522 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April IT, 1886. 
PERPETUAL CARNATIONS. 
In a recent number of the Revue Horticolc, a very 
remarkable article was published on the Perpetual 
Carnations in their present state. But the writer says: 
“Where and how was the culture of the Perpetual 
Carnations commenced ? Who is the horticulturist 
who first did addict himself to it ? We do not know.” 
I therefore think that it may interest horticulturists 
and amateurs, to be informed, and I, in consequence, 
send a copy of their history I published ten years ago 
in the journal of our horticultural society, which had 
not a wide circulation. According to several horticul¬ 
tural writers, the Carnation was cultivated more than 
2,000 years ago ; but we know nothing of what was 
practised about those times—no more in horticulture 
than any other science ; and as it is only since the 
beginning of this century that the facts of nature 
have been studied, we can only relate what has been 
observed lately. 
The perpetual Carnations have been created—created 
—at Lyon. It was M. Dalmais, gardener of M. Lacene, 
a celebrated amateur and founder of the first hoi'ti 
cultural society in Lyon, who obtained the first real 
constant-blooming Carnation, about forty-six years ago. 
He sent it out in 1844, under the name of Atim, the 
produce of artificial fecundation of a so-called species, 
known by the vulgar names of Oeillet de Mahon, or of 
St. Martin, because it was regularly blooming by the 
middle of November, fecundated by Oeilet Biohon. 
This first gam was Successively fecundated by the Flemish 
Carnations, andabout 1846 he obtained a great number 
of varieties of all colours. Mr. Schmitt, horticulturist 
at Lyon, followed M. Dalmais and obtained several fine 
varieties like Arc en Ciel, and Etoile Polaire, which 
were cultivated for several years, but do no more exist, 
having been superseded by finer varieties. 
But in 1850, a disease having destroyed his collection, 
Mr. Schmitt abandoned that culture. Soon after, 
Alfonse Aligatiere, the well-known and zealous propa¬ 
gator, undertook the hybridization of Carnations, and 
in a short time obtained a great success, and dotted 
that series with a great many varieties, all particularly 
dwarf, and obtained a great improvement by creating 
those with stiff flower-stems, about 1866. We can thus 
say that Aligatiere has created a new species. He has 
also upset the old system of propagation—that of layer¬ 
ing—and has proved that cuttings is the best and most 
reasonable method, and justified my saying, that 
layering is the infancy of horticultural art. Nothing, 
he has proved, is easier than propagating Carnations 
from cuttings 
The best time to strike them is January and February, 
and the best mode is to put them in fine sand on bottom 
heat at about 60° to 70° of Fahrenheit, without bell- 
glasses, in a double spanned roof house. The cuttings 
must be syringed every day and the sand kept moist ; 
they will be rooted in three or five weeks, and must 
be planted out in April or May, and will make fine 
plants to bloom in autumn ; about September they 
can, those that have flower-buds, be potted for indoor 
decoration.— Jean Sisley, Monplaisir, Lyon, in Ameri¬ 
can Gardeners’ Monthly. 
-- 
SOOT AND THE ONION MAGGOT. 
Accobding to the statements of several of your corre¬ 
spondents, it would appear that their practice in reference 
to this subject does not justify them in writing under 
the above heading, inasmuch as there is nothing 
analogous in their culture of the onion, and their method 
of using soot as an insecticide, to that set forth at p. 358 
as practised in these gardens ; therefore, it is hardly fair 
to connect their failures with a method of procedure 
(including the application of soot to the ground 
immediately before the drills are drawn, but not after¬ 
wards) which, when carried out in accordance with the 
cultural details given at the page indicated above, 
cannot be otherwise than productive of most satisfactory 
results. It is the observance of details, however small 
and trifling they may appear to be, that leads to ultimate 
success. 1 think the employment of a multiplicity of 
supposed remedies, such as Mr. Hall made use of (see 
p. 506), are not calculated to produce the desired effect. 
