July 21, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
743 
The hybrid Cypripediums are now extremely 
numerous and troublesome, as every cultivator 
knows. In the volume before us they are given in 
the ordinary alphabetical sequence, mixed up with 
the species and varieties, and in a horticultural 
work this is doubtless the simplest way of dealing 
with them, and saves reference to the index or other 
part of the book. The descriptions are given upon 
the same plan as in the previous edition, which non- 
scientific, but practical gardeners found very useful; 
and we doubt not but that the present handsome 
volume will be even more appreciated for the greatly 
extended information given in an easily readable 
form. The paper and printing are faultless and 
admirable, particularly the paper on which the page 
and double page illustrations are depicted. The 
engravings are all faithful representations of the 
plants for which they are intended. 
The introductory chapters runs to seventy-three 
pages, and deal with the cultivation of Orchids in a 
very practical way, as well as furnish a great amount 
of information concerning the collection and impor¬ 
tation, the raising from seed, preparation and pack¬ 
ing for exhibition, and, in fact, all that is essential 
for a practical man to know of his favourite plants, 
and which the author is fully competent to give. 
GARDENING §[ ISCELLANY. 
LILIUM HORSMANNI. 
It is a pity that names of Lilies should be needlessly 
multiplied. The Lily shown and certificated on the 
loth inst. as L. Horsmanni is identical with what 
came over in quantity some years ago from Japan. 
I believe at the sale they were called Thunbergia- 
num cruentum (elegans cruentum is the name in 
our garden book). We grew a quantity of them; 
some still survive and are admired by vi itors. Mr. 
Lynch, of the Cambridge Botanic Gardens, was at 
Oakwood two days after the Drill Hall meeting, 
when he saw L. E. cruentum in flower. He agreed 
with me that it was identical with the one exhibited, 
and that the error should be pointed out. I do not 
know whether the Lily has ever been certificated as 
L. elegans, or Thunbergianum cruentum, or Atro 
rubrum. I think it is worth a certificate, but 
should have its proper name.— G. F. Wilson, 
Heatkerbanh, Weybridqe Heath. 
A DWARF BORDER CARNATION. 
Mr. William Wardill, of Luton, Beds., has sent me 
a bloom of a very pretty white self Carnation, which 
he describes as of compact habit, and growing about 
10 in. high, and which he has named Wardill’s Little 
Pet. It is growing in the open ground, and has 
been in bloom from the beginning of June, and some 
of the plants appear as though they would go on 
flowering for a month longer without any sign of a 
split calyx. Judging from the flowers sent it must 
be an acquisition from its dwarfness and free-bloom¬ 
ing habit.— W. D. 
DOUBLE WHITE STOCKS. 
In the Wolverhampton Park, so admirably managed 
by Mr. Thomas, the curator, is a large bed of white 
Stocks in full bloom, which attracts great attention, 
and is known as the variety Princess Alice, the seed 
being obtained, he told me, from a local seedsman. 
Mr. Thomas sows the seed about the loth of March 
and pricks the plants off into boxes as soon as they can 
be handled, and a second transplanting into frames, 
and then finally planted out. Like all other growers, 
the maggot, which attacks the stock under ground, 
has in time past tried his patience and exercised his 
brain, and experiments and experience have shown 
him that, by using burnt vegetable matter, wood, and 
even earth above the roots at planting out time, is a 
great preservation. Another very large bed of 
Fenwick’s Stocks, in mixed colours, which have 
been treated in the same way is now in full beauty. 
—W. D. 
VIOLAS IN MASSES. 
Violas make a great display when in masses, as 
may be seen just now in the Public Park of fifty 
acres, in Wolverhampton. There is an immense 
bed of Violas, containing 1,500 plants, mixed colours, 
which, in the middle of July, is still a brilliant map of 
colour, and they have been in flower for a long time. 
