36 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  10,  1902. 
The  Judas  Tree. 
In  reference  to  the  Judas  Tree  (Cercis  siliquastrum,  page  534, 
No.  2,803  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture),  the  “Westminster 
Gazette  ”  states  there  is  not.  more  than  four  specimens  in  Eng¬ 
land.  Are  you  or  the  “Gazette”  aware  there  is  a  fine  speci¬ 
men  on  this  estate  (Wellbury,  Hitchin),  18ft  high,  15ft  through, 
and  twenty-seven  years  of  age?  I  think  perhaps  this  one  is 
unknown  to  horticultural  friends. — Constant  Header. 
[We  did  not  know  that  so  fine  a  specimen  existed,  but  we 
believe  that  the  computation  as  to  numbers  by  the  “Westmin¬ 
ster  Gazette  ”  is  far  from  being  correct. — Ed.] 
Profitable  Apples  of  Upright  Growth. 
In  replying  further  to  “  Beginner  ”  let  me  say  that  Lord 
Grosvenor  is  a  compact,  yet  strong,  upright  grower.  Bramley’s 
Seedling  spreads  considerably,  but  as  it  grows  strongly  and  up¬ 
right  when  the  trees  are  young,  by  pruning  it  can  easily  be  kept 
in  a  condition  suitable  for  “  Beginner’s  ”  purpose.  Duchess  of 
Oldenburg  is  quite  an  upright  kind,  and  a  grand  cropper  to 
boot.  Beauty  of  Bath  and  Pott’s  Seedling  are  also  upright 
growers.  I  have  just  been  looking  at  a  heavily  ladened  tree  of 
Frogmore  Prolific,  and  it  reminds  me  that  I  should  have  in¬ 
cluded  it  in  my  former  lists,  as  it  is  a  grand  Apple,  and  grows 
upright  .  I  have  seen  splendid  samples  of  Allington  Pippin  grow¬ 
ing  in  a  stiff  soil,  where  it  crops  well,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  it 
must  become  a  popular  market  sort.  Golden  Spire  seems  to  be 
little  known,  but  it  is  a  grand  cooking  Apple,  which  crops  as  well 
as  Lord  Suffield  ;  but  the  fruit  is  longer,  and  very  much  brighter 
in  colour.  It  is  usually  ripe  by  the  end  of  September,  and 
grows  quite  upright. — H.  D. 
Violas  at  Tamworth. 
- - 
Do  Bulbs  Rest? 
Your  correspondent,  “  Y.  B.  A.  Z.,”  asks,  “Do  Bulbs  Best?  ” 
I  have  been  puzzled  with  the  behaviour  of  Tropseolum  penta- 
phyllu'm.  I  planted  early  last  year  two  tubers,  one  at  the  foot 
of  a  south  wall  and  one  of  a  west  wall.  They  broke  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  October.  With  some  protection  they  weathered  the 
winter,  and  one  is  now  growing  away  with  fair  vigour  and  the 
other  more  weakly.  A  tuber  planted  last  year,  also  on  a  west 
wall,  broke  early,  and  was  a  lovely  sight,  growing  about  10ft 
high,  and  blooming  profusely ;  this  was  left  undisturbed  in  the 
ground,  but  it  shows  no  sign  of  starting.  Examination  shows 
the  tubers  to  be  sound,  but  I  am  afraid  shall  have  to  wait-  till 
autumn,  when  they  may  start  at  an  unfavourable  season. 
