98 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  31,  1901s 
forecast  of  6uch  casualty  being  given.  Here,  again,  is  afforded  an 
instance  of  the  disability  of  too  restricted  a  selection.  This 
unfortunately  happened  rather  extensively  last  autumn  with  such 
standard  sorts  as  Marie  Louise,  Doyenne  du  Comice,  Beurr6  Hardy, 
Napoleon,  and  Seckle,  the  consequence  of  which  is  that  though 
collectively  there  is  a  good  bulk  to  draw  upon,  this  iB  rendered  small 
through  this  daily  and  sudden  collapse.  Pitmaston  Duchess  and 
Beurrd  Clairgeau,  two  useful,  but  not  by  any  means  high-class  Pear?, 
were  very  much  addicted  to  this  premature  decay  ;  fruits  that  one 
day  would  appear  sound  were  the  next  quite  rotteD.  Napoleon, 
a  thin-skinned  Pear  of  similar  complexion  to  that  of  Pitmaston, 
also  suffered.  This  was  regrettable  because  it  was  extremely 
handsome  in  outline  and  colour,  and  very  pleasant  to  eat,  which  cannot 
be  said  of  all  good  looking  Pears. 
The  disappointing  aspect  of  Pears  comes  in  the  dearth  which 
follows  plenty  so  early  in  the  winter,  and,  as  I  have  previously 
remarked,  it  is  depressing  when  one’s  stock  dwindles  away  in  the 
face  of  catalogue  descriptions,  which  give  their  seasons  as  from  January 
to  March,  and  even  later,  when  the  stock  of  so-called  late  ones  is 
practically  finished  by  the  end  of  December.  For  instance,  Olivier 
de  Serres  should  be  in  season  during  February  and  March.  This  I 
saw  in  the  fruiterers’  windows  ripe  in  December,  and  what  few  fruits 
young  trees  produced  on  any  trees  were  ripe  in  that  month.  Josephine 
de  Malines  (February  to  April)  was  used  for  the  Christmas  festival, 
and  an  effort  to  extend  them  tailed  even  to  keep  them  to  the  middle 
of  January. 
Easter  Beurre  has  a  misleading  title  ;  if  it  was  named  Christmas 
Beurre  it  would  convey  a  truer  tale,  for  this  is  invariably  when  it  is 
used.  The  French  consignments,  too,  are  sometimes,  if  not  always, 
ready  then.  Glou  Moreau  did  not  wait  for  Christmas,  and  the  same 
failing  developed  in  this  as  in  the  earlier  autumn  Pears  ;  indeed  this 
undesirable  trait  characterised  almost  all  the  dessert  Pears  in  a  greater 
or  lesser  degree.  Pear  time  thus  resolves  itself  into  a  season  extending 
over  five  months.  In  retrospect  these  twenty  odd  weeks  seem  to 
have  had  a  very  short  and  merry  time,  and  though  probably  Pears 
can  be  better  spared  now  than  earlier  through  the  Orange  crop 
supplying  so  general  an  everyday  dessert,  to  the  gardener  the  dearth 
of  Pears  gives  reflections  by  no  means  pleasant. 
The  Pear  crop  here  surpassed  both  in  extent  and  quality  many 
predecessors,  almost  every  tree  contributing  to  what  was  considered  a 
most  satisfactory  fruit-room  furnish  ;  but,  apparently,  though  the  heat 
of  summer  suited  the  trees  so  far  as  it  affected  the  fruit  in  the  matter 
of  size,  there  were  aspects  carried  in  its  train  that  were  not 
productive  of  the  best  results.  Perhaps  there  are  some  among  your 
readers  who  can  throw  a  little  light  on  the  subject  in  what  Mr.  Taylor 
recently  described,  and  not  inaptly,  too,  a  little  home-made  theory. 
Mr.  Abbey,  I  am  sure,  in  his  almost  unexampled  store  of  practical 
knowledge,  and  especially  that  of  a  scientific  nature,  can  dispense 
some  very  tangible  reasons  and  causes  for  this  premature  decay  that 
has  been  a  source  of  so  much  trouble. 
