lDecember-15, 1900. 
THK GARDENING WORLD. 
251 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Pear- Nouvelle Fulvie. —The fruit of this 
variety is pyriform, with a yellow skin and finely 
spotted with russet. The flesh is yellowish white, 
juicy and sweet. The variety is not new, nor have 
its merits only just been recognised, for a fine, pyra¬ 
midal tree of it fruited well and heavily in the 
R.H.S. Gardens at Chiswick many years ago and 
enjoyed a very favourable opinion of all who knew it. 
It has now received public recognition with a First- 
class Certificate when placed before the Fruit and 
Vegetable Committee by Roger Leigh, Esq. (gar¬ 
dener, Mr. G. Woodward), Barham Court, Teston, 
Maidstone. 
Pear Charles Ernest.— The fruits of this hand¬ 
some looking Pear are large, shortly pyriform, bright 
yellow and marked with faint brown spots. The 
flesh is white, sweet and aromatic even yet so that 
it must rank high amoDgst late keeping varieties. 
The flavour has been compared to that of Williams’ 
Bon Chretien. (Award of Merit) Messrs. J. Veitch 
& Sons, Ltd., Chelsea. 
The undermentioned awards were made by the 
Floral Committee of the National Chrysanthemum 
Society on Tuesday, December 4th. 
Chrysanthemum May Bell. —Here we have a 
beautiful and promising true incurved pink variety. 
The flowers are large and well built, pale pink with 
silvery reverse ; and the petals are broad. (F.C.C.) 
Mr. H. Weeks, Thrumpton Hall Gardens, Derby. 
C. Lady Windsor. —A beautiful and attractive 
single variety having mauve-tipped ray petals with 
a white base, which form a halo round the orange 
disc. (A.M.) Messrs. W. Clibran & Son, Altrincham. 
C. Miss Jessie Pilkington. — A large single 
variety of a rose-pink colour and prominent orange 
disc. (A.M.) Messrs. W. Clibran & Son. 
C. Clibran’s Terra-cotta. — A handsome single 
terra-cotta variety. (Commendation.) Messrs. W. 
Clibran & Sou. 
C. Robert Morgan.— A large, single variety of a 
rich and vivid crimson colour. (A.M.) Mr. G. W. 
Forbes, Regent House Gardens, Surbiton. 
REDBRAES NURSERY, EDINBURGH. 
In September last, during a short interval between 
work of another kind, we made a hurried inspection 
of the stock grown by Messrs. James Greive & Sons, 
Redbraes Nursery, Broughton Road, Edinburgh. 
Various subjects are grown suitable for town as well 
as country gardens, including trees and shrubs for 
town planting, popular flowers for cottage and villa 
gardens, house decoration, &c. 
Interesting was the stock of Veronica salicornoides 
recommended for edging purposes. There was a 
quantity of it in fine healthy condition. Olearia 
Haastii was flowering for the second time. Genista 
tinctoria elata was also in full bloom, and appeared 
in its prime even at this late period. An excellent 
shrub for the seaside is Skimmia japonica, here 
grown in quantity for cuttings. A stock of Ivies has 
also been got together. Mahonias are found to be 
useful for winter work on account of the bright 
colouring of the evergreen foliage. The common 
Lime is grown for ornamental planting. Both it 
and the Black Italian Poplar are pinched during 
June and July for the purpose of getting bushy and 
well balanced trees during the shortest possible time. 
Young specimens of both grow rapidly, and by 
timely pinchiDg of the shoots form well balanced 
specimens in one year. Rhododendrons in various 
sizes and other shrubs in variety are grown. Special 
attention is given to the oval-leaved Privet which 
is in great demand for hedges and ornamental 
planting. 
The shoots of the Babyloniata Willow become 
crimson in autumn in this northern latitude. The 
golden Black Italian Poplar retains the colour of its 
foliage till autumn. Small plants of Retinospora 
plumosa are largely grown for window boxes, for 
winter bedding, and for cemeteries for which it is 
very popular. The value of Rosa rugosa for garden 
decoration is well recognised here and large quanti¬ 
ties of it grown. 
Special attention is given to Carnations, all the 
best and most popular varieties being grown ; while 
several fine seedlings have also been raised at Red¬ 
braes. China Asters in variety also receive atten¬ 
tion, and are found useful for a variety of purposes. 
