150 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 6, 189*7. 
high centre, wholly pure white. An equal number 
of meritorious kinds could be added. 
EARLSWOOD NURSERIES, REDHILL. 
London, enswathed in the grimy folds of an autumnal 
fog, enshrouded in a darkness which, like that of the 
Egyptians, might be felt—a city as of the dead 1 
The fair hills of fair Surrey bathed in sunshine, and 
tipped with a thousand gold and russet tints of rural 
autumn, smiling beneath the mellow touch of a 
benignant autumn 1 This is a contrast sufficiently 
striking, and yet it is one that must occur many 
times during the roll of the seasons. At any rate, 
Mr. Wells, of Earlswood fame, has much to congratu¬ 
late himself upon in having his lines cast in such 
pleasant places. Certainly the present year has been 
exceptionally kind to the people of Redhill and dis¬ 
trict, for we found that Scarlet Runner Beans were 
still being gathered from the open, and Dahlias and 
Chrysanthemums, also in the open, blooming un¬ 
interruptedly. In a piece of ground, under the pro¬ 
tecting lee of a hill, which Mr. Wells has planted 
with early flowering Chrysanthemums, we found 
that grand white form, Queen of the Earlies, still 
producing magnificent flowers, an example which 
other-varieties have not been slow to follow. 
It was the pot plants safely esconced in the 
houses, however, that rivetted our attention. The 
large span-roofed house contained an enormous 
wealth of big blooms, and here and there especially 
fine samples called for particular notice. Speaking 
of the flowers as a whole, we may say without ex¬ 
aggeration that Mr. Wells has never been in better 
form than he is this year. The plants all round are 
good, healthy, and strong, the impress of superior 
cultivation being everywhere manifest. 
Of novelties there are several that are either good 
already, or promise well for the immediate future. 
•‘ Yes," said Mr. Wells, in answer to a question, 
•' M. Calvat, of Grenoble, has sent out many good 
things in his time, but this year he has beaten the 
record.” Papa Veillard is one of the best of them. 
It bears a close resemblance to President Borel both 
in build and colour, but exhibits a rather lighter 
shade. N.C.S. Jubilee is indeed a noble flower. It 
may be grown to large size, as was well demon¬ 
strated by the numerous grand blooms of it scattered 
about the house. The florets are broad massive, 
deeply keeled, and incurve strongly. The colour is a 
beautiful mauve. There is nothing in general culti¬ 
vation that is at all like it in colour, and taking it 
altogether it is one of the best incurved Japs ever 
introduced. In Madame Ferlat we. have a flower 
that is not unlike Lady Byron, being of great depth, 
and of the same colour. The bloom is rather closer 
in build, however. Directeur Liebert is a huge 
Japanese variety with very long florets. The colour 
is a bright rose-purple. Mille. Luci Faure bears a 
certain resemblance to Mutual Friend in the con¬ 
tour of the florets, and like the latter variety is 
white, but the much greater depth of the bloom 
renders it totally distinct from aught else. 
In Mrs. J. Butters, raised by a Camberwell grower, 
we have a very curious and pretty flower that can 
scarcely fail to become popular. The florets are split 
up in such a wav as to suggest a stag’s horn, and 
each division b.i.ig narrowly linear renders the like¬ 
ness more striking. The flower is of medium size 
and white. Mr. Wells is of opinion that it will prove 
a good decorative variety, and there is no doubt that 
it would be a break away from anything we have. 
Madame Edmond Roger must not be forgotten 
among the list of novelties. The peculiar shade of 
green-white which it exhibits may cause some to 
describe it as a monstrosity, but there is no denying 
the noble appearance of the flower, which is of large 
size, and has incurving florets of medium length. 
Mr. Wells has some capital blooms of it taken on 
second crown buds, and we were most favourably 
impressed with it. 
Julian Hilberd, a cream coloured Madame Carnot, 
was promising well when we saw the plants, but we 
were too soon to be able to say anything definite 
about the variety as yet. Georgina Pitcher comes 
very close indeed to Edith Tabor, but the latter 
variety is of such notoriously tall habit that the 
dwarfer stature of Georgina Pitcher is well worthy 
attention. In addition to this the latter variety is a 
really good doer. G. J. Warren, although it may 
not be exactly a novelty, is yet sufficiently new to 
warrant a note. We were prepared for and expected 
something good by reason of its having originated 
from that grand white, Madame Carnot. Its cultiva¬ 
tion has been attended with varying success however, 
for while some of the flowers exhibit clearly enough 
the Madame Carnot build of bloom, others run off 
into the ragged style seen in such varieties as Mrs. 
