346 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 29,1898. 
under-glass space is needed, as well as a large staff 
of labour. Much of the glass in the nursery, in fact, 
is devoted to Palms of different sizes. 
Of these houses the most conspicuous is the large 
conservatory, whose front faces Putney Park Lane. 
This is a lofty and roomy house, tut it is neither too 
lofty or too roomy for the numbers of plants it con¬ 
tains. Here one sees superb specimens of such useful 
decorative forms as Archontophoenix cunningbam- 
iana, or to give it its every-day garden name, 
Seaforthia elegans, Howea (Kentia) australis, H. 
fosteriana, H. belmoreana, Cocos plumosa, Livistona 
rotundifolia, Rhapis humilis, R. flabelliformis, 
Phoenix canadensis, P. rupicola, and P. reclinata. 
These plants are ever in demand, and a good speci¬ 
men never comes amiss. 
Many other smaller, but still roomy houses are 
filled with these Palms and a few others in quantity. 
One point particularly strikes the visitor, and that is 
the comparatively low temperatures in which many 
of the plants are grown. This is done for the purpose 
of bringing the plants up as hardily as possible, and 
of training them, so to speak, to stand a little knock¬ 
ing about. In not a few nurseries the reverse of this 
is often the case; for a great deal of heat is given 
which results in rapid growth it is true, but the 
plants are not so sturdy or resistent of lower tem¬ 
peratures should they happen to come. It is obvious 
that the hardier training is an advantage to plants 
that have to stand for days, sometimes weeks, 
together in draughty corridors or in the arid and un¬ 
kindly atmospheres of dwelling rooms. 
The number of young seedling Palms in the 
establishment is enormous. In several of the houses 
we see tier after tier of shelves filled with them, and 
they are represented in all stages from the baby 
plant to the comparative veteran of four, five, or six 
years, and upwards. Cocos weddeliana alone is 
grown in its thousands, for it is whilst in the 
small state that it finds its readiest sale It is 
exceedingly handsome at any time, but the price, of 
course, grows with the plant, and as it is not the 
most suitable for the amateur cultivator to try his 
’prentice hand upon, the price is a deterrent. Steven- 
sonia grandifolia is a distinct and handsome plant. 
The leaves exhibit a shade of bronze-green, and are 
curiously dotted over with iron rust-coloured spots. 
The presence of these spots has led purchasers to 
fancy that their plants are in a state of ill-health, or 
that they have been bitten by some insect or other, 
but the spots are natural, and no sign of either 
fact. Phoenix Roebelini is an exceedingly pretty 
subject, but as seed cannot be obtained of it, the 
price continues high. The commoner P. rupicola, 
although, perhaps, not quite so ornamental, is yet a 
good substitute. 
Stove foliage plants are well looked after. The 
earliest batch of Caladiums is already started, and 
some of the plants have several good leaves already. 
Dracaenas are represented by such forms as D. 
Lindeni, D. sanderiana, D. Lord Wolseley, D. rubra, 
D. congesta, D. pendula, the handsome but high- 
priced D. Doucetii, and D. lineata. Of the latter 
Mr. Iceton has a grand stock of large plants. These 
know their way about town pretty well, for they are 
great favourites for decoration. D. sanderiana we 
have never seen better, the variegation beiDg very 
strong and well marked. D. Lindeni is especially 
well done, for many of the plants are perfect models 
of symmetry with leaves right down to the pots, and 
such leaves too !—of great width and substance, and 
splendidly coloured. Several of the taller plants 
have been recently " ringed ” and tied round with 
moss to favour the formation of roots. Amongst 
stove Ferns Adiantum farleyense is exceedingly well 
done, and its treatment is evidently well understood. 
Crotons in variety are grown. Amongst Bamboos, 
Bambusa falcata is one of the most useful forms. It 
is highly decorative, and stands well. A fine stock 
of plants of all sizes greets the visitor. 
Eurya latifqlia variegata is one of the most hand¬ 
some and useful foliage subjects, and we were not 
surprised to find that Mr. Iceton goes in for it 
extensively. It is given an intermediate temperature, 
and the results are to be seen in the wonderful 
development of colour which characterises the 
foliage. Some grand specimens in 6 in., 7 in., and 
even 8 in. pots looked fit enough to go anywhere, for 
they were clothed with foliage right down to the 
rims of the pots, and were very different from the 
scraggy-looking objects that are not infrequently met 
with. 
