io6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 210. 



that one may imagine wliat dismay such a ceremony would 

 create in the mind of a traveling Englishman accustomed to 

 render his impressions by a few words-of-all-work. To find 

 seasonable and appropriate equivalents applicable to flowers 

 for his easy-going vocabulary of "jolly," "beastly," or "aw- 

 fully," must tax the Briton's dictionary and his interpreter tre- 

 mendously ; for the Japanese, who admits no flower out of 

 season, regulates his epithets to the occasion with equal preci- 

 sion, and the etiquette of his observations is as carefully regu- 

 lated by the canon, as that of his performance of all ceremonial 

 obligations. 



When the flower party takes place, either by itself alone, or 

 succeeding a banquet, the guests assemble in a room, where, 

 in the alcove with a raised floor, devoted in all Japanese houses 

 to the decorative features of the apartment, there may perhaps 

 be seen a kakemono, or scroll, containing a picture or a poem 

 hanging suspended to the wall. On a low stand there is a 

 dainty tray, upon which are laid a few flowers or branches of 

 Pine, Plum, Bamboo or Cherry ; beside them are a pot of 

 water, a pair of scissors, a little saw and a folded napkin, the 

 shape and size and folds of which are also subjected to rules. 

 To these are added the bits of wood or metal by which the 

 stems are held in their proper place, or possibly a bronze crab 

 or two to serve the same purpose in an ornamental way. 



After the guests have been received with proper ceremonies 

 and compliments, the host proceeds to roll up his picture or 

 poem, lest the guest should be hampered by having to adapt 

 his arrangement to its subject. Should the guest so desire, he 

 may politely request the master of the house to leave it un- 

 rolled, in which case he will compose his monograph on that 

 theme, adapting a Bamboo to a tiger, a Lotus to a stork, or a 

 Chrysanthemum to a flight of butterflies, if that is the proper 

 thing, or some other recondite allusion to the painting, only to 

 be understood of those trained in this polite accomplishment. 

 On whatever basis he proceeds, it is decidedly out of the ruling 

 for the guest to ask for anything that has not been supplied. 

 When the host produces the vase in which the arrangement is 

 to be made, the polite visitor, if it is very beautiful, must protest 

 that he can do nothing worthy of so fair a receptacle. Should 

 the host insist, and his manners, I should think, would compel 

 him always to waive this disclaimer, it is the duty of the per- 

 former to make his grouping as simple as possible, in order 

 not to divert attention from the beauty of the flower-jar. 



When the guest has completed his arrangement, in which 

 he must be most careful to conform to the myriad rules in 

 which he has been educated, he carefully clears up the litter 

 and deposits it, with the napkin and all the tools except the scis- 

 sors, upon the tray, which is removed by the host, who assists 

 in gathering the debris. The scissors are delicately left, as a 

 hint that the artist requests that anything redundant in his com- 

 position may be removed by the critical examiner, who is 

 requested to improve upon the original idea. 



The guests in turn inspect the vase and its contents, with 

 refined and well-fitted compliments for each, the phrases being 

 strictly adapted to the character of the article described — a 

 Pine never being flattered with the same remark made to a 

 Bamboo, a Lotus characterized with a word only legitimately 

 applied to a Plum-branch with its snowy blossoms, nor a Con- 

 volvulus disgraced by the florid adjective that properly befits 

 a Chrysanthemum. After the arrangement has been inspected 

 by all the visitors, the artist must take it to pieces, unless espe- 

 cially requested by the giver of the entertainment to permit 

 the honorable performance to remain intact for the glorifica- 

 tion of his humble room. This final ceremony being over, the 

 party breaks up, with more gracious civilities of leave-taking. 



In inspecting the curious lines and curves of the branches 

 and blossoms that compose a Japanese flower-grouping, which 

 can never be called a nosegay, since fragrance is eschewed in 

 its selection, the uninitiated wonder how the plants can be re- 

 tained in the attitudes they are made to assume ; but this 

 mystery is solved jwhen, in Mr. Conder's book, we find illus- 

 trations of the wires, and split Bamboos, and curiously shaped 

 bits of wood, which really serve to keep them in place. When 

 grouped in baskets, according to a usual Japanese custom, 

 the stems are inserted in tubes of Bamboo filled with 

 water, which serve to keep them fresh. There are also very 

 interesting devices here revealed for preserving the freshness 

 of flowers after they are culled, which may well be studied by 

 our own builders of bouquets, to enhance the durability of the 

 more fragile speciniens. Indeed, in this pleasing art, as in 

 more important ones, we may well borrow ideas from our 

 oriental contemporaries, who, in delightful sentiment, in 

 poetic restraint, and in the recognition of the value of sim- 

 plicity, are the masters of us all. 



