October 7, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
87 
resembles in shape and colour. It is, however, more 
handsome than that variety, with a smooth and 
highly polished skin, of a bright red, sometimes 
deep crimson, and occasionally inclined to be striped 
all over the surface. In shape it is ovate and some¬ 
times decidedly conical, with a small, closed eye at 
the bottom of a deep round cavity slightly plaited 
near the base. The stalk is short, or varies to one 
inch in length, and inserted in a moderately deep 
cavity. For exhibition purposes it has a handsome 
and taking appearance. It was exhibited by Mr. E. 
Molyneux, Swanmore Park Gardens, Bishop’s 
Waltham, Hants, at a meeting of the Fruit and 
Vegetable Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society on the 26th ult., and was accorded an Award 
of Merit. 
LABOUR IN THE GARDEN. 
The dry summer has lessened the chances of casual 
labourers getting work to an almost incalculable 
extent, for both hoeing and haymaking, upon which 
so many depend for their summer’s work, has been 
reduced to a minimum quantity. Neither grass to 
mow nor weeds to hoe have grown very much, 
which will, I think, be followed by lasting benefit to 
all who have taken advantage of the opportunity it 
has given to keep weeds down and not allow them 
to seed. These will reap some benefit in this direc¬ 
tion. The old proverb, one year’s seed seven years 
weeds, has a good deal of truth in it, so one year 
without seed, on the other hand, should at least be 
followed by one year of fewer weeds.— W. B. G. 
RUDBECKIA PULCHERRIMA. 
Many of the Rudbeckias are tall growers, requiring 
to be placed in the back line of the herbaceous 
border, but that under notice only grows about 2 ft. 
high and may be placed in the second line. The 
stems are leafy, only about half that height, the rest 
consisting of the naked flower stalks bearing the 
heads of bloom. The leaves are pinnatisect with 
linear segments. Each flower stalk bears a single 
head of bloom, consisting of short, broad, reflexed, 
golden-yellow rays with a large crimson blotch near 
the base. The disc is conical at first, but soon be¬ 
comes cylindrical and from Jin. to fin. long. The 
most prominent feature of the flowers is the crimson 
blotch, whereas the florets of most cultivated species 
are of some shade of yellow. It has been flowering 
'on the rockwork at Kew for some time past. 
CERATOSTIGMA PLUMBAGINIOIDES, 
No DOUBT the past has been one of the best seasons 
that this plant has enjoyed in our climate since it was 
first introduced. In average seasons it comes into 
bloom so late as to be liable to have the flowers de¬ 
stroyed by the first sharp frost. Unless the frost is 
unusually severe, the plant produces fresh flowers 
the first bright day that occurs. The plant is per¬ 
haps better known under the name of Plumago 
Larpentae, besides which it has another name. It 
was flowering beautifully in some gardens by the 
second or third in August, and has been continuing 
to do so ever since. In average seasons it requires 
a sheltered and sunny position on rockwork, in order 
to hasten its flowering before the advent of frost. 
The dark blue flowers are very acceptable when the 
bulk of rockery plants have long been out of season. 
The individual blooms are developed in succession, 
so that the flowering period is of considerable duration, 
provided there has been sufficient heat to ensure an 
early development. Propagation may be effected by 
cuttings during the summer months. 
COLCHICUM SPECIOSUM. 
With the return of the autumn months come the 
Colchicums or autumn Crocuses as they are termed, 
although erroneously so as we have true autumnal 
Crocuses. The species under notice has the largest 
flowers of any, and the latter are of a bright rosy- 
purple, fading to white at the base. When fully ex¬ 
panded, under the influence of a bright day, they 
show the yellow anthers. The common species, C. 
autumnale, has pointed segments as most of the 
others have, but the segments of C. speciosum are of 
great breadth. It is a pity that this species should 
not be more extensively cultivated, as it is very hand¬ 
some on the rockery when other flowers are getting, 
scarce. 
ANDROSACE LANUGINOSA LEICHTLINII. 
The woolly Androsaceof the Himalayas is now well 
known amongst growers of Alpine plants for its con- 
tinous blooming character under favourable and 
fairly moist conditions while the heat of summer 
lasts. Now that the weather has become cool again 
it gets the required moisture to go on growing and 
flowering. The variety under notice is much paler 
than the type, and probably ought to be white, but 
at present they are of a soft, blush pink. The 
bright eye assists considerably in giving them 
animation and attractiveness. When the flowers 
first expand the eye is pale yellow, but it soon intensi¬ 
fies to red, and has the same effect upon the flower as 
the eye of Primula farinosa does in that case. 
THE “MARTIN” FLOWER RACK. 
One of the novelties introduced on the occasion of 
the recent Agricultural Hall Show, by Messrs. Corry 
& Co., Limited, Finsbury Street, E.C., was a 
patented wire flower rack, invented by that very 
ingenious man and most able plant cultivator Mr. J. 
Martin, the manager of Messrs. Sutton & Sons, 
Portland Road Nursery, Reading. The form of the 
rack and the purpose for which it is intended to be 
used is shown in the accompanying illustrations, 
and we predict for it a large measure of popularity. 
