October 15, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
97 
Panicum variegatum and Adiantum cuneatum 
was continued above the plants on the floor, with 
another row of drooping Crotons. Scarlet Pelargo¬ 
niums were interspersed with the Fern and single 
Sunflowers, forming a light and beautiful bank. 
Large Palms were placed against the back wall and 
on either side of the stage ; whilst overhead, a 
splendid wreath rising to about 20 ft. in the centre, 
studded with bunches of scarlet and white flowers, 
also a smaller one of Fern and red and white Sapa- 
gerias, forming a picture that fully deserved the high 
praise which it received from the large audience. 
The proceeds amounted to over £ 20; and the profit, 
which it is hoped will reach nearly £10, is to be 
equally divided between the Gardeners' Royal Bene¬ 
volent Institution and the Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. 
Mr. Holbrook Gaskell, J.P., President of the Society, 
occupied the chair. During the evening a ready 
sale was found for buttonhole flowers, etc. 
International Exhibition at Ghent. —The programme 
of the thirteenth International Horticultural Exhi¬ 
bition of the Royal Agricultural and Botanical 
Society of Ghent has been sent'us, and shows that 
prizes are offered in 660 classes for all sorts of plants 
that may be grown in a garden for use, ornament, or 
commerce, excepting vegetables, which are entirely 
ignored. They are classified into twenty-seven 
groups, such as Orchids, new plants, stove plants, 
Aroids, Palms, Cycads, Ferns, flowering and non¬ 
flowering greenhouse plants, soft wooded and 
herbaceous plants, evergreen plants, bulbous and 
tuberous plants both tender and hardy, Azaleas, 
Camellias, Rhododendrons, hardy and tender, orna¬ 
mental plants of the greenhouse and open air, Agaves* 
Aloes, Yuccas, Conifers, preparations for the 
teaching of botany, bouquets, crowns, and other 
floral devices, and horticultural art and industry. 
The exhibition will open on the 16th April next and 
continue till the 23rd, that is, for a week. The 
following classes of exhibitors are admitted, namely, 
amateurs, horticulturists, horticultural and floricul- 
tural societies, as well as the public establishments of 
botany and horticulture. Collective lots of societies 
belonging to several exhibitors cannot be admitted. 
When the programme does not make special mention 
to the contrary, the classes are open to amateurs and 
nurserymen alike. Exhibitors, under the pain of ex¬ 
clusion from the exhibition, must state the character 
and extent of their exhibits on a form to be sent on 
application, and returned to the secretary, Mon. 
A. L. Rosseel, at the latest by seven p.m. on the 20th 
of March. 
-- 
NEW PLANTS CERTIFICATED, 
The flowers and plants mentioned below were 
exhibited at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural 
Society at the Drill Hall on Tuesday of last week, and 
were awarded th? certificates attributed to them. 
Drac.ena australis rubra.— A vigorous plant of 
this, 3J ft. to 4 ft. high, raised from home-produced 
seeds, and grown in a pot, was exhibited by Mr. H. 
Elliott, F.R.H.S., Stourvale Nursery, Christchurch. 
The leaves are broad, deep green, with a red midrib, 
and all the younger leaves more or less tinted with a 
bronzy red on the upper surface. It will no doubt 
prove very useful for decorative purposes, but a more 
appropriate name might have been given it. A 
First-class Certificate was awarded it. 
Hymenanthera crassifolia.— In some gardens 
this may be seen year after year with hardly a fruit 
upon it. Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, who 
exhibited it, may therefore be congratulated upon the 
success attending their cultivation of it, for the 
branches were literally laden with white berries, 
having a large black or bluish black blotch surroun¬ 
ding or encircling half or three parts of each fruit. 
The contrast of the two totally diverse colours is 
both singular, curious, and interesting. The shrub 
is of spreading, stiffly branched habit, thickly clothed 
with small oblanceolate or spathulate, leathery leaves 
of great substance, as the specific name implies. It 
is hardy in the south of England at least, more 
especially if grown in a rather dry situation. Theplant 
belongs to the Viola family, notwithstanding the dis¬ 
similarity in habit from that of the Pansy. A First- 
class Certificate was accorded it. 
