June 15, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



397 



surprising as the Ostrowskia comes from a cold 

 climate, and should be perfectly hardy, and its 

 decease is probably not due to its tenderness. 

 There is considerable difference of opinion as 

 to its winter treatment. A certain writer 

 asserted that it commences its root-growth in 

 November, and that it is therefore expedient 

 that from that date it should be fully exposed 

 to the winter's rains. If, however, I can credit 

 the statement of a friend, who knows its home, 

 this is absolutely opposed to the conditions it 

 experiences in its native land, for there, I 



it is covered 



HOME CORRESPONDENCE 



am 



informed, it is 

 several feet of 



at this period with 



snow, and hence it must be 

 perfectly dry. Others advocate its protec- 

 tion during the whole winter under a glass 

 light, until its young shoots break the ground 

 in the spring. The late Sir Michael Foster 

 wrote: "After the Ostrowskia has died down, 

 during late autumn and winter it needs to 

 be kept fairly dry, but though it likes to be 

 in dry quarters during its winter's sleep, it needs, 

 when it is pushing up in the spring, and especi- 

 ally when it is growing fast in the summer, con- 

 ditions of quite a different kind. With a 

 stinted water supply then, the plant loses more 

 than half its beauty." Some years ago Mr. 

 Archer-Hind had a fine plant of the pure-white 

 variety, about 5 feet in height, which was pro- 

 tected by a hand-light every winter. One year 

 this protection was forgotten, with the result 

 that the plant never appeared again. This disas- 

 trous result leads one to infer that it is wiser to 

 keep the plants dry during the winter sea- 

 son, and, certainly, by so doing the con- 

 ditions prevalent in the plants' native habi- 

 tat are more nearly reproduced. There are, 

 however, many who scout the idea of protecting 

 the Ostrowskia, and aver that it is perfectly 

 hardy and absolutely indifferent to the severest 

 frosts or the most torrential downpours, so that 

 considerable diversity of opinion exists as to its 

 correct treatment. Perhaps the best method of es- 

 tablishing the Ostrowskia is to raise seedlings, 

 and to plant them out when they are about 6 

 inches in height^ \The plants when in bloom are 

 marvellously beautiful, the great lavender-blue 

 blossoms, fully 6 inches across, shining like satin. 

 When cut they remain fresh in water for well over 

 a week. There is also a pure-white variety, which 

 is even more lovely than the type. Last autumn 

 I had to give up my garden and remove all my 

 plants to another and had to lift the Ostrowskias, 

 which had been about 4 feet in height, and had 

 flowered grandly. They were very carefully re- 

 moved, only two roots being broken, and were 

 planted most circumspectly in the new garden. 

 This year they came up, but were very weak, 

 the tallest flower-stem only attaining a height 

 of 2 feet. Whether they will gain in strength 

 another year remains to be seen. Mr. Reginald 

 Farrer in advising on the transplanting of the 

 Ostrowskia, writes: " The Ostrowskia sends far- 

 ther and farther down into the bowels of the 

 earth each season, a huge, waxy carrot of a 

 root that becomes as thick as your arm, or 

 thicker, and goes down and down'and down, as 

 n it were seeking the Antipodes. This then must 

 be dug up; that huge carrot cut callously into 

 sections ; each section of about a foot long or so 

 Planted into rammed soil by the insertion of a 

 crowbar. You plunge your crowbar and wriggle 

 it round till you have a hard, deep hole ex- 

 ^tly to fit the lopped trunk of your Ostrowskia. 

 *ou then drop him down, sift in soil, ram him 



fjfj and hard ' and fast a S ain into the hole 



till he cannot stir, and you then, just for safety's 

 sake, for a winter or two cover him over with 



(The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for 

 the opinions expressed by correspondents.) 



The International Flower Show.— The 

 observations made by Messrs. J. Carter & Co. 

