March 9, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
205 
garden for them alone. Tree Carnations are special favourites with the 
Royal Family, and thousands are cultivated, including 1000 of Souvenir 
de la Malmaison. Liliums are another immense item. Of L. Harris! alone 
several thousands are cultivated, and they are splendidly done. Large 
quantities are flowered at Christmas, and many others are coming on 
for Easter. The extent to which these and others are grown might 
suggest a nursery or market establishment. Lilies of the Valley are 
forced to the extent of 25,000 or 30,000. Bouvardias and Gardenias are 
in great numbers and splendid condition, indeed one observes through¬ 
out what a great amount of attention is devoted to fragrant flowers. The 
quantities of Roses, reckoning in both those out of doors and under glass, 
is enough to stock many a nursery. The leading Teas, such as Catherine 
Mermet and Niphetos, are in very strong force. Of Cyclamens nearly a 
thousand are cultivated, together with proportionate quantities of 
Primulas, Richardias, Bucharises, Spiraeas and Poinsettias ; 1500 repre¬ 
sent about the quantity of the latter. Immense quantities of bulbs are 
grown for Easter, and Narcissi are forced in thousands. 
The collection of Orchids is being steadily increased, and ere long is 
likely to sustain a considerable development. Already the East Indian, 
Coelogyne and Cattleya houses are well furnished, and the plants 
pictures of health. Palms and foliage plants also constitute an im¬ 
portant feature. There are some huge specimens of the former for 
special use, and abundance of smaller plants for general decorative 
purposes. Perhaps it is hardly necessary to mention that Crotons and 
Dracaenas are conspicuous in numbers, for that would be expected, but 
it may be added that they are in the perfection of health and colour, 
and a note may also be made of the fact that Smilax has a prominent 
place, the trails being found most useful in table decoration. 
I could go on to write about other popular plants, but a general idea 
has been given of what has to be done in the Sandringham Gardens, 
and of the manner in which it is performed. On every side is learned 
the lesson of development. Animated by a desire to render the portion 
of the estate under his charge worthy of its great name in the highest 
sense of the term, Mr. MacKellar is doing all that skill, forethought, and 
energy can accomplish to make it second to none in the kingdom. The 
chance has come to him which every able and earnest man longs for— 
that of finding free scope for every good faculty and attribute. He is 
availing himself of the opportunity by work that is as enduring as it is 
excellent, and of which the fruits will be enjoyed for many years to 
come. The encouragement most dear to all gardeners, the interest and 
appreciation of his Royal employers, is not denied to him—indeed, its 
stimulus is felt by all workers, from the highest to the lowest. In the 
atmosphere of peace and contentment which reigns at sunny Sandring¬ 
ham is found a wholesome antidote to the evil suggestions of pessimism. 
Kind hearts in high places watch over the material comforts and mental 
pleasures of those who labour, brightening their lives with pleasant 
privileges and thoughtful acts ; and so it is that the sunshine which 
spreads over the moors and woodlands finds its way into the hearts of 
those whose work lies amongst them.—W. P. W. 
TWO VERY OLD CARNATIONS. 
In looking over some old volumes of “ Curtis’s Botanical Magazine ” 
lately I found in the volume for 1793 a coloured plate in excellent 
condition, with the colours as bright as when used, of what in those 
days was a wonderfully fine scarlet bizarre Carnation named Franklin’s 
Tartar, raised by a Mr. Franklin, florist, of Lambeth Marsh, London, a 
district noted for florists a century and more since. It was considered 
to be so fine (and it must have been a very fine variety then, for it looks 
to be a good one now) by the Editor as to have earned the distinction 
of an illustration in a work in which florists’ flowers found no 
place. Just 100 years have elapsed since this variety was figured. 
In a later volume for 1814 there is a coloured illustration of the 
Wheat-eared Carnation, showing the main terminal flower, and one 
unopened bud only, every other lateral terminating with a Wheat-ear 
like growth, which did not produce the flowers. The colour is of a rosy 
crimson shade, with darker blotches, serrated edges, and such as our 
common border flowers are at this day. It is described by the Editor as 
“ a monstrosity, occasioned by the multiplication of the parts of the 
calyx, and so extremely rare that the great botanist Linnmus remarked 
that he had hardly seen another instance of it, and he thought it of 
-sufficient importance to give to this variety the name of Dianthus 
Caryophyllus imbricatus.” The illustration was made from a bloom in 
the then famous nursery of Mr. Davy, King’s Road, Chelsea. Dr. Hogg 
may probably have known this variety, and have a remembrance of Mr. 
Davy, who was so famous in the early part of the century for Pelar¬ 
goniums ; and there are old horticulturists who will remember his 
Pelargonium Davyanum. I for one can, and I seem to have some recol¬ 
lection of having seen the Wheat-eared Carnation when a boy.—W. D. 
[Dr. Hogg remembers Mr. Davy very well, and has grown the Wheat- 
cared Carnation.] 
HARBINGERS OF SPRING. 
