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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  19,  1902. 
colour  carries  great  weight  with  purchasers  on  the  look  out  for 
“  specials.”  What  is  badly  wanted  now  among  market  growers 
is  bright  sunshine  for  a  couple  of  weeks,  which  would  make 
everything  move  forward  with  a  bound,  and  enable  them  to 
reap  the  full  reward  for  which  they  have  been  striving  during 
the  last  six  months.  All  tilings  considered,  the  present  season 
promises  to  be  a  bright  and  prosperous  one  for  those  engaged 
in  commercial  horticulture,  because  in  every  city,  town,  and 
hamlet  of  Britain  there  will  be  simultaneous  festivities.  That 
the  above  anticipations  may  be  fully  realised  is  the  earnest  hope 
and  belief  of — Onward. 
- - 
Gadding  and  Gathering. 
“Here  awa’.  There  awa’.” 
Little  Known  Plants. 
In  a  corner  of  the  Nepenthes  house  at  Kew  there  is  a 
plant  of  Rudgea  luacrophylla,  tall  and  woody.,  bearing  dense, 
terminal  spikes  of  pure  ivhite,  tubular,  waxy  flowers.  The  plant 
i.s  allied  to  Coffea  (Rubiacese),  and  is  interesting  if  not  either 
very  useful  or  beautiful.  The  leathery  green  foliage  is  1ft  or 
more  in  length,  and  oblong ;  being  alsO'  5in  to  Gin  broad.  In  the 
stove,  on  the  left-hand  side  from  the  Victoria  house,  there  are  a 
number  of  graceful  tropical  plants  that  might  be  brought  more 
intO'  the  light  of  common  observation  were  some  of  our  progre.ssive 
nurserymen  to  secure  3'oung  plants  and  raise  a  stock  of  them. 
Thus  there  is  Gustavia  gracillima  (Myrtacese),  with  comparatively 
narrow  leaves  arranged  in  verticells.  Wdien  grown  with  a  single, 
upright  stem  the  plant  is  graceful  indeed,  and  one  that  would 
be  welcomed  in  any  collection  of  stove  plants.  The  Aphelandras, 
of  course,  have  their  claims  recognised  in  a  measure,  though  in 
numerous  gardens  their  presence  is  entirely  absent.  Another 
curious  and  botanically  interesting  plant,  at  the  same  time 
decorative,  is  Dalechampsia  roezliana,  with  conspicuous  pink 
bracts.  The  inflorescence  is  very  complex.  W^ithin  the  two 
outer  bracts  there  is  another  smaller  bract,  on  the  axis  in  whose 
axil  is  a  three-flowered  cyme  of  female  flowers.  Above  tliis  is  the 
male  part  of  the  inflorescence,  starting  Avith  four  bracts  and 
including  a  curious  yelloAV  cushion.  In  one  specie.^  of 
Delechampsia,  the  cushion  secretes  resin,  Avhich  is  used  by  bees 
for  nest  making,  and  attracts  them  to  the  floAver.  The  genus 
is  of  the  natural  order  Euphorbiaceae.  As  a  Avail  climber  Marcgravia 
umbellata  Avould  in  many  cases  prove  serviceable.  It  has  long 
pinnate  leaves,  the  leaflets  smooth  and  shining,  and  luxuriantly 
borne.  Another  suitable  climber,  and  one  not  knoAvn  outside  of 
botanic  gardens,  is  Paul  Ionia  thalictrifolia,  the  specific  name  in 
a  AA'ay  describing  the  general  resemblance  of  the  foliage  to  those 
of  the  hardy  Thalictrums.  It  groAvs  tAviningly,  and  furnishes 
upright  pillars  A^ery  handsomely.  Asparagus  Duchesnei  is  a  neiv 
species,  and  Avould  appear  to  have  reached  KeAv  from  the 
Continent  onlj^  a  year  ago.  It  possesses  long  and  graceful  stems, 
much  after  the  styde  of  A.  Sprengeri. 
Some  of  the  nurserjunen  noAv  possess  this  novelty,  and  soon 
Ave  may  see  it  become  more  common.  Tococa  latifolia,  a  large, 
ovate-leaved  species,  requires  more  space,  probably,  than  can  be 
afforded  in  the  average  stove  house  ;  but  the  plant  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  most  handsome  and  disdinct  in  cultivation.  The 
leaves  are  strongly  ribbed,  dark,  shining  green  aboA^e,  reddish 
beneath,  14in  to  IGin  long,  and  about  a  foot  across. 