A large collection of Sweet Peas was in bloom, about 
fifty varieties altogether, including new ones. About 
200 varieties of the best Violas are grown. They 
are in great request, and something between 100,000 
and 200,000 are annually raised from cuttings, many 
frames being already filled with the same early in 
September. About 4,000 seedling Violas made 
another feature, Me. James Greive being an old hand 
at this work. Large quantities of East Lothian 
Stocks were being planted out for spring flowering, 
both these and Wallflowers being in great demand 
for spring bedding in cottage and villa gardens, 
about 60,000 of the latter being acquired. The love 
of old-fashioned flowers still remains amongst the 
people everywhere. 
Seedling single Dahlias and Cactus Dahlias also 
come in for a share of space and attention. Early 
flowering Chrysanthemums are indispensable, 
wherever cut flowers are required. Large quantities 
are grown in the open ground and lifted in the 
autumn so that they can be flowered under glass, 
should the weather be unprcpitious at that time in 
the open. 
Most of the plants were bristly with flower buds 
unless, indeed, they were in bloom, and all were 
of bushy, branching habit. Chrysanthemum Etoile 
de Feu is a brilliant crimson; Youngi (a seedling 
raised here), violet-purple ; Pilrig, dwarf, bushy and 
bright yellow; Mytchett White, a very popular 
market sort; Lady Fitzwygram, white; and Crim¬ 
son Gem, bright crimson. M. Gustave Grunner- 
wald, a useful variety for parks, had been flowering 
since July, proving itself one of the earliest. Madame 
Marie Masse would come next in order and was bushy 
and very floriferous. Madame C. Desgranges and 
its several sports are very popular for early use, and 
Ryecroft Glory is much esteemed for the quantity 
of golden yellow flowers it produces. All the leading 
varieties of the large flowering Chrysanthemums, 
suitable for cut flower purposes are grown in the 
open ground and transferred to the houses when the 
latter have been cleared of their summer crops. A 
collection of new single Chrysanthemums has also 
been got together for the sake of cutting. Here we 
came upon a plantation of Cactus Dahlias grown 
for the sake of ground roots from which to propa¬ 
gate. 
Several florists’ flowers are grown for the sake of 
seed, Marigolds being a speciality, and Violas 
another. Some varieties of the French Marigold are 
carefully selected annually, including a striped strain, 
of which there was a large plantation. Rain is an 
enemy to the ripening of the seeds, particularly of 
the large-headed African Marigold, and to obviate 
this difficulty the plants had been planted round the 
foot of the high walls of the nursery in order to keep 
this sun-loving Mexican plant dry. Musselburgh 
Leeks make another speciality for seed raising. 
Border Auriculas and quantities of Polyanthuses 
grown in frames without light serve to keep alive the 
interest in these old fashioned plants. Blue Poly¬ 
anthuses in variety were growing in the open, the 
autumn rains pushing them into bloom. Pinks, 
show Pinks and Mule Pinks are favourites as well 
as border Carnations. Herbaceous plants of various 
kinds do well. Very fine was a healthy clump, 6 ft. 
to S ft. in diameter, of Helianthus Miss Mellish. 
Autumn flowering Phloxes are grown in great 
variety. 
The kitchen and fruit gardens are also provided 
for with various subjects, including Raspberry 
Superlative, and Strawberry Mr. Gladstone, which is 
much earlier than Elton Pine, and has constituted 
the main crop variety in Scotland for many 
years. It has good flavour, a fine appearance, 
being highly coloured, and carries well. Many 
varieties of Potatos are grown for seed 
purposes. Several of the favourite varieties of 
Rhubarb are kept in stock to meet the demand. 
Young trees of Apple James Greive, grown in pots, 
were in fruit-beariDg condition. Its merits are now 
beiDg recognised in many gardens. Elsewhere was 
a plantation of Crab Apple Stocks for working with 
popular varieties presently. 
A hurried run through the houses was also made. 
One large structure was filled with Tomatos, which 
are the summer occupants, to be followed by Chrys¬ 
anthemums in autumn and winter; while beddiDg 
plants are the feature of the same in spring. Indeed, 
the shelves and other available spaces were already 
occupied with zonal Pelargoniums and general bed¬ 
ding plants. 
