August  4  1*98 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
85 
■-the  bell.  On  the  first  sound  the  garments  fly  off  as  it  by  magic,  a 
plunge  is  made  all  along  the  line,  and  in  a  trice  the  water  is  a  seething 
mass  of  humanity.  It  is  one  of  the  “sights”  of  London,  and  must 
be  of  enormous  benefit  to  the  rising  generation.  Boatmen  are 
constantly  employed  to  prevent  accidents  and  maintain  order.  The 
enclosure  is  open  to  all  during  the  day,  but  the  twisting  walks 
•  embowered  with  trees  round  the  “old  lakes”  form  the  more  agreeable 
promenade  during  bright  hot  weather. 
Passing  on  to  the  flowers  from  east  to  west,  you  may,  if  lucky,  see 
another  sight  the  reverse  of  common.  The  time  for  this  is  a  perfectly 
dry  hot  day,  when  the  schools  are  closed  for  the  summer  holiday. 
The  scene  is  the  sand  pit.  In  the  great  densely  packed  area  of  the 
surrounding  district  there  are  vast  numbers  of  little  puny  mites  of 
•  children,  who  have  no  room  for  health  and  strength-promoting 
frolicsome  exercise  at  home.  They  cannot,  of  necessity,  go  to  the 
sea,  so  sand  is  brought  from  it  in  train-loads,  and  thrown  into  a  great 
pit,  in  mounds  and  hollows,  like  a  sea-coast  in  Victoria  Park:  Here 
they  bask,  and  dig,  and  burrow,  and  bury  each  other.  They  simply 
’live  in  it  all  day  long,  bringing  their  bits  of  food — those  who  have 
any,  and  those  who  have  not  trusting  to  a  bite  among  the  rest.  It  is 
a  veritable  moving  panorama,  enough  to  make  one  dizzy  to  look  at. 
All  seem  joyously  happy,  as  if  care  and  hunger  had  no  existence. 
The  wonder  is  they  are  not  choked  or  blinded  with  the  clouds  of  sand 
which  they  are  always  casting  up  over  their  heads,  to  fall  where  it 
may,  but  nothing  of  the  kind  happens,  and  they  are  well  looked  after 
by  a  motherly  attendant  appointed  for  the  purpose.  Thus  the  park  is 
much  more  than  a  pleasant  promenade  for  flower-loving  adults,  and 
one  shudders  to  think  what  would  become  of  the  thousands,  old  and 
young,  of  the  surrounding  population  without  it.  The  same  may  be 
said  in  respect  to  other  parks,  gardens,  and  open  spaces  in  and  around 
••the  far-spreading  metropolis.  They  are  boons  and  blessings  indeed  to 
millions,  and  London  would  scarcely  be  “  livable”  without  them. 
The  flowers  are  reached  at  last,  and  might  have  been  reached  much 
sooner  had  the  visitor  booked  at  Liverpool  Street  to  Cambridge 
Heath  Station,  taken  a  five-minutes  walk  down  Bishops  Road 
straight  to  the  main  entrance,  near  the  superintendent’s  castellated 
house.  He  would  then  have  been  among  the  flowers  in  less  time 
than  it  took  to  reach  Victoria  Park  Station  by  rail,  apart  from  the 
long  walk  back  again ;  but  as  those  who  go  the  farthest  see  the  most, 
regrets  need  not  be  indulged  in.  There  are  probably  more  beds, 
and  almost  certainly  more  plants  and  flowers  raised  in  this  park  than 
in  any  other  park  or  garden  in  the  kingdom.  It  should  be  asked  of 
“what  kinds?”  It  may  be  said  in  a  line — “all  kinds,  hardy  and 
tender,  that  can  be  grown  there.”  If  it  should  be  further  asked — 
“What  style  of  bedding  is  adopted  ?  ”  the  answer  would  be  equally 
simple — “all  styles.”  Masses  and  mixtures,  long  sweeping  lines,  a 
little  smooth  carpeting,  and  more  corrugated  mounds  of  fleshy-leaved 
succulents,  and  grotesque  formations  of  the  Cactus  tribe.  The  finest 
specimen  plants  in  the  park,  or  of  their  kind  in  any  other  park 
known  to  the  writer,  are  American  Aloes,  Agave  americana.  They 
are  in  robust  health,  with  magnificent  leaves,  and  plant  and  tub 
together  of  several  of  them  can  scarcely  weigh  less  than  half  a  ton. 
They  form  a  striking  background  to  the  chief  flower  garden,  known 
as  the  “  flat,”  and  now  in  full  beauty. 
