November 25, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
193 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The following certificates were awarded by the 
Royal Horticultural Society at their meeting on 
the 14th inst;— 
Dracaena Jamesii. —The leaves of this plant are 
lanceolate, shortly stalked, narrow, arching, and of a 
shining bronzy-purple with broad, crimson-red edges. 
For table and general decorative purposes this must 
become a general favourite, if we are to judge from 
the beauty of the foliage, and the elegant character 
of the plant. A basket of neat little specimens was 
exhibited by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, 
when a First-class certificate was awarded them. 
Croton Russellii. —The leaves of this garden 
variety are large, oblong-elliptical, and widened in 
the middle, where they are almost lobed, although 
the angles are rounded. The upper surface is of a 
bronzy green with a broad carmine or crimson rib 
and numerous lateral veins of a similar hue. Some¬ 
times the leaves are blotched all over with crimson 
without the above marked character of the veins. 
The under surface is of a bronzy-crimson. First- 
class certificate. The exhibitors were Messrs. Hugh 
Low, & Co., Clapton. 
Primula Forbesii. —Although introduced at a 
comparatively recent date from China, this has 
already found its way into many collections. It is 
generally considered to be of annual duration, but is 
evidently easily raised from seeds. The shortly 
oblong, crenate leaves, remind one of P. cortusoides, 
but they are much smaller. The stems are also very 
slender, izin. to i8in. high, bearing two to three 
whorls of small, pale rosy-lilac flowers with a golden 
eye. A number of plants were exhibited by Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (gardener, Mr. Bain), 
Burford Lodge, Dorking, when they were awarded a 
first-class certificate. 
-- 
SIZE y. QUALITY. 
I THINK it would serve a useful purpose if some of 
your readers would express their opinions with 
regard to the relative merits of the points, size and 
quality in what we grow that is to be eaten. I 
venture to think that most cultivators will agree 
with me when I say that of late years there has 
been a growing tendency, both in the case of fruits 
and vegetables, to attach more importance to bulk 
than quality. It was gratifying to me to leain that 
such an able exponent of gardening as “A. D.’’ in 
his late lecture before the Royal Horticultural 
Society on “Onions" had condemned the practice 
of considering size before everything else, and I note 
with pleasure also that his remarks received the 
commendation of some members of the Fruit and 
Vegetable Committee. 
For some time past I have regarded the giving 
of prizes at shows as only a means of misleading the 
public when they bring forth bulky and expensively- 
grown vegetables and fruits, and if such shows are 
to serve their proper purpose as educational institu¬ 
tions, I fail to see that they are doing it as they are 
at present managed. Some may say, " Well, how 
do you make that out ? ” and I would reply in this 
way ; When a lover of gardening goes to a show 
and sees fine samples of this or that kind of vege¬ 
table, with the information attached that they were 
grown from this or that firm’s seed, he most often 
than not makes a note of the names of the variety 
and firm, and in due time, having procured the 
seeds, anticipates that either his gardener, if he has 
one, or himself if he has not, will obtain samples as 
good as those which tempted him to buy, oblivious 
of the fact that to obtain such samples would often 
cost three or four times more in labour and manure 
than he is prepared to pay. 
Fancy a gentleman asking his gardener why he 
does not get as big Onions as he saw at some par¬ 
ticular show, seeing that he got the same varieties of 
seeds and from the same firm, forgetting that he had 
only made provision for his gardener to grow them 
in the open air, and with a limited amount of manure 
from the time the seeds are sown until the bulbs are 
harvested. I think the only way of meeting such a 
question is by asking another—for instance. Whether 
he is prepared to provide the necessary accommoda¬ 
tion in the way of glass, labour and manure that is 
necessary to produce them ? or. Does he know that 
the big Onions he saw must have cost quite a shilling 
a-piece ? 1 venture to think that in nine cases out of 
ten if a gardener asked his employer to allow him 
glass accommodation to raise his supply of Onions 
in heat, beginning with the new year, and to provide 
him with labour for watering, and artificial manures 
to apply as often as he liked, he would have to make 
way for another man. This is indeed no overdrawn 
picture, for I have seen all this and more done to 
secure some of the big Onions that have been seen 
at exhibitions. 
