August 31, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
837 
Apples and Pears shown by the president, Mr. W. 
F. G. Spranger, gardener, Mr. H. Curtis, were highly 
commended. For anew Heliopsis Mr. B. Ladhams 
received a certificate. 
Ealing and District Gardeners’ Society—The 
seventh annual excursion of this Society took place 
on Tuesday, the 20th inst., under very favourable 
auspices. The weather was all that could be desired ; 
and, although only about forty members and friends 
availed themselves of the occasion, the excursion, 
otherwise, was a great success. The party travelled 
by train from Ealing to Staines, thence by the steam 
launch “ La Marguerite ” to Maidenhead Bridge, 
from which place a short walk to the Dumb-bell 
Hotel, Taplow, completed the outward journey. 
Here the party were well entertained, and received 
every satisfaction at the hands of “ mine host.” 
After luncheon, Mr. S. A. Sewell, who occupied the 
chair, proposed success to the Society, which was 
duly responded to by Mr. Burgess. Mr. Fountain 
proposed the visitors, which also received due 
acknowledgement; while Mr. Cooper initiated a vote 
of thanks to the Hon. Secretary, Mr. C. F. Harding, 
for the work of organization, which everybody 
seconded with acclamation. The return journey 
commenced at five o'clock, tea being served on 
board. Ealing Broadway was reached by 9.34 p.m. 
where the party dispersed after a most enjoyable 
day of exactly twelve hours. 
■■- I *- 
A RECORD PICOTEE. 
An incident of the recent Exhibition of the National 
Carnation and Picotee Society at the Crystal Palace 
appears, so far as my observation goes, to have 
escaped notice. I allude to the fact that a new Picotee, 
named after the Duchess of York, and exhibited in 
Mr. Charles Turner’s second prize stand of twenty- 
four Picotees, was awarded the prize as the premier 
Picotee in the show and also a certificate as a new 
variety. I do not remember ever noticing a similar 
occurrence in previous years, and I think Duchess of 
York is therefore well entitled to rank as a record 
flower. This new Picotee is an attractive flower 
and ought to take a front place among the heavy 
red-edged section. I should class it as medium 
heavy, and it is all the more valuable for that reason; 
for when the marking extends too deeply down the 
petal the purity of the white ground is interfered 
with, and the whole character of the bloom suffers 
for lack of ground colour. The petal is of good form 
with even edge and of good substance; and I was 
specially gratified to note a good bunch of crown 
petals in the centre ; not too many, but just enough. 
I cannot abide your flat flowers, made up of a 
dozen large petals artificially laid out one over the 
other, with nothing to support them but the collar. 
They are as unnatural as they are ugly: but they 
are the fashion, it seems, now, and florists like every¬ 
one else must follow the fashion if they wish to win 
prizes. Duchess ofYork is well built up and presents 
a good outline. The colour is a bright soft shade of 
vermilion-scarlet, so far as I could judge, and well 
confined to the edge. It struck me this year that 
most Picotees were badly spotted and barred. 
Indeed, I observed, in more than one flower in first 
prize stands, bars running nearly the full length of 
the petal. At Oxford I noted Little Phil very much 
disfigured in this way. 
I should like to take this opportunity of expressing 
a fervent hope that judges will not allow the old line 
of demarcation between the Picotee in its best 
developed form and the more modern Fancy to be 
swept away. Once you allow barred and splashed 
and blotched and striped flowers to figure in stands 
under the name of Picotees you may say good-bye to 
that graceful elegance and refined beauty which has 
hitherto marked out the Picotee from all other 
varieties of the Dianthus, and has, I think, placed it 
upon the highest pinnacle of greatness. At the 
same time I do not wish to depreciate the value of 
the Fancy section. They are most beautiful and for 
decorative purposes invaluable, especially the yellow 
grounds. I greatly admired the premier Fancy at 
the Palace, named Primrose League, and was 
gratified to see it honoured, as I had on a previous 
occasion (the first time I saw it) prophesied for it a 
distinguished career. In conclusion I pray you 
pardon these discursive remarks.— E. Ranger Johnson. 
Chrysanthemums and their Culture. By Edwin 
Molyneux. Eighth Edition. By far the best practical work yet 
written on this subject. Price, is.; post free, is. 2d. Publisher, 
Gardening World, i, Clement’s Inn, Strand,London, W.C. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
The Stove. 
