542 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
June 20, 1896, 
- It ii said that Ferns which grow in rank profusion in Western 
America are now used largely for paper making at the Alberni Mills. 
- Preserving the Colours of Flowers.—A mmonia in the 
air is the main cause of flowers, when cut and dried, losing their colour. 
This may be prevented, says Herr Nienhaus, by pressing specimens 
between paper which has been previously saturated with a solution of 
1 per cent, of oxalic acid in water. In this way the true tints of even 
the most delicate Poppies may be preserved. 
-Lilacs at the Arnold Arboretum. — One of the most 
attractive floral displays ever made in an American garden was seen 
in the Arnold Arboretum when the Lilacs were in bloom. About 
120 varieties of Syringa vulgaris were in flower. The collection 
occupies a wide bed, stretching for more than 900 feet up a rather steep 
slope, along one of the principal drives, and the colour of the flowers 
is well brought out by a high green slope behind and parallel with the 
bed. Among the most attractive of the varieties in this collection are 
Marie Lagrange, white; Eubra insignis, dark red purple ; Trianoniana, 
purple; Madame Briot, red purple; Geheimath Heyder, pale reddish 
blue (very large compact panicle ); Alba grandiflora, white; 
Charles X., dark red purple (an old variety, but still one of the very 
best) ; Emil Liebeg, pale blue ; Bertha Dammann, white; Virginalis, 
white ; Ambroise Verschaffelt, flesh colour ; Gigantea, mauve; Carsli, 
dark purple red ; Maxime Cornu, pale blue (double) ; A. Lavall4e, pale 
blue (double) ; Lamarck, pale blue (double) ; Ludwig Spath, dark red 
purple (very late) ; Philamon, dark red purple; Alice Macguery, 
purple red ; La Tour d’Auvergne, dark red purple (double, very large 
compact panicle) ; Fdlicitd, pale flesh colour (semi-double) ; Madame 
Moser, white ; Tournefort, dark purple in the bud, opening bright 
blue (double).—(“ Garden and Forest.”) 
- Pea King William.— Two years since Mr. C. Orchard of 
Bembridge, Isle of Wight, sent me a single Pea haulm on which was 
growing half a dozen pods of Peas, to show what was apparently a good 
early new Pea. Taking care of the few green pods I managed to save 
enough to obtain a few seeds for use this year. The result is one of the 
finest second early Peas in cultivation. I cannot call it a first early Pea 
because sown on the same day as William I. it is fully ten days 
later than that variety. King William, like other varieties, varies in 
height. Sown in pots on March 6th and planted on a sunny border the 
haulm has grown 5 feet high, and is now bearing fully twice as many 
pods as William I., several containing eight Peas of an exceptionally 
dark colour, and for an early Pea of a really good flavour. Sown in 
the open on March 11th on the same border the haulm is quite a foot 
shorter, and consequently a lighter crop will be the result. Sowing 
William I. in pots on March 6th we gathered the first dish June 7th. 
King William sown on same date was ready June 17bh, as previously 
stated. As a close succession to William I. or any other early Pea I 
regard King William as a grand acquisition to the early Pea list.— 
E. Molyneux. 
- P.®onies. —There was a big show of these noble hardy flowers 
at the Drill Hall on the 11th, but I saw nothing there so striking as was 
found at Mr. J. Walker’s flower farm at Ham a day or two after, when 
the door of a huge packing shed being opened I saw the entire floor 
literally covered with big masses of double Pasonies, gathered and 
bunched in half dozens, ready for packing for market. All these flowers 
were standing in water, for it is a good plan to so place them in water 
so soon as cut, as the stems then get well charged with moisture before 
going to market. There were pure white, canary white, fleshy pink, 
rose, red, and crimson, though the colours are not so many, nor 
are the sorts so bewildering as were seen at the Drill Hall. It is not 
a matter for surprise that these grand flowers sell well, as they really 
are beautiful and enduring. I did not observe any of the loose, flaccid 
single varieties. They are beautiful enough on the plants, but do not 
seem so well fitted for market purposes. Of course, these Pasonies are 
grown at Ham in immense numbers. They seem to like the deep sandy 
soil found there, but it is needful to have it well fed, and not to be 
sparing of top-dressings after the plants begin to age. A couple of 
years from planting usually has to elapse ere really fine flowers are 
obtained, and after a period of some six or seven years then it may be 
needful to lift, divide and replant. That work should always 
be done early in the autumn, so as to enable new roots to be made 
before the winter sets in. Those who grow Pseonies in gardens should 
be content with a few, say a dozen good sorts, and nowhere do they look 
better than fronting a shrubbery. Still, there they cannot get the same 
generous culture which they so well repay.—D. 
