THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 6, -1898i 
778.' 
were used as basket plants. Drooping spikes, on 
which I counted six and seven flowers, were hanging 
over the sides and presented a most interesting sight. 
Mr. Allen assured me he raised them readily from 
seed, and that the majority prove to be most beauti¬ 
ful and useful. 
A grand lot of Calanthe Veitchii in pots on shelves 
was making strong shoots ; last year's bulbs were 
some of them 6 in. and 8 in. high and stout in pro¬ 
portion. The display of flowers had been most satis¬ 
factory. Capital pots of Browallia speciosa major, 
more compact in growth than is often seen, were 
covered with their bright blue-purple flowers. In 
the stove was a fine plant of Schubertia graveolens, 
full of clusters of its sweet-scented white flowers. 
Certainly a useful flower for vases, &c., its milky 
juice would prevent its often being used for button¬ 
holes, though in many respects the blooms resemble 
a strong Stephanotis. I noticed, too, a fine lot of 
Clerodendron fallax in flower, raised from seed, and 
a later batch just coming on. These, I understood, 
were much appreciated, and it would seem 
deservedly so.— W. S. 
« l» - 
THE HOME OF FLOWERS AND SOME 
OF ITS OCCUPANTS. 
It was a happy inspiration that led Mr. H. Cannell, 
the head of the firm of Cannell & Sons, to call the 
establishment at Swanley the Home of Flowers. As 
the years pass on the absolute truthfulness of the 
title becomes more and more apparent, for the 
numerous plants taken up there grow and flower 
with an abandon that is unmistakable evidence 
that their requirements are fully known and attended 
to, and that they are, in very truth, " at home." It 
matters not at what season of the year the visitor 
makes the acquaintance of the nursery, there is 
always plenty to be seen, and to see is but to admire. 
Naturally, the distinctive features vary with the 
particular season of the year, for Primulas, Ciner¬ 
arias, herbaceous Calceolarias, tuberous Begonias, 
Cannas, Fuchsias and Chrysanthemums, to mention 
a few of the most important classes, are all special¬ 
ties for which the firm is justly renowned far and 
wide. But the ever perennial feature of the 
establishment, and one that always compels the 
admiration of the visitor at any season, is 
The Pelargoniums. 
From January to December these plants are in bloom. 
The snows of winter, and the heat and drought of 
summer make but little difference to the display 
which is kept up by relays of plants. Mr. Cannell’s 
name is written large upon the horticultural records 
of the nineteenth century, but in no direction has he 
achieved greater success than with the zonal Pelar¬ 
gonium. He has practically created a new race of 
plants suitable either for winter or summer flowering, 
in which the mere size of the trusses and individual 
pips is not only increased, but a wealth of new 
shades of colour is given. The contrast between 
some of the old forms and the modern ones is thus 
sufficiently striking. Amongst the former we noticed 
the curious variety New-Life, with its small pips and 
trusses, the colour being white striped with scarlet. 
This was a sport from the old favourite Vesuvius, a 
versatile variety to which we Owe many of the best 
sorts now existing. Black Vesuvius, another old 
one, was remarkable for its very dark foliage, dwarf, 
sturdy habit, and the great freedom with which its 
rich orange-scarlet flowers are produced. 
Of the modern varieties Swanley holds a magnifi¬ 
cent collection, and the three or four houses filled 
with the flowering plants make a dazzling display of 
colour. The size of the flower trusses and pips is 
really wonderful, and the floriferousness of the plants 
equally so. Of the numerous varieties that claimed 
our attention the following are a few of the most note¬ 
worthy—it would obviously be impossible to mention 
all. Beckwith's Pink is one of the best of its colour, 
and the best of the Master Christine type. Beauty of 
Poitevine is practically the same as the King of Den¬ 
mark, which has appeared at shows a good deal of 
late. Mme. A. Bruneau represents a charming 
section in which we hope to see still further progress. 
The pips are white, of capital form, and each petal 
has a narrow border of rose, very regular and well 
defined like that of a good Picotee. The flowers are 
double, and the truss of great size. Of the double 
whites Hermine is one of the very best, whilst 
amongst the single varieties Virginia and Snowdrop 
represent the perfection of beauty. Red Eagle is a 
large showy flower of bright scarlet. Sir James 
Kitson, a comparatively new sort, is a grand orange- 
magenta variety, and Mrs. Pole Routh sent out at 
the same time (1897) is an equally good thing. The 
colour is salmon, several shades of which are 
apparent, for the flower is prettily mottled. Mrs. 
