372 



THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 



[June 8, 1912. 



use that it would seem almost impossible 

 to make further advances in this direction. 

 Fumigating methods, again, have under- 



SOUTH AFRICA. 



MODE OF EXHIBITING FLOWERS. 



I trust that a more able pen than mine will 

 bring these matters into prominence. .4. H. 

 Gibbins, Superintendent of Parks, Germiston, 



I think that it is time that the horticultural Transvaal. 



gone tremendous changes during the ^^^ more ^^^ the Roya l Horticul- 



present century. The old way was to sit tural Society) set an example by doing away with 



by an iron fumigating pan, feeding the fire ihe show board. The Carnation is crammed into 



with strong-smelling tobacco paper, until a ^n^ an( j dressed out of all recognition; the 



the building was sufficiently disinfected. Cactus Dahlia is shown on a board wired or 



At the present day, it is only necessary to pegged down in the cup; it is a different bloom 



arrange the vaporising equipment, apply 



DISTINCT SPECIES OF SHRUBBY 



CALCEOLARIAS. 



The garden varieties of Calceolarias are so 

 numerous, and so generally employed for green- 

 a" lighted match to the" fuse, and walk out, great point is that visitors to shows— and in house and conservatory decoration, as well as 

 knowing that the deadly nicotine will do most cases they are prospective buyers of any- for other purposes, that the merits of some of 



altogether when seen in its natural state. Another 



its work untended. 



In the direction of pruning instruments, 

 the advance made has not been quite so 

 striking. A century ago there were seca- 

 teurs, averruncators, tree-pruners, and 

 flower and fruit gatherers, and these were 

 quite as common as garden shears, forks, 

 and spades. . Of course, the secateurs and 

 French branch-pruners of the present day 

 are superior to the old type. In these, as 



thing that may take their fancy— are completely the original species are apt to be overlooked, 



ignorant as regards the habit of the plant they Take, for instance, Calceolaria integrifolia, which 



intend to purchase. They see the flower on the in the favoured parts of this country forms a 



show board and they get it, but after cultiva- delightful out-door shrub, though according to 



tion they fail to recognise the flower as anything 

 like the one they saw at the show. Many of the 

 blooms of Cactus Dahlias shown at the present 

 time would be of no use if there were no show 

 boards. Why? Because, in the garden, the blooms 

 are stowed away amongst the foliage, and have 

 no neck or stem. Such blooms can be placed on 



Mr. Fitzherbert it was severely blackened during 

 the cold snap experienced in February. Where 

 the weather is too severe for it to be regarded 

 from an outdoor standpoint, good-sized plants in 



extremelv useful in the con- 



large pots or tubs 



servatory, or they may, during the summer, be 



stood out on balconies or terraces. Added to this 



in most implements, the advance has been the show board and get the Society's gold medal, C. integrifolia is also of service for the furnish- 

 in the direction of greater lightness, com- ' ' \ _" ~ n ' *\ , , \ V " 

 billed with equal or, perhaps, greater bited in a vase, with ^ its fob ^age, it would be far 



strength. 



If we compare the clumsy methods the 

 early transplanters employed, one of 

 which was to prepare the tree to be lifted, 

 and leaving it till a hard frost had ren 

 dered the ball of soil hard and unbreak 



hence the deception. If each bloom was exhi- ing of flower-beds, more particularly where large 



plants are required. This species contrasts 

 more instructive to the public, and tend to make strongly with C. Burbidgei, which is so univer- 



more people take an interest in horticulture. 



sally met with. 



It is decidedly strange 



The exhibitor can have his 24 Roses, Dahlias, that C. integrifolia, which is said to be quite an 



or Carnations, each bloom to be shown in separ- 

 ate vases, with their foliage, not less than 12 

 inches of stem and not more than 24. Carna- 

 tions should only be shown this way, or else, 



old plant in gardens, should have only been 

 brought prominently forward within the last 

 decade or two. 



C. violacea, which forms such a delightful fea- 



vance will be seen to be very great. The and a calyx that does not split? I am quite pre- 

 first great step in advance was that by pared to hear that the extra cost will prevent 



any alteration being made, but I do not admit 

 it. The trade, seeing the trend of events, would 



which Sir Henry Stewart studded his park 

 with large trees, the machine used being 

 composed of two wheels and a long pole, 

 what is now termed a j anker. It is first 

 illustrated and described in Menteath's 

 Planter's Guide (1824). A little later, 



have, in a short time, some light vases, made of 

 papier-mache or some other durable substance, 

 placed on the market. The packing of the blooms 

 is not much difficulty in a country of short dis- 

 tances and the best of railway facilities. In this 



McNab, of Edinburgh, invented a system ^^ an exhibitor wanting to show in Cape 



of raising the trees or shrubs. Then, 

 about 50 years ago, Charles Kelly, in 

 Cheshire, successfully, but at great ex- 

 pense, moved large trees up an inclined 

 plane, and lowered them into position "n 

 the same way. I am not sure whethar 



Town would have 1,000 miles to travel with his 



* 



blooms, and I have 6een blooms packed in 

 the Cape arrive very fresh in Johannesburg 

 with only ordinary care. It is all very well for 

 the societies to say that they have to cater 

 fc -; the professional man. Well, let them do so. 



