"  '  •  '  '  ,  '  • . 
July  24,  1902.  JOURNAL  CF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  79 
Devon  Gardeners’  Outing. 
Commercial  Floriculture  in  Italy. 
Each  year  the  Devon  and  Exeter  Gardeners’  Association 
enjoy  an  annual  trip,  and  their  latest  was  held  last  week,  under 
the  arrangements  of  the  indefatigable  hon.  secretary  (Mr. 
Andrew  Hope),  the  genial  hon.  treasurer  (Mr.  Wallace  Alackay), 
and  the  committee.  The  party,  which  included  some  friends, 
numbered  about  sixty,  and  assembling  at  St.  David’s  Station, 
Exeter,  journeyed  to  Totnes.  Arrived  later  at  Greenway,  a 
landing  was  made  at  the  private  pier  for  the  purpose  of  inspect¬ 
ing,  by  invitation,  the  extensive  and  well-arranged  grounds  of 
Air.  T.  Bedford  Bolitho’s  magnificent  seat.  The  experts  of  the 
party  were,  of  course,  deeply  interested  and  much  admired  the 
many  rare  delights  on  this  beautiful  estate,  some  of  which  are 
probably  quite  unique  as  specimens  of  arboriculture.  The  Blue 
Gum  trees  wrere  notable,  some  of  them  have  been  imported 
from  Air.  Bolitho’s  Cornish  seat  at  Penzance,  and  the  salubrious 
Heliconia  vinosa.  (See  page  78). 
climate  of  the  river  Dart  seems  to  be  as  congenial  to  their 
habit  as  to  that  of  their  original  home.  Here  were  Blue 
Gum  trees  from  20  to  30  feet  high,  an  unusually  fine 
specimen  of  the  Tulip  Tree,  bearing  its  golden  yellow  blossoms, 
the  New  Zealand  Flax  just  bursting  into  bloom,  while  the 
Pittosporum  seemed  to  be  entirely  at  home.  Few  of  the 
gardeners  present  had  ever  seen  these  so  well  developed,  the 
foliage  being  of  beautifully  crisped  olive  green.  There  is  a 
luxuriance  of  blossom  on  the  parterres,  and  Roses  ramble  at 
will  on  the  jutting  rocks  and  tree  trunks,  forming  a  picture  to 
marvel  at,  while  the  conservatories  contain  a  wealth  of  flower¬ 
ing  Pelargoniums,  Begonias,  and  other  hothouse  plants.  In 
the  flower  gardens  and  kitchen  gardens  there  was  evidence  of 
the  expert’s  skill  and  care.  There  were  abundant  crops  of 
Figs  and  other  fruits,  rows  of  Sweet  Peas  10  feet  high,  and 
many  herbaceous  plants  in  full  bloom.  Taking  a  winding  path 
through  the  woods  belonging  to  the  estate,  some  beautiful  views 
of  the  entrance  to  Dartmouth'  harbour  were  had.  Rejoining 
the  boat  the  party  steamed  down  to  Kingswear,  where  they 
were  met  by  Air.  Allen,  head  gardener  to  Mr.  R.  F.  Wilkins,  of 
Brookhill,  who  conducted  them  to  this  charming  retreat.  There 
was  a  couple  of  hours’  rtroll,  and  then  the  return  to  home. 
Air.  Peter  Crovetto,  who  has  spent  several  years  in  American 
commercial  floriculture,  and  is  now  located  in  Chiavari,  Italy, 
writes  to  a.  friend  in  Tewkesbury,  Alass.,  so  entertainingly  of 
what  he  has  observed  in  that  distant  country  that  we  (“  The 
American  Florist  ”)  have  obtained  permission  to  publish  the 
following  abstract  of  his  letter: — 
“  The  principal  flowers  here  are  Roses,  which  are  grown  as  are 
Currants  and  similar  stock  in  America.  In  summer  they  get 
rested  naturally  by  the  dry  spell,  often  of  five,  six,  or  seven 
months’  duration.  From  the  latter  part  of  August  until  October 
20  they  are  carefully  pruned,  cultivated  and  mulched.  The  first 
rain  generally  comes  in  September,  and  after  that  they  start  to 
grow  as  though  spring  was  approaching.  The  first  flowers  come 
in  November,  but  the  full  crop  is  generally  between  December  1 
and  January  15,  when  the  Bordighera,  Nice  and  Cannes  Roses 
come  in  full  blaze  and  last  until 
the  1st  of  March,  after  which  the 
flowers  are  generally  poor,  but  by 
that  time  so  many  bulbs  are  flower¬ 
ing  that  the  Roses  are  not 
missed. 
