140 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEH 
February 22,1894. 
Fund be not burdened with the cost of printing such cases as these. 
Unhappily they divert votes all the same, that might be better 
directed in htlping to place some really meritorious cases on to the 
Charity. 
Would that subscribers never promised a vote to any canvasser 
until they had seen and carefully examined the list of applicants, 
and then vote solely for the most meritorious cases. There is a case 
of a poor mother who “supports herself by washing and charing,” 
poor, brave heart, and has “seven children, ranging from two years to 
fourteen years”—what a burthen !—but is left out in the cold. 
That cases of “ one child only ” and “ two children only ” may 
be elected because these have influential trade-backing. How 
miserably hollow after all is our belauded charity when such things 
can be. Here is a chance for the wealthy subscriber of £13 per 
annum, under the newly amended 12th Rule, to display his 
generosity, not forgetting further to contribute a subscription 
sufficient to cover his due share of management expenses.— 
A.LEX. Dsan. 
HARDY FLOWERS IN FEBRUARY. 
Pleasant in many respects as is a mild February, it brings 
with it some features at times we would gladly be without. This 
month is not always true to its character of “fill dyke,” and in 
some years it is full of beauty ; the sun, for the short time it is in 
view, shining as in summer, bathing the Solway and the adjacent 
coasts in golden beauty, and with the, at times, balmy air bringing 
to perfection the early flowers, which love to bloom unharmed by 
drenching rain or boisterous winds. This year it is not so, and the 
tender blossoms, which appeared after the severe frosts in early 
January had spent their force, have had to contend with western 
gales, which brought with them torrents of rain. Thus it is that 
the garden has in some things been later than in previous years, 
and we have had to bewail the luckless fate of some of our early 
favourites. 
Yet with all, whenever able to cross the threshold, we were 
greeted by some vision of loveliness, which one felt was the silver 
lining of the cloud in '*'hich the storms had enwrapt the garden. 
The chaste Snowdrop, with drooping head as if beseeching more 
tender treatment, adorned many places ; the Crocus, in varied hue, 
wooed in vain the sun it loves. Bright little Cyclamens made 
visions of light in darksome corners ; the Winter Aconite, with 
cups of gold, brightened the borders ; and a few of the early 
Saxifrages, with modest beauty, made their allotted places little 
centres of attraction. Nor did other flowers lack desire to give us 
pleasure, for Primroses—from the pretty Munstead Early White 
and Aitaica of the gardens to the common wilding, transplanted 
from the woods and shores near hand—shone in various corners. 
Anemone blanda also, which I have in various shades from white, 
ranging through rose and light blue to dark blue, had begun to 
open. My plants are nearly all from the Bithynian Olympus, and 
the effect of masses, such as can be produced by a number of 
roots, is pleasing in the extreme. A few of the early Squills, such 
as S. sibirica and S. bifolia, have been showing colour, and a week 
or two would give greater brightness from these useful bulbs. 
The beautiful Chionodoxas, too, of which C. sardensis has this 
year formed the advance guard, have begun to bloom, and these, 
which are among the most precious of our early spring flowers, 
will soon be pictures of beauty. The earliest of the Daffudils, 
Narcissus minimus, a little beauty, has been later than usual, 
and has been closely followed by N. minor and N. pallidus praecox. 
Perhaps the most attractive of all, and valued not only for their 
comparative rarity but for their great beauty, have been the early 
Irises. Among the earliest of these is Iris Dunfordi^, with small 
but bright yellow flowers. I. histiio, the Actor Iris, which, unfor¬ 
tunately, does not do well in every garden, has been very beautiful 
with lilac standards and pale lilac falls spotted with a deeper shade 
of the same colour and a yellow keel down the centre. Equally 
pleasing has been the little I. Bakeriana with its blue spotted 
flowers. I. histrioides, a useful early little Iiis with blue flowers 
also, is very attractive in its way ; while the varieties of I. reti¬ 
culata, now becoming numerous, would in themselves make a 
garden interesting, ranging from the purple flowers of J. r. Krelagei 
and the clear blue flowers of I. r. cyanea to some of the dark blue 
varieties. They seem to thrive well in the -'■andy peat soil of my 
garden, and to be troubled with no dis^ase. I. Rosenbachiana, one 
of the finest of all, had to be removed last summer, and is later of 
flowering this year. This beau'iful species is rather variable in 
shade, and in time we may hope to have more varieties than at 
present. 
