152 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 3, 1894. 
FLORICULTURE. 
The Florist Polyanthus. 
There is a fashion in plants as well as in other 
things, and the florist Polyanthus is now only 
grown by a few florists of the old school, and is out 
of fashion. I was, therefore, pleased to see the 
remarks of so well-known a specialist as the Rev. 
F. D. Horner, of Burton-in-Lonsdale, in the last 
issue of The Gardening World. The large high- 
coloured hybrid border varieties have quite driven 
their more refined rivals from public estimation 
from their robustness and adornment of the spring 
border. The gold-laced Polyanthus has, however, 
a beauty of its own, and I have often wondered how 
it has been so much neglected. Lord Lincoln and 
Kingfisher are extinct, as far as I know. George IV. 
is scarce, and Exile, William IV., and Lancer are 
not easily obtained. 
I have grown show Polyanthuses for more than 
forty years, and still raise a few seedlings every 
year. I entirely agree with Mr. Horner as to the 
difficulty of raising new varieties. I do not say that 
it cannot be done; but I do say. this, that the 
Polyanthus is the most unmanageable flower I ever 
tried, and I have worked in the raising of new things 
for many years. This should only incite us to 
further efforts. As there seems a desire to improve 
the florist Polyanthus, a few hints from an old 
hand may induce others to enter on the enterprise, 
and prove acceptable to florists in general. 
In raising seedlings, the great point is to get 
variety in the ground colour of the flower, especially 
scarlet, as in Kingfisher, and black, as in Lord 
Lincoln ; for the uninitiated say that they can per¬ 
ceive no difference in the varieties. There is some 
truth in this statement. There is a sameness which 
must be got over. In raising seedlings, the great 
point to attend to is to get a good pin-eyed breeder. 
This is a flower where all the good points as to 
lacing and circularity, and even-shaped truss, exist. 
Pin-eye is where the pistil or female organs pro¬ 
trude through the throat of the flower. It requires 
a thrum-eyed flower to be an exhibition variety ; 
this is where the stamina fill up the throat of the 
bloom. Having got a good pin-eyed flower well 
established in a pot and in good bloom, remove it to 
a frame or even a sunny window, where no insects 
can interfere. When with the glass or naked eye 
you can see the round nob or pin-head on the 
summit of the pistil to be glutinous or sticky, if you 
can obtain pollen from George IV. or Lancer, apply 
it with a brush or piece of pointed stick dipped in 
glycerine ; the pollen grains stick to the brush or 
stick, and are easily applied to the pistil. Sunny 
weather is indispensable for the operation, and there 
is no use trying the fertilisation of the flower in any 
other. In about fourteen days the seed-vessel at the 
base of the flower will be felt to be swelling, and 
care must now be observed in maturing the seed, 
which in general may not be fit to sow till the month 
of August, when the seed-vessel is brown and open. 
Beware of birds, which in open-air plants destroy all 
seeds if not watched. 
Sow the seeds at once in pans of sandy loam, and 
place a piece of glass over them for shade, and to 
prevent over-watering. The seedlings will appear in 
less than a month ; watch for slugs, and give air and 
light as the young seedlings require, and there will 
soon be plenty of plants. In spring, plant out the 
seedlings in a shady, moist part of the garden. 
A small proportion will show flower ; at all events, 
they will make good, strong plants, and next spring 
the raiser will be rewarded. A certain proportion of 
the seedlings will show that care has been used in 
their breeding. Some good-shaped and well-coloured 
flowers will be pin-eyed, and can be reserved as 
plants to breed from ; others having the best florist 
qualities must be reserved to grow and propagate. 
Open air, open ground treatment is what I believe 
to be sound advice. Many of our be«t florist flowers 
are coddled out of existence. The Polyanthus is a 
hardy plant, and seedlings grown out-of-doors in a 
moist, cool situation exhibit extraordinary vigour. 
In the south, I am told that the heat and drought 
are inimical to their growth, and they get covered 
with red spider. In our northern regions they thrive 
splendidly, but require, as already stated, a moist, 
shady situation. 