Another range of low, span-roofed houses is better 
adapted for plant growing and the modern require¬ 
ments.of a nursery. The first entered was filled 
with bedding Pelargoniums in great variety. Mrs. 
Thomas W. Lawson, the famous American Carna¬ 
tion, has found its way here, but Mr. Greive is not 
very much impressed by it. The next house con¬ 
tained Campanula Mayi, useful for market work; 
the Strawberry-Raspberry, zonal and tricolor Pelar¬ 
goniums, Fuchsias, and other useful subjects for bed¬ 
ding. Seedling Apple trees from James Greive are 
calculated to reach the fruiting stage in the course 
of two or three years. 
Elsewhere was market stuff, including India Rubber 
Plants, and Araucaria excelsa, of which about 500 
are raised every year. Asparagus Sprengeri, A. 
plumosus nanus, Begonia President Carnot, Sib- 
thorpia europaea variegata (a choice and dwarf 
trailer), and seedling Amaryllis, of which quantities 
are raised every year, will give some general idea of 
the contents. Other houses were devoted to the 
cultivation of popular and useful market Ferns, such 
as Pteris Wimsettii, P. tremula, P. cretica, and its 
varieties, Adiantum Bausei, and A. Capillus-Veneris 
imbricatum. The latter is one of if not the most 
handsome of all the varieties of the British Maiden¬ 
hair. Some quantity of it was in healthy and fine 
condition. ' 
-- 
NOTICE OF BOOK. 
Public Parks at Boston. 
City of Boston. Department of Parks. Twenty- 
fifth Annual Report of the Board of Commis¬ 
sioners for the year ending January 31st, 1900. 
Printed for the Department, 1900. 
The annual report of the public parks of Boston, 
U.S.A , is ample in character, and makes a book of 
100 pages, so that those interested cannot complain 
of being kept in the dark as to what is being done 
and what becomes of the money. The Commission¬ 
ers’ Report is a short one, the bulk of the reporting 
or the account of the parks beiDg given by the inde¬ 
fatigable Superintendent Department of Parks, 
Mr. John A. Pettigrew. In their report to the 
Mayor of the City of Boston, the Commission 
“ believes that the greatest enjoyment by the great¬ 
est number of persons will be obtained by retain¬ 
ing, as far as it is practicable to do so, a natural and 
rural character to the parks, especially in the larger 
parks like Leverett, Jamaica, and Franklin.” 
In order to hide the parks from their immediate 
surroundings of houses, streets, and daily traffic, the 
aim is to protect the boundaries with continuous 
masses of foliage, such as are produced by belts of 
trees and shrubs. They also believe in the suppres¬ 
sion of unnecessary walks, drives, and buildings, 
thereby increasing the natural appearance of the 
parks, and reducing the annual expenditure of main¬ 
taining the same in a passable condition. There is 
an object also in planting only those trees, shrubs, 
and herbaceous plants, which prove thoroughly 
hardy and otherwise suitable for the particular 
district under notice; and these consist of plants 
which grow naturally in New England. The 
Commissioners have been active in securing spaces 
of a few acres in extent for the purpose of recreation 
in the more crowded of the suburban districts of the 
city, and recommend the spending of another million 
dollars for still further multiplying these areas duriDg 
the next two, three, or four years. 
During the past year the superintendent has been 
busy completing the belting of Franklin Park with 
trees and shrubs, in which work he is very thorough 
For instance, the ground is previously well prepared 
for planting by ploughing and subsoiling. Should 
the natural soil be of a poor character it is ameliorat¬ 
ed by the addition of loam brought from some other 
place, till the soil is at least 2 ft. deep. The expense 
of adding 1 ft. of soil, at the present price of loam, 
is 1,100 dollars per acre. Substantial walls of 
Quincy Granite, 3^ ft. high and 2 ft. thick, have 
been built round the street boundaries to keep the 
rougher elements of the population from indiscrimin¬ 
ate tramping over the borders and through the 
plantations. Last spring Grape Vines, Bitter-sweets 
and Virginia creepers were planted inside the walls 
for the purpose of covering them and hanging over 
to the street side, so as to make the walls less formal 
and more pleasing to those passing along the streets. 
Part of the park had been used as a nursery for the 
purpose of rearing trees and shrubs, but this is to 
be cleared and planted like the rest. 
There are several very beautifully executed, full 
page photographic reproductions interleaved with 
