September 26, 1896. 
59 
THE GARDE'NIN’G WORLD. 
LJ " 
without the protection of glass, then there would be 
no excuse for the backslider. 
Some gardeners of my acquaintance are of opinion 
that competitors occasionally buy their Apples and 
Pears in the market in order to make good the 
deficiencies of their own fruit-rooms for exhibition 
purposes. Moreover, nothing is easier then for one 
exhibitor to get flowers, fruit, or vegetables from 
some other garden in order to win prizes. I do not 
suppose that any one would think of excluding such 
classes from flower show schedules. All that 
societies can do is simply to uphold the right as far 
as is in their power, and to make for righteousness 
generally.— Plantsman. 
- -*• - 
PORTLAND ROAD NURSERIES, 
READING. 
Calling at this branch of the establishment of 
Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, recently, we made a 
hurried inspection of the houses, and noted some 
interesting things, including a large and floriferous 
batch of Saintpaulia ionantha, a pretty dwarf plant 
with blue flowers, not unlike a Violet. The Gloxinias 
of Messrs. Suttons’ grand strain have been flowering 
all the summer, commencing with last year's tubers 
in spring. Empress of India, or Sutton’s Purple, has 
very large, dark violet-purple flowers. Sutton's 
Crimson was also one of those still flowering freely. 
Being late in the season, most of the varieties had 
given over flowering. As we proceeded through the 
houses, the family to which the above belong, seems 
to be very popular at Reading, for several other 
genera were represented. Among the pretty and un¬ 
assuming subjects we cannot omit mention of 
Koellickeria argyrostigma, the olive and spotted 
leaves of which are hinted at by the specific name. 
The short scapes bear numerous small, white, tubular 
flowers having the upper segments and the upper 
side of the tube red. The aspect of the plant reminds 
one of some member of the Saxifragaceae rather than 
the Gesneraceae. 
All the above are stove subjects, but quite a number 
of the others can be successfully grown in an inter¬ 
mediate house, or even a greenhouse. Amongst the 
former we may mention the dwarf and showy Gesnera 
cardinalis with light green, woolly leaves and large 
bright scarlet flowers. A large batch of this was in 
prime condition, and only about 6 in. high. The 
species was recently reintroduced from South America 
by Messrs. Sutton & Sons. On the other hand, G. 
fulgens reaches a height of 12 in. to 15 in., forming 
a pyramidal panicle of orange or scarlet beauti¬ 
fully spotted flowers. A yellow variety here is very 
choice and distinct. There was a houseful of Achi- 
menes in numerous and beautiful varieties just pass¬ 
ing out of season. This class of plants is always well 
done here. Streptocarpus Wendlandii commenced 
flowering in January and has continued in that con¬ 
dition ever since. The blue flowers, with a white 
eye, are very pretty, while the huge, solitary leaf is 
very striking. S. Wendlandii had been crossed with 
the varieties of S. Rexii or hybrids of that type, and 
the result was an intermediate race with more 
numerous leaves, and still more num erous flowers, 
on scapes that are developed in succession 
all through the spring and summer, from 
March to September, and are very gay all the time. In 
coloar, the flowers are of various shades of blue. All 
of the above subjects show how popular the 
members of this order are at Reading. 
How beautiful are the Torenias, yet how neglected 
they are in private establishments. Here we noted 
T. grandiflora alba, with white flowers beautifully 
tinted with pink. T. Fournieri is characterised by 
three large, velvety, violet blotches on the three 
lower segmen ts. T. Bailloni, one of the prettiest, 
has golden flowers with a blackish-purple throat, and 
is so decidedly pendant as to make a charming 
basket plant. Browallia speciosa major is notable 
for the great size of its blue flowers, and is useful for 
conservatory work. The smah pale blue flowers of 
Exacum affine are pretty though not showy, and 
are decidedly fragrant. 
In the open ground a large number of seedling and 
hybrid Begonias was flowering very freely. Crimson 
Gem was crossed with Princess Beatrice, both 
belonging to the B. semperflorens type, and the 
result was very satisfactory, the progeny having 
bronzy-crimson leaves of much smaller size than 
those of the first-named, and therefore not liable to 
hold water, so that they are less liable to get damaged 
during a rainy time, as in the case of Crimson Gem. 