Every one knows the difficulty there is in artistically 
arranging a few flowers in vases or bowls unless 
filled with wet sand, owing to the inability of the 
decorator to fix them in any particular position. All 
this is obviated by the use of the “ Martin ” rack, in 
which flowers can be arranged at the pleasure of the 
operator before placing them in the vessel intended 
to hold them. The rack is made in four sizes, and 
the wire used is sufficiently pliable to enable them 
to be used in various sized receptacles. By covering 
the rack with dry green moss it can also be used 
suspended by wire when filled with dried flowers 
and grasses. 
GRAPES AND THE COAL BILL. 
It is a long time since Grapes have been grown with 
so small an amount of firing as during the past 
summer. The weather now is still very favourable 
to the ripening off and preservation of late Grapes, 
which, now that the nights are longer and cooler, 
ought to have gentle fire heat afforded them with an 
abundance of air, for without it damp will often 
collect on the berries and spoil the bloom. Not 
only so, but there is another important reason for 
giving fire heat to these late houses, for without it 
the wood will seldom get ripened off as it should be, 
and unless it is the chances of a crop the following 
season are to a great extent damaged. With very 
many this point in management is too much lost 
sight of till a very wet and dull autumn leaves their 
vines with unripened wood, and the following 
summer they begin to ask themselves the reason why 
they have so poor a show for Grapes.— IV. B. G. 
WATER WEEDS IN PONDS. 
Gardeners who may be called upon to undertake the 
removal of weeds from ponds may find a useful hint 
in the following note contributed by Lieut.-Col. W. 
Hill James, to last week’s and Water :—“ I have 
lately seen a weed-cutter used by a friend in North¬ 
umberland, a description of which may, possibly, be 
of some use to your readers. In any case, it is a 
practical implement which my friend constantly uses 
himself, and with which he keeps the American 
weed in his own small pond very fairly under control. 
About 4 or 5 in. from the lower end of a long punting 
pole are firmly fixed, by a blacksmith, two scythes, 
one on each side, nearly at right angles to the pole, 
the edges turned towards the top of the pole. The 
user stands at the stern of the punt, lets the scythe 
end of the pole drop to the bottom of the water, 
pushes the boat forward, and then, with two or three 
smart jerks, pulls the pole and scythe after him, thus 
cutting the weeds close to the bottom. He then 
pushes the boat forward again with the pole, and 
repeats the cutting jerks. Naturally, two men can 
do more and better than a single worker, as one of 
them can punt the boat along whilst the other 
attends to the cutting, which can then be pretty con¬ 
tinuous. The pole should be made considerably 
thicker at the lower end, so that the shanks of the 
scythes can be firmly fixed into it, and an iron ring 
or ferrule put round to strengthen it. I was also 
told of another plan said to be commonly and suc¬ 
cessfully adapted, but of this method I know nothing, 
except from hearsay. It is to drop a chain, one end 
of which is fastened to a tree or stake on land, round 
a certain portion of weeds in the pond, and then 
attach a horse to the other end and drag the chain 
ashore. The chain is said to tear up the weeds and 
carry them with it. If there are two horses availa¬ 
ble, one can be attached to each end of the chain, 
which, of course, has to be laid out round the weeds 
from a boat.” 
PRIMULA OBCONICA. 
After reading the remarks on this subject on page 
70, I feel constrained to inquire whether the method 
of culture has any effect on its poisonous nature ? I 
grow a few dozen plants annually, but never felt any¬ 
thing of its poisonous properties until one day last 
week, when my hands were badly irritated. In previous 
years the method of culture that I adopted was to grow 
the plants in an intermediate temperature, standing 
them on the wooden stage intermixed with maiden¬ 
hair ferns and several similar subjects, and they 
seemed to be as innocent of mischief as the other 
plants that they were grown amongst. This summer 
the method of management has been different. The 
seed was sown in the middle of February in an inter¬ 
mediate temperature, and when the seedlings were 
about an inch high they were removed to a cold 
frame and stood on a cool bottom of ashes, and here 
they have remained ever since. The plants are now 
strong and healthy in forty-eight and thirty-two 
sized pots, and they seem to be of a most virulently 
poisonous nature indeed. One day last week I 
simply picked off about a dozen yellow leaves that 
lay on the rim of the pots, and I got my fingers 
badly poisoned. The irritation was so sharp that it 
awoke me out of my sleep at two o’clock in the 
morning, and I could not understand for a few 
minutes what the matter could be, until I thought of 
having handled the Primulas the previous day. Can 
any of your readers say whether the cool treatment 
has any effect on the poisonous nature of these 
admirable plants ?— J. Peebles, Holly Dene, Bromley. 
-- 
^af^Gjier;’ Ipipfoyepiept jlppociatiopp. 
Exeter.— -The annual business meeting of the 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners’ Association was held 
on the 27th ult., under the presidency of Major 
Tracy, of Pytte House, one of the vice-presidents of 
the association. There was a large attendance of 
members. The committee’s annual report, read by 
the hon. secretary, Mr. A. Hope, stated that it was 
with a sense of gratification that the committee 
presented a favourable report of the work of the 
past year. In the first year of its existence the 
association may be said to have been on its trial. In 
the second year, when the novelty of the movement 
had somewhat worn off, the members settled down 
to regular and steady work. The proceedings of 
last session were based upon the lines of the pre- 
