180 
i'HE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 19, 1892. 
WINTER BLOOMING 
PELARGONIUMS. 
Except seeing winter Zonal Pelargoniums in brilliant 
bloom in the houses at Swanley, nothing could 
possibly convey a finer conception of the superb 
colouring and beauty found in these flowers than 
did the truly wonderful collection of bunches of cut 
flowers which Messrs. Cannell & Son put up at the 
Royal Aquarium last week. Probably a more 
beautiful display of the kind has never been seen at 
any show. How great a stimulus should such a 
display give to the wider cultivation of Pelargoniums 
during the winter. Perhaps in many cases the 
growth of Chrysanthemums exhausts the capacities 
of the gardener. If so then it is a misfortune. 
The chief need for the Pelargonium in winter is 
found in a low span-roof house, in which there is 
found plenty of light, air, and some moderate warmth. 
I saw a house of this nature recently at Downside, 
Letherhead, containing some 250 plants, in 6-in. pots, 
in glorious bloom, showing how well they can be 
done in private gardens, as well as in nurseries. To 
have with them for variety some winter blooming 
Carnations, and moderate sized Bouvardias, seems to 
give a wealth of bloom that is of the greatest value 
in the dull season of the year 
It is not at all difficult to have any of these plants 
if stock be prepared in due course. The Pelar¬ 
goniums from spring struck cuttings, the Carnations 
from spring layers, and the Bouvardias from cuttings 
of the previous autumn. Then all grown on specially 
for winter blooming they flower from the middle of 
October to the middle of April, a period of six 
months if so needed. What a wealth of beauty, as 
well as of floral value, will a few scores or better 
still hundreds of such plants give. A great advantage 
is found in having a 2-in. pipe run alongjust beneath 
the roof of the house in which plants of this descrip¬ 
tion are wintered, as the air is then kept so much 
dryer, a very important consideration in connection 
with the production of flowers.— A. D. 
Universally as these are cultivated, there is 
evidently no falling off of their admirers. For in 
door culture they are no doubt most appreciated in 
winter or during the dull autumn months, on 
account of the rich and varied display of colours 
peculiar to themselves. Several houses are usually 
set apart for winter-flowering Pelargoniums in the 
nursery of Messrs. H. Cannell & Son, Swanley. Kent, 
and at the present time there are four houses, one of 
which is mostly devoted to double varieties. Great 
improvement has been effected in the size of the 
flowers within the last few years, and the colours 
have in no way deteriorated, while some fresh ones 
have been added. The low, span-roofed houses at 
Swanley, and the dry and genial atmosphere main¬ 
tained inside, suits this class of plants admirably. 
Of the numerous varieties grown here we noted 
only a few of those put into commerce this year, and 
some that are to be sent out next year. The size of 
the trusses is great, but that of individual flowers is 
even more wonderful, as some which we measured 
varied from 2 in. to 2J in. across or more. Amphion 
is one of those sent out this year, and has large 
trusses and flowers of a bright pink with a blotch at 
the base of each of the two upper petals. The 
variety is of the same type as the old Master 
Christine, but much larger and more handsome. 
The trusses and flowers of White Lady are large 
and pure white with orange anthers, that soon 
drop leaving the flowers of spotless purity. A dis¬ 
tinct and striking flower is Madame Bondeville, white 
suffused with scarlet, and having bright scarlet edges 
in the style of a Picotee. The trusses are also of 
great size, so that altogether this' is a variety of great 
merit. 
Improvements continue to be effected, and the 
undermentioned varieties are those selected and 
grown on to be sent out next year. The huge 
flowers of Mascagni are very striking, being white 
shaded with salmon and having a scarlet centre. 
Madame Melba is white with a delicate pink centre, 
and quite distinct from others having the same 
arrangement of colours. The largest and best 
shaped salmon ever yet put into commerce will be 
A. F. Wootton when it makes its appearance before 
the public. The flowers are of great size and good 
form, as are all those above described. They are 
salmon fading towards the margin, while there is a 
small white centre. W. P. Wright is of the style of 
the old favourite, Jean Sisley, but the brilliant 
scarlet flowers with a small white eye are paler 
though very much larger than those of the old and 
at one time largely grown variety. — F. 
THE VEGETABLE; GARDEN. 