There are other crosses, and indeed the Messrs. 
Sutton are alwajs making experiments in order to 
improve upon existing varieties. 
The outdoor trials of Tomatos were ripening a 
heavy crop of fruit. Numerous other experiments 
of a novel and interesting character are being con¬ 
ducted, the meaning, aim, and purport of which will 
be disclosed in due time. Meanwhile we may state 
that numerous experiments in the grafting of various 
members of the Solanaceae have been made during 
the past spring and summer. Usually the graft is 
cut to a tapering or wedge-shaped point at the base, 
and the stock is split down the centre to receive it. 
Occasionally a splice graft is effected. Physalis 
Franchetti has been grafted on the Potato; the 
former bore seven fruits on a stem, while the Potato 
was furnished with tubers in the pot. In like 
manner the Egg Plant grafted on the Potato was 
likewise fruiting. The Tomato was grafted on the 
Tree Tomato (Cyphomandra betacea), and the 
former was fruiting, while the foster parent carried 
its own leaves. The Tree Tomato was also grafted 
on the Egg Plant, and the latter upon the former, 
making a good union in both cases. Solanum 
nigrum and S. Dulcamara were each grafted on 
stems of the Potato and were fruiting and flowering 
abundantly. Tomato Earliest of All grafted on 
Potato Woodstock Kidney, and on Windsor Castle, 
behaved very differently in the two cases. Some 
seedling Potatos raised this year and finally planted 
out of doors had produced a haulm that was 4 ft. to 
5 ft. high. It is to be hoped that something advan¬ 
tageous will, at no distant date, arise out of these 
experiments. 
- 
USE AND ABUSE OF THE PRUNING 
KNIFE. 
I have been interested in reading the article by 
"A. P.” in your issue of last week, on the use and 
abuse of the pruning knife. It certainly is surprising 
that there is so much ignorance and thoughtlessness 
in pruning fruit trees. My experience has been very 
similar to " A P’s.” I came to my present situation 
seven years ago. There were two dozen bush Apple 
trees that had been planted twenty years. They 
were a mass of thick growth, and not more than a 
bushel of Apples on all the trees. There were scores 
of young shoots 3 ft. and 4 ft. long, and as thick as a 
man’s finger. There had been four gardeners here 
during the 20 years, and they had all pruned them in 
close every year, just as they would a Cherry 
Laurel. 
My employer told me I had better grub them up 
for he had been told that Apples would not grow on 
that soil. I persuaded him to let me try what I 
could do for a year or so. My treatment of them 
was the same as “ A. P’s.” I thinned out the centres 
(being obliged to use the saw pretty freely), and left 
the leading shoot from each branch, some all their 
length, and others were shortened a little. In two 
years some of the trees began to bear well, especi¬ 
ally four trees of Warner’s King. Last year we 
picked seventeen bushels from these four trees ; and 
last week nineteen bushels, besides two or three 
bushels that had fallen. 
Some of the branches were almost touching the 
ground, and, of course, the trees are four times the 
size they were; but the last two years they have 
required scarcely any pruning. The other sorts 
have not borne quite so freely, but there are about 
six bushels of Blenheim Orange on trees that had no 
fruit on them until three years ago. Altogether we 
have about thirty-five bushels of good fruit, where, 
if the old system of pruning had been continued, 
there would have been nothing but a lot of flower 
sticks .—-Thomas Wm. Herbert. 
-f- 
BOTANICAL DRAWINGS. 
An interesting series of coloured drawings of plants 
is on view at South Kensington, in the Botanical 
Department of the British Museum. The largest 
amount of space is justly devoted to the beautiful and 
yet botanically accurate sketches of the brothers. 
Bauer. The elder, Francis, was born at Feldsberg, 
in Austria in 1758. In 178S he came to England, and 
was induced by Sir Joseph Banks to remain as 
draughtsman to the Royal Gardens at Kew, Sir 
Joseph himself defraying the salary during his own 
life, and providing in his will for its continuance. 
Bauer spent the rest of his days at Kew, and died 
there in 1841, in the eighty-third year of his age. 
