(■ 
March 2, 1901 . THE GARDENING WORLD 427 
fruit-spadix, certainly resembles that of the Banana, 
but I never detected much of the flavour of the 
latter. I think that a very small portion of this 
fruit is sufficient for any one. Still, I recall one 
household where any amount of Monstera fruits 
were consumed with gusto. When this plant is 
grown, it should be in a deep, rich border such as 
one finds bordering the paths of a warm glass 
corridor. Abundance of moisture both above and 
at the roots is wanted by this rampant grower. 
When a plant becomes too tall its top growth may 
be severed, and as it readily emits roots, such a 
shoot can be used for propagation. Plants in 
3 -in. pots when kept dwarfed and grown "hard” 
are very suitable and serviceable for summer 
house decorations used along with Palms and other 
foliage plants. The appearance of the great leaves 
is picturesque and highly effective.— H. G. 
UNION IS STRENGTH. 
Reading weekly the many interesting letters on the 
above subject, I ask the privilege, Mr. Editor, to say 
something on the matter through the columns of 
your valuable and interesting paper. Like Mr. J. C. 
Dick, as he stated in one of his many excellent con¬ 
tributions to this paper, about other trades having 
unions, I repeat why not gardeners having one also. 
It certainly stands to reason by any earnest thinking 
person, that what gardeners have to learn, and the 
hardships they have to endure before attaining the 
position of a head gardenership, that they are by far 
the worst paidj men of the present day. So to 
better our position must be by union, or left to drag 
along as in the present case. To secure this union 
would mean a vast amount of arduous labour, 
chiefly amongst young gardeners at the introductory 
stage, as is well known by the most of us, that head 
gardeners cannot be so independent as their younger 
brethren. To have the power to act on such a 
motive, would mean to several the position they 
hold. But I have not the slightest doubt as regards 
forming a union, that there are young men in the 
profession competent enough to set the mill agoing ; 
and I am sure, many, if not all the head gardeners 
would soon unite with us after a satisfactory footing 
had been obtained. 
My suggestion would be this, where a few of us 
young gardeners could co-operate, to arrange for 
holding a meeting in some of our most central towns, 
for instance our capital, on a flower show day, 
when so many both head and under gardeners 
generally meet their many friends and acquaintances, 
it would be the ardent request of every old or young 
gardener interested in the welfare of his profession 
to induce his fellow gardeners to attend that said 
meeting. There would be some kind hearted 
gardeners present that could give their views on the 
subject in question, and would willingly do so I feel 
sure. The formation of a union would mean to all 
connected with horticulture a great benefit for 
more reasons than one, namely, to exclude all 
would-be gardeners from being employed in our 
midst under the heading of gardeners, which means 
a bit of " chucking overboard ” at the present time, 
as there are too many of the would-be sort, lurching 
around encroaching under a false nom de plume, which 
answers for our present circumstances. 
Our aim would be to secure a good all round man, 
one who knows gardening in all its branches, its 
drawbacks, etc., that said man to be paid a suitable 
wage, to enable him to act with a free hand, and 
devote his full time to the interests of the union, by 
holding meetings throughout the various districts. 
Our duty would be to insure ourselves of the funds 
of the said union, which means a larger premium for 
a year or two, until the membership increased 
enough to be able to lighten the premium. For 
instance say 5s. or even more would never be 
missed for a yearly contribution, which would in the 
course of a few years, I am positive, be in exchange 
to us as much in a week. I should have been 
pleased to have added more, but I should like to 
hear the opinion of a few others on the subject 
before doing so.—" Jt vis en espoir." 
- •»• - 
Swiss Produce.—The quantity of orchard and 
market garden produce imported into Switzerland is 
considerable. For 1899 the values were as follows; 
Fresh fruits, £167,127; fresh vegetables, £4,858; 
flower bulbs, £2,824; trees, shrubs, &c., £36,721 
(of these quantities the United Kingdom supplied 
very little indeed of the fresh fruit); fresh vegetables, 
£14; flower bulbs, £8; trees, shrub 3 , &c., £83. 
PLANTS IN FLOWER AT CHELSEA. 
In the extensive and widely representative collec¬ 
tions of plants grown by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Ltd., Chelsea, something may be found in bloom at 
every period of the year. On entering a house the 
first plant we noted was Exacum Forbesi, with light 
blue flowers similar to those of E. affine, but with 
leaves almost as large as those of E. macranthum. 