Rhododendron multicolor Neptune. —This 
belongs to the class known as hybrid greenhouse 
Rhododendrons, and to the dwarf and bushy section, 
and may consequently find favourwith cultivators 
who dislike the more robust and quick growing ones 
of another well known group. The leaves are in 
keeping with the habit of the plant, small, lanceolate, 
leathery and deep bronzy green with a red midrib. 
The flowers as far as size is concerned are a great 
improvement upon the small blooms of the previously 
acquired varieties of the multicolor type. They are 
of an intense red, and borne in trusses of six or 
seven, surrounded at the base by straw-coloured 
leathery bracts. 
Chrysanthemum General Hawkes.— For de¬ 
scription of this English raised variety see those cer¬ 
tificated by the National Chrysanthemum Society. 
An Award of Merit was accorded it. 
Chrysanthemum Lady Brooke.— At present this 
looks like a Japanese reflexed variety of considerable 
beauty. The florets are broad and bright yellow in 
the half expanded centre of the bloom, but as they 
get older and droop, they soon become primrose 
yellow, then creamy, and ultimately almost white. 
The blooms are of medium size. Like the previously 
named early variety this was also exhibited by Mr. 
Robert Owen, Castle Hill, Maidenhead, and each 
received an Award of Merit. 
Dahlia Mrs. Vagg. —The blooms of this show 
variety are of large size, and very full but slightly 
concave in the centre, which, however, is well filled 
with small florets. The whole bloom is pretty uni¬ 
formly coloured, with the base of the florets of a deep 
purple shading to a lighter hue at their margins. 
An Award of Merit was accorded it when shown by 
Mr. A. Rawlings, Romford, Essex. 
Begonia Lady Dunsany. —Great improvements 
continue to be made amongst the tuberous Begonias, 
especially the double varieties, of which that under 
notice is one. The flowers are large, perfectly full, 
yet not crowded ; and the broad, rounded sepals are 
arranged round a common, and of a beautiful salmon- 
pink. Some plants of it were shown by Messrs. J. 
Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, in their group at the 
International Horticultural Exhibition at Earl’s 
Court last week, when it was awarded a First-class 
Certificate. 
-- 
A STUDY IN EUONYMUS. 
Wick Hall, Brighton, the residence of SirG. Smyth, 
is so surrounded by trees that, although in the midst 
of houses, it is quite a sylvan retreat. This fact, 
however, is not altogether satisfactory or conducive 
to the well-being of matters floricultural; hence in 
those parts which are affected more or less with an 
absence of Sol’s redeeming rays, the planting of 
Euonymus has been largely substituted. A garden 
laid out and designed after the manner of the 
Italians without the concomitant sweet odours, 
curious carvings, statuettes, and shimmering sun¬ 
shine, would seem to lack its chief constituents, not 
to say its peculiar charm and poetic power. An 
Italian garden minus the clipped trees, aromatic 
flowers, and 
" A pillared shade, 
With echoing walks beneath,” etc., 
seems an abnormity ; and yet here all or much has 
been reversed, and Mr. Turner, the gardener, has 
confined his attention to the Euonymus alone. 
Theoprastus, to whom the Euonymus owes its name 
would indeed be astounded could he revisit the 
scenes of his maturity, to find such an admirable 
display and so many beautifully variegated forms of 
the common type of E. japonicus. Yes, Euonymus ( 
and Euonymus only occupy the vantage points of this 
miniature Roman garden. There are E. radicans 
variegata, E. albo-marginatus, E. aurea-marginatus f 
E. latifolius-albus, E. latifolius-aureus, and E. buxse- 
folius. This latter one, as its specific name implies, 
is box-like, dwarf, bushy, and green leaved. Used as 
a band, margin, or division to the variegated forms, 
it is extremely effective. Moreover, this particular 
style of gardening possesses the great merit of perma¬ 
nency, costing little labour, and adapting itself to all 
weathers. 
Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria in the 
second century, who inveighed with all their 
eloquence against the use of flowers for decorative 
purposes would, doubtless, have agreed that the 
emerald, golden, and silver hues of our modern 
Euonymus were more in keeping with those stern 
tenets on which the Church insisted. 
