790 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 13, 1898. 
great store, and the plants right through are in 
admirable health and condition. In this large house 
the more tender plants are grouped at one end, for as 
at Kew one end of the house is kept considerably 
warmer than the other. 
Cockscombs. —Never have we seen a finer batch 
of these handsome subjects than on this occasion, for 
one side of one of the ioo ft. houses was filled with 
them. A word of praise is due to the condition of 
the plants themselves, for they were dwarf, sturdy, 
and carried “ combs ” of enormous size and spread 
from the first to the last. In addition to the old 
purple form there is now a multitude of varieties to 
be had in various shades of buff, purple and rose. 
Some of the combs display an almost bewildering 
network of golden lines upon a groundwork of 
another colour, the effect, although bizarre, being both 
striking and distinctly out of the common. 
Balsams. —The Messrs. Cannell have long been 
famed for their fine strain of Balsams, and on the 
occasion of our visit we were delighted with the 
grand batch of plants that were on view. The 
colours range from pure white to deep rose, yellow, 
scarlet, and purple, with numerous intermediate 
shades of these. Some of the striped varieties, too, 
are exceedingly showy. Not only are the flowers 
large and very double, but they are produced in 
great quantities all along the central stem and lateral 
branches, so that we get a plant of highly decorative 
appearance, well able to hold its own in point of 
effect with any other subject available for the 
furnishing of the cool conservatory. 
Fuchsias. —Right from the very commencement 
of his distinguished horticultural career, Mr. H. 
Cannell has excelled as a cultivator and raiser of 
Fuchsias, and he has now got together at Swanley 
all the finest varieties in existence both of his own 
and other growers’ raising. The number of varieties 
catalogued closely approaches 200, so that it is 
manifestly impossible to go into detail concerning 
the merits of each. Such lovely forms as Countess 
of Aberbeen, Eynsford Gem, Frau Emma Topfer, 
Rose of Castille, Phenomenal, including its rose and 
white forms, and Monarch, claim a special mention, 
but in this case it can only be a very cursory one. 
The varieties with ornamental foliage, such as Cloth 
of Gold and Meteor, constitute a distinct section, for 
they are not only of service as pot plants but they 
are extensively used for bedding in our public parks, 
and the more up-to-date of the private establish¬ 
ments. F. triphylla, a West Indian species, is a 
striking plant, and fully as handsome in its own way 
with its long tubed, glowing cinnabar-red flowers as 
the more highly bred florists’ varieties. It makes a 
handsome plant, and as it is to be seen at Swanley is 
quite sufficient to captivate one who sees it for the 
first time. It is a great pity that its merits are not 
more widely known. 
Achimenes. —-We were a little too late to see the 
Achimenes in their full bea-ty, but even the remains 
were splendid, and we were able to judge of the 
magnificent show they must have made a few weeks 
earlier in the season. Upwards of thirty forms are 
grown, and from amongst these a selection may be 
made to please even the most exacting. From the 
deep purple A. longiflora there has sprung a number 
of very handsome varieties. A. 1 major bears larger 
and rather richer hued flowers than the type, whilst 
the varietal names of A. 1 . alba aad A. 1 . rosea suffi¬ 
ciently indicate the shades of colour they represent. 
Admiration is a very showy variety with exceedingly 
rich purple flowers, and is certainly one of the best 
of this colour section. Mauve Queen has equally 
large flowers, which display a charming shade of 
mauve that is both distinct and beautiful. 
The needs of a general nursery establishment 
demand that a quantity of Ferns and other subjects 
should be grown for cutting from. Adiantum cunea- 
tum is an old favourite, and here, as in other places, 
it is in much request. The much boomed American 
Asparagus Sprengeri also finds favour. We were 
informed that long trails of the graceful growths are 
often asked for in dinner table and other decorations. 
A stock of plants is therefore kept to supply this 
demand. 
On the open ground, surrounding the site occupied 
by the glasshouses, a grand array of Dahlias is planted 
out. The plants are all looking remarkably healthy 
but as the time of Dahlias is not yet we will refrain 
frjm further remark concerning them. Distinctly a 
unique feature, which is to be seen close to Mr. H. 
