542 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 23, 1898. 
must have given the blotch, as this variety is quite 
distinct from both parents." 
•< I understand you have been raising seedlings for 
the last ten years. How many plants do you grow ? ” 
" Three hundred." 
" Is that all you have raised in ten years ?" 
“ Oh, no. I had at one time 8oo, but I was 
obliged to part with 500, as I had no room to flower 
them all.” 
" Were you not afraid, when giving so many away 
that you might be parting with some of your very 
best ? ” 
" That is so; and it cost me some anxious 
thoughts on the subject. But I have two angels 
that sometimes pay me a visit when I am in a diffi¬ 
culty. The one I call Miss Head, and the other 
Miss Heart. Miss Head, as usual, paid me the first 
visit one night when I had been thinking what would 
become of my 300 seedlings, and gave me her advice 
in this way:—‘You will act very foolishly if you 
give away so many of those young plants that have 
cost you years of thought and careful nursing ; for 
some may get them that will grow and show them as 
their own raising. Take my advice and burn what 
you can’t grow yourself.' Well, I knew that this 
was good, sensible, worldly advice; but I also knew 
that Miss Heart would have a say in the matter, and 
I was not mistaken. 
" Early next morning, when the first rays of the 
rising sun had tipped the hills with its golden glory, 
who should come tripping in but Miss Heart, so 
fresh and beautiful, bringing with her from the hills, 
where she had landed, the smell of the mountain 
Pine on her Macmillan tartan wiDgs, and the 
perfume of the Heather on her fairylike teet. So 
after • dichting 1 her feet on the mat, she says, 
■ Sandy, am ashamed 0’ ye.’ I may tell you that 
this good angel of mine, when she wants to give me 
a bit of her mind, speaks braid Scotch, has a tongue, 
and can use it to some purpose. 
‘Am ashamed o’ ye. Dinna think but I ken a’ 
yer wicked thochts. Would you gang and rost a’ 
they bonnie wee innocent plants that ye brocht into 
the world ? Oh, man, hae ye nae herrt ? Let them 
live; if ye canna bring them up yoursel, let some 
ither bodie hae them, so that if they dinna live to 
flower and smile on you they may gladden the heart 
0’ some ither fair garner.’ 
“ So this curtain lecture saved the innocents from 
the fiery furnace, and the first work that I did that 
morning was to pack up a lot and take them to the 
Botanic Gardens. Another lot went off next day to 
Mr. Dewar, of the Glasgow Botanic. Then I 
divided the others among nurserymen and gardeners 
in private places. 
“ I am rather disappointed with the Countess of 
HaddiDgton's seedlings; of course, I have a good 
many of them to bloom yet, but any that have 
bloomed are not so good as the Countess. I have 
been always obliged to make the Countess the seed 
bearer, as I could never get pollen from my plants. 
I have sixteen different crosses in pots of various 
sizes and ages. My seventeenth cross was sown the 
other day, so that it will be eight years before 
the seedlings from it flower. Some do flower in less 
time, and others take longer, but seven years is 
about the average." 
" That is a long time to wait ? ” 
"Yes; but Jacob served seven years (fourteen— 
Ed.) for Rachel, and what true gardener would grudge 
to serve seven years for a beautiful Countess of 
Haddington, or a sweet Lady Fitzwilliam.”— Viator. 
-- i « - 
ARDEN1NG gflSCELLANY. 
ROMNEYA COULTERI. 
The members of the Natural Order Papaveraceae 
have many of them very showy flowers, and of this 
characteristic Romneya Coulteri has a full share. 
It is a tall, branching herbaceous perennial with 
large white flowers, and very handsome pinnatifid 
leaves. It is not so much grown in English gardens 
as it would be were it better fitted to withstand the 
influence of the cold. Evtn ordinary winters try it 
severely, and it is only in the more favoured locali¬ 
ties of our islands, such as in southern Devon, and 
Cornwall that it does really well As a greenhouse 
plant it is worthy of attention, as it takes fairly well 
to pot culture. A capital illustration of it appears 
in the current issue of the Tijdschrift voor Tuinbouw. 
CHLOROPHYTUM ELATUM VARIEGATUM. 