- A Fine Douglas Fir.— A large tree of Douglas Fir, 36 inchea 
square by 60 feet long, was recently loaded (says the “ Western World ”)• 
on two flat cars at the Brunette Mills, New Westminster, from Montreal 
for use by the Harbour Commissioners for the construction of a bridge. 
In this immense baulk, which was the prettiest ever cut at the mill,, 
there was neither knot nor blemish. It is claimed that no larger timber 
was ever cut in the State, though some may have exceeded it in length. 
- Encourage the Children.—W hat a pleasure it is to a 
father or mother who is fond of flowers and gardening to have their 
children take an interest in Flora’s treasures. How delightful it is to 
walk in the garden in the cool of the evening with a warm, soft little 
hand in yours, leading you to where the favourites grow, a pair of 
interested and laughing eyes flitting between yours and the blossoms,, 
and a sweet little voice piling you with questions and comments about 
the Pansies, the Roses, the Poppies, and the flowers. While all children 
love flowers, some are more emphatic than others in their fondness for 
them, for the love is stronger. At Dosoris many children come to us for 
flowers; they want a few for the church, or the school, or some 
particular friend, or a funeral, or not infrequently for themselves, for 
they love them. And they all get some. Be they rich or poor, young or 
old, stylish or in tatters, acquaintances or strangers, it is immaterial to 
us, they get some flowers. The other day we came upon a ten or eleven- 
year-old boy down on his hands and knees smelling the Pansies in the 
borders; he was all alone, and a stranger to us. On inquiry we 
found he lived some three miles away and came here after school hour& 
alone and on purpose to see the flowers. Such children should be- 
encouraged.—(“ American Gardening.”) 
- The Romance of Plant Life.—T his has been the subject? 
of special study by Dr. D. Morris, says a contemporary, and the two- 
lectures he has arranged to give before the Fellows of the Royal Botanic- 
Society have created much interest. At the first of the two lectures 
Dr. Morris discussed, with his usual ability, some of the most striking 
features of the vegetation of the Canary Islands. Chief among these 
were the singular Dragon trees, which were closely related to trees dis¬ 
tributed over widely separated parts of Africa. They were regarded as 
the survivals of a very old African flora, which flourished on that con¬ 
tinent at a time when the climate was much colder than at present. It 
was suggested by Balfour and others that, as the ice in the Ice Age- 
gradually receded northward and the climate got warmer, these plants 
were driven to higher regions, and hence, on the high peaks of Central 
and South Africa, the Canary Islands, the slopes of Ruwenzori, and the 
mountains of Abyssinia, the remains were found at the present day of 
an old African flora which, by climatic changes, had been gradually 
driven out and replaced by more tropical plants. The study of these 
and similar plants afforded one of the most interesting problems in 
botanical science. Reference was made to the Canary native Palm 
which incidentally led up to a most interesting account of curiositiea 
occurring in Palm life. 
- Peaches at Ham.—M r. J. Walker’s very fine range of 
Peach houses at Ham Common are to all interested in Peach culture just 
now, and will for the next few weeks, well worth a visit. There are 
nine of these fine houses, each 24 feet wide and 180 feet long, whilst 
they rise to 12 feet in the ridge. The trees within are all on 4 feet 
stems. These, as showing the variations found in stocks,are of different 
dimensions, although in most cases the heads are equally large. The 
trees are planted as near to the sides as well can be, and at distances 
apart that vary, some being fully 25 feet, yet having heads that 
meet each other, whilst others are from 14 to 16 feet apart. Not a few 
very large trees were lifted and replanted last autumn, a thinning out 
having become necessary. These are all doing well, and carrying some 
fruit, but next year without doubt they will bear very fine crops. 
Although the soil is made very firm and not rich, yet a too luxuriant 
growth is in some cases developed that cannot be more effectively 
checked than by lifting and replanting. Alexander, the earliest Peach,, 
has given a good crop, and is being followed by Waterloo and Hale’s 
Early. Then will follow a dozen others of the best varieties, but colour 
is in marketable Peaches a matter of the first importance, as it enhances 
the value of the fruit from 10 to 20 per cent. Of Nectarines Lord 
Napier, all along one side of a house, is a superb sight. Early Rivers 
is, of course, the earliest, and colouring of its fine fruit superbly, but it 
is not yet largely planted. Several other fine varieties are grown. In 
almost every case the wires are filled with growth and leafage from end 
to end, and yet it is evident that although some trees here cover nearly 
300 square feet, they could soon fill double that area if they had room. 
However, the house should be seen to be properly appreciated.—A. D. 
