October  27,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Bush  Fruits  and  Strawberries. 
Of  Gooseberries,  Currants,  and 
Raspberries  there  are  many  thousands 
of  plants  of  all  ages,  and  in  splendid 
condition.  They  have  all  made  fine 
growth  during  the  season.  The  three 
excellent  new  Gooseberries  that  Messrs. 
Veitch  are  sending  out  this  season — 
Langley  Beauty,  Langley  Gage,  and 
Golden  Gein  —  should  become  very 
popular,  for  they  are  possessed  of  the 
several  attributes  that  go  to  make  a 
good  Gooseberry.  The  plants  are  all 
good  growers.  Red,  White,  and  Black 
Currants,  with  Raspberries,  are  in  pro¬ 
nounced  evidence,  and  comprise  all 
the  leading  varieties,  with  several  of 
the  less  commonly  seen  sorts.  Straw¬ 
berries,  sach  as  Veitch’s  Perfection, 
Exquisite,  Yeitch’s  Prolific,  and  St. 
Joseph,  occupy  a  goodly  amount  of 
space,  and  are  all  worthy  of  cultivation, 
the  first  two  for  excellence  of  flavour, 
and  the  last  two  for  their  free  cropping 
proclivities.  The  plants  of  the  last 
named  were  girdled  with  ripe  and  unripe 
fruits  when  this  visit  was  paid,  and  it 
is  practically  certain  that  it  will  be 
enormously  grown  in  the  near  future 
for  the  production  of  late  fruit. 
Trained  Trees  and  Crabs. 
It  is  perfectly  well  known  that  the 
firm  makes  a  great  speciality  of  trees 
trained  in  all  forms,  and  their  horizontal, 
fan,  and  other  shaped  Apples,  Pears,  Plums,  Peaches,  Nectarines,  and 
Cherries  are  all  models  of  good  work.  They  are  clean  in  the  wood  and 
beautifully  balanced.  In  this  section  a  very  great  feature  are  the 
Gooseberries  and  Currants  that  take  the  form  of  cordons,  gridirons, 
toasting  forks,  cups,  and  others,  and  bear  with  remarkable  profusion,  as 
frequenters  of  the  Drill  Hall  know  from  the  specimens  that  have  been 
there  showD.  The  collection  of  Crabs  is  complete,  and  includes  several 
new  ones  raised  by  Mr.  Seden,  and  of  which  one  named  John  Seden  has 
secured  the  award  of  merit  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  It 
resulted  from  a  cross  between  Crab  Transcendent  and  Apple  King  of 
the  Pippins,  and  the  fruits  (fig.  55)  are  small  and  handsome.  The  colour 
is  rich  yellow  with  a  suffusion  of  crimson  on  the  side  next  the  sun.  The 
long  slender  stalk  is  set  in  a  shallow  even  cavity,  while  the  large  open 
eye  is  practically  on  the  surface  of  the  fruit.  It  is  a  dainty,  delicious, 
dessert  Crab,  yellow  fleshed,  sweet,  crisp,  juicy,  and  refreshing  ;  would 
make  a  charming  dish,  while  basketfuls  would  be  something  for  children 
to  rejoice  over  and  scramble  for.  The  tree  from  which  the  specimens 
shown  at  tile  Drill  Hall  were  gathered  was  from  a  pip  sown  five  years 
back.  :  «■'  ;  “ 
Orchids. 
Mentioning  Mr.  Seden’ s  name  in  relation  to  the  Crab  reminds  of  the 
necessity  of  a  glance  at  the  Orchid  department,  whence  come  so  many  of 
Fig.  56. — LH3LIO-C  ATTLEYA  DOMINIANA  LANGLEYENSIS. 
wonderfully  well,  and  are  evidently  given  the  treatment  ‘bey  appreciate 
and  thrive  in.  There  are  not  hundreds,  but  thousand.^  from  the  tiniest 
seedling  to  the  specimen  plant  in  a  very  large  pot. — Visitor. 
