May 19, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
597 
the under side of the segments of the corolla is 
elongating more rapidly than the upper, causing them 
to close, and at night the upper or inner surface of the 
same grows more rapidly, causing them to open. "Why 
growth should manifest itself in this way at particular 
periods in every twenty-four hours, physiologists are 
unable to say ; but its use in the economy of the plant is 
obvious to everyone who is observant. If the behaviour 
of the old flowers is simply due to the loss of water by 
transpiration, we might expect them to remain open 
during the day, provided this loss of water is prevented. 
By standing the plants where direct sunshine could not 
act upon them, this fact was amply demonstrated, all 
the flowers with the exception of those newly expanded 
remaining open during the day, and not only so, but 
they were fragrant, although not so powerfully as 
when the transpiration had entirely ceased during 
darkness, allowing the roots to exhibit the full effects 
of root pressure by gorging the tissues with water. 
That the expansion of the flowers was due to the 
turgidity of their cells was proved in another way, 
namely, by allowing the soil in which the roots were 
situate to get dry. The flowers were the first to show 
signs of distress, which they did by closing. Now 
this will happen at any time during the evening, when 
tension under natural conditions should be increasing, 
and the flowers becoming fully expanded ; or even at 
daybreak, when the tension should be greatest and 
growth proceeding most rapidly. Closing is then 
merely a case of withering or flagging in the case of 
fully-grown flowers, and also to a certain extent in 
that of young flowers as well. 
Again, when the natural position of the plants was 
inverted, and they were retained in this fashion for 
some days together, the daily phenomena of opening 
and closing was continued apparently without any 
evil or other effects. By the action of negative 
geotropism, however, the growing apex of the stems 
re-asserted their perpendicular direction at right angles 
to the earth’s surface, that is, they turned away from 
the centre of gravity, pointing towards their own roots 
in the suspended pots. The leaves behaved in the 
same way. 
The results of these experiments show that Nicotiana 
affinis may be used as a decorative plant in rooms even 
during the day, where they will remain open and be 
sufficiently fragrant to indicate their presence. Tem¬ 
perature as well as sunlight exert a considerable 
influence on transpiration, so that rooms in which 
this beautiful plant is kept should enjoy plenty of 
diffused light, with a moderately high temperature. 
Twelve or twenty fully expanded flowers are rather too 
powerfully fragrant at night to be enjoyable in a 
dwelling-room, except it be of large size.— J. F. 
-*»*<-- 
SPRING-FLOWERING PLANTS. 
The keen easterly winds which swept over this district 
from the 16th to the 22nd of March, have left a pain¬ 
fully visible mark on many of the evergreen trees and 
shrubs in flower-gardens and plantations, and it will 
require a most vigorous growth during this summer to 
make good the damage done in those few days. Both 
Common and Portugal Laurels, Mahonia Aquifolia, and 
the Common Yew where exposed to the scathing blast 
are very much disfigured. The memorable blizzard (1) 
of January, 1881, did us very little more damage than 
this one coming at such an advanced time in the season. 
The Yews, which showed no signs of distress after that 
terrible gale, have many of the young shoots browned, 
as if scorched by fire ; the Broccoli and other culinary 
crops had a most forlorn appearance till the milder 
weather set in during the second week of April. 
The promise of May flowers, which in our infancy we 
were taught to expect as the result of March winds and 
April showers, seemed rather unlikely to be fulfilled, 
but happily, notwithstanding all our murmuring and 
despondency, we have some spells of genial sunny 
weather with warm showers. After all, do we not 
have to wait till May for flowers, there being plenty of 
good things provided for us by a bountiful Creator, to 
gladden our eyes and call forth emotions of reverence 
and thankfulness, if we will only avail ourselves of 
them. The early-flowering bulbous and other plants 
have, we think, charms peculiarly their own ; for with 
few exceptions the colours are more subdued and 
chaste, and the whole aspect of the plant is more 
modest than the majority of those which favour us 
with their charms later in the season. 
