18 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 9, 1893. 
THE HERBACEOUS BORDER. 
Choice plants in Fiowen. 
SoLiDAGO Drummoxdi. —The warm weather is 
bringing on the species of Solidago or Golden Rods 
much earlier than usual, so that the beauty of the 
late kinds will be more evident than is the case in 
cold, late seasons. At present the species under 
notice is about i ft. high, bearing a corymbose pani¬ 
cle of bright yellow flowers. The leaves are oblong- 
elliptic and much broader than is customary with 
most of them. 
Dianthus Versicolor. — The stems of this Pink 
grow about 12 in. high and branch, thus producing a 
considerable number of flowers. The latter are also 
of appreciable size, with broad, wedge-shaped petals, 
deeply serrate or fringed at the ends, and of a beauti¬ 
ful rose colour, mottled or marbled with a deeper hue 
and having a wavy crimson band near the base, 
below which they are of a soft rose. The rockery is 
perhaps the best place for it, but there is no reason 
why it might not be grown in the front line of the 
border. 
Statice Lychxidifolia. —Of all the hardy forms 
of Statice that are closely allied to our own S. 
Limonum, that under notice seems to be the best for 
border decoration, notwithstanding the fact that 
many of them might be cultivated there to advantage. 
The flow’er stems are most profusely branched, so 
that their numerous ramifications with small flowers 
form quite a cloud of spray and bloom. The flowers 
themselves are lilac. Branches might be used 
amongst cut flowers in the same way as Gypsophila 
paniculata. 
Prunella grandiflora rubra.— Notwithstand¬ 
ing the great heat, this plant is flowering away freely 
and pretty nearly with as much vigour as in ordinary 
seasons. The stems are about 6 in. or S in. high, 
and bear a large, oblong head of rosy purple flowers 
of which the inner face is paler. 
Aster ptarmicoides.— Individually the heads of 
this species are neither large nor show'y, but collec¬ 
tively they are not devoid of ornament. The rays 
are w'hite and the disc creamy, an unusual circum¬ 
stance amongst perennial Asters. 
--5-- 
TOMATOS AT READING. 
It is well known that plenty of sunshine is the great 
desideratum for Tomatos grown in the open-air. 
That we have had in all conscience during the past 
six months, making another necessity felt, namely, 
rain in fair amount. Nothwithstanding this, Messrs. 
Sutton & Sons, Reading, have been very successful 
in seebring not merely a heavy crop, but a crop of 
ripe fruit. To achieve this excellent result it has 
been necessary to adopt means to an end in the 
gravelly soil at Reading. The ground is well pre¬ 
pared in winter, but no rank manure whatever is put 
into it. As soon as the first bunch of flowers is 
showing itself the ground is well mulched with rich 
pretty-well deca)-ed manure or horse droppings to 
retain the moisture in the soil, and water can then 
be applied as it is felt necessary. The first or second 
week in March is found to be the best time to sow 
the seeds. It is bad practice to sow earlier for open- 
air culture, as the plants remain on hand and get 
stunted before they can be planted out. It is equally 
prejudicial to sow late and then hurry the plants by 
great heat to get them ready by the appointed time. 
They should not be planted out till the last week in 
May, when all danger of frost is over. The plants 
are tied to stakes, and confined to a single stem by 
pinching out all the laterals whenever they make 
their appearance. Messrs. Sutton & Sons have 
had sixty trials of Tomatos under glass and 150 
trials in the open-air from various sources under 
eight3’-seven names. It is almost needless to say 
that a tithe of them would include all that is really 
worth cultivating. 
For open-air culture the kinds might be reduced 
to three, namely. Earliest of All, Magnum Bonum, 
and iMain Crop. As there are so many tastes to 
meet amongst the gardening fraternity, we will 
increase that number to eight really first class kinds, 
and for the sake of variety, so as to satisfy the 
fastidiousness of the British public, we shall add 
eight more. Earliest of All is a medium-sized 
slightly corrugated Tomato that ripens a weak or ten 
days earlier than Magnum Bonum, and is certainly 
a heavy cropper. When the smoothest fruits of this 
variety are selected the crop next year is consider¬ 
ably later. An improved type of Earliest of All has 
been selected for earliness, smoothness, and pro¬ 
ductiveness. Magnum Bonum is a larger fruit and 
more abundant cropper, probably the heaviest bearer 
cultivated. Here the weight of the crop is great on 
the gravelly soil, pulling down the stems or bending 
them where not well secured to the stakes. Main 
Crop has good foliage, and is a dwarf sort. The 
fruits are flattened, slightly corrugated, and of great 
size; they are solid, heavy, and contain hardly any 
seeds. The variety is an enormous cropper, and 
would prove very economical to sell by weight. 
