458 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 18, 1899 
THE MISTLETO. 
I have read with much interest the article by A. D. 
Webster on the Mistleto; he says (page 409) that as 
far as he is able to state at present, he does not know 
of any example of the Mistleto parasitic on the Oak 
in Scotland. For the benefit of your readers, 1 should 
like to add that there is a very good specimen grow¬ 
ing on an Oak (Quercus palustris) in the Royal 
Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, where it seems to be 
quite at horns. 
Your correspondent, page 422, referring to the 
specimen on Kinnoull Hill, says that it never bears 
berries. He does not say whether it flowers or not. 
As the Mistleto is dioecious, probably there is only 
one of the sexes present, either male or female. 
For many years the specimen referred to above, 
in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, used to 
flower regularly every year, but never produced any 
berries, until another specimen was procured, which 
is on an Apple tree, and planted in the vicinity of 
the other, with the result that the specimen on the 
Oak bore berries the first year after the other was 
planted, and has continued to do so annually ever 
since. The whole of the specimen on the Oak is 
female, and only required the pollen from the male 
to fertilise it before the berries formed, while the 
specimen on the Apple tree contains plants of both 
sexes.— IV. H. W. 
CLAREMONT NURSERY, EXMOUTH. 
In passing through Exmouth, just after Christmas, 
we seized I he opportunity of paying a flying visit to 
the nursery of Mr. W. J. Godfrey, Exmouth, Devon. 
This, of course, was not the best time to visit a place 
in which Chrysanthemums are a special and leading 
feature during the proper season ; nevertheless a few 
of the late varieties still remained, including Queen 
of the Pinks, a dwarf and very fine late sort. Christ¬ 
mas Favourite and Mdme. Philipp Rivoire are white 
varieties. H. W. Rieman is a fine yellow sort 
possessed of the same habit as W. H. Lincoln, but is 
three weeks later. Capt. Chaure is a late bronze; 
and Capt. Bellamy, a late golden yellow variety. All 
of the above are grown for the supply of cut flowers 
at Christmas. In the large Chrysanthemum house 
all the November blooming varieties had been cut 
down, and the earlier batches of rooted cuttings were 
being put into 60-size pots on the occasion of our 
visit. Thousands of them, all clean and early could 
be noted on the side benches. Golden Glow is a 
favourite decorative variety, judging by the quantity 
of it in boxes. Two sports from Charles Davis, 
having bright yellow and golden yellow flowers 
respectively, have turned up here. 
The Godfrey Calla has already taken well in 
America and the Channel Islands. It is a seedling 
which was raised here some years ago, and has 
whiter spathes with a dwarfer habit than the type. 
The spathes are freely produced, two or three from 
a crown. A large quantity of the variety has again 
been set aside for stock. Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils 
and Christmas Roses were being forced for cut 
flowers. 
Tree Carnations constitute another feature of this 
nursery. Large quantities of seedlings are coming 
on. Hundreds of rooted cuttings of named varieties 
were being transferred from thumbs to long tom pots. 
A later batch included hundreds in fine form in thumb 
pots. Flowering plants werein 32-size pots. Queen 
of the Exe has salmon-pink flowers as large as those 
of a Malmaison. Lady Gertrude Rolle is pink ; and 
Pearl Beauty is one of the best white sorts. The 
flowers of Mrs. Adam Hogg are of a rich deep salmon; 
those of Lady Doreen Long, yellow slightly pencilled 
with carmine, of large size and very freely produced; 
Mrs. Richard Lloyd, palish pink and fully double. 
Exmouth Gem is a decided improvement upon Regi¬ 
nald Godfrey. All of the above named sorts were 
flowering, and cuttings of them were 4 in. high. 
Altogether there are five ranges of houses, each 
155 ft. long, and some of them are 26 ft. wide. Mr. 
Godfrey has taken a new piece of ground close to, 
and connected with, the Claremont Nursery, making 
it twice its former size. Three rows of houses, each 
160 ft. long, were to be put up, in addition to the 
existing ones. Of the new ground 5J acres are to be 
devoted to fruit trees, and 2 acres to herbaceous 
stuff. Ornamental trees and shrubs are already 
grown here, including Cupressus, Thuya, Araucaria, 
and other choice Conifers. Portugal Laurels, Hollies, 
Veronicas, &c., are also well represented. 
