474 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  30,  189 
Recent  Weather  in  London. — The  fine  open  weather  still  con¬ 
tinues,  and  is  hailed  with  general  satisfaction,  as  the  work  of  planting 
trees  and  shrubs  can  be  expeditiously  proceeded  with.  On  Monday  and 
Tuesday  it  was  quite  mild,  and  there  were  gleams  of  sunshine  at  intervals 
during  both  days.  Wednesday  morning  opened  foggy  and  cold. 
-  Gardening  Appointments.— Mr.  James  Mills,  for  the  last 
five  years  head  gardener  to  Lord  Belhaven  and  Stenton,  Wishaw  House, 
Wishaw,  N.B ,  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  to  Captain  Heywood 
Lonsdale,  Shavington  Hall,  Market  Drayton,  Shropshire.  He  is  suc¬ 
ceeded  at  Wishaw  House  by  his  brother,  Mr.  William  Mills,  who  has  been 
three  years  foreman  at  Pollock  House,  Pollockshaws,  N.B.  Mr.  McIntyre, 
son  of  Mr.  John  McIntyre,  Woodside,  Darlington,  has 'been  [appointed 
head  gardener  to  Shandon  PoleGell,  Esq.,  Hopton  Hall,  Wirksworth, 
Derbyshire. 
■ -  Sweet  Peas  in  November. — In  the  Journal  of  the  16‘th  inst. 
you  mentioned  some  Sweet  Peas  sent  by  Mr.  Ed.  Molyneux.  Well,  if 
Sweet  Peas  grown  in  November  in  Hampshire  are  wonderful,  what  do 
you  think  of  the  accompanying  flowers  cut  on  November  21st  grown  in 
Yorkshire  and  within  a  mile  of  the  east  coast?  Ten  days  ago  I  saw  a 
profusion  of  beautiful  Dahlias  in  a  garden  here  within  half  a  mile  of  the 
sea,  and  no  doubt  they  are"  still  flowering,  as  no  weather  has  occurred 
since  then  to  damage  them  materially. — R.  Falconer  Jameson, 
Hornsea,  near  Hull.  [The  finest  bunch  of  Sweet  Peas,  consisting  oi 
excellent  flowers  of  superior  varieties,  we  have  seen  in  November.  We 
are  inclined  to  think  they  would  take  the  conceit  out  of  Mr.  Molyneux.] 
-  Reading  Gardeners’  Association.— At  the  fortnightly 
meeting  on  Monday  Mr.  W.  Tribbick,  of  The  Gardens,  Brook  House, 
Isle  of  Wight,  read  an  exceedingly  practical  paper  on  “  The  Cultivation 
of  Muscat  Grapes.”  He  dealt  very  fully  with  the  subject,  and  gave 
useful  hints  on  forming  borders,  planting,  temperature,  and  ventilation 
at  various  stages  of  growth,  cleaning  the  Vines,  setting,  manures, 
watering,  diseases  and  their  preventives,  insects,  and  fumigating.  Many 
questions  were  asked,  and  an  interesting  discussion  took  place.  A  feature 
of  the  meeting  was  a  splendid  exhibit  of  well  flowered  Begonia  Gloire  de 
Lorraine  shown  by  Mr.  F.  Laver,  The  Gardens,  Hillside.  Mr.  Bishop, 
Orwell  House  Gardens,  Craven  Road,  showed  a  few  plants  of  Primula 
obconica,  remarkable  for  the  variegation  of  the  foliage. 
-  PANAX  Victoria.  -  One  is  so  accustomed  to  see  at  provincial 
flower  shows,  in  the  class  of  “dinner-table  plants,”  the  ever-recurring 
Crotons,  Dracaenas,  Palms,  Aralias,  and  Ferns  that  it  was  a  pleasing 
relief  to  find  at  the  Sutton  Coldfield  Show  examples— exhibited  by  Mr. 
