370 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  4,  1899. 
and  colour  of  their  flowers.  I  understood  that  they  were  planted  in 
the  open  air  in  the  spring  and  lifted  in  the  autumn  for  housing  during 
the  winter,  a  pleasing  feature  being  their  proclivity  to  bloom  in  the  young 
state.  In  referring  to  an  old  notebook  I  And  the  names  and  description 
of  a  few  of  the  best  varieties  of  the  seedlings  in  question  copied  from 
either  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  or  one  of  its  contemporaries,  and  which 
may  be  interesting  to  transcribe  here,  with  a  view  to  eliciting  further 
information  of  either  or  any  of  those  seedlings. 
One  of  the  best  was  Sceptre  d’Azur,  having  large  and  very  fine  spikes 
of  pale  blue  flowers — an  improvement  on  Gloire  de  Versailles,  fine,  free, 
and  a  vigorous  grower.  The  darkest  of  all  in  the  blue  flowered  section 
was  Firmanent.  Gloire  de  Varte,  also  blue-flowered,  was  dwarf  in 
habit,  but  very  fine,  free,  and  good.  Leon  Simon  was  of  a  delicate  blue 
shade,  a  good  grower,  and  very  free.  Margardoule  Andusson,  of  a  pretty 
and  pleasing  lavender-mauve  hue,  was  very  desirable.  Bleu  Celeste, 
the  dwarfest  of  all,  should  have  made  a  pretty  pot  plant.  Celestial,  a 
later  flowering  variety,  was  of  a  deep  blue  colour.  There  were  also  several 
varieties  with  rose-coloured  flowers  and  with  a  certain  sameness  of 
character,. Marie  Simon  being  one  of  the  best,  with  pinkish  flesh-coloured 
flowers,  very  pretty,  free,  and  good  ;  a  decided  novelty.  Le  G^ant,  a  little 
paler  than  the  foregoing,  was  commendable. 
Here,  then,  provided  the  foregoing  seedlings  are  still  in  existence,  is 
presented  by  the  old  and  new  varieties  a  collection  more  or  less  worthy 
of  extended  cultivation  for  the  embellishment  of  our  gardens. — W.  G., 
Harborne,  Birmingham. 
CALLAS. 
Some  years  ago  the  horticultural  world  was  surprised  and  pleased  by 
the  exhibition  at  the  Drill  Hill  of  what  w  as  a  great  novelty,  a  yellow 
Calla ;  it  was  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Low  &  Son,  of  Clapton,  and  was 
introduced,  I  believe,  by  Mr.  White,  of  Pentland  Lodge,  and  was  at  once 
considered  a  great  acquisition.  It  was  not,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  in 
these  variations,  a  washed  out  colour,  but  a  brilliant  yellow.  We  have  all 
been  familiar  with  the  beautiful  white  Arum,  Kichardiaor  Calla,  which¬ 
ever  people  might  wish  to  call  it ;  and  I  think  probably  if  the  yellow  one 
had  been  introduced  first,  and  the  white  one  afterwards,  it  would  have 
received  as  much  honour.  There  is  another  of  nearly  equal  merit  called 
Elliottiana,  but  I  think  most  persons  would  prefer  the  plain  leaves  of  the 
former  one  to  the  latter.  My  object  in  writing  about  them  is,  not  so  much 
to  give  information  as  to  obtain  it.  I  was  so  delighted  with  the  plant 
that  I  committed  the  extravagance  of  procuring  one  from  Messrs.  Low, 
being  informed  that  it  required  about  the  same  treatment  as  what  is 
erroneously  called  “The  Lily  of  the  Nile” — Isay  erroneously,  because 
I  do  not  think  the  white  Arum  grows  as  farth  north  as  the  Nile  ;  it 
occurs  nearer  to  the  Cape,  where  I  am  told  some  of  the  valleys  are  white 
with  it  in  the  flowering  season. 
The  yellow  forms,  I  believe,  occur  in  the  Orange  Free  State  and 
the  Transv'aal,  where  they  are  found  in  considerable  abundance.  I  was, 
however,  very  unfortunate  with  my  plant ;  it  grew  and  threw  out  an  offset, 
which  I  gave  to  a  friend  whose  greenhouse  is  kept  warmer  than  mine, 
but  neither  of  the  plants  survived  a  second  year.  On  mentioning  it  to 
some  horticulturists  they  said  it  was  a  mistake  to  suppose  it  would  endure 
the  same  treatment  as  the  white  Arum,  that  it  required  more  heat,  and  I 
was  therefore  the  more  startled  when  I  read  that  an  admirer  of  the  flower 
is  about  to  try  it  in  the  open  (of  course,  during  the  summer),  and  am 
anxious  to  know  what  treatment  it  really  requires.  And  here  let 
me  say  that  oftentimes  the  answers  to  such  questions  are  given  by  persons 
who  have  all  means  and  appliances  at  their  disposal,  and  are  therefore  not 
applicable  to  those  of  limited  means.  What  is  the  use,  for  instance,  of 
telling  anyone  of  this  description  that  hot-water  pipes  should  be  run 
through  the  tanks  where  aquatics  are  planted,  when  he  cannot  afford  to 
have  such  things  ?  Can  these  yellow  Callas  be  grown  in  an  ordinary 
greenhouse  ?  and  if  so,  what  is  the  treatment  they  require  ? 
