6 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 3, 18S8. 
their appearance, improvements are slow, 
and the advance made by no means salient. 
In such a genus as Narcissus, many of the 
varieties and hybrids are of comparatively 
recent origin or of recent discovery or re¬ 
storation to public attention and favour. 
Even here, however, the mass of the 
British public goes for the best of those 
which are most abundant in cultivation, 
and even here a considerable number of 
them stand unrivalled in their own particu¬ 
lar class. Notwithstanding the fact that 
many of the varieties of these things are 
very old, the public never gets satiated with 
them, owing to the relative shortness of the 
stay of each particular kind. The flowers 
reach perfection and fade, and the foliage 
dies away, so that their existence is merely 
a recollection, or they are entirely for¬ 
gotten as their places are taken by a wealth 
of other subjects that can live only under 
the influence of summer sunshine. The 
bulbs are entirely forgotten till the gar¬ 
dener and grower again call attention to 
their seasonable requirements, and the pre¬ 
parations that must be made for the next 
display. 
The habit of bulbous plants is creative 
of novelty, independently of new varieties, 
and as they appear in all their simplicity 
and freshness on the departure of winter, 
the old love for them kindles on every hand. 
Not merely bulbs, but fleshy, rooted plants 
store up the means wherewith to produce 
flowers under the agency of the previous 
spring and summer’s sunshine, so that the 
poet was not far wrong when he sang that 
in “ one season’s chariot rides the glory of 
the next.” This is one reason why bulbs 
are so easy to force or hasten into flower by 
artificial means. The reserve material is 
stored up in the bulb or other allied struc¬ 
ture, and very frequently the flowers them¬ 
selves are already formed, so that all the 
cultivator really has to do is to develop that 
growth already in an inceptive condition. 
The Dutch soil and climate as well as the 
lengthy experience of the growers them¬ 
selves, give the Continental growers an 
advantage over the cultivator here ; but it 
has been amply demonstrated that Daffo¬ 
dils, with the exception, perhaps, of the 
Polyanthus section, Tulips, Crocuses, 
Snowdrops and similar subjects may be 
grown to equal perfection in certain parts 
of this country as in any other, and ren¬ 
dered capable of producing as fine a dis¬ 
play in their respective seasons. 
The cultivation and flowering of bulbs 
has a twofold aspect, inasmuch as we have 
to produce a display under glass, perfectly 
independent I v of weather; and on the other 
hand to get flowers as early in the year as 
possible under natural conditions, and to 
prolong the flowering season over as many 
weeks or months as can be accomplished 
by natural and artificial means. The skill 
of the gardener is largely taken to task in 
all these cases. Under glass the flowering 
season of any particular class of plants is 
dependent upon the time of potting and the 
amount of heat applied by artificial means; 
in the open air the earliness or otherwise of 
the display is dependent upon the nature of 
the species employed, and upon the mild 
ness or otherwise of the weather prevailing 
at the time. 
As far north, at least, as London, the 
Snowdrops make their appearance in force 
early in February, and from that time on¬ 
ward a continual succession is maintained 
by different species of Crocuses, Snow¬ 
flakes, Winter Aconite, blue Scillas, 
Chionodoxas, Anemones and Daffodils, the 
different species and varieties of the latter 
maintaining a constant succession till the 
beginning of June, when the Daffodil sea¬ 
son finishes up with Narcissus poeticus 
recurvus plenus, whose sweet-scented, Gar¬ 
denia-like, flowers are always appreciated. 
Other bulbs then take up the succession, 
till Lilium candidum makes its presence 
felt in no unmistakeable manner, in those 
gardens where it succeeds. Quite a host 
of Lilies succeed one another in almost un¬ 
broken fashion till the last planted L par- 
dalinum, L. auratum and others flower so 
late that they are liable to be caught by the 
early frosts. From the time the Snow¬ 
drops make their appearance in the South, 
spring grows creeping northward, so to 
speak, till the Ultima Thule is reached. 
The difference between the time of spring 
in the South and the far North is generally 
about four or five weeks. That useful 
decorative class of plants, the Montbretias, 
are at their best during August in England, 
but in Scotland, particularly in the more 
northern counties they make a grand dis¬ 
play during September. About ten or 
fifteen years ago Montbretia Pottsii was 
just being put out tentatively under the 
belief that it was a very tender plant. 
The yellow one at the same time or 
previously was treated as a greenhouse 
plant. The progeny resulting from 
hybridising these two is now grown by 
thousands in various parts of the country. 
Mr. George Ellis, for the past ten years gardener at 
the Great Southern Hotel, Killarney, has been 
appointed gardener to the Earl of Donoughmore, 
Knocklofty, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. He will take 
up his duties in the course of a week. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next fruit and 
floral meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 
will be held on Tuesday, September 6th, in the Drill 
Hall, James Street, Westminster, 1.5 p.m. At 
3 o’clock a lecture on " The Disa ” will be given by 
Mr. T. W. Birkinshaw. 
Mr. William J. Jennings, of the Royal Gardens,. 
Kew, has been appointed head gardener to Gen. 
Gillespie, Brynderwen, Usk, Monmouth. Mr, 
Jennings has been at Kew since September 1896, andi 
previous to his entry there was at Mount Martin,. 
Blackpool, and had a more lengthy sojourn in the 
gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Chis¬ 
wick. He has also been in other places, and being 
studious, diligent and attentive to duty he has 
acquired a varied and considerable experience of his 
profession. We wish him every success in his new 
situation. 