A curious little Colchicum has also been in flower for some 
time. This is C. montanum, growing from 3 to 4 inches in height, 
and a native of the Mediterranean region, whence it was introduced 
about 1819. It is only in the bud state that I care for this flower. 
which is white at first and passes to lilac-purple. When open the 
flowers are too loose and ineffective to be very ornamental, but at 
ibis early season one is disposed to be less critical of the 
flowers which deign to appear. This is of a running habit, and a 
root or two will soon form a clump, which should be confined to a 
limited space. This is not C. alpinum, which has also the 
synonym of C. montanum, but is said to be synonymous with 
C. bulbocodioides. 
Ever welcome, too, is Bulbocodium vernum, which, in this early 
season of Crocuses, can still hold its own on account of its bright 
purple flowers, being so distinct from any of the many beautiful 
species we admire so much. It is unfortunate that it is so much 
beloved of the snails and slugs which play sad havoc with it; while 
the nearly allied Colchicum montanum, that could be better spared, 
is left untouched. The likes and dislikes of these gastropods are 
very peculiar, but in one point they are remarkably unanimous— 
this is, that if there is a new or rare or a specially valued plant in 
the garden it is likely to be tasted, sadly to its detriment. A charm¬ 
ing plant on the rockery is the white variety of Saxifraga Boydi, 
which has come into flower early in February tbis year. It is a 
fitting companion to the valuable yellow one S. Boydi, and it is to 
be hoped that many gardens may soon possess these Rockfoils, 
which are much more easily grown than S. Burseriana or 
S. B. major. The two last—especially Burseriana—have a bad 
habit of becoming patchy and dying off, and I find it necessary to 
propagate them every year, although the progress of decay may be 
greatly retarded by woiking a little sand and peat among the tofts. 
S. sancta is doing well this year, but S. luteo-purpurea is later than 
I have had it for some time. 
The Chionodoxas, previously alluded to, seem as if they would 
be among the most valued of our spring bulbs. This position has 
been early achieved, and few flowers are more appreciated at this 
season. These “ Glories of the Snow ” appear to be variable in 
their native homes, and in addition to the various shades of lilac 
and of blue, white varieties, although scarce, have been in cultiva¬ 
tion for some time. We have now to welcome another acquisition 
or two in this family in a red-coloured Chionodoxa and a variety of 
C. sardensis with a dark eye, instead of the little patch of white 
forming the centre of the typical sardensis. For these we are 
indebted to the enthusiasm of Mr. Whittall of Smyrna. I am so 
fortunate as to possess a single bulb of the red Glory of the Snow, 
and am anxiously awaiting its flower, so that one may appraise the 
value of this new colour. Even if lacking in brightness, the Chino- 
doxas seed so freely that there can be no doubt of our gaining a 
bright red variety. We shall soon, too, have many Cbionscillas, 
the hybrids between the Glory of the Snow and the Squills, as 
they cross readily both naturally and artificially and seed freely 
also. 
Scillas are also multiplying in number to the enhancement of 
our gardens, and I am much interested in the flowers of a large 
variety of S. bifolia from the Bithynian Olympus. This is at 
present named by the collector S. bifolia grandiflora, and is found 
at a greater altitude than the ordinary bifolia, which also occurs 
on Mount Olympus. It was only received last year, and the bulbs 
not yet being fully established, the spikes and flowers are smaller 
than they will be in future years. They show sufficiently, however, 
that this is a much superior flower to the ordinary' S. bifolia, and 
the dried flowers which I received last autumn quite bear out the 
account given by the collector. 
Several of the Hf-paticas—favourites of mine from boyhood— 
have come into flower, and help to enliven the borders and rockeries. 
Some of these are rarer, but none have so much effect as good 
clomps of the double red variety, which give us a colour not too 
plentiful in the early d.ays of spring until the Tulips come into 
flower. 
Some of the finer Snowdrops would tempt me to speak again of 
their beauty, but I fear the Editor will think me praising these 
unduly, so must forbear. Some other flowers there are, too, which 
will give us welcome beauty and keep the garden full of interest 
until the many Daffodils, which “take the winds of March with 
beauty,” greet our admiring eyes. Enough has, however, been said 
to show that even amid storms of wind and rain and cloudy skies 
our British gardens can yield pleasure to him who seeks to fill 
them with the fragile yet hardy flowers which scatter their beauty 
with no reluctant hand. — S. Arnott. 
INJUDICIOUS TREE PLANTING. 
One of the principal reasons why tree planting is not more 
remunerative, and consequently why it has not, of late years in 
particular, been more extensively engaged in, is that in very many 
cases at least a haphazard sjstem has been adopted, and little or 
no attention paid to the suiting of the trees to the particular soilg 
