88 : 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 6, 1894; 
FLORICULTURE. 
About Pansies. 
In your leading article in last week’s issue on Public 
taste and Florists' flowers, in alluding to exhibition 
Pansies, you remark that “ exhibition Pansies seem to 
have had their day, notwithstanding the fact that 
many of them are very pretty in spite of their 
formality.” What you evidently intended to infer 
was, that the old-fashioned Florists’ Pansies origin¬ 
ally the only exhibition varieties, were seldom seen 
now at our exhibitions or in gardens. 
The fancy section, originally called the Belgian 
varieties, have such a wide range of beautiful colours 
and marking, and are now so perfect in form, and in 
the possession of other qualities which our Florists’ 
require, that it cannot surprise even the old school 
Florists’, that the fancy section should have become 
so very popular and universally grown. You allude 
to them as being valued, not only for their great 
size, and large showy attractive blotches which 
constitute their leading characters. We Florists’, 
exhibitors and judges, must have something more 
than that. We must have found in all its require¬ 
ments, substance, smoothness, brightness and 
distinctness; extreme size being the last considera¬ 
tion : refinement being a sine qua non. Thousands, I 
may say millions, of seedlings are bloomed every year 
and a large number are sold, but ninety-nine out of 
every hundred of these would not be tolerated in the 
exhibition stands of our best growers. 
You pay a just tribute to bedding Violas, which 
are now most popular plants, and it is impossible to 
say too much in their favour as early spring and 
continuous blooming decorative plants, and they 
should be in every garden ; but I do not fall in with your 
remark “ that this flower in a large number of cases 
are very far from circular,” because we do not look 
for that point in form as an essential qualification. 
I have been so mixed up with Viola work ever 
since Mr. John Wills startled us with the glories of 
V. cornuta as a spring bedding plant, and have 
grown and seen many hundreds of varieties since as 
well as raising some of the best, that I now un¬ 
hesitatingly say that we are having far too many 
new varieties forced upon us each year. We want now 
in Violas for general decorative work, a close 
sturdy habit of growth, great floriferousness, with 
very early and continuous blooming. Good 
constitutions and decided bright colours; whites 
to be pure and free from blotch or ray, and the same 
rule, as far as possible, guiding in yellows and other 
colours. Many fine varieties do not meet these 
requirements as bedders, but are, nevertheless, very 
lovely in border or mixed beds and for exhibition 
purposes, and I cannot too strongly recommend 
their culture. In these, as in the fancy Pansies, 
we are getting very lovely shades of colour which 
will find ardent worshippers .—William Dean, Spark- 
hill, Birmingham. 
Flowers from Thornton Dale. 
Mr. Thos. Wright, of Thorton Dale, near Picker¬ 
ing, sends us some more Carnations of his own 
raising, together with fancy Pansies also of his own 
production. He also sends flowers, stems and leaves 
of what we suspected to be a hybrid between the 
Carnation and the large flowered form of. the Chinese 
Pink. The leaves were truly those of a Carnation, 
but the stems were branched almost from the base, 
and still very profuse in flowers and buds. All 
appearances tend to confirm us of the hybrid nature 
of the plant, but particularly is this the case with 
the flowers. Several other Carnations arrived in 
bad condition, so that we could not determine their 
real value, and No. 17 was missing. The fancy 
Pansies, on the contrary, were quite fresh. A very 
dark one with blackish-violet blotches, velvety- 
crimson lacing, and the upper petals of a still darker 
hue, was a good thing, but we should have liked a 
paler lacing, for then it would have been more 
clearly defined. Very distinct and pretty was that 
with black blotches and a bright yellow lacing ; but 
the latter is liable to be displaced by red from the 
edges of the upper petals. Somewhat similar to this 
was another with golden lacing ; the upper petals 
were also of that hue and edged with crimson. 
Another with dark velvety blotches, yellow lacing, 
and violet-purple top petals was also good. The 
blotches of the rest were not so well defined, and the 
colours liable to run on the top petals. Mr. Wright 
is an ardent florist, and goes in for the cultivation of 
many other florists’ flowers. 
AMERICAN COWSLIPS. 
American Cowslips is the common name for those 
most beautiful hardy flowers, the Dodecatheons, 
though I have sometimes thought it a misnomer, for 
had they been styled American Cyclamens, the name 
would have been more appropriate, the form of the 
flower coming nearer to the Cyclamen than to those 
of the Cowslip of our meadows. They both belong 
to the Primulaceae ; our own Cowslips are meadow 
plants, these American ones denizens of the woods. 
In North America, their native home, they are 
called Shooting Stars, a pretty and appropriate 
designation, which one would well wish had been 
adopted here. 
It is to be regretted that they are not better known 
and more widely cultivated among us than they are 
at present, there being no good reason why they 
should not be as plentiful in our gardens as Poly¬ 
anthuses, as they are not very particular as to soil, 
that of a light loamy texture being possibly the most 
Dodecatheon media. 
suitable. They will also do well in peat and leaf 
soil. Situation is, however, of more importance, 
and a cool, shady place Is a first requisite. On rock- 
work or in a shady nook in the herbaceous border 
shculd be selected for them ; here they will soon 
establish themselves, and when in flower during the 
spring will prove among the most beautiful and 
attractive subjects in the garden. 
