November 21, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
177 
tings are required, or some plants be grown on in 
pots for that purpose. The propagator of Dahlias 
from cuttings rejects the first batch put forth by the 
roots after they have been placed in heat on the 
ground that they become soft and sappy, and the long 
soft shoots put up by the Chrysanthemum plants 
early are looked upon by some growers in much the 
same light. Stocky, wiry growths make the best 
cuttings ; they should be about 2 in. or so in length, 
and be placed pretty thickly in the pots, and then 
freely sprinkled and the pots placed on a gentle bot¬ 
tom heat; or if this is not available, then in a 
greenhouse where they can be secure from frost, and 
covered with tall glasses or hand-lights. A great 
many cuttings were lost last year by placing them 
in cold frames, where the frost got at them. Growers 
should be careful a like experience does not fall to 
their lot. The cuttings should be lightly sprinkled 
once or twice a day ; under such treatment they sel¬ 
dom flag, and root freely. 
Propagation may go on all the winter according to 
the number required. Those put in in December and 
January will root in February or earlier : and when 
signs of growth show movement on the part of the 
plants, it may be fairly assumed the young plants 
are fit to pot off. They should be put singly in 
small pots, using a compost similar to that recom¬ 
mended for the cuttings, keeping them close for a 
time, sprinkling overhead, and as the plants 
become established, they can be hardened off in 
cold frames. Mr. H. J. Jones recommends that 
such early flowering varieties as Madame C. 
Desgranges and its sports be nursed as a delicate 
family, and have if possible a shelf near the glass in 
a vinery or similar structure. So much then for 
the present.— R. D. 
AWARDS AT FLOWER SHOWS 
TO MISCELLANEOUS EXHIBITS. 
Mr. Dean's remarks on this subject in your last 
issue are very much to the point, and my sympathies 
are entirely with the nursery firms of Birmingham in 
their endeavour to remedy the matter. Horticultural 
Societies, however, are fast becoming alive to the 
necessity of dealing with “ exhibits not for competi¬ 
tion ” in a fair and liberal spirit. Keen competition 
in business compels nurserymen to exhibit their spe¬ 
cialities at flower shows, and this is often done at very 
great expense. Societies are also glad of their assist¬ 
ance in thus helping to make their shows successful. I 
have exhibited at twelve shows this year, both in Scot¬ 
land and England, and am bound to say that, but for 
nurserymen’s exhibits, the bulk of these exhibitions 
would have been divested of their chief items of inte¬ 
rest to the general public. On two occasions on 
which the shows were held on a Saturday, I pro¬ 
posed lifting my stuff early, so as to reach home that 
night, but they begged of me not to spoil the show, 
and said if I could not stay they would return my 
boxes on the Monday, carriage paid. 
In view, then, of these facts, societies should do all 
in their power to encourage miscellaneous exhibits, 
both by suitable press notices and honorary awards i 
with something more substantial when they can afford 
it. The Shropshire Horticultural Society deserves 
credit for the way itsmanagers acknowledge the value 
of special exhibits. There they award medals and ex¬ 
tra prizes, and otherwise give every encouragement 
to the exhibitor. The Royal Caledonian Horticul¬ 
tural Society wakened up, when rather late, to the 
fact that the success of their International Exhibi¬ 
tion, lately held, was largely due to the variety and 
extent of the magnificent exhibits, “ not for competi¬ 
tion," which formed such a marked feature of the 
show. I say rather late, as their medal awards, given 
so long after the show, were of no practical value to 
the recipients, and, with regard to the daily press 
notices of these exhibits, they were very imperfect. 
The subject of press notices I consider of great 
importance, and all societies, both large and small, 
ought to make arrangements for having them under 
proper supervision. The Glasgow and West of 
Scotland Horticultural Society have the best method 
of controlling press reports that I know of. So far 
as I know they invite nurserymen to send in lists of 
what they intend to exhibit. These appear in the 
newspapers in paragraph form before the show. On 
the show day some qualified members of the com¬ 
mittee are appointed to conduct the reporters round 
the exhibition, and, being furnished with the lists 
referred to, their labour is reduced to a minimum. 
Care is taken that the special features of each exhibit 
are duly noted, and the reporters, under the guidance 
of the committee, prepare reports doing full justice 
to each exhibit; thus all undue puffing, with its conse¬ 
quent heart-burning, is entirely prevented. 
This system of regulating reports would, if gener¬ 
ally adopted, cure the evil complained of, and I 
would strongly recommend it to the notice of all con¬ 
cerned.— Justice. [We may remind our delightfully 
innocent and unselfish correspondent that flower 
show committees have no control over what 
appears in any part of a newspaper except the 
advertising columns; and also that the system 
adopted at Glasgow has not brought prosperity to 
the Glasgow and West of Scotland Horticultural 
Society, however much it may have reduced heart¬ 
burning among the exhibitors. We agree with all 
that has been said on the subject of flower show 
committees properly rewarding exhibitors “ not for 
competition," but why the exhibitors should expect 
other people—say the proprietors of newspapers— 
to reward them as well, and as a matter of course, 
is beyond our comprehension.—E d.J 
HARDY TREES & SHRUBS. 
The Coluteas or Bladder Senna. 
The species of Colutea in cultivation are by no 
means numerous, but their beauty, hardiness and 
accommodating nature should ensure a more exten- 
COLUTEA CRUENTA. 
sive cultivation than they at present enjoy. The 
commonest species in gardens and shrubberies is 
Colutea arborescens, but some of the others are 
decidedly more showy and as easily cultivated. 