Mr. Thomas, the curator, gets them planted out 
early, and they do well. Very long borders of 
Violas, of separate colours, in front of the shrubs 
are very showy just now in the park. There is also 
a very extensive beautiful park in Birmingham, one 
of the finest in the kingdom. Cannon Hill Park, 
where Violas are grown so extensively, Mr. Hearne, 
the superintendent of all the Birmingham parks, 
thoroughly believing in them as spring and summer 
decorative plants. There is one large bed in 
particular, eighteen yards long and wide enough for 
ten rows, each of one colour, and it is a grand bed 
still in the middle of July, and it was well in flower 
early in April. Another large circular bed of 
Holyrood, dark violet-purple, with a broad belting 
of the white Countess of Hopetoun, is beautiful.— 
W. D. 
ANDROSACE LANUGINOSA. 
A NUMBER of the species of Androsace flower in 
spring and others later, but, as a rule, they keep in 
bloom only a moderate time. That under notice 
commences to flower early and continues right into 
the autumn, battling with the frost. The stems are 
furnished with hoary or silvery leaves, and continue 
to elongate and to produce fresh umbels or heads of 
bloom for months together. This is the secret of 
the continuous flowering nature of the plant. The 
flowers are bright pink with a greenish-yellow eye, 
and fade considerably with age, in general appear¬ 
ance they remind one of the Bird’s Eye Primrose. 
The best way to propagate the species is by cuttings 
under a hand glass, and if a large stock is required 
the best plan is to take off the tops of those that are 
already rooted and growing rapidly under the hand 
light. These will root sooner than those taken from 
the open ground. 
GARDENING AT RAILWAY STATIONS. 
I HAVE read with interest the letter of " Rusticus ” 
in your last issue. Your correspondent does not 
seem to be aware that the proprietors of Tit Bits 
offered a prize of ten guineas last year for the best 
kept station on any line that was kept up by the 
stationmaster at his own expense, but such was the 
case, and the prize was awarded to the station- 
master at Brough, East Yorkshire, on the North- 
Eastern Railway. The station is again prettily 
decorated this year, one of the chief features being a 
group of plants composed of P'uchsias, Pelargoniums, 
Kalosanthes, Francoa ramosa, Malmaison Carna¬ 
tions, etc. Shrubs in pots are arranged along the 
platform, and the waiting-room windows are 
decorated with plants, while baskets of plants are 
suspended under the verandah. The whole of the 
expense is borne by the stationmaster who has had 
charge for thirty-five years. The verdict of very 
many travellers is that they see no other station 
equal to Brough.— W. W. 
- ^ - 
GLOXINIAS AT ROUPELL PARK. 
The annual exhibition of Gloxinias at the Roupell 
Park Nurseries of Messrs. J. Peed & Sons, West Nor¬ 
wood, London, S.E., was open to the public 
on the loth and nth inst. The plants consisted 
of last year’s seedlings grown in 32 size pots and 
were arranged on the long benches of a house 160 ft. 
long, and divided into three compartments. They 
were placed in diagonal rows, alternating with rows 
of Maidenhair Fern, which formed, as it were, a 
pleasing green matrix or ground, from amongst 
which the Gloxinias stood up prominently and 
effectively. The flowers were supported with wires 
curved at the top and covered with india-rubber 
there. The staking was therefore scarcely visible. 
Very few of them were named, but scarcely two 
were alike, and the strain so good that all were well 
worthy of cultivation on account of their high 
standard of quality. 
The only way we can give an indication of their 
colour is to describe the colours of a few of the more 
distinct types. A white variety was densely dotted 
with violet, except on the centre of the segments 
where the markings were purple. A floriferous one 
was crimson-red with rose edges. Contrasting with 
this was another rich crimson-purple sort with broad 
purple edges. That named Beacon was crimson- 
scarlet, intensified in the throat. A beautiful white 
one was densely spotted with rose. A violet-purple 
one had a white throat and tube. A better contrast 
occurred in a rosy-pink one, with a white throat and 
bold carmine banding on the segments. Another 
was pure white when fully developed, and very 
chaste. A violet-purple one with a broad white 
margin to the segments also stood out conspicuously 
Very pleasing and attractive was a rose variety 
shaded with scarlet and bright purple in the throat. 
Soft and handsome was a flower of huge size densely 
spotted with lavender over its six or seven segments. 
