December 10, 1892. 
226 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
three children to mourn his loss, and I understand 
that on their behalf his extensive nursery and seed 
business will be carried on by the able heads of de¬ 
partments who for several years loyally served the old 
floricultural chief.— R. D. [Our portrait of Mr. 
Downie was prepared from a photograph taken 
several years ago.—E d ] 
-- 
THE CYCLAMEN AND 
BOUVARDIA. 
'■ The Cyclamen and the Bouvardia: Their culture 
and value as decorative plants," was the subject of a 
paper read at the last meeting of the Devon and 
Exeter Gardeners’ Association by Mr. Mayne, of 
Bicton. Treating first of the Cyclamen, which was 
introduced to this country from the island of Cyprus 
in 1731, he claimed for it that it was one of the finest 
decorative plants for the greenhouse, the conservatory, 
or for house decoration, and on account of its free- 
flowering habit, its pretty foliage, and its gay flowers, 
was narticularly serviceable in the winter months. 
In growing it he counselled sowing a fresh batch 
every year in the month of August. The seed 
should be sown in pans well-drained and filled to 
within an inch from the top with finely sifted loam, 
leaf soil, and a little coarse silver sand, pressing the 
soil rather firmly in the pan. Before sowing the 
seed, water the soil and let it settle for an hour. 
Place in a temperature of about 55 0 and put a little 
moss or a piece of slate over the pan to shade it and 
hasten germination. When the plants are large 
enough to handle, prick them off into 4^-in. pots, six 
in a pot, in the same kind of soil and temperature. 
In the winter months the plants should only be 
dewed ” with a fine syringe, morning and after¬ 
noon. 
Towards the end of December the seedlings should 
then be big enough to pot.off singly ; and when, in 
March, the sun gets stronger, they should be par¬ 
tially shaded else they are apt to droop. A check of 
this kind throws them a long way back. In June 
give the plants another and final shift into their 
flowering pots (4^-in.) Let the corm or bulb be a 
little above the soil, and for manure mix a little well- 
rotted cow-dung with the soil, in which there may 
be mixed a little road-scrapings. A little soot at the 
bottom deters the ingress of worms. In growing 
Cyclamens in frames they ought, by means of 
shingle or coal ashes, to be raised to near the glass 
to keep them dwarf and strong. This is an impor¬ 
tant matter in growing them well. The ideal house 
for growing the Cyclamen in is a span-roofed one 
with the path in the centre. Care must be taken not 
to let the plants get a chill through a sudden frost 
coming on. Cyclamen can be grown on a second 
year, but unless it is well done it is better to start 
afresh every year. In picking the blooms, they 
should be pulled right up, as, if the jiart of the stalk 
remaining rets down, it is apt, by contagion, to 
damage the incipient buds. Cyclamen come pretty 
true from seed. If large flowers are wanted, grow 
the giganteum variety ; but if abundance of bloom is 
preferred, grow the ordinary Persian kind. 
The Bouvardia, though now so popular, was only 
introduced from Mexico about 50 years ago. Now 
every florist’s shop is bright with its gorgeous 
blooms. For wearing at a dance or an evening party 
there are few flowers more graceful for ladies to 
wear, for it is always neat and graceful, and the dark 
varieties are very striking in lamplight as well as 
they are by day. The same kind of soil and temper¬ 
ature that suits the Cyclamen will do for the 
Bouvardia, which makes a good companion to it. 
The Bouvardia is best propagated by cuttings in 
spring, although division of the root is practised by 
some gardeners. When the cuttings are taken oft 
they ought to be plunged in a bottom heat of about 
75 0 , and kept shaded until they strike. When 
growing their straggling points should be taken off. 
The flowering-pot should be a 5J in., which is large 
enough for the first season. When in the frames 
they should be shaded, but bye-and-bye when the 
warm weather sets in they should be stood right out 
in the open—in cocoanut-fibre if possible, as that 
keeps an even temperature about the roots. 