They will thrive in any soil or situation, and as 
they grow rapidly might be planted where they 
are wanted to screen unsightly objects and yet not 
exceed 6 ft. or ioft. in height. Of course they can 
be kept down to the size of bushes 3 ft. or 4 ft. 
high by pruning, and they will flower freely even 
under those conditions. They will grow in the 
richest or poorest of soils, and therefore prove use¬ 
ful in planting dry banks where few other shrubs 
will succeed for want of sufficient moisture. Some 
railway banks in the suburbs of London, and even in 
densely populated districts not far removed from the 
City boundary, may be seen clothed with flowering 
bushes of the common species, and heavily laden 
with their bladder-like fruits during the winter 
months. This must speak well for their smoke- 
resisting capabilities. Dry banks along the sides of 
drives and elsewhere are frequent on private estates, 
and might be planted to great advantage with 
Coluteas. Whenever the plants get too large for 
any given position their size may be reduced by 
pruning them back in winter. Propagation may 
readily be accomplished by inserting cuttings in 
sandy soil some time during the autumn months, or 
by sowing seeds, which ripen in abundance almost 
any year. 
Colutea cruenta. —The pea-shaped flowers of 
this species are not blood-coloured as the name 
would suggest, but the upper petal or standard, which 
is the most conspicuous organ, is of a deep orange- 
red ; The wing and keel petals are paler. The leaves 
are pinnate, with seven to thirteen broadly-ovate, 
deeply glaucous leaflets. The flowers are produced 
in short racemes from the axils of the leaves all 
along the young wood, and therefore keep up a 
succession all through the summer till late in 
autumn, according to the weather and the vigour of 
the plants. Our illustration accompanying this 
shows the tip of a shoot considerably reduced, with 
a single flower of the natural size At the base of 
the spray are two fruits, also reduced in size. They 
are boat-shaped, greatly inflated, and bladdery, thus 
suggesting the popular name of Bladder Senna. The 
seeds are very small relatively to the size of the pod, 
and the latter, instead of bursting to scatter the seeds, 
dry up and hang on the plants for great part of the 
winter, and create a rustling noise when shaken by 
the wind. It was introduced from south-east Europe 
in 1731. 
C. arborescens.— The flowering period of this spe¬ 
cies corresponds very much with that of C. cruenta, 
and the general appearance of the plant is in several 
respects similar, but the flowers are yellow. The 
plant is altogether larger, for whereas C. cruenta 
grows 4 ft. or 6 ft. high, species under notice attains 
a height of 6-ft. to io-ft. The leaves are also larger, 
and the leaflets elliptic. It is a native of bushy 
places from the middle to the south of Europe, and 
is recorded as growing on the crater of Vesuvius, 
where scarcely any other vegetation will grow. It 
is also a very old plant in this country, having been 
introduced in 1568. 
C. media. —This species is a native of the Orient 
and resembles C. cruenta, but has orange-yellow 
flowers. It attains a height of 6 ft., and has glaucous 
foliage. 
C. haleppica. —The specific name here refers to 
Aleppo, a maritime town of Asia Minor bordering upon 
the Mediterranean. The shrub is dwarfer than the 
others above mentioned, varying from 3 ft. to 6 ft, 
according to the conditions under which it is grown 
The yellow flowers are however larger, and the 
glaucous leaves consist of a larger number of smaller 
leafless. It was introduced from the Levant in 
1752. 
_ - ♦ _ _ 
♦ 
ORCHIDS AT ST. ALBANS. 
At present the most interesting feature at St. Albans 
is the Elephant Moth Dendrobe (Dendrobium 
Phalsenopsis Schroderianum) of which a large num¬ 
ber of plants are now in bloom, and others fast 
approaching that stage, ‘in one of the long houses of 
Messrs. F. Sander & Co. Considering that the 
plants have been rooted up from their native haunts, 
have undergone a five months’ journey, and that the 
old and leafless pseudo-bulbs are flowering a second 
time, the flowers now being produced are of wonder¬ 
ful size, and of all shades of colour from white to 
the richest crimson purple. The typical D. Phalae- 
nopsis has its petals somewhat connivent at the base, 
rising upwards so as to partly cover the upper sepal 
before spreading in a lateral direction, whereas those 
of D. P. Schroderianum spread at right angles to the 
upper sepal from the very base. The middle lobe of 
the lip is also relatively broad, squarish and 
cuspidate. With regard to colour no two are 
exactly alike, and the sight of the whole is such as 
to make the mouth of an Orchid lover to water. 
A few pink lines in the throat was all the colour¬ 
ing we could detect in the white variety. Another 
had very large flowers and rosy-lilac sepals and 
petals on a white ground, while the side lobes and 
base of the lip were of an intense crimson purple 
How very different it is in those flowers where the 
side lobes and all the basal half of the lip are pure 
white. In another case the sepals and petals were 
soft purple, on a white ground, and the side lobes 
of the lip white, but the rest deep purple. The pale 
forms are certainly charming, particularly those 
with uniformly rosy-lilac sepals and petals netted 
with darker veins. A distinct type is that having 
the lower half of the sepals and petals pure white, 
and the upper half shaded with rose; while the 
lamina of the lip is deep rose, the rest being pure 
white. 
Equally notable was another having white sepals 
and petals suffused and veined with purple on the 
