974 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 3, 1904. 
stop to growth. This fin© strain, of Stocks has found its way 
into many gardens, and is valued for spring and early summer 
flowering after having been kept in, small pots through: the 
winter. Great car's is taken with the strain, and such a, large 
percentage of the flowers are now double that a difficulty is 
found in getting a sufficient quantity to produce seed. 
The collection of Antirrhinums is fuller than, one meets with 
in most districts! of the country. Amongst the self -■coloured 
varieties, very fine crimson, white and yellow types have been 
selected, and to keep these true to colour and habit they are 
propagated by means of cuttings. The white and yellow varie¬ 
ties are notably dwarf. Antirrhinums being exhibition flowers 
in Scotland’, we fin'd' here a collection of tlife striped, spotted 
and mottled types with very large' flowers and broad rounded 
segments 1 . As the, strain is kept up by means of seeds, the 
best, forms are' continually being selected to maintain the 
quality of the strain. A variety which has been propagated 
by cuttings for many years, is Henderson,i, having white flowers 
•and a broad purple lacing to> each of the segments. The 
variety is quite unique in its way, and nothing so good has 
ever been raised, from iiti by means of seeds. It, grows only 
8 in. to 12 in. high. 
Pemtsteimons are one of the' specialities here, as many of our 
readers will remember that they are shown at many exhibitions 
in pots'. Early-flowered specimens are broken up after they 
have finished blooming, and on the occasion of our visit were 
again flowering freely. A tine variety of graceful habit is 
Newbury Gem, with brilliant crimson flowers and deep purple 
stems. On account of its-beautiful habit, this; is well adapted 
for bedding purpio'ses. In the large plantations, both, named 
varieties and plants under trial, the stems varied from 2 ft. 
tpi 3| ft. in height,, and carried enormous quantities of flowers. 
From a vast number of th.ena.wei selected some of the best, and 
these we shall briefly describe. Walter Thomson had rich 
rose flowers, and a wide' open white throat. The Paddocks 
\ya,s scarlet with white throat;. Spitzburg. might he described 
as_ alabaster white with a. pink edge. The flowers werei of 
wonderful size, being made up of from, five' to seven lobes. 
Handsome, also .wa,s Rachel, white faintly edged with pink, and 
practically the racist near pure white of the modern Pours le¬ 
mons ; .Ninon l'EncLos, .creamy white with pink, edge; Mrs. 
Oliver, . rosy-scarlet with a creamy-margined throat; .Mm 
Forbes, intense crimson, with a, whit© throat ; Lord Lister,.an 
openly .belbshaped crimson flower; Mrs. Irving, rosy-scarlet 
with a ‘crimson zone on. the lower lip ; Lady Arthur, a, large: 
open flower of crimson-scarlet and of sturdy habit; Hermine 
Wigan, about 18 in. high, has crimson flowers, and well adapted 
for bedding purposes; and Dragoon, a, crimson scarlet, with 
a broad crimson zone, and very effective. 
The Newbury Gem, above mentioned, has a, good companion 
in the new Crimson Gem, with crimson-scarlet flowers and a, 
broad cinnamon margin bounding the throat. The plant only 
grows 18 in. high, and is wonderfully effective when seen in 
a, mass. Other grand varieties are> H. Wemdland, rose-mar¬ 
gined with crimson; Dr. Barry, purple-crimson, with a white 
threat, and produced in large branching panicles; Edwin 
Beckett, a, rosy-scarlet and short, open flower, also well adapted 
for bedding purposes; M. Dehemain, rosy-crimson, with " 
darker zone'; Emile Kodigas, a large scarlet flower; Lord Roth¬ 
schild, with grand spikes of rosy-pink flowers margined with 
crimson ; Pierre Mill©, a, white variety having the throat bor¬ 
dered with rosy-carmine; and George Holmes 1 , another hand¬ 
some scarlet flower with a, white throat. 
The above' are only a fewi of the extensive collection, grown 
here. Seeds are saved only from the very best types, so that 
a large number of seedlings may always be seen, on, trial. So 
many improvements have been effected in recent years that it 
would seem difficult to get a, greater variation amongst the 
colours. New varieties may still be obtained, however, with 
larger and more open, flowers, but even, in these respects we 
seem to have reached a limit when the intention is to have 
plants that will make suitable subjects for bedding. The two' 
which we named respectively Newbury Gem and Crimson, Gem 
are practically a, reversion towards the original form as far 
as size is concerned, but the graceful habit of the plant shows 
that for decorative purposes' we must, not get too heavy flowers. 