The  majority  of  the  trees  in  these  gardens  have  been  planted  a 
good  many  years,  and  have  attained  to  large  size,  consequently 
their  roots  are  not  so  near  the  surface  as  in  younger  trees.  The 
subsoil  being  of  a  mild  or  sancjy  clayey  nature,  fluctuates  considerably 
by  weather  changes,  thus  in  times  of  drought  it  becomes  dry  to  a 
good  depth,  and  artificial  watering,  a  necessity,  is  entirely  out  of  the 
question.  The  tropical  nature  of  the  past  summer  would  seem  to 
have  suited  these  trees,  judging  by  the  large  size  and  bright  colours 
of  the  fruit,  but  whether  they  were  able  to  store  the  needful  juices 
for  perfect  matuiity  remains  either  a  doubt  or  a  negative  certainty. 
I  am  much  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  absence  of  root  moisture 
is  that  to  which  the  cause  of  this  trouble  is  to  be  attributed, 
especially  as  it  was  contemporary  with  solar  heat  above  that  of  the 
average. 
It  is  observable  that  in  warm  summers  many  Pears  attain  to 
greater  perfection  than  in  those  which  are  more  cloudy  and  wet,  and 
in  some  measure,  no  doubt,  this  explains  the  reason  of  the  greater  size 
of  the  Pears  that  come  into  the  English  markets  from  more  sunny 
France.  The  mildness  of  the  autumn  allowed  of  the  fruit  hanging 
later  than  usual  on  the  trees,  a  point  emphasised  always  in  dealing 
with  stored  fruit,  especially  that  destined  to  keep  until  late  in  winter. 
The  subject  appears  to  be  one  that  ap>peals  for  the  opinions  of  the 
Journal  readers,  an  exchange  of  which  is  always  agreeable,  as  it 
affords  the  ‘reader  opportunity  of  seeking  for  truths  hitherto 
unrevealed. 
Cultural  conditions  vary  so  considerably,  as  do  the  opportunity  of 
research,  that  were  it  not  for  the  interchange  of  thought  gained  by 
the  digest  of  the  Journal  pages  we  k  by  week  some  gardeners  would 
sink  into  an  inextricable  groove,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  fruit 
growing,  and  Pears  not  less  important,  is  a  subject  all  are  interested 
in,  and  are  brought  into  touch  with  in  some  degree.  President 
Barab6,  Marie  Benoist,  Nouvelle  Fulvie,  and  Le  Lectier  are  varieties 
that  are  of  more  modern  recommendation  for  late  keeping,  but  reports 
of  this  winter  have  already  given  these  as  ripe  and  in  use.  Tnat  being 
so,  what  hope  is  there  of  having  these  same  in  March  ? — 
W.  Strugnell,  Rood  Ashton. 
- - 
Certificated  Plants,— No.  5. 
The  Carnation. 
A  volume  might  be  devoted  to  tracing  the  development  of  the 
Carnation  during  the  last  fifty  years.  Not  that  there  was  a  lack  of 
named  varieties  at  that  time  ;  they  were  on  the  whole  more  plentiful 
than  in  our  own  day,  because  raisers  were  so  much  more  numerous. 
It  is>  worthy  of  mention  that  two  varieties  which  appear  in  lists 
published  in  1848 — viz.,  S.  B.  Admiral  Curzon  and  P.  P.  B.  Sarah 
Payne — are  leading  exhibition  flowers  in  the  present  day ;  indeed, 
Admiral  Curzon  at  its  best  cannot  be  beaten  in  its  section.  Who  can 
say,  in  the  face  of  this  statement,  that  there  is  a  constitutional 
tendency  in  varieties  to  wear  out  ?  .  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
since  the  establishment  of  the  Floral  Committee  as  many  as  148 
awards  have  been  made  to  Carnations,  not  one  was  given  until  1887, 
and  then  Alice  Ayres,  Amber  Graevetye  Gem  (Mrs.  Reynolds  Hole), 
and  the  Pink  Souvenir  de  la  Malmaison,  were  so  honoured,  followed 
by  Germania  and  a  few  others  in  1888. 