A most successful line at Granard Park Gardens is 
the decorative forms of Asparagus. Several houses 
have the roof entirely covered with it, and odd plants 
are trained up pillars in other houses. Vast quanti¬ 
ties of seed are obtained each year, although Mr. 
Kyaw, the manager, informed us that they were 
queer things to fruit, for sometimes the plants would 
flower with exceptional freedom, and comparatively 
few fruits would set, and individual plants seemed to 
like to have a season’s rest from fruiting now and 
again. The young stock is represented by many 
thousands of seedlings in small thumb pots that will 
soon make good plants. A. Sprengeri is a handsome 
species that is of the utmost value for the filling of 
baskets for suspension in the conservatory. It grows 
freely, and is a good doer generally. Some young 
plants in 32-sized pots that were placed on a shelf 
near the glass were presenting a very pretty picture 
with their long pendant or sub-pendant growths. 
The popular Smilax (Myrsiphyllum asparagoides) 
which is so extensively used for decorative work is 
cultivated at Granard Gardens to a considerable 
extent. It is planted out in a specially prepared bed 
in a warm house, and the growths encouraged to 
twine round slender black strings, stretched from the 
roof to the ground. When trails of the delicate 
greenery are needed, all that has to be done is to cut 
these strings with the growths upon them. 
Aspidistras are never a drug in the market, and 
any stock that can be raised is always eagerly 
snapped up. Quantities of young plants in thumbs 
are, at the present time, furnishing material for fill¬ 
ing small fancy vases, and, of course, growing into 
money in the meantime. The merits of Araucaria 
excelsa are fully recognised, and the customer can 
take his or her choice from plants about a foot in 
height, shapely trees in miniature, up to stately 
specimens 8 ft. or 9 ft. in height, and as perfect in 
symmetry as the younger ones. The variety A. e. 
glauca differs from the species in having longer and 
more pendulous branches. The whole plant, too, is 
dwarfer and rather more squat in habit, but is a very 
pretty subject. 
Before leaving the nursery we had a peep at the 
fine old Stephanotis plants, than which there are 
none finer in the country. They have just been 
pruned hard back, and the young growths were being 
trained in the way they should go. Both plants bear 
evidence of perfect health. 
Both Mr. Iceton and bis capable manager, Mr. 
Kyaw, are to be congratulated on the way in which 
the various strings working such an establishment as 
this are gathered up and held in hand, for order and 
business activity were apparent everywhere. 
VALUE OF CERTIFICATES, 
Leaving out of question the XXX and XX given to 
various plants by the committees of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, how many have considered 
the relative values or significance given or implied 
by the awarding of a First-class Certificate and an 
Award of Merit respectively ? Awards of Merit are 
generally understood to be the highest recognition 
that can be given a purely florist's flower, which is 
generally raised from seed, though some of them may 
be, and are, sports of already existing varieties. This 
would imply that there is little or no difficulty 
attached to the raising of them, they may generally 
be raised in abundance, and the life of a variety may 
be of relatively short duration, either through 
degeneracy, or by their being superseded by some¬ 
thing better. In any case Awards of Merit given to 
the best of them serve to mark and to encourage pro¬ 
gress, as well as being a record of progress. 
In some cases, however, particularly that of 
Orchids, an entirely different aspect is put upon the 
question, which can only be known to those who 
are acquainted with the circumstances under which 
the award is given. Let us take the Award of Merit 
as the unit of value, and the First-class Certificate as 
twice the value. The sum of the two awards would 
be three units of value. Occasionally an Orch’d 
brought before the meeting would receive an Award 
of Merit. The same plant, if brought up at a 
subsequent meeting, it may be in better condition, 
sometimes gets a First-class Certificate. This would 
obviously double the value of the original award. 
