May 19, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
593 
The Chairman explained that the initial steps 
taken for the furtherance of the testimonial were 
taken by a few leading nurserymen and gardeners 
who had been connected as judges and exhibitors 
with the Whit-week shows. They wished to 
acknowledge the many kindnesses they had received 
at the hands of Mr. Findlay at these exhibitions. 
There could be no doubt about the important effects 
the exhibitions had had upon horticulture and in the 
dissemination of the love of flowers and plants, and 
more especially of Orchids The fact that Orchids 
had come so much to the front in recent years might 
be attributed in fact to the persevering efforts of 
Mr. Findlay in bringing out the best collections for 
the admiration of the public. (Hear, hear ) 
The Dean of Rochester, in presenting Mr. Findlay 
with the address and the service of plate, remarked 
that after many years of happy experience he could 
speak of the curator not only as a public benefactor, 
but as his private friend. As a public benefactor 
he must refer to him as a true, brave, and energetic 
servant of the society. When he first knew the 
society it was under a cloud, but Mr. Findlay came 
to the rescue, and with an originality of conception, 
and a power of execution only given to men of genius 
he proposed at once the remedy and the cure. 
(Hear, hear.) By the successful shows Mr. Findlay 
had organised the financial position of the society 
was secured, and Manchester had gained a position 
of pre-eminence in England as a centre for flower 
shows. The supremacy of Manchester seemed to 
be threatened just now by the shows in the Temple 
Gardens, but he maintained that these were not 
distinguished by the exquisite quality and artistic 
taste that they saw at Old Traflord that day. He 
held that to Mr. Findlay was due in no small degree 
the development of horticulture in recent years. 
He must say he preferred this development in the 
culture and beauty of flowers even to the develop¬ 
ment of the neighbouring Ship Canal. He ques¬ 
tioned even if they went down the Canal they would 
find anything brighter or sweeter smelling than 
anything they had in these gardens. (Laughter.) 
Mr. Findlay, acknowledging the presentation, said 
he believed there was nothing which more than 
horticulture repaid the attention, brought into 
pleasurable activity the observing and discriminating 
qualities of the mind, or tended to improve the 
public taste. But he was afraid we lived rather in 
an age of sensationalism and frivolity. When great 
crowds of people were brought together it was too 
often to see rather brutal sports. The Horticultural 
Society of Manchester would keep fighting on in the 
course they had marked out for themselves. He 
trusted that as a society they would still be able to 
render good services to the community .—Manchester 
City News. 
WASPS. 
These most unpleasant visitors are likely, so far as 
present appearances go, to be in strong force during 
this summer and autumn, the queens being very 
abundant. Of course very much depends upon the 
season as to whether it proves warm and dry, or wet 
and cloudy. A few years back queen wasps were 
'very plentiful in April and May, notwithstanding 
'which we had but few nests during the summer, in 
■fact wasps were in smaller numbers than we ever 
iknew them to be, owing, we think, entirely to the 
dull wet summer. It occurred to us when reading 
your notes upon the subject that the destruction of 
wasps might well be included among the duties 
devolving upon village and town councils, because 
whenever they become as plentiful as they were last 
year, they are not only a source of great annoyance 
and discomfort to the community at large, but entail 
considerable loss not only upon fruit growers, but 
certain classes of tradespeople as well. 
We are not advocating the appointment of any 
particular officer whose duty it should be to either 
catch the queens or destroy the nests, but would 
empower the vilD.ge councils to pay a set price for 
every queen wasp brought to them, and for every 
nest properly destroyed. As matters stand at present, 
a great amount of apathy is displayed by many in 
reference to this subject; some will do all in their 
power to secure the destruction of them on their own 
igrounds, benefiting alike themselves and their 
neighbours who possibly do nothing. We submit 
that there are those who would gladly kill and 
destroy all in their power if only they knew that some 
reward for their trouble awaited them, yet do not 
care to put themselves very much out of the way 
about it, because, as the old saw hasit, " nothing has 
no taste to it.”— W. B. G. 
