September 22, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
53 
rattle off a string of names upon the slightest provo¬ 
cation, is by no means always the best gardener. 
Indeed, my experience would go to prove that the 
very reverse of this is the case. It is just as impor¬ 
tant to a gardener, nay, far more so, to notice the 
means which his neighbour takes to ensure success 
in the culture of any particular plant, as it is for him 
to learn its name. Most of us at some time or other 
in our lives, have fallen into the error of trying to 
cram our minds with an overdose of knowledge and 
like " X " many of us have found out what an egre¬ 
gious mistake it is to attempt to do so.— Y. 
-- 
A PRETTY RAILWAY STATION 
GARDEN. 
One of the prettiest and best kept gardens on a line 
of Railway s at Langley, Bucks, a station on the 
Great Western Railway. I think those who pass 
this station and know that Mr. Harry Turner, of the 
Royal Nursery, Slough, lives close by, are led to 
think that much of the floral beauty which pervades 
the station is due to that fact; and so I thought 
myself, until when recently at Langley I had an 
interview with Mr. Richards, the Station-master, and 
found in him an enthusiastic, painstaking, amateur 
gardener, and that the credit of so brightening the 
station with flowers as to compel the admiration of 
those who pass through it by train, belongs to him 
and him alone. I think I may venture to state that 
Mr. Harry Turner is sometimes the generous donor 
of a plant that he thinks may be useful, but the pro¬ 
pagator of the plants used, the designer, planter, 
and cultivator is Mr. Richards, the Station-master. 
A central platform, reaching a considerable dis¬ 
tance, divides the main and local lines of rails, and 
on this is seen some flower beds of various shapes, 
gay alike in spring and early summer. Just now the 
beds are gay with ordinary summer bedding plants. 
Such as Iresine Lindeni, Zonal Pelargonium Henri 
Jacoby, Ivy-leaved Pelargonium Massenet, bright 
rosy purple, a fine bedder ; variegated Pelargoniums, 
Verbena Lord Walter Scott, a very bright and ex¬ 
cellent scarlet raised at Ditton Park, and other 
bright and showy subjects : the blue Lobelia is 
largely used as an edging. The beds are 
some three feet or more above the level of the rail¬ 
way, which occasions a somewhat severe natural 
drainage, but they are so well looked after in the 
matter of cleaning and watering, in picking over and 
making tidy, that they always look very bright and 
neat, and attract the notice of passers by. 
The Great Western Railway adopt the practice of 
giving prizes—I think annually—for the best kept 
station gardens, and they have done this for eight 
years past, and invariably Mr. Richards has his 
pretty garden high up among the prize-winners ; but 
I understood Mr. Richards to say that according to 
the conditions of the competition, no one station can 
take the first prize two years running. 
At the sides of the station there are borders filled 
with roses, various shrubs, and flowering plants, and 
particularly so on the up-side of the line, there being 
a wider border adjoining the station-master’s resi¬ 
dence. There always appears to be something in 
flower ir. this border at all seasons of the year. Just 
now Asters are very bright, but Mr. Richards com¬ 
plained of the Londoners who go down to Langley 
on Sundays to fish, who when they return at night 
gather his flowers which he prizes so much. I 
have no doubt but that the temptation to take a few 
flowers to London is great, but there are other ways 
of obtaining them than by destroying the floral effect 
at the station. 
Mr. Richards has two small houses at the back of 
the up-station, where he winters such plants as he 
desires to keep through that season of the year, and 
in which he propagates certain subjects in spring as 
well as raises plants from seeds. A kind of small 
outside hall leading to the principal entrance to his 
residence has shelves at the sides high up near the 
glass in the roof, which affords light. On these 
shelves, assisted only by such solar heat as can be 
obtained, Mr. Richards is flowering, at some incon¬ 
venience, some admirably grown Gloxinias, thus 
making it a cold house plant. I think, he is 
eminently successful as a Gloxinia cultivator and 
worthy of all praise. 
Mr. Richards has had charge of the Langley 
Station for eleven years. I have no doubt that ere 
long a well deserved promotion will be gained by 
him. But wherever he goes his love for plants and 
their culture will accompany him, and those who 
have noted with so much satisfaction his admirable 
gardening at Langley Station will wish him every 
success in any new sphere of labour which may open 
up before him.— R. D. 
- -- 
RANUNCULUS LINGUA. 
The Greater Spearwort, as this plant is called, is 
less commonly seen in cultivation than its beauty 
should warrant. Though a British plant it is by no 
means common even in a wild state, and, when met 
with, grows in ditches and similarly wet places. The 
yellow flowers are handsome, measuring about 2 in. in 
diameter, and are produced in a sort of panicle at 
the top of upright stems about 2 ft. or 3 ft. high. 
The leaves are lanceolate or spear-shaped, 6 in. to 
10 in. long, and add much to the appearance of the 
plant. The proper place for it inside the garden or 
well kept ground, is on the margin of ornamental 
water, as represented in the accompanying illustra¬ 
tion. Those who have never seen the plant, and to 
whom the name of Greater Spearwort may sound 
strange, may grasp an idea of it much better if we 
state it is an aquatic Buttercup that likes to grow in 
places where its roots will be entirely under water 
while all the top is exposed to the air. The Lesser 
Ranunculus lingua. 