This is better known as Anthericum varigatum, and 
was heralded forth as a rival plant to Pandanus 
Veitchii. Well, certainly, in this respect, it has dis¬ 
appointed not a few; and, again, many were led 
to believe it to be a hardy plant, and in consequence 
a large number of plants were lost. An ordinary 
frame is not sufficient protection during a winter of 
moderate severity. I have had it succumb to five 
degrees of frost. Having seen, during the last few 
seasons, batches of well grown plants in a small 
nursery, has revived my interest in it, for well grown 
plants under artificial light may easily, at a short 
distance, be mistaken for P. Veitchii. I think it 
well worth the attention of those who have not the 
command of heat required by the Pandanus, and 
think an appropriate common name for it would be 
the Poor Man’s Pandanus, although of course it has 
a very remote botanical affinity to that genus of 
plants.— W. B. G. 
THE EVERGREEN SEDUM AS A BEDDING 
PLANT. 
Some time back I recommended covering beds with 
the evergreen Sedum, a bit of which I enclose, 
[Sedum Anacampseros,— Ed.] and dotting bulbs 
singly about it. I have now carried this out on a 
large raised bed at Oak wood, using bulbs having blue 
flowers such as Chionodoxa gigantea, C. Luciliae, C. 
sardensis, and different Muscaris. This has been 
much admired and is, I think, worthy of note. I 
propose trying another Sedum bed with the best of 
the smaller and lower growing species of Narcissus. 
Another quite different bed is now in beauty—a tree 
of Weeping Cherry (Cerasus pendula) now in full 
bloom had thickly planted under it Primroses of 
many different colours, and the effect of the flowers 
above and below is, I think, good.— George F. 
Wilson, Heatherbank, Weybridge Heath. 
-- 
READING AND DISTRICT GARDENERS. 
One of the most interesting and successful meetings 
in the annals of the Reading and District Gardeners’ 
Mutual Improvement Association was that held on 
Monday last, when the prizes offered by Mr. 
Leonard Sutton at the commencement of the season 
1898, for the best essays on “ How to keep the 
Greenhouse gay from October 1st to March 31st,” 
and " How to crop the Vegetable Garden to ensure 
the best varieties of Vegetables from October 1st to 
March 31st," were awarded to the successful com¬ 
petitors. The interest taken in the competition was 
greater than anticipated, thirteen members sending 
in papers, and it was not a matter of surprise that a 
good gathering of members assembled on Monday 
evening last to learn the result, and to hear the 
prizewinning papers read by their writers. After 
the formal business had been transacted, Mr. C. B. 
Stevens announced the awards as follows :—" How 
to keep a Greenhouse gay." - 
1st {£1 iis. 6d.), Mr. A. W. Blake, Foreman, The 
Gardens, East Thorpe, Reading ; 2nd {£1 is.), Mr. 
G. Stanton. The Gardens, Park Place, Henley-on- 
Thames ; 3rd (10s. 6d), Mr. John Botley, Foreman, 
The Gardens, Warfield Hall, Bracknell. 
" How to crop the Vegetable Garden : "—1st 
(£1 ns. 6d.), Mr. E. Trollope, The Gardens, 
Coombe Lodge, Whitchurch; 2nd (£1 is.), Mr. H. 
Wilson, The Gardens, Lower Redlands, Reading ; 
3rd (10s. 6d ), Mr. G. Hinton, The Gardens, Sher¬ 
wood Lodge, Reading. 
The judges were Mr. James Hudson, Gunners- 
bury Park, and Mr. Edwin Beckett, Aldenham 
House, Elstree. 
Mr. Leonard Sutton, in presenting the prizes, said 
that he considered the subject of essay writing was 
one of the most useful and beneficial to the members 
that the society could take up, for it encouraged 
the putting of one’s ideas on paper and at the pre¬ 
sent time it was those gardeners that could go to their 
employers with well thought out ideas that would 
prove successful, aud it would also be of the utmost 
value to the young gardeners who entered these com¬ 
petitions, for they would reap the benefit of their 
study and research in afterlife. The president then 
called upon the various winners to read their papers 
aDd although of course all were on the same subject 
yet they were treated from different standpoints, thus 
creating great interest amongst the members present. 
A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Leonard 
Sutton for his kindness in giving the prizes and 
also to the members for reading their papers. 
