758 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 30, 1898. 
colour, and their excellent habit. We refer to 
Duchess of Fife, White Duchess and Goldfinch, 
which should be in every collection. Jeannie P. 
Robertson, a lovely cream, rayless flower, with a 
sky-blue edge is the finest of the new edged sorts we 
have seen. In the same category we should place 
Mayflower and Colleen Bawn, but both of these are 
rayed, with much more blue on the edges. The 
former is an early bloomer, and the latter has long 
flower stalks which make it suitable for cutting. 
Border Maid is the best yellow ground, with a deep 
blue edge, and differing from Blue Cloud only in 
respect of the white ground of the latter. We like 
Border Maid much better than J. Tullett, which has 
broader blue margins, and is otherwise different. 
The soft mauve and broad border to Cecilia is deli¬ 
cate and handsome. Hamlet is a yellow ground 
with a broad bronzy-purple margin, and very dis¬ 
tinct. It was awarded a First-class Certificate by 
the Glasgow Pansy Society a few years ago. Mrs. 
R. K. Mitchell is a dark crimson-purple, with a white 
centre. 
Parti-coloured or variegated flowers included 
several well known sorts and others that are just 
feeling their way. James P. Robertson is a large, 
exhibition flower of a dark, shaded purple, with rose 
top petals. It is new for this year, and was accorded 
a First-class Certificate by the National Viola 
Society last year. Maggie is a rosy flower with 
paler top petals. Mrs. F. C. Gordon and J. W. 
Moorman are blackish-violet flowers, with pale blue- 
white top petals and edges, something in the same 
line as Iona and the old Magpie. Lady Reay is a 
gem in this section with a bright violet centre and 
broad white margins. Craigie is maroon violet with 
blue-white edges to the top petals. Jackanapes is a 
develcpment upon Vernon Lee, with dark mahogany 
top peials, the rest being golden-yellow and rayed. 
It is a very conspicuous and free flowering bedder. 
W. H. Stewart is blackish-maroon, striped with rose 
and white. 
SWEET PEAS FROM WORTON HALL. 
A box of cut flowers of eighteen varieties of Sweet 
Peas has reached us from Mr. A. Pentney, gardener 
to A. J. Howard, Esq., Worton Hall, Isleworth. 
Taking the lighter varieties first we were particularly 
charmed with Venus, a lovely cream, shaded with 
soft salmon. Golden Gleam, a new American variety, 
has soft yellow flowers with a well-shaped standard 
coming up to the Sweet Pea specialists’ ideal. The 
footstalks are about a foot long. Countess of 
Aberdeen and Prima Donna are lovely pink 
varieties, the latter being slightly the darker on 
the back of the standard. Another that may be 
placed in the same category is Lovely ; the centre of 
the standard is darker than that of either of the pre¬ 
vious ones, but the wings are much paler, being of a 
silvery bluffi. All of the above are well worthy of 
cultivation. Amongst the collection were some 
beauiiiul rosy bicolor varieties. Royal Rose has 
deep rose standards and silvery-rose, netted wings, 
and is handsome for cut flowers, although the 
notched standards will hardly appeal to the specialist. 
The standard of Prince Edward of York is of a rich 
red, shaded with rose, while the wings are of a deep 
rich rose. We have always regarded it as a hand¬ 
some variety, in spite of the notched standard. 
Blanche Ferry is a larger flower, and an improve¬ 
ment upon the old Painted Lady, the standards 
being scarlet-red, and the wings silvery-lilac, the two 
colours or combinations of colours being well marked > 
Countess of Powis seems to have done better than 
last year, the standards being of a rich salmon- 
orange, better defined than in Adonis and Orange 
Prince, and the wings of a rich rosy-pink, like Lady 
Penzance. No-we do not like Red Ridinghood. 
having now seen it several times, but we readily 
admit it is a great curiosity, with its rose flowers and 
far too short a hood, made apparently for a much 
smaller flower. 
