June 15, 1889. 
657 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
side of the paths. He says :—“ We feel sure that we 
obtain better results than when they are all located on 
the sides. The water is under pressure in 2-in pipes.” 
— L. Wight, in American Florist. 
-- 
PARAFFIN AS AN INSECTICIDE. 
I no not think that Mr. Peebles is fairly dealing with 
the merits of paraffin as an insecticide. I believe that 
at the present moment, taking the leading horti¬ 
culturists in the aggregate, their opinions of the 
superiority of this oil as an insecticide over any other 
preparation yet come before their notice would be in 
favour of its use. Like the use of sulphate of ammonia 
as a plant stimulant, paraffin requires to be used with 
great care and discretion, and even then, if used, as I 
believe it sometimes is, mixed with water only, nothing 
can be expected to attend its use but disappointment. 
It will, or at any rate should, be clear to any person 
who attempts to destroy insects with paraffin in this 
fashion, that the oil floats on the surface, despite all 
efforts to keep it stirred. It therefore is not difficult 
to predict the consequences, the oil would almost in its 
pure state fall from the syringe on the leaves of the 
plants. In an undiluted state this oil is to vegetation 
a deadly poison, leaving wherever it falls devastation 
and death in its train. Even when mixed with soft 
soap, so as to form an emulsion with water, it is not 
unattended with danger. Still, I firmly believe it to 
be the chief of the insecticides, and perfectly harmless 
when properly blended with other ingredients. It is 
in this way that paraffin stands out as the unrivalled 
insect killer. 
Of course it is not desirable in any way to have any¬ 
thing at all to do with an insecticide incurring danger 
in its application, but paraffin is quite tractable and 
inodorous, under certain circumstances. Most of the 
hydro-carbides, just now before horticultural notice, 
contain more or less of this oil in their composition, 
and yet its presence in any shape is not discernible. I 
have for my own use, after a series of experiments in 
this direction, succeeded in compounding paraffin into 
a mixture that no man could ever detect its presence 
by its smell or any other characteristic belonging to it. 
It is soluble in either cold or hot water, and like Fir 
Tree Oil and other hydro-carbides retains the oily 
character. Much could be done in this direction by 
every horticulturist, and he would certainly find it to be, 
from an economic standpoint, worthy of any trouble it 
would cause him. I know I can prepare my own fifty per 
cent, cheaper than I can purchase any of the officinal 
preparations, and, besides, it necessarily claims this 
merit that I know what I am using, and what I expect 
it to do. 
As far as insecticides in general are concerned, I 
must confess they have come far short of what they 
were said to accomplish. I found them, as a rule, either 
do no harm at all, or destroy plants and insects together. 
It is clear to me that we have not yet achieved that 
mystery of preparing an effectual insect destroyer, while 
at the same time perfectly innoccuous to plants. I have 
great faith in paraffin compounds, and perhaps some 
expert may prepare from it the “ elixir,” which as yet 
has only a place in an ideal insecticide. — Gamma, 
Edinburgh. 
-- 
A FEW USEFUL BASKET FERNS. 
Though the Maidenhair Ferns stand unrivalled for 
basket work, we have many others which, if not 
possessing equal gracefulness, are at least exceptionally 
well suited for that purpose ; besides, it is not always 
desirable that a string of hanging baskets should 
entirely consist of the same kind of plants. Of course, 
this is a matter of taste and opinion. Some can only 
see beauty in one long array of the same shade of 
colour, while others again fail to see in this anything 
but a sort of untutored taste. I cast in my lot with 
the latter class, as I consider that sameness or uni¬ 
formity should not be encouraged in any horticultural 
arrangement where the object is an attempt to copy 
nature and present beauty to our view. In a word, 
where this style is carried to any extent the artist will 
discern our weak points, and tell us that such are the 
most primitive ideas connected with the art. 
The Davallias almost entirely are specially adapted 
for this form of culture ; indeed, it has always 
appeared to me that not only the Davallias, but most 
Ferns seem to thrive under this mode of treatment 
better than under any other. "Why this should be so 
perhaps is not so very clear as at first sight may appear. 
At all events, such is apparently the case. Davallia 
pentaphylla, with its dark green, five-fingered, ever¬ 
green fronds, is almost matchless as a basket Fern. It 
is not very common among Fern collections—a fact not 
easily accounted for, while hundreds of less deserving 
kinds often stand out conspicuous. Davallia Cherae- 
phyllum (Leucostegia of some), with its finely cut, 
long, graceful, Chervil-green fronds, is another splendid 
Fern for the basket. This also is not found in every 
collection, though by no means rare. This Fern has 
one drawback—its early habit of shedding its fronds, 
and, therefore, on this account, it is perhaps not so 
useful as the former one. 
Onychium japonicum, so well known to everyone, 
needs here no more than a mere allusion to its invalu¬ 
able character as an all-the-year-round Fern. Like 
most Japanese plants, it thrives splendidly in the 
greenhouse, but does much better in the moist warm 
fernery. Another very fine Fern for the basket is 
Davallia Tyermanni. This, like the latter, is ever¬ 
green, and from the rather unique appearance, so to 
speak, of its fronds, is certainly a great acquisition. A 
very attractive Fern is Davallia Novre-Zealandica. It 
is evergreen, but generally the fronds change from a 
deep green in their young state to a rusty brown colour. 
Notwithstanding this defect, its finely-divided frondage 
is exquisite, and together with its compact habit, will 
The Poppy Anemone. 
more than counterbalance it. When grown in baskets, 
the fronds generally grow much larger, in many cases 
nearly double the size they attain in pots or pans. 
