598 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 20, 1898 
Jefferson's and Coe’s Golden Drop. A list of those 
Apples which gave most promise may be of interest 
to your numerous readers. They are—King of the 
Pippins, Cox’s Orange, Downtown, Golden, Blenheim 
Ribston, and London Pippins, and Margil, which look 
very well; Lord Suffield, Yorkshire and Northern 
Greenings, Manks Codlin, Claygate Pearmain, Irish 
Peach, Worcester Pearmain, Hawthornden, Keswick 
Codlin, and Dutch Mignonne, are amongst the best. 
Pears are looking better than for the last two years, 
Beurre d’Aremberg, Autumn Bergamot, Williams’s 
Bon Chretien, Souvenir du Congres, Black Achan, 
Swan’s Egg, a splendid variety for this part of the 
country. Durondeau, Winter Nelis, Napoleon, and 
Fondante des Bois (Flemish Beauty), give promise of 
good crops, although I notice some of those which 
are set have a slight disposition to drop. 
Cherries were a perfect mass of white blossom, 
and have set far too many fruits, particularly May 
Duke, Bigarreau, Elton, and Morello, the latter being 
exceptionally good. Small fruits also look better 
than usual. Gooseberries and Currants, particularly 
the latter, have fine crops. We take the precaution 
of netting our bushes annually in early spring to 
save the buds from bullfinches, which are most 
troublesome here. Raspberries are coming into 
flower and look well. Strawberries are also throw¬ 
ing up large quantities of flower spikes, so altogether, 
should the weather we have had in the past continue, 
with occasional showers, the hardy fruit crop for 
1893, in this unpropitious part of Scotland, will be 
one of the best for some years past. There is many 
a slip’ twixt cup and lip, however, but we can only 
hope for the best. 
The Apple and Pear moths have been holding 
high holiday for some time back The weather was 
so much in their favour, and owing to the leaves 
being in whorles on the points of the young shoots, 
caused by the young depredators, it is very difficult 
to make an insecticide play upon the young 
grub or caterpillar before it takes wing ; and before 
that metamorphosis takes places the leaves are very 
much cut up and the tree weakened to a certain 
extent. Owing to the absence of any lengthened 
spell of cold north or easterly winds, greenfly has 
been less common than usual. I notice that the 
Gooseberry caterpiilar (Abraxus grossulariata) and 
Nematus ribesii which feeds on the Red Currant 
have made their appearance, but not in great 
numbers so far. 
I may say that we have had no frost since the 12th 
of April, although we have had several low readings 
since that date .—William Minty, Raasay, Stromeferry , 
N.B. 
-- 
WHICH IS RIGHT? 
I am tempted to ask for an explanation of the 
perverse action of botanists as exemplified in 
reference to certain hardy plants that hitherto 
both they and gardeners have termed Cheiranthuses, 
and are now classed as Erysimums. In the 
apparently most arbitrary way, the botanist 
changes the appellations of plants so that the poor 
gardener, quite unable to follow the bent of these 
eccentricities, finds it almost needful to relieve his 
mind by vigorous ejaculations. Possibly the 
nomenclature of the perennial section of Wall¬ 
flowers previously was all wrong, but not one grower 
in a thousand will ever call them other than 
Cheiranthuses or perennial Wallflowers. 
Does the conversion of these into Erysimums 
make them any the less Wallflowers, or if not so, 
then what are they ? It was always believed that 
the seed barrenness of C. Marshalli, as we have 
always called it, was due to its being a hybrid 
between C. Alpinus and Erysimum Perovskianum, 
or, as some will have it, Perowskianum. That such 
a junction was possible cannot perhaps be questioned, 
as the two sections belong to the same natural order. 
However, the point to be cleared up is why this 
change of nomenclature after its existence for so 
many years ? Still more, how much farther is it to 
go ? Our dearest plant traditions never seem safe 
from the iconoclastic doings of the botanist.— A. D. 