Musas. —Although it is only in roomy houses that 
these plants can be grown, on account of the large 
size to which they attain and the corresponding 
amount of space they need, still, where the con¬ 
venience exists for their culture there can be no 
doubt that they are well deserving a place in the 
large stove. If a little care is taken not to get the 
leaves torn and lacerated the plants present a truly 
noble and imposing appearance, and more than one 
house that we have seen owes not a little of its 
attractiveness to the presence of the large, green, 
gracefully-arched leaves. Then there is the fruit 
they bear to be taken into consideration, in itself a 
point of no small importance, for home-grown 
Bananas are often much-esteemed delicacies and 
occupy a favoured position upon the dessert table. 
Any plants that are carrying trusses of fruit must be 
assisted as far as possible by copious waterings with 
liquid manure. Of the dwarfer-growing Bananas, 
Musa Cavendishii is one of the very best, as it will 
grow freely enough with a comparatively restricted 
root run, whilst its fruit is of excellent quality. 
The fruit of M. sapientum is also highly esteemed, 
although the great height to which the plant grows 
renders it unsuitable for all other than very large 
houses. M. s. vittata is very useful for growing in 
pots as a decorative plant, the characteristic white 
stripes and blotchings appearing to great advantage 
upon the bright green ground colour. M. coccinea 
is also a very ornamental plant. The inflorescence 
is about a foot in length carrying spathes of a bright 
scarlet hue charmingly tipped with yellow. The 
plant reaches a height of about 4 ft., and is thus 
admirably adapted for pot culture. All need plenty 
of water, during the summer months particularly. 
Pits and Frames. 
Nerines. —After the bulbs had completed their 
growth, they will have been suffered to dry oft and to 
lapse into a state of rest during the last two or three 
months. The flower scapes should now be showing 
on the strongest of them, and as soon as these are 
observed water must be given them. Do not, how¬ 
ever, deluge the plants at once, but water them 
repeatedly until the soil is once more reduced to the 
necessary moist condition. Those that are not 
showing any signs of growth may be left a little 
longer in their quiescent condition as they will thus 
form a suitable succession to the earlier ones. If it 
is desired to have the first batch in pretty early, the 
plants should be placed in a gentle heat and the pots 
plunged in Cocoanut fibre refuse until the flowers 
begin to open, when they may be removed to the 
conservatory. Both N. sarniensis and N. curvifolia, 
or, to give it its commoner name, N. Fothergilii, 
are both well worth growing. 
Bulbs for Spring Flowering. —Every gardener 
who has to keep up a show of bloom in the conserva¬ 
tory at all seasons, as well as to supply quantities of 
cut flowers for miscellaneous purposes, knows full 
well the value of bulbs during the winter and early 
spring months. Indeed, in most establishments of 
any size a large stock of material of this kind is 
absolutely indispensable. It is now high time that 
the bulbs were potted off, and to those who have not 
yet sent in their order for the same we should 
strongly advise their doing so without further 
procrastination. Some gardeners prefer dealing 
directly with Dutch growers, and in that case either 
Messrs. Ant. Roozen & Sons or E. H. Krelage & 
Son, both of Haarlem, amongst other well-known 
cultivators, may be applied to with confidence to 
supply excellent material at a reasonable price. 
Hyacinths. —Every collection should contain the 
following sorts.—Single : King of the Reds, Sir John 
Foxbourg, scarlet; Lord Macauley, rose, striped 
red ; Norma, rosy-pink ; General Pelissier, orange- 
red ; Etna, carmine ; Grandeur a Merveille, Michael 
Angelo, Princess Amalia, rosy-whites; La Neige, 
Madame de Stael, Queen Victoria, La Vestale and 
Mont Blanc, pure whites; Queen of the Blues, Lord 
Byron, General Pelissier, Charles Dickens and Sir 
John Lawrence, blues ; and King of the Yellows, 
Ambrose Verschaffelt and General Von Werder, 
yellows. The double varieties are much stiffer in 
appearance than are the singles, but a few of them 
may be grown with advantage. Some of the best 
are Disraeli, bright red ; Princess Louise, scarlet; 
George Peabody, crimson; Koh-i-noor, salmon; 
Dagmar, bright .rose; and Juno, Miss Nightingale, 
Flavus, and La Tour D’Auvergne, pure whites. 