 (see p. xlv. Supplement, June 8) as to the profit 

 arising oat of the recent International Flower 

 bhow are interesting, and worthy of an answer, or 

 ot answers, from those who may be competent. I 

 do not say that I am competent, but I will make 

 a few remarks on the subject. An exhibition is 

 not a thing m itself, it is related to a past, and 

 also to a future. It is a harvest of a past seed- 

 time, and it is a seedtime of a future harvest. It 

 snows to many an abundance of good things that 



would be otherwise seen bv only a few. It has 

 been asked, " What is the good of an i 



good; 



Precisely that is it" 



unknown 



th f £ dead bracken - Evei T single section of 

 tnat Ostrowskia will come shooting firmly up 



jn spring— at least that has been my recent 

 lappy experience." -However, some plants 

 ^nich were left entirely uncovered shot up in 

 ™e sp nng just as heartily as those which had 

 Deen mulched, and this was in a cold district of 

 ior k shire, so the Ostrowskia is evidently hardy. 

 Wyndham Fitzherbert. 



"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

 And waste its fragrance on the desert air." 



What does the Orchid bloom for? Does it only 

 array itself for the insect who is the insensible 

 medium or agent of its fertilisation, or does it 

 five and love for man? The horticulturist may 

 take the latter view, and find his advantage in 

 doing so. What is the value of a shop window 

 or of an advertisement? Both, to some, are 

 useless things, but they are attractive to others. 

 An exhibition is both a shop window and an 

 advertisement, but it does not stand by itself. 

 It excites the desire of thousands of visitors to 

 have pretty things, gardens, flowers, shrubs, 

 pergolas and rockworks. It makes people 

 want more variety in an otherwise mono- 

 tonous garden, and shows them the great 

 variety within their reach. It makes them 

 desire to have glasshouses, and to see those 

 erections filled with abundance of richlv -coloured 

 flowers and many kinds of pleasant fruit, and it 

 brings them into touch with those oblieine per- 

 sons who can provide them with these excellent 

 and agreeable things. This International Exhibi- 

 tion has been more fortunate than some. It has 

 paid its way Many important horticultural 

 firms who exhibited there have already reaped 

 advantages, it need not be doubted, and many 

 others will continue so to do for many years 

 to come Those firms and exhibitors who dili- 

 gently follow up in after months the enquiries 

 and introductions the Exhibition provided with 

 the greatest perseverance will reap the greatest 

 reward. Exhibitions must be followed up bv 

 advertising and by the attentions of the traveller 

 and further also, by other exhibitions, and the 

 harvest will be commensurate. I have had a 

 considerable experience of exhibitions, many of 

 which have been held in the Horticultural Hall 

 Westminster and I know that exhibitions, when 

 followed up by after work, do pay, and pay well. 

 All this is, of course, the commercial aspect of 

 the affair, but there are other aspects. Shall we 

 say nothing of the international side of the occa- 

 sion : the foreign brethren who came for the 

 first time to see us English people in our own 

 home; the splendid hospitalitv of Mr. de 

 Rothschild, Sir Trevor Lawrence, and others, 

 who entertained large companies' of visitors? 

 Shall we say nothing of the important educational 

 effect upon the humbler members of the rank and 

 file of the horticultural profession, who saw many 

 things which relieve the monotony of their lives, 

 and kindle the enthusiasm which sustains and 

 excites the humblest devotee of the garden. We 

 might say something of these things, but our 

 time, alas ! is at an end. Henry Holden. 



Thrips on Peas and Beans.— May I, through 



your columns, ask for assistance from gardeners 

 in an investigation on the thrip which attacks 

 Peas and Broad Beans? I am anxious to find out 

 its distribution, and if any of your readers would 

 send me flowers of either of the above plants, 

 whether damaged or not, for examination, I should 

 be much indebted to them. The best way to send 

 the flowers (about a dozen of each would be 

 plenty) is in small tin boxes or in paper bags in a 

 cardboard box. If anyone willing to assist will 

 send me his name on a card, I will send him 

 everything necessary. Specimens from all parts 

 of the country will be welcome, and also any note 

 on the damage done to these crops. C . B. 

 Williams, The John Innes Horticultural In- 

 stitution, Mostyn Boad, Aferton, Surrey. 



Leptospermum scoparium Nichollii. 