There is another, and a frequent instance, in which 
a good thing gets a First-class Certificate on the fir;t 
occasion it is presented. A better variety of the 
same thing, or in the same section, may, and does 
turn up, but this only gets an Award of Merit, because 
a First-class Certificate has already been given to the 
type or one of the same affinity. If the first variety or 
hybrid presented gets a First-class Certificate.it would 
seem to be a case of progressing backwards if a better 
thing gets only an Award of Merit; but because the 
first one in the same line or pedigree blocks the way, 
the giving of the lower award really means that it 
has been added to the first, thus raising the value of 
the newer variety to three, instead of one. A casein 
point occurs in Laelia anceps amesiana. which was 
awarded a First-class Certificate on July 24th, 1888. 
On the nth inst. L. a. amesiana Crawshay's var., 
with larger and finer flowers than the original L. a. 
amesiana, was brought before the society by De B. 
Crawshay, Esq., Rosefield, Sevenoaks, and received 
an Award of Merit. Looked at in this light it should 
combine the value of both the awards. 
-- 
LOW-PRICED SEEDS A MISTAKE. 
It is a mistake to suppose that it is wise economy 
to obtain seeds simply because they are low in price. 
Nothing is more misleading than to say these are 
cheap. Much of the low-priced seeds are not worth 
putting into the ground ; it is far better to obtain the 
very best article, regardless of the price, than to sow 
such rubbish. 
In these days, when everything is cut so low (seeds 
amongst them) these are often obtained from such 
doubtful sources, that it is advisable to caution the 
amateur and young hand against sowing seeds of a 
doubtful quality, even if they were given, to grow. 
In lecturing I always point out what a mistake many 
cultivators make. As you often see, they go to a 
deal of trouble well working and manuring their 
land, and then go and get the lowest-priced seeds 
they can, which are often rubbish compared to good 
selected stocks. When the crop is to hand they are 
disappointed, and this the more so when they com¬ 
pare it against a good strain. 
Many people never consider the time, trouble, and 
expense it takes to rogue out the poor and weakly 
portion of many vegetables. Again, speaking in a 
general way the best types give the smallest quantity 
of seed, being more shy in seeding. Compare a good 
selected stock of William the First Pea, against a 
stock that has been grown on without beiDg rogued, 
and see the difference. The same may be said of 
most of the Cabbage family.— J. C., Chard. 
ORCHID NOTES *# GLEANINGS. ' 
Laelia pumlla praestans.—A plant of this 
Laelia has been flowering for some time past in the 
collection of Sir F. Wigan, Clare Lawn, East SheeD, 
Surrey, under the care of Mr. W. H. Young. It was 
obtained from the Downside collection in 1887, and 
if not that originally described by the late Professor 
Reichenbach, it may be regarded as one of the 
earlier importations. Reichenbach first described it 
in 1857 as a species under the name of Laelia 
praestans, but later on changed it to Bletia praestans 
in his Xenia Orchidacea II., p. 43, t 114- As disputes 
are likely to arise from time to time, we here give 
particulars of the plant at Clare Lawn. The petals 
are rhomboid, suddenly narrowed to a subacute 
point at the apex, and of a deeper rose shade than 
the sepals. We come to the crux of the situation in 
the lip, which furnishes the most reliable characters 
by which the variety can be distinguished from the 
type, and the variety L. pumila dayana. The lip of 
L. p. praestans, grown at Clare Lawn, has a curved 
or trumpet-shaped lip, the tube of which is tightly 
rolled into a cylinder with the edges over¬ 
lapping one another considerably. The tube is 
purple externally, and dark crimson-red internally, 
with two very shallow ridges running along the 
centre, and one on either side of the central pair, 
almost obliterated. The lamina is small, nearly 
orbicular, emarginate, and of a rich crimson purple. 
The column is pale lilac and pressed with its back 
against the upper side of the tube of the lip. The 
pseudobulbs are fusiform, and 3 in. or 4 in. in length. 
The leaves are oblong, and 4 in. to 5 in. in length. 
It will be seen that this differs from some recorded 
descriptions of L. pumila praestans in which the 
disc or central area of the tube is described as 
orange-yellow. That of the flower we examined 
was dull crimson-red. L p. dayana has a white 
disc, on which five to seven purple lines and several 
shorter ones are depicted. 
