340 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 3,1894. 
Our native species, N. alba, which has been sometimes intro¬ 
duced into gardens as an ornament of ponds and small lakes, is a 
symbol of “ purity,” and, according to some authors, so is the true 
Lily ; but others say this is an emblem of “ majesty,” because 
during the spring its tall stem with its white blossoms rises above 
most plants growing near. Not inappropriately the yellow Lily 
represents “gaiety,” and the pearly flowers of the Lily of the 
Valley tell of the “ return of happiness,” that is, they symbolise 
hope. The Lily of France has become an historic phrase, though 
in fact the Fleur-de-lis, or, properly, Fleur-de-Louis, is not a Lily; 
it was some Iris, chosen as an emblem by Louis VII. when he 
started to take part in the Crusades, and which retained his name. 
Very likely he plucked the common yellow Iris, or Water Flag, 
which grows upon marshes and along the brooks in his native land. 
It is a species that the French also regarded as an emblem of 
“ flame,” but it has been asserted the honour belongs to the garden 
Iris of purple hue, which flower is said to be suggestive of a 
“ message.” Doubtless, in the days of the Crusades, when steam 
and electricity were unknown, those whom the gallant warriors had 
left behind might sometimes watch the Iris expanding its flowers, 
and regard this as a sign that good news was approaching from the 
Eastern battlefields. The name given to this group of plants, 
derived from Iris, the messenger of the gods, represented by the 
rainbow, tells us of their bright and diverse colours. From this 
name, however, one author argues that all the Irises should be 
considered as types of variableness or inconstancy, for what is 
more changeful than the rainbow ? 
Hyacinths, flowers that are now so cheapened that they have 
become favourites with all classes, remind us of the story about 
Hyacinthus, the youth Apollo was said to have killed by accident 
when playing at quoits. Unable to bring his beloved friend to 
life, the distressed deity caused this beautiful flower to spring from 
his blood, so henceforth the Oriental Hyacinth became a symbol of 
sorrow. One variety had upon its leaves certain marks, which 
fancy supposed to represent the Greek word m, an utterance of 
grief. Hence the somewhat perplexing specific name of our 
woodland kind, the H. non-scriptus, because the leaves are unin- 
gcribed, as indeed are others also. A special meaning has been 
attached to the white Hyacinth, which represents “ shy loveliness.” 
We come now to the allied Asphodels, not now particularly popular 
flowers, though some are handsome. The question is doubtful which 
is the true Asphodel of classic fame, probably A. luteus, with 
conspicuous yellow flowers, common along the plains of Italy and 
adjacent countries. According to several poets it is one of the 
flowers that adorn the celestial regions, the happy departed wander 
over “ meads of Asphodel,” and when tired repose in “ Amaran¬ 
thine bowers.” But, in floral language, the plant is significant of 
the deep regrets that follow lost friends to the grave, and the 
reason of this is, that an ancient myth tells how Persephone was 
gathering flowers from a Sicilian field (where the Asphodel still 
blooms) and, with a stalk of it in her hand, was borne off by grim 
King Pluto to the regions of the dead. Hence the flower links the 
living and the departed, though it is seldom planted on graves now, 
as formerly it was. Old-fashioned gardens exhibit yet the Star of 
Bethlehem, flowering ere the leaves are expanded, its white clusters 
being regarded as an emblem of “ purity,” and starlike they are in 
that species (Ornithogalum umbellatum). Possibly it is the 
Drooping Star of Bethlehem (O. nutans), occasionally seen in 
gardens, and well worth cultivating, that one poet compares to a 
“pensive cloistered nun,” and the tall 0. pyrenaicum, with creamy 
smaller flowers on its spike might be regarded as one of the floral 
symbols of stateliness or dignity. 
When exotic bulbs were rarities in English gardens, people 
grew species they found about the country, and the Colchicum or 
Meadow Saffron was introduced from the fields, its lilac vase-like 
flowers being admired in autumn, but its significance to the 
wayfarer who came upon it was not encouraging, for it meant 
“your better days are past,” so ’tis said. Another favourite, 
which I seldom discover in modern gardens, was the Fritillary 
Lily, so called because the flower shows a curious arrangement of 
squares, thought to resemble the ancient dice box, or the cbess 
board of later date. It also had the name of the Snake’s-head 
Lily, from another comparison, and, by the doctrine of resem¬ 
blances, was a plant good against venomous species of the serpent 
tribe.—J. R. S. C. 
THE WARMINSTER POTATO TRIALS. 
