696 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 2, 1887 
AN AMATEUR’S GARDEN AT 
OXFORD. 
Being at Oxford a few days ago, I paid a visit to 
that well-known amateur cultivator of Carnations and 
Picotees, Mr. Joseph Lakin, of Temple Cowley. Mr. 
Lakin was in the police force for many years, and 
towards the close of his service held a position of con¬ 
siderable responsibility. When he retired he had some 
thoughts of locating himself in the midland counties, 
but eventually took up his residence at Temple Cowley, 
near to his old friend Mr. E. S. Dodwell. For many 
years past Mr. Lakin has been an enthusiastic culti¬ 
vator of plants, and a successful exhibitor also. Of 
Carnations and Picotees he has about 850 pots of choice 
varieties and selected seedlings ; he has also many 
of the latter in the open ground. He grows largely of 
Mrs. Simkins and other Pinks for cutting purposes, 
disposing of his spare flowers locally for sale in the 
Oxford markets. He has a good collection of show 
and fancy Pansies, Tea and Noisette Ptoses and double 
and single Pyrethrums; large beds of named and 
seedling Delphiniums, and also a collection of choice 
hardy perennials, including Lilies, &c. The garden 
is nearly half an acre in extent, the soil being of a 
deep sandy loam, resting upon sand, and every part of 
it testifies to the most constant care and untiring 
attention. “The best possible” appears to be Mr. 
Lakin’s motto. What he grows is good ; nothing 
inferior is worthy a place in this interesting garden. 
As an exhibitor of Carnations and Picotees, Mr. 
Lakin is always to the fore at the meetings of the 
National Carnation and Picotee Society in London, 
and the Carnation and Picotee Union at Oxford 
Contrary to the usual practice, Mr. Lakin grows but 
one plant of a Carnation or Picotee in a pot. He mainly 
uses 7-in. and 8-in. pots, the strongest being in those 
9 ins. in diameter. He pots early also, last year com¬ 
mencing on February 3rd and finishing about the 12th 
of April; this year the operation was completed about 
the 22nd of April. He states that early potting means 
earlier roots, and he holds the opinion that it is better 
to have a pot full of roots than full of soil with but few 
roots. The compost he employs is good yellow loam, 
leaf-soil, decayed cow-manure, and dried sheep-dung; 
the roots go right through such a soil, and the plants 
derive great benefit from it. Old mortar-rubbish is 
also mixed with it, Mr. Lakin holding that the employ¬ 
ment of this material gives colour to the flowers and 
causes the white to come pure. The pots are well- 
drained, and Mr. Lakin is a great believer in firm 
potting. 
He has a fine collection of hardy perennials, among 
them the large orange-yellow Inula glandulosa, Or- 
nithogalum pyrainidalis (the tall Star of Bethlehem), 
Delphiniums in variety, and many fine seedlings; 
double Pyrethrums, the favourite varieties being P. 
niveum plenum, Princess Metternich, a late variety ; 
Herman Stenger, Uzziel, Progress, J. N. Tweedy, 
Boule de Neige, and P. imbricatum plenum. The 
plants are divided in March, and Mr. Lakin has large 
beds of them. From a bed of P. niveum plenum he 
cut as many as 5,172 flowers in one week. Other 
perennials are Lychnis viscaria, Spiraea filipendula, a 
charming subject for cutting ; Geum coceineum flore 
pleno, Mertensia siberica, with its pretty, gracefully- 
drooping pale blue flowers ; Echinopsis ruthenicus, the 
Blue Thistle, as it is sometimes called, the heads of 
which sell remarkably well; Anthericum liliastrum 
majus, the rich crimson Papaver bracteatum, four 
varieties of Tradescantia, the beautiful pale purple 
Geranium armenium, the double white Rocket, Cen- 
taurea rigidifolius. Iris germanica, in fine variety; 
Salvia tenora, Campanula percissifolia, blue and white ; 
C. urticifolia fL pi., Paeony officinalis, in variety ; the 
purple Campanula glomerata dahurica, Lupinus poly- 
phyllus, blue aud white, &c. 
