October  21, 1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
385 
Michaelmas  Daisies,  their  usefulness  in  the  garden  at  the  present 
is  so  paramount  that  some  of  them  must  take  the  first  place  in 
these  notes,  written  when  they  are  in  the  zenith  of  their  beauty, 
although  obscured  temporarily  by  the  fierce  winds  and  the  unkind¬ 
liness  of  Jupiter  Pluvius. 
One  of  the  prettiest  at  the  time  of  writing  is  A.  puniceus 
pulcherrimus,  of  which  I  have  but  a  small  plant,  but  which  is 
so  charming  that  I  should  like  to  see  it  represented  in  my  garden 
by  a  larger  clump.  It  is  one  which  has  received  the  merited 
distinction  of  being  marked  X  X  X  by  the  Committee  appointed 
by  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  and,  as  is  usually  the  case 
with  anything  so  recognised  by  that  body,  one  can  only  say  that 
this  “  hall  mark  ”  is  deserved.  It  is  a  beautiful  Starwort,  grow¬ 
ing  somewhere  about  feet  in  height,  and  bearing  “  pyramidal  ” 
heads  crowded  with  large  fiowers  of  an  exquisite  blush  white 
with  a  yellow  centre.  The  petals  are  very  elegantly  incurved, 
and  this  combination  of  beauty  of  colouring,  grace  of  form,  and 
large  size  renders  this  a  very  valuable  Michaelmas  Daisy.  The 
typical  A.  puniceus  and  A.  p.  lucidulus  I  have  not  grown  ;  but 
if  at  all  equal  to  the  variety  pulcherrimus  they  should  not  be 
long  absent  from  this  garden.  They  have  also  obtained  the  XXX 
mark,  so  that  one  need  have  no  doubt  of  their  merit.  This 
mark  is  an  excellent  guide  in  the  selection  of  additions  to  one’s 
collection  of  the  Starworts. 
Another  beautiful  Michaelmas  Daisy  which  commenced  to 
flower  immediately  after  the  preceding  one  is  that  known  as 
A.  novi-belgi  Juno.  This  also  grows  about  feet  high,  and 
has  pretty  purple  blue  flowers  of  smaller  size  than  those  of 
A.  p.  pulcherrimus,  but  of  good  form  and  colour.  There  are 
several  other  beautiful  varieties  among  the  New  York  Starworts, 
such  as  A.  n.-b.  Archer  Hind,  superbus,  lanthe,  John  Wood, 
Robert  Parker,  Purity,  Harpur  Crewe,  and  that  little  beauty 
better  known  by  its  old  name  of  A.  longifolius  formosus  than 
by  that  of  A.  n.-b.  Isevigatus.  Something — or  rather  a  good  deal — 
could  be  said  of  several  others,  but  as  someone  else  will  probably 
be  speaking  more  in  detail  of  the  Michaelmas  Daisies  I  shall  only 
refer  for  a  little  to  the  old  “  Coldy  Locks,”  formerly  known  as 
Chrysocoma  Linosyris,  but  now  called  Aster  Linosyris,  Linosyris 
being  the  principal  name  used  by  the  older  authors,  and,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Johnson’s  edition  of  “Gerarde’s  Herbal,”  thus  given: 
“  Forasmuch  as  this  plant  is  stalked  and  leaved  like  common 
Flax  (Linum),  and  thought  by  some  to  be  osyris,  the  new 
writers  have  called  it  Linosyris.”  The  name  of  “Goldy  Locks” 
or  “  Goldilocks  ”  has  been  applied  to  several  fiowers,  but  appears 
to  have  become  more  firmly  attached  to  this  Aster  than  to  any  of 
the  others. 
It  is  often  remarked  that  we  have  too  many  yellow  composites 
in  autumn,  but  this  old  flower,  introduced  into  cultivation  as  far 
back  as  1596  if  not  before  that  time,  looks  more  like  heads  of  little 
yellow  balls  than  anything  else,  and  has  no  resemblance  to  the 
Sunflowers  and  similar  flowers,  of  which  we  have  so  many.  It 
grows  from  18  inches  to  2  feet  in  height,  and,  although  not  what 
I  should  call  a  choice  flower,  is  rather  a  siiowy  one  in  the  border. 
The  leaves,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  extract  from  “Gerarde’s 
Herbal,”  are  Flax-like,  and  thus  light  and  pleasing  in  appearance. 
A.  Linosyris  grows  in  any  ordinary  soil. — S.  Aenott. 
APPLE  BORSDORFER. 
A  PEW  weeks  ago  reference  was  made  to  this  Apple,  as  grown  by  Mr. 
