October 7 , 1899 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
L7 
IN MEMORY OF MR. JAMES MARTIN, 
READING. 
The flower-loving public have lost a worthy son in 
the death of onr old friend. He was a prominent 
figure at many of the leading shows, as a representa¬ 
tive of the Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading. A man 
of great attainments as a floriculturist, and this was 
readily seen when visiting the Messrs. Sutton’s 
Nursery, where florists' flowers tave so important a 
place. I have had the pleasure of knowing him for 
nearly twenty years, and have been interested with 
him at our firesides as he displayed his close obser¬ 
vation in the book of Nature. This I am apt to 
think has been one of his greatest helps as a 
hybridist—a study for which he was known. Only 
quite recently I spent an evening with him and 
gained some light on thumb and pin-eyed Piimulas. 
It was through this class of plants I first became 
acquainted with him. 
He was a true lover of Nature as was seen at a 
glance by walking with him in a country lane. Last 
April when walking through the nursery with him, 
he pointed out to me some of the offspring of his 
labour and no doubt he has left a stock to perpetuate 
his memory. 
As a genial and true friend those who knew him 
could not fail to recognise him ; and there are not a 
few young men he has given advice to which has 
proved helpful too. Doubtless there are many who 
will regret his early decease and oh ! so suddenly.— 
J. C„ F., Chard. 
«» «- 
THE FRUIT CROP IN DEVON. 
A few remarks anent the above may not be out of 
place in your widely circulated journal; and the 
writer having had excellent crops to gather, with the 
exception of Strawberries, is only too delighted to 
lavish all the praise possible on dame Nature in 
giving us (with some assistance) such excellent 
results. 
We will dilate first upon the Strawberry, as it is 
the first ripe fruit that we can gather out of doors in 
the year. Mostly all the varieties we have flowered 
abundantly, and we were building upon such an 
enormous crop, but alas, the cold east winds and 
frosty nights set in and played havcc amongst them 
while in bloom ; consequently, only about half a 
crop was given us and Royal Sovereign yielded the 
greatest weight; hence the advantage, this year at 
least, in having stouter and more foliage than other 
variet'es, but condemned by many a grower solely 
on that account. This extra amount of foliage pro¬ 
tected the flowers to a very great extent, and though 
the crop proved lighter than some seasons the fruit 
was much finer, and easily fetched sixpence per 
quart while they lasted, those being retailed at nine- 
pence in the neighbouring seaside resorts. 
Gooseberries have been plentiful, and Red and 
Black Currants in abundance, swelling to a good 
size in spite of the continued drought; but oh those 
birds! those birds ! They have been the worry of 
my life the past few months. You may net and net 
again, and then they will get through in spite of ail 
your efforts to keep them at bay ; and I have called 
them everything I can think of (except friends). One 
does not mind them enjoying a few small fruits, but 
when they peck choice Apples and Pears one has 
watched and admired almost day and night, then I 
say Job, with all his patience, would have kicked 
over the traces had he been a gardener and the 
feathered tribe so numerous as now. 
We never had better crops of Raspberries though 
the drought was much against this fruit. Superla¬ 
tive does the best with us and I think holds the field 
up to the present, though I see reports of a yellow 
fruit soon to be distributed, which will be an 
acquisition if it comes up to the one mentioned, as 
predicted. 