There is every indication of a very forward spring this year. We 
had our share of rain in February, but the weather altogether was very 
open and mild. As a result, vegetation seems now springing into 
activity. Some of the earliest Pears are ready to burst their bloom 
buds, and also the Apricjts and Peaches on walls. The tops of the 
lofty Elms, in which the rooks are busy building their nests, are assum¬ 
ing the dull sombre crimson shade so characteristic of the tree in the | 
flowering season^ 
One of the local habitats of the wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudo¬ 
narcissus), a place called St. Urian’s Copse, near here, is now being 
ransacked, and lads and lassies are met coming home with bunches of 
half-open flowers of these Lent Lilies. Some also had flowers of the 
Marsh Marigold—Caltha palustris, or “ King Cups,” as they are 
locally called here. Yesterday (March 5th) I also saw two perfect 
specimens of the Painted Lady butterfly feeding from the flowers of the 
yellow Coltsfoot (Tussilago Farfara). 
It may be interesting to know that on Saturday I picked several good 
Mushrooms out of doors on a sloping bank, wherein some manure had 
been dug in two years ago, and on the same day more Mushrooms 
were cut from an open garden near here, both being from a sandy soil— 
in fact, a drift of sea sand. No doubt the excessive wet had started the 
dormant spawn into growth, and the mild weather helped them to 
develop. They were certainly as fine and clean as any I obtained 
last summer. If we should be favoured with a little lower temperature 
and drying winds this month to check the somewhat forward buds, we 
may look for a very favourable fruit season.—C. Orchard, Beinhridge, 
Isle of Wight. 
USEFUL APPLIANCES. 
Atkinson’s Leap Sponger. 
Not many better helps, in a small way, to gardeners and amateurs 
are found than in the aphis brush—a pair of brushes face to face, and 
used in the form of tongs, for sweeping insects off Roses and plants ; 
yet this simple appliance is not seen in every 
greenhouse and garden. Exactly similar in 
principle is another little help for washing the 
leaves of plants, “ both sides at once.” The 
“sponger” is just what its name implies, and 
explains itself in the small illustration (fig. 43). 
With a little practice there is no doubt that 
such plants as Palms, Crotons, Orchids, and 
others may be cleansed on both sides of the 
leaves with this appliance far more expe¬ 
ditiously than in the more tedious old way. 
The sponger is so simple that it is a wonder 
it has not been thought of before. It is 
sent to us by Messrs. Benton & Stone, horti¬ 
cultural brassfounders, Birmingham, and is 
presumably sold by sundriesmen. Improved 
syringes are also being introduced by the 
firm, worked by Stone’s adjustable plunger. 
This plunger has an indiarubber case, with 
an outer case of cloth, both specially prepared. 
The prepared rubber ensures the elasticity 
necessary to produce constant sound working ; 
the cloth retains the oil, ensures smoothness, 
and prevents corrosion of the rubber with the 
metal. By arrangement of plates, controlled by a thumbscrew, the 
plunger can be adjusted to the cylinder, to a perfectly water-tight 
pressure, and works with ease and smoothness. 
EARLY FLOWERING SHRUBS AT KEW. 
Hamamelis arborea. —There are three or four species of Hamamelis 
known in gardens, one, H. virginica, coming from North America and 
the others from Japan, all of them being perfectly hardy. The most 
ornamental of any, and the one generally recommended for planting, is 
the species here noted, which is now represented by flowering specimens 
in several parts of the Royal Gardens. It was introduced from Tapan 
by a Dutch firm of nurserymen about thirty years ago, and although in 
iis native country it is reported to attain a height of from 15 feet to 
20 feet, it flowers quite profusely when only 2 or 3 feet high. At this 
season the plants are quite leafless, but the bright yellow flowers show 
up with marked effect against the dark, bare stems. To each flower 
there are four long, narrow petals which are curiously undulated and 
twisted, whilst the short, rounded lobes of the calyx are claret-coloured. 
The aspect of these plants (or, rather, small trees) thickly studded on all 
the younger branches with the bright, star-like flowers, is at this time of 
year especially pleasing, and they may be described as being as beautiful 
as they are curious. To the student of geographical botany the species 
is interesting as furnishing additional evidence of the marked affinity 
that exists between the floras of Japan and North America. The 
Hamamelis are popularly known as Witch Hazels ; the oldest of them, 
H. virginica, which flowers in early winter, was known in English 
gardens 150 years ago. 
Rhododendron pr^COX. —Shrubs flowering out of doors are just 
now so scarce that one possessing the beauty of this old garden hybrid is 
rendered especially worthy of notice. In the “ American ” garden 
(near the larae Temperate House) there is an exceptionally fine speci¬ 
men, a rounded bush 4 feet high, which is now thickly covered with 
flowers either partly or fully expanded. This Rnododendron was 
raised by Mr, Davies of Orm kirk from the dwarf Himalayan species, 
R. ciliatum, crossed with R. dahuricum. I do not think there can be 
any question of its superiority from a horticultural standpoint to either 
of its parents, for it seems, in a great measure, to combine the good 
qualities of both. In foliage and habit it more nearly approaches 
R. dahuricum, but its leaves are larger and retained in greater number 
through the winter; R. dahuricum is, indeed, in some of its forms quite 
