110 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Fehruarv  8,  1900. 
There  are  two  methods  of  insuring  against  this  waste — the  former 
being  to  repot  young  stock  rapidly  till  the  proper  size  of  pot  has 
been  reached,  or  to  place  into  the  final  size  at  once.  For  not  a  few 
rapid-growing  plants — e.g..  Marguerites,  Salvias,  and  Eupatoriums — 
it  is  indeed  the  preferable  method  to  place  well  rooted  cuttings 
directly  into  the  flowering  size  ;  the  only  risk  is  in  over-watermg 
during  the  earlier  weeks  of  the  plant’s  life  in  the  pot.  That  avoided, 
the  results  are  certain  to  be  equal,  and  probably  better,  than  by  the 
freijuent  repotting  system,  because  there  is  no  check  to  growth  when 
once  the  little  plant  recovers  from  its  one  move.  The  practice  in 
producing  large  plants,  to  be  most  successful,  must  also  be  carried 
out  on  these  lines.  The  handsomest  Fuchsias,  Ferns,  and  many  other 
plants  are  produced  by  a  continuous  growth.  An  old  friend  of  my 
own,  at  a  period  w'hen  Mahnaison  Carnations  were  hardly  known, 
used  to  annually  bloom  a  few  large  plants  in  every  way  perfect,  and 
the  method  he  pursued  w’as  to  grow  them  without  check,  at  the  same 
time  permitting  no  flower  to  appear  till  the  desired  dimensions  had 
been  obtained  in  the  plants.  A  gardener  at  Clapham,  about  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago,  produced  huge  Crotons  in  a  comparatively  short 
time.  It  my  recollection  is  not  at  fault,  plants  he  showed  me,  6  or 
7  feet  high,  weie  grown  in  twenty  months  from  cuttings,  and  his 
secret  was  unchecked  growth. 
One  may  admit  all  this  to  be  true,  and  yet  be  in  a  position  that 
renders  it  impossible  to  take  opportunity  by  the  forelock.  But  even 
then  something  may  be  done  that,  if  not  so  satisfactory  as  the  neces¬ 
sary  work  at  the  proj  er  moment,  is  at  least  helpful  in  le.«sening  the 
mischief.  I  refer  to  aiding  young  plants  by  means  of  manure,  and 
preferably  with  manure  of  a  chemical  nature.  There  need  be  no 
hesitation  in  applying  slight  periodical  dressings  to  young  plants  that 
have  to  remain  in  small  pots  beyond  the  time  they  ought  to  be 
removed.  It  does  not  stop  the  check  to  growth,  but  it  hinders  it 
from  becoming  disastrous,  and  preserves  foliage  and  roots  in  an 
abnormally  healthy  condition,  and  capable  of  taking  advantage  of 
the  delayed  tiansference  whenever  it  is  provided. — B. 
REMINISCENCES  OF  AN  OLD  FLORIST.— No.  4. 
One  of  my  earliest  reminiscences  of  nursery  gardens  was  that 
of  Mr.  Charles  Turner  of  Slough.  I  paid  him  a  visit  some  few 
years  before  I  came  to  reside  in  England.  He  was  then  in  a 
small  place  called  Chalvey,  near  Slough;  and  had  only  a  few  Irames 
in  which  he  cultivated  Pansies  and  Pinks.  He  w'as  the  same  genial 
companion  he  always  remained,  being  the  very  prince  of  florists,  so  that 
one  need  not  at  all  w’onder  at  his  onw’ard  progress,  and  at  the  sj  lendid 
and  unique  establishment  which  he  foimed  at  Slough.  Nothing  in 
the  way  of  florists’  flowers  came  amiss  to  him,  though  he  did  not 
confine  himself  to  these.  Nobody,  I  think,  ever  grew  Carnatioi  s  and 
Picotees  as  he  did,  while  for  years  his  collection  of  Auriculas  was  the 
only  one  near  the  metropolis  worthy  of  the  name.  In  his  time,  too,  he 
had  a  splendid  collection  of  florist’s  Tulips,  and  his  beds  of  these 
were  a  sight  worth  going  to  see.  There  were  many  collections  at 
that  time  of  this  grand  flower  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London,  and 
amongst  them  may  be  mentioned  that  of  Mr.  Groom  of  Walworth, 
There  were  many  bulbs  in  his  catalogue  which  were  priced  from  £20 
to  £50  each.  I  believe  Mr.  Turner  was  induced  to  take  up  their 
culture,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Auricula,  by  his  friend,  Mr.  John 
Edwards,  and  the  culture  of  the  Tulip  w^as  carried  out  by  him 
enthusiastically  for  many  years.  At  last,  however,  he  was  foiced  to 
give  them  up.  “  It  would  pay  me  better,”  he  has  often  said  to  me, 
“to  grow  Lettuces.”  The  same  falling  off  of  the  taste  for  the  Tulip 
has  continued  for  many  years,  and  now  there  are  no  collections  I 
think  about  London. 
