THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 19, 1903. 
i043 
incurved, of the- largest size. All of these- will be launched 
on their careers, in another season, while many others will be 
consigned to the rubbish heap. 
We now passed on to the Tomato®, where- a great surprise 
awaited usi; like regiments o-f soldiers- clo-thed in scarlet stood- 
the- plants named the Hanwell Victory. This variety is ex¬ 
tremely prolific; the stems are st-o-ut and not to-o branching, 
and literally covered with fruit from bottom to-.top like ropes 
of Onions, e-acli plant—o-f which there were many bundled®— 
carrying from 7 lb. to 10 lb. of fruit. It is grown about 3^ ft. 
in. height, mostly on double- stems, with liberal feeding of 
liquid manure- and cool-house treatment generally. The- fruit 
is medium-sized, well shaped and coloured, and of the highest 
quality, being equally worthy of a place in the gardens of the 
rich or in those- of the market grower. The variety wa-s 
raised by Mr. Seward, and the- accompanying photograph was 
taken by an enthusiastic amateur gardener when the fruit was 
just ripening: _ 
Qrchids in the North of England. 
Willow Wood. 
D. 0. Drewitt, Esq., of Willow Woo-d, Riding Mill, invited 
a good number of horticulturists in the- district to* see his col¬ 
lection of Cypripe-dium insigne o-ne Saturday afternoon re¬ 
cently, and his kindness was very much appreciated by the- 
invited visitors. Mr. Drewitt, in the gardening wo-ild, is <* 
noted cultivator and collector of the a-bo-ve, while his collection, 
from a horticultural po-int of view, stands o-ut as a mark that 
keeps the county of Northumberland to the front in the do-main 
of Orchid culture-, and our readers must remember that even 
in the fie-ld of Orchid culture our northern climate- has its ad¬ 
verse sides, which place it at a disadvantage when brought m 
contrast with the favourable- climate of the south. He-nce- the 
labours of Mr. Drewitt and the ve-iy select collection of Oypri- 
pe-dium insigne are a distinct honour to- the county. 
Mr. Drewitt and his head gardener (Mr. Renwick) conducted 
the visitors through his houses, and explained the interesting 
points o-f each. We can only give -space for a note on a few 
of the choice- varieties. Cypripe-dium insigne Harefie-ld Hall is 
a very large- globular flower, and this variety still commands 
a big price. C. insigne berrifanum, large flo-we-r, and beautiful 
frilled dorsal sepal. C. insigne magnifieum, an attractive 
flower, holds itse-lf we-ll up ; it has bright dark spot® o-n the 
dorsal sepal, with a- lot of white co-ming well round. C. insigne 
corrugatum, flower ve-ry curious, the pouch being corrugated. 
C. insigne Oddity, also- ve-ry curious, having three pouches-, the 
two petals being pouches. 
The yellow varieties of Cypripe-dium insigne- -are we-ll repre¬ 
sented in the collection, and there are a few unnamed of the 
yellow varieties, Amo-ngst the ye-llow varieties named are C. 
Sande-rae (one-of the best), C. i. s-anderia-num, C. i. Laura-Kim¬ 
ball (which has the slightest brown tinge on the pouch), C. i. 
younge-anum superbum, C. i. Dorothy, and C. i. Brightness. 
Very numerous are the other varieties of C. insigne- which 
are not name-d. Amongst them are found some of the very 
choicest things. Another very interesting lot- was a cross be¬ 
tween Cypripe-dium insigne- vio-laceum punctatum, crossed with 
C. insigne Chant-inii. Of these two- parents there is hardly any 
difference. In their offspring, of which a go-o-d number have 
flowered, there were not any-exactly alike, and for size of flo-we-r 
and density of -spotting they far exceeded their parents. A 
vase o-f these was shown which had been over three weeks- in 
the- drawing-room. The- flowers we-re still beautiful and fresh, 
and the plants had no-t suffered the- .slightest* injury. 
Mr. Drewitt afterwards entertained the visitors to* tea, Mr. 
