214 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 2, 1899, 
1897 a treasury committee was formed as a result of 
their applications, and this committee consisting of 
Sir Henry Longley, Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer and 
Mr. Spring Rice made an exhaustive investigation of 
the whole subject directing their attention specially 
to the practical utility of the garden for the pur¬ 
poses of its original foundation — i.e., the scientific 
and educational study of botany. These gentlemen 
c ncluded upon the advisability of having a new 
administrative body which would be able to main¬ 
tain the objects of the garden and to furnish the 
necessary funds. The trustees of the London 
Parochial Charities were thus enlisted in the relief 
and a committee of seventeen of that body are 
managing the interests of this old garden. Various 
universities, institutions and societies are represented 
upon the membership of the management board of 
this useful metropolitan council. 
Therefore we may yet hope to see this place with 
its historic past, where great and learned men 
strolled between its neatly kept beds of various 
herbs and rare plants, once again become a centre of 
interest and itself a power. When we gaze upon 
the statue of Sir Hans Sloane standing in the middle 
of the garden, when we remember that Linnaeus 
himself visited this picturesque field of flowers, that 
old Thomas Wheeler lectured to many generations 
of the "Society’s” students, and that the famous 
cultural Society on September 9th, 1884; and 
another from the Royal Caledonian Horticultural 
Society. They sent it out in 1885. The accom¬ 
panying illustration of it was lent us by them. 
YUCCA GLORIOSA. 
Herewith I enclose a photo of this hardy sub¬ 
tropical looking plant, which is now — November 
18th—in full bloom in a London garden a circum¬ 
stance which is not to be despised at this time of 
year when fogs abound and other impurities of the 
atmosphere are only too apparent to those whose lot 
is cast in grimy cities. 
Notwithstanding, however, such serious draw¬ 
backs to the cultivation of ornamental evergreen 
plants, my friend, Mr. Geo. Kingcombe, of Tufnell 
Park, N., never tires in his endeavours to render the 
garden as gay as possible. This is comparatively 
easy when the days are long and the summer sun 
is in his might and glory; but this, unfortunately, is 
changed all too soon in autumn and winter when he 
" pales his ineffectual fires,” and light and heat 
become a reminiscence merely. The flowering, 
however, of this particular Adam’s Needle this year 
is doubtless due to the great beat of the past 
season; for, I am informed, that only once 
before during its lifetime of a quarter of a century, 
Apple Lady Sudeley. 
Lindley there arranged the plants into their 
" Natural Orders” in contrast to the old “ Linnean 
system,” we cannot but feel naturally that the efforts 
to keep alive the floral beauties and the penetrating 
enchantments of the beautiful yet mystic place are 
worthy of our most earnest sanction, our aid and 
our good wishes .—Journal of the Society of Arts. 
--- 
APPLE LADY SUDELEY. 
This variety is essentially a dessert fruit to which 
class it constitutes an acquisition on account of its 
size and handsome appearance. It is, indeed, the 
finest of recent additions to the early Apples for table. 
The flesh is soft and melting, but to enjoy its spicy 
flavour and aroma it must be eaten from the tree, 
and under such conditions it will remain good for a 
month. As a standard tree for orchards it is well 
suited, because bearing as it does at the tips of the 
shoots, it can be allowed to grow raturally, merely 
thinning out the weak and badly placed shoots. It 
is equally well adapted for orchard-house culture ; 
and to say that it dees well in Cornwall and Scot¬ 
land means that it will succeed almost anywhere in 
Britain. In any case it should always be included 
in private collections to pick from the tree during 
August and September to furnish an early dish for 
dessert. Messrs. Geo. Bunyard & Co., received a 
First-class Certificate for it from the Royal Horti¬ 
has it condescended to grace his garden with a 
panicle of flowers. These, when they do come, are 
much appreciated, for they are produced on a 
stout stem about 3 ft. long, are Liliaceous in 
character, and look not unlike white Fritillarias. 
The foliage measures over 9 ft. in circumference, 
and radiates umbrella-like at a point about 18 in. 
from the ground. 
This circumstance causes it to be much frequented 
by certain domestic animals which the Rev. Gilbert 
White once stigmatised as " bloody grimalkins.” 
And so with a view to frustrate the too frequent 
meetings of these fierce and undesirable creatures 
(from a gardening standpoint) under its sheltering 
shade, Mr. Kingcombe has caused it to be sur¬ 
rounded by a chevaux de frise in the shape of a circle 
of galvanised iron wire, over which, however, these 
creatures will even sometimes find a way. 