Some  years  ago  there  were  introduced  two  forms  of  the  white  Arum 
which  were  dwarf  in  character  with  small  flowers,  and  were  likely  to  be 
very  useful  as  ornamental  plants  for  the  greenhouse  ;  one  of  these  was 
Little  Gem,  the  other  w'as  called  nan  a  compacts  ;  the  former  was  very  dwarf 
indeed,  and  was  raise  !,  I  believe,  somewhere  in  the  Channel  Islands,  the 
foliage  was  not  more  than  3  or  4  inches,  and  the  flower  did  not  rise  more 
than  6  inches  above  the  pot.  With  this  I  have  been  entirely  unsuccessful, 
it  grows  well  and  throws  out  a  quantity  of  offsets,  but  I  canr.ot  get  it  to 
flower  ;  I  have  let  some  grow  at  their  will  and  throw  out  what  offsets 
they  like  ;  others  I  have  put  into  small  pots  and  not  allowed  offsets  to 
grow,  but  in  neither  case  have  I  been  able  to  procure  flowers.  The  other 
nana  compacta,  has  behaved  very  differently  ;  it  is  not  so  dwarf  as  Little 
(lem,  the  flower  stem  rising  about  a  foot  or  15  inches,  the  flower  is 
about  one-third  of  the  size  of  the  ordinary  white  Arum  ;  it,  too,  increases 
rapidly,  and  a  few  plants  of  it  scattered  about  my  small  greenhouse  are  very 
ornamental. 
Both  of  these  forms  are,  I  believe,  simply  what  we  should  call  sports 
or  variations,  such  as  occur  in  many  cultivated  plants  oftentimes  in  a 
very  opposite  direction.  Thus  we  hare  very  dwarf  varieties  of  Roses 
throwing  out  shoots  of  very  great  length,  from  which  have  been  derived 
some  of  our  best  climbing  flowers  ;  as  in  the  home-raised  variety  of 
climbing  Devoniensis,  which  is,  as  is  well  known,  a  sport  which 
instead  of  having  only  a  few  inches  of  growth,  will  ofttimes  send  out 
shoots  of  15  or  20  feet  long,  while  the  flowers  produced  are  quite  equal  to 
j  parent  plant ;  and  so  again  with  the  climbing  Niphetes, 
which  does  very  much  the  same,  and  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  our 
Roses  for  covering  a  wall. 
But  I  have  wandered  fr'^m  Callas,  and  now  merely  return  to  them  to  say 
j  hope  that  some  kind  friend  will  give  me  the  information  I  require  ; 
fir  if  I  were  to  get  something  reliable  I  should,  although  I  have  lost  my 
plsnts,  try  to  replace  them.  One  sees  these  yellow  ones  constantly 
exhibited  in  the  Drill  Hall,  and  it  makes  one  somewhat  envious  when 
admiring  their  beautj’. — D.,  Deal. 
NOTES  PROM  ROWLEDGE. 
A  Fine  Winter  Stock. 
I  SAW  in  a  couple  of  large  span  houses  the  other  day  at  Rowledge, 
no  less  than  from  9000  to  10,000  plants  of  the  beautiful  pure 
white  wall-leaved  Stock,  All  the  Year  Round.  Apart  from  the  fact 
that  every  plant  being  in  bloom,  the  house  presented  a  mass  of  snowy 
whitrnes,  there  was  a  marvellous  body  of  perfume  emanating  from 
the  flowers  that  seemed  to  be  at  the  first  almost  overpowering.  The 
plants  wore  in  fours  or  fives  in  large  48-sized  pots,  and  had  been  in 
bloom  from  October  all  through  the  winter.  The  proportion  of  doubles 
was  marvellous,  being  really  over  80  per  cent.,  many  pots  having  all 
doubles.  This  is  a  tribute  to  the  merit  of  home-saved  seed,  for  the 
variety  has  been  thus  grown  for  some  eight  or  nine  years.  For  cutting 
through  the  winter  few  plants  could  excel  this  Stock.  It  merits  universal 
culture. 
Cucumbers, 
Few  growers  of  Cucumbers,  probably  none,  excel  Mr.  S.  Mortimer 
ns  a  producer  of  fine  straight  handsome  fruits,  or  in  greater  abundance. 
The  real  test  of  productiveness  is  found  in  plants  that  carry  all  their 
fruits  for  seed,  less,  of  course,  a  few  That  may  not  be  properly  fertilised, 
or  be  otherwise  cut  for  eating.  ^Mr.  Mortimer  grows  for  seed  production 
generally,  and  anyone  looking  into  his  houses  now,  where  such  fine 
varieties  as  Suttons’  AI,  Improved  Telegraph  (a  marvellous  cropper). 