Hume Long, which while it may have a few admirers 
does not find one in us. Mr. Wells has some first 
rate blooms of G. J. Warren. Madame G. Bruant, 
was also represented by some capital samples on 
second crown buds. We fully described this variety 
on the occasion of its receiving certificates from the 
Royal Horticultural Society, and the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society, on October iCth. On second crowns 
this variety takes a lot of beating. Madame Philippe 
Rivoire, which received a First-class Certificate from 
the N.C.S. on October 25th, is undoubtedly a great 
acquisition to the ranks of white Japanese varieties, 
and we were much taken with it as seen at Earls¬ 
wood. 
Coming to standard varieties we are pleased to be 
able to record our admiration for the samples which 
Mr. Wells had on view. Madame Carnot was rather 
tall, but bore first-class blooms. Phoebus, Edith 
Tabor, Le Moucherotte, M. Chenon de Leche, Thos. 
Wilkins, Mrs. J. Lewis, Mutual Friend, and Austra¬ 
lian Gold were all in capital condition. Duchess of 
Fife, Thos. Bevan, and Mrs. Airdrie were standing 
side by side, and even a close comparison of the 
blooms could not discover any real difference 
between them. If these names are not synonyms of 
each other they ought to be. 
Incurved blooms were showing signs of great 
promise. Such varieties as Baron Hirsch, D. B. 
Crane, Perle Dauphinoise, John Lambert, and Miss 
D. Foster were all good. Lady Isabel was some¬ 
what of a surprise to us. This variety has been sent 
out by Mr. Wells as a Jap, and it undoubtedly is so, 
upon the first bud, but upon the second crown it 
developes a grand bloom with regularly incurving 
florets that want but little dressing to constitute a 
tip-top incurved variety. If the second crown buds 
are constant thus we shall have a bloom that for size 
will entirely supersede Queen of England. Topaze 
Orientale, on the other hand will scarcely make a true 
incurve, no matter how it is treated. Both colour 
and size are good, bowever. 
The practice of growing exhibition plants in 6 in. 
and 7 in. pots may be said to have been introduced 
by Mr. Wells, and at the present day this method is 
followed by him most successfully. The cuttings 
are struck in March, stopped once, and put into 
their flowering pots by the beginning of July. It is 
really wonderful to see these comparatively small 
pDnts carrying blooms that for size and colour com¬ 
pare favourably with those borne by the plants in 
10 in. and 12 in. pots. Of all the varieties which may 
be successfully grown thus, none is a more con¬ 
spicuous success than the beautiful white Souvenir 
d’une Petite Amie. Madame Gustav Henry also 
comes well. Phoebus, Mrs. J. Louis, Parachute, 
Jno. Shrimpton, Australian Gold, Modesto, M. 
Chenon de Leche, and Louise are other well-known 
varities which respond readily to this kind of treat¬ 
ment. In the show house at Earlswood, these dwarf 
plants are staged four or five deep next the wall of 
the house, the taller ones finding a place in the centre. 
In conclusion we may well bestow a word of 
praise upon tbe general arrangement of the plants 
which admitted of each plant and each bloom having 
room to display its charms to visitors, of which there 
was none more interested than— G. 
-- 
NOTES FROM DUNOON. 
I am agreeably surprised to find that my ” Notes 
from Dunoon ” have stirred up some enthusiasm in 
my respected friend, Mr. James Gibson, for, although 
he enters the lists against me as a first-class critic, I 
do not mind, because I am quite sure he will not be 
unnecessarily severe. But Mr. Gibson is too 
serious ; he has placed too liberal a construction 
upon the disputed phrase ; he is evidently labouring 
under a misapprehension. 
