8 5 8 



GA RDENERS' MA OA Z IN L 



Dfxemrkr 



3', 



1S98. 



of like a top, in an upright position as regards the sun. Had matters perhaps it may not be premature to mention that undowered hybrids of the fourth 

 been so arranged when this little world of ours was started every spot generation are known to be m existence. Mr. H lrSt has in his collection rf, 



generation are known 



collection six 



hAAn arrnnppd when this little wona 01 uurb was aiatica cvci| a^v/u *> — wncmua S i: 



^^T,J^T^ have had precisely twelve hours all the year hybrids of the fourth generation, five years old, all raised from the same capsule 



on the woria s sunace wuuiu nave ? , * nd wh cn con tain in their pedigree five distinct spec es and three distinrt hJhriA 



round bet»«n sunrise and sunset, the seasons won d have been non- | fa ^ ^ ^ be P « d » ^»jbn& 



existent, and beyond a doubt the for™ o »£g^J+™£ disposa, of the student of heredity ; with ,hif d M „c< advance, 4^ 



1 He equatorial regions wouiu iidve . .... their ocdiVree is r»r*>fn11v m-ci, — ti , ? 



have been very differently modified, 

 been much as they are now, since equal day and night is there estab- 



and general diminution of temperature would have obtained, culminating 

 in presumably Polar i&e and snow owing to the obliquity of the sunshine 



seen 



individually valuable, their pedigree is carefully and systematically recorded 

 , . - which unfortunately is more than one can say of the great majority of earden 



lished by their central position, but northward and southward an even ^ A examination of seC ondary hybrids shows them to he verv 



rent from primary hybr ids in their range of variation. As we have already 

 , primary hybrids are comparatively uniform in their characters ; so much so 

 that, a* a rule, they are quite distinct from their parents. On the other hand, 



s - 4 m « - , ---n approaching either 



parent, and sometimes even reverting wholly to one or the other. Fcr instance 



to take the simplest form of a secondary hybrid, i.e. a hybrrd crossed with one of 



its parent species. We find that the effsprirg, as a rule, are very variable, a few 



reverting to the parent spec ies, and a few to the parent hybrid ; but the great 



majority are intermediate forms approaching either parent, the whole forming a 



series of links between one parent and the other. In short, we find that secondary 



they would get. In our island a perpetual spring would be our lot ^ ^ ^ 



everlasting equinox ; but certainly that spring would be devoid of all the secondary hybrids have a much wider range cf variation, often approaching either 



charm of rejuvenescence which we now enjoy, and the vegetation, robbed — j — - — — «^~n« *~ — — - At — « ■ 



of the hot summer sun on the one hand and unchecked by keen winter 

 frosts on the other, would fit into no types with which we are acquainted, 

 since no such permanently stable conditions exist on our planet to have 

 moulded them. The poet may rave about perpetual spring, just as the 



gastronomist might dream of a perpetual dinner, but it is the winter — — > 



fast which creates the necessary appetite, and in our opinion we have hybrids have a far wider range of variation than have primary hybrids. 



much to be thankful for when we consider what an unutterable monotony Popular Chrysanthemums.— The American Gardening, following the 



has been spared to us by that little twist our whirling planet received example that was set in these pages many years since, has prepared an audit o 



the chrysanthemums staged in the first prize collections at fifteen of the principal 

 exhibitions of the United States. One hundred and fifty-five varieties were 



when launched into space as an independent world. 



Manurial Experiments in not a few instances fail to have any practical f own and those staged hve or more ttmss are a, follows : Vmand Morel 26 ; 

 value in consequence of those engaged in them failing to recognise the importance Mn, Henry Robmson, 20 ; Major I^naffon, 20 ; Frank Hardy, 19 ; Golden 

 of conducting them on land thafis indifferently stored with plant food. In a Wedding 16 ; Modesto, 17 ! Mrs I. Weeks, 14 ; Mutual Friend, 10 , Minerva, 



report on some experiments carried out during the current year in the use of fer- 

 tilisers for potatos it is stated that the unmanured or control plots produced 



jo; H. L. Sunderbruch, ro ; Mrs. G. Peabody, 9; Mrs. Perrin, 8; Miss 

 Georgiana Pitcher, 8 ; Chas. Davis, 8 ; Philadelphia, 7 ; G. W. Childs, 7 ; Mrs. 