It is stated that seed from the var. George IV ( . 
has never yielded a good seedling. Many things are 
printed that are not exactly true. In my own 
experience 1 never got a seedling from George IV., 
but pollen from that flower has yielded me seed 
from which I raised Border Maid, which Mr. Dean, 
of Ealing, and Mr. Douglas, of Great Gearies, con¬ 
sider a meritorious variety—also many other good 
show sorts. What we want is new blood ; hardy out- 
of-doors treatment. The old-standard varieties seem 
worn out in constitution from coddling and long age. 
A good new race, nearer the seedling, is now much 
wanted, and I hope in the spring to be able to send 
the Editor of The Gardening World some blooms 
for inspection, which I hope may display a vigour 
which is difficult to attain with the old plants of The 
Florist varieties. I am very glad the Rev. F. D. 
Horner has brought up the subject, and I hope his 
remarks will induce some primulaceous enthusiasts 
to engage in improving a most refined and beautiful 
spring flower.— Charles Stuart, M.D., Hillside, 
Chirnside-. - 
The Gold-laced Polyanthus. 
The confession of our friend “ R. D.” with reference 
to his failures with the Gold-laced Polyanthuses has 
has been of great advantage to other florists, 
inasmuch as it has been the means of drawing 
valuable communications from such eminent 
authorities, as Mr. Thurstan and the Rev. F. D. 
Horner. If a few other of the old and experienced 
growers would give us their experience of successes 
and failures, we may possibly again see this early 
gem of the flower border at our spring shows. Of 
late years it has been pitiable to see the mites of 
plants placed on the table at the National Auricula 
Show at the Drill Hall, each year more feeble in 
strength and fewer in numbers. But the confession 
has revealed the cause of failure. How can it be 
possible to grow the Polyanthus successfully in 
porous thumb pots, and exposed in a dry atmos¬ 
phere surcharged with London smoke ? The plant 
is an alpine and loves moisture, but if it is necessary 
to grow the plant in pots, why not try the glazed 
pots supplied to Mr. Henwood, by Messrs. Collier, 
of Reading ? Mr. Henwood has satisfactorily shown 
their adaptability for the culture of the show 
Auricula. 
I know that it is an accepted faith among growers 
generally that porosity is an essential feature in a 
plant pot, but I dare to doubt it. I have grown the 
Polyanthus in zinc pots, in wooden boxes pitched 
inside, and even in earthen mugs, many years ago. 
Given a good strong retentive loam, with leaf soil 
and sharp sand in admixture, and perfect drainage, 
and a porous pot is not a necessity. The best 
possible situation for the Gold-laced or any other 
Polyanthus will be found under the shelter of a 
Gooseberry bush or a thorn hedge, where they will 
be shaded from the summer's sun, and become 
partly covered with the fallen leaves in winter. 
Under such conditions the Gold-laced varieties may 
regain their constitution, an abundance of foliage, 
and brilliancy of colour. If divided in May, as Mr. 
Horner recommends, and planted in good sandy 
loam they would grow and multiply, and for 
exhibition purposes it would be easy to lift them 
with a trowel and drop them into a well-drained pot. 
I shall try the glazed pots for the Primula tribe, 
and possibly for Carnations, but I shall not use soil 
charged with soot, sulphur, and other abominations. 
They shall have some good hazel loam and vegetable 
refuse with spent hops from the brewery placed over 
the crocks.— William Wardill, Luton. 
The English "Show” Tulip. 
I learn with much pleasure that the enterprising 
seed and bulb grower, Mr. Peter Barr, of King Street, 
Covent Garden, is determined to give all amateur 
florists the opportunity of cultivating and exhibiting 
the old but much neglected " Show ” Tulip. Mr. Barr 
has, as many may know, displayed great efforts and 
spared no expense during the last two or three years 
in collecting a most valuable and extensive assort¬ 
ment of this most gorgeous class of florists' show 
flowers, and which, from the simplicity of their 
culture, are specially adapted for amateurs who 
may have the florists’ fancies running in their blood ! 
The prices of the show Tulip now are not what they 
were half a century ago, " five pounds to fifty pounds 
each bulb,” for, according to " Barr’s Catalogue,” 
ioo bulbs named are offered at 55s., 75s., and 100s. 
according to quality, and single bulbs from is. each ! 