Tulips.— Pans filled with these come in very useful 
indeed, and if possible a few bulbs should be treated 
in this way. Nothing can be better than the red 
and yellow, white, scarlet. Due Van Thol varieties, 
whilst the scarlet, white and yellow forms of Potte- 
bakker are also admirable. 
Crocuses. —These are not grown in pots nearly so 
much as they might be. If properly treated they do 
quite satisfactorily and may be relied on to give a 
very good return. They positively dislike hard 
forcing, however, and therefore this should never be 
attempted. Five or six corms will be sufficient for a 
5-in. pot, or, if larger masses are desired, pans may be 
brought into requisition. The following will be 
found good Lord Derby, purple ; Othello, dark 
blue ; Caroline Chisholm, Mont Blanc, Mammoth 
and Grand Conquerant, whites; and the Large 
Yellow. 
Polyanthus Narcissi are among the most useful 
of winter and spring flowers, inasmuch as they force 
easily and usually bloom very freely, whilst the 
flowers are of the greatest value for cutting. A 
number of the paper-white; Double Roman ; Aigle 
d'Or, yellow; and Queen Victoria, white, should be 
ordered. 
Subsequent Treatment.— After the bulbs have 
been potted up and properly labelled they should be 
conveyed to the plunging ground and covered with 
ashes. A word of caution as to these latter may be 
necessary. By no means should ashes that have 
been obtained from gas fires be used, or the young 
tendergrowths will be sure to be injured by contact with 
them. Many of the complaints that are heaped upon 
the heads of the nurseryman for supplying bad stuff 
are brought about by mistakes made in the direction 
suggested. It should be arranged, moreover, that 
the earlier sorts are so placed that they may be 
removed easily from the bed of ashes as required 
without disturbing the remainder.— A. S. G. 
Dendrobiums.— The deciduous kinds such as the 
beautiful D. wardianum, D. crassinode, and the fine 
hybrid D. Ainsworthii, also the variety D. A. roseum, 
are finishing up their newly-made pseudo-bulbs, and 
should therefore be gradually dried off and placed 
where they can get all the light and air possible ; for 
on the proper ripening up of the bulbs depends the 
future well-being of the plants ; unless they are well 
ripened their flowering will be unsatisfactory, and 
the next season’s growth small. D. nobile, too, 
requires similar treatment. I have seen this, the 
most accommodating of all Orchids, dried to such 
an extent that it seemed impossible for them to 
plump up again and produce a good crop of flowers, 
but such was the case. We ourselves do not carry 
this drying off system quite to this extent, indeed, we 
do not care to let the plants shrivel but very little. 
Position.— The best place to keep them when 
at rest is, we think, a vinery where the fruit has just 
been cut and the Vines are receiving all the air 
possible ; there will be partial shade which will be all 
the better for a time, when they may and ought to 
be fully exposed to the sun. 
Calanthes.— C. vestita rubra and C. v lutea, 
also C. Veitchii, have finished making growths, and 
like the Dendrobiums should be so placed that they 
may get the light and air that is so essential to them 
at this time of the year. Gradually reduce the 
moisture at the roots, but not so that the bulbs 
shrivel too much, or the spikes will be small and the 
flowers poor ; this would also be the case if kept too 
cool. For this reason alone they should be given a 
place on a shelf near the glass in the stove where 
they have been growing. Some growers keep them 
wet at the roots so as to retain the foliage as long as 
possible, but we have never seen any good result 
from the practice. The flowers are certainly smaller 
and the following season’s growths decidedly weak. 
It is a drawback, of course, their not having any 
foliage on when in bloom, but this can be easily 
remedied by placing a few Ferns amongst the pots. 
For winter work they are much sought after and are 
justly prized. 
Scale.— Brown scale is very fond of Calanthes 
and should be kept under by frequently sponging 
them with soapy water. 
Oncidium tigrinum. —Protect the spikes, which 
are just pushing with the young growths, from the 
ravages of slugs by placing some cotton wool, the 
fluffy side outward, round the base of the spikes ; this 
keeps them at bay for a time and enables one to 
catch them before any damage is done — C. 