Of the blue or mauve types, Lady Nina Balfour is 
amongst the palest, being of a soft mauve, and a de¬ 
termined variety to run to seed. If the flowers sent 
are strictly representative Creole is decidedly a creole, 
for the deep mauve or lavender flowers had some¬ 
times darker standards, sometimes deeply tinted with 
purple, and at other times with salmon-purple. The 
best of the blues is New Countess, being several 
shades darker than v,e usually see Countess of 
Radnor. Gray Friar is finely mottled or dusted with 
purple on a white ground. A bold flower is Captain 
of the Blues, which has dark blue flowers, though the 
standards are heavily tinted with purple during most 
of their period of duration. The rich crimson 
standards and the dark carmine wings of Salopian 
are very handsome ; but the former are liable to 
become tinted with black under certain conditions, 
and then there is an outcry against it. All the same 
it is very handsome when in its best character. The 
older variety Ignea is liable to the same changes, the 
veins of the standards becoming slaty black. Climatic 
conditions, soil and environment are responsible for 
great variations even in the same variety in all parts 
of the world where they can be grown. Mars comes 
into the same group as the two previous sorts, being 
a large and richly coloured flower. One of the 
darkest of its class is Shahzada, with dark maroon 
standards. 
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CURE FOR THE LILY DISEASE. 
In common with many other amateur horticulturists 
I have long been troubled with that widely prevail¬ 
ing pest known as the Lily Disease, and the yearly 
disappointment of seeing my Lilies come up merely 
to blacken and wither away before they reach the 
stage of bloom, has led me to investigate the matter 
with a view to the eradication, or, at least, the 
mitigation of the evil. 
Some few years ago I took up the whole of my 
bulbs of Lilium candidum to the extent of about 
two bushels, for I thought that by a judicious 
selection of the strongest among them, and by 
replanting in the most favourable positions, I might 
be able to improve the then gradually degenerating 
blossoms. In spite of this the disease made rapid 
headway, so that of late I have had but a few poor 
sickly stems in the whole of my garden. 
I consulted the County Council lecturers of this 
district, both of them Fellows of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society, only to receive the discouraging 
information that this mysterious disease had defied 
all research, and all efforts for its cure ; and I have 
read a recent article in the Standard to the same 
effect. The several attempts made to procure a 
healthier stock by the importation of fresh bulbs 
from Holland have not met with the success they 
deserved ; for the new arrivals have been quickly 
reduced to the state of the old, apparently worn out 
bulbs, by the ravages of the same disease. Hence 
this strange visitation has been practically stated to 
be an incurable disease. 
I have given the subject some thought for a con¬ 
siderable time past, and from what is exemplified at 
the present in my own garden, I believe I may state 
that I have discovered a cure for this persistent 
evil; which is remarkable at once for its simplicity 
and its effectiveness. My final experiment dates 
§ack to the autumn of 1896, and was confined to 
three groups of the bulbs. Last season they showed 
a marked improvement in the blossom heads, which 
appeared to be entirely free from the disease, though 
still evidently somewhat weak from its effects in pre¬ 
vious years. 
This summer I have the pleasure of seeing them 
perfectly healthy and well grown, with fine green 
stems and leaves, and the promise of large heads of 
bloom. Other groups in my garden, which have not 
been treated, have not a single blossom stem, and 
some of them are so far diseased that they have 
almost disappeared. Disease and health could not 
be more clearly exemplified than here, and I shall be 
pleased for anyone to see and compare them. 
And now for the remedy, which anyone may try, 
I hope with the same pleasing success which has 
attended my own efforts. In the autumn of 1896, I 
removed the bulbs from the ground, and after they 
had dried somewhat, I put them into a large brown 
paper bag in which was a supply of flowers of sulphur ; 
they were then well shaken up, until the sulphur had 
been worked thoroughly into the crevices ; after this, 
and while still well smothered with the powder, they 
were planted straight away, with the result which I 
have described. I feel disposed to give the credit of 
my investigations to the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s lecturers of the West Sussex County 
Council, who first aroused my attention to this sub¬ 
ject. 