When I stated that *' amateurs are not in evi¬ 
dence,” I was not making a general but a specific 
assertion, an assertion which I believe to be in strict 
accordance with the facts. I could not say other¬ 
wise—I could not speak of that of which I had no 
cognisance. If, therefore, Mr. Gibson will read my 
remarks in connection with the heading of the 
•‘ Notes,” and in the spirit in which they are penned, 
I feel sure that the cause of difference will imme¬ 
diately disappear. 
Mr. Gibson, I must say again, has given too wide 
an import to a statement made by the way ; he has, 
in truth, taken it out of the local category, and placed 
it in the national, a position it was never intended to 
bold. 
Facts, I know, are stubborn things; but before we 
can argue we must first agree upon the “ facts.” 
Mr. Gibson then goes on to repine that " one could 
not expect a Saxon to freely admit that canny Scots 
are great gardeners.” Perhaps not, en masse. But I 
am one of those who take a cosmopolitan rather than 
a national view, and therefore am willing to give 
credit wherever credit is due. Moreover, Scotsmen 
are among my best friends—all hail to Scotia’s sons 1 
As to the amateurs of Ayr I can say nothing, except 
that Middlesex men can hardly be lighter ; but, 
joking apart, I do know a professional Ayrshire man 
whose abilities as a cultivator and whose skill as a 
gardener I have never seen surpassed. Mr. Gibson, 
however, winds up somewhat ironically concerning 
an alleged “ discovery ”; but if he will take the 
trouble to look again at p. 102 he will find that I 
wrote that—*' accor ling to local tradition Mary Camp¬ 
bell or 1 Highland Mary ’ was born here,” i.e., 
Dunoon—hence the monument. For further infor¬ 
mation I must refer my friend to the editor of the 
Dunoon Observer or the Argyleshire Standard. 
It is recorded in Shakespeare's ‘ Julius Csesar ” 
that Brutus and Cassius were great friends. I feel 
somewhat in the position of the latter when he ex¬ 
claimed (substituting one name only for another) 
that :— 
"A friend should bear his friend’s infirmities, 
But Gibson makes mine greater than they are." 
— C. B. G., Acton, W. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The awards mentioned hereunder were made by the 
Royal Horticultural Society on the 26th ult. 
Orchid Committee. 
Laelia pumila magnifica, Nov. var. —The sepals 
and petals are very broad and deep purple. The 
tube of the lip is white externally, and yellow inter¬ 
nally, while the lamina is rich crimson-purple and of 
great size. This grand variety will raise the reputa¬ 
tion of L. pumila considerably, for it is in no way 
inferior to L. p. praestans. Award of Merit. 
Messrs. W. L. Lewis & Co., Southgate, N. 
Cattleya Olivia, Nov. hyb. —The seed parent of 
this beautiful hybrid was C. Trianaei, and the pollen 
bearer C intermedia. The sepals and petals are of 
a delicate blush. The tube of the lip is even more 
delicate, while the lip is of a soft mauve. The 
throat and disc of the lip are of a soft lemon. It is 
a chaste and charming Cattleya. Award of Merit. 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., Chelsea. 
Cattleya Melpomene, Nov. hyb. —This was 
raised from C. Fcrbesii crossed with the pollen of 
C. Mendelii. The sepals and petals are soft purple, 
the latter being slightly folded along the midrib. 
The lip is short, curved and very pale blush; its 
lamina is crisped, undulated, and blush with a 
golden disc. The size of the flowers is intermediate 
between the parents. Award of Merit. Messrs. J. 
Veitch & Sons, Ltd. 
Odontoglossum crispum Sunlight, Nov. var .— 
The flowers of this handsome variety are of great 
size, with broad, overlapping segments, the ground 
colour of which is pure white. There are some rich, 
reddish-purple blotches on the sepals, and more 
numerous small spots on the petals. Award of 
Merit. R. Brooman White. Esq., Arddarroch, 
Garelochhead. 
Laelia purpurata Mrs. R. I. Measures, Nov. 
var. —The sepals are white. The petals are oblong- 
elliptic, veined with purple, almost white at the base 
and intensified towards the apex. The lamina and 
side lobes of the lip are crimson-purple. It is a 
striking variety, remarkable for the shortness of its 
petals. Award of Merit. R. I. Measures, Esq. 
(gardener, Mr. H. J. Chapman), Cambridge Lodge, 
Camberwell. 
Laelia longipes. —In this we have a gem in minia- 