Owing to the success of the venture and the state¬ 
ment by the writers of the assistance they had 
received, from an educational point of view, in writ¬ 
ing their papers, the association had decided to take 
up this interesting subject as a part of their pro¬ 
gramme for season 1898-99, and a vote was passed 
that a sum not exceeding £8 should be devoted for 
this purpose, but that the competition should be 
divided into various grades, thus giving all members 
an equal chance to compete. 
Cut flowers were staged by Mr. Woolford, The 
Gardens, East Thorpe, including two good forms of , 
Odontoglossum crispum, two fine types of Cattleya 
lawrenceana, spikes of Amaryllis Empress of India, 
and spathes of Anthurium scherzerianum Wardii; 
also flowering spikes of Prunus sinensis flore pleno 
by Mr, Swansborough, Warfield Hall Gardens, 
whilst vegetables were shown by Mr. Stone and Mr. 
Hinton, including some nice heads of Sutton’s April 
Cabbage. 
-■ « ■ 
QUGSCIODS ADD AD3(DGR$. 
%* Will our friends who send us newspapers be so good 
as to mark the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see. 
We shall be greatly obliged bv their so doing. 
[ 1 Correspondents , please note that we cannot undertake to 
name florists' flowers such as Carnations, Pelargoniums, 
Chrysanthemums, Roses, nor such as are mere garden 
varieties, differing only in the colour of the flower. 
Florists' flowers, as a rule, can only be named by those who 
grow collections of them.] 
Chrysanthemums.— E. Bebbington : Your question is 
a somewhat lengthy one, and your collection of 
'Mums mnst be proportionately large. The follow¬ 
ing varieties need not be stopped at all, but allowed 
to grow on naturally and the second crown bud 
taken. These will be produced in time to form 
flowers for your show on November 12th:—J. W. 
McHattie, Ma Perfection, J. Cornford, Mrs. Her¬ 
mann Kloss, Edith Tabor, Mrs. D. Dewar, Com¬ 
mandant Blusset, General Roberts, J. Shrimpton, 
Western King, Mathew HodgsoD, Royal Sovereign, 
Walter Owen, Boule d’Or, (Calvat’s), Phoebus, J. 
Fulford, H. J. Cutbush, G. Brockman, Mrs. Dr. 
Ward, Helen Owen, and Mutual Friend. Exmouth 
Yellow is a very early variety, and thus second 
crowns would only be of use if the plants were late, 
otherwise you must take the terminals if you want 
it in November. The same may be said of Emily 
Silsbury. Phoebus, Mutual Friend, and Edith 
Tabor come well on any bud, but second crowns will 
suit your time best. Mrs. C. Blick may be stopped 
early in March and the first crown bud taken. 
Duchess of Fife, and C. W. Richardson should be 
stopped at the same time and the second crown bud 
secured. G. Seward may be allowed to grow 
without stopping and the first crown bud taken, or 
it should be stopped at the end of March and the 
second crown bud looked after. C. B. Whitnall, 
Directeur Tisserand, Mrs, G. Gover, Bonnie Dundee, 
and Major Bonnaffon should be pinched about the 
same time. Milano, Pride of Madford, Lady Ridg- 
way, Mrs. C. Keyser, Niveus, and Yeilow Madame 
Carnot should be stopped some time during the first 
week in April. In both these groups the second 
crown bud should be secured. M. Gruyer requires 
to be stopped about the middle of April, and the 
first crown bud taken. All these varieties will do 
under fairly generous treatment, excepting Mrs. Dr. 
Ward, which needs rather high feeding, and 
Australian Gold, which it is dangerous to feed too 
strongly. 
Names of Plants. — Enquirer ; i, Euonymus 
japonicus albo-marginatus; 2, Euonymus japonicus 
latifolius-albus ; 3, Kerria japonica flore pleno ; 4, 
Picea orientalis ; 5, Thujopsis dolobrata variegata ; 
6, Phillyrea latifolia ; 7, Cornus stolonifera ; 8, Bud- 
dleia globosa. 
Communications Received.— J. McLennan—N. 
B R C. H. S.—L. Lubbers.—George Allen—S. A. 
Senell.—Geo. James—R. L.—T. T.—Saynor—Gar¬ 
dener.—P. T. O.—Mentor. —Acalypha. 
TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 
H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, Kent—Catalogue 
of sixty bedding designs. 
