THE GARDENING WORLD . 
February 27, 1904 
iso 
to' correctness of Iris particulars dealing with, the more im¬ 
portant features of cultivating these useful fruits, whether 
under glass or in the open air. 
Mr. 1!unyard tackles the question of selection of varieties, 
seeing that he has had the experience of cultivating large 
number si of them for all classes of growers. Under Apples he 
gives a selection of 100 of the best-, but even then we fancy 
he will be leaving o-ut someone;’® favourite variety. These 
varieties are all described. In thei matter of Cherries, thirty- 
two are described, while the names of other varieties are alsoi 
listed without description. Not to overlook tire smaller 
fruits, such things as Barberries, Blackberries, Wineberries, 
and Loganberries are alsioi dealt with. Some American writers 
are surprised at the favour with which the Loganberry has; 
been received as compared with that ini the country of its 
origin,. Such an outcome is of very frequent occurrence with 
regard to- flowering plants as- well as fruits. 
Fruit trees in pot-si are tackled by Mr. Ja-mes Hudson, who, 
deals with all phas-esi of the question-, and we may say that no 
professional in a- private establishment better understands the 
cultivation o-f Peaches, Nectarines, Cherries, Plums, Figs and 
other subjects under glass than does Mr. Hudson. 
Quite an unus-ual chapter in the book dealing with fruit is 
that of fruit- trees a-s flowering trees. This is- dealt with by 
Mr. Hugh A. Pettigrew, who states that people usually regard 
the fruit garden as the best place for fruit trees, but- that 
they are capable of producing picturesque effects and pictures 
of floral beauty in shrubbery borders sufficiently large for 
their accommodation. In some private establishments we 
may say this; idea, is carried out even, upon the' lawn, and the 
pictures produced in spring are both effective and pleasing. 
The idea might be extended, -and wherever the 1 grounds are of 
any extent, several of the hardy fruit trees that are notable 
for the wealth of blossom, they give might with great advantage 
be planted in prominent positions for landscape effect. They 
make themselves visible for long distances, and they are cer¬ 
tainly asi effective and picturesque as many trees that are 
grown solely for that purpose. 
A chapter deals with the propagation of fruit trees;, illust- 
t-rated by drawings which wei think are very good in most 
cases;, except that which illustrates cleft grafting. Unless the 
stock is fairly young we; should dissuade cultivators from this; 
plan,, which necessitates the -splitting -of the ‘stock right- through, 
the middle by means of chisels in order to -insert- the grafts. 
Unless this cleft- is properly sealed -over by artificial means or 1 
by the quick growth of the scions;, it must always; present a, 
defect in the tree by allowing water to; enter, thus causing 
decay later on. Grown grafting* here represented is- a better 
method, and we may say that it- is sometimes 1 known as rindr 
grafting, the scion; being merely introduced beneath the bark 
of the old tree without any splitting of the wood of the same. 
About 100 pages arei devoted 1 to simple offl ine drawings of 
various fruits, sketched by members of Mr. Bunyard’s family, 
and will be useful as guides to the respective varieties. 
A Fine Strain of Gloxinias. 
(See Supplement .) 
The fine species of garden plants popularly known a-s; 
Gloxinia, have now been placed under Sinningia, as far as the 
plants are concerned from which the fine modern garden race 
hast been derived. We may -say that S. s-peci-osa was- chiefly 
concerned in the modem race, but gardeners; will still con¬ 
tinue to sp-eak of them a,si Gloxinias. 
For many years past we have noted a fine strain o-f these 
Gloxinias ini the nursery of Messrs. John Peed and Son, 
-Ro-upell Park, West Norwood, London, and we may therefore 
state that every effort has; been made not only to keep them 
up to the high standard required at the present day, but to 
keep- improving- them from time to time. Last- autumn they 
sent- us a h-oxful of flower's, and from amongst these we 
selected half a dozen for the subject- of our coloured plate this 
week. Two or three other half dozens might have been 
selected equally as fine as those which we used. It- will be 
seen, however, that we aimed at getting -the; main distinctions 
into which this numerous class now ranges itself, though no 
special terms, have been applied to the arrangement of colours 
or groups of colours. 
