272 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 8, 1886. 
Marguerites, Clematis indivisa, and white Narcissus may either be wired 
and use singly or wired singly and arranged three to five on a common 
stalk. Double Pelargoniums may either be wired with one wire to a 
truss or the individual pips wired in clusters. These are merely examples 
of what may be done with certain flowers which are in season. 
There is a method to be observed in attaching the flowers to the wire. 
Camellias, as is well known, are each pierced with two to three wires, in 
order to keep the petals intact. Roses are best pierced with a couple of 
wires, which keep the buds in shape and hinder the petals from unfolding. 
Carnations sometimes require to be wired in the same way. The wire in 
any case must be brought up as close as possible to the bloom. In some 
cases it may be pushed through the top of the flower, in others the wire 
may be run through the calyx and the top end bent down a little. In 
every case the flower is attached to the wire by twisting the fine wire 
round both. It does not require tying in any way. In making up bunches, 
say of Violets, only a few flowers must be attached to one wire, five or six 
being enough. The bunch can be of any size by tying as many of these 
small bunches as may be wanted on to one common stalk of wire. The 
Marguerites are tied singly to short pieces of wire and tied together to 
form a head of flowers in exactly the same way. Lily of the Valley is 
wired byplacing a wire along the underside of the stalk and twisting the 
fine wire round both wire and stem. From 1 to 2 inches of stem is quit6 
sufficient to have on any flower. The wired flowers must be kept separate by 
placing each in separate glasses or flower pots, and standing them in a 
row ready to the hand of the operator as he may want them. Where 
Arums are kept in flower the whole year round, these come in very well 
for wreath-making. The blooms must not be large, those 5 to 6 inches by 
4 inches being of a suitable size. Arums are not wired, and must be fixed 
on the wreath before any other of the materials. After the Arums have 
been fixed, any of the flat flowers selected as a groundwork are then put 
in. These and all the other flowers are secured on the moss by piercing 
the moss with the wire, and after the flower has been drawn to its proper 
position from the underside the end of the wire is turned and thrust back 
into the moss. That is all the fastening any of the flowers require. 
We like to have the flowers not crushing each other, but close enough 
together to make sure that nothing but flowers will be visible. Proceeding 
with the making of our wreath, after a sufficiently massive groundwork 
has been prepared, the blooms which are intended to give character to the 
wreath are fixed in according to taste and secured in the same way as the 
others. It is to be noted that blooms like Eucharis, Liliums, and single 
flowers of Ehododendrons should always be kept above the other flowers. 
The finer buds of Roses should also be used in the same way. Lilies of 
the Valley and Roman Hyacinths are, of course, kept well out from other 
flowers, while Marguerites, double Primulas, Ccelogyne cristata, and the 
Clematis above mentioned may also be employed to lighten the effect. 
When special flowers are wanted to be present in the wreath these may 
either be dotted among the others, or a few of them prominently massed 
together in three or four little clumps. Flowers of soft shades, as Violets, 
are best dotted all over the wreath. Bright flowers, as red Roses or 
Geraniums, show better in little masses. In going over the flowers to get 
each exactly into the position it shows to the best effect, the value of 
wired blooms will become evident, for every one is completely at the 
command of the operator to set as he pleases. 
All that remains to be done now is to set the flowers in Fern fronds 
according to the taste of the maker. Gardeners work in the Ferns first 
and the flowers afterwards, but good wreath-makers add the Ferns as a 
setting after the flowers have been put on. No setting is better, or 
indeed equals, Maidenhair Fern for this purpose, stiff hardy-grown 
fronds being best. These do not require to be wired, but if the Fern is 
soft it is better a wire should be used. The fronds are fixed by gently 
pushing the flowers aside and pushing the stalk of the frond among them, 
so as to have a neat fringe of green round both the outside and inside of 
the ring. Pieces of Ferns are pushed in among the general body of 
flowers in the same way, but when extra good flowers are employed the 
fringe of green will be sufficient. 
As to size, that again is a matter for taste, but it must be remembered 
that a small wreath of very good flowers is more desirable than a larger 
one which has to be composed of flowers of poor quality. The parcel 
post is largely used now for the transmission of wreaths, and the rules of 
the Post Office place a strict limit on the size to which wreaths can be 
made. A much finer cross can be sent by post. Crosses are made in the 
same way as wreaths, but country gardeners can make a very good base 
for the beginning of operations by constructing a wooden cross on which 
to tie the moss. Again, very neat floral bouquets, flat on one side and 
the top of flowers and Ferns, are very effective and well fitted to send per 
post. These bouquets are made entirely of wired material without the 
employment of moss for a foundation. Some stiff Fern is used to lie on 
the underside of the arrangement, any common Fern doing for the pur¬ 
pose. The flowers are tied on with a long strand of bright wire, and are 
arranged to taste. The usefulness of wired stems in these flat bouquets 
is most clearly seen, for by bending the wires at right angles, or 
indeed any angle, we get the bloom to face and position it is wanted. 