able, with the systems which have been in ^^ j s a prospective buyer of a special variety ture in the greenhouse during the spring months, 

 use now for a number of years, the jad- ^ know whether it has a long and stiff stem, is totally unlike the commonly-grown members 



of the genus. Its usual habit is that of a much- 

 branched bush, whose slender shoots are clothed 

 with coarsely-serrated, hairy leaves, while the 

 flowers are more open than is usual in Calceo- 

 larias, being smaller, and in shape a good deal 

 like a helmet. In colour they are a kind of 

 violet-mauve, dotted inside with purple, while 

 there is also a central yellow tinge. Commenc- 

 ing in the spring, it continues to flower for some 

 time. A valuable winter-blooming species is C. 

 deflexa, or C. fuchsisefolia, as it is often called. 

 The foliage of this is somewhat suggestive of a 

 Fuchsia, and a succession of its golden blossoms 

 is kept up from autumn till the spring. It is 

 less robust in constitution than many other 

 Calceolarias. 



Another yellow flowered species — C. amplexi- 

 caulis — is too well known and appreciated as a 

 bedding plant to need anything said concerning 

 its distinctive features. It is not liable to die 

 off suddenly, as many bedding varieties are. 

 The flowers of C. amplexicaulis are of a light 

 yellow colour. 



C. alba is quite unlike any of the others, as 

 the flowers are white, while the excessively-nar- 

 row-toothed leaves form a further distinguishing 

 feature. It is considerably less in stature than 

 some of those named. According to the Hortus 

 Veitchii this species was introduced by William 

 Lobb, when collecting in Chili. He sent home 

 seeds, and the plants obtained therefrom flowered 

 for the first time in Messrs. Veitch's nursery at 

 Exeter in 1844. After that it would appear to 

 have been lost, or nearly so, till re-introduced 

 by, I believe, the late Max Leichtlin, of Baden- 

 Baden. 



Of other species C. Pavonii is not regarded as 

 of much importance from an ornamental stand- 

 point, but it is particularly noteworthy as being 

 one of the parents of C. Burbidgei, which is now 

 so much grown, both as large plants for summer 

 bedding and also for winter flowering. This 

 was raised by the late F. W. Burbidge, of 

 Trinity College Gardens, Dublin, and he regarded 

 it as a hybrid between C. Pavonii and C. deflexa. 



Baron or Kelly was the earlier, their sys- » the professional man's ideas of beauty do not 



, . :«ii*« i;«*» D extend beyond the show board, by all means 



terns being on similar lines him * ^^ ^ 



Space does not permit of drawing atten- J f ^ £ ^ ^^ .^ q{ fc go 



tion to the numerous modern expedients let ug foUow the old saying? „ You ^^ im- 

 for pot-washing, weed-killing, vermin ex- 

 termination and other necessary opera- 

 tions. All these have been placed at the 

 disposal of the gardener within a corn- 



prove on Nature," only assist it, and try with 

 all the means in our power to cultivate the beau- 

 tiful and not the artificial. 



In regard to new varieties, I think it is time 



paratively short period, and have wonder- the authorities, who have the welfare of the 

 fully lightened his labour and shortened Dahlia, Carnation, Eose, and other flowers in 



his hours. B. 



TREES AND SHRUBS. 



CORNUS FLORIDA VAR. RUBRA. 



their keeping, adopted the plan of the National 

 Sweet Pea Society, and took all the new varie- 

 ties and gave them a trial before granting cer- 

 tificates or medals. At the present time, a new 

 Rose is announced ; the nurseryman introducing 

 it has spent money on artificial heat, feeding and 

 nursing it. The result is a beautiful Rose ; it 

 gains the Society's gold medal ; the nurseryman 



A flowering branch of Cornus florida var. sells his stock at a high price, and the public 



rubra has been sent us by Mr. Bence-Jones, of 

 Lisselan, Clonakilty. Unfortunately, the plant 

 which is considered to be one of the most 

 decorative shrubs of the United States, rarely 

 develops its full beauty in the British Isles. The 

 principal attraction is not the flower, but the 

 showy bracts which surround each flower head. 

 In the variety rubra the bracts are red ; those of 

 the type, however, are white. It is probable 

 that the profusion of flowers on the plant in 

 question this year is due to the thorough ripen- 

 ing of the wood last summer. 



buy it because it received the gold medal, with 

 this result, in two years it may be consigned to 

 the rubbish heap. Now, if the National Rose 

 Society had taken that Rose tried it in ordin- 

 ary conditions in their grounds for a year or 

 two, it would never have been placed before the 

 public, never have got a gold medal, and the 

 public would have been growing something more 

 useful, proved in the National Rose Society's 

 trial grounds. The same applies in every par- 

 ticular to Carnations, Dahlias, and Chrysanthe- 

 mums. 



The appearance of the plant would, however, 

 lead one to suppose that the parents were Pavonii 

 and ampiexicaulis, and this is the opinion held 

 by the compilers of the Kew Hand-List of ten- 

 der dicotyledons. W. T. 