If “G. G.,” of Dorking, refers to the “Question and 
Answer Column” (p. 477), he will see that my opinion 
respecting the maggot is that it is “more plentiful in 
old soil than in the new. ” 
I may again point out, that I always sow my Onions 
in ground previously cropped with Celery, the ground 
being simply levelled, dug, trodden down, and surfaced 
—dressed with dry soot. This application not only 
destroys the maggot (where any exist), but also its 
larv®, and otherwise renders the soil uncongenial to 
insects of every description during the year. As a proof 
of this I need only say, that in thinning and weeding 
plants and stirring the soil between the rows during 
the interval from the time the Onions are large 
enough to handle until they are harvested—we scarcely 
ever see a worm or an insect in the soil. We also 
surface-dress the ground prior to sowing our Carrots 
and planting out Lettuce plants, and occasionally 
puddle the roots of our .Cauliflower, Cabbage, and 
Broccoli plants in a puddle made of soil sufficiently 
thick and stiff to adhere to the roots, and into which a 
couple of handfulls of fresh soot are stirred before 
transplanting the plants. This, I need hardly say, 
renders the roots distasteful to the attacks of insects. 
As you are well aware, Mr. Editor, I have for several 
years past advocated in the pages of the Gardeners' 
Chronicle the use of soot as a fertilizer and a purifier 
of the soil, &c. I mention this to show your readers 
that my practice in this direction does not begin with 
the year 1886.— H. IV. Ward. 
I much regret that your correspondent, Mr. H. W. 
Ward, of Longford Castle, has not accepted my 
remarks in the spirit in which they were written. It 
was certainly not my wish to give offence of any kind, 
and much less did I think he would doubt the effects 
of soot here, having no experience to guide him. I 
never doubted its effect in his case ; I only contended 
that it would not eradicate the Onion maggot in this 
place, and that I still maintain. As to our own soot 
being bad, I shall be glad to hear from Mr. Ward what 
he considers good soot. We have obtained it from 
various sources, and have received it from the sweep 
immediately he removed it from the chimneys in the 
house, and never allowed it to get damp. With reference 
to the quantity of soot used and the manner of using 
it, I take no exception to Mr. Ward’s remarks ; but I 
must remind him, as regards the kind of crop we secure, 
that I never said, or intended to say, that we ever 
obtained a good clean crop. I only said that closet- 
manure, mixed with road-scrapings, gave us the best 
results—a thing not difficult to understand after an 
experience of the nature of the soil for upwards of ten 
years. I have never seen a good crop of Onions here¬ 
abouts, although there are several gardeners who would 
be only too glal to obtain one, and more especially as 
they have tried in vain from fifteen to twenty years. 
As to being anxious to support the views of “ W. C.,” 
I may remark that I neither know who “ W. C.” is, 
nor have I any wish to support his or anyone else’s 
views if they are not in accord with my experience. 
With reference to the statement respecting the two 
who succeeded,'and my objection to giving their names 
and addresses in order to bear out my assertions, I 
venture to state my belief that to have done so would 
not have had the slightest weight in the eyes of im¬ 
partial readers. If such were the case, I am afraid a 
very large amount of matter would be of no value that 
is published in gardening or any other papers. Although 
I do not add my name, I may say that I am not 
addicted to making either false or elastic statements. 
I know Bournemouth and its neighbourhood well, and 
have done so for over twenty years, and I contend that 
the illustration cited has not the least weight against 
my statement, but rather the reverse. I may add, 
further, that although I have a staff of men under me, 
I have none, nor any friends either, whom I think it 
desirable to convince, or who would be convinced any 
the more from my adding my name and address. 
When I ■write to a paper I simply state the result of my 
experience and observation, and leave the reading 
public to think as they like respecting the matter. I 
always base my statements on facts within my own 
knowledge. I have had my say, and must decline to 
discuss this matter any farther.— Con. 
Geos Colmae Geape. —Fruit of this Grape is not 
very abundant at the shows or meetings of horticultural 
societies just now, but the examples of Gros Colmar, 
from Mr. Stephen Castle, West Lynn, at Kensington, 
on Tuesday, were very good for the season, being as 
fresh and plump as if just cut, and had evidently been 
both well grown and kept. It is not surprising that 
this Grape lias found so many admirers, since it has 
such a handsome appearance and keeps so late. 
