February 25, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
409 
grandiflora, Solanum Wendlandii, a beautiful climber 
with large, lilac-blue flowers, Mucuna imbricata, 
Aristolochia elegans aud other kinds. For green¬ 
house work, the Lapagerias, Tacsonia Van Vol- 
xemii and others; Chorizemas, Clianthus puniceus 
and p. Magnificus, C. Dampierii; some of the Can- 
tuas, Cobeas, Plumbago capensis, Solanum jasmin- 
oides, Mandevilla suaveolens, Sollya pinnata, and 
S. heterophylla, Clematis indivisa lobata, and many 
others were named, and brief cultural instructions 
given as to each. Many of our less known but beau¬ 
tiful trailing plants are not seen so much as they 
should be for indoor work. Such as the Choroze- 
mas, Hardenbergias, Sollyas, Kennedyas, Cantuas, 
are seldom seen now-a-days. One of the members 
present spoke of his having grown the gorgeous 
Clianthus Dampieri very successfully when grafted 
on to Clianthus puniceus.— W. D. 
Kingston and Surbiton.—Our gardener friends at 
Kingston have further promoted the organisation of 
their new association by passing an excellent code of 
rules and electing a treasurer, secretary, and com¬ 
mittee. They have deferred the election of a 
president and vice-presidents until the next meeting 
at St. Jame’s Hall, Kingston, on March 2nd. Mr. A. 
Dean, of the Richmond Road, is treasurer ; and Mr. 
Yeabsley, gardener to Mrs. Bryant, Surbiton Hall, 
secretary. The committee are Messrs. Cusbon, 
Norbiton Hall Gardens; Watson, Southborough 
Park ; Henbest, Anglesea House Gardens ; Martin, 
Maple Lodge Gardens ; Tible, Benson, Christmas, 
Marlowe, Hughes, Hawkes, Woods, and Peel, all 
local gardeners. The subscription for ordinary 
members, all of whom must be professionally asso¬ 
ciated with gardening, will be 2s. 6d per annum ; 
and for honorary members, 5s. and upwards. 
Ealing.—At a recent meeting of this Association 
the senior members discussed the question “ Have 
gardeners progressed during the past fifty years ? ” 
which was introduced by Mr. C. B. Green. The 
speakers were Messrs. Fountain, Weedon, Simpson, 
Jones, and Cooper, and in reply Mr. Green said he 
did not presume to know very much about the 
matter; hence he had adopted the " socratic ” 
method to elicit the truth. His own mind would not 
carry him back beyond twenty years—prior to that 
time he could not distinguish between Geranium and 
Pelargonium. But in the course of his enquiries he 
had ascertained that there was a good deal of differ¬ 
ence of opinion. It would not, however, do to dog¬ 
matise ; there were undoubtedly giants in those days, 
but were there not many more giants in these ? Gar¬ 
dening of the past was more in the nature of a guild, 
or secret society, and the professors who had 
acquired the art of particular cultivation took good 
care to keep it to themselves. All this was changed 
through the agency of the Press, and such institu¬ 
tions as these, which gave a stimulous to enquiry 
and research, that the modern gardener was neces¬ 
sarily an abler and better man. Referring to the 
various points which had been raised Mr. Green 
showed that nothing detrimental to the progress of 
gardening and gardeners had been made out ; but, on 
the contrary, the cast-iron rules of fifty years ago 
had been superseded by the more intelligent pro¬ 
cesses of the present day. 
The Chairman gave a resume of the discussion and 
insisted that the position of gardeners, as a class at 
the present time, was infinitely superior, in point of 
knowledge and ability, to those w ho had gone before, 
inasmuch as many of the old gardeners could neither 
read nor write. Theory and practice had gone hand 
in hand ; the science of gardening had wonderfully 
developed ; appliances had increased ; and the mere 
fact that gardeners could meet together and discuss 
these questions with such ability, was evidence in 
itself of progress, for he felt quite sure that this 
would have been impossible fifty years ago. 
