September 11, 1897 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
25 
FLOWER GARDENING NOTES. 
For years I have perused with interest and enlighten¬ 
ment, the notes from the pen of Mr. M. Temple. I 
quite agree with bis remarks on the above (p. 741)- 
Years ago it was all scarlet, purple, and yellow in the 
flower gardeD, something glaring; nothing quiet and 
subdued. Then that abomination, carpet bedding, 
came to the fore. It was rightly named, but it was 
anything but a " velvet pile ” for those gardeners that 
were expected to carry it out with a limited staff and 
glass accommodation. The plants it required was 
enormous; thousands in one bed, and a constant 
labour of trimming to keep the pattern ; and the 
result was as though the bed was covered with a rug 
from Maple & Co. Happily, that has had its day. 
I can quite see those combinations mentioned by 
Mr. Temple at Dalkeith, Archerfield, and Dysart; 
they were qniet and beautiful, not loud and glaring, 
About twenty years ago I saw a large bed at Sun- 
dridge Park, Bromley, which I thought was very 
pretty. It consisted of Pelargonium Manglesi, and 
a good dark Heliotrope planted alternately. 
After I had penned the above, I saw Mr. J. 
Mayne's "Flower Garden Notes," and have no 
doubt that his combinations look very effective, but 
perhaps he will pardon me for saying that I think 
TOMATO LAIRD’S SUPREME. 
The accompanying illustration will serve to give an 
idea of the fruitfulness of this grand new Tomato. 
The parents were Stirling Castle and Trophy. As 
the latter has been well known and largely cultivated 
for many years description is unnecessary; but 
Laird’s Stirling Castle may not be so well known to 
some of our readers, and we here mention its leading 
features. The fruit is of medium and uniform size, 
excellent flavour, solid, and of a beautiful, glossy, 
crimson-red colour. As a cropper, it has already 
given abundant satisfaction, as the clusters are large 
and freely produced. Quantity and quality are features 
that cannot be ignored, whether the fruits are grown 
for private use or for market. 
Laird’s Supreme possesses many of the good 
features of Stirling Castle, but takes more after 
Trophy in size, though not equalling it in that re¬ 
spect. In numerous trials by different people it has 
proved to be a free setting and extremely heavy 
cropping variety. Cultivators both in England and 
Scotland have spoken of it in terms of high praise. 
Everyone who has seen it has expressed wonder and 
surprise at the magnitude of the crop. The fruit is 
of great depth, a great desideratum in a Tomato ; and 
the flesh being solid, it weighs well. Another recom- 
destroy some of their best friends from want of proper 
knowledge. 
I have met with scores of good practical men, 
with the merest smatter of the knowledge of systema¬ 
tic botany, who, so far as their cultural skill is con¬ 
cerned, would not have made better practitioners by 
being made most proficient botanists, who have at 
times cause to regret their deficiency in entomological 
knowledge, a little of which at times would be of 
immense service to them. 
Some of the so-called entomological societies 
appear to confine their researches to the discovery of 
the rare and beautiful till, alas, they are in some dis¬ 
tricts becoming very rare indeed. Their members 
can tell you much about moths and butterflies, but 
just ask some of them the life history of an earwig, 
and you w’ill soon be able to judge how far these 
societies are of service in matters horticultural. 
Young men engaged in gardening pursuits should in 
their own interest take this subject up, and make a 
study of those insects especially which are known as 
enemies, in order that they may be the better able to 
cope with them. Those insects, which from their 
flesh-eating instincts become friends by preying on 
those which are destructive to vegetable life, should 
also be carefully studied. 
Tomato Laird’s Supreme. 
the edging of Pyrethrum would have been more 
effective if replaced by a good Blue Lobelia. We 
haves large bed, which, I think, looks very well. It 
has ground work of Ivy-leaf Pelargonium Galilee, and 
dot pflants of Iresine Lindenii allowed to run up with¬ 
out stopping. Another bed is composed of Calceo¬ 
laria amplexicaulis, as ground work, with Lobelia 
cardinalis as dot plants, edged with Koeniga varie- 
gata. Blue Lobelia would have made a better 
edging, but it occupied that position in the adjoining 
bed. Another very good all-foliage bed is composed 
of a centre row of Acacia lophantha, flanked on each 
side by a row of Abutilon Switzii. The ground¬ 
work is composed of red Alternanthera, edged with 
golden Alternanthera. The last-named is a com¬ 
bination not affected by wind or rain. We have two 
large beds of tuberous Begonias, edged with Poa 
trivialis variegata, which look well now that the 
weather is cooler. They are now at their best. 
Two round beds of Coleus Verschaffeltii edged 
with Mesembryanthemum cordifolium variegatum, 
which would have been greatly improved by 
a good plant of Centaurea candidissima being in 
the centre instead of the standard Rose that occu¬ 
pies that position.— Geo. Potts, August 31 st. 
mendation is that the very juicy flesh is of a fine 
bright scarlet colour, while the flavour leaves nothing 
to be desired. Those who have seen it consider that 
it is invincible for market purposes. Moderate 
sized fruits of uniform size, together with quality, are 
desiderata both with grower and consumer. The 
\ariety was raised and is being put into commerce 
by Messrs. R. B. Laird & Sons, 17a, South Frederick 
Street, Edinburgh. 
-*f~-— 
ENTOMOLOGY AND BOTANY. 
The too generally prevailing ignorance respecting the 
natural history of the many insects we are con¬ 
stantly meeting with in the course of our daily labour 
among plants and flowers is often a source of regret 
and sometimes of annoyance. A most essential 
equipment for those who take part in the battle of 
life is the ability to readily distinguish between friend 
and foe, and it is most unfortunate that so large a 
percentage of those engaged in the pursuits of horti¬ 
culture aad agriculture are almost profoundly ignor¬ 
ant, respecting the life history of the various insects 
theyare constantlymeeting with,and should frequently 
One cannot help wondering at times what useful 
purpose many liviog things serve in the economy of 
Nature. A very familar idea respecting insects in 
general is that they are a natural provision for the 
food of birds. This to a great extent is undoubtedly 
true, but what about slugs and snails ? When will 
some great naturalist take this subject in hand, and 
clear it up for us in the same way as the work of the 
earthworm has been ? Why are snails almost con¬ 
spicuous by their absence in some localities, and at 
the same time found in large numbers within a stone's 
throw, without any apparent difference in the sur¬ 
roundings to account for it ? Having had a closer 
personal acquaintance with them recently than I wish 
for, it seems to me that they prefer decaying matter 
to that which is fresh and green. Is it that they were 
designed to eat up such, and that man, having des¬ 
troyed the balance of nature, has driven them to 
extremities, and so by preying upon the produce he 
rears for his own use they become his enemies ? If 
this and some other allied subjects had been taught 
in our public elementary schools in the past in place 
of much of the so-called religious teaching, many 
of us would have been better prepared for the battle 
of life when we left them than we were.—IF. B.G. 