Conference is a smooth-fruited and first early variety, 
that finds great favour in many quarters. It is 
slightly later here than Earliest of All. We are 
very much taken with Sutton s Ai, a beautiful round 
and smooth fruit, somewhat smaller than Ham 
Green and slightly flattened on the top, or Apple¬ 
shaped. Sutton's Abundance is another Apple¬ 
shaped fruit, quite smooth and beautiful, but taking 
rank as a second early. In order to place a yellow 
variety amongst this lot we should select Golden 
Queen, a large bright yellow, slightly corrugated 
fruit, the counterpart of Magnum Bonum, and, like 
it, a heavy cropper. Then, to cater for those who 
like a small and beautiful fruit to place upon the 
table, we should choose Sutton’s Dessert, the fruits 
of which are about the size of a pigeon’s egg, round, 
of excellent flavour, juicy, and sweet. Four bunches, 
accidentally grown together we suppose, bore forty- 
eight fruits in the aggregate. We have purposely 
omitted Sutton’s Perfection, as everybody knows its 
excellent qualities for exhibition purposes, but it is 
entirely an indoor variety. A large quantity of it, in 
several trials, being the selection of prize fruits from 
various exhibitions, is here grown with excellent 
results this year. 
An unnamed variety, a cross between Perfection 
as the seed parent and Conference, is largely grown 
by market gardeners in the neighbourhood, but does 
best under glass. It has the Perfection flavour and 
is now ripening a splendid crop in the open air. The 
fruits are intermediate, in size between those of the 
parents. Chiswick Red is a deep red, plum-shaped 
fruit, and bears in great abundance. The same may 
be said of Vick’s Criterion, which ma)’ be described 
as rosy-red, a colour to which many object, but 
which we consider a mere prejudice, for the fruit is 
really very tender and melting, with scarcely any 
discernible skin when eaten, whereas, on the other 
hand, many of the best varieties have a thin but 
tough skin. Both this and Chiswick Red are 
enormous croppers, though the fruit is light. 
Golden Perfection is deep yellow, often tinted with 
orange, and is of the same shape as Perfection, but 
not yet quite so refined. When at its best, however, 
it is handsome. A small yellow is Golden Nugget, 
very pretty, but not quite so excellent for dessert 
purposes as Sutton’s Dessert. It is sweet, but 
possesses also a certain acidity which some might 
prefer and others not. The Peach is certainly 
distinct, and we rather like its flavour, but it is too 
late to succeed in all seasons out of doors; in fact, 
we think it is the latest on the ground. Ivory Ball, 
also called White Queen, may be selected on account 
of its colour, which may be described as creamy- 
white tinted with lemon near the base, at least in its 
present stage. Horsfords Prelude is an excellent, 
first early, and free setting Tomato, but, as is well 
known, it is very small. 
Of the large number of trials we shall only men¬ 
tion a few of the leading sorts besides those already 
given. The Large Red is a heavy fruiting variety, 
but is now superseded by Magnum Bonum. Laxton’s 
Open Air is a dwarf and early sort, but it has b^d 
foliage and a poor constitution compared with 
Earliest of All. Carter’s Market Favourite is very 
irregular in size. Ed^vard Heneage is of the same 
style as Abundance, perhaps not so Apple-shaped, 
and although a good Tomato two of the same type 
are altogether unnecessary. Ham Green and Lady 
Bird are both Apple-shaped Tomatos, but they are 
very closely related. Another type is represented by 
Thorburn’s Long Keeper, which is similar in shape 
and colour to Acme and Dedham Favourite. The 
old Hathaway's Excelsior is still to be seen here, and 
is much in the way of Sutton’s Abundance. Trophy 
is another old variety that has been superseded. A 
curiosity in its way is the Yellow Peach, differing 
from its prototype in colour only. Those who object 
to the colour of the type might take more kindly to 
the yellow sort, which is also downy on the surface. 
