a^ebru-ary  27,  190Z, 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
183 
Chrysanthemum  Lady  Ridgeway. 
I  notice  in  Mr.  Wells’s  notes  on  the  Chr3^santhemum  audit  in 
.last  ■week’s  Journal  that  he  gives  Lady  Ridgeway  as  an  American 
variety.  I  wish  you  to  contradict  this,  as  it  was  raised  as  a 
seedling  by  myself,  and  sent  out  bj"  Mr.  R.  Owen,  of  Maidenhead. 
It  was  named  after  Lady  Ridgeway,  whose  husband,  Sir  West 
Ridgeway,  was  then  Governor  of  the  Isle  of  Man. — R  W. 
.Douglas,  Parkfield  Gardens,  Douglas,  Isle  of  Man. 
High-priced  Apples. 
In  an  earlier  issue  of  the  Journal  a  correspondent  related  how 
some  very  high  prices  were  paid  this  winter  for  British  Apples 
ns  well  as  tho.se  from  other  lands — Newtown  Pippins.  In  Bristol 
.and  Bath  fruiterers’  shops  I  saw  recently  Californian  Newtowns 
.retailed  at  3d.  each,  the  quality  of  which  I  was  permitted  to 
sample,  only  to  find  that  in  flavour  and  crispness  they  were  far 
■inferior  to  the  same  and  other  kinds  I  am  able  to  send  daily  to 
the  table.  I  had  heard  much  of  Californian  Apples,  the  criticism 
ibeing  ranged  about  equal  for  and  against  them,  but  the  quality 
of  the  fruit,  as  proved,  add  still  more  to  the  wonder  that  the 
British  public  are  content  to  pay  such  exorbitant  prices  for  goods 
infinitely  inferior  to  the  produce  of  their  own  country.  The 
Californians  come  over,  each  separately  wrapped  in  paper,  and 
this  is  displayed  by  the  fruiterer  as  showing  the  brand  to  be  of 
high  class.  The  colour  of  the  fruit  does  not  develop  so  brightly 
as  in  British  Apples,  though  the  country  has  in  the  matter  of  sun¬ 
shine  an  advantage  over  us.  The  gain  of  sunshine  and  length  of 
days,  however,  does  not  account  much  for  colour  and  flavour  in 
Apples,  becau.se  in  neither  does  it  compare  with  those  of  English 
.growth.  We.st  of  England  fruit  .shops  are  usually  well  supplied 
with  native  Apples,  but  so  early  in  the  winter  as  the  first  Aveek  of 
Februarj^  there  were  but  A^ery  feA\'  on  offer.  This  scarcity,  Avhich 
has  been  a  marked  feature  of  the  season,  is  all  in  favour  of 
imported  samples.  With  the  absence  of  good  samples  of  English 
fruit,  the  palate  of  the  purchasing  public  becomes  accustomed  to 
-a  loAver  grade,  and  •sale.smen  are  almost  unconvinced  that  there  is 
-still  a  better  than  the  Californian  Apple  in  the  British  fruit  stores 
— at  least  those  aaIio  are  favoured  Avith  a  supply. — S.  W. 
Seakale,  Beddard’s  ImproYed. 
Without  the  slighte,st  doubt,  LilyAA'hite  Seakale  is  Avorthj^  of 
all  that  AA'as  said  in  its  faAmur  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  on 
January  9.  The  varietj"-  that,  aab  find  far  superior  in  every  Avay 
is  Beddard’s  Improved.  This  sort  has  been  groAvn  in  the  Stone- 
leigh  Abbey  gardens  for  a  great  number  of  years,  and  has  never 
failed  to  maintain  a  regular  supply  of  clean  tender  heads  of  large 
■size.  For  forcing  it  is  unsurpassed,  being  a  beautiful  colour  and 
.splendid  flavour,  and  as  Seakale  forms  an  important  vegetable 
during  the  Avinter  months,  these  tAvo  good  qualities  render  this 
variety  iuAnluable.  It  also  produces  larger  and  finer  heads  than 
LilyAviiite  under  the  treatment  it  receives  at  Stoneleigh.  Whether 
the  improvement  is  due  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  here  .suiting  the 
A'ariety'  I  cannot  state.  If  anyone  finds  the  former  sort  un, satis¬ 
factory  I  can  strongly  recommend  a  trial  of  Beddard’s  Improved. 
