that my 
fear is that if it be mixed up with this appeal it will 
weaken the cause we are all anxious to support .—Bruce 
Findlay, Manchester. 
The Judging at Chiswick. 
My attention has been called to the letter in your paper 
of the 26th ult. on the judging at Chiswick. Had our 
friend, Mr. Brown, ascertained the facts, he doubtless 
would not have written to you. The alteration in the 
prizes for these two groups was made with the sanction 
of the judges and at their recommendation. I hold 
their letter to that effect, and it is within the province 
of the committee, on the recommendation of the judges, 
to add to or alter the prizes. The delay in altering 
the cards was owing to the pressure of business to see 
to just at the time. It is impossible on show days to 
get the individual consent of all the committee, nor is 
it necessary. I think you will see by this that the 
judges have not been treated discourteously, but their 
wish and recommendation simply carried out.— G. G. 
Hartland, Hon. Secretary, Chiswick Horticultural 
Society, July 28th. [\Ve have a letter before us from 
one of the judges (dated July 26th), who considers our 
original comment as rather uncalled for, as the judges 
gave their decision—Brown first, Fromow second. He 
further remarks, “ If the secretary or committee wished 
to make Fromow’s prize of greater value, their group 
being so near in merit to Brown’s, the judges could not 
interfere, so long as the prize cards were not altered ; 
but it seems they did alter the cards, and, of course, 
that was unjust, as we knew nothing of it.” It is 
evident that somebody blundered, but it is not yet 
clear who it was. — Ed.] 
A Hermaphrodite Begonia. 
A very remarkable flower appeared on an unnamed 
seedling in the collection of single varieties grown in 
pots in the nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, 
Forest Hill. The flowers were large, well formed, rose- 
magenta, and apparently all were normal except one 
bloom, which exhibited the unusual phenomenon of 
stamens and pistil in one and the same flower. There 
was no ovary, however, in the usual position beneath 
the sepals, but it made its appearance inside the flower 
in an abnormal condition. There were four bifid and 
spiral stigmas on the apex of a prominent, stout style, 
occupying a central position, and about the middle of 
this style were clusters of ovules quite naked or un¬ 
covered. Some of the clusters showed a transition 
to stamens, of which there were a great number arranged 
around the base of this atrophied ovary. They 
appeared to be perfect, and of the usual yellow colour, 
but were much larger than generally occurs amongst 
this class of plants. 
The Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. 
I have read in the J our nal of Horticulture of the 24th ult, 
an account of the movement which led to the establish¬ 
ment of this Fund, but note one remark which, if left 
without qualification, might mislead some future 
historian, and I therefore ask you to allow me to state 
the whole of the facts as regards the origin of the 
combination of words which forms the Institution’s 
official title. It is quite correctly stated that at the 
first meeting, called on March 22nd, 1887, it was 
decided, on the proposition of Mr. J. Wright, that the 
scheme should be entitled “The Gardeners’ Orphan 
Fund”; but this statement taken alone suggests the 
inference that Mr. Wright was the author of the title 
adopted, which is not the case. The original pro¬ 
position, made almost simultaneously hy Messrs. 
Penny, Udale and Clayton, was for the establishment 
of an “Orphanage,” which, however, was not generally 
favourably received. The subject was discussed in the 
other gardening papers, as well as in the Journal of 
Horticulture, under the heading of “ The Proposed 
Gardeners’ Orphanage,” and it was Mr. Barron who 
knocked the bottom out of the “ Orphanage ” scheme, 
in a letter published in The Gardening World for 
March 12th, 1887. In that same letter Mr. Barron 
suggested the raising of a “Fund” as a more feasible 
scheme than an “Orphanage,” and bis idea was the 
one subsequently adopted. In your issue of the follow¬ 
ing week the discussion was continued by Mr. Alex. 
Dean and others, Mr. Dean remarking that he preferred 
to discuss the subject under the title of “TheGardeners’ 
Orphan Fund.” That was the first time this title was 
used, and therefore whatever credit may attach to its 
subsequent adoption belongs to Mr. Dean, and not to 
the mover of the resolution by wdiich it was adopted.— 
Fact. 