A.  Jenkins,  gardener  to  A.  W.  Willis,  Esq.,  Claregate — of  this  com 
paratively  little  grown  species  of  Araliad  or  Ivy  wort.  The  gieen  and 
white  leaves  are  arranged  in  an  umbellate  form  on  the  slender  branches, 
and  the  largest  of  the  leaves  on  the  specimens  in  question  were  about  the 
size  of  a  florin,  hence  not  too  large  for  an  elegant  and  light  effect.  The 
plant  also  stands  for  a  considerable  length  of  time  without  injury  for 
room  decoration.  It  is  easily  propagated  from  cuttings.  A  compost  of 
two  parts  fibrous  loam,  a  little  leaf  mould  or  peat  and  silver  sand,  with  an 
occasional  watering  of  liqu’d  manure,  suits  the  plant  admirably. — W,  G. 
-  Birmingham  Gardeners’  Association. — On  the  27th  inst., 
at  the  usual  fortnightly  meeting,  Mr.  W.  B.  Latham  in  the  chair,  a 
discussion  on  the  late  Chrysanthemum  show  was  opened  by  Mr.  W. 
Spinks,  and  in  which  he  reviewed,  in  an  interesting  and  graphic  manner, 
the  principal  features  of  the  show.  In  the  ensuing  discussion  suggestions 
were  advanced  by  one  or  two  speakers  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Committee  of  the  Chrysanthemum  Society  when  formulating  their  next 
schedule.  ^The  suggestors,  however,  were  advised  to  lay  their  views 
before  their  own  Committee.  Prizes  were  offered  for  single  blooms  of 
three  varieties  of  Japanese  Chrysanthemums  on  long  stems,  arranged  in 
a  vase.  The  firstiprize  was  accorded  to  Mr.  H.  Cryer,  gardener  to  J.  A. 
Kenrick,  lEsq.,  Edgbaston,  with  very  good  examples  of  Mutual  Friend, 
Mrs.  C.  H.  Payne,  and  G.  J.  Warren.  The  second  fell  to  Mr.  Phoenix, 
and  the  third  to  Mr.  Dedicott.  Mr.  C.  H.  Herbert  brought  fine  examples 
in  a  cut  state  of  Chinese  Primulas.  The  librarian  contributed  a  small 
collection[of  Apples. 
-  Mr.  Owen  Thomas  V.M.H. — All  the  friends  of  her 
Majesty’s  accomplished  gardener  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  Mr- 
Thomas,  among  a  few  other  heads  of  departments  at  Windsor,  was  the 
recipient,  on  Saturday  last,  of  a  gold  and  blue  enamelled  Maltese  cross- 
from  his  Imperial  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Germany.  The  cross  repre¬ 
sents  the  German  Order  of  Coronation,  1861  (4th  class),  and  is  con¬ 
sidered  a  high  honour  in  Germany.  We  congratulate  Mr.  Thomas  on 
the  distinction  conferred. 
-  Royal  Botanic  Society. — Lecturing  to  the  Royal  Botanic 
Society  on  Saturday  on  bulb  growing  in  England,  Dr.  St.  George  Mivart 
said  Dutchmen  had  made  bulb  growing  a  success  largely  by  their  perse¬ 
verance,  and  as  Englishmen  possessed  that  quality  in  no  inferior  degree, 
there  was  no  reason  why,  given  a  fairly  good  soil,  bulb  growing  should 
not  be  equally  a  success  in  this  country,  and  equally  a  source  of  profit. 
The  lecturer’s  expert  advice  to  would-be  bulb  growers  was — Never  use 
fresh  manure  ;  cut  the  flowers  in  bud ;  root  out  any  weakly  plants. 
-  Apple  Lemon  Pippin.— 1  know  of  few,  if  any,  Apples  so  fre¬ 
quently  misnamed  as  this,  and  I  was  greatly  disappointed  when  some  young 
trees  fruited  for  the  first  time  and  turned  out  to  be  quite  a  different 
Apple.  The  true  type  keeps  well  into  March,  has  a  yellow  skin,  and  a 
distinct  swelling  at  the  base  of  the  stalk.  A  poor  form  of  King  of  the 
Pippins  is  often  sent  for  it,  and  intending  planters  ought  to  be  sure  before 
purchasing  that  their  nurseryman  holds  the  true  stock.  Gathered  late 
and  kept  in  boxes  or  barrels  in  a  cool  cellar  or  outbuilding,  it  is  at  its  best 
in  January  and  February. — S. 
