284 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 1, 1898. 
not, therefore, surprising that with very few ex¬ 
ceptions those who are not naturally outside of the 
smoke screen hasten to put themselves there. This 
is an undeniable proof of the high esteem in which 
" colour ” is held amongst cultivators. Mere size, 
of course, can be obtained almost if not quite as 
well in the town as in the country, with the excep¬ 
tion of the increased tendency towards damping in 
the town flower.— G. 
-—«o — 
THE GOLDEN MONTEREY CYPRESS. 
(CUPRESSUS MACROCARPA LUTEA.) 
Thanks to Messrs. Dickson, of Chester, no brighter 
or in every way more desirable Conifer has, during 
the past 25 years at least been brought before the 
public than the subject of this note. The habit is 
graceful, the colouring rich and subdued, while the 
striking difference in tint between the bright cinna¬ 
mon of the bark and soft golden hue of the deliciously 
fragrant foliage still further adds to the value of the 
Cypress for strictly ornamental purposes. 
There is an upright, and a spreading form of the 
Monterey Cypress in cultivation, and evidently this 
golden variety has been raised from the former, the 
habit of growth being first sufficiently strict to 
impart a neat and pleasing outline, the stiffness and 
formality usually attending fastigiate Conifers being 
quite lost sight of in the lithe, slender, and finely 
divided branches and branchlets. 
In certain golden Conifers the foliage colouring 
is too glaring and pronounced, and several have 
fallen into disuse on this account—a fault that can 
certainly not be found with the present plant, which, 
though strikingly distinct, is yet of a decidedly rich 
and subdued tone. 
There is nothing patchy about the foliage colouring, 
the whole being regularly suffused with the warm 
golden tint for which the plant is so remarkable, this 
extending not only to the leaves but to the bark of 
the young wood as well. 
Being of good habit, perfectly hardy, and retaining 
the lower branches intact it makes an excellent pot 
plant and stands long-continued drought and neglect 
in a wonderful manner. 
The Royal Horticultural Society awarded a First- 
class Certificate to this Conifer, but a further proof 
of its popularity is the rapid rate at which it is 
being propagated in some of the London and 
suburban tree nurseries — A. D. Webster. 
-- 
PRACTICAL GARDENING. 
On Thursday, December 16th, Mr. W. P. Wright 
delivered his sixth and last lecture of the course to 
a large and attentive audience at Eynsford. Mr. H. 
Cannell occupied the chair. The subject of the 
evening’s lecture was “ Summer crops of vege¬ 
tables." Peas and Beans were pointed out as being 
some of the most important of these. Mr. Wright 
alluded to the great uumber of new sorts sent out 
each year, some of which turned out satisfactorily, 
and others quite the reverse. He had come to the 
conclusion that the best plan was to make a selec¬ 
tion partly of new and partly of old standard 
varieties. The dwarf, first early Peas, which needed 
no sticks, were some of the most useful. The first of 
these was Chelsea Gem, and the second English 
Wonder. Daisy was a little later, but a fine Pea. Of 
exhibition varieties he had found Peerless, Match¬ 
less, Duke of Albany, and Alderman very satis¬ 
factory, whilst Autocrat was to be specially recom¬ 
mended. 
With regard to Beans he advised his audience to 
grow, in the " runner ” section, the old Scarlet for 
general purposes, whilst for exhibition purposes 
Prize-winner, Hill's Prize, and Best of All were 
first-class. Dwarf French Beans would be well 
represented by such varieties as Canadian Wonder, 
and Ne Plus Ultra. Taylor's Broad Windsor and 
Leviathan Longpod were two excellent Broad 
Beans. 
Turning to cultural details the lecturer urged the 
advisability of giving special attention to the pre¬ 
paration of the soil, for a piece of land well prepared 
in the spring would give a heavy crop of Peas in the 
summer, and Turnips in the autumn. Admirable 
results had been secured by working ia a dressing of 
stable manure a foot below the surface, and sprink¬ 
ling wood ashes on the surface layer. This plan kept 
the roots cool and assisted them in combating mildew. 
He quoted Dean Hole's remark that the allotment 
system will always have two opponents—“ the idle 
man who will not garden, and the ignorant man who 
doesn’t know how." 
Mr. Wright displayed some excellent lantern 
views of Peas and Beans to illustrate his remarks. 
At the conclusion of the lecture Mr H. Cannell 
warned his hearers against pinning their faith to 
cheap seeds, which were unreliable. 