Stone fruits in every instance have carried heavy 
crops. Apricots finished well and are a most 
acceptable crop, coming in before other stone fruits 
except Cherries, which were plentiful and good, on 
an east wall as well as Peaches and Nectarines in 
the same position. These have had grand crops, 
and some of the fruits coloured up beautifully, 
notably Violette Hative, one of the best; Diamond, 
hard to beat; Barrington, Prince of Wales, Royal 
Ascot and Grosse Mignonne ; while in Nectarines, 
Rivers Early, a fine fruit; Pitmaston Orange, 
Stanwick Elruge and Humboldt left little to be 
desired. The trees have kept remarkably free from 
redspider though it has been a favourable year for 
this pest, if ever there was one; but then the trees 
were thoroughly engined twice a week, with no lack 
of water at the root, no not even during the winter 
and early spring. Mr. Peter Veitch, of Exeter 
Nursery, is a great advocate for this, and the 
excellent crops he pointed out to me on his high 
wall about the middle of August quite justified this 
treatment. I may say our Peach wall has a 
movable glass coping and we alwajs put a double 
thickness of J-in. or f-in. netting in front of trees while 
in bloom. This also applies to the Apricot wall, 
though I doubt whether the latter is really necessary 
as this fruit is certainly not so tender as the Peach 
when in bloom. Our Apricots were in full bloom 
this spring when we registered 14 0 of frost, which 
quite browned the petals, yet we never had a fuller 
crop. This reminds me that at the present time 
there is a discussion in one of vour contemporaries 
as to whether Peach protection is necessary or not, 
some saying good crops have been taken from trees 
quite unprotected. This may be so, but I consider 
locality, position and soil must determine this, to a 
great extent, especially the two former. 
Plums, another most useful fruit, and one that 
well repays any little extra attention given them, 
have been most abundant with us; and lam now 
gathering grand fruits of Coe’s Golden Drop, Reine 
Claude de Bavay, and Belle de Septembre. All the 
varieties we have have been loaded, and include such 
as Early Orleans, Czar, Early Favourite, Washing¬ 
ton, a fine dessert kind which I hope to increase this 
planting season; old Greengage, Transparent and 
Bryanston Gage, Jefferson’s, Kirk's, Diamond, 
Magnum Bonum (white), Victoria, Pond’s Seed¬ 
ling, etc. 
And now we come to Apples and Pears, and will 
take the former first, as they are of the greatest use 
to the nation. In and around this locality good crops 
are general, the trees looking much cleaner than 
most years. In the gardens espaliers and pyramids 
alike have heavy crops in the varieties given below : 
—Lady Sudeley, Kerry Pippin, King of the Pippins, 
Ribston Pippin, Cox’s Orange, Margil, American 
Mother, Scarlet Nonpareil, Benoni, Early Non¬ 
pareil,Sturmer Pippin,Newton Wonder,Lane’s Prince 
Alfred, Lord Grosvenor, Ecklinville (Warner's King 
and Peasgood's Nonsuch enormous crops of immense 
size), Cellini, Cox’s Pomona,Beauty of Kent, Rymer, 
Tower of Glamis.Frogmore Prolific,Potts’s Seedling, 
Bismarck, Emperor Alexander, Sandringham, 
Gloria Mundi (medium crop), Duchess of Olden- 
burgh (which never fails), Winter Hawthornden, 
Bramley’s Seedling, Alfriston, Baumann’s Red 
Reinette, Northern Spy (crop for a change), Wyken 
Pippin, and Annie Elizabeth. 
In Pears, Jargonelle Hessel, Louise Bonne of 
Jersey, Marie Louise, Beurre Bose, B. d’Amanlis, 
B. Diel, B. Easter, B. Hardy, and B. Superfin, Bon 
Chretien, Doyenne Boussoch, D. Du Comice, Marie 
Louise d’Uccle, Pitmaston Duchess, Souvenir du 
Congres, and Thompson’s have an average crop 
respectively; but as I could not well net or bag 
each fruit (though the choicest are secure), those 
winged enemies I spoke of earlier in these notes have 
spoilt a lot of fruit for me by boring holes close to 
the stem, which is the case usually, though I notice 
several that are damaged near the top— J. M., 
Bicton. 
-— 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The awards mentioned hereunder were made by the 
Royal Horticultural Society at the Drill Hall on the 
26th ult. 
Orchid Committee. 
Cattleya weedonensis. — This hybrid was 
raised by crossing C. Mendelii (female) with C. 
granulosa schoffieldiana. The sepals are pale, 
greenish-pink, but the large, elliptic petals are of a 
much darker and clearer shade of pink. The lamina 
of the lip. is transverse, undulated, crisped, rich 
crimson-purple, and paler towards the margiD, the 
c flour intensifying where it runs down the broad 
claw and in the tube, where it forms a narrow band. 
The tube of the lip is white, and the side lobes 
yellowish or creamy. (Award of Merit ) T. W. 
