290 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



c 



SCENTED MUSK 



OINCIDENT with my note appearing on page 234 of 

 the Gardiner?' Chronicle, comes a letter from my 

 friend. J. M. Bridgeford. He says that a few years ago 

 he discovered in a Devonshire cottage window one or two 

 plants of the true scented musk and he persuaded the 

 owner to let him have one. For some time it did yield 

 scented progeny but the perfume is now entirely gone. 

 He add. "I wish we could place our hands on a little of 

 the good old type.'" Now. Florum Amritor, it"s a case of 

 dig in and find that scented musk. T. A. Weston. 



Morum Amator has no reply to make to the frenzied 

 ejaculations with which T. A. Weston opens the con- 

 tinuance of his discussion on Scented Musk, in the August 

 issue of the Chronicle, for Florum Amator is 

 not strong in that style of argument." He is, however, 

 willing todiscuss the subject in a scientific way. basing his 

 argurnent on an array of facts and leaving out all personal 

 experiences, against which courtesy always forbids a man 

 to argue, and all personal references to friends, and dis- 

 paraging remarks about Yankee seedsmen, a class of mer- 

 chants of high business character, we think. 



The real question at issue is this, was there ever a plant 

 named MimuJus moschatos, which was musk scented, 

 which is now e.xtinct, or which is still extant but has lost 

 its musk scent. That this plant has become extinct in a 

 certain country, England for instance, is possible, but not 

 probable, but that plants of Mimulus moscJtatos which 

 were once musk scented in their native habitat or in culti- 

 vation, have lost their scent, we think highly improbable 

 and, indeed, hardly possible. 



It is customary to reason from analogy. The several 

 species of Pelargoniums, namely. P. capitalmn, the rose; 

 P. graveolens, the lemon-scented; P. z-itifolium, the balm- 

 .scented ; P. iomentosum. the pennyroyal : P. oratiim, the 

 citron-scented; P. odorata, the apple-scented, were all 

 scented when introduced, some of them one or more cen- 

 turies ago. we are told, and they are scented now. Pass- 

 ing from the scented Pelargoniums to plants of other gen- 

 era, we know that the Aloysia citriodora, lemon-scented 

 verljena. introduced in 1784. is lemon-scented now just as 

 it was in our boyhood. The same is true of Hcdcoma 

 pugleioides, American pennyroyal : Mentha puglcgium, 

 the true pennyroyal of Europe ; Mentha piperita, pepper- 

 mint, and M. viridis. spearmint. Leaving the plants hav- 

 ing a scented foliage and turning to those which had 

 sweet-scented flowers years ago. we find them with sweet- 

 scented flowers now, e. g., NympJuv odorata. the water 

 lily ; IlemcrocaUis ova. the lemon-scented day lily ; Poly- 

 anthus tidierosa, the tuberose : Citrus sinensis, the orange, 

 and Phihidelphus cornnarius, the mock orange. We might 

 easily add to this brief list of plants with scented foliage 

 or with scented flowers, which were scented as far back 

 as the records go and are scented now, but we think that 

 this is suflicient to give force to our argument that if there 

 ever was a Mimulus moschatos or a variety of it, that was 

 musk-scented, that same species, or a variety of it, is tnusk- 

 scented new. If. on the other hand, there was a species or 

 variety of Mimulus which was not musk-scented yearM 

 ago, which by carelessness or error has been propagated 

 instead of the musk-scented variety of Mimulus, and has 

 lart^ely taken its place, that species or variety is probably 

 without a musk scent now. 



We may l>e mistaken in this matter; we do not belong 

 to the verv sure class of men who never will admit that 

 they are wrong. We would be plea.sed. however, to have 

 T. A. Weston submit a li.st of moderate length of plants 

 which years ago had scented foliage, or scented flowers. 



but whii^e foliage or tlowers are now scentless, in support 

 of his contention that a plant, c. g., Mimulus moschatos, 

 was once scented but is now without scent. May I sug- 

 gest that in this discussion of a subject which is very in- 

 teresting, at least to Florum Amator, that we leave out all 

 personalities and personal experiences, and any flings at 

 either American or British seedsmen, for both of whom we 

 have great resiject, and simply present facts? Florum 

 Amator does not care to continue the discussion about 

 Miuiiiiits mochatos in any bitter or imfriendly manner, and 

 as be has said before, admits that he ma_\- be wrong in his 

 conclusions. If so, he is ready to be convinced of his 

 error by an array of fact.. Florum Amator. 



I notice on page 2,54 of your valued paper that T. A. 

 Weston has not seen the musk plant, either cultivated or 

 wild. If he would take the trouble to call at our place. I 

 would be pleased to show him a number of plants growing 

 vigorously in the greenhouse and will also show him a 

 plant in C^range which has astonished me by wintering 

 through last Winter, so that he can see at one time both 

 a cultivated and a so-called wild specimen. 



W. A. Manda. 



Let me join in the "scented musk discussion." I have 

 nothing to say about musk from seed, but I remember it 

 in England growing naturally in the garden, and when 

 grandmother wanted a ix>t to keep in the house, we just 

 dug up some of the creeping stems, filled the pot with soil, 

 faid on the rhizomes, and covered with soil. When I was 

 on the F. W. Vanderbilt place, Hyde Park, N. Y., nearly 

 twenty years ago, scented Mimulus moschatos was grow- 

 ing naturally in one of the shrubbery beds, and if it has 

 not since been eradicated, it is probabl}' growing there yet. 



Robert Barton. 



WATER GARDENING 



( Couliiiucd jroiu page 288) 



plant. In llritain great success has been achieved with it 

 in water as deep as two feet and in which the plant in- 

 creases with great rapidity. The fact that it does well in 

 that depth of water opens possibilities of using it in 

 climates having colder Winters than prevail in Britain, 

 so long as an inch or two of unfrozen water remains over 

 its crowns. 



As a rule the best materials for water gardening are 

 those of our own country, although there are some species 

 which have been growing here so long that they may be 

 looked upon as citizens. Notably among the latter is the 

 Japanese Iris, Iris hn'igata, which is common in our 

 flower gardens, but all its fine characteristics are increased 

 to a remarkable de.gree when grown as a sub-aquatic ; 

 there are also several species of native Iris which have 

 their habitat in swampy places. 



Of all situations we have to deal with in beautifying 

 home surroundings, we have tlie clearest guidance from 

 Nature in the material which is best to use for the water 

 side. However good in form and right in every way in 

 relation to the landscape a piece of water may be. it is 

 quite easy to spoil the effect of it all by the use of 

 material, especially in the way of shrubs and frees, which 

 has not the form and characteristics of those native to the 

 situatioiL 



With thi>. .'IS well as with other sptrial gardens, it is 

 advisable for those who have not had opportimities of 

 gaining cxjicrience to obtain the advice of an expert, both 

 in relation to the formation of the piece of water, as 

 well as in the selection of plants to use. 