It  thrives  exceedingly  Avell  here  under  the  folloAving  culture  : — 
The  sets  are  planted  out  the  beginning  of  May  in  medium  .sandy 
soil,  light  and  porous,  the  di.stance  given  in  the  plantation  in¬ 
tended  for  growing  crowns  for  forcing  being  18in  each  Avay.  The 
croAvnsthat  are  forced  outside  are  only  alloAved  one  foot,  triangled 
in  tAvo  roAvs,  keeping  all  Aveeds  doAvn  during  the  groAving  season 
by  the  use  of  a  Dutch  hoe.  When  all  the  foliage  has  decayed 
lift  the  croAvns,  trimming  all  the  roots  off,  .storing  them  aAA^ay  by 
laying  them  in  soil  and  covering  AA’ith  some  long  litter  or  bracken 
until  required  for  forcing.  The  sets  are  made  directly  afterAA-ards, 
heeling  them  in  in  roAA^s,  covering  them  AA'ith  soil  until  the  time 
comes  to  plant  them  in  their  .summer  quarters.  For  inside 
forcing  a  bed  of  tan  is  made  up  in  the  Seakale  house  Avith  the  aid 
of  a  gentle  bottom  heat  by  hot  AA’ater  pipes,  and  gives  a  good 
re.sult.  The  croAvns  outside  are  excluded  from  the  light  by  the 
old  manure  from  a  Mushroom  house  to  the  depth  of  2  feet. 
This  is  put  on  in  the  month  of  December  or  January,  and  by  this 
process  Ave  are  able  to  cut  Seakale  outside  by  the  end  of  March 
or  the  early  part  of  April  to  .succeed  that  forced  indoors.  All 
manure  should  be  cleaned  aAvay  as  soon  as  the  Seakale  is  cut, 
othenvise  it  encourages  weak,  sickly  groAA'th,  that  Avoakens  the 
croAvns  for  the  second  year’s  forcing,  and  this  gives  excellent 
results  if  proper  attention  is  paid.  A  single  stick  often  Aveighs 
above  a  pound ;  in  fact  they  resemble  sticks  of  Celery  more  than 
Seakale.  Me.ssrs.  Yeitch,  of  Chelsea,  have  a  fine  stock  of  the 
A'arietj’  under  notice. — W.  Jones,  Stoneleigh  Abbey  Gardens, 
Kenihvorth. 
Scented  Persian  Cyclamens. 
Apropos  of  “  W.  I.’s”  interesting  announcement  (page  163) 
relative  to  scented  Cyclamens,  it  has  often  puzzled  me  to  knoAV 
Avhy  there  are  comparatively  so  feAv  plants  out  of  a  large  batch  of 
seedlings  that  possess  the  much  desired  property  of  scent.  Surely, 
as  regards  size  and  colour  of  the  floAvers,  also  of  foliage,  the 
acme  of  perfection  has  long  since  been  attained  ;  but  Avhy  the 
corresponding  paAicity  of  scent  Can  it  be  oAving  to  the  effect 
of  high  cultivation?  The  sugge.stion  is  prompted  by  a  considera¬ 
tion  of  the  fact  that  upAAards  of  half  a  century  ago  scented 
varieties  Avere  commoner  than  at  the  present  time,  and  during 
my  boyhood  the  scented  Cyclamen  Avas  my  ideal  of  a  perfumed 
floAver.  It  is,  hoAvever,  most  gratifying  to  learn  that  Messrs. 
Sutton  are  striving  to  invest  some  of  the.se  beautiful  varieties 
Avith  so  Avelcome  a  desideratum,  and  that  ere  long  they  may  be 
enabled  to  sa.y  “  Eureka !  ”  I  may  add,  regarding  scented  and 
scentless  varieties,  that,  contemporaneously  Avith  several  others, 
in  the  year  1731  the  red  and  Avhite  coloured  varieties  “  inodorum  ” 
and  “  odoratum  ”  Avere  introduced  from  Cyprus. — W.  G. 
New  ChrysaDthemums. 
“  H.  S.,  Woking,”  in  commenting  on  my  seedling  Chrj^s- 
anthemums  on  page  164  of  the  Journal  la.st  Aveek,  questions  their 
origin  and  parentage.  Please  let  me  .say  that  the  AA'hole  Avere 
from  seeds  fertilised  and  .saved  by  myself  mainljq  the  parents 
being  Ma.ster  H.  Tucker,  from  Avhich  I  consider  much  of  the  colour 
and  con.stitution  have  been  obtained,  M.  Chenon  de  Leche, 
Oceana,  Edith  Tabor,  and  pollen  from  a  fcAV  of  the  best  kinds. 
