356 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  16,  1992. 
Eva. — This  is  the  purest  white  variety  we  have,  and  is  a 
novelty  of  this  year.  The  size  is  only  moderate,  and  the  centres  of 
the  flowers  and  the  quantity  of  petals  composing  them  were 
inclined  to  be  weak  and  spare  from  what  I  have  seen  of  it.  The 
florets  or  petals  curve  centrewards.  No  doubt  it  may  be  seen  in 
better  condition  another  year. 
Winsome  would  seem  to  be  poor  as  a  staying  flower,  for  at  the 
exhibitions  it  soon  faded.  This  is  a  great  drawback  in  any  Cactus 
Dahlia,  and  raisers  should  select  varieties  with  stamina.  The 
irregular  petals  are  ivory  white,  and  considerably  broadened. 
Albion  came  forward  this  year  for  the  first  time,  and  was 
thought  by  some  connoisseurs  to  be  the  best  novelty  of  the  season. 
The  blooms  remain  fresh  for  a  couple  of  days,  and  are  well  built 
and  nicely  filled.  The  long  radiating  petals  are  white,  or  ivory 
white,  and  strong.  It  is  a  really  good  Cactus  Dahlia. 
Enchantment  has  a  greenish-primrose  centre,  and  becomes 
purplish  mauve  towards  the  outer  parts  of  the  fiowTer.  It  is  a 
pretty  and  attractive  flower,  of  fair  size,  the  petals  being  nicely 
fluted. 
Ida,  as  a  flower,  is  of  a  deeper  yellow  than  Mrs.  E.  Mawley, 
and  probably  on  that  account  loses  in  delicacy.  The  flower  fur¬ 
nishes  an  uncommon  type  of  Cactus  Dahlia,  for  the  florets  are 
arranged  in  swirlpool  order,  each  inclined  in  rotary  fashion.  The 
petals  are  narrowly  fluted  and  strong.  It.  is  decidedly  a  good 
flower. 
Mary  Farnsworth  is  distinctly  a  bicolor  Cactus,  the  centre 
being  soft  canary  yellow,  while  the  tips  of  the  lower  petals  are 
white.  The  blooms,  however,  are  slack  and  poor. 
The  King  furnishes  a  smart  bloom  of  moderate  size,  but  of 
good  substance  and  firm.  The  florets  are  narrow,  fluted,  and 
incurving — qualities  which  one  always  looks  for  in  a  present-day 
Cactus  flower — and  are  a  deep  ruby-crimson.  An  attractive  and 
showy  novelty. 
Clarence  Webb  is  decidedly  a  good  variety,  of  a  cheery  colour 
combination,  that  is,  salmon  centre  and  reddish  orange  petals. 
The  peculiarly  irregular  disposition  of  the  fluted  and  inarching 
petals  gives  much  charm  to  the  flowers. 
Amongst  other  varieties  of  high  excellence,  some  of  which  are 
new  and  others  well-known,  may  be  mentioned  the  following:  — 
Imperator,  Mrs.  E.  Mawley,  Mrs.  H.  J.  Jones  Gabriel,  Floradora, 
Ro-ine,  P.  W.  Tullocli,  Mrs.  Carter  Page,  Mrs.  J.  J.  Crowe, 
Mayor  Tuppeney,  J.  W.  Wilkinson,  Lord  Roberts,  R.  Dean,  and 
Vesta 
Myatt's  Fields,  Camberwell. 
Myatt’s  Fields  is  the  name  of  a  small  public  park  and  playing 
ground  in  Camberwell,  one  of  the  most  densely  populated  dis¬ 
tricts  in  south-east  London.  The  park  is  situated  on  part-  of  the 
highest  ground  in  the  district,  and  is  comparatively  open  and  ‘ 
breezy.  Villas  are  seen,  through  the  screen  belt  of  trees 
and  shrubs  on  every  side,  and  the  interior  features  of  the 
park  itself  are  interestingly  disposed.  Poplars,  Planes, 
and  Limes  are  the  prevailing  trees  here,  as  in  many  other 
parts  of  London;  and  a  diversified  selection  of  the 
arborescent  tribe  are  included,  among  which  are  berried 
Cratseguses,  Acacias,  golden  and  green  leaved  Catalpas, 
various  species  of  Berberis,  Genistas,  Ailantus,  and  Rhus. 
Some  robust  Fig  trees  were  noticed  in  companionship 
with  less  pretentious  members  in  the  shrubbery,  and 
showed  off  most  advantageously  in  such  position.  The 
Fig  has  bold  and  handsome  foliage'.  Yuccas  as  orna^- 
mental  specimens  on  the  grass  verges  and  by  the  fore¬ 
front  of  the  shrubberies,  also  deserve  remark. 
Hardy  herbaceous  perennials  and  half-hardy  annuals 
are  planted  in  front  of  all  the  shrubberies,  to  their 
improvement  in  colour,  richness,  and  brightness.  Mr. 
