August 31, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
845 
cuttings, but to obtain plants to flower from March 
to July, the former sown during August and Septem¬ 
ber is far more advisable. Should a later sowing be 
desired it is better to let the short days pass before 
sowing. If the seedlings be pricked off into 
thumb or 72-pots as soon as germinated, they 
soon repay a little care and assume the proportions 
of young plants, and if grown in a rich, open soil 
will need a shift in four to six weeks' time. Treated 
as a Cyclamen or Primula—but always with plenty 
of air—during the winter months, the plants show 
their bloom buds towards the end of February, and 
during the long flowering period furnish unexcelled 
material either for decorative or cut work.— C. J. L. 
FRENCH HONOUR TO MR. M. J. 
SUTTON. 
On Tuesday morning, the 20th inst., M. Rey, on 
behalf of the French Ambassador, turned up at 
Reading for the purpose of conferring an honour 
upon Mr. Martin John Sutton, head of the firm of 
Messrs. Sutton & Sons, and to present him with the 
insignia of the Order. M. Rey came quite as a 
surprise and wished the employees to be gathered 
together, and the spacious building was well filled 
with such as could be got together upon such short 
notice. The following extract from The Times, 
August 21st, gives a brief account of what took place : 
"On behalf of his Excellency, M. Cambon, the 
French Ambassador, M. Rey, Officier d’Academie, 
yesterday, at the Abbey Hall, Reading, in the 
presence of a large assembly, presented to Mr. 
Martin J. Sutton, head of the firm of Sutton & Sons, 
the insignia of the Ordre du Mente Agricole as a 
further recognition by the French Government of 
Mr. Sutton's successful efforts in the improvement of 
grass and arable husbandry in France and England, 
and especially in the advancement of agricultural 
education in both countries. Mr. Sutton was 
decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honour 
by the President of the French Republic in 1878 for 
international services rendered to agriculture." 
After briefly stating the object of his mission and 
congratulating Mr. M. J. Sutton on the occasion, M. 
Rey asked to be allowed to tender to him and his family 
most hearty thanks for their generous and continuous 
support in helping the promotion of good feeling and 
friendship between England and France. After reading 
the letters of the French Government and the French 
Ambassador, M. Rey then pianed the insignia of 
the Order on Mr. Sutton’s left breast. Mr. SuttOD, 
in a speech, declared his surprise at the unexpected 
honour and expressed his thanks to the President of 
the French Government, their Ambassador, and to 
M. Rey. The latter rose agiia and stated that 
many Frenchmen were engaged in business with 
the Messrs. Sutton. Although M. Cambon, the 
Ambassador, was unable to be present, his Excellency 
promised that as soon as business arrangements 
would permit he would fulfil his promise to visit 
Reading and inspect the premises of Messrs. Sutton 
in order to show sympathy with their work in 
Ergland. He would that evening write to the 
French Government, conveying Mr. Sutton's kind 
words to the same. They knew that Messrs. Sutton 
had always been friends of France, and they felt 
there should always be friendship between the two 
nations. Mr. Leonard G. Sutton and the Rev. F. L. 
Weale, the vice-president of the French Club in 
Reading, were present, and also spoke. 
GLADIOLI FROM LANGPORT. 
Those who make a point of attending the Drill Hall 
meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society are 
familiar with the magnificent strain of Gladioli 
grown by Messrs. Kelway & Son, Langport, Somer¬ 
set. Toe other day we were surprised and curious 
to learn the contents of a box of sufficient length to 
contain a Long Tom. It did contain Long Toms, 
but they were Gladioli of the gandavensis type, con¬ 
sisting only of flowers and the naked portion of the 
stems, so that they must have been considerably 
longer when growing. 