Maidenhair is worked in among the flowers as a setting. This is a cheap 
and effective method of employing flowers, especially when there is diffi¬ 
culty in finding enough flowers tor all purposes. 
Boxes for packing wreaths are made of a width just sufficient to hold 
the wreath to be sent ; the depth is 4 inches. The tour sides of the box 
are made of three-eighths of an inch deals, the bottom and lid of three- 
sixteenths of an inch deals. The box is tacked togeiher with small wire 
nails. In packing a wreath it is sufficient to fill its open centre with 
wadding, as also the space at the four corners of the box, finishing with a 
sheet of the same material between the wreath and the lid of the box ; 
but it is found that by tying the wreath to the box, in addition to the 
packing, more satisfaction is given to the receiver. The simplest method 
of fixing the wreath to the box, is to bore four holes in the bottom of 
the box—two holes at opposite sides, and exactly beneath the wreath, 
and inch apart. A piece of strong string is run through each of the 
two boles, bringing the strings from the outside to the inside. When the 
wreath is laid in the box the two ends of each string is tied tightly down 
on the wreath, and renders it practically immoveable. A ticket is sent on 
the top of the wadding, telling the person who unpacks the wreath to cut 
the string on the outside, and then lift out the wreath. We have for the 
past few years discontinued fastening lids of flower boxes by means of 
nails. The only fastening they require is to tie them tightly with stout 
string, to one end of which the address label is knotted. It.only remains 
to warn those who have not experienced the close application of postal 
rules that it is only safe to keep wreaths amply within the dimensions 
as to size. We have experienced more than once the dissatisfaction of 
having to do our work over again, not because the size was beyond the 
limit, but for the reason of the weight being a little over the 7 lbs.—B. 
OLD v. NEW VARIETIES. 
It is evident “A. L. G.” practises what he preaches.respecting 
novelties, judging from the list of vegetables enumerated in his last 
note (page 250). Without a doubt it is as “A. L. G.” stated in a former 
number, a very simple affair, yet if it suits him and his employer.it is all 
that is required. It is quite possible to introduce some novelty into the 
seed list without adding very materially to its c st by a man that sows 
the seeds with judgment, not as is too frequently seen in gardens, leaving 
a large quantity of plants in the seed bed after all are put out that are 
required, to be eventually wheeled to the rubbish heap, or dug in as 
useless. It is far better to sow smaller quantities. Under these circum¬ 
stances I am able to obtain some novelty each year for my own pleasure, 
and generally speaking, to my employer’s benefit. 
“ A. L. G.” appears to assume that only gardeners of long standing 
can profitably grow new varieties, but if a man of however long standing 
were to adhere to such a restricted selection, he would never become a 
good judge of vegetab'es. It is as much a necessity for the young man to 
venture in novelties as for the most experienced, or how can he be expected 
to keep pace with the times ? I do not question that the Aigburth Sprouts 
grown by “A. L. G.” were good enough for exhibition, yet that would 
not tempt me to alter my opinion of the varioty. If he could see that 
sort and Reading Exhibition side by side as grown here, he would, I think, 
decide in favour of the latter. The soil “A. L. G.” has to deal with must 
be very different from what I have here, for if I had put out plants and 
watered twice only with such weather as experienced last summer, I am 
certain Brussels Sprouts would have been a very poor crop. I am asked 
by Mr. Easty to account for the name Gilbert’s Universal, given in my 
previous note. It was a name given me in mistake by a neighbouring 
gardener, which doubtless he had confused with the Savoy sent out under 
that name.—S. B. 
Wf. understand that at the next meeting of the Horticultural 
Club the discussion at the conversazione will be opened by the Rev. 
C. Wolley Dod with a paper on “ Daffodils,” a subject which will at 
that time (April 13th) be much before the horticultural world. 
- At a meeting of the Fruit and Vegetable Committee of the 
Royal Horticultural Society, held at Chiswick on March 30tb< 
Mr. George Bunyard in the chair—present Messrs. J. Burnett, W. 
Miller, S. Ford, G. T. Miles, and G. Norman—first-class certificates 
were awarded to the following varieties of Potatoes, as especially useful 
for late work :—Chiswick Favourite (Veitch), white round, rough skin 
heavy cropper, white flesh of good flavour. Bennett’s Surprise (Bennett), 
white kidney, white flesh, good cropper, and of fine quality. King of 
Russets (Lye) large round, pink, with a somewhat deep eye, white flesh, 
rough skin, good cropper, and good quality. 
- Messrs. Crompton Sc Fawkes inform us that their slow-com- 
bustion boiler is on view at the Buildings Trades Exhibition now 
being held in the Agricultural Hall, Islington, but as tickets are not for¬ 
warded to us by the authorities we are unable to report on exhibits of 
interest to our readers at the Agricultural Hall Shows. 
_We are requested to state that the Hereford and West of 
England Rose Society’s Show will be held on the 9ih July instead 
of the 8th, as advert'sed. 
