63 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 25, 1889. 
300 years, but it is more likely to be a thousand than 300 years old as a 
garden flower. Turner in 1550 spoke of it as less the child of Nature 
than the product of the labour and wit of man, a statement that 
certainly suggests that long ere Turner’s time the florists had operated 
on the flower and made it beautiful and popular. Beckmann’s assertion 
that floriculture in Europe dates from the middle of the sixteenth 
century is simply ridiculous, for Turner and Shakespeare are witnesses 
to the fact that in their time certain flowers that had long been under 
cultivation, and had thereby been modified to suit the fancies of the 
florists, were no rarities, but were common in English gardens. A 
reasonable assumption in regard to the estimate of the flower by Turner 
is that it had then been in cultivation as many years as have passed 
since he wrote the “ Herbal ” we now so greatly value. This assump¬ 
tion extends the career of the flower as a gardeu favourite to a period 
of 700 years. We may reasonably imagine its introduction to be coeval 
with the coronation of Kichard of the Lion Heart, and this idea leads 
to another, that the Carnation was possibly introduced to Europe and 
this country by the Crusaders. It is, moreover, of importance to note 
that the Carnation was valued by the ancients for the flavouring of 
beverages, and this consideration gives a clue to the meaning of the 
assertion of Pliny in his xxv. book, that the cantabrica was obtained 
by the Romans from Spain in the days of Augustus, who entered on the 
consulship on January 1st, b.c. 33, which carries back the history of 
the flower as nearly as need be to 2000 years. When Gerard published 
in 1596, Carnations were plentiful in gardens, and he records obtaining 
a jellow variety from Poland through the kindness of a friend. Parkin¬ 
son, publishing in 1629, speaks of the varieties as being so numerous 
that to describe them would be an endless task. Moreover, those figured by 
Parkinson are of great size and variously spotted and striped ; in fact, so 
far removed from the wild form of D. caryophyllus as to assert for them¬ 
selves long occupation of the garden as subjects of the florist’s patient care. 
Rea, in his “ Florilege.” 1676, gives a list of 360 sorts, remarking that 
they were raised in Holland, and brought thence to London. Lately, 
said Mr. Hibberd, I have submitted to certain friends a list of 320 varie¬ 
ties of Carnations that were conspicuous in prize lists in the year 1822, 
and these friends declare there is not one of them in cultivation at the 
present time ; and j et the improvement, or say alteration, of the flower 
is accomplished but slowly. The varieties figured by Parkinson show 
how in his time the stripes were passing outward to the edge to form'the 
Picotee ; and the bizarre Carnation, figured in the “Botanical Magazine” 
in the year 1788, is of such high quality that it might be put on the 
show table to-day with a fair chance of winning, proving that 100 years 
of work do not greatly affect the flower as regards its technical qualities, 
a fact strikingly illustrative of its possible high gntiquity ; and yet 
through the long period of its occupancy of the garden we have no 
evidence that at any time it has deviated in any degree from its typical 
characters as to suggest hybridisation. All the varieties we hear of and 
see appear to be genuine representatives of Dianthus caryophyllus 
alone. They are varieties resulting from cross-breeding, without the aid 
of other blood ; true hybrids of the Carnation may be said to be 
unknown. 
The lecture was illustrated by plants and diagrams of an interesting 
nature, one object of which was to demonstrate that the wire-edge 
Picotee had been formed in precisely the same manner as the edged 
Auricula by the gradual pushing out of the colour to the edge, and 
refining it there from radial spots to a close sharp line. 
Events of the Week.— To-day (Thursday) there arc Shows at 
Castle Ashby, Hereford, Luton (second day), Southwell, and Trentham, 
also the Exhibition of the Surrey Floricultural Society in the grounds of 
Casino House, Herne Hill (second day). On Friday, July 26th, Alderley 
and V ilms’ow, on the 27th Crewe, and there will also be a general 
meeting of the Royal Botanic Society on the latter day. 
- Royal Horticultural Society.- —At a general meeting of 
the Society held last Tuesday, Dr. Robert Hogg in the chair, the follow¬ 
ing candidates were duly elected Fellowsviz., Henry Appleby, 
Charles Blick, James Butler, J. Charlesworth, Richard V. Coleman] 
W. F. Dart, Thos. Freeman, Miss Hardcastle, Hon. W. F. B. Massey- 
Mainwaring, Frederick Pitman, S. Pratt, Philip Scott, Martin Ridley 
Smith, Professor Sidney H. Vines, F.R.S., Edward Thomas Whitaker, 
and Rev. A. Thorold Wood. 
