9 
September 1, 1900. THE GARDENING W ORLD. 
is of a lovely soft pink with a golden-yellow zone in 
the centre When it was first introduced to this 
country does not appear to be recorded ; but flower¬ 
ing *plants of it were first brought before the British 
public by Messrs. Barr & Sons, King Street, Covent 
Garden, on April, i8th i8gg, at a meeting of the 
R.H.S. They kindly placed the accompanying beauti¬ 
ful illustration of the plant at our disposal. 
- 
DISHONEST COMPETITION. 
Your article on dishonest competition and the 
dispute about the Onion prize, reminds me of a bit 
of sharp practice that happened to myself a good 
many years ago. At that time I was a keen Leek 
and Onion grower, and took the first prize for both 
at all the shows in the district; but there came a day 
when I was only second best, and this is how it 
came about. 1 had as usual taken first for my 
Sutton’s Freesia Leichtlinii major 
both Leeks and Onions, but he declared that they 
were his own. I brought it before the committee, 
but they advised me to let it pass. I gave, him the 
chance to take them away and I would let the 
dispute drop ; but he would not do so, he would 
compete, and did compete and beat me easily. That 
show day was not a very pleasant one for me for 
every time I looked at my Leeks and Onions they 
nearly brought the tears to my eyes. 
Now, Mr. Editor, do you think England can 
produce a case in point stronger than this nip of 
Scotch?— A. McM., Edinburgh. 
[We have heard of some strange doings at shows, 
but think this a piece of audacity quite equalling, if 
not exceeding, anything we have heard.— Ed.] 
The Average Yield of Sugar to the acre of cane is 
greater in the Hawaiian Islands than in any other 
cane-growing country in the world 
COPVRIGHT S. & S. 
People who grow for market often plant out their 
Freesias on vinery borders ; but gardeners find most 
use for them as pot plants. For very early work 
the bulbs require to be potted some time during 
August; but later batches may be put in any time 
during September, although we must advise readers 
that little is gained by keeping the bulbs too long 
out of the soil. They are small and must not be 
allowed to waste their substance by becoming 
shrivelled. The best plan is to pot them as soon as 
received, in any rich, light, loamy soil, and plunge 
the pots in ashes or cocoanut fibre under a south 
aspect wall. About the end of September transfer 
the pots to frames; and as soon as the foliage 
appears above the soil it must be well exposed to 
light and be freely ventilated on all favourable 
occasions. F. Leichtlinii major is as easily grown as 
the type. We have seen it well grown in Messrs. 
Sutton & Son’s Portland Road Nursery, Reading; 
and the accompanying illustration lent us by them 
will testify to the same fact 
ERYTHRONIUM REVOLUTUM PINK 
BEAUTY. 
There Is another name to this lovely Dog’s-tooth 
Violet, to which the Index Kemnsis gives preference, 
namely E. purpurascens. Neither name will add to 
nor detract from the beauty of this handsome hardy 
plant, which hails from California, and seems to be 
the only species confined to that part of the American 
Continent, whereas five others come from various 
parts of North America, particularly towards the 
west. Several flowers are produced on a scape, 
whereas they are solitary on our European species 
(E. Dens-canis). The flowers hang with their face 
downwards, on account of their modesty as the poet 
would say ; but we should prefer to take some other 
leason. In the first instance it would serve to pro¬ 
tect the anthers and stigma from rain and 
night dews ; while on the other hand it has no doubt 
reference to insect [or other visitors. The tips of 
the segments are then revolute after the manner of a 
JLily. The whole bloom of the variety under notice 
Onions and Leeks at L-, and a competitor, a 
straDger to me, declared that my Onions were not 
grown by me, and that I must have bought them as 
he was sure that they could not be grown to such a 
size in this country. As my neighbours all knew 
differently I took no notice of his remarks. At this 
same show I had also been successful with stove and 
greenhouse plants, and when the show was over my 
first care was for getting them packed in the cart. 
Then came the time to look up my vegetables. I got 
all but the Onions and Leeks, no one had seen them. 
I had intended them to do duty at another show 
that was to be held in a neighbouring town the 
following week. Of course I had more of both at 
home, but the stolen ones were my very best. When 
tabling my vegetables at show number two, there I 
found my lost Onions and Leeks, but not in my 
name. I hunted up the owner of that name who 
proved to be the very man that disputed with me 
the week before. Anyone could see that the Leeks 
were not newly lifted although still fresh. I claimed 
FREESIA LEICHTLINII MAJOR. 
There were at one time two genera of Freesia, but 
the name in one case was sometimes spelt Freesea. 
Even then it must have been an anomalous genus, 
and, happily, has since been broken up into several, 
including Acidanthera, Ixia, and Tritonia. Both 
genera belonged to the Iris family, which made the 
confusion very great. Now the name Freesia is 
entirely confined to a genus of sweet scented, South 
African plants now well-known to every gardener. 
Three species are recorded, namely, F. Leichtlinii, 
the well-known F. refracta, and F. xanthospila. A 
variety of the first named is that under consideration 
at the present time. The ordinary form of 
F. Leichtlinii may be described as having creamy or 
yellow flowers, with an open throat, abruptly 
narrowed into the tube and erect rather than spread¬ 
ing segments. F. L. major has delicate French- 
white flowers, with an orange throat, and they are 
much larger than those of the older or typical 
form. 