Edinburgh.—On the 15th inst. Mr. Barron, of 
Chiswick, lectured to the members of the Scottish 
Horticultural Association on hardy fruits Mr 
Dunn, Dalkeith, occupied the chair, and there was 
a large attendance. During the last ten years, said 
Mr. Barron, a great amount of interest had been 
aroused in this country in fruit growing. Various 
societies had been formed with that object, and if 
any dearth of literature on the subject existed prior 
to the date mentioned, it had been made up for 
since. Among this literature he mentioned “ British 
Apples,” now in its second edition, as well as some 
works by Mr. Dunn and others. He was in favour 
of horticulture being taught in schools ; it would be 
of far more use to many in their later years than the 
Greek or Latin they were at present being taught. 
Mr. Barron then proceeded to speak of various 
fruits; their pruning and training, planting and 
selection of soil, etc. Speaking first of Apples, he 
said there was a certain influence of scion over 
stock. The objects in pruning and training were 
two-fold—the obtaining of form and symmetry, and 
the production of fruit, and he admitted he longed 
to see trees well trained. In gardens they should 
always be a feature ; for any fruit tree might be 
made very ornamental as well as useful. One of 
the leading principles in this training should be to 
keep the branches and shoots well apart, so that 
every part of the tree might be well kept open to 
light and air. They heard a good deal now-a-days 
about the neglected state of their orchards, which 
used to be the glory of the country. What, 
he asked, was the cure for that ? Prune, said Mr. 
Barron. He next referred to planting and selection 
of soil for Apple trees, and afterwards spoke on 
Pears, their growing, gathering, and ripening ; and 
Strawberries, Raspberries, and Gooseberries. Mr. 
Barron was awarded a vote of thanks for his paper. 
WHAT TO DO IN THE GARDEN, 
Gardenias. —The main batch of cuttings of Gar¬ 
denias may now be taken off and rooted, to succeed 
those that were put in to root some time ago. Now 
that the days are longer and the light better the 
cuttings will root with more certainty than in 
December last or even in January. 
Cyanophyllum magnifleum. —Those who have 
an old plant of this, and which has been cut down, 
will be throwing out side shoots of moderate size. 
They make the best cuttiDgs to use, and if employed 
now they get rooted before the sun gets too strong 
for them. The young plants are better able to with¬ 
stand a high temperature if they have previously 
been rooted and established in pots. 
Variegated Pineapple. —Cuttings, or rather the 
suckers, should be taken off from the old plants and 
rooted forthwith to supply the requirements of 
decorative purposes during the summer and autumn. 
Offsets from the crown of the fruit give the slowest 
growing, neatest and most useful plants, but they 
may not be available at this time of the year. 
Suckers, however, root freely, and when well estab¬ 
lished should be kept near the glass, a very good 
plan being to suspend them in pots from the roof of the 
house. The leaves assume their best colour when so 
treated, and become more or less tinted with pink at 
the margins. 
Selaginellas.— The softer stemmed and quick¬ 
growing kinds can only be kept in good condition and 
suitable for decorative purposes by frequent propa¬ 
gation. The present is therefore a suitable time for 
putting in a quantity sufficient to meet the require¬ 
ments till the end of summer at least. This, of 
course, would include S. Kraussiana and its varie¬ 
gated and golden forms as well as S. reptans, 
S. suberosa, S. apus, S. Mertensii, and its numerous 
forms, green and variegated. 
Crotons. —If specimen plants of these are desired, 
branches or shoots with several breaks or leaders 
may be selected. They are easily rooted and will be 
equal to cuttings of single shoots that have been 
established for some time. Single shoots with good 
crowns of leaves will, however, be most suitable for 
dinner table decorations ; and the best variegated 
shoots should be selected in preference to those that 
have partly reverted to green. Keep them close and 
moist till rooted. 
Heaths. —Plants of Erica gracilis, E. Caffra, E. 
melanthera, and E. hyemalis, that have finished 
flowering should be cut back before they commence 
to grow again. They may be kept moderately warm 
till they begin to shoot out again, when they should 
be repotted if necessary. Use good, fibrous peat, 
and pot very firmly. Keep rather close and moist 
by syringing till they have well started into gowth. 
Dahlias. —Cuttings may be taken of those varie¬ 
ties the roots of which were put into heat early in 
order to get up a supply of rare kinds, as well as 
those there was a danger of los'ng. Place each cut¬ 
ting singly into a thumb pot and plunge the latter in 
the coconut fibre of a propagating frame, where they 
will soon root. Seeds may also be sown now by 
those who desire to raise plants in this way. As 
soon as the seedlings have made a rough leaf or two 
they should be potted off singly. 