Upon no account must they suffer then from want 
of water, and a little help in the way of liquid 
manure will not be lost upon them. Early in Sep¬ 
tember they ought to be taken into a cool house and 
brought on to the flowering state. In placing them 
out of doors in summer they must not be exposed to 
a blazing sun, as that would scorch them. A north 
wall is more favourable. Red spider is apt to effect 
them if the plants are not kept clean, but that can 
be got rid of by some of the insecticides sold by the 
seedsmen. Gardeners who have Cyclamen and 
Bouvardias to cut from need never be at a loss when 
asked to make up a spray for a lady to wear in her 
dress or in her hair, nor for a button-hole bouquet 
for a gentleman. As decorative plants their value 
is still greater. Several beautiful specimens of the 
Cyclamen and the Bouvardia were lent by Messrs. 
Veitch & Son. A long discussion subsequently took 
place, in which Messrs. Osmond, Lansdale, Carlile, 
Crabb, Webber, Rowland, Weeks, Bartlette, Mackay, 
Triscott, and Sparkes joined. 
--J*- 
THE AMERICAN GLADIOLI TRADE. 
Visiting the nursery of Mr. C. H. Allen, at Floral 
Park the other day, I was much struck with the busy 
scene which the packing shed presented and the ad¬ 
mirable order and regularity with which the work was 
being carried on. Some idea of the magnitude of Mr. 
Allen’s trade in bulbs may be gathered from the fact 
that already this season 1,000,000 Gladioli roots 
have been shipped to customers in various parts of 
the world, as well as some 300,000 Lily bulbs of such 
sorts as L. auratum, L. speciosum, L. elegans, L. 
tigrinum, and native American species. Mr. Allen 
is now doing a large trade with Europe, and one 
order alone, in process of collecting, sorting, and 
packing, was for 50,000 roots for an English seed 
firm. 
It may perhaps interest some of your readers to 
know how this enormous quantity ot bulbs and 
corms is stored. The store-house and packing shed 
is a three-storey building, 75 ft. by 25 ft., and when 
the roots are brought in from the fields, minus the 
foliage, they are stored away in racks divided off 
into compartments, 3 ft. by 2 ft., and 10 in. deep, 
with an open space of 4 in. in the front of each 
compartment, to admit air to the roots and facilitate 
inspection and other details of manipulation. From 
these racks the corms are taken and hand-cleaned, 
one handy-man accustomed to the work being able 
to pass through bis hands as many as from 8,000 
to 10,000 per day. They are then counted and 
packed into barrels ready for shipping. Mr. Allen 
finds that fine smooth shavings make the best pack¬ 
ing material for his purpose. 
The corms are unusually fine this season, very 
bright in appearance, and well plumped up in the 
crown of the corm. Some of the corms of John 
Bull, a white variety with crimson blotches, 
measured 3 in. to 4 in. in diameter, and those of 
Shakespeare ran from 3 in. to 5 in. Mr. Allen also 
grows immense stocks of Cannas and Dahlias.— 
Am. Coy. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN, 
General Work. 
All such work as manuring, trenching, and digging 
must be pushed on vigorously this month, as when 
we get into the new year it is surprising how soon 
the work increases. Take care to keep putting in 
further supplies of Seakale and Rhubarb, and keep 
the forcing house moist, and as even in temperature 
as possible, to ensure a regular growth of these 
vegetables. Look to the supplies of Mustard and 
Cress, and Chicory, and Dandelion for salads, and 
see that enough of such roots as Parsnips, Carrots, 
Beet, etc., are put under cover to provide needful 
supplies should frost set in so that the pits cannot 
be opened. 
The fruit room will also require attention. All 
the fruit must be looked over and the rotten ones 
removed or mischief will result. The Onion and 
seed Potato stores will also require attention 
occasionally. The young Cauliflower plants in 
frames must be kept as hardy as possible, taking the 
lights right off when the weather is mild. Now 
that we have so many varieties of good early Cauli¬ 
flowers, very little, if anything, is to be gained by 
using autumn plants.— G. H. S. 
The Seed Order. 