I AM quite ready to leave the differenue of opinion as to the useful¬ 
ness or otherwise of the Potato trials as mentioned in the very elaborate 
repoit on them I have criticised in your columns, to the judgment of 
your readers, most of whom are practical gardeners, and who fully 
understand at once the value of particular trials, and the practical 
lessons to be drawn from them or otherwise. Permit me to tell Mr. 
Beaven that it was as a practical gardener simply, and in no respect as 
being occasionally engaged in County Council teaching, that I criticised 
his conclusions. Reference to my connection with the Surrey County 
horticultural instruction has nothing to do with the matter. 
The Warminster report was sent me to express my opinions concern¬ 
ing it because it was well known that I had been intimately connected 
with Potato culture in all its varied aspects for over thirty years, and as 
such enjoyed a well known reputation in horticulture. It was as a 
Potato expert, if the term may be used without giving to so delicate a 
mind as Mr. Beaven’s offence, that I sent my opinion on the report to 
the Journal of Horticulture^ and no doubt it was for that reason that it 
was published. Very much of the ground covered in the trials not only 
I, but many others, had covered in days gone by. The reputation of 
that work may not have reached Warminster, but the recollection of 
it naturally caused me to feel that a good deal that had been done, no 
doubt most conscientiously for the benefit of the Wiltshire people, was 
like putting of wine into old bottles. 
Mr. Beaven becomes angry because, having carried out his trials and 
published his report on them, anyone else should venture to view their 
worth differently from his. That is his misfortune. When he is as old 
as I am he will have learnt that the best of all tests of anyone’s labour 
is found in the way it will withstand the fire of honest criticism, and 
where it fails then to accept the result in a generous way, and strive to 
repair what was imperfect or in fault. We old ones, who have been 
newspaper contributors so long, have found that even the Journal of 
Horticulture can present the appearance of a perfect hornet’s nest 
sometimes should anything be written in its pages that excites others 
to differ and perhaps to irritability. We are well seasoned to all that; 
but then it takes years of contributions and contentions ere that happy 
faculty in human nature is reached. 
If I did express strong doubt as to the correctness of some crop 
returns referred to in the report, I did so because they presented them¬ 
selves to me as astoundingly abnormal, and beyond all experience. I 
have never seen a crop of five and one-third bushels per rod, even of the 
heaviest cropping Potato, lifted yet ; and I have been unable to find 
anyone else who has. Still, if there has been no error in the weighing 
I will not longer doubt, but it remains to my mind as marvellous all the 
same. The position of an “ if ” in my criticism has nothing to do with 
practical results.— A. Dean. 
National Chrysanthemum Society. 
A MEETING of the General Committee of this Society was held on 
Monday evening last at Anderton’s Hotel, Mr. R. Ballantine presiding. 
The chief item of interest in the proceedings was the report of the sub¬ 
committee appointed to consider the necessity for revising the official 
catalogue, in which they recommended that a new supplement be issued 
to take the place of the supplemental list in the Centenary edition and 
the supplement issued in 1892. Mr. Gordon suggested that an entirely 
new issue prepared on similar lines to that of 1888 would be preferable, 
and that a Committee of thirty or thirty-six experts be chosen to send 
in returns. He was aware that this would involve a great deal of 
work, but thought it could be easily done by 1895, and would be of 
greater service than the supplement now proposed. Several other 
members gave expression to ideas connected with the work of revision, 
but in the end the report of the sub-Committee was adopted with the 
proviso that a more thorough revision of the entire work should be 
undertaken and published in 1896, when the Society would celebrate 
the fiftieth year of its existence as a Chrysanthemum society. 
Seven new members and one Fellow were elected, and the Wisbech 
Chrysanthemum Society and the Newcastle-on-Tyne Society were 
admitted in affiliation. The annual outing of the members and friends 
of the Society is expected to take place one Monday in July, the date 
to be fixed definitely hereafter. 
The Chairman reminded the members that on Monday next an 
interesting meeting was expected, at which Sir Edwin Saunders would 
take the chair, and the presentation of the address to Mr. E. C. Jukes 
will be made, besides which the promised discussion on Mr. C. E. Shea’s 
paper on judging will be opened. 
Coddling Chrysanthemums. 
That the force of circumstances frequently leads us to adopt cultural 
practices which we do not at the time believe to be good ones, is a 
truism that most of us experience not once only, but many times in 
the course of our career. Sometimes the forced departures from orthodox 
methods of culture turn out as unsatisfactory as we anticipated, at 
others they show the way out of future difficulties, and lead to improved 
results. 
During the last two years I have been gradually extending the 
practice of placing Chrysanthemums in the open air much earlier in the 
season than I had previously thought it safe to do, and I now begin to 
wonder how many hundreds of these plants are annually prevented 
retaining a dwarf sturdy habit of growth by being coddled in frames. 