Peaches.—The principal work in the earliest 
house at present will be disbudding where necessary 
and tying in of the shoots intended for next year’s 
fruiting. Thin out the weakest and most useless 
fruits to ease the trees somewhat of their load, but 
reserve the final and proper thinning till after the 
stoning period. Keep the trees well syringed to 
check the spread of red spider, particularly where 
the trees are near the hot-water pipes. A considera¬ 
ble amount of water will now be required at the 
roots, and care should be taken that the borders do 
not get dry. 
Vegetable Seed Sowing.—Take the first favour¬ 
able opportunity of sowing the Onions and Leeks if 
that has not already been accomplished. Parsnips 
must also be sown at once, particularly if they are 
intended for exhibition. A sowing of the Brassica 
tribe such as Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages 
and Cauliflowers, should be sown the first week in 
March. Early Milan, or some other of the strap¬ 
leaved kinds of Turnip should also be sown for an 
early supply. 
Planting Vegetables, &c.—The plantations of 
Cabbages that were made in the autumn have been 
sorely thinned out in many districts, particularly in 
the neighbourhood of towns. The blanks must now 
be made good from the beds of reserve plants. Let¬ 
tuces have fared even worse. In many places it may 
be necessary to depend upon plants raised in heated 
frames for the first supply Autumn sown Onions 
where they have been lifted out on the soil, should 
be pressed in again with the fingers. Prepare the 
ground for Cauliflower. 
Melons. —Preparations should be made at an early 
date for planting out the earliest batch of Melons. 
If they have progressed favourably the plants will 
now be gaining strength and ready for planting out. 
T he bed should be made up and the soil placed over 
the manure filling the bed, and all should occupy 
their places sufficiently long to get heated up to the 
proper temperature of the house, so that no check 
may be given to the tender roots and foliage when 
the transplantation is made. 
Cucumbers.—Be careful to avoid overcropping 
at all times, and the plants that have been battling 
with bad light and weakening atmospheric influences 
will soon begin to pick up now with the increased tem¬ 
perature and more intensified light. A fresh layer of 
fermenting dung and leaves laid on the surface of 
the bed will greatly increase root action, and give 
good results in due time. The first batch of seed¬ 
lings will come in to take their place later on ; but in 
the meantime the supply must be obtained from the 
old plants. 
Questions ahd ansuiGRs. 
Correspondents are requested, in order to avoid delay, 
to address all communications to ‘‘The Editor” 
or “ The Publisher,” and not to any person by 
name, unless the correspondence is of a private 
character. Telegrams may be addressed “ Bambusa, 
London." 
Books on PIorticulture. — American : We are 
afraid that you cannot get a book dealing with the 
particular subject or branch of the subject which you 
require. The following treat of the improvement 
of plants and their fertilisation in a general way :— 
Cultivated Plants ; Their Propagation and Improve¬ 
ment, by F. W. Burbidge. Published by W. 
Blackwood & Sons, London and Edinburgh, price 
I2S. 6d. Epitome of Gardening, by M. T. Masters 
and T. Moore. Black & Son, Glasgow, price 
6s. 6d. The Various Contrivances by which Orchids 
are Fertilised by Insects, by Charles Darwin. Pub¬ 
lished by John Murray, Albermarle Street, 
price 9s. The Effects of Cross and Self-fertilisation 
in the Vegetable Kingdom, by the same author and 
publisher as the last, price 12s. The first named 
would be the most generally useful to you. 
Odontoglossums to Name. — Thos. Campbell : 
The forms of Oiontoglossum crispum are so numer¬ 
ous, and so many of them have been named, that it 
is difficult to identify the intermediate forms. The 
raceme of bloom you sent does not agree with O. c. 
guttatum, as may be seen by reference to the Orchid 
Album, II., t. 94. There is only one spot on the 
centre of each petal, according to the plate in ques¬ 
tion, but we have seen forms of O. c. guttatum 
vastly different from that. We do not deny that 
your variety has a considerable affinity with it. You 
might also compare O. c. Reginae, in the Orchid 
Album VI., t. 264. The size of the spots in this case 
more nearly approaches that in your variety, but the 
markings round the margin of the lip do not coin¬ 
cide. See also O. c. Cooksonii, Orchid Album III., t, 
11S, and O. c. Stevensii, Orchid Album, III., t. 127. 
