134 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 28, 1898. 
pit or frame. Even then I would admit as much air 
as possible upon all suitable weather. Xo liquid 
manure should be necessary the first season, as the 
plants will have quite sufificient nourishment in the 
new soil; it is when they make growth the second 
season that liquid stimulants are so beneficial. Hard 
pruning is advisable the first year, as wood is of 
little value unless connected wath established roots. 
Pruning Pot Roses. 
A few notes upon this subject may be equally 
applicable during the more general pruning season 
of spring, especially as the majority of pot Roses 
are now being housed for forcing purposes. In the 
first place it depends a great deal upon the class of 
plant and also the variety. If plants from the open 
ground, which have been potted up during the 
present season, hard pruning is best in all cases. It 
is also well to partially reduce the wood immediately 
they are potted, thus reducing the strain upon their 
roots. When a considerable amount of top exists 
the strain to keep the whole plump and sound is 
greater than should be; nor is it at all necessary, 
because the bulk of the wood will be removed later 
on. 
A pot Rose, of varieties other than climbers, 
should always have a good base so as to produce 
shoots from the bottom freely. Given a good base to 
work upon, and pot Roses are as symmetrical as the 
majority of greenhouse flowering shrubs. Straggly 
pot Roses are an eyesore ; they take up a lot of room 
and do not produce any more bloom. Taking Anna 
Ollivier, Catherine Mermet, The Bride, etc., as a 
type, I would prune this class to form a symmetrical 
plant, and rather harder than if growing out of 
doors. But such as Sunset, Perle des Jardins, and 
Comtesse de Xadaillac, Roses which often produce 
an occasional strong growth from their base, and are 
more or less dependent upon these, need pruning 
with care. Encouragement should be given to these 
stronger growths, as they will flower well and are 
the mainstay of the plants. 
Then we have the strong growing Teas and 
Noisettes, such as LTdeal,.W. A. Richardson, and 
Marechal Niel, which need quite a different class of 
pruning. Hardly any, in fact. When grown well 
these should be carr^dng one or two rods of from lo 
to 15 ft. long. If properly matured these will flower 
throughout their whole length, and only need the 
points of these long shoots removed. I have a row 
of these down each side of my Rose house, and which 
are trained to wires on the roof ; each plant taking a 
slanting direction in preference to going parallel 
with the rafters.— A.P. 
-- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 
At Messrs. Veitch’s. 
The Chr3-santhemum house in the nursery of 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, is now in prime 
condition. Many of the flowers are fully expanded, 
while the rest are coming on in all stages, and look 
beautifully fresh. Should the weather remain dry 
and mild there will be a long and attractive exhibi¬ 
tion season. The long and droughty season does 
not seem to have affected them in the least, so far 
as earliness is concerned, but the blooms are 
unusually large and of good substance. The collec¬ 
tion is so replete with the newer and best kinds that 
we can mention but very few of the old and well- 
known kinds. The plants are graded from the east- 
end door to the other, so that the visitor entering by 
the former gets a full view of the collection at a 
glance. All the exhibition kinds are growm with 
two to four blooms each, and a few that are adapted 
for growing in bush form are treated in that way. 
The blooms of G. C. Schwabe are of great 
size, carmine rose, with a yellow reverse and 
handsome. Dwarf and handsome is Beauty of 
Exmouth vith its long, curly, pure white florets. 
Viviand Morel still retains its character for huge 
size, measuring ii in. to 12 in. across, but the ter¬ 
minal buds are by far the richest in their rosy-pink 
hue. Alongside of this we should place Col. W. B. 
Smith, the massive flowers of which measure a foot 
across, and are of a pleasing old gold shade of colour. 
In the early stages the florets are curiously and 
beautifully twisted sidewaj-s, and the plant is dwarf. 