Mutisia decurrens. 
Like M. Clematis, this is a climbing species, but the 
leaves are altogether different, for whereas they are 
compound in M. Clematis and greatly resembling a 
Vetch, in M. decurrens they are lanceolate, tapering 
towards the apex, where they terminate in a long, 
twining tendril, and deeurient at the base, forming 
wings on the stem. The stems grow from 4 ft. to 6 ft. 
in height, or perhaps more, and being slender, require 
the support furnished by the tendrils of the leaves, 
which grasp any object with which they may come in 
contact. The flower heads are borne singly on stalks 
about 6 ins. to 12 ins. long, and measure from 4 ins. to 
6 ins. across. The rays are of a brilliant orange, 
narrow and rather reflexed, but they have a fine 
effect when produced in numbers at the ends of the 
shoots. Being somewhat tender it requires to be 
grown against a wall. A finely flowered specimen may 
be seen on the front wall of Ho. 1 Museum at Kew on 
a western aspect. The ground around the plant is 
covered with small nodules of coke, and the plant, now 
about 6 ft. high, has been in this position for some 
years. 
The New Zealand Blue Bell. 
Although not strictly a Campanula, this plant is very 
close to it, and is the Wahlenbergia saxicola of the 
botanist. The plant is somewhat creeping at the roots, 
much in the same way as some of the Campanulas ; 
and its leaves are spathulate, radical, and arranged in a 
rosette round the base of the stem, which rises to a 
height of 4 ins. to 6 ins., bearing a solitary pale lilac- 
blue flower. The latter is campanulate, and large for 
the size of the plant, and deeply divided into five 
segments. Seedlings vary considerably in colour, and 
a very pretty pure white form occurs. The species is 
also known as W. vinceeflora and W. albo-marginata. 
For rockwork the plant is well adapted, owing to its 
dwarf habit, and from the fact that it grows in similar 
positions in its native habitats. It should be planted 
in situations where it may easily be kept moderately 
moist, in order to facilitate the production of suckers. 
Being somewhat tender it is liable to be killed in severe 
winters. 
Eremurus Bungei. 
In looking over Ant. Roozen & Son’s bulb catalogue I 
find the following description of the above plant: — 
“The flower spikes, which are stoutish, are about 1 ft, 
long, and about one-third of the stalk is covered with 
bright yellow flowers about 1 in. in diameter.” We 
have a clump this year which produced three flower 
spikes, the tallest of which was 5 ft. 6 ins., and the 
shortest 5 ft. high, upwards of 2 ft. of each stalk being 
thickly covered with the bright yellow flowers according 
to the description. It has been a beautiful object and 
the admiration of all who saw it .—Alfred Gaut, The 
Gardens, Berwick, Shrewsbury. 
Podocarpus chilensis. 
The species of this genus of Conifers number from 
forty to sixty, according to different authors. They 
are closely allied to the Yew (Taxus) and the Maiden¬ 
hair-Tree (Ginkgo biloba), but very few of them are so 
hardy as those trees. They are natives of extra-tropical 
regions of the southern hemisphere, both on the 
mountains of tropical and eastern Asia, but are much 
less frequent on the mountains of South America. 
Amongst the latter a few hardy or nearly hardy ones 
occur, including P. alpina, a dwarf bush with small 
leaves, and P. chilensis, the subject of this note. The 
latter is the most ornamental by far, as its leaves are 
linear-lanceolate, light green when youDg, very dark 
green in winter, and 3 ins. to 4 ins. long. They are, 
of course, evergreen, of a leathery texture, and bear 
some outward resemblance to those of the Umbrella 
Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata), but are broader. There 
are some trees in the Kew collection from 3 ft. to 6 ft. 
in height. Those in sheltered places are amply clothed 
with foliage and very handsome. They have made 
splendid growth this season, notwithstanding the want 
of sun. 
