57G 
JOURNAL OF HORTIGULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 25, 1884. 
pipes than one, 5° or 10° higher with the pipes hot. I do not 
object to the higher temperatures, but when the only way of securing 
them is accompanied by a drying heat that necessitates an almost un¬ 
limited supply of moisture to counteract the bad effects that would 
inevitably follow, then I prefer a lower temperature and a drier condition 
of the air. It would be well to remember that the cooler stove houses 
and Orchid houses are kept during winter the less moisture is required. 
The water spilt in supplying water to the plants and in washing the 
pathways is all we find it necessary to give. Too much moisture in a low 
winter temperature is certain destruction to many plants which do 
perfectly well in a low stove temperature if kept in a rather dry atmo¬ 
sphere. Cold dry temperatures are best suited for the ripening or resting 
of many Orchids, such as Dendrobiums, some Cypripediums, Odonto- 
glossums, Aerides, and many others. They flower so much more freely 
and grow stronger after passing a term of treatment as above. Orchids 
resting in a low temperature require absolutely no water at their root. 
If growing in a moderately low one they require water as necessary, but 
do better without it in the atmosphere ; and the same applies to most 
forced or growing plants—that is, a sufficiency at root and little in 
the air.—B. 
CHRISTMAS BERRIES. 
At present I do not intend writing exhaustive notes on the cultivation 
of the different plants which produce berries at Christmas, but just now, 
when so many householders in the country are buying evergreens, more 
especially those bearing berries, for decorative purposes, I would like to call 
their attention to the desirability of every garden owner growing some of 
their own. There are innumerable gardens where bushes and trees are 
grown, but as a rule very few of them are berry-producing. Laurels form 
about three parts of all the bushes grown in small gardens, and in many 
large gardens they are far too common. Choice plants ought to take half 
their places, and berry-bearing plants should be generally and largely intro¬ 
duced. As a rule, they are all ornamental in appearance when only in leaf, 
and they are doubly so when in fruit. 
Amongst the Hollies there are some of the most beautiful decorative 
plants anyone could wish to see. Indeed, as a class they are most valuable, 
and if those who plant Laurels and common forest trees so extensively in their 
pleasure grounds and small gardens could only be induced to deal more with 
the Hollies, they would improve the general appearancs of their gardens, 
and stand a good chance of securing abundance of fine berries at Christmas 
time. 
The Arbutus Unedo near the sea and in mild climates and districts are a 
most valuable addition to berry trees. The fine clusters of fruit resemble 
small ripe Strawberries, and are very charming. The Aucubas are also 
grand, but in nine cases out of every ten only the female variety is planted, 
which never fruits ; but when a few male plants are introduced, most beau¬ 
tiful clusters of berries will be produced. The variegated leaves and large 
red berries are almost unique for Christmas decorations. The Sweet Bay 
produces quantities of very dark conical berries, which generally remain on 
until Christmas, and make a good addition to the others. When the 
Mahonia Aquifolia holds its fruit until this time it is a capital shrub, but 
birds and game are very fond of the fruit, and devour it greedily. As wall 
and creeping berried plants Cotoneasters should be planted. They are 
pretty evergreens, and covered with red berries at this time. C. microphylla 
38 the small-berried one. C. Simondsi is much larger, but not so free in 
fruiting. 
Everything considered, there is no berried evergreen so useful at 
Christmas as the Holly, and when a few varieties are planted they fruit 
very constantly as a rule. I daresay many garden owners will not quite 
understand why they shonld have so many bushes and have no berries, and 
probably they may be buying these when their placets overrun with ever¬ 
greens, and it is this we contend might be rectified by planting the proper 
varieties of evergreens. Laurels may often be bought by the dozen cheaper 
than Holly plants singly, but it is only at the beginning that anything like 
a saying is manifest, and then it is a delusion, as a fine Holly tree with berries 
or without them is of more value ornamentally than a mass of Laurels and 
other cheap bushes. 
Then there is the Mistletoe. How very few gardens there are in which 
this is to be found growing. The impression seems to be that it will not 
grow everywhere, but has it ever been tried ? In many nurseries Apple 
trees may be bought with the M'scletoe growing on them, and by planting 
a few of these, all may have the pleasure of s?eing this curious parasite 
growing, and it will soon become of use where, as just now, many may be 
paying as much every Christmas for Mistletoe as would buy the Apple tree 
and it combined.—J. Muir, Margam, 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics. By Richard FolkARd, jun. London ; 
Sampson, Low & Co., 188, Fleet Street. 1884. 
In a work of over 600 closely printed pages Mr. Folkard has given us 
a very full account of all the legends and popular history connected with 
plants. No less than eighty old and modern works have been carefully 
searched for all matters bearing on the subject, and the old herbalists 
have especially been made to contribute largely to the multitudinous 
Myths, traditions, and superstitions” contained in this volume. It is a 
most interesting compilation, and the author has performed his task in a 
satisfactory and thorough manner, considering the number and varied 
character of the sources from which he derived his materials. 
It is in two parts, the first comprising sixteen chapters of 200 pages, in 
which the plants are referred to under the particular customs or persons 
with which they have been associated. E.xamples of these are “ Floral 
Ceremonies,” ” Plants of the Fairies,” “ Plants of the Devil,” “ Magxal 
Plants,” &:c. In the second part, which includes 400 pages, the plants 
are arranged alphabetically under their popular or local names. One 
part is therefore necessarily to a groat extent a repetition of the other, 
but a full index removes any difficulty that might arise from this method 
of arrangement. The headlines and titles of the chapters are in antique 
type, and the majority of the illustrations are exact reproductions of 
those given in Parkinson’s and Gerarde’s “ Herbals ” and other old works of 
a similar character ; but the body of the work is in good clear Roman 
type, both paper and general finish being excellent. 