The rosy-purple, plumose flowers of Louis Boehmer, 
having a silvery reverse to the florets, are pretty, not¬ 
withstanding whatever may be said to the contrary 
by those who are otherwise minded. The golden- 
bronze of the opening flowers of J. Stanborough 
Dibbens is very handsome. The broad florets of 
Mrs. Briscoe Ironside are blood red. A reflexed 
Japanese kind named President Borrel has rosj’- 
purple heads with a nankin-yellow reverse to the 
florets. Sunflower still maintains its own for a 
beautiful uniforralj' rich yellow flower. Hamlet is 
comparatively an old variety, but the bronzy-red 
flowers are compact and good. The opening blooms 
of H. Ballantine are bronzy at first, but fade to 
yellow as they expand. It is one of the plumose 
kinds. Another of this section is W. A. Manda, 
never a large flower, but grotesque in its plumose 
florets, golden-yellow and pleasing. 
One of the finest and most useful for exhibition 
purposes, early or mid-season, is W H. Lincoln with 
large incurved blooms of a rich golden yellow. The 
huge pure white blooms of Avalanche contrasted 
with this, are most effective. The incur\-ed and 
ivory white blooms of Miss Anna Hartzhorn relegate 
the variety to the first rank. The long fluted florets of 
Stanstead White are quite of another kind and 
indispensable in a collection. Here already Wm. 
Seward finds a place, and its brilliant crimson florets, 
with a nearly white reverse, well merit this distinc¬ 
tion. John Shrimpton, which was exhibited for the 
first time and likewise certificated at the same time, 
has smaller heads but broader florets of a brighter 
crimson. Mon. Wm. Holmes forms an admirable 
companion to John Shrimpton, or to anything else 
for the matter of that. Its blooms are smaller than 
the latter but very freely produced and of a rich 
crimson, with a golden centre when young, and the 
fully-developed florets are tipped with that colour. 
For earliness and massive, globular, pure white 
flowers. Bouquet des Dames is a most useful kind. 
Mrs. W. Walters is something in the way of Ed. 
Audigiuer, but the florets are of a brighter red and 
silvery on the reverse instead of purple. Large and 
massive are the bright rose and white blooms of 
Mrs. C. Harman Payne of the incurved Japanese 
type. Xo variety retains its colour better than the 
bronze-orange reflexed blooms of Mrs. F. Jameson. 
Deep crimson with an old gold reverse, best describes 
W. K. Woodcock. 
None of the newer kinds have yet beaten E. 
Molyneux in that particular type. The broad 
incurved florets form a mass of crimson and old 
gold. Florence Davis is a late expanding variety 
and is notable for its peculiar green centre sur¬ 
rounded by long, drooping, pure white florets. Mr. 
A. H. Neve does not always attain a large size, but 
here the white blooms, slightly sprinkled with pink, 
are fine. The long and broad pinkish-white florets 
of Condor are pale compared with those of Etoile de 
Lyon, but they are of good substance and stand the 
damp well. Wm. Robinson, rejoicing in a wealth 
of bronzy-gold, forms a beautiful contrast to a large 
number of kinds. The bright orange-crimson and 
old gold reverse of Gloire des Rochers are wonder¬ 
fully well developed this j-ear. The rosy-purple of 
Eugene Gait constitutes a beautiful colour, and the 
medium-sized blooms are compact and massive. 
Mon. Hillier is deep crimson with an old gold 
reverse, best seen in the half expanded stage. A 
very pleasing variety when well grown and just in 
perfection is L’Automne. The florets are strongly 
incurved and may be described as old gold or buff 
in colour. Moderate in size are the blooms of 
Mademoiselle Melaine Fabre, but they are of a 
pleasing and attractive shade of satiny-pink. The 
above varieties all belong to the Japanese sections. 
Incurved varieties with few exceptions are not yet in 
bloom. 
ISCELLANY. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN NEW ZEALAND. 
At the annual meeting of the Auckland Chrysan¬ 
themum Society, held in September, great interest 
appears to have been taken in the blooms that were 
forwarded from this county last season. "Hitherto,” 
says the New Zealand Herald, " it was thought that 
the blooms grown and exhibited here were not nearly 
equal in size to those shown at the leading English 
exhibitions. Blooms of Japanese varietieswere shown 
at the Choral Hall last April quite equal in size and 
perfection to those from the Royal Aquarium, but as 
yet we have failed to bring the incurved varieties to 
the same standard of perfection. Of course our Society 
has not had many j-ears’ experience, and growers 
have not yet properly mastered the requirements of 
this section. Probably another j ear may see much 
greater developments in size, depth, and solidity of 
blooms. It may be that our climate is a little too 
warm, and does not allow the gradual and slow de¬ 
velopment that takes place where the air is colder. 