In spite of the popular objection to the pinkish-red 
varieties of Tomato, new ones still continue to be 
produced. Trucker’s Favourite is one of the more 
recent additions, and is in the style of Perfection 
except in colour. Acquisition is another of the same 
class, but older. It is notable for its dwarf habit 
and compact, wrinkled, deep green leaves. The 
fruits are very dark with only a slight trace of the 
pink colour, and the solid flesh is of excellent flavour, 
Earley’s Defiance, on the contrary, is dwarf and 
similar in several respects to Laxton's Open Air. 
Prince Albert Victor is a large flattened fruit, more 
suitable for indoor than open-air culture. The huge, 
deeply corrugated and coarse fruits of President 
Garfield are never likely to become popular. Thor¬ 
burn’s Terra Cotta has round brick-red fruits. The 
Japanese Dwmrf Striped is red mottled with yellow, 
but has nothing striking to recommend it. Queen of 
the Earlies is a dwarf, French variety, with slightly 
corrugated fruits. The thoroughly representative 
nature of the trial is further indicated by the 
presence of Red Cherry and Red Currant, both 
decorative varieties. The whole collection is most 
interesting and instructive. 
-- 
NEW DAHLIAS. 
The undermentioned Dahlias received First-class 
Certificates from the National Dahlia Society at the 
Crystal Palace on the ist inst. 
May Sharpe.— This may be described as a fancy 
single Dahlia, as the large rays are striped and 
mottled with deep crimson on a buff yellow ground, 
while the central zone is crimson-red. 
Mrs. Harris. —The ray florets of this single 
Dahlia are white or pink in the centre with deep 
purple edges. The flowers are small and pretty. 
Both of the above were exhibited by Messrs. J. Cheal 
& Sons, Crawley, Sussex. 
Mrs. a. Peart.— This may be described as the 
best and only real white Cactus Dahlia in cultivation. 
The large blooms are creamy-white with a pale 
sulphur centre. The florets are long, pointed, and 
revolute at the sides. The exhibitor was Mr. T. S. 
Ware, Hale Farm Nursery, Tottenham. 
Mary Hillier. —The blooms of this Cactus 
variety are large with very long and divaricate seg¬ 
ments of a soft scarlet and handsome. The exhibi¬ 
tor was Mr. J. T. West, gardener to W. Keith, Esq., 
Cornwalls, Brentwood. 
Lilacina. —This is a beautiful decorative variety 
with broad, oblong, blunt florets, revolute at the 
sides, and of a beautiful lilac-purple lined with 
yellow and shaded with the same hue in the centre. 
Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, Swanle)-, were the ex¬ 
hibitors. 
Captain Boyton.— In this we have a pompon 
variety of small size and beautifully neat with com¬ 
pactly arranged florets of a rich velvety maroon. 
The exhibitor was Mr. C. Turner, Slough, who also 
had a Certificate for Rowena, described on p. 7. 
Demon. —This is a single variety of medium size, 
and circular, with very broadly elliptic, blunt rays, 
slight recurved at the tips, and of a deep velvety- 
crimson approaching black. 
M. C. C.—Here again we have a single Dahlia 
belonging in this case to the fancy class, and 
variously striped and mottled with scarlet on a 
yellow ground. 
Phyllis. —This also is a fancy single Dahlia, 
irregularly striped with crimson and mottled with 
purple on a white ground. 
Tommy. —Like the last this is a single, fancy 
variety, with a few irregular, crimson-scarlet stripes, 
and mottled with the same on a buff yellow ground. 
All the four single varieties here described were 
exhibited by T. W. Girdlestone, Esq., M.A., F.L.S., 
Sunningdale, Berks. 
Lady Henry Grosvenor. —The blooms of this 
Cactus variety are of large size, with long, pointed 
florets, revolute at the sides and of a buff or reddish 
colour, while the central and young ones are yellow. 
Chancellor and Lady Penzance.— For the 
description of these Cactus varieties see those, in the 
next column, certificated by the Royal Horticultural 
Society. Both, as well as Lady Henry Grosvenor, 
were exhibited by Messrs. Keynes, Williams & Co., 
Salisbury. 
Matchless. —The blooms of this Cactus Dahlia 
are of large size, with long, pointed, and divaricate 
florets, revolute at the sides, narrow, and velvety 
maroon. 