In addition to a marble fountain, which diffused 
cool vapours and adorned the centre, four beautiful 
figures, representing the seasons, stood round about, 
and at a still more respectful distance large vases, 
filled with our ubiquitous friend, of course, com¬ 
pleted the harmony, enriched the picture, and gave 
solemnity to the classic scene. A few paces— 
Roman paces perchance—and we come upon the 
gardener’s domestic offices literally foliaceous with 
the favourite shrub. Euonymus everywhere ! even, 
apparently, climbing heavenwards. Thus, while the 
green variety embosoms the house and occupies the 
background, on either side of the approach to it the 
dwarfer and more variegated forms are utilised to 
fill the space between the path and the taller-growing 
subjects in the rear. 
Verily a study in Euonymus; and a modest and 
unpretentious picture withal. A cheerful and 
pleasant sight in mid-winter, and a cool and 
refreshing one under the summer’s sun.— C. B. G , 
Acton , W. 
-►?*- 
FORMS OF APPLE 
TREES. 
When looking through the gardens at Sherborne 
Castle, Dorset, where an old friend, Mr. Pragnell, 
has for some thirty-nine years been the gardener, I was 
particularly struck by the forms into which nearly 
all, If not all, the Apple trees in the gardens are trained. 
Practically they are hard pruned mops, if I may 
employ such a term without disrespect. Every 
gardener is entitled to grow his trees in his own way, 
and prune them into whatever shapes he may please, 
provided of course that good crops result. The 
Sherborne trees are about seven feet in height, and 
perhaps four to five feet through. They are of 
rounded form, and although of course not clipped, 
seem to be almost as regularly surfaced over as if 
they were. Naturally this form wears an odd aspect. 
It is obtained chiefly by summer pruning, and Mr. 
Pragnell assured me that it answered well. 
There were on the trees when I was there remark¬ 
able crops of Lord Burleigh, Scarlet Nonpariel, 
King of the Pippins, and others. Not very large 
fruits perhaps, but still of good table size. Very 
many of the trees were not bearing or had the fruit 
gathered, but still there did not seem to be the crop 
relatively that I had seen elsewhere. I could not 
help mentally comparing this produce and the style 
of the trees with those grown so well, yet compara¬ 
tively so freely, at Maiden Erleigh, where Mr. 
Turton, as his recent successes at Earl's Court and 
elsewhere show, has produced grand crops of very 
fine fruits. The Sherborne trees are growing very 
much on chalk or limestone, and that may conduce 
to density of growth, and apparent want of robustness. 
The method of pruning does not seem to be natural, 
and I am far from thinking that, taking the average 
of seasons, it is the best one. There is or was at 
Syon a large number of very hard, spurred Apple 
trees or bushes very close pruned, and mop-headed, 
and so far as my experience of them has gone I have 
seldom seen on them good crops or fine samples. 
The point I raise is as to which is on the whole 
the best method of training or pruning Apple trees 
or bushes for the production of good crops and 
samples. Is it best to have them hard spurred as 
referred to, or is it better to allow the growth free 
play, simply thinning the branches as desired. If 
trees be planted so close together that they each have 
only a few feet of space, or if planted close to the mar¬ 
gins of walks, then there seems to be no other course 
open but to hard spur or prune. But then it seems 
wrong to plant trees under such conditions, because 
the treatment necessarily forced upon the grower is 
unnatural. Top growth and soil rooting go on 
equally, and if the one be cramped the other must 
be starved, yet it is a fact upon which stress must be 
laid, that the espalier style of training suits many 
Apples well, in fact for some twenty years at least, 
although beyond that age they are apt to become 
snagged and sterile. 
Of all the questions which crop up in relation to 
Apple culture, whether for home consumption or 
for market purposes, few have more of interest 
than has this one of style of training or pruning, 
especially for trees on the Paradise stock. Perhaps 
diverse sorts need diverse treatment. Perhaps some 
sorts in nearly all soils admit of diverse treatment, 
but for securing longevity and equable fruitfulness 
there seems to be no method more suitable than is 
the free growth one, tempered by moderate thinning 
from year to year. What a capital plan would it 
have been could all the exhibitors of Apples other than 
nurserymen at the great Earl’s Court Show have 
stated in some way on what form of tree, and how 
old the tree, was each dish produced. As it is we 
find no information in that direction afforded.— A. D. 