Robert Cannell is more particularly valuable for 
bedding purposes, and represents a bright shade of 
salmon that is very taking. Amongst the double 
crimsons there is no more useful thing than the 
double form of Henry Jacoby, itself a great 
favourite. 
Ivy-Leaved Varieties constitute a very pleasing 
and valuable section. The old Madame Crousse is 
still one of the best for the filling of window boxes 
and hanging baskets, although there is a number of 
more tefined and better flowers from a florist’s point 
of view. Cordens Glory is bright scarlet, Souvenir 
de Chas. Turner is deep pink, feathered with maroon, 
and Galilee is soft rose-pink. All three of these 
varieties should be in every collection. The well- 
known Ryecroft Surprise, and the equally good 
Beauty of Castle Hill should likewise not be for¬ 
gotten. 
Tricolor and Variegated Forms. — At one 
time these were more popular for bedding purposes 
than they now are. Probably the difficulty of 
keeping them through the winter is really responsible 
for this. Messrs. Cannell & Sons have a magnificent 
stock of them, and we have never had the beauty of 
this section of Pelargoniums so forcibly impressed 
upon us when looking over their collection. Of the 
showy golden tricolors Mrs. Pollock is still good, 
but Mr. Henry Cox and William Sandy are even 
better. In the ranks of the silver tricolors, Mrs. 
Miller, flushed deep crimson and black zone, is ex¬ 
ceedingly handsome. Mrs. Parker is a striking 
variegated sort, much like Flower of Spring in 
foliage and habit, but with double pink flowers. 
Such old, and at one time popular, varieties as Freak 
of Nature and Happy Thought are kept in stock as 
well as the newer ones. The yellow-leaved section 
is not a strong one numerically, but it is an impor¬ 
tant one nevertheless, for to it belong Crystal Palace 
Gem, Creed's Seedling and Robert Fish, all three of 
which are much used as edging plants in summer 
bedding combinations. 
Tuberous Begonias. 
The work of improving these already noble flowers 
is still going on year by year, and nowhere is the 
development more keenly watched than at Swanley. 
The strain of both singles and doubles is a remark¬ 
ably fine one. From a spectacular point of view 
several houses which are devoted to the Begonias 
are just now one of the chief features of the establish¬ 
ment, and we have really never seen a finer display. 
The singles are characterised by tremendous flowers, 
which, stocky as the plants are, yet try them con¬ 
siderably by their weight. Many of the best of 
them have received distinctive names, and although 
this is a futile proceeding in the majority of cases 
when the next season probably sees the variety 
superseded by another, the forms that will supersede 
these will need to be something wonderful. Lord 
Grosvenor, orange-scarlet; Golden Hind, rich golden- 
yellow ; Paul Hardy, deep crimson scarlet; The 
Lady, white ; Major Burke, fiery scarlet; and Mrs. 
Newman, rose pink, were some of the best that we 
saw. 
The doubles are fully up to the singles in point of 
merit, and we were particularly struck with a grand, 
new, pure white form named Snowdrift. The flowers 
are of great size, very regular in build, the margins 
of the segments beiDg prettily frilled, and the seg¬ 
ments themselves of great substance. Commodore 
Dewey, crimson ; Lord Sherborne, scarlet-crimson ; 
Lady Roberts, flesh-pink; Miss Violet Kennard, 
white; Freda,salmon ; and Miss Griffith, blush pink, 
were all in fine condition, as were indeed a host of 
others that our space will only permit us to speak of 
in the mass. The Begonias are certainly the best 
that the Messrs. Cannell have ever had, and this is 
saying a good deal. 
Cannas. 
Time was when huge pots were thought to be 
necessary to flower Cannas successfully, but this idea 
has been exploded, for the Messrs. Cannell have con¬ 
clusively shown by their superb exhibits of Cannas 
at the London and provincial shows that the finest of 
flowers can be obtained from plants in 5-in. pots. 