Drewitt himself presiding. After the tea Mr. Drewitt said he 
was pleased to see his visitors, and trusted that- what they had 
seen that day might be- the means o-f causing them to* take- so-me 
interest in Cypripe-dium insigne. He proceeded to sta-t-e his 
experience, and illustrated his- remarks by examples- of plants 
that were on the table, and stated that- further experiments 
would be undertaken by him during the co-ming s-eason to see 
whether’ certain forms of culture could not he adopted in future: 
Mr. Chapman, The Gardens, Oakwoo-d, Wylain, proposed a 
vote of thanks to Mr. Drewitt for his great kindness to them 
that day, and, a,s an Orchid grower, he hoped that this meeting 
might increase the interest of all present in Orchid culture, 
etc. Mr. J. Cameron, The Gardens, Byet-born, Corbridge, 
seconded, and said they all felt deeply grateful for the honours 
bestowe-d on them that day by Mr. Drewitt, and for the privi¬ 
lege of seeing his beautiful collection, and for the way he had 
entertained them. He- was confident that, so lo-ng as they had 
Mr. Drewitt- in their midst, the cultivation of Orchids, even in 
this northern clime, would be upheld, and they hoped Mr. 
Drewitt might be long spared, and that the North of England’s 
name and position for Orchids would be maintained. The 
vote of thanks was carried most heartily, and a very pleasant- 
gathering was brought to a close. 
Dilston Castle. 
While it is well known that the finest and largest collection 
of Orchids in the North is owned by Norman Oookson, Esq., 
Oakwoo-d, Wylam-on-Tyne, it is also very interesting to note, 
when we are writing -a-bout Orchids in the North, t-o say that 
a veiy nice and choice collection is being formed during the 
last year or so by Wilfred Hall, Esq., Dils-to-n Castle, Corbridge- 
o-n-Tyne, and this collection may be heard of a-t some future 
* t-ime. When we saw them they were a nice lot and healthy, 
and the selection of varieties that- Mr. Hall has made gives the 
clearest e-vidence that he means to have so-me good things. 
We no-t-ed a nice plant in flower of Cypripedium insigne San- 
de-rae-, also- nice pieces of C. leeanum giganteum and C. i. 
Acta-eus. 
His Odontoglossum crispum had ideal flowers. Of 0. 
Halli -and 0. grande the first- had good flowers o-n it, and the 
latter was just coming out. A fine piece of De-ndrobimn war- 
dianum coming into fio-wer and a nice piece of Laeliocat-tleya 
Hippolyta are amongst a few of the good things we no-ted down 
in this collection. Mr. Fraser, his head gardener, deserves 
credit for the attention, interest, and practical knowledge that 
he shows in this new department-. Hence- the North, when o-ne 
looks round, we have goo-d reason to feel, is -being represented 
in the- department of Orchids by so- many gentlemen. 
Rooks axd Acorns, —Mr. Clement Reid, ih his “ Origin of the 
British Flora,” says that he had long been convinced that rooks 
were mainly responsible for the dispersal of acorns. In 1895 he 
noticed a flock of rooks passing singly backwards and forward to 
some Oaks, and, having investigated the case, he found many 
acorns that had been stripped from the trees while still in their 
cups. Mr. Reid suggests that acorns in the cups were easier 
to carry than shed acorns. In many parts of the Highlands 
and other parts of Scotland plantations of Fir trees are spring¬ 
ing up that were never planted. The dispersal or carrying of 
the Fir cones thither is attributed to the common crow or rook. 
Scottish Rural Life in the Olden Days. —The monthly 
meeting of Dundee Horticultural Association was held in the 
Technical Institute on the 1st inst., when a large number of 
members were present to hear a lecture on “ The Rural Life of 
Scotland in the Olden Times,” by Mr. Martin Anderson 
(Cynicus, of picture post-card fame). The chairman (Mr. Stcrrie) 
asked if anyone could tell him what was the true species of the 
Thistle, out of the numerous growths, that was recognised as 
the emblem of Scotland. A few of the horticulturists hazarded 
opinions, but the meeting could not agree as to which was the 
correct one. Mr. Storrie then introduced the lecturer in a 
short- and happy speech- Mr. Anderson said that the subject 
was one to which he had given a good deal of study. Speaking 
of t)ie conditions of rural life, he showed that their lot was a 
\ery poor one, and that it was with the introduction of the hand- 
loom that the rural populace became anything like prosperous. 
Here he appropriately mentioned that it was at this period, 
about the middle of the eighteenth century, that gardening be¬ 
came popular amongst the poorer classes. Previously garden¬ 
ing had been carried on only by the wealthy, but with the advent 
of the handloom the people had more money, and began to cul¬ 
tivate nlots of their own. Very amusing were the limelight pic¬ 
tures that were thrown on the screen, and they heightened the 
effect, of his statements. At the close Mr. Anderson was awarded 
a hearty vote of thanks.— James Bethel, secretary. 
