148 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Nov. 8th, 1884. 
conditions apt to lose some of the glow of colour 
seen in the daylight. Of whites, Mrs. G. Bundle 
was once greatly favoured, hut the irrepressible 
white Elaine beat that almost out of the market, 
although this latter finds early in the season a 
formidable rival in the dwarf Madame Desgrange. 
But Fair Maid of Guernsey, Ethel, and other 
whites are more or less favoured as they are found 
free or enduring ; indeed, the two latter kinds 
may under careful culture be often found in 
luxuriant bloom in the month of January, and 
that is a great merit. Mdle. Marthe, Marabout, 
Virginale, and others of lesser size are all free 
and most estimable, and seem likely to hold a 
place in popular esteem for a long time. Amongst 
the dark sorts the old and for mere exhibition 
purposes almost despised Julia Lagravere ranks 
amongst the best, though that sort must find a 
stout rival in the Japanese Tokio, the blooms of 
which, when only very moderately disbudded, are 
of good size, very elegant, and of a rich bronzy- 
red or crimson colour that glows richly in gas¬ 
light. It is also very free. But so many of our 
beautiful Japanese kinds are grown to produce 
show flowers only, that we hardly know until 
tested for the purpose which may or may not 
be suitable for the production of market flowers. 
Oechaeds, Market Gardens, and Nurseries. 
—We learn from the recently published Agri¬ 
cultural Be turns for Great Britain for 1884, that 
Orchards “ again show an enlarged area, covering 
194,648 acres as compared with 190,710 acres in 
the previous year. In the county of Somerset, 
and in one or two others in less degree, the 
apparent increased acreage is partly attributable 
to more complete returns. The acreage under 
Market Gardens shows a decrease in the total of 
94 acres ; but this is due chiefly to the fact that 
upon inquiry it was found that a large quantity 
of land in Essex, which was occupied last year by 
Peas and Potatos, and which in any following 
years might be under Wheat or other crops, 
was erroneously returned in 1883 as Market 
Gardens, instead of being enumerated under the 
proper classifications in the returns. The collec¬ 
tors report, indeed, generally in reference to both 
Orchards and Market Gardens a considerable 
extension, and that in some localities every avail¬ 
able plot of land is being devoted to the purpose, 
in order to meet the continued demand for fruit 
and fresh vegetables for large towns. Were 
it not for the apparent diminution here alluded 
to, the returns would have shown an increase in 
the area under Market Gardens of 3,500 acres. 
Occasionally, indeed, portions of land appear to 
have been subdivided specially for these pur¬ 
poses.” The acreage of land used by nurserymen 
for growing trees, shrubs, &c., is returned as 
12,502 acres in Great Britain, 3 acres in the Isle 
of Man, 43 acres in Jersey, and 24 acres in 
Guernsey. In Great Britain, Surrey makes the 
largest return, 1,380 acres; and Selkirk the 
smallest, 1 acre. 
The late Me. Bentham and his Legacies. 
—In the Revue Horticole for October 16th (p. 
460) we notice the statement that the late Mr. 
Bentham has bequeathed a sum of 25,000 francs 
to the Boyal Horticultural Society, “ 25,000 fr. a 
la Societe royale d’horticulture.” We fear this 
news is too good to be true, and that our con¬ 
temporary has made a mistake. We believe that 
amongst other legacies Mr. Bentham bequeathed 
£1,000 to the Scientific Belief Fund of the Boyal 
Society, and it is evidently to this that our con¬ 
temporary refers. 
- a ~~ ■ - 
Manx of our readers will regret to hear that on 
account of failing health, Mr. John Cox has left 
Redleaf, Penshurst, for the Isle of Wight. 
(Sarfrmhtg ©istclfnm 
The monthly meetings of the Fruit and Floral 
Committees will be held on Tuesday next at South 
Kensington. 
The meeting of the Committee of the National 
Carnation and Picotee Society, fixed for Tuesday next, 
has been postponed until December 9th. 
The Chrysanthemum shows to be held next week 
are, Stoke Newington on Monday and Tuesday; 
Putney on Tuesday ; Kingston-on-Thames, Croydon, 
Brighton, and Lambeth on Tuesday and Wednesday ; 
The National, at the Westminster Aquarium on 
Wednesday ; Bath and Colchester on Wednesday and 
Thursday; Walton-on-Thames on Thursday; Rich- 
mond, Brixton Hill, Tunbridge Wells, and Teddington 
on Thursday and Friday; Reading on Friday; and 
Crystal Palace, Canterbury, and Huddersfield on 
Friday and Saturday. 
Mr. Barron’s Report on the Apple Congress held at 
Chiswick last year is now ready, and may be obtained 
from Mr. J. Douglas Dick, at the offices of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, South Kensington. 
The dates selected for holding the Royal Botanic 
Society’s Shows in 1885, are as follows:—Spring 
Exhibitions, March 25th and April 22nd; Summer 
Exhibitions, May 20th and June 17th ; Evening FOte, 
July 1st. Mr. Anthony Waterer’s Special-Exhibition 
of Rhododendrons and other American plants will be 
held in June. 
We much regret to hear that Mr. George Prince, of 
Oxford, was thrown out of his trap on the evening of 
the 29th ult., and was so seriously injured that he 
remained unconscious for two days. A slight im¬ 
provement in his condition was reported on Tuesday. 
Messrs. Hurst & Son are publishing in a cheap 
form a small (16 pp. crown 8vo.) brochure, entitled 
“ Mushroom Culture Simplified,” by An Experienced 
Grower. The directions given for growing this much- 
prized esculent are brief, plain, and practical, and 
more than this need not be said to recommend it to 
the notice of amateur gardeners. 