One of the most important duties of a gardener 
during the month of December is to make out his 
seed order after well considering his requirements 
and the means at his disposal. During the next 
three weeks we shall have numbers of catalogues 
pouring in upon us from which to make our selec¬ 
tions, and notes will have to be looked up, as to 
what has been seen and fancied at the different 
shows and in private gardens during the season. A 
few of the very best varieties of each vegetable 
should be selected for growing next season. It is a 
bad plan to grow too many varieties, and it is as 
well to seriously consider when looking at a new 
sort that may take one's fancy, whether it is really an 
improvement on old and reliable varieties. It is 
best in all cases to order the seeds early, as it enables 
the seedsmen, who have a very busy time just at 
this season of the year, to get out the orders by the 
time they are wanted, and so makes the transaction 
more satisfactory to them and the gardener. — G. 11. S. 
FRUIT CULTURE IN RELATION TO THE 
ALLOTMENT SYSTEM.* 
(1 Concluded from p. 211.) 
The allotment system itself will throw out thousands 
as unworthy to touch the soil, which has appropri¬ 
ated to its most useful purposes. Let us look at the 
chief agent which it embraces—vegetation. It is 
stirring either in a right or a wrong direction every 
hour of our life. Of what use, therefore, would 
sluggards prove in directing such a power; or 
stupefied drunkards far away in the alehouse; or the 
various other inert classes who hate to work, and 
who would rather let their crops rot in the fields 
than answer the demands upon them for exertion ? 
In truth, no system will save such men, and at last 
if at all, they are fit only to be servants of others, 
their best master being anyone save themselves. 
Various have been the opinions expressed, both in 
and out of Parliament, respecting the benefits to be 
derived by the poor man from these allotments, and 
naturally so, for there will be different degrees of 
success according to the systems adopted by the 
respective landlords, as well as according to the at¬ 
tention paid to them by both parties; and this, I 
need hardly say, brings us face to face with a most 
important feature of this subject, a subject brought 
forward at our bruit Conference last year, I mean 
the uncertain security of tenants. What is wanted 
is that those who engage in the cultivation of fruit 
upon land which does not belong to them should 
have greater security for their outlay than exists at 
the present time. Lord Derby said on this subject, 
“ I am quite sure that when disputes occur between 
landlord and tenant, they arise in ninecases out of 
ten not out of a wish on either side to overreach the 
other, but from the easy rural fashion of letting things 
go on without distinct and definite agreement as to 
the rights of both parties, but on the basis of some 
vague understanding which is apt to end in mis¬ 
understanding." It seems to me only fair and just 
that tenants should be able to secure adequate com¬ 
pensation for unexhausted improvements or security 
of tenure. That the subject is a difficult one there 
can be no doubt. I have often thought that if the 
middle-men were out of the way, and landlord and 
tenant brought face to face with each other, that 
we should not have so much heartburning in con¬ 
nection with the matter. I mean by the middle-men 
the political agitator and the landlord's agent. The 
former often persuades the tenant to pay no rent, 
even when he can afford to do so ; the latter very 
often deals with the tenant in a most harsh and arbi¬ 
trary way, the result being in both instances most 
unsatisfactory. 
Though everyone will admit that the agricultural 
labourer, generally considered, is at the present time 
in an unfortunate position, it may be of use to take a 
rapid glance of his condition in past times. For a 
considerable time after the conquest the working 
population of England was divided into two classes, 
the larger class being agricultural, depressed by 
severe servitude, yet permitted in some instances to 
rent small farms sufficient to support themselves and 
families ; the other class consisted of slaves or 
thralls, employed in domestic offices, fed by the 
lords, and regularly disposed of as articles of mer¬ 
chandise. 
History is almost silent as to what domestic com¬ 
forts were enjoyed by this class of people, and from 
the fact of there having been no legislative provision 
for them, it has been thought by some that, though 
poor, they were in the enjoyment of the necessaries 
of life. At any rate, it appears that during the reign 
of Edward the First, the condition of the poor people 
become so far ameliorated as to enable a great pro¬ 
portion of them to hold a tenure in lands, a privilege 