At no period of the year is this garden without 
something of interest. There are early spring-flowering 
subjects and those that bring up the rear of the floral 
procession in late autumn. I am sure Mr. Lakin gets 
a great deal of enjoyment out of his garden, and all 
who know him unite in wishing him good health and 
long life.— R. D. 
Killarney Fern. —Take care that the direct rays 
of the sun do not play upon the Killarney Fern (Tri- 
chomanes radicans), or the fronds will be permanently 
disfigured by being browned. We have a beautiful 
specimen in a glass case, staged at the western end of 
the greenhouse, which, a year or two since, was col¬ 
lected at Killarney. — C. 
SMALL AURICULA GROWERS. 
The very kindly notice of my former communication 
by your correspondent, “C. A. G.,” in your issue of the 
11th inst., makes it a pleasure to comply with her 
request for “a little more.” 
I have two frames—one about 4 ft. square, 16 ins. 
high at the back, and 11 ins. in front. The pots stand 
on strips of deal resting on blocks running from back 
to front, and about 2 ft. long ; those at the back being 
about 3 ins. higher than the front ones, thus giving 
two levels. The strips are placed sufficiently wide 
apart to admit of free drainage. This simple arrange¬ 
ment keeps the pots well off the ground, and the frames 
are raised to admit air at the bottom by a parliamentary 
move called ‘ ‘ blocking. ” I generally keep a toad in 
the frame to destroy vermin. 
My other frame is 6 ft. 4 ins. by 4 ft. 3 ins., and 
made with 9-in. by lj-in deals, 45 ins. high at back, 
and 27 ins. in front, with two lights. The second 
deal from the bottom, both front and back, is cut in 
half, hinged to the one above, and forms four flaps, 
which can be opened or closed as required ; they are 
fastened by buttons screwed on to the bottom deal. 
The stage for the pots is formed by two pieces of 4-in. 
deal for each light, with graduated steps 5 ins. wide 
(as shown in the accompanying illustration), resting 
in four sockets, two at the back and two in front, 
inside the frame, about 16 ins. apart, and 15 ins. 
below the lights for plants in bloom, and 5 ins. higher 
when out of bloom. Two deal strips are laid across the 
steps on which the pots stand. In this frame the 
plants are easily got at, and when in full bloom, nicely 
Section of Mr. Fife’s Auricula Frame. 
arranged, and the sun shining on them, form a picture 
of indescribable beauty. 
The “tucking-up” business commences about 7 p.m. 
the untucking about 9 a.m., and when once begun is 
resolutely persevered with until show-day, in the 
hitherto vain hope of having a few plants fit for South 
Kensington. No air is admitted except during the day 
when the weather is favourable. As to watering, I 
drain the pots well and keep the soil moist all through 
the winter, and as soon as growth commences I increase 
the supply, and if the weather is a bit warm give the 
plants an extra drop, when they do well and increase 
and multiply. 
I have not tried “ C. A. G.’s” experiment of standing 
newly-potted Auriculas in water a short time before 
consigning them to close confinement for a few days, 
but I generally soak the roots before washing them, 
and give the whole plant a good ducking before re¬ 
potting, which effectually cleanses it of all dust and 
live stock (if any), and if the air is dry, I sprinkle 
slightly once a day. For compost I use two parts loam, 
one part well-rotted cow-manure, one part broken 
leaves (never leaf-soil or leaves that have been heated), 
about one-twentieth part of small pieces of charcoal 
for drainage, a limpet shell convex side upwards, and 
about 1 in. of broken pots or bricks. 
If the “levelling up ”—that is, later date—suggestion 
should be adopted, which would simply be putting all 
exhibitors on the same footing, I venture to think that 
we (the small growers) could make a good fight for, 
and very possibly carry off some of the lesser honours. 