The Carnation : its History, Properties, and Management, 
with a descriptive list of the best varieties in cultivation. By 
E. S. Dodwell. Third edition with supplementary chapter on 
the Yellow Ground. London : Gardening World Office, i, 
Clement’s Inn Strand, W.C. is. 6d.; post free, is. 7d.— Ad.] 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned subjects were certificated by 
the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society when exhibited at its meeting on the gth 
inst.:— 
Tillandsia (Vriesia) leodiensis.— The leaves of 
this plant are suddenly pointed, grooved with a 
broad base, and arranged in a dense rosette of neat 
and attractive outline. The scape is 12 in. to 18 in. 
high, with the bracts densely crowded together in 
two ranks at the apex. The bracts are keeled, 
crimson-red at the base, and bright yellow upwards, 
finely dotted with red, and constitute not only the 
most durable part of the inflorescence but the 
showiest as well. The flowers are pale yellow with 
buff tips and produced singly in the axil of the 
bracts. A First-class Certificate was awarded it. 
Magnolia hypoleuca. — The leaves of this 
Magnolia are obovate, feather-nerved, deep green 
above and glaucous beneath. The flowers consist 
of numerous white sepals and petals of a fleshy 
consistency that ultimately become tinted with a 
fuscous shade. The anthers and their filaments are 
deep purple, contrasting in this respect with the 
other parts of the flower. A First-class Certificate 
was awarded it. 
Phyllocactus Plato.— The stems of this variety 
are broad and flattened, with deeply rounded notches 
along the edges. The ovary and tube of the flower 
are covered with small pinkish bracts. The flowers 
themselves are very large and of a brilliant scarlet, 
including the filaments of the stamens and the style. 
The anthers and stigma are of a pale creamy yellow. 
An Award of Merit was accorded it when shown by 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Son, Chelsea, who also showed 
the Magnolia and Tillandsia. 
Billbergia sanguinea. —The leaves of this plant 
are few, strap-shaped, distantly serrate, and deep 
green. The flower stem is about- 15 in. high, and 
furnished in the upper part with bracts of a brilliant 
crimson red. The flowers are borne in a raceme, 
and are greenish, with deep blue tips to the sepals 
and petals. A First-class Certificate was accorded 
it when shown by Messrs. Charlesworth, Shuttle- 
worth & Co., Heaton, Bradford. 
Drac.ena Sanderiana.— The stems of this beauti¬ 
ful plant are slender and gracefully furnished with 
short arching leaves that are narrowed into a petiole 
and then dilated at the base clasping the stem. They 
are of a deep shining green with a wide or narrow, 
pale creamy white margin ultimately becoming of an 
attractive and clear silvery white. Sometimes the 
central green portion is marked with pale gray 
bands. Plants of it were exhibited by Messrs. F. 
Sander & Co., St Albans who were accorded a First- 
class Certificate for it as well as a cultural commen¬ 
dation for the larger specimens which were grown in 
large pans, with several stems to each, giving the 
plant a handsome appearance. It is the best new 
plant that has been introduced for some time. 
Messrs. Linden, L’Horticulture Internationale, 
Brussels, also exhibited a tall plant of it (the origin¬ 
ally imported plant, it was stated), under the name 
of D. thalioides foliis variegatis which they affirm is 
the. true name. The Messrs. Linden were also 
awarded a First-class Certificate. 
Viburnum plicatum.— The wild type of this 
species, generally seen only in the sterile state with 
large corollas like the Snowball tree, was exhibited 
by Messrs. J. Veitch & Son, who received a First- 
class Certificate for it. The flowers of the outer 
branches of the cymes are enlarged, while all the 
inner ones are small and fertile like those of the 
“Wild Guelder Rose. In no other respect does it 
differ from the plant in cultivation. 
Cyclobothra amcena. —The stems of this Mari¬ 
posa Lily are slender, branched and leafy, with 
many flowers upon the plant. The leaves are 
lanceolate, long pointed, twisted and glaucous. The 
sepals are ovate-lanceolate, short, glabrous, and 
purple. The petals are much larger, obovate- 
oblong, deep purple, coarsely and thinly hairy on 
the upper face, and have the upper half folded over 
the flower, obliquely to one another before expan¬ 
sion, but after that they become twisted. A f irst- 
class Certificate was awarded it when exhibited by 
H. J. Elwes, Esq., Colesbourne, Andoversford. 
Begonia Hector.— This is one of the tuberous 
Begonias with deep green obliquely heart-shaped 
leaves of moderate size. The flowers are of 
moderate size and likewise double with broad, 
nearly flat, outer petals, and the central ones form¬ 
ing a rosette and undulate like those of a Hollyhock, 
to which type the*flowers may be said to belong. 