Taking the varieties at random, we consider 
Empress of India a very handsome sort, with large, 
rosy-pink flowers, flaked with scarlet towards the 
margins. The stem carried nine open flowers and 
ten buds. The brightest one was William Kelway, 
having large, brilliant, orange-scarlet flowers that 
would be noticeable for a long distance in the 
garden. The three lower segments were mottled 
with crimson on a white ground, adding greatly to the 
beauty of the flower. The stem carried nine flowers 
and eleven buds. The deep rosy-scarlet flowers of 
Miss Wood were flaked with crimson towards the 
edges. As a light variety, Lady Wimborne is a 
first class flower of its type, being blush-white, 
flaked and shaded rosy-lilac, especially on the outer 
segments. 
Of great vigour was Feiicite, carrying thirteen 
flowers and ten buds. The three upper segments were 
white, flaked with salmon-pink at the edges, and two 
of them formed a canopy, as it ware, over the violet 
anthers. The lowermost segments were pale yellow, 
with a purple-red feather or blotch on the centre. 
The buds were decidedly yellow. Another decidedly 
handsome flower was Lady Llangattock, of a light 
salmon, deepening towards the edges, the lower one 
or two being pale yellow with a purple-red feather. 
The main stem carried eleven flowers and eight 
buds, while a branch arising below the flowers 
carried eight or ten buds. 
The rich crimson-scarlet of Laco was also very 
telling, the white band on some of the lower petals 
making a fine contrast. Molesworth was notable for 
the great size and number of its rosy, crimson-flaked 
flowers, of which thirteen were fully expanded, and 
twelve in the bud state, making twenty-five in all, 
and not a bad harvest from one corm, being beaten 
only by Lady Llangattock with twenty-nine. The 
darkest of all was Wellington, a maroon crimson 
flower with violet anthers and purplish stems. It 
carried eighteen flowers and buds. 
Our selection of half-a-dozen from the above lot 
would include Lady Wimborne, Wm. Kelway 
Empress of India, Feiicite, Lady Llangattock, and 
Laco, all of which are of the first water for garden 
decoration or exhibition. 
Until we had made our notes of them very few 
were allowed to become aware of their presence; 
but quite an uproar of applause greeted their 
appearance when exposed to view with a demonstra¬ 
tion of all arm®, but what were they among so many ? 
Some of the buds knocked off in transit were put in 
water, and having expanded by the following day 
were intended for buttonholes, but we believe the 
ladies of the establishment ultimately became the 
possessors. 
THE SCALDING OF GRAPES. 
With the kind permission of the Editor, I would 
crave space to make a few remarks re our experience 
with Lady Downes Grape, as regards scalding. Our 
house here is direct south, consequently we have to be 
very smart with the ventilating. Thisyearour house is 
better than it ever has been. As soon as the berries 
were thinned we shaded our house, a lean-to by the 
way, with tiffany as far as the ventilators- The tiffany 
was bound with stout tape and rings inserted ; these 
in turn were fastened on to nails that had been 
driven into the rafters at regular distances. It was 
never taken off till the berries commenced to colour. 
We left a chink of air on all night, but kept the 
house warm so as to prevent the berries becoming 
cold before the morning, as they condense moisture 
if they get cold. As a result our home is better this 
year than it ever has been, though we have had a 
few scalded berries, but nothing as compared to pre¬ 
vious years. I believe the weatber is a very important 
factor in the scalding of this variety, as it seems to 
scald sooner on warm oppressive days, especially so 
when the air seems full of electricity.— T. W. Dollery, 
The Gardens, Whitburn, Sunderland. 
I had thought of writing a few remarks upon this 
subject before, having had a few berries of this 
variety scalded myself; but after carefully con¬ 
sidering the matter I came to the conclusion it had 
been caused through a misfortune of my own, as 
I well remember an incident which occurred the day 
before discovering the scalded berries. The house 
here is a lean-to, facing full south, and one day after 
dinner it came over very dull, and about three 
o clock I went and shut up and damped, and in less 
than a quarter of an hour the sun blazed out for the 
remainder of the afternoon which must have driven 
the temperature up over ninety ; but to have given air 
again the result would of course have been worse. 