Davallia dissectum, D. elegans, and D. bullata are all 
well suited for basket culture, the chief drawback being 
their deciduous character. 
Where giant specimens are considered as features of 
attraction, such kinds as Davallia Mooreana and 
Goniophlebium subauriculatum are capital Ferns for 
hanging baskets. It is, perhaps, worthy of remark 
how little root sustenance D. Mooreana requires in the 
shape of soil. Of course, this is the case with most of 
the group, but I remember seeing at one time the 
largest specimen of D. Mooreana that had been exhibited 
at the Edinburgh flower shows, and it was in a 6-in. 
pot. The rhizomes were, of course, grown around the 
pot for years, forming a large ball like a tub. If I 
remember rightly, the plant measured over 6 ft. across. 
— Gamma, Edinburgh. 
-—>£<-<—— 
THE POPPY ANEMONE. 
Most of the varieties known as the florists’ Anemones, 
as well as the Irish or St. Brigid’s Anemone, have been 
wholly derived from A. coronaria, which was originally 
introduced from south Europe to this country in 1596. 
Their dwarf habit and easy management have favoured 
their being widely disseminated in the gardens of all 
classes. In the cooler and moister climate of the north, 
the single varieties flourish and increase amazingly. 
If the tuberous rhizomes are newly imported and in a 
dried-up condition, the chances are that a number of 
them will die before getting established ; but when 
lifted from one garden and merely transferred to another 
in spring, no trouble whatever is occasioned with them. 
The gaily and extremely variably-coloured flowers are 
generally marked with a darker zone near the base, 
similar to the blotches seen in the common field Poppy, 
hence the application of the popular name—the Poppy 
Anemone. Old plants are now rather past their best 
in the south, but a few flowers may be obtained for 
some time, provided the weather is moist. The autumn 
rains, especially in the case of seedlings, start them 
into full growth again, and we have a second display of 
flowers in the same year. We illustrate a bunch of 
flowers greatly reduced in size. 
-►>*««-—— 
CONCERNING LILACS. 
As I am not a member of the legal profession, nor 
legitimately entitled to prefix Dr. to my name, I 
cannot come within the category of those whom 
“ R. D.” designates as “learned readers of The Gar¬ 
dening World ” (p. 631) ; but as he seeks to ascertain 
the derivation of the word “ Lilac,” I am sure he will 
welcome any information, from whatever quarter it may 
come. If he will turn to p. 1209, in Loudon’s 
Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, under the head 
of Syringa vulgaris ho will find it thus written :— 
“Sirinx, the native name in Barbary. The tubes of 
the finest Turkish pipes are manufactured from the 
wood of this shrub, and also from that of Philadelphus 
coronarius, to which the name was originally given ; 
hence the old English name of Pipe tree, which was 
applied both to the Philadelphus and the Syringa. 
Lilac is from Lilac or Lilag, the Persian word for a 
flower.” Syringa, or Sirinx, can thus easily be traced 
back to its Latin origin, Syrinx—a pipe, a tube, a 
syringe. 
There seems to be a great difference of opinion 
and uncertainty amongst eminent botanical authorities 
as to the native habitat of the Lilac, and the date of its 
introduction to this country. De Candolle says that 
the common Lilac is said to have come from Persia in 
the sixteenth century ; but according to Heuffel, it is 
indigenous in Hungary, the borders of Moldavia, &c. 
The following extract is from the Treasury of Botany, 
edited by Dr. LindleyandMr. T. Moore :—“The common 
Lilac, S. vulgaris, is generally supposed to be a native 
of Persia, from whence it is said to have been intro¬ 
duced into Europe ; but it does not appear to be 
certainly known in a wild state, and some botanists 
have therefore supposed it to be merely a luxuriant 
cultivated variety of the Persian Lilac, S. persica. It 
is said to occur wild in Transylvania, Wallachia, and 
Bulgaria. S. persica is also supposed to have originally 
come from Persia, but nothing is known with certainty 
as to its native country.” 
Loudon gives a very interesting account, and I 
cannot do better than quote him fully. He says :— 
“ The common Lilac was till lately thought to be 
exclusively a native of Persia, but within the last few 
years it has been found by Dr. Baumgarten in Transyl¬ 
vania (Flora Transyl, vol. i., p. 16). The blue and 
white varieties were cultivated by Gerard and 
Parkinson in 1597 under the name of Blue Pipe, and 
apparently confounded with Philadelphous, which was 
also called the Pipe Tree. The first time the Lilac was 
made known to European botanists was by a plant 
brought from Constantinople to Vienna by the ambas¬ 
sador Busbequins towards the end of the sixteenth 
century. From the plant being showy, of the easiest 
culture, and extremely hardy, it soon spread rapidly 
through the gardens of Europe.” Johnson's Dictionary 
fixes the date of introduction of S. vulgaris at 1597, 
while “ R. D.” finds mention of the six Lilac 3 in 
Cardinal Wolsey’s garden in the Palace of Norwich, 
and Loudon also mentions this circumstance. Now, as 
Cardinal "VVolsey died in 1530 the Lilacs would have 
been planted before that event took place, which would 
bring us at least to the early part of the sixteenth 
century. So that th9 whole of the earlier history of 
the Lilac seems full of doubts and probabilities. The 
Lilac (S. vulgaris) appears to possess medicinal pro¬ 
perties, for according to Lindley ( Vegetable Kingdom, 
p. 617) the peasants of Breme employ no other remedy 
for the intermittent fevers which prevail in that marshy 
and insalubrious district. 
I have come across another curious thing in con¬ 
nection with the common Lilac I should like to mention. 
De Candolle says, “ It is well known that it will graft 