I sincerely thank “ C. A. G.” for the kindly manner 
in which she has referred to my former notes, and I 
trust the foregoing may be of interest to her and other 
growers of my favourite flower.— T. Fife, Southern, 
Hill, Reading. 
Auriculas in Cold Frames. —I read with great 
interest the remarks which appear from time to time 
in your valuable paper on the culture of these lovely 
plants. Perhaps “C. A. G.” may be interested to 
know that when re-potting some Alpines a week or 
two ago, I adopted her plan of standing a portion of 
them for half an hour in a bath containing tepid water 
about f ins. deep. The result is most gratifying ; not a 
single leaf flagged, and they are now looking far healthier, 
and more vigorous than the others re-potted at the 
same time in the usual way. I was afraid to attempt 
it with show kinds, but shall not hesitate to do so 
another year. 
Many of the pots I used this season are now coated 
on the rim and on the outside with a whitish salty - 
looking substance. Will any of your readers tell me 
what it is (something in the clay I imagine), and if it 
is at all injurious to the plants ? 
In Gardening for Amateurs, the Rev. F. D. Horner 
says, he has the weight of clay that goes to a 4i-in. 
pot, made into one of greater depth and lesser width. 
Will he kindly say what depth and width he has them 
made, and give the name of the maker ? I am sure 
many growers would like to obtain them from the 
same source. Also do any growers favour glazed pots, 
and where can they be obtained ]—Amateur. 
-- 
ACHIMENES. 
Of this genus a large number of species are known, 
many of which are sufficiently ornamental to deserve 
cultivation in our stoves, but most or all of the species 
are capable of intercrossing freely with others ; and as 
horticulturists early recognised this fact, we seldom 
find true species in gardens, but the hybrid or improved 
forms. At present they do not seem to be cultivated 
to that extent which their beauty would warrant, 
except in a few gardens where the old custom still 
prevails, or in those few who have been able to secure 
some of the newer and finer sorts, especially of 
continental origin, which find their way across the 
Channel occasionally. Since Mr. Anthony Parsons 
died, the production of Achimenes in this country seems 
to have suffered a check. Dazzler, Parsonsi, and 
coccinea were some of the many fine things originated 
by him. 
With a little care and attention the greater number 
of the improved forms are most profuse in flowering, 
and last many weeks in perfection. The scaly tubers, 
whether short and bulb-like or elongated and rhizo- 
matous, should be inserted rather thickly in pans in 
leaf-soil or cocoa-nut fibre in March or April, according 
to the time they are required, and placed in a moist 
heat, either in a stove, pit, or propagating frame and 
kept slightly moist to start them. When they have 
fairly started into growth they should be inserted in 
6-in. pots to the number of five to ten, according to the 
size of the leaves and vigour of the variety in question, 
using a compost of three parts fibrous loam, and two of 
leaf-soil, with sufficient sand to keep the whole porous 
and open. Peat might be used in place of leaf-soil, but 
the latter is best. Grow them on in a temperature of 
60° to 70° Fahr., with full exposure to light. They 
would be greatly benefited by the application of weak 
manure water two or three times a-week from the time 
the flower buds appear. Syringe freely when growth is 
advancing to keep insects in check, and encourage 
a free growth. They are also admirably adapted 
for cultivation in baskets, and suspended from the 
roof in a conservatory, using the same compost as 
for pots. 
When they are nearly at their best shift them 
gradually into cooler quarters to harden them, when 
they may be transferred to the conservatory. Shade 
them from bright sun, and the flowers will keep in 
perfection for many weeks, and impart a rich glow of 
colour to a house such as few plants are capable of 
doing. The best effect is produced by grouping them 
together, and not dotting them singly about the house. 
As they show signs of having finished their growth and 
flowering, gradually withhold water to ripen their 
tubers, which should be kept in the soil in which they 
were grown, keeping them dry, and in a temperature of 
55° Falir., till time to start them again in spring. Our 
illustration gives a fair idea of the habit and general 
appearance of the flowers, but a mass of plants is 
necessary to a fair estimate of the effect they are capable 
of producing. 
