108 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 9, 1893. 
round object, ringed with short hairs, the mou^-h being noticeable 
by two scaly hooks which project from its sides. Probably the 
mischief this larva does is partly attributable to the exudation 
from the body, which is of a slimy nature ; by its mode of life 
it is hidden from view within the bulb, which it quits to enter 
the earth. The discovery of the pupse amongst soil is not 
difficult, and they should be sought during autumn. This fly 
also visits other bulbous plants cultivated in gardens. — 
Entomologist. 
MARGARET CARNATIONS. 
These beautiful flowers have in my opinion fully merited the 
high encomiums bestowed upon them when first put in commerce. 
Yarious opinions have from time to time been expressed, and, as 
might be supposed, their good qualities do not seem to fully satisfy 
all classes of cultivators, for it is scarcely possible that any race 
of plants, however good, will achieve that distinction when in¬ 
dividual tastes, inclinations, and desires differ so much. I 
thoroughly believe, however, that an increasing number will ere 
long find out their great value, and will welcome them as a grand 
addition to late summer and autumn flowering plants. It is during 
that period that their usefulness is especially apparent. The ease 
with which they are grown, the comparatively short time which 
elapses from the sowing of the seed to the flowering stage, and 
the many beautiful shades of colour to be found in the flowers, 
■combined with the good qualities previously mentioned, will 
■assuredly secure for them great popularity. 
Last season I obtained a couple of packets of seed from Messrs. 
J. Yeitch & Sons. The seed of one packet was sown about the 
middle of February, and the other the first week in March, the 
latter sowing being made in a cold frame, and the former one in a 
pit, the temperature of which ranged upon 45° to 55°, in which 
position the plants were kept until growth was well advanced. 
The last week in April they were transferred to cold frames, and 
during the last week in May planted in mixed borders in the open 
air. From this sowing a few flowers opened in July, but flowering 
was not general till the middle of August, and continued to a 
limited extent till the end of October. The flowers seemed to 
withstand the vicissitudes of climate far better than many autumn¬ 
flowering plants, the heavy rains apparently having a less injurious 
effect upon them than upon Michaelmas Daisies. At the end of 
October many plants had still numerous well formed buds upon them. 
The best plants then were carefully lifted, placed into 5 and 6-inch 
pots, and put in a house which was given no more heat than was 
necessary to exclude frost. Very few buds were lost through the 
check experienced when lifted. These plants now look healthy 
and well, the buds showing every sign of affording useful flowers 
at the advent of warmer and brighter days. 
The plants resulting from the March sowing have been kept in 
pots, and have proved of the greatest value. They were stood in 
cool frames till the beginning of June, and then placed in an open 
position out of doors. Shortly after this date they were placed in 
pots ranging from 4 to 6 inches in diameter, in which they flowered, 
the compost used being two parts loam, one part manure from a 
spent Mushroom bed, with a little sharp sand and soot added. A 
shady position was then given for a fortnight, during which time 
the plants were syringed freely twice daily. After this, they were 
again arranged thinly on a bed of coal ashes in the open air, 
and received a thorough syringing during the afternoon of fine 
days. This syringing is an important item in their culture, as it 
keeps them quite free from the attacks of green fly, and forwards 
their growth wonderfully. These plants afforded a number of 
flowers during the autumn months, and they are again beginning to 
open their buds. I have no doubt flowers might have been obtained 
throughout the winter if the plants had been given more heat. 
In regard to the form and substance of the flowers obtained I 
may say they have varied greatly, but only a very few quite 
single ones were produced ; some were good full flowers, quite 
equal to many border Carnations of acknowledged worth. The 
majority, though somewhat small, were of a sufficient size to be 
thoroughly useful for a variety of purposes in a cut state, and the 
flowers were so freely produced, and withal so deliciously scented, 
as to prove invaluable for room embellishment when left upon 
the plants. 
A great variety of colours were obtained, the pink and rose 
shades being especially good. One variety, which I intend to pro¬ 
pagate freely, has flowers of a more pleasing shade of colour than 
the well known Raby Castle border Carnation. I venture to predict 
that these Carnations have a great future before them, for with but 
little trouble they supply an abundance of beautiful and scented 
flowers at times of the year when they are especially valued, and 
as a stock for the hybridist to work upon they possess advantages 
not to be found in any other race of allied plants.— H. Dunkin. 
Some of your readers may possibly be pleased to know that I have 
recovered the shock received on reading the Rose column of the 
“ Journal ” of the 2nd inst. As to the “ friendly criticism ” published 
therein I reply shortly and seriatim to the numbered statements. 
