330 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



July 7, 1004. 



TOP-HEAVY FLOWERS. 



In judging the merits of flowers, from 

 the horticultural point of view, there are 

 many things to be considered besides the 

 actual beauty of the individual flower, es- 

 pecially as nature, in her develjpment 

 of the evolutionary scheme, does not al- 

 ways see eye to eye, as it were, witn 

 humanity, the plants having been shaped 

 in preference with a view to their better 

 fitness for inter-relations with the insect 

 wotld, and for their environment gener- 

 ally, independently of human influence. 

 Hence arise many so-caUed defects, which 

 it becomes the province of the selective 

 cultivator to correct, aa far as possible, 

 and it is rare indeed for any plant to 

 be arrived at, in which no improvable 

 point exists, ''.'hus, Uke tlio modest vio- 

 let, we may have a charming flower of 

 such a retiring nature as to inspire a 

 proverb, and as this does not meet the 

 cultivator's ideal or appreciation of its 

 merits he has, in course of time, coaxed 

 the tiny flower out of its leafy retreat, 

 and the high-class violets of today have 

 proudly lengthened their stalks, and en- 

 larged their petals, so as to vie fairly 

 well with their bolder sisters. 



The queen of flowers, the rose, in its 

 many wild forms, displays itself to the 

 best advantage, and spreads its deUcate- 

 ly tinted blossoms for the delectation ot 

 the bees in such a fashion as to satisfy 

 the most critical human eye, but under 

 man 's selective hand, aided by nature s 

 wonderful sportive gifts, the simple sia. 

 ele flower has become in many cases so 

 ^rge, and so overloaded with additional 

 petals, that their very weight becomes an 

 adverse factor to proper display, their 

 stalks being unable to bear the blossom 

 to show it off to the best advantage. 

 Hence we may have two roses of equal 

 beauty of flower, but the gardener gives 

 the preference to the one with the better 

 ' * habit. ' ' 



In the cactus dahlia we have a prom- 

 inent case of similar kind, i. e., charm- 

 ingly formed and tinted flowers handi- 

 capped by a tendency to hide themselves 

 within the foliage, and such a habit of 

 growth is extremely difficult to correct. 

 So much artificiality, indeed, has been 

 introduced into floral culture by man, by 

 constant selection of "points" which 

 clash with nature's normal lines, that it 

 is little wonder that we so often find 

 good points in one direction counterbal- 

 anced by bad ones in another. Nature 

 has a knack of striking a sort of bal- 

 ance in her works, maintaining a con- 

 stant agreement between strains and 

 stresses and corresponding strengths of 

 structure. In culture this concordance 

 is too frequently upset, the flowers beina: 

 developed into altogether abnormal pro- 

 portions, which the plant not only is 

 called upon to bear to an unnatural 

 extent, but actually has to contribute to, 

 at the expense of its supporting power, 

 owing to the concentration of the bulk 

 of its forces in producing bloom instead 

 of foliage. We see a marked example 

 of this in chrysanthemums, which have 

 become so artificialized that they cannot 

 possibly support their heavy blossoms 

 without sticks and repeated tyings, 

 which, to the true lover of natural beau- 

 ty, are an abomination. 



From the flower dealers' point of view, 

 these conditions of natural fitness and 

 harmony are, of course, of less impor- 

 tance than to the nature lover, since it 

 may justly be argued that flowers, which 

 are only grown to be cut, and enjoyed 

 in the cut form, can be dealt with on 



purely commercial lines, and it matters 

 little if the stalk be too long and slender 

 to stand the buffets of the weather, to 

 which it is never intended to be exposed. 

 So far, 80 good, but all the same, the 

 line should be drawn there, and when 

 we see plants intended for the garden, 

 worked up on similar lines, it behooves 

 the judges who determine the merits of 

 such produce to reckno such defects as 

 had points counting against the good 

 ones of the flower itself. Except for 

 plants of naturally climbing habits, the 

 ideal garden should not be invaded by 

 sticks and ties of any description; they 

 should be regarded as mere crutches for 

 cripples, and not, aa they are now, as 

 indispensable adjuncts to flowers which 

 naturally should do without them. — Gar- 

 deners ' Magazine. 



FROM OUR ENGLISH EXCHANGES. 



The Gardeners* M<^azine. 



AccOKDiNG TO M. Bernard, the co-op- 

 eration of a beneficial fungus is not less 

 essential to successful cultivation in the 

 case of orfihids than of some other plants. 

 In a contribution to the French Academy 

 of Sciences, M. Bernard points out that 

 in the course of his investigations he had 

 found that orchids make the most sat- 

 isfactory growth when their roots are 

 in association with the mycelium of a 

 certain microscopic fungus peculiar to 

 them. He then proceeds to say that he 

 has succeeded in demonstrating by ex- 

 periment that this association is abso- 

 lutely indispensable. Cultivating the 

 fungus by itself, and some orchids by 

 themselves, he found that the latter could 

 not thrive until brought into contact with 

 the mycelium of the former, when the 

 growth at once became normal. The 

 presence of microscopic fungi in greater 

 or less degree may, he believes, explain 

 much in connection with the great diffi- 

 culty of producing good orchids. 



A German scientist has discovered that 

 a current of electricity in the soil drives 

 out the worms, snails^ etc. He was using 

 the current to dry a mould lying on the 

 ground and noticed that worms were 

 hurriedly struggling out of the soil. He 

 then experimented with a small plot of 

 ground. One terminal of an electrical 

 circuit of 110 volts was thrust into the 

 earth and the worms and snails at once 

 began to crawl out of the influence of 



SMITH'S 



CHRYSANTflEMUM 



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[Bt Elmkr D. SMrTH.] 



Complete Practical Treatbe, con- 

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 the work of propagator and grower. 

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80 PAGES, 18 ILLUSTRATIONS 

 TWENTY-FIVE CENTS POSTPAID 



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the current. He believes that the benefit 

 to plants resulting from an electric cur- 

 rent in the soil is due to the extermina- 

 tion of the parasites on the roots rather 

 than to any direct influence. If his de- 

 duction is correct we may find in elec- 

 tricity a means of exterminating the 

 minute eel-worms that so often infest 

 the roots of roses. 



A ROSE called Mme. N. Levavasseur, 

 sent out by M .M. Levavasseur, 

 Orleans, Prance, is said to be a " per- 

 petual ' ' Crimson Eambler, It was ob- 

 tained by crossing the Crimson Bambler 

 with Gloire des Polyanthas. It con- 

 tinues to produce flowers till checked by 

 autumn frosts. It haa been certificated 

 by the English National Rose Society and 

 Royal Horticultural Society. 



A* French nurseryman finds that in 

 the moving of trees in full leaf in the 

 summer months the operation is much 

 more apt to be successful if done at 

 night, preferably between the hours of 

 9 p. m. and 2 a. m. 



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