Messrs.  Sutton’s  of  Reading. 
It  Avas  remarked  by  more  persons  than  one  that  Messrs. 
Sutton  and  Sons,  the  Royal  Seedsmen  at  Reading,  Avere  un¬ 
represented  by  any  exhibit  whatever  at  the  late  Temple  ShoAV 
of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  The  reason  lay,  Ave  believe, 
in  the  restrictions  imposed  in  the  matter  of  space  that  could 
be  alloAved.  Messrs.  Sutton  and  Sons  have  at  their  London 
Road  Nurseries,  Reading,  collections  of  Calceolarias,  Gloxinias, 
and  Cinerarias  of  quality  unsurpassed  by  any  strains  Ave  have 
met  Avith ;  and  certainly  their  beautiful  Calceolarias  are  un¬ 
rivalled.  The  plants  are  large,  but  not  leggy,  carrying  immense 
“clouds”  of  huge  and  Avell-formed  pouches,  their  spotted  mam¬ 
moth  varieties  being  quite  a  speciality.  These  spotted  Calceo¬ 
larias  are  indeed  outstanding.  The  ground  colour  is  almo.st 
invariably  y'elloAv,  and  the  spots  are  crimson  or  rich  maroon. 
Then  the  self-coloured  forms  also  furnish  a  rich  and  brilliant 
exhibition  of  colour,  particularly^  that  general  favourite  named 
Cloth  of  Gold.  Only  the  be.st  A’arieties  are  used  for  crossing 
Avith,  and  these,  of  course,  produce  seeds  that  can  be  thoroughly 
depended  upon  to  provide  robust  and  ty^pical  herbaceous  Cal¬ 
ceolaria  plants.  What  strikes  the  visitor  most,  and  recurs 
again  and  again  to  his  mind,  is  the  enormous  profusion  of  these 
huge  flowers.  It  emphatically  serves  as  an  object  lesson, 
marking  the  perseA^erance  and  judgment  of  those  AA’hose  business 
it  has  been  to  develop  results  such  as  thej'  are  to-daj'. 
The  Gloxinias  as  a  class  require  the  strictest  Avatching.  It 
is  so  very  recently  that  the  genus  Avas  characterised  by  those 
bad  habits — the  drooping  flo Avers  and  huge,  erect,  uncouthly 
formed  leaves.  Noav  it  is  the  one  end  and  aim  at  Reading  to 
possess  a  pure  “  crassifolia  strain,”  which  is,  a  strain  of  plants  ' 
Avhose  leaves  are  exactly  opposite  to  one  another  on  the  stem, 
and  the  pairs  alternately  at  right  angles.  The  edges  of  the 
leaves  should  be  nicelj'  crenated,  the  leaves  themselves  roundly 
oval,  and  marbled  here  and  there  Avith  that  beautiful  pale  silvery 
colour  Avhich  is  a  feature  in  the  best  of  Gloxinias.  The  round 
and  open-mouthed  floAvers  are  held  erect  and  produced  in  great 
quantities.  It  seems  invidious  to  select  even  a  feAV  named 
vai’ieties,  but  Ave  shall  confine  ourselves  to  Her  Majesty,  an 
unequalled  spotless  Avhite  of  great  superiority ;  Reading  Scarlet, 
whose  colour  is  so  intense  it  almost  seems  to  glow  ;  Duke  of  York, 
a  rich  dark  blue;  Violet  Queen,  a  delightfully  spotted  and 
netted  Gloxinia ;  Empress,  Avhich  is  more  recent  than  the 
others,  and  is  nearly  Avhite  Avith  a  rich  creamy  throat,  and  is 
finely  spotted  with  violet.  This  is  an  exceedingly  chaste 
flo  AVer,  and  Avorthy  of  special  notice.  Sutton’s  Purple  is  another 
variety  Avhose  rich  colouring  greatly  attracted  us.  But  Avith 
these  feAV  Ave  leave  the  selection.  Growers  in  the  great  majority 
of  cases  are  satisfied  to  rely  on  mixed  packets  of  seed,  which,  of 
course,  contain  varieties  of  the  highest  type. 
And,  lastly,  there  are  the  Cinerarias,  Avhose  charms  and 
graces  were  seen  at  their  best  about  the  1st  of  the  month. 