Another  plant  I  have,  tuber  left  in  the  ground,  has  broken,  and 
is  growing  favourably.  I  wonder  if  any  special  treatment  will 
ensure  the  growth  starting  early  for  the  summer  bloom? — 
T.  J.  T. 
Princess  of  Wales  Violet  in  Summer, 
I  can  fully  bear  out  what  your  correspondent  remarks  of  pot 
plants  of  this  Violet  flowering  in  summer.  It  does  so  here 
regularly,  and,  I  think,  though  the  blooms  are  not  so  large,  that 
they  are  even  more  beautiful  than  those  of  the  first  crop.  I 
made  a  cross  of  double  white  Narcissi  and  these  Violets  last 
month,  which  formed  an  altogether  lovely  combination.  But,  in 
addition-  to  flowering  so  late,  it  is  possible,  by  allowing  the 
runners  to  grow  after  the  plants  have  been  housed  in  autumn, 
to  secure  a' second  crop  of  bloom  from  these,  flowers  being  pro¬ 
duced  from  the  axil  of  each  leaf. — R.  P.  Brotherston. 
Trees  and  Shrubs  in  Scotland. 
You  must  have  a  large  number  of  readers  in  Scotland,  although 
little  appears  in  your  columns  directly  applicable  to  difficulties  ’ 
and  successes  there.  The  letter  by  “  D.  C.”  in  the  current  issue 
of  the  Journal  will  be  interesting  to  many.  Numerous  shrubs 
and  plants  flourish  here  under  conditions  that  appear  totally 
antagonistic  to  their  assumed  characteristics.  The  experiences 
of  your  readers,  where  success  has  resulted,  would  enhance  the 
attractiveness  of  many  places  that  are  presently  given  over  to 
Cherry  and  Portugal  Laurels.  In  my  garden  on  the  Firth  of 
Clyde,  I  can  to-day  gather  a  basketful  of  Roses,  among  them 
such  reputed  shy  bloomers  as  Perl©  des  Jardins  and  Devon  iensis ; 
while  Gustave  Regis,  Allister  Stella  Grey,  and  such  free 
bloomers  are  laden  down  with  buds.  Two  bushes  of  Choisya 
ternata  are  growing  strong,  and  are  full  of  sweet  white 
blossoms.  An  Escallonia  macrantha  reaches  the  top  of  a  wall, 
12ft  or  15ft  high,  and  in  another  position  forms  a  dividing 
hedge.  A  Clematis  montana,  threatens  to  strangle  a  Cherry 
tree,  while  C.  vitalba  is  executing  a  like  murderous  office  upon 
a  Rowan,  and  the  large  flowered  varieties  make  pictures  on  the 
wall's.  Rosemary  and  Lavender  both  bloom.  Passiflora  crerulea 
and  the  white  variety  push  among  the  Ivy,  and  deck  it  with 
their  starry  blossoms.  A  Camellia  of  small  size,  in  a  sheltered 
spot,  perfected  a  considerable  number  of  blossoms.  An  Arbutus 
was  cut  down’  by  frost  some  years  ago,  but  has  started  away 
again,  and  bears  blooms  and  fruit.  The  truth  lies  in  “D.  C.  s” 
comment  that  we  accept  as  gospel  what  has  been  handed  down 
to  us,  and  make  no  effort,  to  prove  the  adaptability  of  the 
numerous  lovely  things  which  merge  upon  the  line  of  “  not 
quite  hardy.” — An  Old  Reader. 
The  midland  town  of  Tamworth,  so  noted  for  its  potteries 
and  celebrated  breed  of  pigs,  has  during  recent  years  become 
associated  in  the  gardening  world  as  the  birthplace  of  many  of 
our  best  Violas,  and  being  an  ardent  fancier  of  this  flower  I  had 
long  entertained  an  idea  of  visiting  this  centre  to  inspect  the 
nurseries  of  Mr.  W.  Sydenham,  and,  receiving  a  cordial  invita¬ 
tion  from  that  gentleman,  I  proceeded  the  first  week  in  August 
of  last  year  to  Tamworth.  Most  of  your  readers  will  remember 
the  violent  gale  the  Saturday  before  the  Bank  Holiday  which 
did  so  much  damage  throughout  the  country,  especially  to  our 
fruit  and  market  crops,  and  didn’t  it  just  blow  at  Tamworth! — 
yes,  and  rain,  too!  But  to  enthusiasts  the  weather  matters 
little  at  any  time,  so  we  were  not  deterred  from  walking  through 
the  beds  of  Violas — and  such  beds,  too !  It  seemed  to  me  each 
bed  of  the  popular  varieties  would  contain  about  a  thousand 
stock  plants,  while  the  others  would  contain  half  that  number. 