But  Mr.  Turner’s  attention  was  not  merely  confined  to  florist 
flowers.  Whatever  he  took  in  hand  he  did  well  and  succeeded  with. 
Many  will  remember  the  magnificent  plants  of  Azalea  indica  which 
he  used  to  exhibit  at  the  metropolitan  shows  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
and  Botanic  Gardens,  as  well  as  the  grand  pot  Roses.  The  taste  for 
these  m(  nstcTs  has  gom-tiu,  I  ut  ilif-}'  rvere  marvels  of  culiuial  skill. 
Qhe  rame  may  Le  studio!  his  Pelargoi.ii  im®,  beta  Show  and  Fancy. 
The  plants  were  3  and  4  feet  through,  and  every  single  bloom  was  in 
the  highest  state  of  perfection.  I  need  hardly  say  that  it  required  the 
utmost  cultural  skill  to  produce  these  effects.  In  the  Fancy  Pelar¬ 
gonium,  the  more  difiBcult  of  the  two  to  grow,  he  was  an  adept,  and 
he  and  Mr.  Bailey  of  Shardiloes  were  rivMs  between  whom  it  w'as 
most  difficult  to  adjudicate. 
i'ear  after  year  he  used  to  put  into  commerce  the  new  varieties 
raised  by  Mr.  Garth  of  Farnham  and  Mr.  Foster  of  Clewer  Manor,  and 
what  a  furore  they  created.  I  have  seen  a  string  of  carriages  waiting 
at  Catleugh’s  shop  at  Hans  Street,  Chelsea,  and  ladies  of  title  waiting 
for  their  plants  for  some  of  which  they  had  paid  £5  5^.  apiece.  I 
remember  the  bringing  out  of  Garth’s  Joan  of  Arc,  which  it  was 
considered  at  the  time  could  never  be  surpassed.  It  was  brilliant  in 
colour,  but  deficient  in  shape,  and  in  a  few  years  went  out  of  cultiva¬ 
tion.  Many  years  after  this  I  paid  a  visit  to  Mr.  Hoyle  of  Reading, 
and  he  showed  me  a  very  interesting  series  of  blooms  of  flowers  of  his 
own  raising,  illustrating  the  immense  strides  which  from  time  to  time 
had  been  made,  until  at  last  such  perfection  of  outline,  such  brilliancy 
of  colour  and  softness  of  tints  had  been  arrived  at,  that  no  perceptible 
change  could  be  seen  in  the  flowers  of  successive  years,  and  so  they 
had  to  take  a  back  seat.  I  have  always  deplored  this,  for  I  do  not 
think  there  was  a  more  beautiful  and  refined  class  of  flowers  than 
these  Pelargoniums. 
Amongst  the  accomplishments  of  Mr.  Turner  was  his  taste  in 
arrangement.  I  have  seen  him  coming  in  front  of  a  stage  of  “  Gera¬ 
niums  ”  which  his  men  had  put  up,  shake  his  head  at  their  arrange¬ 
ment,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  would  so  alter  them  that  the  collection 
looked  50  per  cent,  better.  So  I  have  also  seen  him  look  at  a  box  of 
cut  Roses  belonging  to  someone  else  and  say,  “  What  a  duffer  that 
man  is  ;  I  should  like  to  have  five  minutes  at  that  box.”  I  have  no 
doubt  that  if  he  had  had  he  would  have  altered  it  completely. 
