452 



THE GAKDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



should be placed so that the water just touches 

 them. The glasses should then be placed for 

 a few weeks in an ordinary cupboard or similar 

 dark place, removing them into the light again 

 when the roots are about 4 inches in length. 

 A few days afterwards they should have all 

 the air and light possible, otherwise the foliage 

 and flower-stem will be drawn up and weakly. 

 When the leaves are produced the glasses may 

 be kept filled up with water as required. Fresh 

 water should be supplied whenever that in the 

 glasses becomes impure, but at whatever time 

 it is given it ought to be of the same tempera- 

 ture as the air in which the plants are growing. 

 A few pieces of charcoal placed in the glasses 

 when the bulbs are set in them will not only 

 greatly assist in keeping the water pure but 

 will be of service to the plants also. 



Select List of Varieties. 



Single Red : — Cavaignac, Charles Dickens, Etna, 

 Fabiola, Garibaldi, Macaulay, Prince Albert Victor, 

 Solfaterre, Von Schiller, Vurbaak. Single Blue: — Baron 

 von Luyll, Blondin, Captain Boyton, Czar Peter, Grand 

 Maitre, King of the Blues, Lord Byron, Lord Derby, 

 Marie, Prince of Wales, Queen of the Blues, Souvenir 

 de J. H. Veen, The Sultan. Single White:— Alba 

 maxima. Baroness vmi Luyll, Grandeur a Merveille, 

 La Grandesse, .Mont Blanc, Princess Amalia. Singh 

 Yclloiv. — Bird of Paradise, Due de Malakoff, Ida, King 

 of the Yellows. Doubli Red: — Koh-i-noor, Lord Wel- 

 lington, Noble par Merite, Princess Louise. Double 

 Blue: — Blocksberg, Charles Dickens, Garrick, Laurens 

 Kozter, Louis Philippe, Van Speyk. Doublt White: — 

 Anna Maria, Florence Nightingale, La Tour d'Auvergne, 

 Lord Derby, Princess Louise. 



[.I. D.] 



Iris. — A beautiful genus comprising nearly 

 two hundred species, many of them being; popular 

 garden plants. The common Iris germanica, or 

 "Flag Iris", and the bulbous kinds, like the 

 English and Spanish (see Plate), have varied 

 from seed so profusely that their forms are well 

 nigh innumerable. It is quite possible to have 

 some species of Iris or other in bloom every 

 day in the year, and many are so abundant and 

 grown so easily that the name of "Poor Man's 

 Orchids" has been applied to them. 



The genus may be divided roughly into: (a) 

 rhizomatous and (b) bulbous species. The ever- 

 green Flag Irises are rhizomatous, and are di- 

 vided into " bearded " and " beardless " groups. 

 The "Cushion" Irises, such as /. Susiana, I. 

 Gatesii, and /. Lorfetii, are very remarkable in 

 size, form, and colouring, and they are worth 

 all the special care required to succeed with 

 them, 



The best authorities on Irises are Sir Michael 



Foster, of Great Shelford, Cambridge, and Mr. 

 J. G. Baker, F.E.S., of Kew. The Eev. Mr. 

 Ewbank, of St. John's, Eyde, Isle of Wight, is 

 one of the most successful amateur cultivators, 

 and Messrs. Barr & Sons, of Long Ditton, have 

 the finest collection in the trade; our selections 

 of the best cultivated varieties are based on 

 their clear and well -arranged lists by special 

 permission. 



Culture. — The different sections of Iris are 

 so varied in habitat and in constitution that 

 no one system of culture can be adopted for 

 them. Thus our native marsh Iris and its 

 variegated forms love water - margins and 

 boggy ground. A similar position also suits 

 the Japanese /. laevigata and the great bulbous 

 Iris of the Pyrenees (/. xiphioides). On the 

 other hand, it is scarcely possible to plant /. 

 germanica and all its forms, or the bulbous 

 /. xiphioides and its allies, in too warm and dry 

 a soil. The German Iris will grow and bloom 

 as well in road scrapings on an old wall top 

 or over an arched gateway fully exposed to 

 sunshine and to wind as anywhere else. Most 

 of the strong-growing rhizomatous kinds thrive 

 in any good garden soil. The Algerian /. stylosa, 

 on the other hand, often requires to be judi- 

 ciously starved to make it flower, and as it does 

 this in mid-winter and early spring, it requires 

 a sheltered position. The beardless, rhizoma- 

 tous kinds grow in any good well -worked 

 garden soil. 



One of the sweetest of all dwarf bulbous 

 Irises is /. reticulata (fig. 558), which now and 

 then increases rapidly in good fresh loam, but 

 requires special quarters on heavy wet soils. A 

 bed for it may be dug out and well drained, 

 and filled with fresh turfy loam well matured. 

 Plant the bulbs about 3 inches deep and apart 

 on a thin layer of cocoa-nut fibre and clean 

 sand well mixed together. They may be dug 

 and replanted every year. 



The gorgeous Clematis Irises of Japan (/. 

 laevigata) require special treatment, though on 

 deep rich holding soils we have seen them 

 beautiful in beds or in the mixed herbaceous 

 borders. Being semi-aquatic, however, they 

 are seen in their full glory when grown at the 

 water's edge. Mr. Peter Barr, writing from 

 Japan in June, 1899, says: "The Japanese 

 grow this Iris in their rice -fields, which are 

 flooded during summer but drained off in 

 winter, by means of ditches, into the nearest 

 creek, pond, or river. During winter, while 

 the plants are at partial rest, they receive three 

 to five waterings with liquid human or cow 