His numerous drawings of the plants of the Gardens 
are now preserved in the British Museum A 
selection was published in 1756, under the title 
'* Delineations of Exotick Plants cultivated in the 
Royal Gardens at Kew,” but three parts only, 
consisting entirely of Heaths, were published. He 
also prepared an elaborate series illustrating the 
structure of the grain, the germination and growth of 
the wheat-plant; these are well described by this 
biographer in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society 
(i. [1841] p. 102) as " perhaps the most splendid and 
important monument of Mr. Bauer’s extraordinary 
talents as an artist and skill in microscopic investi¬ 
gation.” Within the last few years Mr. Carruthers 
has, under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural 
Society, reproduced a selection of these in sheet 
form, illustrating the life-history of the wheat-plant 
from seed to seed. Another beautiful and detailed 
series of drawings of Orchids supplied material for 
Lindley’s ‘‘Illustrations of Orchidaceous Plants.” 
Ferdinand Bauer was born at Feldsberg two years 
after his brother. It is of interest to note that the 
father held the appointment of painter to Prince 
Lichtenstein. When only fifteen years old Ferdinand 
was employed in making miniature drawings of 
plants from nature. In 1784 he accompanied Dr. 
Sibthorp to Greece, and the completion of the 
numerous drawings made on the journey occupied 
several years after his return ; he was, in fact, thus 
engaged in England at the time of his brother's 
arrival. In 1801 we find him selected by Sir Joseph 
Banks to go with Captain Flinders as natural history 
painter to Australia, Robert Brown being the 
naturalist. When Captain Flinders went back to 
Europe, Brown and Bauer remained behind in New 
South Wales. Before returning home, in 1805, 
Bauer also spent eight months in Norfolk Island, 
collecting and making drawings of the plants, and 
from these materials Endlicher compiled the 
” Prodromus Florae Norfolkicae.” In 1813 he began 
his “ Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae,” a 
magnificent undertaking, which, however, met with 
so little encouragement that only three parts were 
published, the artist in the meantime retiring in 
disgust to Hitzing, near Vienna, and the large botanic 
gardens of Schonbrunn. Except for a visit to 
England in 1819, and occasional botanical excursions 
into the Austrian and Styrian Alps, the remainder 
of his life was spent near the Austrian capital, his 
chief occupation being the drawing of the more 
remarkable plants which flowered in the Imperial 
Gardens. He died in March, 1826. His paintings 
of Australian plants passed into Robert Brown’s 
hands, and subsequently became the property of the 
British Museum. 
The only artist, who, for the beauty and accuracy 
of his work can be compared with the Bauers, was 
was Georg 3 Dionysius Ehret, several of whose draw¬ 
ings are shown. Ehret was born in Saxony, in 1708, 
but, like Francis Bauer, found a home in England, 
where he worked at his art, and died in 1770. We 
have already referred to his life and career in a 
recent number of “Natural Science” (vol. viii., p. 
367)- 
Of the other last century artists whose work is 
represented, Sydenham Teak Edwards was born at 
Abergavenny (1769 ?), and died at Chelsea in 1819. 
He was a protege of William Curtis, the founder of 
the “Botanical Magazine,” and for many years dur¬ 
ing the life and after the death of his patron drew 
the plates for that journal. He also drew for the 
“Botanical Register” for several years, from its 
start in 1815. James Sowerby (1757-1822) who was 
born and died in London, is known chiefly for his 
connection with the “ English Botany,” all the 
original drawings and proofs of plates for which are 
in the Botanical Department. One of the most con¬ 
spicuous objects in the Public Gallery of this section 
of the museum is his collection of models of British 
fungi. Of John Frederick Miller (fl. 1776-1794), 
Frederick Polydore Nodder (fl. 1777-1794), and 
Sydney Parkinson (died 1771), we know but little. 
From Britten and Boulger (British and Irish 
botanists) we learn that Nodder was botanic painter 
to Queen Caroline, and also drew and engraved the 
plates for Martyn’s " Flora Rustica,” while 
Parkinson was another protege of Sir Joseph Banks, 
with whom he went to the South Seas in the 
“ Endeavour,” in 1768, as draughtsman; he died on 
the Indian Ocean in January, 1771. The sketch of 
a White Lily on a black ground, by John Christoph 