The  beds  do  not  seem  to  have  been  so  closely  packed  as  in  some 
former  years,  and  looked  the  better  for  it.  Zonal  Pelargoniums  are 
not  in  the  overwhelming  numbers  as  in  some  past  seasons,  but  cannot 
be  entirely  dispensed  with;  while  Fuchsias  appear  to  be  in  the 
ascendant.  Harrison’s  Musk  forms  a  golden  fleecy  surfacing  to  beds 
also  occupied  with  taller  plants.  Violas  are  tastefully  associated  with 
Pelargoniums  and  other  plants,  and  will  perhaps  be  still  more  ex¬ 
tensively  grown — at  least  a  tew  of  them,  for  many  are  of  small  use 
for  producing  a  continuously  attractive  effect.  The  value  of  planting 
Violas  early  was  strikingly  apparent  in  dense  masses  of  bloom  in  the 
hottest  part  of  the  park.  This,  with  deeply  worked  soil,  is  a  golden 
rule  to  remember  for  insuring  a  long  succession  of  flowers.  Much 
reliance  is  placed  on  plants  raised  from  seeds — Celosias,  Stocks, 
Asters,  Marigolds,  Petunias,  Phlox,  Salpiglossis,  Verbenas,  Zinnias,  and 
others.  Glare  and  glitter  is  no  longer  the  chief  objective,  but  quiet 
tasteful  combinations  and  pleasing  harmonies  are  more  appreciated. 
Flowers  in  great  variety  over  a  long  season  appear  to  be  the 
primary  endeavour  of  Mr.  Moorman.  In  the  spring  his  main 
reliance  must  be  placed  on  bulbs  and  Polyanthuses,  as  Aubrietias, 
Forget-me-nots,  and  many  others  with  which  he  used  to  make 
Dulwich  Park  so  beautiful,  melt  away  at  Victoria  under  the  sulphur¬ 
laden  fogs.  In  early  summer  masses  of  autumn-raised  Stocks, 
Delphiniums,  Canterbury  Bells,  and  Sweet  Williams  make  the  beds 
in  their  season  gay,  other  kinds  taking  their  places,  and  then  still 
others  that  come  on,  followed  by  early  Chrysanthemums.  It  is  a 
question  of  some  kinds  always  going  out,  with  reserves  of  others 
coming  in  to  take  their  places,  so  that  “  bedding  out  ”  is  going  on  to 
some  extent  practically  all  the  summer.  Regular  park  visitors, 
which  are  numbered  by  thousands,  prefer  variety  to  looking  at  the 
same  few  kinds  all  the  season.  They  also  like  a  good  wind-up  with 
Chrysanthemums  under  glass,  of  which  3000  are  in  admirable  con¬ 
dition.  To  these,  having  lost  his  old  grower,  Mr.  Moorman  is 
giving  much  personal  attention,  and  as  an  old  grower  himself,  is  not 
lost  among  the  varieties  and  their  appropriate  treatment. 
The  time  to  see  the  enjoyment  of  the  people  in  the  park  is  on  fine 
Sunday  evenings  as  they  cluster  round  the  flower  beds  and  the  band¬ 
stand.  The  only  charge  then  is  a  halfpenny  for  a  seat  for  the 
occupants  to  sit  as  long  as  they  like  to  listen  to  the  music,  and  it  is  not 
uncommon  for  nearly  3000  of  the  bawbees  to  be  taken  in  an  evening, 
while  ten  times  3000  persons  are  strolling  about.  An  old  critical 
visitor  to  the  park  remarked  he  had  not  seen  it  look  better  and 
cleaner  for  twenty-five  years.  It  certainly  seemed  wondrously  neat, 
clean,  and  trim,  not  in  the  flower  part  alone,  but  everywhere.  This 
is  something  to  effect — over  27  acres  of  roads  and  paths,  miles  of  edging 
to  be  clipped,  and  leaves  falling  in  shoals.  This  is  the  effect  of 
sulphur,  which  only  a  few  trees  can  stand.  Limes  are  nearly  leafless, 
Horse  Chestuuts  rusted  to  a  miserable  brown,  Elms  shrivelling' 
Sycamore  leaves  curled  as  if  burnt.  The  Plane  is  the  tree  of  trees  for 
the  position,  while  the  Ailantus  remains  fresh  and  green,  as  do  Turkey 
Oaks  here  and  there.  The  finest  evergreens  are  Hollies,  of  which  there 
are  splendid  specimens,  especially  of  Hodginsi  and  Shepherdi,  while 
the  glossy  leaved  Euonymus  is  fresh  and  bright. 
As  Mr.  Moorman  truly  says,  “  Victoria  Park  is  not  an  easy  place 
for  gardening.”  If  it  were  easier  than  it  is  it  would  be  a  credit  to 
him  and  all  who  contribute  to  its  condition  and  good  keeping.  He 
has  nearly  finished  a  great  work — conducted  over  three  winters — the 
making  of  a  fine  new  road  and  several  acres  pleasant  which  before 
amounted  to  a  waste,  besides  the  road  completing  the  circle  of  the 
park.  It  is  a  permanent  improvement  of  lasting  value,  the  result  of 
determined  and  persevering  work. — A  Country  Visitor. 