Crested Bracken. — Recurring to your note last week; 
on Mr. C. B. Green’s find of Pteris aquilina cristata. 
in Sr. Leonard’s Forest, Sussex, I should like to say 
that there is no question of its constancy. The' 
Fern covered a considerable area on both sides oft 
the road, in association with the normal form, andl 
which, being as robust a grower, was enabled to 
hold its own, presenting a very pretty appearance' 
with its multitude of somewhat pendent tassels well 
in evidence. Mr. E. J. Lowe, whose ‘‘British’ 
Ferns,” published 1891, forms, by the way, a far 
more up-to-date list than Mr. Moore's as cited,, 
records only three finds of P. aq. cristata under that 
name but multifid polydactylous forms are also 
chronicled, and I should not like to assert that other 
finds may not have been made. The forms recorded 
are all thoroughbreds, and I know of no case where 
finds evenly crested throughout as in Mr. Green's 
find would be associated in the same rhizome with 
common ones. Spores may also be relied upon to 
produce the type, and one find in the Lake District 
always gives a percentage of barren grandiceps or 
heavily bunch-crested forms. It would be interest¬ 
ing to know if Mr. Green’s plant does the same, a 
point which can be settled next season,as P. aquilina 
comes readily from spores and forms good-sized 
typical plants in less than a year frpm sowing, the 
young fronds increasing in size by leaps and bounds, 
and the creeping foot appearing at the third or 
fourth. P. aq. cristata is cultivated by many British 
Fern growers in conjunction with several other 
distinct permanent varieties consisting of original 
finds, crosses between distinct types of these and'- 
improved forms obtained by selection.— Chas. T. 
Dyueiy, F.L.S., V.M.H. 
Lavender was formerly considered as an emblem 
of affection ; now it is an object.— Snaggs' Philosophy. 
Mr. James Mitchell, for the past four years general 
foreman in the gardens, Castle Boro, Enniscorthy, 
has been appointed head gardener to Sir Charles 
Barrington, Bart., Glenstal Castle, Murroe, Co. 
Limerick. He goes to take charge of his new situa¬ 
tion in the course of a few days. 
Park Place, Henley-on-Thames.—The sixth annual 
re-union of past and present employes at this fine 
establishment, where Mr. Stanton holds the reins, 
took place on Thursday, the 25th ult., in very enjoy¬ 
able weather. A greater number than usual availed 
themselves of Mrs. Noble's kind invitation to spend 
a day amongst the scenes of their former labours. 
An excellent lunch and tea were provided by the 
hostess, who, in company with Mr. Leonard Noble 
and other members of the family, heartily entered 
into the spirit of the occasion. The usual cricket 
match between the past and present members of the 
club resulted in a victory for the latter by T48 runs 
to 109. The gardens and grounds are in capital 
condition, and the work of the present staff does not 
suffer by comparison with that done in past days. 
Toogood’s Bulbs.—The catalogue of bulbs and 
flowering roots issued for 1898 by Messrs. Toogood 
& Sons, of Southampton, is a well got up and attrac¬ 
tive publication with numerousjwell executed photo¬ 
gravures of the subjects offered, and rather garish 
covers. A speciality is made of collections of 
Hyacinths both for indoor and outdoor culture, and 
in addition to these, lists of all the best named 
varieties of these handsome flowers, together with 
colour descriptions, are given in handy form. Nar¬ 
cissi, Crocuses and Tulips in variety ; also Gladioli, 
Freesias, Calochortuses, Snowdrops, and the regally 
beautiful Spanish Irises, with their brightly hued 
flowers which compare favourably with some of the 
finest Orchids, are largely dealt in, and there is a 
great variety of other material which we have not 
now space to detail. Amateurs and professional 
gardeners will find the catalogue a handy and useful 
one. It is now quite an institution, since this is the 
eighty-fourth year that it has been issued by the 
firm. 
Judging Fruit at Exeter.—At the recent show held 
here, a prize was offered for " collections of fruit, 
ten dishes, to consist of two dishes of Grapes, white 
and black (two bunches in each), are required, but 
not more than one dish of any other kind of fruit, 
allowed.” In the third prize collection the exhibitor 
showed one bunch Alnwick Seedling, one bunch 
Madresfield Court for black, while in the white he 
showed one bunch Muscat of Alexandria and one of 
Buckland's Sweetwater. To this decision one of the 
committee said the exhibitor ought to have been 
disqualified for showing four varieties of Grapes 
instead of two as usually done. As one of the judges, 
I could not see it quite in this light, considering that 
for private consumption two or even more kinds are 
put together to make up a dish. I would like to 
hear what you think upon this subject, also that of 
any reader who may feel interested.— J. M. [The 
general (we do not say the universal) custom is to 
show two bunches of one variety as a dish of Grapes. 
We do not see why one bunch each of two varieties 
might not be shown as a dish of Grapes, unless the 
schedule distinctly forbids it; but the plan generally 
adopted is to follow custom or precedent. The 
judging of two varieties in one dish should not be 
any more difficult than to judge a class in which 
Madresfield Court, Black Hamburgh and Gros 
Maroc are shown by as many exhibitors. The case 
would be a little more complicated, though not in¬ 
surmountable, if an exhibitor were to stage a bunch 
each of Madresfield Court and Muscat of Alexandria 
as a dish. The Royal Horticultural Society in their 
" Rules for Judging,” allow jo points as a maximum 
for Muscat of Alexandria, and only 9 to other 
varieties. Rule 40 says, “ Every dish must consist 
■of one variety only, unless the wording of the 
schedule permit mixed dishes.” We should under¬ 
stand by this that unless the schedule says •* mixed 
dishes permissible,” such an exhibit would be liable 
to disqualification. This is, however, only the law 
as laid down by the R.II.S., and would not bind any 
other society, unless it had adopted the R.H.S. code 
of rules.—E d.] 