To those who possess refined taste they will always 
have especial attractions ; the modesty of the Violet, 
with its delicate perfume, the Primroses, Polyanthuses, 
and Auriculas, the Hepaticas and Scillas, not to men¬ 
tion the Glory of the Snow, will draw forth the 
admiration of the most phlegmatic in gardening 
matters. Then, a little later, the popular Daffodils of 
the cottager’s garden to the more regal Narcissus 
bicolor Empress, Emperor, Horsefieldi, Sir Watkin, 
Barri couspicua, Rev. J. B. M. Camm, and the varieties 
of N. poeticus, which continue the supply of these 
superb flowers till the end of May. The humble Arabis 
and Aubrietias, the Fritillaries, both the varieties of 
the regal Crown Imperial, and the more modest, but 
we think the more beautiful Fritillaria meleagris, 
few white flowers being more elegant than the white 
variety of this. Triteleia uniflora, beautiful as a Hoya ; 
Trillium grandiflorum, truly a grand thing. We were 
admiring a fine clump in the vicar’s garden recently 
of Leucojum Eestivum ; this when seen at its best is 
charming, with its ample deep green arched foliage and 
its spike of white flowers, like so many pearls 
suspended among the leaves, constituting it one of the 
very best spring-flowering plants. 
Those who have a craving for gaudy colours can get 
all they require in clumps of Anemone fulgens, a 
most gorgeous flower ; but for real beauty and refine¬ 
ment, what can surpass our own Wood Anemones, 
either double or single ? We had the pleasure of 
noting Anemone Robersoniana, a most delicate shade 
of light blue, and which is a lovely thing, and if not 
derived from our A. sylvestris, is a very near relation. 
Then what delightful perfumes we have among the 
very early-flowering shrubs ! Lonicera fragrantissima 
is often in flower at Christmas ; the perfume of this is 
unrivalled, yet how seldom do we meet with it! Then 
comes Chimonanthus fragrans, which is often crippled 
and nailed against a wall. This is quite needless, as 
the plant is perfectly hardy anywhere in the same 
latitude as London. There is nothing in either of 
these for the lovers of glare and glitter ; but to those 
who prize delicious perfumes no two better subjects can 
be mentioned. 
For gaiety of colour, what can rival the Cydonia 
japonica, large bushes of which, when in full bloom, 
are truly magnificent ? Beside this old favourite the 
Cydonia Maulei is a poor thing, and the white variety 
of Cydonia japonica is quite as good in its way as the 
red one. We were recently much struck with a well- 
flowered plant of Forsythia suspensa in front of a small 
villa, which seemed to be headed back yearly just as a 
common Privet hedge would be, so that a quantity of 
short stubby shoots were formed, every one of which 
was covered with flower. The plant at a short distance 
looked like a sheet of gold. As a proof of the lateness 
of the season, named hybrid Rhododendrons, which in 
1884 were in full flower on the 10th of May, will be 
quite a fortnight behind time this year. 
When mentioning herbaceous plants, we omitted to 
allude to two old favourites, one of wh ich, Solomon’s 
Seal, is before us as we write. This, in pleasing com¬ 
bination with hardy Ferns, has a fine effect, the young 
fronds of the Ferns setting off the plumes of this 
common but beautiful plant to the best advantage. 
The other is the Lily of the Valley, not perhaps quite 
so accommodating as its near relations, but more 
deliciously perfumed, and a universal favourite. Roses, 
Violets, and Lily of the Valley are perhaps the three 
first favourites with the ladies. As Solomon’s Seal is 
regarded by many as being devoid of perfume, I should 
like to know if there is more than one type of it, as our 
stock is beautifully scented. — IF. B. G. 
-- 
PLANT SALES IN BELGIUM. 
The proud record which is embodied in the figures 
7,650 and following numbers, which we find at the 
head of the current Orchid sale catalogues issued from 
the old-established house of Mr. J. C. Stevens, 38, 
King Street, Covent Garden, and the no less remark¬ 
able sum of £45,000, the value of the Orchids alone 
sold last year by Messrs. Protheroe & Morris, at their 
Central Rooms, 67 and 68, Cheapside, E.C., proves to 
demonstration that plant sales are established insti¬ 
tutions in England, and happy is it for the plants and 
the growers of them that there is such an outlet for 
them at a market value which is determined in no 
more decisive manner than by public competition under 
the hammer. 
In Belgium plant sales are of a comparatively recent 
origin, and their initiation and the successful progress 
they have since made are almost solely due to a clever 
and hard-working horticulturist—M. Jules De Cock, 
of the Ledeberg and Meirelbecke Nurseries, Ghent. 