I  leave  the  reader  to  imagine  what  one  hundred  and  sixty' 
varieties  of  such  beds  wTould  look  like — to  me  they  were  a  perfect 
sea  of  flowers — covering  quite  an  acre  of  ground. 
When  we  consider  the  number  of  cuttings  a  bed  of  such 
dimensions  will  produce  it  will  give  some  idea  of  the  vast 
quantity  required  here  for  propagating  purposes.  The  effect 
produced  by  the  bewildering  shades  of  colour  was  simply  charm¬ 
ing,  for  though  the  wind  had  played  such  havoc  with  the 
herbaceous  plants  and  the  early-flowering  Chrysanthemums  in 
the  open  quarters,  its  only  effect  on  the  Violas  was  to  blow  them 
all  one  way  ;  but  after  the  wind  decreased  and  the  sun  shone 
forth,  in  an  hour  or  two  they  were  as  happy  looking  as  though 
there  had  been  no  wind  in  the  Midlands  for  months. . 
As  Mr.  W.  Sydenham  is  now  so  noted  as  a  raiser  of  Violas,  I 
naturally  expected  to  see  a  goodly  number  of  seedling  beds; 
but  the  quantity  was  an  eye-opener  for  me,  for  there  were 
literally  thousands  and  thousands  of  them — beds  devoted  to 
distiiict  colours,  such  as  white,  yellow,  and  blue,  and  so  on,  while 
huge  breadths  of  the  mixed  colours  were  all  in  the  full  beauty 
of  their  youth.  I  gathered  that,  although  Mr.  Sydenham  does 
artificially  cross-fertilise,  his  experience  has  been  hitherto  that 
his  best  seedlings  have  come  from  chance  seed  gathered  from 
the  best  varieties — an  easy  matter  at  Tamworth,  for  the  seed 
of  each  variety  is  saved  separately,  so  that  the  parentage  is 
always  known,  at  least,  so  far  as  the  seed  parent  is  concerned. 
To  a  Viola  fancier  these  beds  were  most  interesting,  and  I  spent 
a  very  pleasant  hour  looking  over  the  likely-looking  youngsters. 
Ten  years  ago  one  might  have  selected  a  hundred  that  would 
have  been  worthy  of  a  name-;  but  things  have  altered,  ideas  are 
now  narrowed  down,  for  the  advance  made  during  the  last 
decade  with  this  flower  has  been  pretty  considerable,  and  a 
variety  that  would  have  been  considered  a  gem  a  few  years  ago 
must  now  be  passed  over,  for  the  Tamworth  varieties  are  not 
only  noted  for  their  flowers,  but  also  for  their  habit  of  growth, 
and  a  form,  however  good  the  flower,  is  considered  a  weed  by 
Mr.  Sydenham  unless  the  habit  be  good  also.  And  I  think  this 
is  as  it  should  be,  for  although  the  Viola  exhibitor  has  to  be 
considered,  the  general  public  must  come  first,  and  the  life  of  a 
Viola  is  indeed  short  if  it  should  prove  to  be  a  bad  garden 
flower.  Some  capital  novelties  were  marked  for  further  trial, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  a  goodly  number  of  others  were  worthy  of 
similar  notice,  the  seedlings  from  Lark  being  especially 
noticeable. 
I  observed  that  a  change  of  ground  is  deemed  as  necessary 
here  as  at  most  places,  and  Narcissi,  Roses,  Chrysanthemums, 
and  herbaceous  plants  are  used  extensively  as  change  crops,  and, 
in  spite  of  this,  large  square  patches  of  the  paddocks  have  also 