Seedlings  from  Mrs.  Weeks  invariably  are  of  a  tall,  lanky  habit, 
reminding  one  much  of  a  batch  I  once  raised  from  Mrs.  AljDheus 
Hardy.  Madame  Carnot  seedlings  have  here  alAAays  proved  di.s- 
appointing.  There  is  much  in  Avhat  “  H.  S.”  say^s  as  to  blooms 
being  especially  Avell  groAvn  for  certificates.  I  can  only  say  that 
all  blooms  I  have  shoAvn  this  season  Avere  groA\n  in  the  Exmouth 
Nurseries,  and  as  frequently  several  hundred  blooms  of  the  seed¬ 
lings  AA'ere  put  in  one  exhibition,  it  cannot-  be  said  that  they  Avere 
“  specially  groAvn  for  the  much  coveted  F.C.C.” 
American  v.  English  Varieties. — “  A.  W.  T.”  (.page  167) 
claims  for  our  home  raisers  the  incurved  variety  Mrs.  Egan.  This 
is  an  American,  but  ha.s  been  renamed  by  a  firm,  “  Countess  of 
WarAvick.” — M.  J.  Godfrey,  Exmouth. 
The  Chrysanthemnm  Audit. 
Mr.  W.  Wells  is  hardly  correct  in  one  or  tAvo  statements  Avhich 
appear  in  his  interesting  notes  on  page  164  of  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture,  February  20.  Regarding  Lily  Mountford  variety, 
Mr.  Weeks  had  no  more  to  do  Avith  raising  this  than  Mr.  Wells; 
neither  is  it  an  Engli.sh  varietjq  ina,smuch  as  it  Avas  raised  from 
imported  seed.  Nor  is  it  correct  to  say  that  it  should  be  “  Hilda 
Chamberlain,”  although  at  one  time  it  bore  this  name  in  a  certain 
district.  It  has  been  in  .several  groAveus’  hands  for  many  3'ears 
pa.st.  HoAvever,  it  is  a  good  .sort,  and  Ave  Avill  not  quarrel  over  its 
introduction  or  its  original  name.  Then  as  to  the  variety  Mrs. 
Mease.  There  is  no  need  to  haggle  over  the  origin  of  this,  for  I 
believe  the  sport  originated  in  many  places  in  one  season.  I  can 
equally  lay  claim  to  introducing  this  variety  as  Mr.  Wells,  for  I 
had  a  separate  .stock.  Mentioning  .sports,  many  groAvers  Avill  be 
glad  to  learn  that  there  is  talk  of  a  pure  pink  sport  of  the  colour 
of  N.C.S.  Jubilee,  from  that  fine  A^ariety’  Florence  Molyneux. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  report  is  a  correct  one,  and  that  it  Avill  be 
Avell  .shoAA'n  before  being  sent  out.  Madame  Phillipe  Rivoire  is 
not  one  of  M.  CalAmt’s  seedlings,  and  has  never  been  catalogued 
by  him.  It  Avas  sent  out  by  Rosain  Boucharlet.  Then,  Pride  of 
Madford  AA  as  in  this  part  some  time  before  offered  by  Messrs.  Can- 
nell,  and  Avas  knoAvn  and  shoAvn  as  “  Beauty  of  Teignmouth.”  I 
Avell  remember  Mr.  E.  Molyneux  disqualifying  an  exhibit  at 
Exeter  sIioaa  n  by  Mr.  George  Foster,  the  contention  being  that 
the  exhibit  contained  tAvo  “  Duke  of  Yorks,”  Me.ssrs,  Hannaford 
and  Son  may  be  .said  to  have  been  the  distributors.  Again,  is  not 
Sir  H.  H.  Kitchener  one  of  Brunning’s?  Sir  Herbert  Kitchener 
AA-as  introduced  bv  the  late  Mr.  OAA-en,  and  it  is  to  this  variety,  no 
doubt,  that  Mr.  Wells  is  referring  to. 
Coming  to  the  “  Audit,”  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  of  the 
fourteen  novelties  mentioned  among  the  Japs,  thirtee-n  are  fpm 
Engli.sh  raisers,  and  the  solitary  exception  is  a  colonial  variety 
Avith  only  one  vote.  Mr.  Wells  also  calls  attention  to  .sports. 
Why  they  come  no  one  seems  to  knoAv.  I  had  a  peculiar  one  last 
.season  among  a  batch  of  .seedlings.  One  half  of  the  plant  was 
of  a  rich  bright  rose  colour  and  the  other  a  pretty  coppery  scarlet. 
Both  are  distinct,  and  Avorth  saving  as  decorative  varieties,  and 
I  hope  to  introduce  them  next  season. — W.  J.  Godfrey,  Exmoutli. 