Although the Yucca will generally succeed in any 
good garden soil, it prefers one of a warm and 
porous character, which the garden in question does 
not possess. Add to this the fact of its sulphurous 
surroundings, and the reason for its rarely blooming 
is not far to seek.— C. B. G. 
[The photograph showed the species to be Yucca 
gloriosa; but it was too indistinctly defined for 
reproduction. When the plants attain to good size 
and strength they flower fairly frequently in proper 
soil and in sunny or open positions — Ed ] 
EUPATORIUMS. 
These make good companion plants to the Salvias, 
notes of which appeared in a former issue, and res¬ 
pond to similar treatment. They are all of the 
easiest culture. Cuttings should be put in in March 
and kept close under a hand or bell glass without 
bottom heat. I get the best results by potting them 
off singly into 2^-in. pots as soon as fit, taking the 
point out at the second pair of leaves, ten days before 
or after potting, keeping them in a slightly heated 
structure up to the middle of April, when they 
should be transferred to a cold frame. 
Repotting must not be neglected, neither must the 
stopping of the leading shoots. Six and 8-in. 
pots are large enough for the first year, giving them 
a mixture of loam, a little rotten manure, leaf-soi 1 , 
and a little sand and potting fairly firm, and stand¬ 
ing them outside towards the end of May. As soon 
as the pots they are to flower in get full of roots, 
weak manure water or a pinch of Clay’s or 
Thompson's twice a week should be given them. 
At the final stopping, not later than the middle of 
September, every shoot should have its point re¬ 
moved so as to have the plant one mass of flower at 
one time. The shoots do not require much support 
unless it is E. riparium, which is rather slender in 
growth. There are a number of varieties, hardy aDd 
otherwise, but I shall confine my remarks to two 
only, these being more often met with than any of 
the rest. 
The autumn flowering one is E. weinmannianum, 
rather a long name, but a very useful kind, and as a 
rule at its best from the middle of November up to 
the end of the year. By pinching during the first 
week in October plants can be had in bloom at 
Christmas, but do not carry near such a wealth of 
blossom as those flowering a month or so earlier. 
This kind has one drawback, namely, as soon as it 
begins to go out of flower the heads get a rusty ap¬ 
pearance, so should be cut off as they go over. This 
kind is nearly hardy in Devon, and is flowering 
nicely outside now, the third week in November. 
The plants of this can be kept for several years, 
pruning them closely back in April, well syringing 
the plants aily. Shake them free of soil when 
growth has commenced, replacing them in the same 
size pot. The after treatment should be the same 
as for young plants, only these could be repotted to 
a larger size in June if large plants are required. 
Where there is a big house to fill this should be done, 
as I have seen them with heads 2^ ft. across. 
E. riparium is quite different in growth, more spread¬ 
ing than the preceding and flowers in March and 
early April. The less heat this gets the better. I 
generally keep a few old plants of this and give them 
ic-inch pots. These carry immense heads of 3 ft. 
or more. This one roots much better than the first 
named, and does not require so much stopping of 
the shoots, being of a much more branching nature. 
No greenhouse or show house ought to be without 
these two species. Green fly sometimes attacks 
these when under glass in the spring; when outdoors 
no pest seems to trouble them, and what a blessing 
this is to us blue apron men.— J. Mayne, Bicton. 
THE FRUIT CROP OF 1899 * 
Some little time ago our esteemed Secretary asked 
me to give a few notes this evening on " The Fruit 
Crops of 1899,” a somewhat barren subject at the 
best, and I asked myself the question, What can one 
say upon a matter like this that has not been said 
and repeated time and again ? I found no answer to 
my question, and I have no excuse for comiDg before 
you this evening except the poor cne that I am 
acting in accordance with our Secretary's orders. It 
is easy for those who are gifted with the pen of a 
ready writer to hang an article or write a paper 
upon any text, but, unfortunately, I do not find 
myself in that happy state ; nevertheless, having set 
out I must carry through somehow, and I crave your 
indulgence if I wander slightly at times from the 
texts. 
Firstly, then, we must, I think, admit that, 
speaking generally, the season of 1899 will have to 
be numbered amongst the poor fruit years, and the 
best we can say of it is that good crops have been 
extremely partial. Certain favoured spots have pro- 
*A paper read at the Horticultural Club by Mr, A. H 
Pearson, Chilwell, 