The next day at closing time I discovered what had 
happened. I do not mean to say that the tempera¬ 
ture running to this after closing would be too much 
for some varieties, as on this occasion there were 
Foster’s Seedling and Black Alicant in the same 
house and not touched. This occurred with me at 
the end of the stoning season, or about a month be¬ 
fore commencing to colour ; but it only lasted about 
a week for as soon as discovering it I left i£ in. of 
air on all night, and did not damp down so soon. 
Though I firmly believe that all the mischief was 
done at the same time, only those that were not 
caught quite so badly were longer in showing it, and 
since reading Mr. Mayne’s remarks upon this matter 
I am still more fully convinced of its cause, that is, 
if I understand him rightly, that he had the shading 
on before the malady commenced. Do I under¬ 
stand him that the amount of air mentioned by him 
was left on all night, and it still continued ? as I had 
come to the conclusion that this was the only remedy. 
I am of opinion that if the temperature never, with 
this variety, exceeded 8o° at closing with early air¬ 
ing, that scalding would be nil. Surely some of our 
older craftsmen have found a remedy, as it has 
always been troublesome more or less.—IF. Waite, 
Southhelds. 
KitcDen Garden calendar. 
August is a month in which many kinds of vegetable 
seeds require sowing to produce crops during the 
winter and early spring. The following are some of 
the chief things to be attended to during this week. 
Angelica. —These plants have now about 
finished the ripening of their seed and as it requires 
sowing immediately it is ripe no time should be lost 
in getting the bed ready for it. The seeds should 
only just be covered. 
Borage for late use should also be sown at once 
if not already done. 
Cabbage. —Those who have not already sown 
their early Cabbage should lose no time in doing so 
now. Red Cabbage also should be sown now. 
Carrots.— On a warm border a sowing of some 
good early variety of Carrots should be made for 
early spring use. 
Cauliflowers should be sown now, choosing 
a place where they will be protected from the most 
severe weather. 
Chervil. —If a successional crop is required it 
should now be got in without delay. 
Corn Salad. —In the south it is not too late to 
make a final sowing of this but it should be done 
immediately. 
Endive.— The last sowing should be made this 
week. As the ground becomes empty they should 
be planted out from the seed beds of the earlier 
sowing. 
Lettuce. —This is the best time to sow the main 
crop of this valuable subject. A warm sheltered 
border should be selected and the bed should be 
carefully prepared. 
Onions. —Successful sowings may be made at 
intervals for winter use. Attend to the drying and 
housing of the standing crop. 
Spinach. —The last sowing for the main 
winter crop should be made not later than this week. 
Turnips. —For producing fine young roots in 
the spring, a sewing of some good variety should be 
made this week. 
Peas. —It has been a trying season for Peas 
right from the first crop, and those which are now 
endeavouring to bear a late crop are having a hard 
struggle, and unless they are supplied with abund¬ 
ance of water and the soil is kept well loosened and 
mulched with manure they are almost sure to fail. 
Peas are a luxury at this time of the year and they 
are a luxury which has to be dearly paid for too. 
Herbs. —Continue to gather herbs as they are 
fit, taking care that they are clean and dry at the 
time of gathering. 
Shallots .—In the south it is time now that 
these were out of the ground, treat them in the 
same way as the Onions, that is, lay them out on a 
sunny walk so that they may ripen thoroughly. 
Those plants which have been planted out recently 
should be attended to in the way of watering. Seeds 
sown at this time of the year should be sheltered 
from the direct rays of the sun when they are in a 
young state. Until they germinate it is as well to 
keep the beds covered with a mat but look at them 
every day to make sure that it is not allowed to lay 
on them a day after they germinate.— K. 
■ l» - 
The Crop of Apricots on wall trees is good in 
most parts of the country. 