Much care has evidently been exercised to render the book as accurate 
as possible, but although a considerable list of errata is given, several 
have escaped notice, particularly in the names of plants. For instance, 
we find the Box described as Buxas semperviva, Canterbury Bells as 
Campanula Trachelium, the Scotch Bluebell as Campanula lalifolia, and 
the Greater Celandine as Chelidonium major (majus). Polypodium 
Barometz should be Cibotium Barometz; ‘‘Polypodium dicotomon” 
is corrected in the errata to ” P. dichotomon,” neither being correct, 
as it was figured by Thunberg under the name of P. dichotomum, and is 
now known as Gleichenia dichotoma. In the alphabetical list, as already 
mentioned, the popular name is given first, and then in some cases the 
botanical name follows ; in numbers of instances, however, this is unfortu¬ 
nately omitted. Some very strange local names are also introduced 
without the slightest indication as to what plants are referred to, such 
as ‘‘Avaka, an Indian aquatic plant,” “ Chohobba,” “ Kounalnitza,” and 
many others of a similar character. With these few exceptions the work 
has been carefully revised, and it will undoubtedly find a place upon the 
bookshelves of numbers of plant-lovers. 
As an example of the style adopted in the first part of the book, the 
following extract will suffice : — 
“ Floral Ceremonies, Whe.aths, and Garlands. —The application of 
flowers and plants to ciremonial purposes is of the highest antiquity. 
From the earliest periods, man, after he had discovered 
‘ What drops the Myrrh and what the balmy Reed,’ 
offered up on primitive altars, as incense to the Deity, the choicest and 
most fragrant woods, the aromatic gums from trees, and the subtle essences 
he obtained from flowers. In the odorous but intoxicating fumes which 
slowly ascended, in wreaths heavy with fragrance, from the altar the pious 
ancients saw the mystic agency by which their prayers would be wafted 
from earth to the abodes of the gods; and so, says Mr. Rimmel, ‘ the altars 
of Zoroaster and of Confucius, the temples of Memphis, and those of 
Jerusalem, all smoked alike with incense and sweet-scented woods.’ Nor 
was the admiration and use of vegetable productions confined to the in¬ 
habitants of the Old World alone, for the Mexicans, according to the Abb6 
Clavigero, have from time immemorial studied the cultivation of flowers 
and odoriferous plants, which they employed in the worship of their gods. 
“ But the use of flowers and odorous shrubs was not long confined by the 
ancients to their sacred rites ; they soon began to consider them as essential 
to their domestic life. Thus the Egyptians, though they offered the finest 
fruit and the finest flowers to the gods, and employed perfumes at all their 
sacred festivals, as well as at their daily oblations, were lavish in the use of 
flowers at their private entertainments and in all circumstances of their 
everyday life. At a reception given by an Eg 3 rptian noble, it was custom¬ 
ary, after the ceremony of anointing, for each guest to be presented with a 
Lotus flower when entering the saloon, and this flower the guest continued 
to hold in his hand. Servants brought necklaces of flowers composed 
chiefly of the Lotus ; a garland was put round the head, and a single Lotus 
bud or a full-blown flower was so attached as to hang over the forehead. 
Many of them, made up into wreaths and devices, were suspended upon 
stands placed in the rooms, garlands of Crocus and Saffron encircled the 
wine cups, and over and under the tables were strewn various flowers. 
Diodorus informs us that when the Egyptians approached the place of Divine 
worship they held the flower of the Agrostis in their hand, intimating that 
man proceeded from a well-watered land, and that he required a moist 
rather than a dry aliment; and it is not improbable that the reason of the 
great preference given to the Lotus on these occasions was derived from 
the same notion. 
” This fondness of the ancients for flowers was carried to such an 
extent as to become almost a vice. When Antony supped with Cleopatra, 
the luxurious queen of Egypt, the floors of the apartments were usually 
covered with fragrant flowers. When Sardanapalus, the last of the Assyrian 
monarchs, was driven to dire extremity by the rapid approach of the_ con¬ 
queror, he chose the death of an eastern voluptuary; causing a pile of 
fragrant woods to be lighted, and placing himself on it with his wives and 
treasures, he soon became insensible, and was suffocated by the aromatic 
smoke. When Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian king, held high festival at 
Daphne, in one of the processions which took place boys bore frankincense, 
myrrh, and saffron on golden dishes, two hundred women sprinkled everyone 
with perfumes out of golden watering pots, and all who entered the gym¬ 
nasium to witness the games were anointed with some perfume contained in 
fifteen gold dishes, holding Saffron, Amaracus, Lilies, Cinnamon, Spikenard, 
Fenugreek, &c. When the Roman emperor Nero sat at banquet in his 
golden palace a shower of flowers and perfumes fell upon him; but Herio- 
gabalus turned these floral luxuries into veritable curses, for it was one of 
the pleasures of this inhuman being to smother his courtiers with flowers. 
“ Both Greeks and Romans carried the delicate refinement of the taste' 
for flowers and perfumes to the greatest excess in their costly entertain¬ 
ments ; *and it is the opinion of Baccius that at their desserts the number 
of their flowers far exceeded that of their fruits. The odour of flowers was 
deemed potent to arouse the fainting appetitite, and their presence was 
rightly thought to enhance the enjoyment of the guests at their banqueting 
boards.” 
From the second part we extract the following, which, besides 
indicating the style, are also of seasonable interest:— 
CHRISTMAS PLANTS. 
“ Holly. —The Holly or Holme (Ilex aquifolium) derives its name from 
the Anglo-Saxon Holegn, whilst another ancient designation, Hulver, or, as 
