August 10, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
793 
Ridley is a Kew man I must tell you, and has laid 
out most of the places I have mentioned. 
The special features of the parks and gardens of 
Lucknow are the beautiful lawns of " Doob ” grass ; 
they are equal to the best kept lawns I have ever 
seen either in England or in Scotland. In reply to 
my questions as to how the lawns were made 
and maintained in such good order, &c., Mr. 
Ridley very kindly gave me the desired in¬ 
formation. He said that first of all the ground 
had to be deeply trenched and allowed to settle 
for a time, after which, arrangements are made 
to smooth the surface of the soil for the reception of 
the “ Doob ” grass. The planting, or sowing rather, 
is done immediately after the rainy season begins. 
The grass is collected from any plac?, or places,where 
it is growing in abundance ; it is pulled up roots and 
all, and chopped up with a sharp chopper into 
short pieces approximately one inch in length. It is 
then taken and sown on the prepared ground and 
afterwards covered with a thin layer of good soil, 
when it soon takes root and begins to show itself on 
the surface. The lawn mower is then brought into 
requisition and kept going regularly, or as necessity 
demands, on it. Mr. Ridley told me that he found 
it necessary at Lucknow to water the lawns copiously 
LYCHNIS VISCARIA FLORE PLENO. 
This plant commonly called the double German 
Catch-fly, is at the time of writing, one of the most 
attractive features of the flower garden. It is very 
effective in the borders as single plants here and 
there; but it is only when we see it massed as in the 
photograph that we really see the true value of it as a 
decorative plant. Being a native of Britain and 
Siberia it is very hardy, and can remain in the bed 
throughout the severest of our winters without any 
protection. It is best when allowed to remain in the 
bed for a year or two as then it forms a thick mass, 
and the dark green foliage contrasts well with the 
bright racemes of deep rose flowers. It is admirably 
suited for massing along with varieties of Violas ; 
and it is a pity that it is not more extensively grown 
for this purpose, because when once seen in its 
grandeur, it is a sight not to be soon forgotten.— 
GOOSEBERRIES WITHOUT SPINES. 
The sowings of Gooseberries which have hitherto 
been made, have been almost exclusively with the 
view of obtaining commercial varieties with large 
fruits. That was the end pursued. As to the very 
Souvenir de Billard.— The bush is vigorous, 
extremely fertile ; the spreading branches are long 
and divaricate, and the branches somewhat dressed 
with an ashy-green bark. The small leaves are 
shortly stalked ; the lamina is truncate at the base, 
almost to the petiole, thin, deeply lobed with 
irregular lobes and unequal teeth. The fruits are 
very numerous, sub-globular, sometimes slightly 
oboval by reason of their attenuation towards the 
apex, upon a short peduncle with umbilicate union 
and about in. long. The skin of the berry is 
rose or deep vinous red, perfectly smooth, sur¬ 
rounded by numerous longitudinal nerves, either 
simple or branched ; it is also thick, leathery, and 
very resistant. The withered calyx is slender and 
very short. The pulp is of a beautiful pale rose, 
juicy, firm, sugary, and slightly acidulated with a 
particular flavour. The seeds are slightly elongated, 
well attached to the top of a white funicle which 
nestles in the pulp, where one can see them by trans¬ 
parency. This variety ripens somewhat late towards 
the end of July, even in August. It is excessively 
fertile and gives fruits generally in bundles. 
Gooseberry Edouard Lefort.— This sort is of 
moderate vigour. The branches are divaricate, 
ramifying, numerous, and covered witn a yellowish 
A bed of Lychnis Viscaria fl. pl. 
during the driest season of the year in order to keep 
them in good condition. One of the prettiest and 
most effective pieces of flower gardening I have yet 
seen in India is in the Wingfield Park surrounding a 
large marble summer house. It is an exceedingly 
fine piece of work. 
I am glad to say that both my wife and self have 
derived benefit from the change. I must be back to 
Calcutta to recommence my duties on the 24th of 
this month (June). By-the-bye, I see in the papers 
that the Kew students (young men) have got their 
pay raised to twenty-two shillings per week, which I 
am pleased to learn. Mr. Gollan, Superintendent 
of the Saharunpore Gardens, is at home just now on 
six months leave. Perhaps you may meet him 
sometime. He was at one time in the Edinburgh 
Botanic Garden. Where we are staying is 7,200 ft. 
above sea level. The climate is good and fairly 
pleasant with a genial temperature .—Robert L. 
Proudlock. 
Vines and Vine Culture.—The best book on Grapes. By 
Archibald F. Barron, Superintendent of the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s Gardens, Chiswick ; Secretary of the Fruit Com¬ 
mittee. Demy 8vo., Handsomely bound in Cloth. Price, 5s. 
post free, 5s. 3d., from Gardening World Office, i, 
Clement's Inn, Strand, W.C. 
great inconvenience, however, in having spines liable 
to injure the workers when gathering the fruits, it 
had until now almost passed unnoticed. Some years 
have passed since the absence of spines has been 
looked for. 
The first unarmed subject, and consequently the 
first Gooseberry bush without spines that has been 
seen, was a result due to chance; it was found in a 
sowing of seeds of Gooseberries made about i860 by 
the late M. Billard, the seedsman at Fontenay-aux- 
Roses (Seine). It is from that, that towards 1884, 
M. Edouard Lefort, general secretary of the Horti¬ 
cultural Society of the district of Meaux, commenced 
to raise the new series of Gooseberries without 
spines, of which we are about to speak. 
We think we ought to apply to one of them, first 
the name of him who obtained the first unarmed type 
of Gooseberry, that is to say, to the late M. Billard, 
afterwards to dedicate another to M. Ed. Lefort, 
who conceived the idea of sowing seeds of that first 
subject with the intention of obtaining new, un¬ 
armed varieties. His efforts were crowned with 
success, and, thanks to him, we have been able, 
amongst a great number of subjects, to describe 
several fine varieties of them. Probably it is only 
the prelude to other acquisitions. 
green bark. The leaves are smooth, sufficiently 
large, and long stalked ; the lamina is slightly wedge- 
shaped at the base, strongly nerved, thin, green, 
shining above, a little paler beneath, with fairly 
deep, incisely toothed lobes and irregular teeth. The 
fruit is perfectly smooth, oboval-elliptic, largely 
rounded at the two ends, 1^ in. long and ijin. in 
diameter. The smooth skin is shining, vinous red, 
and surrounded by internal striae. The calyx is 
short, the stigmatic or umbilical spot large, short 
and obtuse. The pulp is gray or ashy-reddish, per¬ 
meated internally with longitudinal striae, sugary, 
and relatively firm. The seeds are small, brown, 
rounded, embedded in the pulp, which is gelatinous, 
and grayish-white. It is a beautiful and good 
variety, fertile, vigorous, keeping well by reason of 
its thick, leathery skin, which keeps the fruit entire, 
and enables it to travel without deteriorating. 
Madame Edouard Lefort.— This variety is 
represented in the Revue Horticole by a chromo-litho- 
graph, while some of the others are also figured, 
including the first variety raised. The bush is very 
dwarf, clothed with branches covered with an ashy- 
gray bark. The crowded leaves are small, smooth, 
lobed, with irregular lobes, unequally and deeply 
incise-toothed; the lamina is small, smooth, thin 