One of the most interesting features of the even¬ 
ing was the presentation of Mr. H. M. Pollett’s 
Silver Cup to Mr. William Howard, who has for the 
space of sixty-six years occupied his allotment, 
during which time he has proved a successful fruit 
and vegetable grower. Mr. Cannell presented the 
cup to Mr. Howard and congratulated him on his 
long and successful tenure. What an amount of 
pleasure and profit, physical and mental, said the 
chairman, must the cultivation of this allotment 
have given to Mr. Ho ward in the course of so many 
years. Mr. Howard in a few words expressed his 
thanks to Mr. Pollett as the donor of the cup, and 
to Mr. Cannell for the ddnd way in which he had 
presented it. 
Mr.Cannell next proceeded to distribute the prizes 
earned by the allotment-holding competitors for 
vegetables. The exhibition contai led some splendid 
vegetables from the Eynsford Allotments, of which 
there are now fully a hundred. Messrs. H. Cannell 
and Sons, Swanley, sent an excellent collection of 
vegetables not for competition. The Swanley Cider 
Company sent samples of Cider. 
-- 
AUTUMN-FLOWERING CROCUSES. 
The genus Crocus is chiefly represented in gardens 
by the many fine varieties of C. vernus and C. versi¬ 
color, which are so bright and handsome during 
early spring. Autumn-flowering forms have for 
some reason or other been much neglected, and it is 
not often that we see them grown to any extent, with, 
perhaps, the single exception of C. speciosus, the 
value of which even then is not fully known or 
appreciated. There are, however, very many pretty 
things among tbem, and given a fine autumn some 
very fine effects may be produced in the garden 
by their aid. For a number of years Messrs. 
Barr & Sons have made a speciality of these pretty 
flo wers, and their nurseries at Long Ditton contain a 
splendid collection, which is ever being added to 
and developed under the aegis of Mr. J W. Barr, 
who loves the flowers with all the fervour of an 
enthusiast. We spent a very pleasant day among 
them in October last, upon which occasion, thanks 
to a day quite spring-like in the warmth and buoy¬ 
ancy of its atmosphere, the flowers were all looking 
their best. The following forms were amongst the 
finest and most interesting ;— 
C. sativus. —It is from this species that the 
greater part of the saffron of commerce is collected. 
The flowers are large, violet in colour, and variously 
marked with lighter purple or violet. The plant is 
one of great antiquity, and has been cultivated by 
various peoples for many hundreds of years. Many 
well marked varieties have originated from this 
species, some of them having been accorded specific 
rank. 
C. s. cart wright 1 an us has its flowers smaller 
and shorter than those of the type. The pistil 
is longer than the stamens, which are sulphur- 
yellow in colour. The stigmata are red. The 
flower is light lilac, charmingly veined with deeper 
lilac. The plant is a native of Eastern Greece and 
the Cyclades. 
C. s. Elwesii has light purple, stellate flowers 
of medium size. The structure of the flower and 
the habit of the plant generally come close to the 
widely-distributed and well known C. s. Pallasii, 
from which it differs chiefly in the colour and size of 
the flowers. The plant is found in the neighbour¬ 
hood ot Symrna, at an altitude of from 3,000 to 
4,000 ft. above sea level. The Crimea is probably 
its eastern limit. The Crocus is mentioned by Virgil 
in his Georgies, lib. i., cap. xvi. 
C. s. Pallasii, as grown at Long Ditton, has 
stellate, rosy-lilac flowers. In the description of it 
given by George Maw in his “ Monograph of the 
genus Crocus " it is stated to be " smaller in all its 
parts than C. s. Elwesii." It is the most widely 
distributed form, according to the same author, and 
varies a good deal in colour, ranging from pale lilac 
to light purple, according to the locality. 
C s. Haussknecktii h3s been described by Boissier 
as a distinct species. The corm is smaller than that 
of the type, and the pistil is shorter relatively to the 
stamens. It was collected by Hau.skneckt at an 
altitude of 5,000 ft. above sea level on Delechani 
and Sangar, calcareous mountains in Western 
Persia, and was also found at Kharput in Hindustan, 
on October 15th, 1865. This latter locality is 
worthy of notice by reason of the fact that it is the 
most eastern point at which any form of C. sativus 
has been found. 
C. longiflorus.— From a garden point of view 
this species is one of the handsomest. The flowers 
are of medium size, the iudividual segments being 
ovate-lanceolate in shape. They vary in colour 
from rosy-lilac to p.urplerlilac, and are veined with 
The Golden Monterey Cypress. 
(CUPRESSUS MACROCARPA LUTEA.) 