It is a little over ten years since M. De Cock com¬ 
menced in Ghent in a somewhat unpretentious and 
desultory manner to sell plants by auction. At first 
the business was not wholly satisfactory, but gradually, 
as growers came to see the advantage of a safe market, 
with a sure return and no bad debts, the business 
increased, and is at present regarded as one of the 
soundest concerns in the country. Two and sometimes 
three sales are held each month, one of them being 
specially devoted to Orchids, and at these the buyers 
and sellers hail from all parts of Europe. 
It is impossible to estimate the power of such a 
properly conducted auction mart in creating buyers, 
and so spreading the love for plants ; but to the sale 
room in Ghent, no doubt very much of the enthusiasm 
is due which has of late sprung up in Belgium for 
Orchids. But whereas in England the successful 
sales of plants are almost entirely of Orchids, in M. 
De Cock’s sale rooms, which have recently been built 
at his nursery in Ledeberg, Orchids, Palms and Palm 
seeds, Ferns and tree Fern trunks, Bromeliads, 
Cycads, Azaleas, Camellias, &c., all find a ready sale, 
but for high figures the Orchids have a long way the 
best of it. In the construction of his sale rooms, M. 
De Cock has paid special attention to the requirements 
of the plants consigned to his care, by heating and 
other conveniences, and for the furtherance of publicity 
he is anxious to avail himself of every means of putting 
catalogues into the hands of probable buyers and 
sellers. Nothing is more beneficial to trade in any 
produce than the sale rooms, and especially when 
conducted internationally. We foresee a pleasant and 
remunerative interchange between this country and 
M. De Cock’s sale rooms, and one into which we 
understand the auctioneers themselves in this country 
are anxious to enter. Broad views in business give 
stability to trade, and nothing tends so much to restrict 
it as a limitation of the power to buy and sell to a 
few growers. __ 
ACCLIMATISATION. 
From our earliest remembrance this strange and, 
perhaps, puzzling question forced itself upon our 
mind, not only as far as the vegetable kingdom is 
concerned, but that of the animal as well. Instances 
from both came within the range of our observation, 
and we in our puerile capacity hesitated not to 
attribute to them a peculiar quality of adaptation to 
uncongenial circumstances. A paroquet from the 
humid banks of the Ganges or a Palm from the arid 
African deserts not infrequently claim the attention of 
the observer when placed in a position vastly different 
from the original. To all appearance these by degrees 
become less incapable of withstanding the disparity of 
temperatures, and readily accommodate themselves to 
the new surroundings. Of course, extremes of cold are 
inimical to either, as will be apparent to every person, 
and due precautions are necessarily required for their 
well-being; but when these at all do submit to 
variation of climates, is not the very fact an evidence 
that at least one important step in the direction of 
acclimatisation has been begun ? 
The supposition that plant dissemination over the 
globe is migratory would lead one to imagine that the 
process is evolutionary, and that the invisible and 
almost refractory character of some instances may be 
as opaque to our perceptions as the seeming im¬ 
probability of the animal development. True, the 
Dahlia and some other plants have been brought 
forward by the unbelievers of acclimatisation ; but, 
then, mayhap, ages are required to accomplish the 
object in such cases, and, besides, such plants may be 
improved constitutionally, so as to be more suited to 
the general economy, without any appreciable divari¬ 
cation of character. One strange thing in connection 
with the constitutions of the Dahlia and Potato is their 
impatience of high temperature ; at any rate, they are 
not so tractable to a variable range of temperature as 
many other plants from the same countries. 
On the other hand, many cases have been given as 
strong instances in favour of acclimatisation where 
there were, in truth, no grounds to warrant them. 
Aucuba japonica was, as is well known, on being first 
introduced, cultivated as a stove and greenhouse plant, 
and by accident or intent, in the course of time, was 
discovered to stand the vicissitudes of our country with 
impunity. It will be observed that there is scarcely 
enough room in such cases to demand serious notice, 
for undoubtedly in the outset an imperfect knowledge 
of the meteorological nature of the country from which 
the Aucuba came was at the bottom of the whole. We 
learn from various sources that Japan is comparatively 
a cold place—at least, in the spring time—according to 
our reckoning, and that the Camellias, when in full 
blossom, are often laden with frozen snow. It is there¬ 
fore not wonderful to find many Japanese plants do 