1, To use a sporting metaphor, suitable to Mr. Pemberton’s heading, 
he has made a false start. Although not a planet of acknowledged 
brilliancy, and “ constantly on the move ” since 1877, I yet claim to be 
a star of the fifth magnitude (which is the smallest size visible to the 
naked eye), and of 1878 that (and not 1889) being the year of my first 
appearance in the firmament of the N.R.S., Mr. Benjamin Cant of 
Colchester being my first instructor in the culture of Roses. 
2, I am proud of the success my most diminutive garden has 
achieved. I do not deny it has merits, and I hope I have not unduly, 
or at any time, magnified its performances ; its fault is its size, its 
drawback its position, of beauty it has none. 
3, I neither have the wish nor the intention to turn a real pleasure 
into a business, and therefore even if I had the space I should not be in 
the least likely to grow maidens. 
I could enlarge on this subject of growing maidens, but refrain from 
doing so out of respect for the amateur rosarian body in general. I 
have not the time to go all over the north country visiting Rose shows, 
nor can I see any advantage I should gain by such unnecessary trouble ; 
our southern amateurs’ and professionals’ gardens and exhibits give me 
all the Rose education I am evidently sadly in need of. But I would 
ask this question, If the northern and midland growers, with the 
notable exception of Messrs. Harkness & Sons, are so superior in 
the latter half of July, why is it they do not enter the lists and try 
conclusions with Mr. B. Cant, Mr. F. Cant, and Mr. George Paul at the 
provincial shows ? And to point the question, I instance the Show at 
Chester in 1892, when their Roses not only should have been but w^e 
in excellent form. 
In conclusion, I leave the whole question as it is clearly put by your 
correspondent, “ D., Beal” who ridicules the assumption of virtuous 
claims made by certain gentlemen writing nominally on behalf of the 
rosarians of the midlands and the north, but in reality playing for 
their own hand ; and “ D., Deal's,” arguments being really unanswer¬ 
able, I consider our position impregnable, at all events until the 
northerners have champions who can plead their cause in a more reason¬ 
able, accurate, and common-sense way.— Charles J. Gkahame, 
National Rose Society—Jubilee Trophies. 
I HAVE inadvertently made a mistake with regard to these. I did not 
intend to include 1892 in the list of winners, and wronged my old friend, 
Mr. B. R. Cant, by omitting his name. The list ought to be : Nursery¬ 
men, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, Messrs. Harkness & Son ; 1891, Mr. Frank 
Cant; 1892, Mr. B. R. Cant. Amateurs, 1887, 1888, Mr. T. B. Hall ; 
1889, 1890, 1891, Rev. J. H. Pemberton ; 1892, Mr. J. P. Budd. This 
more correct list does not affect the point I intended to elucidate—viz., 
that the southern amateurs have taken the lion’s share from their 
northern brethren.—D., Deal. 
The National Rose Society. 
It should be a matter of congratulation to Mr. Grahame and myself 
that we have “ drawn ” “ D., Deal ” (page 89), who even in a private 
capacity speaks with authority and experience. I quite agree with him 
that it is highly satisfactory for the Society that we have a Secretary 
who is not an exhibitor, and yet kindly devotes so much of his time 
and experience to the matter. A secretary who does not exhibit is as 
much more suitable to a Rose society than one who does as a non-playing 
secretary in a cricket club is to one who does play, provided in both 
cases the enthusiasm can be kept up. But in such a cricket club the 
secretary should in some matters take counsel with the playing members, 
as they will have more knowledge ; and so it should be in the N.R.S., 
which has ordained that its most trusted temporary officials, the Judges, 
should be chosen from successful exhibitors only. 
I, too, think it high time that those who “ write so loftily of arrange¬ 
ments ” (I do not feel very guilty) should know that, according to 
“ D., Deal,” “ we are quite dependent upon the Crystal Palace Company 
for having any metropolitan show at all.” It certainly seems a very 
poor and subservient position for such a Society as the N.R S., and I 
hope every member will take it to heart, and by diligent inquiry, hard 
thinking, and hard working do his best to devise a way for our delivery 
from such fetters. I am surprised that Mr. Head should complain of 
“ great gaps,” Is not every secretary of a Rose show in a state of pre¬ 
paration for gaps, ready to put the boxes a little way apart, and if 
necessary to fill up really “great” gaps with pots of flowers or foliage, 
or something ? And surely Mr. Head’s complaint of gaps should not be 
of much moment in comparison with that of an exhibitor who has 
“ paid his money,” but cannot find any place, much less “ take his choice.” 
I am sorry to hear that it is “ a very idle matter to compare the 
arrangements of a great show at the Crystal Palace to any provincial 