General Work v 
Work in the kitchen garden will now have to be 
regulated by the weather. On frosty mornings 
manure can be wheeled on to all pieces of vacant 
ground, so that in favourable weather digging may 
be proceeded with. Weeds must be cleared off 
when the weather is favourable ; they have grown 
very fast during the last month in the south, many 
parts of the garden that were quite clean a month 
ago being. now covered with weeds, and with the 
continual rains and foggy weather it is impossible to 
kill them unless they are cleared away. 
The tops of Asparagus can now be cleared away 
and burnt, and Jerusalem Artichokes may be lifted 
and stored. All the Potato pits should be carefully 
examined, and if many of the tubers are going bad 
they must be sorted and repitted. In some pits I 
had examined last week I was astonished to find haif 
the Potatos rotten, though they were apparently 
quite sound when lifted. The old wood should be 
cut from the Raspberries, and the young shoots 
thinned and retied to the stakes or wires. Forward 
plantations of Cabbage will be benefited by some 
soil being drawn up to the lower leaves with a hoe ; 
this will be found a great protection if we get a long 
and severe frost.— G. H. S. 
-—S*- 
THE GARDENERS’ ROYAL 
BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. 
The fifty-third anniversary festival of this Institution 
took place at the Hotel Metropole on Tuesday 
evening, when about 150 friends and supporters of 
the charity sat down to dinner under the presidency 
of The Right Hon. Lord Brassey, K.C.B., among 
the gentlemen present being Lord Addington, Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart., Mr. G. F. Wilson, F.R.S., 
Mr. John Lee, Mr. H. J. Veitch, Mr. N. N. Sher¬ 
wood, Mr. P. Crowley, Rev. W. Wilks, Mr. H. E. 
Milner, Mr. A. G. W. Weeks, Mr. W. J. Nutting, 
Mr. W. Y. Baker, Mr. J. Laing, Mr. H. Turner, Mr. 
Cathie, Mr. Barron, Mr. Barr, Dr. Gorton, Mr. 
Webber, Mr. Monro, Mr. T. A. Dickson, Mr. G. 
Dickson, Chester, Mr. W. Paul, Mr. Lynch White, 
Mr. J. Wills, Mr. Cutbush, Mr. Iceton, Mr. Bun- 
yard, Mr. Corry, Mr. A. Mosse, Mr. Osman, Mr. 
Kay, Mr. Sweet, Mr. Head, Mr. H. M. Hill, and 
Mr. W. J. Brewer. 
The usual loyal toasts having been duly honoured. 
Lord Brassey gave the toast of the evening, viz.— 
“ Continued Success and Prosperity to the Gardeners’ 
Royal Benevolent Institution.” His Lordship said 
that in pleading on behalf of a charity that ministers to 
the relief of gardeners in distress, whether from age, 
sickness, or any other cause, he had a case which it 
should be easy to commend to those who have it in 
their power, to be charitable. Many delightful 
associations were gathered around the occupation of 
gardeners, and they had been described by Shakes¬ 
peare in some of his choicest lines :— 
" I know a bank whereon the wild Thyme grows, 
Where Oxlips and the nodding Violet blow. 
Quite over-canopied with lush Woodbine, 
With sweet Musk Roses, and with Eglantine. 
There sleeps Titania, some time of the night, 
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight.” 
The Institution commenced its work in 1839 with the 
modest capital of £ 126. Its laudable object was to 
provide pensions for those who followed the occupa¬ 
tion of the gardener, and had no opportunity of 
making provision for themselves. But while grant¬ 
ing help to such as needed it, the society spared no 
pains to inculcate the virtues of providence and 
economy. In the year of the Great Exhibition the 
Queen and the Prince Consort became patrons of 
the Institution, and in 1865 the Prince of Wales 
also conferred upon it his patronage. They had at 
the present time 156 pensioners, for whom a sum of 
£2,700 was required. He regretted, however, to say 
that that sum was not sufficient to enable them to 
deal with the number of cases which came before 
them. In urging the claims of the Institution he 
would appeal to their grateful recollections of the 
happy hours they had passed in their gardens. Dear 
old England bore through all its length and breadth 
the marks of care and skill in its parks and gardens 
innumerable, large and small. Great indeed was 
their debt to those by whose labours so many scenes 
of enchantment had been created ; and he hoped 
that debt would be in some degree repaid by their 
offerings that night. The name of Mr. H. J. Veitch, 
the treasurer, was associated with the toast. 