FRUITS, FLOWERS k VEGETABLES. 
Flowers in “Wild Gardens.”— Though the 
term employed to express it is rather curious, the “wild 
garden ” is a really attractive adjunct to any establish¬ 
ment if a little care is exercised in the planting and 
material employed. Many a bare or unsightly comer 
or shrubbery border can be utilised in this way, and in 
the spring a few flowers springing up in a natural man¬ 
ner are very pleasing. A slope or shallow dell can be 
treated the most effectively in this way, and the best 
plants are the early flowering bulbs, such as Crocuses, 
Scillas, Daffodils, and Snowdrops, with Primroses. If 
these are scattered freely and not too formally over the 
space at command, being dibbled in turf or just below 
the surface of soil, they will soon become established, 
and will give scarcely any trouble for many years beyond 
a light top-dressing of soil in the late autumn. We 
have a shaded mound adorned with these flowers now, 
and all my friends admire them greatly, while thev 
afford us a considerable amount of pleasure, as they can 
be seen from the principal windows of the house._ 
Amateur. 
Birds and Peas. —Although the severe weather 
experienced this year has killed many birds, we yet 
have far too many of the mischievous sparrow class, 
which have been doing us a lot of damage. They are 
very attentive to the newly sown Peas this season, and 
a number of rows were attacked so eagerly that if we 
had not adopted some measures quickly, our crops 
would have been small. We have not been troubled 
so much before ; but we have invariably found the 
following plan efficacious, and it has proved so this 
season. At each end, and in the middle of the rows, 
three small sticks are placed, about 6 ins. high, and 
3 ins. apart. To these, lines of black cotton are tied 
and stretched from end to end, and back again along 
each side and the centre. This simple plan only takes 
a few minutes to carry out, and it is more effectual 
than any other system I ever adopted, for the rows have 
not since been touched by the birds. In previous years 
I have tried white cotton as well, but the black is 
preferable .—Surrey Gardener. 
Anemone coronaria and its Varieties.— 
The Anemones generally, and especially the group 
above named, have suffered considerably from the late 
severe frosts ; this is especially noticeable in places 
where the soil is somewhat stiff and clayey. Prior to 
the last long spell of frost that has made the last winter 
a most remarkable one, our Anemones, both of the 
Fulgens and Coronaria type, were just pushing their 
flower-buds forth, and were decked with abundant 
foliage, but now, as though scorched by a tropical sun, 
the foliage is quite dead and brown, and the flower- 
buds, which only needed a few bright sunny days to 
expand them, are past recovery, and at present even 
the plants themselves show but little signs of life.—/. 
Almond Tree Blossom.— Few flowering trees 
—except the ubiquitous Laburnum—are more exten¬ 
sively planted round the metropolis than the common 
Almond, and as the earliest to flower, it is very welcome, 
being one of the first indications the townsman receives 
that the winter has departed. These trees are flowering 
very abundantly this season, and rendering the shub- 
berries quite cheerful with theirsoft tinted blossoms. The 
latter are so delicate in texture, that one would scarcely 
expect them to last long, but I have been surprised this 
season at the time they continue freshen small branch- 
lets severed from the tree and placed in water. We 
have tried some in rooms this season and they have 
retained their flowers for ten days, some only now be¬ 
ginning to fall or fade ; now that flowers are so scarce, 
they are most useful, although they do not lend them¬ 
selves readily to floral decorations.— II. 
Spiraea japonica.— Although this plant is ex¬ 
tensively forced, and is greatly admired when grown 
in pots, it is often neglected and left uncared for when 
planted outside. It is one of the most useful herbaceous 
plants we have for cutting, and nothing looks prettier 
than glasses made up of this beautiful flower and 
Maidenhair Fern fronds. It succeeds best in a moist 
and well manured soil, and if required for cutting, it 
is advisable to plant them in large beds, having the 
plants in rows about 2 ft. apart. The chief point in 
its cultivation is to see that the plants are well protected 
from frost from the time the crowns begin to grow r until 
the end of May, for, if caught by the least frost, nothing 