ROYAL  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 
July  26th. 
Scientific  Committee. — Present:  Dr.  M.  T.  Masters  (in  the  chair) ; 
Mr.  Bennett-Poe,  Dr.  Russell,  Mr.  Veitch,  Rev.  George  Henslow, 
Hon.  Sec. 
Tomatoes  and  Sleeping  Disease. — Plants  suffering  from  this  now 
not  uncommon  complaint  were  forwarded  to  Dr.  W.  G.  Smith  for 
examination.  He  reports  as  follows — “My  observations  agree  with 
those  of  Mr.  Massee  given  in  the  “Gardeners’  Chronicle,”  June  8th, 
1895.  I  have  already  seen  several  cases  of  this  disease  [this  season.  I 
do  not  see  an  easy  way  of  getting  rid  of  the  fungus.  Mr.  Massee’s 
suggestion  of  liming  the  soil  seems  a  good  one,  but  I  have  had  no 
experience.” 
Outgrowths  on  Potatoes. — Mr.  Sutton  sent  some  tubers  having  curious 
excrescences  upon  them,  received  from  Mr.  Kerr  of  Dumfries.  They  were 
reserved  for  examination. 
Asters  Diseased. — Mr.  W.  P.  Wright,  of  Fairview,  Willesborough, 
Ashford.  Kent,  sent  some  specimens,  and  observes  that  “  Growers  of  Asters 
in  East  Kent,  especially  in  the  Dover  district,  are  in  trouble  over  an  Aster 
disease,  which  destroys  thousands  of  plants.  Some  go  off  directly  they 
are  put  out,  others  at  a  later  stage.  I  found  small  white  grubs  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  stems,  and  I  do  not  feel  any  doubt  that  they  are  the 
cuse  of  the  mischief.”  In  the  “Naturalist,”  the  organ  of  the  Yorkshire 
Naturalists’  Union,  there  is  a  paper  by  Rev.  Hilderic  Friend  on  this 
subject.  The  worms  in  question  are  of  the  family  of  Enchytraeidae,  a  group 
of  annelids.  Mr.  Friend  discovered  a  presumably  new  form  in  China 
Asters,  and  named  it  E.  parvulus  on  account  of  its  minuteness.  A  full 
description  of  the  worm  is  given  in  Mr.  Friend’s  paper.  There  is  nothing 
to  be  done  but  consign  the  plants  attacked  to  the  flames.  An  account  of 
the  Aster  worm  will  be  found  in  the  Gardeners'  Chronicle  for  Aug.  14th,  1897, 
p.  89,  with  figure. 
Melon  with  Seeds  Germinating. — Mr.  Veitch  read  a  letter  from  Mr.  A. 
McKellar  of  The  Gardens,  Sandringham,  describing  a  Melon  sent  to 
Marlborough  House,  which  was  full  of  young  Melon  plants,  quite  green. 
They  were  plunging  their  roots  into  the  flesh  of  the  Melon  and  feeding 
upon  it.  Similar  growths  have  often  been  seen  in  Lemons  and  Oranges, 
as  well  as  Cucumbers,  Pumpkins,  Papaws,  and  other  fleshy  fruits.  The 
cause  appears  to  be  that  the  fruit  has  been  kept  some  time  in  a  warm 
atmosphere. 
American  Tax  on  Bananas. — There  has  been  no  action 
taken  as  yet  by  any  committee  to  urge  Congress  to  tax  Bananas.  In 
talking  with  a  leading  Chicago  merchant  in  New  York  a  few  days  ago 
he  said  : — “I  am  not  in  favour  of  placing  a  tax  on  Bananas  Our  bouse 
does  not  handle  them,  but  yet  we  think  that  the  fruit  should  not  be 
taxed.  It  is  a  poor  man’s  fruit.  It  does  not  interfere  with  California 
or  any  other  fruit.  I  believe  I  am  serving  our  California  shippers  right 
when  I  say  that  they  should  leave  the  agitation  severely  alone.  They  are 
hurting  themselves  by  forcing  a  tax.  Fruit  merchants  everywhere  handle 
Bananas  as  well  as  California  fruit,  and  by  urging  a  tax  the  California 
people  are  borrowing  trouble.  I  do  not  believe  we  would  get  1  cent 
more  for  Apricots,  Peaches,  or  other  fruit  even  if  they  taxed  Bananas 
2  dollars  per  bunch.  I  have  declined  to  serve  on  any  committee  which 
is  intended  to  urge  the  tax.”— (“  Fruit  Trade  Journal.”) 