I fail to see how Onions sown in heat in the first 
week of January can be considered as spring sown 
in the ordinary acceptation of the term, because 
considering the conditions afforded them they have 
a longer season of growth than the autumn sown 
ones. Personally I do not object to the monstrosi¬ 
ties, or to the way they are grown, because I am not 
an exhibitor, nor am I expected by" my employer to 
produce them ; but I do know of many instances of 
such questions being put, as I have above indicated, 
to men who have really no convenience for growing 
them. 
As regards the keeping qualities of the big Onions, 
some I know contend that they will keep as well as 
the medium-sized specimens growm wholly in the 
open ground ; but on this point I have yet to be 
convinced. I was recently talking to a big grower of 
the fat Onions, and his observations on the point 
were quite sufficient to convince me that he did not 
grow his regular supply for the kitchen in the same 
way. I would ask. Can anyone name an Onion that 
will keep longer than a good true stock of James’ Long 
Keeping ? and again. Can anyone grow this variety 
as large as those which are shown at exhibitions ? I 
hold this to be one of the best and most useful 
Onions grown. 
Some say that they like these milder kinds. If so, 
how is it that consumers prefer home-grown Onions 
to Spanish ones ? Only a few days ago a green¬ 
grocer offered me one fourth more for some I had 
grown than he was giving for good Spanish bulbs, 
but I declined to deal, with the remark that i did 
not then want cash, and would keep them until the 
Spanish supply was exhausted. 
What I have said as to bulk v. quality does not 
apply only to Onions. Take the case of Brussels 
Sprouts for instance. The big savoy-like Sprouts of 
the present day are very poor in flavour, as compared 
with the nice tight little buttons that we used to 
grow, and which are now difficult to obtain, thanks to 
the craze for size. In Carrots, again, nothing 
can compare in flavour with the French Horn and 
Nantes types, and the big sorts are only fit for cattle 
feeding. As regards Cauliflowers, some contend that 
the big-headed sorts are as good in flavour as the 
small ones, but that does not accord with my taste. 
Only recently I was cooking some for comparison, 
and the odds were all in favour of the smaller sorts. 
It may be thought that I believe in nothing but 
small, rubbishy sorts, but it is nothing of the kind. 
I like good, well grown samples of the best of every¬ 
thing. What can be more beautiful than a well 
grown Cauliflower of the Erfurt type ? What other 
sort can surpass it in flavour ? I could name many 
other vegetables that could be classed in the same 
way, but have said enough to illustrate my mean¬ 
ing. 
Had I time, I could deal with many kinds of fruit 
in the same way, but this I must defer for the present, 
merely remarking in conclusion that if we are to have 
advancement, let not quality and usefulness be 
sacrificed at the shrine of size. Let flavour in every¬ 
thing grown to be eaten be the first consideration.— 
Con. 
-- 
HORTICULTURAL LECTURING. 
I WAS immensely amused to find that even Mr. 
Prinsep did not know for whom personally stood the 
initials "A. D." P'or fully thirty years have I been 
a constant writer in nearly all the gardening papers 
over these initials, and yet Mr. Prinsep does not 
know to whom they refer. Well, such is fame. But 
still much may be excused for one who lives in 
sleepy Sussex, and has even never heard of his own 
county horticultural lecturers, of whom two at least 
are R. Gearing and C. Rickens. 
County Councils have, in very many cases, 
endeavoured to obtain gardeners as lecturers, but 
with much indifferent success. Not only because 
of lack of capacity to make themselves appreciated, 
but also because unable to give the needful time to 
the subject. Does Mr. Prinsep think that he could 
discharge his duty to his employer and yet do as I 
do, constantly leave home at 4 p.m., travel long 
distances, lecture orally for eighty minutes, and reach 
home again at 11.15 or 12.15 p.m. It would be 
absurd to suppose that any gardener holding a 
situation could undertake so much. 