Meanwhile  the  National  Carnation  and  Picotee  Society  had  been 
operating  north  and  south.  The  late  Mr.  Dodwell  had  taken  a 
commanding  lead  as  a  raiser  of  new  varieties,  followed  by  Mr.  James 
Douglas  and  others.  But  a  revolution  in  the  flower  was  brought 
about  by  Mr.  Martin  R.  Smith,  who,  some  twelve  years  or  so  ago, 
began  to  seed  the  Carnation  at  Hayes,  and  at  once  set  up  a  standard 
of  quality  which  has  ruled  since.  As  a  contemporary  raiser  Mr. 
Smith  has  outstripped  everyone,  and  caring  less  for  the  white  grounds, 
flakes,  and  bizarres,  he  mainly  devoted  himself  to  the  seifs  and  yellow 
grounds;  he  improved  upon  Mr.  Douglas’  flowers  of  the  last  named 
class,  and  he  may  be  said  to  have  created  the  section  of  “Fancy” 
varieties.  How  popular  the  yellow  grounds  and  Fancies  have  become 
can  be  seen  in  gardens  and  on  the  exhibition  tables  of  the  National 
Carnation  and  Picotee  Society.  Loyal  to  his  ideals  of  quality,  Mr. 
Smith  still  holds  a  commanding  lead  as  a  producer,  and  he  can  survey 
with  justifiable  pride  the  preponderance  of  flowers  of  his  own  raising 
on  the  exhibition  stands ;  and  they  abound  in  gardens  also. 
The  late  Mr.  Charles  Turner  did  much  to  improve  the  winter¬ 
flowering  type.  I  can  remember  the  tree  Carnations  of  half  a  century 
ago — tall,  lanky,  and  spare  of  foliage.  There  are  now  a  large  number 
of  winter-flowering  varieties  that  are  constantly  receiving  accessions  ; 
a  few  varieties  such  as  Miss  Joliffe,  Mrs.  Leopold  de  Rothschild, 
William  Robinson,  Winter  Cheer,  Uriah  Pike,  and  others  are  largely 
grown  for  cutting  for  market. 
Not  less  marked  has  been  the  advance  made  with  the  Malmaison 
type,  the  origin  of  which  seems  to  be  involved  in  some  obscurity.  A 
list  of  a  dozen  named  varieties  might  be  mentioned  in  this  section, 
and  Mr.  M.  R.  Smith  is  extending  the  family ;  also  Malmaison 
Carnations  for  blooming  in  spring  and  early  summer  are  now  grown  to 
a  very  large  extent,  and  as  sp'endid  specimen  plants  three  and  four 
years  old.  The  flower  might  almost  be  said  to  be  the  floral  badge  of 
the  head  of  the  family  of  the  Rothschilds. 
The  introduction  of  the  hybrid  Margaret  type,  a  section  obtained 
by  mixing  the  blood  of  the  aunual  Dhnthus  chinensis  with  that  of 
the  perennial  strains,  has  given  to  gardeners  a  section  which  can  be 
had  in  flower  in  a  very  few  months  from  the  time  of  sowing.  The 
section  is  undergoing  considerable  improvement,  and  most  of  the 
blossoms  are  fragrant,  while  varied  in  colour,  and  in  most  cases  the 
petals  are  fringed. 
That  near  relative  of  the  Carnation,  the  scented  Pink,  once  in  its 
fascinating  laced  character  so  dear  to  the  florist,  has  certainly  declined 
in  the  public’s  estimation.  The  fact  that  it  has  to  be  grown  out  of 
doors  in  the  winter,  and  that  its  blossoms  need  protection  in  the 
spring  and  early  summer  in  order  to  have  them  perfectly  laced,  has 
operated  to  reduce  the  area  of  its  culture,  and  there  are  no  Pink  shows 
in  these  days  to  fire  the  ardour  of  cultivators.  But  as  border  plants, 
and  especially  because  of  their  hardihood  and  flortferousness,  the  laced 
Pinks  are  indispensable.  A  number  of  border  varieties  are  cultivated 
which  are  very  free  blooming  and  equally  valuable  ;  some  of  them  are 
grown  extensively  for  bunching  for  market.  It  is  fervently  to  be 
hoped  there  will  always  be  louud  some  who  will  not  suffer  the  fragrant 
laced  Pinks  to  fall  away  into  utter  neglect,  for  they  are  too  precious  to 
.  become  entirely  lost. — R.  Dean. 