These Pentstemons might also be grown in pots and flowered 
under glass, thus producing an entirely different effect from 
that obtainable in the open air, owing to the great height of 
pot-grown plants. 
Border Carnations were still flowering freely even in the 
middle of September. In picking out a, few that most pleased 
us, we might mention Miss Balfour, a dark crimson self with 
a rich clove scent,; Lady Cadogan, thickly pencilled with scar¬ 
let upon a white ground, and lovely for glasses in the cut 
state; Bella, Forbes; a, fancy yellow ground, densely marked 
with crimson stripes, shapely and very freely produced ; Fox 
Hunter, a very brilliant scarlet; General Hunter, evenly lined 
with scarlet on white; John Forbes, a Picoteet-edged variety 
of a ca,na,ry yellow, edged scarlet; Mrs. Nicholson, a strong 
grower with plenty of grass and ro'seqnnk flowers; Queen of 
the Purples,, dark purple self; Rein© d’Or, rich yellow, mar¬ 
gined with crimson.; Mrs. James Jack, white, edged scarlet; 
and The King, a, crimson variety, striped with maroon, verv 
free, flowering, and to be put into commerce next. year. 
While passing through the collection we noted a very dis¬ 
tinct type in James Kerman, which could be seen some dis¬ 
tance away on account of the broad white edge to the pink 
petals. Another one of this type named Nedda, was scarlet, 
narrowly edged with white. Handsome also was Peach 
Blossom, with creamy flowers shaded with peach). Lord Chan¬ 
cellor was a fancy flower, heavily striped with maroon; J. F. 
McLeod, canary-yellow, striped brilliant scarlet; Queen Alex¬ 
andra,, pure white with a grand development of grass; Mrs. 
William Alexander, a white variety with a few scattered scarlet 
stripes', recalling Aliciel Ayres', but- much finer than that, old 
variety; Joseph Chamberlain, with a salmon flake on a pale 
buff ground; and Prince of Scarlets, with broad rounded 
petals, and an abundance of grass. 
A Magnificent Poppy. 
Oriental Poppies are worthily held in high esteem, their 
noble aspect and gorgeous colours succeeding in transfixing 
one’s attention, in any garden, but of all that I have ever 
grown or seen none has so impressed me with its magnificence 
a,s that named Mogul, combining as it, does extreme size and 
substance with the richest and most glorious shade of crimson. 
Many of the named varieties of Papaver orient,ale are so much 
alike that, labels, must be referred to- in, order to distinguish 
between them; not so with Mogul, for it, stands apart and 
distinct from all. Others, we admit, are well worthy a, place 
in the garden, but, this should assuredly find its way into every 
garden where the best of things, are grown. 
Heather Bell. 
Gambling in Tasmanian Apples. —The Tasmanian Apple 
trade has been disastrous this season. Such a collapse as that 
experienced at least within the last four weeks of its close has 
not been known in the English fruit trade before. Some esti¬ 
mate the loss at £50,000. It certainly exceeds £75,000, perhaps 
£100,000. Quite one-half the loss has fallen upon British import 
firms, and several smaller men in the fruit markets may be ruined 
over their deals. Covent Garden firms have suffered more 
heavily than others. Some of the Apples were wet and of little 
value, but the heaviest losses were brought about by what may 
be called reckless gambling in fruit. Had first prices been 
maintained all through the season, little would have been heard 
about the condition of the Apples complained of. So long as 
the Tasmanian fruit trade was carried on on natural business 
lines the demand and sales were satisfactory. To-day the posi¬ 
tion of the whole industry has been shaken, and the ill-effects 
of the gamble of 1904 will be felt by producers and buyers for 
many years to come. The first fruits of the season made fancy 
figures, and many buyers cabled recklessly. Bargains were 
struck in haste, as it was believed the figures would be main¬ 
tained all through the season. Speculators are said to have 
bought up everything regardless of quality. The bulk of the 
Tasmanian Apples were common grades, when only the best 
samples were wanted, and the result created a glut, with the 
result that prices suddenly declined. 