An Award of Merit was accorded it. 
Begonia R. B. Parsons.— Here again we have a 
tuberous Begonia with deep green obliquely cordate 
leaves. The flowers are double large, and of a 
delicate rosy-pink, deepening in the centre, with 
paler edges. The petals are arranged round several 
but not numerous centres. An Award of Merit was 
accorded it when exhibited by Messrs. H. Cannell 
& Sons, Swanley, Kent, who also showed the other 
variety. 
Ulmus Wreedii Aurea.— This is a well-marked 
golden variety of the common English Elm (Ulmus 
campestris). The leaves are smaller than in the type, 
oval, densely crowded owing to the number of small 
twiggy branches given off by the stem, and a bright 
yellow, making the tree very ornamental for parks 
and shrubberies. A First-class Certificate was 
accorded it when exhibited by Mr. W. C. Leach, 
gardener to the Duke of Northumberland, Albury 
Park Gardens. 
Canna Sophia Buchner.— The four larger seg¬ 
ments of the flow'er of this plant are of a brilliant 
crimson-scarlet. The flowers are ovate, relatively 
short, and glaucous. The plant shown by Messrs.- 
Paul & Son, Cheshunt, was 2 ft. high, grown in a 
small pot. An Award of Merit was accorded it. 
Melon Ingestre Hy-brid. —This was stated to be 
the result of a cross between Hero of Lockinge and 
The Countess. The fruits are globular, slightly 
furrowed longitudinally, of a bright yellow, and 
finely netted. The flesh is white, sweet, juicy, and 
of great thickness. Well-grown fruits would weigh 
about four or five pounds each. It was highly 
flavoured for an early variety,and an Award of Merit 
was accorded it when shown by Mr. E. Gilman, 
gardener to the Earl of Shrewsbury, Ingestre Hall, 
near Stafford. 
The undermentioned subjects received First-class 
Certificates at the Gardening and Forestry Exhibi¬ 
tion, Earl’s Court on the 13th inst. 
Carnation Pride of Great Britain.— This 
continues to be the largest and brightest self- 
coloured yellow Carnation we have. The flowers 
are not much inferior in size to those of Souvenir de 
la Malmaison. It is really a border Carnation 
although it submits to forcing very easily, for we 
have seen flowers so produced for several weeks 
past. A stand of flowers was exhibited by Mr. T. S. 
Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, who also 
received a First-class Certificate for it at the Crystal 
Palace on the 10th inst. 
Hipfeastrum Princess May.— Many nearly white 
varieties of Hippeastrum, better known as Amaryllis, 
have made their appearance, but that under notice 
comes most nearly to the ideal. The flowers are 
large and pure white with exception of a pale green 
tint in the throat, and as nearly regular as possible. 
The segments are ovate elliptic, imbricate, and the 
lower segment is nearly if not quite as large as its 
fellows. This is very unusual in thegenus, and must 
be agreeable to the florists. It was exhibited by 
Messrs. B. S. Williams & Son, Upper Holloway. 
Croton Reidii. —The leaves of this showy variety 
are broadly oblong, olive-green and variegated with 
heavy salmon-red bands on the principal lateral 
veins, with a carmine midrib. The upper leaves are 
almost wholly yellow, in the young condition at 
least. 
Croton Comte de Germiny.— The leaves are 
oblong, suddenly pointed, with crimson veins and 
blotched or marbled with olive green on a clear 
yellow ground. The upper or young leaves are 
almost wholly yellow. 
Croton Thomsoni.— The leaves of this sort are 
obsoletely three-lobed in the style of C. Disraeli, 
narrowed to the base, but much more highly 
coloured. They are of a bright yellow, irregularly 
blotched with olive green in the interspaces. 
Caladium Mrs. Harry Y^eitch. —The leaves of 
this variety are very large, heart-shaped, partly 
connate at the base, red all over with the principal 
veins of a much more intense hue, and slightly 
shaded with green in the interspaces. 
Drac.ena australis variegata Laingi.— The 
leaves of this variety are narrow with a silvery grey 
margin, and a reddish midrib when young. The 
three Crotons, the Caladium, and the Dracaena were 
exhibited by Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. 
