124 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 21, 1899. 
PUTNEY PARK LANE NURSERIES. 
Those who have been privileged to see some of the 
great banqueting or city-dinner decorations in any 
of our large cities, but more especially in London, 
may have been just a little perplexed as to how the 
fine plants were arranged for, and who supplies 
plants of such convenient size, seemiogly to suit 
every phase of need. It was our business lately to 
make an inspection of the stock grown by one of our 
leading London firms who are extensive furnishers— 
that of Mr. William Iceton, Putney Park Lane, Roe- 
hampton. He grows nearly everything by the 
thousand. Palms there are in every form of 
gracefulness or sturdy vigour. Those which are 
most popular with the general public such as 
Thrinax, Kentia, Phoenix, Latania, Livistonas, 
Arecas, and others are, as anyone would reasonably 
expect, grown in large quantities. The glass de¬ 
partment must cover a large area, I shall not make 
a guess at how much, but there are very many 
houses serviceable for a market man’s needs. At 
my visit about a month ago, the growers were busy 
top-dressing or re-potting them. It seemed rather 
a peculiar time in the year for the operations, but 
upon enquiry the intelligence was given that during 
the season—spring—when potting is generally done, 
Mr. Iceton's plants are being then most actively 
transported from place to place. One might be in¬ 
clined to think that plants which are so frequently 
out about, would have before now retaliated by 
dropping the leaves or by ill-health in some form. 
Evidence of this is not observable on the plants at 
Putney Park Lane, for all of them were clean and 
growing serenely. 
Bamboos, in a few favourite kinds, are also ex¬ 
tensively cultivated. Eurya latifolia being a bright¬ 
leaved, half hardy greenhouse shrub, amenable to 
various conditions of temperature, and a reliable 
plant to the class of buyers Mr. Iceton caters for, is 
also seen in large quantities. 
Then for festooning pillars, draping prominences,or 
for tracing among the utensils and dishes of a dinner 
table, the Smilax is cultivated. I was surprised to 
find some monster plants occupying a house to them¬ 
selves, and there they had been for ten years ! They 
are planted out, and annually receive a top-dressing. 
The shoots are led straight up to the roof, and 
evidently they have found " their lines cast in pleas¬ 
ant places, and " from their goodly heritage they are 
disposed to yield a full return. Asparagus in varie¬ 
ties is found in other houses, and the density and 
thick sheaf after sheaf—the simile answers well in 
this case—of fronds, fresh, bright, strong, and 
broad, composed a unique and beautiful " tunnel ” 
of greenery. I say tunnel, for in a span-roofed 
house, with plants on each side, and arching over 
the top, while nearly meeting at the bottom, the 
view presented was indeed like what a light, draped 
tunnel would be. 
Serviceable Crotons and Dracaenas find a home, 
and the stock of these which Mr. Iceton owns 
embraces all the tried and popular favourites grown 
in bushy form, well coloured, and creditable in all 
respects. 
As a change one is taken to see the forcing sheds, 
and here there are as many as 30,000 11 crowns ” of 
Lily of the Valley in various stages. Out on the 
paths or by the sides of the houses the visitor may 
see thousands of others boxed up, and ready to be 
taken in at any time. The same with Due Van 
Thol and white Pottebakker Tulips, and Roman 
Hyacinths; indeed, all the class of bulbous flowers 
which the public are always asking for. Liliums 
must not be forgotten ; ncr Roses. Of the latter there 
is half an acre of plunged pot plants, and as Mr. 
Iceton must keep his florist shops in Covent Garden 
supplied from these plants, it goes without saying 
that they are as healthy and promising a lot as an 
expert grower knows how to secure and retain. 
Flowering plants are more or less confined to Callas, 
Azaleas, and Chrysanthemums, and of the last 
named there are some 3,000 handsome plants, the 
earliest of which had begun to flower. 