Mr. Veitch, who was most cordially received on 
rising to respond to the toast, heartily thanked Lord 
Brassey on behalf of the committee of the Institu¬ 
tion for the kindly way in which he had advocated 
the claims of the Institution ; and after alluding to 
the regretable death of Lady Goldsmid, which was 
the cause of the annual dinner being held so late in 
the year, and paying agraceful and well-merited com¬ 
pliment to the secretary, Mr. Ingram, whose valuable 
services were acknowledged on all sides, said the 
committee had for some months past had the rules of 
the Institution under revision, and they would 
shortly be submitted to, and, he hoped, approved by 
all the subscribers. The value of the work done by 
the Institution in relieving the necessities of indigent 
gardeners and their widows w'as attested by the fact 
of so many claims being made upon the funds, which 
they were unfortunately unable to meet. At the last 
election there w'ere nineteen unsuccessful candidates, 
and so great was the number of applicants that as 
they could only put on eight pensioners at the next 
election, the number of unsuccessful candidates 
would be raised to thirty-two—a fact of very serious 
import to those who were unsuccessful. In con¬ 
clusion, Mr. Veitch made an earnest appeal to gar¬ 
deners for greater support in the form of annual sub¬ 
scriptions. 
The secretary, Mr. G. J. Ingram, then announced 
the result of the chairman's appeal, which included 
the following amounts :—Lord Brassey, £52 10s. ; 
the Messrs. Rothschild, £105 ; Baron Schroder, £31 ; 
Mr. George Monro, £82 11s.; Mr. Watkins, £26 6s.; 
Howard Morley, Esq., £25 ; Hon. W. W. J. Astor, 
£10 ios.; Lord Burton, £10 10s.; Lord Addington, 
£10 ios.; Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., /io ios.; 
Lord Derby, £10; H. Jones, Esq , £40; Sir Julian 
Goldsmid, Bart., ^21 ; Messrs. Hurst & Son, £10 ; 
Mr. N. N. Sherwood, ^10 ios. ; H. Tate, Esq., 
£10 ios.; Sydney Loder, Esq., £10 ios.; Worshipful 
Company of Skinners, £10 ios. ; C. T. Lucas, Esq., 
£10 ios.; W. D. Fane, Esq , £10 ios.; Mrs. Charring- 
ton, £10 ios.; Rev. W. Wilks (Harvest Festival 
offering), ^30; T. W. Brodrick, Esq., £10 ios.; 
Holbrook Gaskell, Esq., ^10 ios.; Mr. Thomas 
Manning, £10 ios. ; Mr. A. W. G Weeks, 
£10 ios.; Mr. John Wills, £10 ios.; and smaller 
amounts which, with the £500 lately given by Mr. 
and Mrs. H. J. Veitch, made up a total of a little 
over £2,000. 
The other toasts were “ The Royal Horticultural 
and Botanic Societies of London and the United 
Kingdom,” proposed by Lord Addington and 
acknowledged by Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart ; “ The 
Stewards and Donors,” proposed by the Rev. W. 
Wilks and responded to by Mr. H. E. Milner, who 
announced that the share accruing to the institution 
from the profits of the International Horticultural 
Exhibition at Earl’s Court, would be /250; and 
" Our Chairman,” proposed by Mr. Sherwood. 
-- 
FRUIT NOTES. 
Doyenne de Comice Pear. 
This very fine variety was seen in grand condition 
in collections at the Birmingham show, but my 
object in alluding to it here is to point out that it is 
a first-class variety for town gardens. Prizes were 
offered for two dishes of Pears, grown within three 
miles of the Birmingham post office, and Mr. Mole, 
who resides in the Edgbaston district, again carried 
oft the first prize for a fine dish of this Pear and six 
very fine fruits of the Pitmaston Duchess d’An- 
gouleme. These are grown on a wall, but he is an 
expert at Pear and Apple culture and simply does 
what common-sense requires, close summer pruning, 
plenty of water in dry weather, and a thinning out 
of the blooming spurs and of the fruit also. Year 
after year he secures good crops of fine fruit, instead 
of more in quantity of smaller inferior fruits. His 
samples grown in the immediate neighbourhood were 
as large as many of those from most favoured 
districts, if not so well coloured.— It' D, 
