September  2i,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
303 
Heuchera  sanguinea.  Celmlsia  apectabilis  baa  been  on  the  rockery  here  i 
for  four  years  with  a  piece  of  glass  above  in  winter,  and  I  was  interested  i 
to  see  a  fine  specimen  of  the  striking  Kniphofia  cau’escens,  which  had  | 
been  in  the  open  for  fifteen  years.  Mr.  Moore  had,  unfortunately,  a  ! 
prior  engagement,  and  bad  to  leave  to  catch  a  train  after  kindly  enter-  I 
taining  me  to  lunch  ;  out  he  left  me  in  very  capable  hands — those  of 
Mr.  Parnell,  who  has  charge  of  the  outdoor  department.  I 
The  beds  in  the  botanical  arrangement  had  suffered  from  the  drought,  i 
but  some  useful  notes  were  taken,  which  cannot  at  present  be  extended,  , 
and  I  must  in  the  meantime  content  myself  with  remarking  that  they  ' 
contain  many  very  good  plants.  The  hardy  fliwers  in  the  borders  were 
admirably  grown,  and  in  such  a  dry  season  must  have  entailed  a  great  i 
deal  of  labour  to  keep  in  such  perfect  order.  They  were  among  the 
brightest  borders  I  had  seen  for  a  very  long  time,  and  contained  many 
effective  plants,  Pentstemons  being  especially  well  grown.  , 
Not  the  least  interesting  to  me  was  a  reserve  garden  where  new  I 
plants  are  on  trial,  and  prcpagation  effected  by  means  of  seed.  It  I 
contains  what  is  believed  to  be  the  best  collection  of  Pmonia  species  in  ' 
the  United  Kingdom.  I  was  not  so  fortunate  as  to  see  them  in  bloom,  ■ 
THE  OSBERTON  TOMATO.— R  H  S.  FAVOURITISM. 
Mr.  Alderman’s  complaint  (page  282)  with  respect  to  the  non¬ 
recognition  by  the  Fruit  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
of  the  merits  of  Mr.  C' asp’s  Tomato  is  very  natural,  because  he  has  seen 
it  growing,  and,  therefore,  got  to  regard  it  as  being  very  remarkable. 
But  then  how  many  others  besides  Mr.  Grasp  are  there  in  the  kingdom 
growing  Tomatoes  who  have  not  remarkable  croppers  also?  Do  we  not 
constantly  hear  of  this,  that,  or  the  other  variety  being  with  someone 
a  most  wonderful  cropper  ?  I  hear  of  twenty  such  or  see  them  in  my 
getting  about,  and  I  know  what  it  proves,  and  it  is  this,  that  certain 
conditions  of  culture  being  accorded,  a  variety,  though  it  may  not  be 
new  or  markedly  distinct,  is  almost  made  to  appear  so  bv  the  power  of 
cultivation.  The  grower  then  ought  to  be  honoured'  and  not  the 
variety. 
Not  only  are  one-half  of  the  so-called  varieties  grown  equally  good 
somewhere,  but  that  in  regard  to  them  sameness  is  the  dominating 
feature.  It  is  my  opinion  that  in  the  past  awards  to  Tomatoes  have 
been  too  liberally  made,  and  it  is  well  if  henceforth  it  should  be  the 
hut  a  glance  at  some  of  the  tallies  made  one  wish  for  an  hour  or  two 
among  them  while  in  flower.  A  very  large  collection  of  Irises  is  also 
grown,  besides  many  rare  border  flowers  and  shrubs. 
&f>  The  splendid  Glasnevin  variety  of  Orchis  latifolia  was  seen,  and 
among  the  other  shrubs  on  the  wall  a  magnificent  specimen  of  Fremontia 
californica  in  flower  was  very  fine.  Choisya  ternata  and  Fabiana 
imbricata  were  also  in  capBal  condition,  and  a  floe  plant  of  Cistus 
laurifolius  and  several  other  Rock  Roses  gave  one  an  idea  of  the  mildness 
of  the  climate  and  its  suitability  for  rather  tender  plants.  A  glance  at 
a  garden  of  Roses  containing  many  old  kindf,  which  are  sure  to 
become  sought  after  again,  afforded  much  pleasure,  as  did  the  con¬ 
servatory  fi’led  with  cho’ce  and  well-grown  flowers.  To  Mr.  Moore  I 
am  under  a  dtep  obligation  for  all  his  kindness  and  attention,  and  also 
to  Mr.  Parnell,  whose  long  service  in  the  gardens  has  msule  him  so 
familiar  with  the  plants  in  which  I  am  most  interested,  and  who  made  a 
most  courteous  and  obliging  guide. 
I  have  bad  the  pleasure  of  seeing  many  of  our  botanic  gardens,  and 
while  each  of  them  has  its  special  features,  Glasnevin  will  hold  its  own 
for  beauty  of  situation  and  admirable  management.  It  is  creditable  to 
the  fair  island  in  which  it  stands  ;  to  the  Science  and  Art  Department, 
and  to  Mr,  Moore,  who  is  keenly  alive  to  its  interests,  and  takes  a  pride 
in  seeing  that  nothing  is  wanting  on  his  part  to  secure  results  only  to  be 
obtained  by  taste  and  unremitting  attention.  The  illustration  (tig!  59) 
gives  the  reader  a  peep  at  Glasnevin. — S.  Arnott. 
(To  be  concluded.) 
rule  to  make  none  whatever  except  grown  for  trial  and  comparison  at 
Chiswick,  where  the  best  possible  opportunities  are  afforded  to  every 
plant  grown  to  show  its  best  properties.  There  is  no  fancy  culture,  but 
fair,  honest  testing.  How  many  so-called  varieties  were  so  grown  and 
tested  this  season  I  hardly  know.  They  seem  to  be  legion,  old  and  new. 
The  Committee  in  going  over  them,  however,  with  the  utmost  care, 
found  only  the  minutest  difference  between  so-called  varieties,  and  gave 
awards  only  to  two  or  three  that  exhibited  good  fruiting  qualities  on 
!  comparatively  dwarf  plants — that  is  to  say,  getting  as  much  fruit  on 
I  a  length  of  3  feet  stems  as  others  gave  on  lengths  of  4  or  4^  feet  stems. 
I  But,  after  all,  that  is  but  a  question  of  shorter  internodes  and  nothing 
I  more,  as  relatively  all  the  plants  were  very  productive.  It  is  very 
!  well  known  that  once  Tomato  plants  have  begun  to  set  fruit  freely, 
I  and  they  usually  do  this  best  when  not  too  highly  fed,  then  as  the  fruit 
swells  are  fed  at  the  roots,  the  plants  will  produce  immense  crops.  Very 
I  recently,  when  at  Wrest  Park,  where  I  saw  one  of  the  finest  lots  of 
I  Tomatoes  of  the  Ham  Green  type  I  have  seen  anywhere  on  open  walls, 
the  crops  of  fruit  being  exceedingly  great,  I  learnt  there  the  old  story. 
The  plants  were  induced  to  set  a  free  crop  of  fruit  first,  then  liberally 
fed  with  liquid  manure. 
Only  a  few  days  since  Mr.  J.  Hudson  of  Gunnersbury  House  Gardens 
showed  me  a  6-feet  plant  of  Perfection  grown  solely  on  an  ash  bed  in 
a  disused  Strawberry  bouse,  carrying  a  very  fine  crop  of  frnit,  and  only 
needed  occasional  waterings  with  liqnid  manure  to  hare  made  the  sample 
i  of  the  finest.  Plants  are  grown  in  this  way  every  year  there  with 