Your other correspondent " Con.” seems to have 
touched ground in relation to the selection of incom¬ 
petent persons to undertake horticultural lecturing, 
when he intimates offers of 2S. per hour. What can 
be expected for such pay ? A lecturer must bring 
to his work the experience gained in every phase of 
gardening that has been found in a long life, and it 
is that experience, not so much the present, that 
has to be paid for. In my county that fact is 
recognised, and in none other is horticulture being 
more fully and practically taught.— A. D., Surrey. 
--- 
ORCHIDS AT CAMBERWELL. 
Those who know the thickly-populated neighbour¬ 
hood of Camberwell, and likewise how averse 
Orchids are to smoky atmospheres, would hardly 
expect to find such an extensive collection and 
especially in such healthy well tended condition, in 
that locality. Yet the extensive collection of R. I. 
Measures, Esq., finds a happy home behind Cam¬ 
bridge Lodge, one of the numerous handsome villas 
that line both sides of the Flodden Road. Here a 
great variety of Orchids find their way, but Cypri- 
pediums, Masdevallias with their immediate allies, 
and Vandas are predominating specialities. We can 
only treat of those things which are flowering at the 
present time. 
Cypripediums. 
At present there are some 1,520 plants of Cypri¬ 
pediums in the collection, independently of many 
hundreds of seedlings that have not yet flowered. 
The varieties of C. insigne, and the hybrids of which 
that species is one of the parents, are very numerous^ 
choice, and in some instances very rare. C. i. 
Chantini is well known. C. i. maculatum is charac¬ 
terised by the heavy blotches on the upper sepal. 
The Cambridge Lodge variety has dark brown 
blotches on the greenish-yellow portion of the upper 
sepal with a few purple blotches on the base of the 
white portion. C. i. Mooreana is a pale variety with 
clear spotting on the upper sepal. C. i. radiatum 
has brown lines on the greenish base of the upper 
sepal, but no spots whatever, and in that respect is 
very exceptional. The gem of all the varieties of 
this species is undoubtedly C. i. Sanderae, the soft 
pleasing colour of which is remarkable as it is rare. 
There are a few faint brown dots on the upper sepal, 
but with that exception the flower exhibits no brown 
tint whatever. The rest is clear yellow and pure 
white, the lip possessing the deepest yellow tint. 
Quite distinct from it is the new and rare C. i. 
Ernestii, which possesses a faint shade of brown 
with more numerous markings. Some hybrids from 
C. villosum crossed with C. insigne Chantini may be 
mentioned here on account of their relationship. 
They are characterised by the heavy and well 
defined blotches on the upper sepal. 
Somewhat allied to the above is the compara¬ 
tively new species C. Exul, the upper sepal of 
which is spotted with black on a greenish ground in 
the central portion, while all the rest is white. It is 
pretty and distinct. The hybrid C. Arthurianum par¬ 
taking of the character of C. Fairieanum is in fine 
condition. The rosy-brown and purple flowers of 
C. Mrs. Canham are notable for their huge dimen¬ 
sions. A striking novelty has turned up in the shape 
of a green variety of C. venustum. All the purple 
and brown colours have disappeared. The sepals 
and petals are pale green, lined with deep green 
veins, and the lip is netted with that colour. The 
leaves are twice as broad as those of the type and 
altogether devoid of the heavy purple markings of 
the under surface, but are marbled with deep green 
above. One of the recent additions to the collection 
is C. Pavoninum, a hybrid between C. v'enustum and 
C. Boxallii. One petal is of a dark reddish-brown, 
and the other pale brown, a character that may not 
be constant. C. Pavoninum inversum is the inverse 
cross of the last, and quite distinct, the upper sepal 
having some of the brownish-black blotches of the 
seed parent (C. Boxallii). The varieties of the 
hybrids C. Leeanum are appreciated at their true 
value here, but no superfluous names are given to 
the numerous fine forms of C. L. superbum. That 
is already overdone in many modern collections. 