-  Early  Flowering  Shrubs.— I  observe  that  our  friend 
“  H.  D.”  has  promised  to  refer  to  flowering  shrubs  presently,  a  very 
interesting  subject.  But  whilst  we  have  an  abundance  of  these,  not  a  few 
flow-ering  after  midsummer,  when  ordinary  garden  flowers  are  so 
plentiful,  I  do  think  that  by  far  the  most  useful  and  desirable  shrubs  are 
those  hardy  ones  that  bloom  early.  Now  will  “H.  D.,”  and  as  many 
more  readers  that  may,  especially  those  engaged  in  the  nursery  trade,, 
and  who  therefore  have  special  facilities  for  knowing,  kindly  give  a  list 
or  lists  of  the  best  twelve  hardy  early  flowering  shrubs.  Doubtless 
evergreen  shrubs  like  Mahonia  aquifolia,  Rhododendron,  and  Andromeda 
will  be  noticed,  but  those  needing  wider  publicity  are  the  deciduous  ones. 
By  the  term  early,  I  mean  of  course  to  use  a  well  known  phrase,  “the 
flowers  which  bloom  in  the  spring,”  or  in'April,  May  and  June.  I  do  not 
include  the  N aked  Jasmine,  as  that  is  not  a  shrnb  in  the  ordinary 
acceptation  of  the  term.  Possibly  not  one  mentioned  but  may  be  well 
known,  yet  there  may  be  some  good  things  little  known  to  unearth. 
After  we  have  in  this  w  ay  obtained  a  list  of  the  very  best  early  flowering 
shrubs,  then  may  well  came  the  early  flowering  trees,  especially  those 
which,  whilst  free  bloomers,  do  not  attain  to  unwieldy  dimensions  like 
the  Horse  Chestnut.  Most  certainly  there  is  great  room  in  gardens  for  more 
flowering  trees  and  shrubs.  They  are  when  seen  objects  of  universal 
admiration,  and  wider  knowledge  of  their  existence  may  do  much  to 
popularise  them. — WANDERER. 
-  Onions. — Elaborate  directions  in  the  preparation  of  the  soil 
for  Onions  by  trenching  and  manuring  are  very  well,  but  they  do  not 
mean  all  that  has  to  be  said  in  relation  to  outdoor  Onion  culture.  Some¬ 
thing  has  to  be  said  with  respect  to  time  of  sowing  seed,  the  thinning 
of  the  plants,  the  after  treatment,  and  even  the  seed  stocks  used  in  sowing. 
Practically  the  latter  is  a  matter  of  great  importance,  because  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  as  all  experience  tends  to  show,  that  seeds  saved  from  Onion 
plants,  the  product  of  the  finest  obtainable  bulbs,  will  always  give  finer 
bulbs,  the  treatment  being  the  same,  than  will  seed  saved  from  small 
bulbs.  So  much  do  seedsmen  understand  this  that  all  best  stocks  are 
now  obtained  by  either  growing  or  purchasing  the  finest  bulbs  that  can 
be  had  and  planting  them  for  seed  production.  Some  of  our  leading 
Onion  growers  prefer  to  plant  bulbs  of  the  finest  and  firmest  they  have 
for  seed  production.  Times  of  sowing  seed  may  well  vary  in  localities^ 
but  the  Onion  plant  is  fairly  hardy,  and,  therefore,  seed  may  be  sown  in 
March,  as  a  rule,  safely.  Early  plants  that  soon  become  hardened  are 
less  liable  to  the  attacks  of  the  maggot  than  are  later  sown  ones.  Thinning 
is  best  done  early,  and  if  there  has  been  a  heavy  hand  in  sowing  that  is 
a  work  needing  considerable  time  and  labour,  and  after  all  whilst  there  is 
some  labour  involved  in  the  sowing  of  seed  in  midwinter  in  shallow 
boxes,  under  glass,  later  pricking  up  the  young  plants  thinly  into  other 
boxes,  and  growing  them  on  in  frames  until  strong  enough  to  plant  out  in 
April,  yet  the  work  is  done  under  the  most  easy  conditions.  Then  when 
planted  out  into  rows  thinly  on  good  ground,  there  is  no  after  thinning 
to  do/no  danger  from  maggot  attacks,  whilst  the  bulbs  that  result  are 
in  variety  twice  or  thrice  the  dimensions  of  those  sown  outdoors.— A.  D 
