420 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 7th, 1885. 
held to be specially delicious. Perhaps their 
best are no richer or luscious than our best are, 
perhaps not so good ; but better or not, no doubt 
because of the •warm ripening and stedfast 
character of the climate, the bulk are as good as 
the best, and there is little variation. It is said 
that seed of these sown in this country have but 
produced failure and disappointment, which is 
perhaps only natural, as our hot-house method of 
culture is hardly suited to such children of the 
desert. On the other hand, were some of those 
Asian kinds inter-crossed with our best sorts no 
doubt better results would follow, and how much 
better none can tell. 
Perhaps these foreign varieties would succeed 
here were they grown in a cooler temperature 
and under the influence of sunlight as they have 
been accustomed to in their native habitats. 
Certainly we cannot give them Asian summers, 
hut ordinary frames without bottom-heat ought to 
supply the deficiency. A race of hardy free- 
fruiting Melons, the fruit of which should be of 
good flavour and of soft luscious texture would 
be a great boon to us, and if some one would 
endeavour to raise such they would perhaps per¬ 
form more service to horticulture than is now 
seen in the too abundant reproduction of old 
kinds devoid of improvement. 
Seedsmen’s Collections. —There lies before 
us one of those interesting products of seedsmen’s 
enterprise and of postal simplicity, a small box of 
flower seeds, inclusive of sixteen packets, all 
neatly got up, and having upon them printed 
names and instructions as to character of plants, 
time of sowing, and other useful information. 
These sixteen packets are found in a stout card¬ 
board box, have come by post through the aid of 
a twopenny stamp, and all for the small charge of 
one shilling. Intrinsically, the seeds themselves 
do not represent any considerable value. Pro¬ 
bably in the bulk they are not worth more than 
sixpence at the outside, and if the matter ended 
there the bargain would be no great one to the 
purchaser. But then we must remember that 
these sixteen kinds of flower seeds must be kept 
in separate stores, and the labour involved in 
packeting them is not inconsiderable. Then 
there is the cost of the packets, with their 
lengthy printed instructions, the cost of the box 
in which the packets are enclosed, and finally, 
the charge of twopence postage, and when these 
items are taken into account, it must be admitted 
that only an enormous sale can make such a 
business element profitable. 
But, whilst it may be admitted that the seeds 
intrinsically by no means represent the amount 
paid for them, the fact remains that, whilst in the 
seedsmen’s drawers they are practically of little 
value to no one, it is when they are thus 
packeted and labelled, and sent all over the 
kingdom through the instrumentality of the 
Post Office, that their real value is realized. If 
through these humble means many thousands of 
small gardens are made for the summer time gay 
and beautiful with simple flowers, how great is 
the gain. Myriads of flower lovers in villages 
and elsewhere live remote from seedsmen, and 
perhaps could hardly obtain their small needs 
in this direction without great trouble and 
perhaps cost. It is here that the enterprise of 
certain seedsmen steps in, and at trifling cost, and 
with a minimum of trouble, sends the purchaser 
just what may be desired. Some seedsmen are 
even more liberal than is the one whose box is 
before us. 
- Q—■ i — 
Aloe supeal.evis. —A very handsome Cape Aloe 
which is now flowering in the Cactus-house at Kew. 
It reminds one of a small and compact plant of Agave 
americana on a stem 4 ft. high. The plant bears 
three stout erect spikes, about a foot long, with 
numerous orange-buff flowers. 
isalktro. 
Go 
The Fruit, Floral, and Scientific Committee of the 
Eoyal Horticultural Society will meet at South Ken¬ 
sington on Tuesday, when there will also be a 
Promenade Show. Messrs. William Paul & Son, 
Waltham Cross, will exhibit a large collection of 
Camellias in pots. 
We regret to hear of the sudden death recently, of 
heart disease, of Mr. John Wilson, for many years 
gardener at Arundel Castle, Sussex. 
Me. William Thomson, Clovenfords, was on Tuesday 
elected president of the Scottish Horticultural Asso¬ 
ciation. 
Messes. Wills & Segae, Onslow Crescent, South 
Kensington, have received a Royal Warrant appointing 
them Florists to Her Majesty the Queen. 
The fences and other property in over one hundred 
allotment-gardens at Nottingham, were completely 
destroyed on Monday by a gang of men employed on 
relief-works by the Corporation. 
The Battlesden Manor Estate, an extensive and 
picturesque demesne, nearly adjoining Woburn 
Park, has been bought by the Duke of Bedford for 
£ 120 , 000 . 
We hear that Messrs. James Carter & Co. are 
daily expecting an importation of a very select 
collection of new seedling Chrysanthemums from 
Japan, and that they expect next autumn to be in a 
position to show some novel and beautiful forms. 
It is reported that the General Bulb Company, 
Vogelenzang, Holland, planted no fewer than 230,000 
bulbs in the grounds attached to the New Orleans 
Exhibition. The Hyacinths were in flower at the 
middle of January. 
Mb. Andrew Ross, for 50 years a Forester in the 
service of Sir James Dunbar, in Nairnshire, died last 
month at the age of 108 years, and was buried in the 
same grave as his father who died 29 years ago, aged 
109 years. 
It is proposed that trials should be made at 
Chiswick by the Fruit Committee, during the present 
year, of the newer varieties of Peas, Beans, Cauli¬ 
flowers, and Potatos, and by the Floral Committee of 
Fuchsias, Caladiums, Carnations, Pieotees and Pinks, 
Phloxes, and the various sorts of Ivies. Fellows or 
others who may be cultivators of these plants are 
invited to contribute for the purjiose. 