Selfs were fairly plentiful including a deep purple, 
rosy scarlet, bright, rich purple, inclined to carmine, 
and other sorts. Very pleasing was a purple variety 
marbled with white and spotted with purple on the 
white margins. A purple and lavender-edged sort, 
shaded off almost to white at the edges. Very 
delicate in hue was a white one dotted with soft 
purple. 
This year’s seedlings occupied a high bench near 
the glass at the back of the house, and seem as 
numerous, if not more so, than the older ones that 
have been flowering for some time. They are now 
in 48 size pots and showing bloom buds freely— 
in fact some of them have commenced flowering. 
We noted a very bright rose coloured one, and 
another purple sort with a broad white margin, but 
so densely spotted with soft violet as to appear 
lavender there. A purple one, marbled with white, 
had a broad white border to the segments. All give 
good promise of a display later on. 
The collection of Caladiums is another feature of 
the nurseries at present. The varieties are extremely 
numerous and constantly being added to. They 
form a large sloping bank on the central stage of a 
house, facing the door. The useful Argyrites is 
grown in quantity. Very pretty is Ibis Rouge of a 
soft salmon red. The leaves of Oriflamme are of 
medium size, and deep red with a green edge. Mrs. 
Harry Veitch is a well-known large sort, with bronzy 
red leaves and carmine veins. Similarly large is 
Baron Adolphe de Rothschild, with bronzy red 
leaves blotched with pink. Ibis Rose is of medium 
size, with warm rosy-red leaves tinted with green at 
the edges. The leaves of Princess Teck are greenish- 
yellow towards the edges, changing to apple-green. 
Amongst recent additions, Assunguay is a charming 
kind of a bright red, boldly and closely netted with 
green, and sometimes the lines are edged with white, 
the principal ribs are broad and green, while there 
is a lobed blotch of blackish chocolate in the centre. 
Of medium size are the leaves of Maria Mitjane, 
and dark uniform red with a narrow green edge. 
The broad leaves of Raymond Lemonier are bright 
red with carmine veins, and a creamy margin. 
Those of L'Insolite are pale green with a red centre, 
and ribs, blotched irregularly with red. The large 
leaves of Racine are bright or dark rose in the centre, 
with carmine ribs, and variously shaded with green 
towards the margin. The leaves of Lucidum are 
more transparent than porcelain, white shaded with 
pink, and netted with slender green ribs. 
In other houses are collections of Crotons, 
Sarracenias, Coleus, Dracaenas, and other subjects; 
amongst the latter D. Lindeni and D. amabilis are 
notable for their attractive colours. The rich 
magenta-purple of Strobilanthes Dyeriana is now 
very fine. The black throat of Thunbergia alata 
aurantiaca makes a beautiful contrast with the 
orange-coloured segments. Quite of another type are 
the scarlet and yellow flowers of Gloriosa superba. 
Stephanotis floribunda upon the roof, and planted 
in a brick tub, although young, is making rampant 
growth, and is now well set with buds and flowers 
in various stages of development. Elsewhere the 
white Lapageria is doing well in a large pot. The 
tuberous Begonias in the same house are only 
approaching their best stage, and having recently 
been shifted on they will flower late. The varia¬ 
tion in colouring is very great. In a warmer house the 
collection of Anthuriums has just been re-potted, 
and will become well established before winter. A 
batch of Achimenes, flowering freely at one end of 
the house looks bright and varied. At the other end 
some large plants of the variegated Pineapple have 
the yellow bands on the leaves, edged with a 
beautiful tint of red. On the side benches are some 
huge pans of Coelogyne cristata, and many smaller 
pieces, now making a fine growth. In a cool con¬ 
servatory near the highway is a large and healthy 
batch of Araucaria excelsa of a useful size for 
decorative purposes 
We noted a fine lot of Odontoglossum grande, 
occupying one of the houses, and stood about amongst 
them were flowering plants of Drosera dichotoma 
and D. capensis. Odontoglossum crispum and 
O. Pescatorei are making their growth in the cool 
house. Amongst the Cypripediums at present in 