Mr. Godfrey has also another large piece of ground 
known as the New Nursery, situated by the side of 
the main road to Budleigh Salterton. This is 
largely devoted to fruit trees and bushes. Standard 
Apples are grafted on the Crab stock; and there 
are thousands of three year old bush Apples. Goose¬ 
berries and Currants, three years old, and Roses 
budded cn the Brier are planted between the per¬ 
manent fruit trees. Peaches, Plums and other trees 
are trained in fan-shape. 
In the way of ornamental trees and shrubs we 
noted Cupressus macrocarpa, Quercus Ilex, Escal- 
lonias,double scarlet and other Thorns,standard Limes 
for street planting, tall trees of the White Poplar, 
Horse Chestnuts, Laurustinus, Veronica Traversii 
and other species. There are something like 50 
varieties of Lilac grafted, including the fine reddish- 
purple, double variety, Souvenir de Louis Spath, and 
the double white Mdme. Lemoine. In short, a general 
collection of shrubs for the furnishing of large and 
villa gardens is grown. 
Here also are collections of various herbaceous 
subjects, including florists’ flowers. Some thousands 
of seedlings of border Carnations are raised annually ; 
and something like half an acre of ground is planted 
with about 300 named varieties of all sorts. Lily of 
the Valley is grown for forcing purposes. Pinks 
were layered in the open ground, including the fine 
laced Crimson Queen, Albino is white, and Ex¬ 
mouth Gem, a perpetual flowering salmon-pink var¬ 
iety with a darker centre. Violet Amiral Avellan is 
the only truly purple variety we have, and it is 
therefore unique. The flowers of Violet Princess of 
Wales were being picked every morning, a fair 
criterion of the mildness of Devon. 
Large collections of the leading and popular groups 
of herbaceous plants are also grown in this nursery, 
including .Paeonies, Delphiniums, Sunflowers, per¬ 
ennial Asters, Phloxes, Rudbeckia Golden Glow, 
Potentillas, Irises, Tritonias, Campanulas, single and 
double Pyrethrums, Gypsophilas, Doronicums, 
Alstroemerias, &c. Some fine varieties of the 
Oriental Poppy have originated here, and the best 
have been distinguished with names. Papaver 
orientalis Beauty of Exmouth has dark purple 
flowers. P. 0. Devonshire Lass is a chaste flesh- 
pink variety, a remarkable break-away from the 
dark scarlet original. Another choice thing has been 
named P. o. A. W. Chillery, in compliment to the 
foreman in charge of this nursery. It has large, 
flesh-coloured flowers. It will thus be seen that Mr. 
Godfrey grows a widely representative collection of 
plants for all general requirements. 
-.*=-- 
WINTER VEGETABLES AND FROST. 
I never (either in Scotch or English gardens) saw 
such a sudden collapse of hardy vegetable crops 
as we have had this season. The whole stock, till 
the late frost came, was of much excellence ; but the 
season being so mild, sunless and wet, cessation of 
growth never came and the sudden attack of frost 
has done its deadly work. There is always some¬ 
thing to be learned from such experiences, and we are 
forcibly reminded that planting in rich, loose soil is 
unsafe. Broccoli planted on firm ground is dwarf 
and not materially injured. Curled Kale, on a poor 
piece of ground, is safe ; and though not large, will 
be useful. Leeks planted on rich, deep land are 
much injured ; while a plot, a few yards from them, 
is filled with fair-sized plants, and little the worse 
for the severe attack of weather. The ground was 
only dug over, and little added to it before the Leeks 
were planted. Cabbages, in three stages, have 
suffered severely. Brussels Sprouts are almost 
rendered useless. Rosette Coleworts (which are 
always hardy and useful duriog wintfr) are severely 
crippled. Lettuces have been severely checked, 
though in a sheltered position. Spinach is almost 
gone. Parsley, grown on poor soil, has suffered very 
little ; but to make sure of a supply, a quantity was 
planted thickly in boxes and protected. Celery, 
covered thickly with litter (which is removed as soon 
as a thaw sets in), has suffered little. Large Onions 
in a dry, airy position have not kept well, but those 
of smaller size are sound and likely to keep late. I 
notice that Strawberries in pots and plunged in ashes 
are uninjured.— M. T., Canon, N.B. 