The plant is perennial, evergreen, neat, and very 
pretty. 
Greenhouse Rhododendrons. 
The hybrid javanico-jasminiflorum Rhododendrons 
bloom from Tanuary to December, as has been proved 
by the exhibits of them at the Drill Hall. Last 
week we found quite a large number of them in 
bloom considering the early period of the year. 
Rhododendron King Edward VII. is a hybrid 
between R. javanicum and Teysmanni, the latter 
being the pollen bearer. The flowers are of great 
size, intermediate between the parents and of a hand¬ 
some golden-primrose shade of colour. R. javanicum 
itself has orange flowers, while those of R. Teys¬ 
manni are pale primrose, deepening with age; and 
in both cases they are smaller than those of the pro¬ 
geny. The flowers of Thetis are yellow, shaded with 
salmon and have darker nerves, red filaments, and 
crimson anthers. Little Beauty (malayanum x 
Monarch) has bright red flowers, very brilliant in 
bud and shining. Cloth of Gold has large, open, 
yellow flowers, in size like those of King Edward 
VII. Mrs. Heal is the only pure white Rhododen¬ 
dron in this section, and is also of good bushy habit. 
The flowers of Princess Royal are rosy-pink, while 
those of Brilliant are rich red and shining. 
The five varieties of double Rhododendrons of 
this hybrid strain have never been supplemented, 
and curiously enough they were all flowering simul¬ 
taneously last week. Balsamaeflorum roseum has 
double rose flowers, with a long tube. Those of 
Balsamaeflorum aureum are yellow; B. album, 
white ; B. carneum, flesh colour; and Rajah, 
salmon-orange. 
Greenhouse Plants. 
A fine display of flowers is kept up in the green¬ 
house at all periods of the year, but we think the 
plants are never more interesting than in the early 
months of the year, owing to the fine contrast 
between them and the bleak condition of the outdoor 
subjects. A mixed and delicious aroma also per¬ 
vades the atmosphere of the house, arising from 
Boronias, Mignonette, Hyacinths, Cinerarias, Nar¬ 
cissi, Lily of the Valley, and other plants which 
may be in bloom. Boronia megastigma is supreme 
for scent at the present time. The well known 
Acacia Drummondi, with its long catkins of flowers, 
is very fine ; but equally pretty is the less common 
A. ovata, with its myriad globular clusters of deep 
yellow flowers. Several Heaths are now in perfec¬ 
tion, including the pink and white mouthed Erica 
wilmoreana, E. campanulata, with pink, bell-shaped 
flowers ; E. melanthera, with tiny white flowers and 
black aDthers ; and E. persoluta fastigiata alba, 
having its short side shoots as erect as those of the 
Lombardy Poplar. Its myriads of tiny flowers are 
white with the faintest tint of blush. The typical 
E. persoluta flowers about a month later than this. 
A companion will shortly be added in E. persoluta 
rubra, having red flowers. It is a pity these bushy 
and neat old-fashioned flowers are not more generally 
grown for greenhouse and conservatory decoration, 
for they last a long time in bloom. 
The early flowering Indian Azaleas are very 
acceptable at this early period of the year. The 
finest of the double white varieties is undoubtedly 
A. Deutsche Perle, naturally early and easily forced 
or hastened into bloom. A. narcissiflora is a semi¬ 
double white, and useful on account of its early 
flowering. Professor Walters has very large flowers 
-and wavy petals of a salmon-pink, blotched with 
crimson on the upper segments, and edged white. 
A. vervaeneana is double salmon-pink with broad 
white edges, and very handsome. A few of the 
plants , sport a little to a soft colour. A. indica 
Kaempferi has soft rosy flowers. It is hardly neces¬ 
sary to observe that all the Azaleas are now classed 
under Rhododendron, so that the above are all 
varieties of Rhododendron indicum. 
Many varieties of Epacris, the New Holland re¬ 
presentatives of the Heaths, have already com¬ 
menced to flower. E. Premier has long-tubed, rosy- 
red flowers, and was originally sent out by Messrs. 
Veitch. With the exception of the anthers the 
flowers of Her Majesty are pure white. Those of 
E. Diadem are deep crimson-red; E, Attraction, 
pink with a large and wide flower ; and Fireball, 
orange-red. A large batch of Daphne indica alba, in 
one house, has been scenting the atmosphere with 
its deliciously fragrant flowers for a long time past. 