F.  W.  Wright  is  the  officer  in  charge,  and  entered  on  his 
superintendence  during  the  present  year.  Mr.  Wright 
was  previously  head  of  the  Victoria  Gardens  along  the 
Thames  Embankment,  and  was  for  a  good  many  years 
“  second  in  command  ”  at  the  large  Victoria  Park,  in  the 
East  End. 
A  pretty  feature  of  Myatt’s  Fields  is  the  transverse 
Lime  avenue  about  the  centre  of  the  grounds,  which 
affords  a  shady  recess  on  a  sunny  summer  day.  There  is 
a  considerable  amount  of  grass  land  for  the  use  of  those 
who  practise  the  popular  games,  and  all  the  park  is 
exceedingly  smart  and  well  kept.  The  walks,  so  finely 
sanded  and  smooth,  were  an  especial  pleasure  to'  me,  a 
stranger  there.  A  tennis  lawn  is  provided,  and  the 
presence  of  a  nursery  within  the  park  denotes  that  shrubs 
and  bedding  plants  for  the  annual  requirements  are 
raised  there.  The  formal  flower  beds  are  mainly  situated 
around  the  large  band-stand,  and  presented  a  very 
bright  display  in  effective  arrangements  at  the  time  of 
my  visit  in  September. 
men  in  particular,  and  the  following  varieties  are  generally  found 
to  be  characteristically  brightly  or  well  coloured: — Worcester 
Pearmain,  Duchess  of  Oldenburg,  Duchess’s  Favourite,  Lady 
Sudeley,  Devonshire  Querrenden,  Hoary  Morning,  Golden  Noble, 
American  Mother,  Red  Astrachan,  Belle  de  Boskoop,  Williams’ 
Favourite,  Winter  Pearmain,  Cellini  Pippin,  Tom  Putt, 
Golden  Spire,  Irish  Peach,  Ben’s  Red,  Red  Streak,  Bietiglieimer 
Red,  Okera,  Ribston  Pippin,  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin,  King  of  the 
Pippins,  Paroquet,  Belle  de  Pontoise,  Gascoigne’s  Scarlet, 
Emperor  Alexander,  Fearn’s  Pippin,  James  Grieve,  Yellow 
Ingestrie,  and  Wealthy. — Wandering  AVillie. 
CYCAS  REVOLUTA  1  AT  HOME. 
The  tall  Cycas  plants  portrayed  on  this  page  are  of  interest  to 
those  of  us  who  are  acustomed  to  see  only  pot-growm  specimens  in 
the  stoves  of  home  gardens.  They  grew  upon  the  site  of  what 
had  once  been  a  cemetery  adjacent  to  the  town  of  Paramaribo  (or 
Surinam),  in  Dutch  Guayana,  S.  America.  The  tallest  specimen 
was  9ft  3in  high,  the  second  tallest  was  8  J  f  t .  and  the  third  8ft. 
They  were  estimated  to  be  over  100  years  old.  Infinitely  more 
female  than  male  plants  are  known  to  exist.  Regarding  the 
genus,  the  following  notes  occur  in  Lindley  and  Moore’s 
“  Treasury  of  Botany,”  part  1,  page  368  : — “  A  remarkable  genus 
giving  its  name  to  the  order  Cycadaoese.  It  consists  of  trees  of 
no  great  height,  with  cylindrical  usually  unbranched  stems,  ter¬ 
minated  at  the  top  by  a  crown  of  handsome  deeply  cut  pinnate 
leaves  of  thick  texture.  The  male  flowers  grow  in  cones,  consist¬ 
ing  of  scale®  bearing  anthers  on  their  under  surface.  The  female 
plants  bear  in  the  centre  of  the  crown  of  leaves  surmounting  the 
stem  a  tuft  of  woolly  pinnately  cleft  leaves,  in  the  notches  of 
whose  margins  the  naked  or  uncovered  ovule®  are  placed.  The 
species  are  natives  of  the  tropical  regions  of  Australia,  Polynesia, 
and  Asia.  C.  circinalis  furnishes  in  Malabar  a,  sort  of  sago;,  which 
is  prepared  from  the  seeds,  which  are  dried  and  powdered  ;  medi¬ 
cinal  properties  are  attributed  to  the  seeds,  but  these  are  of  little 
importance.  The  plant  is  said  to  be  singularly  tenacious  of  life. 
The  pith  in  the  interior  of  the  stem  of  C.  revoluta  abounds  in 
starch,  which  is  highly  esteemed  in  Japan.  A  clear  gum  exudes 
from  the  trunks  of  these  trees,  which  is  said  to  be  employed  by 
the  natives  of  India  in  promoting  speedy  suppuration.  These 
elegant  species  are  great  ornaments  in  our  plant  houses.  A  fine 
group  of  them  and  of  the  allied  genera  may  be  seen  at  one  end  of 
the  large  Palm  house  at  Kew.  They  are  popularly  but 
erroneously  called  Sago  Palms,  as  they  furnish  none  of  the  sago 
of  commerce.” 
Apples  that  Colour  Well. 
The  good  colouring  qualities  of  Apple  fruits  is  a  point 
of  prominent  consideration  with  certain  growers,  market- 
Cycas  revoluta  at  Home 