To Make 1 cwt. of Tannin, which is sufficient to 
cure 2 cwt. of fresh skins, 14 cwt. of Oak bark is 
required. 
IN LIGHTER VEIN. 
Our Programme. 
Two of the chief difficulties the secretary of a mutual 
improvement society has to meet are, to get in papers 
and subs.—I mean contributions, literary, of course. 
A good programme is essential to a successful 
session. To quote from the Gardening World, p. 
405, " It is characteristic of the Britisher to get some¬ 
thing tangible for his money," and so he likes a good 
programme, even if at the bottom he finds an 
intimation that subscriptions are overdue. It is, I 
mean the programme, something to look forward to ; 
he anticipates some very pleasant evenings which 
help to break the monotony of daily toil. Our 
programme for the current session lies before me; 
it contains names which make us small fry tremble; 
names of men high up on the 1 adder of horticulture, and 
even includes one or two V. M. Hs. All our officers 
contribute to the programme ; we have no drones. 
As I said it is a job to get readers of papers to come 
forward, although I believe the writer of a paper 
never regrets the time and labour spent on preparing 
a paper. Most of them at our meetings acknowledge 
they are amply repaid for their trouble, and confess 
to being—after the discussion—sadder, I mean 
wiser, men. Of course the V. M. Hs do not acknow¬ 
ledge this, as it is unnecessary. 
I know something of the difficulties of a secretary ; 
for a head I once served under was secretary to a 
very flourishing society, and I used to carry his bag 
sometimes, and on one occasion, he even asked me to 
read the minutes for him (as he was indisposed), 
take subs.—I mean names of new members, etc. I 
was proud to do this, but on arriving at the meeting 
I found someone else was on the job. Still, I know 
a little about it, also about reading papers, for 1 
read one once, and demonstrated that the best way to 
kill Ivy on walls was to cut through the main stem. 
I’m afraid I am wandering ; I apologise for writing 
so much about myself, but on such an interesting 
subjects as mutual improvement, one is apt to be 
wearisome. I don’t think it’s necessary to mention 
the names of our readers and lecturers; perhaps 
some critic might say they have more illustrious 
men still. We are all apt to be rather provincially 
inclined, perhaps, and think our own magnates 
superb, and so I shall be pardoned if I assert that 
those who figure on our programme are superbissimus. 
A neighbouring society has a very resourceful 
secretary ; he has managed to crowd into his session 
of thirteen weeks, January to April, fourteen weekly 
meetings. I don’t know how its done, but I believe 
he’s something of a genius. In arranging his pro¬ 
gramme he generally works in two or three discussion 
nights so that the burning questions arising out of 
current discussion may be dealt with satisfactorily. 
I'm afraid I've made a ramble of this, I intended 
when I commenced to describe, as well as I could, 
oDe of our pleasant evenings, but I found, there was 
so much to say about our lecturers that I must now 
close and impose upon the good nature of the Editor 
still further to give an account of one evening’s 
proceedings. —A Member. 
- —•*»- 
©leanings ftpint flje Dmiffi 
of Srienc^. 
The undermentioned subjects were brought up to 
tbe meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 28th ult. 
Celery, &c., attacked by Grubs—This was 
sent by Mrs. Barnet, of Bilton Hall, Rugby, and 
proved to be much infested by millepedes (vegetable 
eaters) and centipedes (insectivorous), but not wire- 
worm. The best remedy for these troublesome grubs 
is gas lime, or ordinary slaked lime (builders' second 
quality), well mixed and dug in. It may possibly 
injure the next year’s crop to some extent. 
Sweet Pea Seed.—Mr. A. W. Sutton described 
specimens of the seed of certain varieties grown at 
Reading, remarkable for the skins becoming wrinkled 
like a Marrowfat Pea ; while in one or two cases the 
Peas were so small that customers had thought they 
must be defective; whereas the smallest sorts really 
gave rise to plants bearing the largest and best 
type of flowers.. In another variety the skin is invari¬ 
ably split. With none of these peculiarities, how¬ 
ever, is there the slightest deterioration in the quality 
or character of the blossoms. 