-  Exhibition  Quality  in  Graces.  —  Your  correspondent, 
“  Observer,”  refers  to  a  remark  I  made  in  a  paragraph  in  a  previous 
issue  under  the  above  heading,  and  seems  to  assume  that  I  wrote  without 
authority.  The  observation  to  which  he  takes  exception  was  made  at 
the  Crystal  Palace  by  one  of  our  leading  gardeners,  and  a  first-class 
Grape  grower.  I  am  fully  aware  that  in  some  places  the  gardener 
dishes  up  his  own  dessert,  but  chiefly  then  on  special  occasions.  As  a 
rule  it  is  done  by  one  of  the  chief  house  servants,  and  thus  it  is  that 
large  bunches  of  Grapes  are  manipulated  to  enable  them  to  be  put  on 
the  table  in  two  or  three  dishes  rather  than  in  one  oniy.  But  this  is  a 
trifling  matter,  and  beside  the  quest!  n  raised.  “Observer”  Leads  his 
paragraph  as  this  one  is  headed,  but  makes  not  the  least  reference  to  it. 
That  really  is  the  matter  to  be  discussed.  I  hold  strongly  that  ripeness, 
colour,  freshness,  and  especially  finish,  allied  to  good  size  of  berry'  and 
evenness,  are  more  desirable  6hovv  points,  and  evidence  higher  culture 
than  do  mere  big  bunches  that  have  defects. — A.  D. 
the  choicest  hybrids.  Not  a  great  number  of  flowers  were  seen,  but 
several  plants  of  Laelio-Cattleya  Nysa  were  producing  lovely  flowers, 
while  L.-C.  Dominiana  langleyensis  (fig.  56)  was  superb.  This  bi-generic 
hybrid  resulted  from  a  cross  iietween  Cattleya  Dowiana  and  Lselia 
purpurata,  and  was  accorded  a  first-class  certificate  at  the  Drill  Hall  on 
11th  inst.  The  narrow  sepals  are  deep  blush,  and  the  broad  undulating 
petals  rich  rosy  purple.  The  superb  lip  is  an  intensely  dark  crimson, 
with  a  light  rose-coloured  fimbriated  margin.  The  side  lobes  are  crimson 
with  a  suffusion  of  royal  purple.  The  whole  of  the  Orchids  are  looking 
that  are  more  seldom  seen  in  gardens.  Prominent  amongst  these  latter 
may  be  placed  Bourre  Fouqueray,  Marguerite  Marillat,  Dr.  Hogg,  Charles 
Ernest,  Beurrd  Baltet  Pere,  Princess,  Baronne  de  Mello,  Dana’s  Ilovey, 
a  small  highly  flavoured  February  Pear,  with  numerous  others,  of  which 
men  ion  cannot  be  made.  Each  of  these  is  of  striking  merit  either  as  a 
cropper  or  by  reason  of  its  excellent  flavour,  while  some  fortunately 
combine  these  two  very  desirable  attributes.  Everyone,  both  of  the  Apples 
and  Pears  mentioned,  is  represented  on  two  borders,  bisecting  the  nursery 
and  the  trees,  are  either  in  bush  form  or  pyramidal,  as  the  case  may  be. 
Plums  and  Cherries. 
At  the  Slough  end  of  Middle  Green 
Farm  there  is  a  border  of  trees  that  is 
occupied  by  Plums  almost  exclusively', 
and  the  trees  are  cropped  year  by  year. 
In  some  seasons  they  are  loaded  with 
delicious  fruits,  and  in  others  the  crops 
are  light.  The  stock  of  young  trees  is, 
as  might  be  expected,  very  great  and  in 
the  best  of  health.  All  varieties  that 
are  worth  growing  are  largely  repre¬ 
sented,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  th<> 
Cherries,  of  which  there  are  quarter.-, 
of  the  young  standards  as  haudsome 
as  anyone  need  wish  to  see.  They 
are  healthy  and  well  branched,  with 
no  grossness  whatever.  Other  forms, 
of  course,  are  also  to  be  found  in 
places,  and  they  are  all  good,  but  none 
excels  the  standards  just  mentioned. 
No  black  fly  finds  a  home  at  Langley  to 
sap  the  trees’  energies,  for  it  is  attacked 
on  its  advent  and  promptly  eradicated. 