The  older  dwarf  types,  Avith  large  flowers  and  massiA’e  inflores¬ 
cences,  nearly  all  on  the  level  or  slightly  domed,  haA'e  lapsed 
from  general  popularity,  and  in  place  of  them  one  everj^wliere 
finds  the  aesthetic  stellate  Cinerarias.  These  are  likely  to  gain 
and  remain  in  fav'our,  because  Avhile  they  are  as  showy  in  the 
conservatorj"  as  the  dAvarf  groAving  type,  they  at  the  same  time 
provide  armfuls  of  just  the  sort  of  floAvers  the  floral  artist  most 
desires.  As  there  still  remains  a  conservative  regard  for  the 
dw’arf  single  Cinerarias,  these  are  still  largely  groAvn  and 
selected  from  at  Reading.  The  stellata  t.ype,  however,  is  the 
flower  of  the  moment,  and  it  Avas  interesting  to  ob.serA^e  the 
differences  there  are  among  the  forms  of  this  floAver.  While  all 
have  the  freely  branching  habit,  Avith  slender  stems,  not  all  of 
them  are  so  “starry”  as  choice  Avould  have  them  to  be.  The 
small  floAvered  stiffer  sorts,  and  particularly  those  Avith  dull 
slaty  blue  disks,  are  being  discarded  in  favour  of  those  wdth 
longer,  radiating  petals  and  good  habit  of  growth  generally. 
All  colours,  from  Avhite  to  deep  blue,  and  from  this  to  palest 
pink,  are  represented  in  mixed  collections  of  these  stellata 
Cinerariai. — Wandering  Willie. 
- - - - 
Overcropping  Apples. 
In  the  Avhole  of  gardening  practice  there  is  no  greater  mistake 
than  that  of  overcropping.  It  is  bad  in  every  department,  but 
Avorst  of  all  with  fruit,  for  not  only  are  the  trees  incommoded 
during  the  one  season,  and  prevented  from  giving  good  fruit,  but 
they  are  often  seriously  checked  for  another  year — a  more  im¬ 
portant  point  even  than  the  other.  Tlie  effects  upon  Peaches  and 
Nectarines  are  A^erj'  marked.  The  trees  are  called  upon  to  pro¬ 
duce  about  tAvice  as  many  stones  as  are  necessary ;  and  this 
takes  far  more  out  of  them  than  the  pi'oduction  of  the  edible 
part  or  flesh. 
But  the  strain  upon  the  trees  is  so  great  that  even  the  small 
amount  of  flesh  upon  the  fruit  is  not  Avorth  anything.  It  is 
poor  in  flavour,  and  the  fruits  usually  drop  before  they  are 
properly  ripe.  Instead,  then,  of  having,  say,  a  hundred  fine 
luscious  Peaches,  or  high  flavoured  Nectarines,  upon  any  given 
tree,  we  have — if  the  fruit  is  not  properly  thinned—rperhaps 
double  that  number,  and,  out  of  all,  not  a  score  fruits  that  one 
could  possibly  send  to  a  nobleman’s  table  or  a  high  class  fruiterer’s  ’ 
shop.  j 
Apples  on  small  trees  are  often  badly  treated  in  this  way.  a 
With  large  orchard  trees  there  is  a  great  difficulty  in  thinning,  ; 
and,  Avithout  a  doubt,  this,  combined  Avith  the  let  alone  principle  ; 
on  which  the  trees  are  treated,  is  responsible  for  their  often 
bearing  once  only  in  tAvo  years.  But  Avith  small  trees  there  is 
no  necessity  for  this.  The  fruits  can  mostly  be  thinned  by  hand 
from  the  ground  or  a  short  pair  of  steps,  and  the  increased  value  ' 
of  the  produce  is  out  of  all  proportion  greater  than  the  trouble  - 
involved.' 
Even  small  and  bush  fruits  may  Avitli  advantage  have  attention 
in  this  Avay.  Gooseberries,  Currants,  _  and  even  StraAvberries, 
unless  there  is  a  large  demand  for  cooking  fruit,  should  be  AA’ell 
thinned.  It  is  just  noAV  that  the  result  of  not  thinning  is  most 
apparent,  and  l'  Avould  ask  any  thinking  producer  to  have  a  look 
round  the  nearest  fruit  plantation  to  him.  In  nine  cases  out 
of  ten  he  Avill  find  this  season  trees  oA-erburdened  AAith  small  and 
conipai'citively  useless  fruit,  thcit  by  judicious  tliiuniiig  may  have 
been  useful  and  iirofitable  to  the  groAver. — H.  R.  R. 