On the other hand it is all that can be desired for the 
Japanese varieties.” 
COLLECTING CACTI. 
Texas has the honour of claiming the only lady 
collector of Cactaceous plants on the American 
continent. The lady in question is Mrs. Nickels, a 
native of Ohio, but now resident at Laredo, Texas. 
Mrs. Nickels has been collecting Cacti for thirty 
years. Her love for Cacti is said to have been bom 
with her and grew stronger as she advanced in years, 
and she finally concluded she could make a living by 
collecting these plants. So, leaving her children 
behind her, she set out for the regions in which the 
various specimens grew ; through the arid plains of 
Mexico and Texas, now on the snow-crested summit 
of a barren mountain, and anon in the depths of a 
canon, she might be seen in search of her treasures. 
Her journeys necessitated her passing through many 
vicissitudes. In addition to the hardships of climb¬ 
ing the mountain sides, there were times when she 
went to rest with nothing but the blue canopy of 
heaven for a curtain, while the stars kept their silent 
vigils over her. Having secured her quota of plants 
these were brought down from the mountain tops on 
mules' back in baskets, one on each side and one on 
top. In these explorations, which into Me.xico were 
made from October to April, she was generally 
accompanied by another lady and a man, whom she 
hired along with a waggon in which to carry her 
plants to the nearest railroad. Some of the finest 
sorts she has found in ^Mexico, and the localities in 
which she obtained some of her first collections were 
Monterey, San Louise, Vera Cruz, and Pueblo. 
INDIAN CORN. 
I Notice and have read with pleasure your article 
on p. 96 on the culture of Indian Corn in this 
country, and feel sure that its production will create 
a very extensive demand. It is a delicious vegetable 
and needs no acquired taste to thoroughly appreciate 
it. My experience of it was on an Atlantic liner 
and a short stay in America, since which time I 
have not had any chance of eating it, as up to the 
present time it has been purely an American 
commodity— W. A. Taylor, Mount Pleasant, Birken¬ 
head. 
SUNFLOWERS. 
After reading the interesting paper on Helianthuses 
at Shirley Vicarage, p. 82, by " W. B. G.,” I am 
prompted to supplement his notes by referring 
shorty to the highly effective double variety which 
was sent out a good number of j’ears ago by Mr. W. 
B. Hartland of Cork, viz., H. Soliel D'Or. Be¬ 
sides remarking that this grand variety provides a 
most acceptable source of cut blooms, I may note 
that among other forms of arranging the plants for 
flower garden work, a few were allotted positions in 
the background of a bed of Fuchsia Riccartonii, and 
at present the rich golden yellow spikes of the former 
in conjunction with the sombre foliage of the latter 
presents a most attractive feature. I may add that 
the hardiness of this Helianthus ‘has undergone a 
satisfactory drought test. The original stock plant, 
which I had direct from Mr. Hartland, has occupied 
a position at the foot of a south wall, unprotected 
for some five j’ears, and during that time many ex¬ 
ceptionally low temperatures have been registered. 
Other plants in more open positions have also sur¬ 
vived protracted periods of severe frost without in 
the least affecting their vitality.—. 1 /. Ayrshire, Oct. 
i8lh. 
FcORA OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
As regards the flora of the islands, there is a great 
absence of flowering plants, and those which do 
flower have, as a rule, very small blossoms, and the 
absence of odorous -flowers is as remarkable as the 
absence of singing birds. Flowering Orchids are 
abundant both in variety and numbers in the forests, 
but in the tow’ns a fair-sixed plant of an ordinary 
species cannot be procured under about 3s. By the 
roadside, near ilanila, the principal trees to be seen 