Me. McLean, has sent us from Vinters Park, 
Maidstone, two specimens of twin-flowered Cyclamens, 
obtained from one plant. In both instances the twins 
are perfectly formed, but we cannot say they are 
pretty. 
Me. John Kennaed, Swan Place, Old Kent Road, 
S.E., who is extending his old established business in 
various directions, has favoured us with a sample of 
his garden pots and Orchid pans. They are, it seems, 
made in Berkshire, of what is locally known as 
“ sympathetic ” clay, and for excellence of quality, 
neat shape, and good finish, are certainly much 
superior to the ordinary London make. 
At the forthcoming Brighton Show, of the Bath and 
West of England and Southern Counties Association, 
a piece of plate, value ten guineas, will be awarded 
in the horticultural department, for a group of 
Orchids ; also a cup, value £5, for a collection of 
fruit, and first and second prizes for six dishes of 
Strawberries. The Hon. and Rev. J. T. Boscawen, 
Lamorran, Probus, is again the steward of this 
department. 
A Fine Cedar.— The following particulars of a very 
fine Cedar, in Bulstrode Park, near Beaconsfield, 
Bucks, may be of interest to your readers. This tree 
is situated in the park, about a quarter of a mile from 
the mansion. It does not appear to have lost any of 
its massive branches during the gales of recent years, 
nor are there the least signs of decay. An aged 
gardener spoke of aged men having said that in their 
early days it had very much the same appearance in 
size and leafage. The diameter of its range of 
branches, which is nearly uniform, is 100 ft.; the 
circumference of the trunk of the tree at 1 ft. from 
the ground is 26£ ft. At about 10 ft. from the ground 
the massive limbs spread out, forming a magnificent 
head of 25 branches which bear some very fine cones 
in the green state, measuring 2 ins. by 3 ins .—Lillian 
King, Icy Cottage, Bulstrode Park, in Forestry. 
HERBACEOUS PHLOXES. 
I have often tried to raise Seedling Phloxes, but 
always in previous years without success. It may 
have been that the seed was not well ripened, though 
that did not appear to have been the case ; but I am 
inclined to think that the fault lay in the time of 
sowing; for, having saved some seed late last autumn, 
I sowed it almost directly in a frame, but left the 
seed-bed fully exposed to the weather during the 
winter, and I discovered a week or two since that some 
of the seeds showed signs of-germination. I placed 
fights over the frame at once, and now I have large 
numbers of seedlings, indeed I shall no doubt have 
hundreds of seedlings presently. The seed was 
saved from excellent kinds in various colours, and no 
doubt there will be found considerable variety when 
the young plants bloom, as I trust they will in the 
autumn. 
That seed should thus germinate freely when sown 
almost as soon as ripe, and left exposed to the 
action of the air and rain through the winter, is 
evidence that our ordinary methods of keeping seeds 
stored and sowing in the spring is not always correct, 
especially where, as in this case, it has so often been 
found that spring-sown seeds would not germinate at 
11. Perhaps the coating of the seeds hardens so much 
by exposure and drying, that germination cannot 
result; perhaps the fleshy kernel becomes dried and 
shrivelled. 
Herbaceous Phloxes are so beautiful that doubtless 
many would grow them if they found raising fresh 
plants from seed to be easy. As it is, they may be 
increased by division just about this time with ease, 
and if trouble be taken to remove some of the young 
shoots and put them in under glass as cuttings, they 
will soon take root and produce plants of great value, 
for these blooming rather later, carry splendid heads. 
In this way they are very effective in greenhouses or 
conservatories.— -D. 
—— 
CARROTS AND THE CARROT- 
FLY. 
For several years we have been so bady pestered 
with the larvae of the Carrot-fly that it has been 
extremely difficult to maintain a supply of this root, 
especially for late use. Sometimes they would fail 
while quite small, or at about the stage of thinning, 
but more often immediately after that operation, when 
several remedies were tried, such as pouring along 
the drills a mixture of paraffin oil and water at the 
rate of a wine-glassful to a gallon ; also a few hand¬ 
fuls of soot stirred up in a watering-can and applied 
in a similar w-ay, but with no beneficial results. 
Last year we determined to start early with the 
preparation of the ground for this crop, and as the old 
potting soil was removed from under the bench in the 
potting-shed, it was wheeled and spread over the 
ground selected. After this the ground was given a 
good dressing of lime and soot and also of common 
salt, and dug over in due course. About the second 
week in April the ground received a further dressing 
of fine soil and soot and a light dressing of salt, the 
whole surface being broken up with hoes and rendered 
fine before sowing the seeds. This was sown mode¬ 
rately thin so as not to require much thinning out. 
The crop did not present a very regular appearance at 
first after the seed came up, but this soon passed off 
as the plants grew larger, and from this plantation we 
had the finest lot of Carrots I have seen, and this after 
one of the driest summers we have experienced for 
several years. I attribute our success in a great 
measure to the salt and lime, and perhaps mostly to the 
former, as in a neighbouring garden, I have been 
informed, they were unable to grow Carrots at all 
until they applied the salt, after which the crop was 
all that could be desired. 
It would be interesting to know if salt has any effect 
on the insect which has proved so destructive to 
Parsley, as stated by some of your correspondents. 
Here we have no trouble with Parsley except in early 
spring, and especially after a cold winter, when it is 
sometimes almost exhausted from constant and close 
picking. The failure to produce good late Carrots is 
by no means uncommon, and those who are troubled, 
as we have been, I would strongly recommend to give 
the above plan a trial. Our early Carrots, such as are 
grown in a frame on a bed of leaves and fitter, and 