Cannell, senior's, pretty house, is a row of standard 
zonal Pelargoniums, with clear stems from 3 ft. to 
4 ft. in height, and a fine bushy head, full of flower. 
Here, too, is a row of that handsome biennial 
Lavatera arborea variegata, which is a great 
acquisition for the sub-tropical garden, although it 
is not often that we find it so much " at home ” as it 
is at Swanley. 
—-- 
AUSTRALIAN HORTICULTURE. 
Perhaps no portion of the world (observes an ex¬ 
perienced writer), of the same area, is better favoured 
than New South Wales, with its varied climates and 
soils, for the production of fruits, vegetables, and 
flowers. It is really surprising how great a variety 
can be grown to perfection and at a minimum 
expenditure of labour. Exotics from cold, temperate, 
and even tropical countries thrive equally well within 
the limits of this comparatively small area; and 
still more remarkable is the fact that so many of 
these plants from different climates will grow side by 
side in many favoured localities. With all these 
advantages it seems strange that comparatively little 
attention should be devoted to the raising of vege¬ 
tables for home use, or to the cultivation of flowering 
and ornamental plants for the adornment of the homes 
of the settlers in the country districts. 
Occasionally one may meet with a well-cared-for, 
beautiful garden, like an oasis in the wilderness, 
but, as a rule, few attempts are made even to grow 
the commonest vegetables for family requirements ; 
and dependence for supplies is placed on Chinese 
gardeners, whose gardens are generally to be found 
dotted about the country, especially in the more 
largely populated districts. The raising of vegetables, 
the selling of fruit, and the hawking of goods would 
seem to be almost entirely in the hands of the China¬ 
man, the Italian, the Syrian, and the Indian ; despite 
the fact that a considerable proportion of the white 
colonial population consists of unemployed men 
tramping through the country in search of work, and 
dependent on the hospitality of the settlers. Con¬ 
sidering the little difficulty there is, in most seasons, 
in producing a sufficiency of fruits and vegetables 
for a family's requirements in most parts of the 
colony, it is incomprehensible that the settlers or 
farmers do not grow everything they need. Instances 
have been known where vegetables were brought 
hundreds of miles to localities in which the same 
kinds of vegetable could be grown to perfection with 
but little trouble. In some places Chinamen will 
travel from forty to fifty miles carting vegetables to 
settlers who have soil sufficiently rich to grow all 
they need, if they took the trouble to devote but an 
hour or two each day to the work. 
In the neighbourhood of Sydney, flower-gardening 
has been made a remunerative occupation by reason 
of the growing demand for bouquets, wreaths, and 
floral ornaments, but the continual expansion of the 
metropolitan suburbs is driving the older nurseries 
farther afield. A considerable business is done by 
nurserymen and florists in Palms of various kinds, 
especially that known as Kentia belmoreana, which 
is indigenous to Lord Howe’s Island, and succeeds 
admirably in gardens about Sydney, and when 
planted with Tree Ferns grows freely and quickly, 
and is wonderfully effective. The bush-house is one 
of the most useful of structures in connection with 
the garden in all the warm parts of New South Wales. 
In it a multitude of plants can be grown which would 
be liable to perish in the hot sun. It can be, aad is, 
constructed of all sorts of material, sometimes tea- 
tree brush, laths, bamboo blinds, and indeed any¬ 
thing that will break the rays of the sun without 
altogether obstructing them. In numerous gardens 
about the metropolis and large towns there are glass 
buildings where tender exotics of climates warmer 
than that of New South Wales, are grown as success¬ 
fully as in any part of the world. 
Everything indicates that the colonial taste for 
floriculture is improving rapidly, and will continue 
to improve, a result due in some measure to the fact 
that there are many excellent gardeners, professional 
and amateur, in the colony. A large proportion of 
the Potatos and other vegetables consumed in New 
South Wales is imported from Victoria, where 
market-gardening is more largely in the hands of 
white men than in the older colony. The vegetable 
products of Chinese gardens are mostly of poor 
quality, insipid and watery, owing to the peculiar 
method of over-watering and over-manuring adopted. 