On the lower right hand corner is- a white flower with a 
broa-d crimson, band passing round the lamina, leaving a broad 
white margin.. This type, is sometimes s-poken, o-f as a, banded 
flower, but. a,ll possible. x-ariations from it may be obtained in 
a packet of seed. Above that, comes a rich purple flower 
deepening almost to maroon in the centre of the lobes, front 
whence it shades, away to a, paler edge. Above that comes a 
roisy-pink flower. Infinite variations; in the shade may even, 
be derived from this. On the top left-hand corner is a 
thickly-spotted flower on a, white ground. The spotted flowers 
constitute a, very distinct section, giving all sorts o;f variations. 
Some of the most pleasing are those with very small spots on 
a, white ground, rose ground, or even some other shade. The 
spots, on the other hand, may be large or they may be dis¬ 
tributed in a great, variety of ways. 
Below -this on the left, is; a crimson, flower, which in, gardening 
phraseology would be termed a self, but, like the. one opposite 
it, the intense colour fades to a, pale; margin very similar to 
what occurs in an alpine Auricula. A light shade of this would 
pass into; scarlet or orange-scarlet, and this is of frequent 
occurrence in collections;, or rather batches, of Gloxinias raised 
from seeds. Amongst, the. flowers sent, us was a light blue one 
represented on the lower left-hand corner. The tube of this 
flower is white. 
As we said above, we selected half a dozen flowers, which 
were all that we could adequately represent on our supplement, 
but the varieties; were infinitely numerous, with all inter¬ 
mediate shades of colour between those represented, and some 
were altogether different. Messrs. Peed have been working on 
the Gloxinia for a-' great number' 1 of years, and the strain has 
now been brought, to such a state of perfection that a packet of 
seed will give an infinity of variety, more, indeed, than we 
could distinguish, by description, and' not one- of them could 
be termed in any sense a bad flower. 
We. remember when the. Gloxinia, had drooping flowers very 
much like a, glo,rifled Foxglove, but in, many ease® not so 
ornamental. The art, of the, cultivator had the effect of intro¬ 
ducing a kind of variation which produced an erect and regular 
flower. This was an opportunity that seldom occurs to the 
florist- when trying to. improve irregular flowers, and it was 
seized upon, with what, results everyone- is now a witness. 
The strain lias become; ao> fixed that- a drooping tubular flower 
is of rare occurrence, and "the younger gardeners would < 
scarcely imagine that the Gloxinia had ever been anything 
else than an erect regular flower if they had not- been told it. 
When tubular flowers become erect- through disturbances in 
their natural fixity, caused by the flor ist, they become regular ; 
that is, all the segments are of the same size and shape. Occa- I 
sionally we meet with stray instances amongst Pentstenrons. j 
The top flower in Digitalis purpurea mo-nstroisa, is erect and 1 
regular, and usually comes fairly true from seeds. Amongst . 
the Antirrhinums we have the form known a,s A. majus peloria, 
in which the flowers are erect and regular, with five, pouches 
at the base instead of one. Occasionally this sort of thing 
occurs in Streptocarpus, a- distant relative of the; Gloxinia, but 
it ha-s- not yet become permanently fixed. In the meantime, i 
from .a florist’s point of view the improvement o-f the Gloxinia 
is a, reality, and almost- every seed can be depended- upon to 
produce a good flower of some colour. Another development i 
we frequently find in, these Gloxinias is- a multiplication of t-he 
lobes of the corolla,. Five is, the usual number-, but many of I 
the flowers have six, seven., or eight lobes. 
Readers’ Competition. —Particulars of weekly prize see 
centre page. 