crops equal to eleven tons per acre. Land so richly stored with plant food as to J erome J ones > 6 * J' Shr ™P-°£ 6 ; Eu K cn « Dailledouze, 5 ! Inter-Ocean, 5 i 

 be able to produce such large crops as these was of but little value for purposes J eannie Falconer, S ; H. W. Rieman, S ; Nyanza, 5; W. H. Chadwick, 5 ; 



of experiment f as very heavy dressings of artificial or natural manures would be 

 necessary to produce any appreciable influence upon the yield. It cannot be too 

 distinctly understood that the land should be decidedly poor and uniform in 

 quality throughout for experiments that are to have general application, for, unless 



Autumn Glory, 5 ; Newitt, 5 ; Pink Ivory, 5 ; Eureka, 5 ; Maud Dean, 5 ; Silver 

 Cloud, 5. 



Popular Plant Names. — In discussing the modern literary misconception 

 of regarding Shakespeare's "lon*-purples " as the so-called " purple loose- strife,' 1 



this be the case, the results can have but little value, if they are not actually mis- Sir G ~ or g e Birdwood makes, in the Athemmm, the following pertinent remarks 

 leading. In the experimental use of manures in the garden for the information of with reference to the desirability of writers making themselves fully acquainted with 

 individual cultivators it is not necessary to carry them out on exhausted soil, as al^ 



the names of the plants they write about, for the pu rpose of avoiding the pitfalls 



that is necessary is to vary the dressings applied to certain crops, and carefully for the unwary in dealing with the vernacular names of plants either when 

 note the results. These will be useful for the guidance of the cultivator in the describing English scenery or elucidating the text of English writers. Shakespeare's 



garden in which the experiments were made, but of comparatively little use to 

 others. We are in great need of systematic experiments carried out under the 

 direction of a central organisation on the lines suggested by Mr. George Gordon 

 in his lecture before the Royal Horticultural Society in October last. 



Then and Now.— It is worthy of note, writes Mr. R. Dean, that the first 

 chrysanthemum show that was held at the Crystal Palace took place in 1858, in the 

 month of November, but the chronicler does not give the date. The late Mr. A. 

 Wortley was first with twenty- four blooms, and it may interest some to have the 

 names : Yellow Formosum, Themis, Leon Leguay, Annie Salter, Formosum, 

 Raymond,[Nonpareil, Rosa Mystica, Astrea, Christopher Colomb, Virgil, Pio Nono, 

 Antigone, DupontdeTEnre, Madame LeCorde, Madame Andre, Pluto, Hermione, 

 Stellaris globosa, Madame Miellez, Madame Nolleville, Aregina, Aim£e Ferriere, 

 and Queen of England. Nearly the whole of these names can be found in the cen- 

 tenary edition of the National Chrysanthemum Society's catalogue, 1890, though 

 not a few of them by that time must have gone out of cultivation ; but their in- 

 clusion at that period bore testimony to the industry of the Catalogue Committee, 

 who did their very best to give a complete list of the named chrysanthemums to 

 that date. Only one, the perennial Queen of England, which was distributed 

 by John Salter jnit half a century ago, but which is but little seen at the 



present time, was exhibited in 1858. 



Wortley 



94 long-purples" are undoubtedly the purple- flowered orchids of our native flora. 

 He writes: "It is very desirable that literary men and women, in dealing with 

 the popular nomenclature of plants, should always consult some recognised 

 authority on the subject; For inspiration and deli ght in such labour there is, of 

 course, nothing to be compared with the fragrant folios of our great English 

 * herbalists '—Turner, and Lyte, and Gerarde, and Parkinson. But some training 

 is required to use them aright ; and even the experienced will find it safer to be 

 guided in their use by such exhaustive and accurate handbooks as Prior's 

 1 Popular Names of British Plants' and Britten and Holland's * English Plant 

 Names 9 (Dialect Society's publications). All the same one likes to work out 

 these puzzles of nomenclature independently, or at least to verify the accepted 

 solutions of them ; and for the identification of the folk-names of plants to be 

 found in our poets and ether famo us writers of the later Stuart, Georgian, and 

 earlier Victorian periods there is no more trustworthy, suggesti ve, and alluring a 

 help, exactly suited to the conscientious literary annotator, than William Hudson's 

 s Flora Anglica 3 (1730— Westmoreland— 1793). It was from a copy of this work, 

 presented by Colonel Conway (Horace Walpole's cousin) to Crabbe, that the 

 latter imbibed his salutary and inspiring love of botany." 