Mr. T. H. P. Dennis having retired from the firm 
of T. H. P. Dennis & Co., of Chelmsford, the business 
will in future be carried on by the other partners, 
Messrs. Crompton & Fawkes. 
On December 6th, Mr. Hugh Ranger, will read a 
paper on the Cultivation of the Cyclamen, at a meeting 
of the Liverpool Horticultural Association. At the 
January meeting, Mr. Robert Cubbon and Mr. Mease 
will read papers. 
Mr. Challis, of Wilton Place, Salisbury, states that 
Mr. Henry Bennett’s new H. P. Rose, The Earl of 
Pembroke, has proved, for late autumn-flowering, much 
superior to most of the hybrid perpetuals he has 
seen. 
We hear that Dr. Veitch, brother of the late Mr. 
James Veitch, of Chelsea, is dangerously ill, and 
that grave doubts are entertained of his recovery. 
Messrs. John Weeks & Co., have been awarded a 
Gold Medal at the Health Exhibition, for their upright 
Tubular Boiler, Incomparable Fire-Grate Domestic 
Boiler, and Hydro-caloric Coil which warms and 
ventilates at one operation. 
Arrangements are being made for holding a large 
Horticultural Exhibition in Berlin in September next. 
Mr. John Kennard, Swan Place, Old Kent Road, 
whose peat and other garden sundries have for many 
years been held in high repute, has lately added a 
department for plain and ornamental pottery to his 
business. 
The annual exhibition of the North of Scotland 
Root, Vegetable, and Fruit Association, was held on 
Saturday last at Inverurie. The exhibition, as regards 
extent and quality, was considered one of the best 
ever held in the North. The total number of entries, 
exclusive of exhibition collections, was 1,045, or about 
300 more than last year. There were samples sent 
from as far off as Ross-shire, several from Moray¬ 
shire, and a considerable number from Banffshire', 
but the great majority of the exhibits were grown in 
the county of Aberdeen. 
MALVA ALGEA. 
Amongst the hardy perennial Mallows there are a 
few good plants which are worthy of more attention 
at the hands of amateurs and gardeners than they 
seem to get at present, and the subject of our illustra¬ 
tion, Malva alcea, is one of them. During the past 
autumn we noted its good qualities at Chiswick, in 
the Chelsea Botanic Garden, and other places, and 
now recommend its more extensive cultivation in 
herbaceous borders, on the margins of shrubbery 
borders, &e., where in ordinarily good garden soil it 
grows from 2 ft. to 3 ft. high, with a fine free- 
branching habit, and in August and September pro¬ 
duces a fine crop of pale rosy-pink blossoms, which 
are valuable for cutting to fill vqses and other fancy 
receptacles for flowers employed in room decoration. 
The flowers, it is true, do not last long in water, but 
if cut when quite fresh they last long enough for all 
ordinary purposes, and there is no gainsaying their 
exquisite grace and beauty. 
The white variety of the Musk Mallow, Malva 
moschata alba, is also a thoroughly good plant to 
grow for cutting from, its pure satiny-white and 
fragrant blossoms being always pleasing and accept¬ 
able for vase decoration, &c. Some years ago this 
plant was more common in many gardens than the 
indigenous Malva moschata itself; then it became 
scarce, the bedding-out mania probably doing for 
this as it did for many other good things, relegating 
them to the limbo of obscurity. Mr. Cannell, ever 
on the look-out for good things, old or new, re-intro¬ 
duced it to public notice in 1881, when it soon 
became popular again. It is a very free-growing 
and free-blooming plant in the borders, and Mr. 
Roberts proved it at Gunnersbury to be an excellent 
plant for pot culture, its free-branching habit lending 
itself readily to the formation of compact bushy 
specimens. Seeds sown in March in a cold frame 
will make flowering plants the same year; and the 
plants in the borders can easily be increased by 
dividing them either now or in the spring. 
HOME MANURES FOR THE 
GARDEN. 
(Continued from p. 135.) 
Effect 'of Manuring with Ashes, Lime, Gvpsum, 
Soot, &c. — Heavy clay soils are very difficult of 
cultivation, and without radical amendment, are 
unprofitable for gardening, especially in cool wet 
districts, because of the excess of water which they 
hold in suspension. Ashes and cinders, chalk, marl, 
burnt clay and lime will be found to assist in the 
physical improvement of these heavy stiff soils, 
because such materials impart an open and freeness 
of texture which allows a proper circulation of air, 
and we know that where there is air, there the living 
rootlets of plants will penetrate. 
Ashes, mixed with pig or cow-dung, takes away the 
compact soapy character of these manures, and 
prevents their imparting that sticky consistence to 
soils which they are otherwise apt to do. At the 
same time it must be remembered that ashes, lime 
and chalk must be used with moderation or the 
gardener will soon find that they take away the 
fertility of a soil rather than increase it. 
Ashes of Wood, Weeds, and Vegetable Refuse 
supplying, as they do, potash, lime, silica, and 
phosphoric acid, all of which ingredients are ex¬ 
tremely helpful in building up the cellular fabric of 
young plants, will be found of great service for sowing 
with small seeds, more particularly those belonging 
to the Cruciferous family — Turnips, Cabbages, 
Cauliflowers, Garden Stocks, Ac. — all of which 
are extremely liable to be attacked by the “ fly ” ; any 
manure therefore that gives the newly germinated 
plants a good start is of great assistance. Among 
the artificial manures which may be used for this 
purpose, we may mention superphosphate of lime and 
ground rape cake. 
Coal Ashes may be dug in with rich animal 
manures, and should be well incorporated with the 
soil, but they are of less value to the gardener than 
ashes obtained from vegetable matter exclusively, 
owing to the excessive quantity of sulphuric acid 
which they contain, and which is said to act as a 
corrosive on the rootlets of plants. The ashes from 