Tomatos are grown in all favourable spots out of 
doors, while at the Chiswick branch of his establish¬ 
ment Mr. Iceton has ten houses, each 100 ft. long, 
entirely devoted to these plants. The varieties 
which this grower depends on are Sutton’s Ai, Ham 
Green, and Duke of York. So many as 700 lbs. of 
Tomatos have been taken from the nursery every 
week during the height of the season. In the house 
wherein the stocks of Araucaria excelsa and A. 
Cunninghamii flourish, the more recent A. e. glauca 
was strikingly well shown. The angular and more 
rigid habit, together with the glaucous hue of the 
boughs give this variety a fair measure of attractive¬ 
ness. Euonymus and other pretty and hardy, non- 
deciduous shrubby plants are plunged in borders 
around the houses ready at any call to be used either 
for furnishing or for supplying the market. Mr. 
Iceton’s trade is both wholesale and retail, and from 
the run through his place I am sure with such plants 
to chose from our buying public will not have their 
confidence shaken, or their appreciation for plants 
lessened so long as they get such as those seen at 
Putney Lane Park.— D. 
--- 
BROKEN GLASS. 
Broken glass, and fuel, are words, the mention of 
which almost make a gardener’s hair stand on end. 
Where the purse-strings are held hard and every 
item of expense means another growl or frown from 
the employer, the worry, which continuous accumu¬ 
lations on the debit side of accounts load upon the 
poor gardener, is quite disheartening. He strives 
and strives and strives again, making a gain here, a 
saving there, and thinks that things are looking 
better and are more satisfactory. But through no 
fault of his own, probably all in pure accident, 
the panes of glass in a door, a roof, or a frame sash 
are broken and at one swoop another two, five, ten, 
twenty shillings, or even pounds sterling, are asked 
for by the glazier. Now a great deal of the glass 
which every year is broken about gardens, might with 
care be altogether avoided. All doors, or those at least 
where traffic is for any time continuous, ought to 
have catches or holders put to them. It is a simple 
matter to place a pot in front of the door, or a stake, 
but it is certainly easy also to knock over the pot, 
and a stake is not always convenient nor infallibly 
safe. The catches may always be trusted and in 
those places at least where the work and returns 
have to be shown in profit and loss, the outlay for 
catches and rubber buffers to the doors, soon repays 
itself. 
For insurance against very heavy losses from 
hailstorms for instance, one might point out the 
Hailstorm Insurance Corporation, Ltd. Storms of 
wind are responsible for a large amount of damage 
in some parts of the country. Across the Yorkshire 
moors some frightful gales sweep, and a tremendous 
amount of damage has been done at times to those 
gardens which are scattered over the county. 
Ventilators are burst open and here we have the hint, 
that whenever there is a sign of coming gales, the man 
on duty should be active in having ropes and cranks 
fastened, tied even with stout tar-twine, and frames 
should all be pegged down. This reads all very 
well; speaking and writing are generally easier than 
doing anything, but lack-a-day "it's just myself who 
has had it do ! ’’ When one hears the crash of one 
sash colliding through half a dozen others or even 
against the sides or roof of a conservatory they are 
apt enough then to see that things have gone far 
enough and that some wedges of wood knocked 
firmly between the sashes must very quickly be 
there. The task is anything but acceptable on a 
dark night with a gale of ninety miles an hour raging 
with all its strength, and panes of glass smashing 
themselves like bomb shells on every side. Screws 
which can be turned across when required are handy 
and generally efficient enough. 
Then when covering up the frames during frost, 
any sort of thing which will keep the mats down 
firmly are used for the purpose. Bricks, and planks, 
even pots are employed and sometimes without much 
caution. The result is seen in many cracked and 
broken panes. Good mats can generally be kept 
down by running stout strings along the whole length 
of the top and bottom of the mats. Screw nails, or 
staples may be put in for fastening the string to. 
So that with all precautions duly taken the risks of 
breaking glass are greatly mitigated. 