K.  Webb  at  Beenham,  near  Reading.  Since  then  Mr.  Webb  has  sent  us 
fruits  of  this  variety,  which  were  so  beautiful  that  we  have  had  one  of 
them  engraved.  Mr.  Webb  describes  it  as  a  favourite  autumn  dessert 
Apple,  and  the  tree  as  hearing  fairly  well.  In  the  “  Fruit  Manual” 
Dr.  Hogg  describes  the.  fruit  as  shining  pale  waxen  yellow  in  the  shade, 
and  bright  deep  red  next  the  sun,  strewed  with  dots  which  are  yellowish 
in  the  sun  and  brown  in  the  shade.  Tree  a  free  grower  and  very 
hardy,  not  subject  to  canker,  and  attains  the  largest  size  ;  is  very 
prolific  when  it  has  acquired  its  full  growth,  which,  in  good  soil,  it  will 
do  in  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ;  and  even  in  a  young  state  it  is  a  good 
bearer.  If  grafted  on  the  Paradise  stock  it  may  be  grown  as  an  open 
dwarf  or  an  espalier.  The  bloom  is  very  hardy,  and  withstands  the  night 
frosts  of  spring  better  than  most  other  varieties. 
This,  above  all  other  Apples,  is  the  most  highly  esteemed  in 
Germany.  Diel  calls  it  the  Pride  of  the  Germans.  It  is  believed  to 
have  originated  either  at  a  village  of  Misnia,  called  Borsdorf,  or  at  a 
place  of  the  same  name  near  Leipsic.  According  to  Forsyth  it  was  such 
a  favourite  with  Queen  Charlotte  that  she  had  a  considerable  quantity 
of  them  annually  imported  from  Germany  for  her  own  private  use.  It 
is  one  of  the  earliest  recorded  varieties  of  the  continental  authors,  but 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  known  in  this  country  before  the  close  of  the 
last  century.  It  was  first  grown  in  the  Brompton  Park  Nursery  in  1785. 
It  is  mentioned  by  Cordus,  in  1561,  as  being  cultivated  in  Misnia,  which 
circumstance  has  no  doubt  given  rise  to  the  synonyme  “  Reinette  de 
Misnie;”  he  also  informs  us  it  is  highly  esteemed  for  its  sweet  and 
generous  flavour,  and  the  pleasant  perfume  which  it  exhales.  Wittichius, 
in  his  “  Methodus  Simplicium,”  attributes  to  it  the  power  of  dispelling 
epidemic  fevers  and  madness  1 
There  is  a  proverb  in  Germany  which  says,  “  Ihre  wangen  sind  so 
PIG.  61. — APPLE  BOKSDORFER. 
roth  wie  ein  Borsdorfer  apfel  ”  (Her  cheeks  are  as  red  as  a  Borsddrfer 
Apple). 
We  are  much  obliged  to  Mr.  Webb  for  the  beautiful  samples,  one  of 
which  is  represented  in  fig.  61. 
LESSONS  BY  THE  WAY. 
In  Sussex. 
It  was  on  one  those  sultry  evenings,  for  which  the  early 
autumn  of  1895  will  long  be  memorable,  that  I  found  myself  in 
what  in  ancient  phrase  is  known  as  “  Sleepy  Sussex.”  However 
appropriate  the  term  may  have  been  in  past  days,  it  has,  except  in 
perhaps  some  of  the  remote  rural  districts,  become  a  mere  vulgar 
anachronism.  Brighton,  for  instance,  is  lively  enough  in  the 
“  season,”  and  it  would  be  hard  to  find  more  activity,  human 
and  ornithological,  than  is  apparent  in  feeding  chickens  by 
machinery  round  about  Heatbfield.  In  this  work  some  of  the 
natives  are  wide  awake  enough,  for  they  will  give  2s.  or  so  for 
“  birds  ”  in  Ireland  and  in  three  weeks  sell  them  for  Gs.  or  78.  each 
in  London  in  “  Parlyment  time  ;  ”  and  when  this  is  done  by  scores 
of  thousands,  as  is  the  case,  the  aggregate  profits  must  amount,  as 
the  typical  Sussexer  will  tell  you  in  his  moments  of  leisure,  and  in 
his  leisurely  way,  to  a  “  tidy  little  bit.”  But  this  is  by  the  way, 
and  we  were  not  in  quest  of  chickens  on  that  particular  journey  (it 
was  not  the  season),  but  of  fruit.  It  is  in  Sussex  that  “  the  Dr.” 
(no  need  to  say  which,  for  there  is  only  one  fruit  doctor)  has  his 
cherished  collection,  and  he  has  of  late  been  caring  canker  by 
grafting,  which  is  in  many  cases  the  easiest  way  of  all.  His  fruit 
was  plentiful  and  splendid,  in  colour  magnificent  ;  due  possibly  to 
the  iron  in  the  soil,  for  Sussex  is  famed  for  its  ancient  '■  forges  ;  ” 
and  the  “  Forge  Apple,”  which  bears  its  loads  of  fruit  in  many 
gardens,  is  somewhat  of  a  county  institution.  Oh  no  !  don’t  write 
about  my  fruit  now  ;  if  you  want  something  to  write  about  better 
go  to  Cheal’s.” 
It  may  be  perceived  that  “Cheal  ”  is  a  household  word  in  that 
part  of  the  country — in  Sussex,  Surrey,  Hants,  and,  indeed,  far 
beyond  their  borders,  and  made  so  by  a  combination  of  enterprise, 
knowledge,  industry,  and  trade  integrity  — just  those  qualities 
which  have  made  famous  other  firms  in  the  same  line,  and  which 
are  heard  of  now  and  then  through  the  columns  of  the  Journal. 
It  is,  perhaps,  not  known  by  everybody  that  though  Crawley  is  in 