THE CROWN IMPERIAL. 
When recently looking through a private garden in 
the south of England I found a collection of Crown 
Imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) formed one of the 
features, but they had been most unwisely planted 
in a border at the foot of trees, which had no doubt 
filled the border with roots, and the growth of the 
Crown Imperials, as might be expected, was any¬ 
thing but one could desire. This was an illustration 
of injudicious planting. 
The Crown Imperial must have been cultivated in 
this country for many years, for I find that Phillip 
Miller in 1731 catalogued twelve varieties which he 
considered to be distinct ; but that is doubtful. For 
instance, he mentions one variety with a double 
crown, and another with a triple crown ; but modern 
knowledge points to the fact that when a double 
crown is formed, that is two circlets of pendulous 
blossoms instead of only one, it is generally the 
result of fasciation in the stem. Thus it is there 
can be found in some of the Dutch lists of bulbous 
plants a variety named " Crownon pouri ” ; it repre¬ 
sents those which by means of fasciation produced 
two whorls of flowers, but there is no certainty they 
will do it again the succeeding year. 
1 here is something noble and stately about the 
Crown Imperial, and it is a veritable emperor among 
spring-flowering plants. It is said to blossom on or 
about the i8th of March, which is the day of St. 
Edward, King of the West Saxons, Nature thus, as 
was imagined, honouring the day with a royal 
flower. 
The commonest varieties of the Crown Imperial 
are the single red and the double red, or rather red- 
di.sh orange, the single yellow and the double yellow. 
The foreign bulb growers make a few other varieties, 
possibly obtained by means of seed, but there is little 
perceptible difference in the colour of the flowers, 
but some in the size of the blossoms. The bulbous 
roots are large, and have a powerful and somewhat 
disagreeable odour, are both acrid and poisonous ; 
even the honey that distils from the flowers is said to 
be an emetic. Large quantities of bulbs are grown 
in Holland, and come to this country in a dry state 
in August and September, and they find a place in 
bulb lists. 
The sooner they are planted the better. Bulbs 
can also be obtained from nurserymen who make a 
speciality of hardy bulbous plants. 
The Crown Imperial is a somewhat accommodat¬ 
ing plant, as it is not particularly fastidious as to 
soil, doing well in both heavy and light soils ; but 
the finest I have seen were grown in a deep fertile 
yellow loam, 3 ft. in depth. This was deeply 
trenched and heavily manured, some fairly strong 
manure being forked in about a foot below the sur¬ 
face, and the bulbs planted 6 in. in depth. They 
flowered fairly well the first year, but the second 
and succeeding years grandly. By this time they had 
well established themselves in the soil, and bore 
splendid heads of blossoms. A collection makes a 
fine bed, and they should be planted far enough 
apart to give each individual an abundance of room, 
and also that some summer flowering subjects can be 
placed among them to maintain the floral succession. 
Once planted, the bulbs can remain undisturbed for 
years, but an occasional winter or early spring mulch¬ 
ing with manure will be found of the best advantage. 
The fleshy bulbs have but a short resting period, if, 
indeed they may be said to have a resting period at 
all, for the roots are active in the ground, though 
there may be apparent stagnation on the surface 
of it. 
It is said Crown Imperials have flowered finely 
this spring, an experience which squares with the 
statement that the plants are greatly benefited by a 
hot, dry summer, which ripens them thoroughly, 
and they bloom better in consequence. The bulbs 
throw out offsets, and in this way increase is 
made. 
In the mixed border, clumps of Crown Imperials 
are very effective, especially if they form a fore¬ 
ground to foliage. Any temptation to cut away the 
flowering stems is regarded by authorities as having 
a weakening effect on the plants, though some 
growers adopt the practice. Some of the varieties 
have variegated foliage, the leaves are edged with 
gold and white, or striped by the same. In the case 
of the Crown Imperial this appears to be a sign of 
weakness, as the flowers are rarely so fine from these 
as from those destitute of variegation.— R. D. 