Surely, then, there is a chance for all amateurs to 
start with a bed of show Tulips at a comparatively 
trifling cost. 
Mr. Barr appears also to be determined, now that 
he has possessed himself with about thirty thousand 
bulbs of the Show Tulip, that they shall not be 
kept to himself in his own grounds, for I see that he 
is, in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural 
Society and Mr. James W. Bentley (Hon. Sec. of 
the Royal National Tulip Society), arranging for 
two shows to be held in London next year in May, to 
suit the growers of the South, and one in June to 
suit, as far as possible, the Northern and Midland 
Counties growers, and silver medals will be offered 
by Messrs. Barr & Son, the Royal Horticultural 
Society, and by Mr. Bentley. There is thus a 
favourable opportunity for all Tulip cultivators, and 
especially new beginners, in the south to put their 
" shoulders to the wheel ” in supporting the great 
efforts of Mr. Barr, in his anxiety to resuscitate in 
the neighbourhood and suburbs of London this old 
and glorious variety of florist’s flowers, and 
which our grandfathers and great-grandfathers 
cultivated with pride, and abundant love ! 
There can be no question as to the situation around 
London being favourable to the cultivation of the 
Tulip, which the specimens exhibited last May, at 
the Drill Hall, by Dr. Hogg, Messrs. Barr & Son, and 
other southern growers fully corroborated. I have 
been a grower and exhibitor for nearly forty years, 
but last year was the first London show of Tulips I 
had ever had the pleasure of witnessing, and never 
previously had I seen such magnificently grown 
Tulips as those exhibited by Dr. Hogg and Messrs. 
Barr & Son, and the refinement in markings of 
Feathered Talisman, Sir Joseph Paxton, and Doctor 
Hardy, exhibited by Messrs. Barr, was as near per¬ 
fection as possible, and had more attention been 
paid to the blooms in sheltering them from the sun 
and rain, they would have stood on the exhibition 
table in a much higher position than they occupied. 
—James Thurstan, The Green, Cannock. 
SEAKALE AND ITS CULTURE. 
This is one of the most useful winter and early spring 
vegetables we have, and in most establishments the 
demand for it is usually very great. No great difficulty 
should, however, be experienced in the meeting of 
this demand, for Seakale forces very easily, and no 
elaborate preparations are necessary to obtain it in 
abundance, as well as of first-class quality. As a 
rule a supply is looked for in the kitchen about 
Christmas time and where this is the case, prepara¬ 
tions should have been made by this time to meet 
the demand, if the produce is expected from plants 
forced in the open ground. Such plants should be 
cleared of decaying leaves, and Seakale pots placed 
over them, these latter being well covered with 
fermenting material, which should consist of a 
mixture of fresh stable manure and leaves, the 
heat obtained from this mixture being very uniform, 
well-sustained, and quite strong enough for all 
purposes. 
Although forcing from plants in the open ground 
in the manner described finds favour with many, it 
entails a much greater amount of labour (an import¬ 
ant consideration) than when the crowns are lifted, 
potted five or six in a 10 in. pot, and placed in the 
Mushroom house. The equable temperature that 
should obtain there is very suitable for the purpose, 
and this is perhaps the best plan for obtaining 
large supplies with the least possible amount of 
labour. 
The potting of the roots for forcing is an 
extremely simple operation, and may be easily and 
safely performed by any ordinary garden labourer. 
A large crock should be placed over the central hole 
of the pot, next a layer of rough soil, after which 
the roots may be put in, and the soil (old leaf mould 
being as good as anything) shaken down well 
round them. The soil should not be compressed 
in any way, and no water at all should be given. 
Generally, a period of six or seven weeks from the 
time of starting will suffice for the production of 
Seakale of excellent quality. It may of course be 
obtained in a less time by means of harder forcing, 
but it must be borne in mind that the gentler the 
forcing the better will be the quality of the vegetable 
produced. 
An abundant supply of crowns suitable for forcing 
may be obtained if the small side roots are cut off in 
lengths of about 4 in. and inserted in the open 
ground in spring. Many growers adopt the plan of 
removing these from the crowns as they are lifted 
for forcing. These small root cuttings are then tied 