The only plant to be given a First-class Certificate 

 at the recent International Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tion at Chelsea, and the one that received the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle Cup for the best novelty, 

 was this beautiful and distinct Leptospermum. 

 In the Gardeners' Chronicle for June 20, 1908, 

 there was an interesting article from Capt. A. A. 

 Dorrien-Smith on the coloured forms of Lepto- 

 spermum scoparium. Speaking first of the variety 

 Chapmannii (which was also shown at Chelsea), 

 the writer says it was discovered some years 

 before in the South Island of New Zealand, and 

 has been found to produce itself fairly true from 

 seed. In Messrs. Nairn & Sons' nursery at Christ- 

 church seedlings of many beautiful " shades of 

 flowers were obtained from it. The deep tone of 

 foliage possessed by the individuals with coloured 

 flowers is also noted. Concerning the variety 

 Nichollii, your correspondent says: — " Not long 

 ago a remarkable individual plant was discovered 

 growing on the sandhills a little north of Christ- ' 

 church, and separated from the original habitat 

 of L. Chapmannii, which has blood-red flowers, 

 by over 200 miles. It must have originated 

 only a few years ago from one of those white- 

 flowered forms, which alone are found in its 

 immediate neighbourhood." The writer then 

 goes on to mention its very dark-tinted foliage, 

 and the fact that Messrs. Nairn also took this 

 in hand and found that a percentage of seedlings 

 came true, so that they now (in 1908) possess a 

 fair stock of this remarkable plant, to which the 

 varietal name of Nichollii has been applied. In 

 the west of England and in parts of Ireland the 

 Leptospermums are valuable shrubs for the open 

 ground, while in colder districts they are very 

 ornamental for the embellishment of the green- 

 house or conservatory. They are not at all diffi- 

 cult to strike from cuttings, and, unlike plants 

 obtained from seeds, those so obtained will flower 

 whilst quite small. The variety Chapmannii 

 above alluded to has a more upright habit of 

 growth, with flowers of a deep-rose or rosy-red 

 colour. In Boscawenii the flowers are larger than 

 the others, and are white with a reddish 

 centre. The habit of the plant is loose and 

 graceful. W. T. 



Record Strawberries (see p. 392). — On 

 June 2, 1901, I gathered here from a pot plant of 

 Strawberry " Auguste Nicaise " a fruit weigh- 

 ing 2i ounces, and have frequently gathered from 

 pot plants of this variety single fruits weighing 

 If ounce and on several occasions fruit weighing 

 2 ounces. I formerly cultivated 1.500 plants in 

 pots of " Auguste Nicaise," and always had re- 

 markably fine fruits of excellent flavour. The 

 variety has done well here ; in fact, it was my best 

 second early sort. George Groves, Temple House 

 Gardens, Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire. 



Curious Nesting-places.— -Such instances 

 as recorded by Mr. Gardner on page 379 are in- 

 teresting but not very rare. I have myself had a 

 wagtail's nest on a Pelargonium in a pot, it 

 being placed on the soil and half-hidden by the 

 foliage. Also a redbreast in the middle of a 

 Maidenhair Fern, which, however, resented care- 

 less watering and forsook her eggs. Another red- 

 breast nest in one of the houses at Kew a few 

 years ago was placed under an Agave in a pot, 

 and, framed by the drooping foliage, made a 

 charming picture, the opening between the leaves 

 just leaving the head and breast of the sitting 

 bird visible. Mr. Gardner's mention of the wag- 

 tail as " grey " might form a record which, if 

 not commended upon, might prove puzzling to 

 some future ornithologist, the " grey " wagtail of 

 books being the yellow bird of the hill country, 

 while our common black-and-white wagtail is 

 known as " pied." Chas. E. Pearson, &I.B.O.U. 



. 



SCOTLAND. 



DALHOUSIE CASTLE GARDENS. 



On the 1st inst. members of the Edinburgh 

 Natural History Society paid a visit to Dalhousie 

 Castle, the residence of C. W. Cowan, Esq. The 

 gardens were in fine condition, and, under the 

 guidance of the head gardener (Mr. G. W. Pirie), 

 the visitors found much to admire, especially in 

 the Alpine and border flowers. 