Royal Gardeners' Orphan Funda— The proceedings at the December 



meeting of the Executive Committee of this charity afforded further evidence of 



development of the incurved and Japanese sections up to the Jubilee celebration the abilit y of horticultural societies to assist the gardening charities without taxing 

 of 1896 ; but it would be an interesting comparison indeed if the varieties he staged the individual members. The secretary announced, as usual, the donations 

 in 1858 could have been put side by side with Mr. Lunt's Japanese and Mr. 

 King's incurved blooms at the Exhibition of the N.C.S. at the Aquarium on the 

 6th inst. The possibilities of development in the incurved section, and especially 

 in the Japanese, appear to be almost illimitable. 



The Persimmon, which has of late years received increased attention in the 

 United States and some other parts of the world, is now being imported in con. 

 siderable quantities into this countiy, and the rich orange- coloured fruits which 

 are not unlike large oval plums have for some time past formed an interesting 

 feature m the windows of the retail fruit shops. This fruit, which some people 

 highly appreciate, has been improved during the past twenty years. The be* 

 supplies just now come to us from Madeira, and they are retailed at about four 

 shillings per dozen. Presently, when the trade has been properly developed and 

 the fruit itself popularised amcrg a wide circle of consumers, enormous quantities 

 will, it is believed by the most sanguine, be sent to the English markets, from 



£^h' I* WhCie ,hC flUit 15 8I0Wn Pensively. The fruit can be 



picked when just ready to commence colouring, and will travel almost any distance 



and colour up to perfection in transit. The tree is a native of Japan, and when 

 iipe the fruit has an agreeable sweetness 



Secondary and Tertiary 



Mr. C. C. Hirst states 



,~ P-*PP*s from London hothouses were noveuie* ~~ ~~r 



being a primary hybrid ; while thirtv IJT ?• J t * ParCntS attenUon in the ^ncy trade » of New York. It would be still more interesting 



ti,;„f ' . are tert,ar y hybrids, i.e. hybrids of the to l«nn th* . . ot . JN _ ew * or f- w „ _.. . , w «« enormous 



received in the course of the preceding month, and these included the following 

 amounts: Altrincham Gardeners' Association, ^15 10s., proceeds of concert; 

 Scottish Horticultural Association, ,£15 ; Canterbury Hospital and Charities' Fe te, 

 £5; Chislehurst Gardeners' Society, £3 14s., the profits of a non-competitive 

 exhibition of chrysanthemums, for which a charge of twopence for admission was 

 made. Mr. II. Herbst also contributed ^5, the proceeds of his collecting-box. 

 The nomination forms were passed at this meeting, and we regret to state that 

 there are nineteen candidates for election in February next, as not more than about 

 one-half that number can be placed on the pension list. 



The Gale which commenced soon after midnight on Monday and continued 

 throughout the following day did a considerable amount of damage in Great 

 Britain and Ireland and caused considerable loss of life both on land and sea. The 

 rooting up of trees has been general over the greater part of the United Kingdom, 

 and more especially has this been the case in Greenwich Park and at Hatfie d 

 House. At Abergavenny a greenhouse was lifted up by the wind and blown into 

 an adjoining window. 



Pineapples from London Hothouses !— It is interesting to read, in 



an American contemporary, at a time when we are regarding the cultivation 01 

 the pineapple in Great Britain for commercial purposes as non-existent, tnat 

 "enormous pineapples from London hothouses were novelties that attracted 



parents 



hybrids 



to leatn the thereabouts of the « London hothouses » in which these « enormous 



The 77;;/^ believes 