A house formerly occupied with Araucaria excelsais 
now completely filled with the finest lot of Aspidis¬ 
tra lurida variegata which one could wish to see. 
Stove Plants. 
The Anthurium house will soon be bright with a 
long succession of richly coloured spathes, some of 
which are already expanded. The last of Coleus 
thyrsoideus is still flowering in the stove, having 
kept up a display for over two months. Very pretty 
is the hybrid Vriesia leodinense with its red and 
yellow bracts, and yellow flowers, the former being 
the most durable. The Otaheite Orange (Citrus 
sinensis) carries small and highly ornamental fruits. 
Begonia Gloire de Lorraine and B. Gloire de 
Sceaux are leading plants amongst their kind at the 
present time. 
A houseful of Crotons, even at the present time, 
is very bright with the best decorative and show 
varieties, whether broad, narrow, or long-leaved. 
Warreni, Prince of Wales, and Reedi are three of 
the best for exhibition purposes. Other bold and 
handsome varieties include Baron James Rothschild, 
Cronstadti, aneitumense, and Williamsii, the latter 
having bronzy-red and green leaves much more un¬ 
dulated than those of Baron James Rothschild. On 
the other side of the house are many of the highly 
coloured Dracaenas, as well as the paler silvery and 
yellow variegated types like D. godseffiana, D. 
goldieana, and D. sanderiana. Both in this house 
and others close by Kentias are grown by the 
thousand, as they are the most frequently required in 
all kinds of floral decorations. 
A very useful room plant is Maranta major, the 
leaves of which are green above, silvery beneath and 
stand a great deal of bad usage. On the occasion of 
our visit the fine collection of Nepenthes was being 
overhauled and re-basketed. Many fine pitchers 
were still hanging, including a large quantity of N. 
Mastersi. The pitchers of N. Curtisii are notable 
for their long and narrow outline as well as the dis¬ 
tinct elongated green patches on a crimson ground. 
Elsewhere was a large and fine batch of Cocos 
weddeliana, and dark red and bronzy-purple leaved 
Dracaenas. A two-year-old specimen of D. sander¬ 
iana, consisting of many stems with numerous 
suckers at their base, stood 6 ft. to 7 ft. high. Here 
again were Palms in quantity, including such popular 
subjects as Kentias, Latanias, Phoenix, &c. 
Orchids. 
The long Orchid range, but particularly the warmer 
divisions, contains a considerable number of species, 
varieties and hybrids in bloom. In baskets hung up 
near the glass are well-flowered pieces of D. atrovio- 
laceum, D. findlayanum, D. crassinode, D eaosraum, 
D. euosmum virginale, D. endoc'naris and D. japon- 
icum x aureum, the two latter being hybrids. The 
hybrid Laeliocattleya Antimachus displays a large, 
crimson-purple lip. The lip of Cattleya miranda is 
rich purple. The long, squirrel tail, straw colopred 
racemes of Platyclinis glumacea smell of new mown 
hay. One of the most interesting of the small 
Angraecums, namely, A. citratum, has drooping 
racemes of flowers of the palest lemon with a blush 
blotch on the lip. By no means a common Phalae- 
nopsis is P. Cassandra, having white sepals and 
petals and a rose base, the lip being purple and 
spotted with orange at the base. P. schilleriana is 
also in bloom. Very strong spikes are now being 
thrown up by fine plants of Oncidium ampliatum, 
with large pseudobulbs. 
Cypripediums, particularly hybrids, are always 
plentiful here, and at present include C. barbatum, 
C. microchilum, white with purple ribs ; C. latham- 
ianum in great variety ; C. godseffianum having a 
yellow dorsal sepal, overlaid with orange; and C. 
Euryades Leonidas albidum, having the dorsal sepal 
white and spotted with violet and brown near the 
base. There are numerous variations of the second¬ 
ary hybrid named Cypripedium leeanum x villosum 
Boxallii, the dorsal sepal of which is generally con¬ 
spicuously blotched with black markings. Very 
handsome is that named Leonidas, which has the 
dorsal sepal spotted with rich brown on a yellow 
ground. C. Aeson is brown on a yellow ground and 
spotted. The dorsal sepal of C. Boxallii superbum 
is of a rich blackish-crimson. 