Words of caution cannot be given with justness 
upon paper. Good fuel always pays itself and for 
comfort both to the head gardener and his men 
only clean and good fuel should be used. If the 
draught and regulators are in good order, then the 
whole working of the fires, and the economic use 
of the fuel must be left to the stoker.— J. Harris. 
-**»- 
Hellebore sprinkled on the floor at night is said to 
destroy cockroaches. They eat it and are poisoned. 
Hardening Jiscellany. 
WREATHS. 
Cycas leaves are well adaptable for arranging in 
wreath or floral constructions of this kind. For 
"horse-collar ” frames one long Cycas leaf bent up¬ 
ward from the base to the top is the most magnifi¬ 
cent piece of vegetable organism the floral decorator 
could employ. The blooms from flowers are loosely 
arranged at the bottom part of the " horse-collar ” 
frames, leaving the upper parts of the frame-work 
with only the said leaves as drapery. When 
stretched across the inner part of a wreath, that is, 
from below the flowers on one side right across and 
upward to strike among the flowers on the opposite 
bend, like a feather, this gives a "dash” to the 
appearance of a lady's hat or bonnet. 
DRACAENA GODSEFFIANA. 
To see this plant for the first time brings to mind a 
delicate specimen of our hardy Japanese shrub, 
Aucuba japonica. Though more finely maculated, 
softer and smaller in the colour blotches, and with 
darker, thinner, and more lanky stems, yet, as I say, 
the resemblance is at one with the Aucuba. For 
lobbies not subjected to draughts this plants recom¬ 
mends itself. 
PHRYNIUM VARIEGATUM. 
What we all agree upon is that a nice decorative 
plant should have the qualities of grace of outline, 
or be strikingly exact in the counter parts. The 
colours should be pleasingly blended or of brilliant 
contrast, and should, to be popularly used, have a 
robustness and hardihood of constitution. The 
above-named plant has an artistic habit of growth, 
is variegated with creamy-white on dark green t 
grows somewhat like a Dracaena, and is not exacting 
in its requirements. 
ANEMONE JAPONICA. 
All the autumn-flowering Anemones are lovely, 
either when viewed for their form, which is all 
simplicity, or for their colour, which is so distinct 
and pure. The above-named species is more a rosy- 
magenta, but pale, of course, for such a union of hue. 
ft may not probably class well along with otheir 
colours, for at this season we have not a great variety 
of suitable contrasting or harmonious colours to 
choose from. The roots may be secured through 
the autumn or spring, and planted in beds of rich 
moist soil, or in clumps either in front of the 
shrubbery, in beds at the verge of lawns, or in the 
herbaceous borders. 
ONION, AILSA CRAIG. 
The samples shown by Mr. Beckett in his exhibit at 
the Drill Hall, Westminster, on September 26th, 
showed what a really good variety this is. The form 
is even and perfect as a rule, and the keeping 
qualities of really sound and well ripened bulbs are 
well known. The bulbs do well in a rich deeply 
worked soil, in a warm position ; and succeed about 
as well from a spring as an autumn sowiog. It is a 
very desirable method to raise the young plants in 
boxes from a February sowing and not to plant them 
out until such time as they have become toughened 
and able to resist the attacks of the Oaion fly. 
POSOQUERIA LONGIFLORA. 
I do not know whether all the Posoquerias are equal 
to the above or not, but it has proved to be one of 
the best stove flowering plants we have. The one 
hard point with it is its propagation. Cuttings of 
the half firmed wood take a long time to strike, but 
patience should be a quality with gardeners. When 
the plants have gained a fair size, that is, are filling 
eight-inch pots, the wood growth may then be sub¬ 
jected to flower production by keeping the roots con¬ 
fined. Pruning can safely be resorted to when the 
heads develop too cumbrously; this need not be, 
however, for some years. The flowers are borne in 
corymbs at the end of the current year’s shoots, ex¬ 
panding at various times according to treatment. 
They are white, very long and sweet scented ; indeed, 
they are not unlike a Bouvardia truss much 
lengthened. Handsome plants are very valuable.— 
J.H.D. 