Heavy Rainfall.—.1 ust too late for insertion last week, we 
received a note from Mr. E. Wallis, Ilamills Park Gardens, Bunting- 
ford, Herts, stating that 235 inches of rain fell in nine and a half hours 
on the night of the 12th inst., and it thoroughly cleansed trees from 
caterpillars and insects, with which they were infested. 
- Noble Strawberry.—A correspondent, while recognising the 
merits of this fine early Strawberry, doubts if the flesh is not too soft 
and tender for the fruit travelling well, and suggests that the experience 
of Strawberry growers on this point would be welcome to many 
readers. 
- Long Broad Beans. —In reference to Mr. H. W. Ward’s 
reply to Mr. Heard on this subject, permit me to say the variety grown 
at Machen House is Wheeler’s Giant Wonder. We have it under ordi¬ 
nary cultivation producing on the average twelve pods on each stalk, 
with from five to nine large dark green beans in each pod.— 
A. McKinnon, Machen House. 
- Floriferous Lilium. —Mr. E. Butts writes :— “ In the 
garden of Tudor Cottage, King’s Road, Clapham Park, the residence of 
A. Rawlinson, Esq., there is now flowering a Lilium auratum bearing 
what I believe to be an unusual number of flowers. The bulb pro¬ 
duced four growths carrying respectively 57, 37, 27, 17 flowers—total, 
138. The three strongest growths are fasciated ; the bulb is growing in 
a bed of peat among some Rhododendrons, this being the third year of 
flowering.” 
-Laxton’s Jubilee Strawberry.—W ill some of your readers 
kindly give their experience of this Strawberry 1 With me it is bearing 
well, with handsome well-sized fruits and good flavour, and it is a good 
deal later than President or Sir Joseph Paxton, and Elton Pine is over 
with me. I am just beginning to gather Jubilee (July 15th).— James 
Bubb, Nurseryman, Solihull. 
- Dracaenas in Bloom.—D racaena gracilis in the conservatory 
at Brockhurst, East Grinstead, is an interesting object just now. There 
is one fine plant from the summit of which a flower spike has pushed 
and drooped to a length of 3^ feet, bearing a thick truss of pinkish 
lilac flowers. The effect is singular and undeniably attractive. 
- Another conspicuous plant in this conservatory is a globular 
specimen of the fragrant Rhynchospermum jasminoides, 4 feet high 
and through, covered with its white flowers, which perfume the whole 
structure. The plant was previously trained to a wall, but has been 
taken down, and now, being potted, forms a very fine object. 
- Alexander Peach. — I was rather surprised to find, on look¬ 
ing over our Peach trees on the open wall, that one I have under the 
name Alexander is ripe ; the next tree to it (Hales’ Early) will to 
appearance not be ripe for a fortnight. I send a fair specimen, the tree 
being rather heavily cropped.—J. Gibson, Draycot. [Alexander is 
known as the earliest Peach, but the specimen referred to was crushed 
or shaken beyond recognition.] 
- Ceanothus Gloire de Versailles. —As a successional 
flowering climber to C. divaricatus and C. azureus, Gloire de Versailles is 
excellent. It grows quickly, and flowers freely in a favourable position 
on a wall, a southern aspect being the best. With liberal treatment 
this is one of the finest of wall plants for flowering at this time of the 
year. Abundance of water is necessary in dry weather, especially if 
the wall on which the shoots are trained is built of soft red bricks, as 
these absorb the moisture from the soil in a surprising manner, much to 
the detriment of the plants,—E. 
- Preserving Allamanda Blooms.—I n the ordinary manner 
Allamanda blooms do not last long in a cut state—not more than a couple 
of days as a rule—but they can be made to last quite fresh four and five 
days. When the blooms are just at their best cut them carefully, so as 
not to injure the base of the flower stem where it connects with the 
calyx, which occuis if the flower is pinched off. Place the stem in water ; 
also place a little water in the centre of the bloom. It is not necessary 
to quite fill the cup of the flower, a couple of teaspoonfuls will be 
sufficient for the purpose. Neither is it necessary to change the water 
during the time the blooms are in use.—E. M. 
- A codoured plate of the New Zonal Pelargonium, H. 
Cannell, Junior, is published in “Vick’s Illustrated Magazine” 
(American), and in this variety, it is remarked, the florist sees a close 
attainment to the points of an ideally perfect plant. The flowers are 
round in form, with overlapping petals, and of large size, the colour is 
crimson deeply suffused with purple, white eye. On a well grown plant 
the truss is very large, and at the same time symmetrical. The plant 
is of dwarf habit, blooms in great profusion, and makes a splendid 
specimen in the hands of a good cultivator. As a bedding plant it 
gives a great mass of bloom. It is an advance on other varieties of the 