Cannas may be seen in flower at Swanley from the 
beginning of May till the end of November, and often 
into December and January, and in every case they 
are good from the earliest to the latest. At the 
present time one of the 100 ft. span-roofed houses is 
full of plants in flower. All the leading varieties are 
represented from the tall Italia and Austria, with 
their excessively wide but rather thin segments.down 
to dwarf, sturdy plants well under 2 ft. in height, but 
all carrying hnge trusses of brilliant flowers. Bur- 
gundia is another of the tall, so-called Orchid flower¬ 
ing Cannas. It resembles Italia but the colours are 
a shade or two lighter. Paul Bruant, fiery orange- 
crimson ; Aurea, pure golden yellow; Konigen 
Charlotte, bright red, edged with gold; Partenope, 
dark orange yellow ; and Leon Vassiliere, scarlet- 
orange flowers, and handsome purple foliage, are a 
few of the cream of the collection. As the latter 
comprises upwards of 160 varieties, it is manifestly 
impossible to detail all. 
Other houses were filled with young plants which 
had not yet reached the flowering stage. All of these 
were full of health and promise, and many of them 
are destined to make gay the dull months of winter. 
THE ECONOMIC USES OF BAMBOOS. 
Mr. A. B. Freeman-Mitford, C.B., is one of the 
greatest authorities upon all matters connected with 
Bamboos. His collection of living plants at his 
establishment at Batsford Park, Moreton-in-the- 
Marsb, is one of the finest in existence, whilst in his 
travels he has had unique opportunities for studying 
the economic uses of these plants. A large audience 
listened with the greatest interest to his lecture on 
this phase of the subject which he delivered before 
the Royal Horticultural Society on the 26th ult. Sir 
J. T. D. Llewellyn, Bart., M.P. occupied the chair. 
It was easy to see that Mr. Freeman-Mitford was 
an enthusiast, for from the commencement of his 
lecture until the end he was eloquent in the praises 
of the Bamboo. In China and Japan it was an 
absolute necessity, in support of which he quoted 
the old Chinese proverb—" Better a field without 
Wheat than a house without the Bamboo.’’ “ How 
shall I live for a day without this gentleman (refer¬ 
ring to the Bamboo) was the expression of the com¬ 
mon Chinese idea. The lecturer passed on to refer 
to the great height of the Burmese Bamboo, Den- 
drocalamus giganteus, and said that in the Pera- 
deniya gardens in Ceylon there was nothing more 
striking. There were there to be seen huge clumps 
of as many as a hundred canes each, some of the 
canes running to a height of 135 ft., with a girth of 
from 25 to 27 inches. Apart from decorative 
effect the plant was of little value, for the culms were 
very hollow and the walls thin, whilst the fibres 
were spongy and liable to splitting. Water pipes 
and flower pots were often made from them. He 
showed a section of one of these gigantic culms 
which had been soaked in linseed oil, of which it had 
absorbed a large quantity, to prevent splitting. The 
only Bamboos planted in Ceylon were this giant, and 
Bambusa vulgaris. 
Referring again to the usefulness to man of the 
Bamboo, the lecturer said that only tbg-CoCoanut 
Palm (Cocos nucifera) could dispute with it pride of 
place. With regard to geographical distribution 
Europe was the only quarter of the globe in which 
some were not found. Asia and South America were 
probably the richest in species, but of the African 
forms little was known. B. aristata was found in 
abundance on the slopes of the Andes at a height of 
13,000 ft. above sea level, whilst at 15,000 ft. alti¬ 
tude, and from thence nearly up to the limits of per¬ 
petual snow it formed a dense carpet covering the 
ground, and driving everything else out. Dendro-. 
calamus strictus was to be found on dry hill tops and 
slopes in Central India and the Deccan, where the 
culms were solid and comparatively small. The 
same species, however, grew in the moister parts of 
Southern India and Ceylon, where the stems were 
larger and hollower. 
In China the Bamboo entered very largely into all 
social functions. It was everything to a Chinaman, 
for it carried his mother as a bride to the altar, would 
carry him to his own grave, and in the meantime 
would provide him with a house and furnish it at 
a total cost of about $5. From it he obtained paper, 
pens, clothing, fishing tackle, material for building 
boats, and rigging them with sails, whilst the tender 