There  were  two  friends  of  Charles  Turner  whom  I  used  often  to 
meet  at  his  house,  John  Spencer,  of  Boword,  and  John  Stand ish,  of 
Bagshot,  of  the  latter  of  these  I  shall  have  more  to  say  by-and-by. 
The  former  was  gardener  and  steward  to  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  • 
and  best  known  to  the  horticultural  world  as  a  successful  grower  of 
Grapes;  he  w^as  the  laiser  of  Bowood  Muscat,  a  double  ])late  figure 
of  which  was  given  in  the  “  Florist.”  It  was  a  seedling  from  that 
best  of  all  white  Grapes,  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  which  it  closely 
resembles,  but  Dr.  Hogg  in  his  “  Fruit  Manual,”  states  that  it  sets 
better  and  is  more  prolific.  One  thing  connected  with_^Charles  Turner 
many  will  recollect,  his  splendid  tenor  voice,  which  many  used  to 
say  equalled  that  of  Sims  Reeves.  It  is  pleasant  to  find  the  old 
establishment  carried  on  by  his  sons,  and  not,  as  in  so  many  cases, 
passing  into  the  hands  of  others.  For  many  years  Mr.  Turner  was 
a  most  successful  grower  of  Dahlias,  and  he  and  John  Keynes,  of 
Salisbury,  used  to  run  one  another  very  closely,  ‘not  only  in  the 
exhibition  of  varieties,  but  also  in  the  production  of  seedlings.  When 
Roses  came  so  much  in  vogue  he  was  also  a  successful  exhibitor  in 
them,  though  he  did  not  obtain  the  high  position  in  them  that  he  did 
in  the  former  flower.  But  whatever  place  he  occupied  he  was  never 
found  storming  about  defeat  or  exulting  over  success,  and  other 
exhibitors  were  always  glad  to  find  him  competing  with  them.  He 
has  passed  away,  and  the  place  that  knew  him  knows  him  no  more, 
but  his  name  remains  connected  with  many. good  flowers  in  the 
various  sections  in  which  he  used  to  exhibit. — D.,  Deal. 
HAMAMELIS  ARBOREA. 
This  is  undoubtedly  the  best  of  the  Witch  Hazels,  and  should  be 
grown  by  everyone  who  has  space  for  it,  as  it  makes  a  warm  patch  of 
colour  outdoors  when  flowers  in  the  open  are  very  scarce.  It  forma  a 
tall  shrub  or  small  tree  about  12  or  15  feet  high,  with  many  large 
rather  flat  branches,  which  are  covered  in  January  and  February  wiih, 
the  peculiarly  shaped  yellow  flowers. 
It  will  thrive  in  any  fairly  good  rather  light  soil,  and  is  not 
particular  as  to  situation,  provided  it  is  not  too  shaded  ;  but  it  should, 
being  a  deciduous  plant,  and  consequently  leafless  when  in  flower,  be 
planted  against  a  good  background  of  evergreens,  which  will  serve  to 
throw  its  bright  flowers  into  strong  relief  against  their  darker  foliage.  ■ 
The  flowers  are  borne  on  short  spurs,  in  clusters  of  two  or  three,  . 
and  consist  of  four  strap-shaped,  crinkled,  deep  yello-w  petals,  each  a 
little  over  half  an  inch  in  length,  which  are  inserted  in  a  small  claiet- 
coloured  calyx,  consisting  of  four  reflexed  sepals. 
It  is  a  first-rate  plant  for  a  large  bed,  where  six  or  eight  together 
win  make  a  grand  display  in  the  winter,  and  if  the  surface  of  the  bed 
is  planted  with  Snowdrops  or  Chionodoxas  the  effect  is  much  enhanced.. 
It  is  a  native  of  Japan.  A  good  companion  to  the  above  is  H.  japenica-- 
zuccatiniana,  also  of  Japanese  origin,  and  having  flowers  of  a  pale- 
lemon- yellow  or  straw  colour.  It  thrives  under  the  same  conditions.,, 
grows  about  the  same  size,  and  flowers  at  the  same  time. — C. 