New York. Sidney Hyde. 



Carnations, New and Old. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — ^With the exception of the Chrysanthemum, no florist's 

 flower has been so much improved as the Carnation. Few 

 occupations are more fascinating than raising seedlings of this 

 popular flower, and, in a commercial way, few ventures of the 

 kind are more likely to be profitable. The result is, that a 

 large number of enterprising and intelligent florists are devot- 

 ing themselves to the cultivation of this flower, and the number 

 is increasing every year. There is much diversity of opinion 

 as to what constitutes an ideal Chrysanthemum-flower, owing 

 to its wide variation in form, but in the case of the Carna- 

 tion there is a unanimity of opinion which is striking. This 

 ideal flower, for which all are working, should be at least 

 three inches in diameter, full, globular (not flat), with stiff, long 

 stems ; petals well fringed, and powerfully fragrant. Grace 

 Wilder, though not a new variety, comes nearest to this ideal, 

 but lacks size, and is not as fragrant as some varieties. 



I spent a profitable afternoon recently at Framingham, Mas- 

 sachusetts, among the raisers of Carnations there. Mr. Wight 

 is well known as the raiser of Hector, probably the best of 

 scarlet Carnations grown. It is a robust grower, giving abun- 

 dance of large flowers of the brightest scarlet on long stems. 

 There is every reason to believe it came as a seedling fronr 

 Florence (Fisher). 



Mr. Fisher has raised several standard varieties, among them 

 being Anna Webb, the foremost crimson until the appearance 

 of Ferdinand Mangold last year. There is very little differ- 

 ence, in general characteristics, betv^een the two ; the newer 

 variety, however, possesses a superior constitution, and is not 

 so liable to produce "dead blooms." Mrs. Fisher, the best 

 white up to date, is also conceded to be the best cropper 

 grown. Silver Spray (Simmonds) ranking next. During winter, 

 and especially in dull weather, it has a tendency to become 

 pink-tinged, but the raiser hopes, by a little cross breeding, to 

 remedy this, and, judging from several promising seedlings 

 on trial, he will succeed. I noted in Mr. Nicholson's green- 

 house (also of Framingham) two of Mr. Fisher's seedlings, 

 which he has on trial. They belong to the striped section, and 

 should be extensively grown. Paxton is crimson striped on a 

 white ground ; it has a handsome and attractive flower, and is 

 one of the heaviest winter-bloomers. Mary Fisher is the 

 brightest terra cotta I have seen. It is scarlet striped on a yel- 

 low ground, suffused with violet. Though not a prolific win- 

 ter-bloomer, it comes in with great force in spring. 



The fame of Grace Wilder, which is generally considered 

 the best pink Carnation, has stimulated much competition, 

 and the rivalry has produced several excellent varieties, in- 

 cluding Mrs. Mangold (Mangold), salmon-pink ; Helen Galvin 

 (Wight), rose ; Tidal Wave (Simmonds) ; Century (C. T. Starr), 

 and Fred Craighton. The most promising rival I have yet 

 seen is a seedling of Mr. Fisher's, which is in every way a 

 counterpart of Mrs. Fisher except in color, and should it prove 

 as good on further trial as it now promises, it will be sure to 

 take a leading place. 



At Mr. Nicholson's I saw one of the finest houses of Carna- 

 tions I have yet seen. The house is one hundred by twenty feet 

 long, with a south-east aspect and three-quarter span. He plants 

 on solid beds in the centre, and uses benches for the sides. His 

 experience is that benches are somewhat better for winter- 

 cropping, and that Anna Webb, with possibly a few other va- 

 rieties, does better on benches, the reason being, perhaps, 

 that benches are warmer, drier, and admit of frequent water- 

 ing. On the contrary, Grace Wilder does better on a solid 

 bed, and this is, perhaps, the secret of Tailby's uniform 

 success with this variety. Mr. Nicholson was kind enough 

 to give me a few dates and figures, which alone will give 

 an idea of the abundance of the crop taken from this 

 house. In September, 1890, 1,700 plants were put in, which 

 number was reduced to 1,400 in February, to make room for 

 other plants, but from that date until September, 1891, 120,000 

 blooms' were cut, mostly with long stems. September, 1891, 

 1,950 plants were put in, and the average up to date has been 

 10,000 flowers a month. rr ^^ ,j 



Wellesley, Mass. 1 . V. Hatjield. 



California Horticultural Affairs. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — This season I observe a great change in the demand 

 for fruit-trees. Last year it was for Peaches and Apricots, but 

 now Almonds and Prunes lead all the rest, and the nurseries 

 cannot begin to supply the orchard-planters. Looking back 

 over the last twenty years, I can remember many flurries in 