From the nature of the disease I felt sure it must 
emanate from the bulb ; for the bulb leaves are the 
first to be attacked, and it then proceeds upwards 
through the stem to the flower, which is the last to 
be affected. This season I propose to treat more in 
the same way, and I shall be pleased to hear that 
others, whose plants are affected with the disease, 
have also tried this simple remedy with success.— 
Horace Byatt, M. A., The Grammar School, Midhurst, 
Sussex, June, 1898. 
CARNATIONS AT CHELSEA. 
The grime and fogs of the Metropolis are blamed 
for many things, but while there is not a shadow of 
a doubt that the conditions that obtain in it at 
various seasons of the year are inimical and even 
fatal to many forms of plant life, it is not so certain 
that in every case these conditions might not be 
ameliorated by the skilful gardener, and some ele¬ 
ments, at least, of success snatched from the desola¬ 
tion. We are led to make these remarks because we 
think the town gardener is apt to lose heart at re¬ 
peated failures to get some favourite plants to do, 
and to give up attempting to do so. One of the most 
notable instances of success under atmospheric diffi¬ 
culties that has come to our notice is the Carnations 
at Chelsea. The nurseries of Messrs. Jas. Veitch 
& Sons, Limited, are not situated in the most suit¬ 
able spot for the successful flowering of Carnations, 
and yet, year by year, they continue to overcome the 
difficulties and to furnish visitors with an admirable 
object lesson of what may be done with Carnations 
in London, and even in the low-lying district of 
Chelsea. 
This season the display is much better than it has 
been for several years past. The plants are healthier, 
there is more “grass" upon them, and the flowers 
are more numerous, of larger size, and the colours 
show higher development. Whether the cold sum¬ 
mer weather is responsible or not is only a matter of 
conjecture, but at any rate, the marked improvement 
is a fact, and one upon which the Messrs. Veitch's 
capable foreman, Mr. Weeks, may well congratulate 
himself. 
The plants are located, as usual, in the series of 
obloDg beds close to the Fulham Road entrance to 
the nursery, where they eDjoy a fair amount of light 
and air. The effects of the late drought have been 
minimised by a mulching with cocoanut fibre refuse 
which, besides checking evaporation from the soil, 
has kept the roots of the plants cool, and has thus 
tended to keep down insect pests. 
The influx of new varieties still continues, and 
there have been some exceedingly pretty things sent 
out in 1897 and 1898. Cassandra is one of the best 
of these. The flower is almost as large as that of a 
Malmaison, while the colour is a delicate flesh-pink, 
very much like that of Waterwitch, although here 
the likeness ceases. Boadicea, another huge self is 
a great acquisition. The colour is a rich rose-scar¬ 
let, very bright and attractive. 
We have now quite a number of good white forms, 
but there is plenty of room for the new one named 
Sir Wilfred Laurier. The flower is of great size, and 
of the best form, whilst the petals are stout and 
smooth. The depth of the flower is another 
remarkable point. A bed filled with this variety is 
a conspicuous feature of the Veitchian collection. 
Mr. James Douglas exhibits a brilliant shade of 
rose-carmine. Like the other varieties raised and 
sent out by Mr. Jas. Douglas, the calyx is stout and 
does not burst. Mr. Douglas regards this as the 
best Carnation he ever raised, which is a sufficiently 
high recommendation for it. That fine old self 
variety, Hayes' Scarlet, has now a serious rival in 
Mrs. MacRae, which is a larger and a finer flower, 
the plants apparently being fully as floriferous and 
vigorous in constitution. Pandelli Ralli is a new 
self yellow that is of great size and merff. Nox 
holds the field as the darkest hued Carnation yet 
raised. The colour may be described as dark 
maroon-crimson, and this when the sun is shining 
full upon it gives an exceedingly rich effect. Mopsa 
is the best of the new fancy varieties to our way of 
thinking. The colour is a clear apricot-yellow, of 
fine form, with smooth petals — a very refined 
flower. 
The ranks of the yellow ground Picotees have 
received decided acquisitions in Badminton, 
Stanley Wrightson, Wanderer and Miss Alice Mills, 
all of which have done remarkably well at Chelsea. 
The last named variety is especially noteworthy. 
The ground colour is a clear rich yellow with a 