Thornton, Esq., Brockball, Weedon. 
Odontoglossum crispum Basano.— The peduncle 
of this beautiful variety carried ten large, white 
flowers, with a large, reniform, dark chestnut 
blotch on the middle of the lip, and several small 
spots on either side of the crest. The sepals are 
ovate, and the petals triangular, all being well im¬ 
bricated. (Award of Merit.) Walter Cobb, Esq 
(gardener, Mr. J. Howes), Dulcote, Tunbridge Wells. 
Floral Committee. 
Dahlia Mme. Medora Henson (Cactus).—The 
blooms are of large size, and rich crimson-red, with 
long, pointed, slender, and incurved florets. (Award 
of Merit.) Messrs. T. S. Ware, Tottenham. 
Dahlia Augustus Hare (Cactus).—The long, 
slenderly-pointed florets are strongly incurved, and 
orange, with a maroon crimson edge Some blooms 
sport to a maroon-crimson edge. The tjpical flowers 
of two colours have a glowing appearance. (Award 
of Merit.) Mr. James Stredwick, Silverhill Park, 
St. Leonards. 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Pear Triomphe de Vienne.— The fruits of this 
Pear are large, pyriform, and terminate in a shallow 
cavity at the base, into which the stalk is inserted. 
The skin is greenish-yellow, mottled with russet, and 
the flesh of fine quality. (Award of Merit.) Roger 
Leigh, Esq. (gardener, Mr. G. Woodward), Barham 
Court, Maidstone. 
Potato The Sirdar. —The tubers of this variety 
are roughly obloDg, sometimes round, and white. A 
few pale blue eyes may often be noted round the 
apex of the tubers. It has been tried at Chiswick, 
where it proved a very heavy cropper, and when 
boiled it turned out to be of excellent quality. (Award 
of Merit.) Messrs. Hurst & Sod, Houndsditch, 
London. 
the DicHM Brower’s calendar. 
Stoking. —I am very much afraid that stoking is 
looked upon by a great many young gardeners as 
work beneath their study, yet how much depends 
upon the proper carrying out of these duties. A good 
stoker, to my mind, is the gardener’s right hand, for 
he can with such a man at the wheel retire to rest, 
feeling certain that temperatures in the various de¬ 
partments will be to his liking. 
What constitutes a good stoker ? may be asked. A 
man up to his work will always have the flues and 
fire bars clean. The fires, too, will be well in hand, 
so that any fluctuations in the outside temperature 
can be dealt with quickly. 
Fuel. —Just a word in favour of Anthracite. We 
have used this now for the past four or five years, 
and find it so much in advance of coke in keeping up 
an even temperature that we shall not be likely to. 
use anything else in the future. We use Anthracite 
cobbles, which cost a little more at first, but you 
save it in labour, as they do not require any break¬ 
ing, consequently there is no dust either. 
Insects —The past summer has been very favour¬ 
able to the pests that trouble gardeners ard 
amateurs. Thrips especially have made grea 
strides, increasing their stock to an alarmiDg degree 
where left to their own resources for a short time. 
The use of the XL ALL Vaporiser for a few evenings 
will soon dispel them, however, for which most of us 
are thankful. 
Laelia jongheana. —We have been growing this 
Laelia in the Odontoglossum house all through the 
summer months, and I am pleased to say that they 
have done excellently. The time, however, has 
arrived when it would be unwise to let them remain 
longer in such a position. We shall, therefore, 
transfer them to the intermediate house where they 
will be given a position near the roof glass. 
Syringing. —The spraying overhead of most 
plants should now be discontinued, excepting, per¬ 
haps, the Odontoglossums, and these should only be 
done in the mornings so as to give the water that 
lodges in the partially made-up growths, time to 
evaporate before the evening. This obviates haviDg 
recourse to much fire heat, which is bad for them at 
any time, s) that it is quite as well to do without it 
as loDg as possible, not but that it is necessary to 
just warm the pipes at night, wbfist the prevailing 
weather at present lasts.—S. C. 
—-—J—— 
“ Success would lose its sweetness were it not for 
the difficulties overcome.” 