“Next  in  importance  to  the 
Rose  and  Camellia  are  the  Carna¬ 
tions.  These  are  planted  out  in 
like  manner,  but  they  being  very 
particular  about  soil,  and  it  being 
next  to  impossible  to<  obtain  sod 
here,  we  must  work  the  soil  to  a 
depth  of  more  than  3ft  to  turn  up 
the  deep  subsoil,  otherwise  the 
plants  get  the  stem-rot,  fully  Oil 
per  cent,  of  them.  The  result  of 
this  hard  work  is  that  we  get  good 
Carnation  plants,  and  the  culture 
is  much  the  same  as  in  America 
when  grown  in  the  field.  All 
colours  are  grown,  the  scarcest 
being  good  pink  sorts.  Every 
flower  bursts  the  calyx,  but  the 
blooms  are  so  nice  and  large  and  so 
double  that  the  bursting  is  hardly 
noticeable. 
“  I  have  several  American 
varieties,  and  the  most  of  them 
burst  also,  but  on  account  of  their 
long  calyxes  these  flowers  are  use¬ 
less,  while  ours  are  short  in  calyx, 
and  when  open  hold  the  petals  well 
together  w  i  t  li  o  u  t  appearing, 
ragged.  Flora  Hill  splits  80  per 
cent.,  Crocker  50,  White  Cloud  50, 
Alaceo  30,  and  Joost  bursts  but 
seldom.  Crane  is  too  single  and 
light  in  colour.  Crocker  is  fine  in 
colour,  form  and  tissue,  and  is 
much  liked.  Over  here  nobody 
thinks  of  disbudding  Carnations. 
The  blooms  are  picked  short  and 
all  t]ie  buds  allowed  to  come  along, 
as  was  done  in  America  twelve  or 
fifteen  years  ago. 
“  We  have,  besides,  one  class  of 
Carnations,  different  from  all  the 
others  called  the  ‘  Big  Carnations.’ 
They  are  fully  Sin  to  7in  in 
diameter,  and  notwithstanding 
that  they  are  all  bursters,  I  think  they  could  be  made  to  pay  in 
America,  for  the  colours  are  very  fine,  and  they  are  preferred  to 
anything  else  by  American  or  English  travellers.  They  are  grown 
by  but  a  few  of  the  best  growers,  for  they  are  difficult  and  require 
much  care.  They  bloom  all  winter  alongside  the  American 
varieties.  They  are  grown  in  Tin  pots  and  kept  well  staked. 
“  Camellias  are  grown  here  very  extensively.  They  are  shipped 
all  over  Germany,  North  Italy,  Switzerland,  Austria,  and  largely 
in  Russia,  for  they  have  the  quality  of  lasting  twelve  or  fifteen 
days.  Stocks  are  a  staple,  very  fine,  in  all  shades  but  mostly 
white  and  pink,  also  Daffodils,  many  Anemones,  Daisies,  the  largo 
white  and  yellow  ones;  Callas  and  Gladioli.  Freesia  is  simply  a 
weed,  but  all  of  the  yellow  variety.  Acacia  is  a  stand-by  crop,  and 
is  sold  by  tons.  We  have  Acacias  15ft  to  50ft  high,  in  many 
species,  such  as  semperflorens,  dealbata,  cultriformis,  microphylla, 
floribunda,  and  six  or  eight  others.  Violets  are  abundant,  and 
much  cheaper  than  in  America. 
“  Chrysanthemums  are  grown  by  everybody,  but  few  grow  them 
well.  Last  October  at  the  Geneva  exhibition  many  very  large 
and  beautiful  blooms  were  shown,  but  only  by  four  or  five  growers 
out  of  the  very  many  hundreds  who  grow  flowers  at  Geneva.  I 
have  planted  3,000  Chrysanthemums,  and  have  more  to  plant  yet, 