All the varieties grow freely under these conditions, 
and form tufts, which require dividing every third or 
fourth year, which operation should be performed 
during the latter part of January or early in 
February, when the roots become active, taking care 
not to divide into too small pieces as there is some 
danger attending it, the plants coming away weakly 
and dying under the process. They may be readily 
raised from seed when obtainable, but this is only to 
be had under very favourable circumstances. 
The best known of all is D. media, of which 
there are varieties differing in colour, size of flower, 
and height of plant. Well grown clumps of it, with 
from ten to twenty stems, each having from six to 
twelve flowers and sometimes more, are gems among 
flowers available for pot culture in frames. The 
flowers are light purple, fragrant, borne on erect, 
slender stems, from 12 in. to 15 in. high. A most 
desirable plant to grow where the necessary shade 
and moisture can be found. 
The Giant American Cowslip, D. Jeffrayana, 
grows from 24 in. to 30 in. in height. This has 
large, deep green leaves, from 9 in. to 12 in. long, 
and a red mid-rib. The flowers are reddish-purple, 
while the flower stems are stout, and resist wind 
well. It succeeds well in a rich, moist border, is 
quite hardy and among the elite of our hardy 
perennials. 
D. integrifolium, the most beautiful of all, has 
flowers an inch in length, purplish-crimson, with an 
orange ring round the orifice of the corrolla. It is 
perfectly hardy and of free growth, and ought to 
find a place in every garden where hardy herbaceous 
plants are valued.— W. B. G. 
-- 
A SHOW OF ONIONS. 
The boom directed against the big Onions appears 
to have had the opposite effect intended, and made 
them bigger still. Such was the impression left 
upon our mind as we looked over the collections of 
Onions contributed to Deverill’s Annual Onion Show, 
which were staged in the shop and in the market 
place, at Banbury, with an overflow in the street. The 
date was September 27th, and, it being market day, 
there were plenty of visitors to look upon the 
superbly finished specimens laid out to view. The 
Onion grower seems independent of weather, for 
whether the season be a dry, hot one, or whether it 
be cold and wet, the Onion is always-flat, sleek, 
handsome and attractive. There is no make-up 
about Onions, it is of no use to apply a pair of 
tweezers to them. You may, by a skilful manipula¬ 
tion of the petals, transform an indifferent Carnation, 
into a very good one, and so mislead the judges and 
public alike, but all the finessing in the world won’t 
transform an ugly, ungainly, rough Onion into a 
perfect specimen. 
The Deverill Onion Show of Banbury is now one 
of the institutions of the town ; and shares with its 
famous cakes, its cross, the old lady who rides the 
white horse, and its antiquities at the old Rainbow 
Inn and elsewhere—the approval and confidence of 
the townspeople. The shop boys, the mayor, the 
yokels from the country, the common councillors 
and the uncommon aldermen, tramps, clergymen, 
and even the cattle for sale in the market, come to 
look at them. Nobody is charged for admission, but 
Mrs. Deverill, whose kind, womanly sympathies are 
with the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund, has a collecting 
box in her shop for such as like to drop in silver. 
Let us hope it was well filled by night. 
The prizes offered are given solely by Mrs. 
Deverill, who carries on the business since the 
death of her husband. The firm have made a 
speciality of Onions, and they encourage the growth 
of their fine stock by offering prizes for finely de¬ 
veloped bulbs, and there is brought together a dis¬ 
play the like of which can only be seen in Banbury, 
a town which has been famous for the growth of 
Onions for years past. The first class is a champion 
one, one prize is offered ; a piece of plate for the six 
largest and handsomest specimens of either one of 
Deverill’s Pedigree Onions. The fortunate winner is 
Mr. Noah Kneller, The Gardens, Malshanger Park, 
Basingstoke. He has six Ailsa Craig, a large, solid, 
globular Onion, weighing i2|lbs. There are twelve 
competitors, and among the varieties staged by 
others are Lord Keeper, Angla-Spanish, and South- 
port Red Globe, remarkable for its fine colour. The 
next class was for twelve specimens ; largest and 
handsomest of Ailsa Craig, Advancer, Cocoa-Nut, 
all Deverill's specialities, or the Original Excelsior. 
Here Mr. T. Wilkins, gardener to Lady Theodora 
Guest, Inwood House, Blandford, was first out of 
twenty-one competitors, having twelve Ailsa Craig 
weighing 23 Jibs. Mr. Kneller came second with the 
same variety, a little heavier, but not so well 
finished as those shown by Mr. Wilkins. Mr. C. J. 
Waite, The Gardens, Glenhurst, Esher, was third 
with the same, and Mr. R. Lye, The Gardens, 
Sydmonton Court, Newbury, fourth with finely 
finished Cocoa-nut. This class was really for the 
globe-shaped types. Class three was for twelve of 
Rousham Park Hero, Anglo-Spanish, The Lord 
Keeper, or Royal Jubilee, Deverill’s flat types. Here 
Mr. T. Wilkins was again first with superbly finished 