Spearwort is a much commoner plant, smaller in 
all its parts and less ornamental than the subject 
under notice. Those who have not the convenience 
of a pond may grow it in a tub or pot plunged in a 
tank. 
* 
Apples and Pears.— Pay attention to the gathering 
of the different sorts as they ripen. Pears are 
usually fit for harvesting when the fruit parts readily 
from the foot-stalk. By lifting the fruit in the hand, 
and giving a gentle press upwards, it can readily be 
ascertained whether the fruit in question is in fit 
condition for gathering or no. In any case it is not 
wise to leave the fruit on the tree too long, as a 
rough windy night causes terrible havoc among 
crops of nearly ripe Pears. On the other hand, if 
gathered too soon, their flavour will be compara¬ 
tively poor. It will greatly improve the quality of 
the fruit if it be laid in a warm dry room for a few 
days before it is required for the dessert table. 
Treatment of this kind is necessary if it is desired to 
have the more delicately-flavoured Pears, such as 
those of the Beurre class, up to their real standard 
of excellence. This also serves the purpose of fur¬ 
nishing a succession of fruit fit for the table, instead 
of having the whole, or nearly the whole, ready for 
use at the same time, many of them partly spoiled 
before they are sent in. 
Filberts. —In most localities these will be quite 
fit for use by this time. It is quite a mistake to wait 
until the whole of the crop is ripe before utilising 
them as a dish for the dessert. It will be found that 
the nuts are far sweeter now, and certainly not nearly 
so dry, as they are when they have been shrivelling 
for a month or two upon the storehouse shelves. 
Peaches and Nectarines. —Unless the next 
month is a good deal brighter than the last three 
have been, Peaches and Nectarines grown on walls 
outside will not ripen their fruit. They should, there¬ 
fore, be picked as soon as it is possible to do so 
without bruising them, and placed in a part of the 
storehouse, or upon a shelf in a vinery near the glass, 
where they will get the full rays of the sun. Other¬ 
wise, if left out-doors, protection must be afforded 
them during cold nights. A few days in a warm 
room will also greatly improve the flavour of such 
late dessert Plums as Coe’s Golden Drop, and 
Ickworth Imperatrice. 
The Garden Engine may still be used on bright 
days upon Apricots, Peaches, Nectarines, etc., from 
which the fruit has been gathered. This serves the 
double purpose of keeping down insects and of remov¬ 
ing yellow leaves .—A . S. G. 
Apple Cellini Pippin. 
This splendid culinary Apple is going through a 
series of trials at Chiswick, with a view to the 
discovery of the best stock for working it upon. 
Although several stocks have been tried, and the 
trees worked upon them are growing side by side, 
they are all without exception, carrying very heavy 
crops of fruit. In fact, the only perceptible difference 
between the trees is one of habit, and even this is 
not particularly marked. As a kitchen Apple of 
first-class quality in season during October and 
November, a vigorous grower and sure fruiter, 
Cellini Pippin cannot be too highly commended. 
-- 
ORCHID ROTES AND GLEANINGS, 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
The Orchids described hereunder received awards 
according to merit from the Orchid Committee of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, on the nth inst. 
Cattleya gigas Countess of Derby. Nov. var. 
—The sepals of this showy and handsome Cattleya 
are long and creamy white. The petals are elliptic 
with a few wide undulations, slightly crisped and 
toothed at the edge and white. The huge lip offers 
a bold contrast with its dark purple tube lined with 
yellow veins externally and crimson internally with 
darker yellow veins ; the lamina is the finest feature, 
however, for it is intense crimson-purple and fades 
to a bright purple at the very edge. The eye-spots 
are large and yellow deepening to gold downwards. 
It was generally acknowledged to be the finest new 
Orchid at the meeting. First-class Certificate. 
Exhibited by Thos. Statter, Esq., (gardener Mr. R. 
Johnson), Stand Hall, Whitfield, Manchester. 
Laelia Parthenia Nov. hyb .—The sepals of this 
hybrid are oblong and delicate blush. The petals 
are elliptic, crisped at the edge, paler and almost 
white. The tube of the lip is curved, showing the 
influence of C. Loddigesii, and delicate pink ; the 
side lobes are crisped, crenate and of a pale primrose- 
white ; the lamina is rounded, undulate, toothed and 
pale purple, netted with darker veins, and sending a 
band down the tube beneath the stout column which 
is curved and lies upon the lip like that of Cattleya 
Loddigesii. Award of Merit. Exhibited by Thos. 
Statter, Esq. 
Cypripedium Nandi. Nov. hyb .—This was 
obtained from C. callosum crossed with C. Tautzia- 
num, itself a hybrid raised from C. niveum crossed 
with C. barbatum. The upper sepal is orbicular and 
white with green lines along the centre and suffused 
with purple towards the margin. The oblong, blunt, 
declining petals are lilac, deepening to rose at the 
tip and spotted all over with deep purple and having 
four large eye-like spots at the upper edge. The 
large, inflated lip is deep purple, and the staminode 
is reniform, flesh coloured, green in the centre and 
pubescent. Award of Merit. Exhibited by R. I. 
Measures, Esq., (gardener Mr. Hy. Chapman) Cam¬ 
bridge Lodge, Camberwell. The name Nandi given 
to it is that of the Hindoo goddess of Joy. 
Laelia Dayana delicata. Nov. var .—The oblong 
sepals are blush, and the elliptic petals of a delicate 