--*• - - 
IVIES AT CHISWICK. 
Palmate and Fingered Varieties. 
This type includes a number of very beautiful Ivies, 
varying in size and form, but agreeing in being three 
or five-lobed, seldom more divided, and in having 
ovate or fingered lobes, the middle one of which is 
frequently much longer than the rest. The lobing and 
veining is more or less strictly on the palmate type, 
the veins radiating from the base or near it. 
Although not the most typical, Lusitanica Azorica 
and Spectabilis may be placed here. 
Lusitanica Azorica.— -This is one of the most 
distinct Ivies in the collection. The young shoots 
and leaves on both surfaces are tomentose, which 
would indicate a dry climate in the native habitats 
of the plant. The name refers both to Portugal and 
the Azores. The variety or forms of it may be 
common to both places, like several other plants. 
A specimen named Ficula is identical, and the 
name in this instance refers to the shape of the 
leaves, which bear a considerable resemblance to 
those of the Fig (Ficus Carica). The leaves are 
very large, roundly heart-shaped, and five to seven 
lobed, the divisions being blunt. The variety is 
robust, perfectly hardy to all appearance, and very 
bold. 
Spectabilis.— The leaves in this case are trian¬ 
gular, but the larger ones are very broad, five to 
seven lobed with triangular lobes, the terminal one 
being largest. Many of the large leaves bear a 
close resemblance to those of the London Plane. 
There is a golden form of this named Spectabilis 
aurea, the young foliage of which is. light yellowish 
green or more or less heavily clouded with golden 
yellow. Another plant of it is named Clouded Gold, 
but we fear this name is applied to other varieties 
as well. Both the green and the yellow forms are 
robust and beautiful Ivies. 
P alm.ata.— In this we have one of the oldest and 
most widely-cultivated of the varieties of the Ivy. 
The leaves are of medium size, five-lobed, with the 
three middle lobes nearly of the same length ; when 
young they are bright green, but ultimately become 
olive-green with a silvery gray reticulation. A plant 
named Major is evidently identical with this, for it 
does not correspond with Minor in form at all. 
Palmata aurea has its young leaves of a greenish- 
yellow hue, but in winter is hardly, if at all, 
recognisable. Palmata nova aurea, Mrs. Pollock, 
and Aurea do not differ from Palmata aurea. 
CuspiDATA Major.— The leaves of this variety 
approach very closely to those of Palmata, but the 
lobes are shorter, and vary from three to five, 
although three are very frequent and sometimes the 
prevailing form. They are bright green, ultimately 
deep green, with gray veins. The variety is as 
robust as Palmata. Other names used for the same 
thing are Heterophylla, Digitata, Poetica, and 
Palmata, the latter three names belonging to other 
varieties. 
CusPiDATA Minor.— This is a slower growing 
variety, with the leaves generally three lobed. In 
plants of some years’ standing, at least, five-lobed 
leaves are of rare occurrence ; the lobes are always 
short. The margin all round the sinus between the 
lobes is elevated above the surface of the leaf, and 
serve to some extent to distinguish the variety. 
Plants of it are also grown under the names of 
Crenata and Baccifera major. 
Digitata.— There are two forms of this variety 
under the name of Pedata, and another named 
Caenwoodiana. The leaves are five-lobed, with the 
two lateral pairs of lobes varying in length, but 
always narrow; the middle lobe is always the 
largest and longest, and presents a fingered appear¬ 
ance. The leaves are of a dark green in winter and 
beautifully netted with silvery-gray. The only 
plant labelled Digitata in the collection is Cuspidata 
major as above noted. 
Minima.— There are two very distinct varieties in 
the collection under the name of Minima, and we 
doubt if either of them is correct, because one is 
Conglomerata and the other Donerailensis, or some- 