Matchless,  Success,  The  Keeper,  and  others,  would  find  the  plants  growing 
in  narrow  ridges  of  soil  20  inches  across,  and  some  8  to  9  inches  deep  in 
the  centre,  kept  in  place  by  boards  on  each  side  7  inches  deep.  The  plants 
are  about  20  inches  apart.  In  this  way,  with  root  room  restricted,  and 
where  top-dressing  and  feeding  can  ba  done,  not  only  are  wonderfully 
fine  crops  produced,  but  fruits  that  must  rank  among  the  handsomest  in 
the  kingdom. 
Tomato  Winter  Beauty. 
This  is  the  designation  of  a  new  vatioty  of  Tomato,  of  which  Mr» 
Mortimer  presented,  at. the  Drill  Hall  meeting  on  April  18th,  to  the  Fruit 
Committee  such  a  large  nunsber  of  fine  lipe  fruits,  and  obtained  for  it 
an  award  of  merit.  A  few  days  since  I  saw  the  variety  in  bulk,  growing 
in  a  long  low  span  house.  The  plants  w  ere  those  that  had  furnished  the 
fruits  shown  on  the  18th  ult.  These  plants  were  in  10-inch  pots,  and 
standing  four  deep  on  each  side  of  the  house,  and  were  in  every  instance 
so  true  as  to  be  exact  duplicates  of  each  other — stout,  sturdy,  and  so 
dwarf  that  the  heights  ranged  from  20  to  24  inches.  On  the  top  of 
each  plant  was  a  big  cluster  of  very  fine  fruits,  each  cluster  being 
probably  3  lbs.  in  weight.  The  sample — even  inferior  to  that  shown 
on  the  I8th,  for  the  finest  fruits  of  the  early  batch  had  been  gathered 
and  shown  previously — gave  many  so  handsome  as  to  be  equal  to  the 
well  known  Perfection  form.  All  were  of  a  very  heavy  description, 
being  as  solid  as  fruits  well  can  be.  The  first  plants  were  raised  from 
a  sowing  made  quite  early  in  November,  the  present  one  being  from  a 
sowing  made  towards  the  end  of  the  month.  All  were  placed  in  the 
fruiting  pits  early  in  January.  Temperature  during  the  winter  ranged 
from  55“  at  night  to  75°  on  sunny  days.  The  appearance  of  so  many 
plants  in  fruit  in  this  way  was  a  remarkable  spectacle,  and  could  not 
probably  be  equalled  anywhere  so  early  in  the  season,  or  by  any  other 
variety.  Conqueror,  raised  at  the  same  time,  and  grown  under  the  same 
conditions,  was  far  excelled  by  Winter  Beauty.  The  fine  set  of  fruit  was 
produced  by  tapping  the  Bamboo  canes  supporting  the  plants  daily. 
—A.  D. 
HIPPEASTRUMS  AT  CHELSEA. 
These  gorgeous  flowers  have  been  very  fine  again  this  season  at 
Messrs.  Jas.  Veitch  &  Sons’  nursery  at  Chelsea,  and  the  house  devoted  to 
their  culture  presented  a  bright  display  on  the  occasion  of  a  recent  visit. 
But  one  has  to  examine  the  flowers  themselves  to  sec  their  individual 
merit.  The  firm  has  long  been  celebrated  for  the  Hippeastrums,  and 
judging  by  the  specimens  seen,  an  immense  amount  of  care  and  attention 
has  been  bestowed  upon  the  crossing  or  hybridising,  for  chance  work 
would  not  have  brought  about  such  results.  The  operator  has  to  keep 
in  view  not  merely  the  variation  in  colouring,  but  the  form  and  substance 
of  the  flower.  Anyone  who  is  in  the  habit  ot  crossing  these  plants  knows 
perfectly  well  the  inclination  to  run  back,  as  it  were,  and  produce  narrow 
segments,  especially  the  lower  one— such  forms  were  almost  absent  in 
the  Chelsea  house.  One  would  hardly  give  the  Chelsea  atmosphere 
credit  for  producing  such  healthy  foliage. 
To  give  a  detailed  description  of  all  the  good  varieties  seen  would 
occupy  too  much  space,  so  I  shall  content  myself  with  noting  the  cream 
of  the  varieties  Pythion  was  the  first  to  attract  attention  ;  it  is  a  deep 
crimson.  Raphand  is  rosy  crimson,  with  white  central  veins.  Talaus,  a 
bright  orange  red,  feathered  and  veined  with  white,  is  an  attractive 
flover.  Ira,  another  orange  of  a  deeper  shade,  with  a  creamy  white 
ground  and  veins,  is  of  great  substance.  Etis,  rich  glowing  crimson,  is  a 
perfect  flower,  as  is  Tarasco,  crimson  veined  with  a  deeper  shade. 