Although these vegetables are of such inferior 
character, they are absolute blessings in many places 
where the colonists either will not or cannot grow 
those they need. Vegetables of excellent quality can 
be produced, even in dry districts, with but little 
irrigation, if they be properly managed ; but unless 
a Chinaman has a superabundance of water he is lost. 
With a fair supply of water and experienced labour, 
almost every description of vegetable known in 
Europe or America can be grown with ease, gener¬ 
ally yielding abundant crops. 
-< 4 <-- 
NOTICE OF BOOK. 
Pansies, Violas and Violets, by Charles Jordan, 
F.R.H.S., Jessie M. Burnie, John Ballantine 
and William Cuthbertson. London : Macmillan 
& Co., Limited. New York: The Macmillan 
Company. Rothesay : Dobbie & Co. i8q8. 
This neat and handy little book of some 102 pages 
includes practically the three great groups of the 
genus Viola which have been materially improved 
by the hand of man, and along particular lines con¬ 
sonant with the ideas of beauty and perfection. 
This latter remark would apply to Pansies and 
Violas more particularly than to Violets. 
The four writers above-named have devoted their 
respective talents to giving a historical account of 
these flowers, the botany of the subject, growing for 
exhibition, Violas for the flower garden, the poetry 
of these garden flowers, and the Sweet Violet. The 
Pansy (Viola tricolor) has been cultivated at least 
for something between 300 and 400 years, yet it does 
not seem that any systematic or artificial cross¬ 
fertilisation was attempted for effecting improve¬ 
ments till the beginning of the present century. 
There were relatively fine flowers, however, even in 
Philip Miller’s time, and had originated, no doubt, 
as the result of cultivation and the work of insects 
upon an already very variable flower. The earliest 
recorded history of improvements wrought of set 
purpose, and here quoted, is both interesting and in¬ 
structive, showing that the British gardener was 
even then something real and not unworthy of his 
modern successors. 
The history of the show aDd fancy strains of 
Pansies as they struggled to take root in the heart of 
the florist, particularly fancy Pansies, shows what 
innovations have got to overcome. The British 
florist’s idea that his home raised strains of fancy 
Pansies are better than the Continental ones is also 
correct and might be applied with equal truth to 
other highly developed races of garden flowers,though 
the Continental flowers have something to recom¬ 
mend them. Whenever a strain of flowers becomes 
very highly evolved, a condition of relative sterility 
steps in,thus preventing the finest flowers from being 
raised from seeds in a wholesale manner for bedding 
purposes. 
Violas are here distinguished from Pansies by 
being more floriferous, more compact in habit, and 
more perennial in their nature. A little of the botany 
of the subject might have been added to this to show 
some evidence of Viola lutea and V. cornuta, which 
have had a considerable share in the parentage of 
many of the modern race. The short and deeply 
toothed stipules of V. cornuta might have been men¬ 
tioned as well as the long spur, common to both of 
the above species. Viola tricolor (Pansy) has long, 
deeply divided stipules, and a short spur. 
Portraits of some of the leading men that have 
been or still are connected with the raising of Violas 
are here given, thus adding largely to the value of 
the book as a reference to everything essential to an 
exhaustive knowledge of the subject. The illustra¬ 
tions of leading types of Violas are useful to 
beginners as well as a reliable reference for the 
student for all time coming. The botany or science 
of the subject is admirably dealt with by Mr. John 
Ballantine, the only botanist as far as we know in 
the island of Bute. The explanation of the various 
parts of the flower should be studied by gardeners 
who attempt cross-fertilisation as a means of im¬ 
provement. Besides the insects mentioned as visit¬ 
ing Violas we have also r oted Pieris (Pontia) Bras- 
sicae and Vanessa Atalanta (Red Admiral). Other 
sections of the book are well done ; paper and print¬ 
ing leave nothing to be desired, and we have no 
hesitation in recommending the book to all con¬ 
cerned. 
