January 2, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
273 
Materials for Walking Sticks — Writing on the 
vegetable products of Tropical Africa in the Society 
of Arts Journal, Mr. John R. Jackson, curator of the 
Museums at Kew, remarks that as the trade in walk¬ 
ing sticks has now become a very large and impor¬ 
tant British industry, there is necessarily a great and 
increasing demand for materials, such for instance as 
young Palm saplings, with good roots to form the 
knobs or handles, or any woody plant that may exibit 
an ornamental or characteristic bark. It is not neces¬ 
sary that the stems should be in all cases long enough 
for an ordinary walking stick if the rooting portion has 
sufficient character to recommend it, for one of the 
arts of the walking stick and umbrella handle-maker 
is to graft or join an ornamental knob or root on to a 
plain but rigid stick. Nor is it necessary for the 
stick to be straight, for some of the most crooked 
sticks are effectually straightened by heat. A few 
should be sent home for report, and to try whether 
they have any market value. 
Chrysanthemums in their own country.— The in¬ 
fatuation for the flowers that our forefathers called 
Roses of St. Catherine becomes more and more 
general, says L'Illustration Horticole. Semptrvirens 
devotes an entire number to them, finishing up by 
recalling the culture of which the Kikou (Chrysan¬ 
themum) is the object in the extreme east. In Japan 
it is the emblem of good fortune and long life; the 
flower is sung by the poet; the painter produces it 
everywhere ; and not a single small garden is with¬ 
out Chrysanthemums. The Japanese works upon 
that plant form quite a library. The most exalted 
national order is that of the Chrysanthemum. In the 
kingdom of Siam, as in Japan, the banners, the 
public documents, the moneys, carry the flowers of 
Chrysanthemums. The Chrysanthemum furnishes, 
besides, an elixir of long life and a remedy against 
intoxication. That remedy has probably not yet 
been introduced into Europe. 
Shirley Hibberd Memorial. —The following commu¬ 
nication reached us too late for insertion in our last: 
—At a meeting of the committee appointed to carry 
out this scheme, held at Chiswick on November 
17, 1891, Dr. Masters in the chair, it was announced 
that the sum received from all sources was 
£259 9s. 6d., and that after the payment of all ex¬ 
penses, amounting to £38 14s. 4d., there remained a 
balance in the bank of £220 15s 2d. A satisfactory 
portrait of Mr. Hibberd has been hung in the 
Lindley Library. The balance of the monies 
received is, after payment of the expenses of the 
deed, to be invested for the benefit of the orphan 
daughter in the names of Mr. W. R. Hargreave, Mr. 
Leonard Barron, and Mr. John Collingridge. The 
trust-deed is to contain provisions (1), that in the 
event of the death of the child previous to her 
attaining her twelfth year, the amount then standing 
to the credit of the trustees shall be paid to the 
Gardeners’Orphan Fund; (2), that in the event of 
the decease of the child at any period between the 
twelfth and the twenty-first year of her age, then the 
monies invested shall become the absolute property 
of her uncle and guardian, Mr. C. M. Mitchell. 
Christmas Trees in Berlin.— Berlin is the city of 
Christmas trees par excellence, and some of the streets 
and squares now look like forests. This year (says 
a correspondent of the Daily News) they are exceed¬ 
ingly cheap, trees of about 10 ft. in height costing 
from eight to ten shillings. The supply seems to be 
much greater than the demand, for so late as this 
evening one does not remark that the stores in the 
market have been much reduced. These trees come 
for the most part from Thuringia and the Hartz 
Mountains. Immense numbers are sold, for the 
Christmas-tree custom here is general even among 
the poorer classes. The celebration of Christmas 
Eve, with the attendant festivities of the Tree, is a 
ceremony almost sacred. It is then one thinks of 
the departed friends to whom it has not been granted 
to spend this season in the family circle. In the 
churchyards people are busy planting nicely 
decorated Christmas trees on the graves, and those 
who cannot afford this confine themselves to laying 
fir branches thereon. 
The Weather of Christmas week. —The mean read¬ 
ing of the barometer last week at Greenwich was 
3o.i8in., and that of the thermometer 29.1° ; the 
latter being 10.2 0 below the week’s average in the 
twenty years 1849-68. The direction of the wind 
was variable, the horizontal movement of the air 
being sixty-three per cent, below the week's average 
in the sixteen years 1S60-75. The duration of 
registered Might sunshine in the week was 4.7 hours. 
SCOTTISH NOTES. 
Adieu ! 1891.—By the time this meets the eye of 
your readers another year will have been added to 
the past, with all its successes and failures. The 
season here at the commencement was comparatively 
mild, February particularly so. Wallflowers began 
to flower freely, and Rhododendrons also came into 
blossom ; the frost up to then having been compara¬ 
tively slight, contrary to what was experienced in 
the south. March, however, brought a change ; 
16 0 of frost for three or four successive nights, but 
no very disastrous effects followed, as the thaw was 
very gradual and few things were at all active—the 
wallflowers never recovered though. 
The summer was really better here than its pre¬ 
decessor, there having been more dry weather, which 
made it possible to cope, in some measure, with the 
weeds, which was impossible the previous season. 
All garden crops generally proved satisfactory. 
Strawberries were about an average crop, and bush 
fruits were about the same. There was a fair crop 
of Apples, too, on what few trees we have. Keswick 
Codlin as a pyramid is a nice cropper, and so is Lord 
Suffield in this district. But bullfinches are very 
troublesome just as the fruit buds are bursting, and 
last spring I made up a mixture of lime, linseed oil, 
and paraffin. The oil prevents the rain from wash¬ 
ing off the lime, and I thought the buds flavoured 
with paraffin would not be very palatable. This I 
passed through a strainer, and sprayed the bushes 
and Apple trees with, and to this I owe my crops of 
fruit. I netted a few by themselves, but somehow 
the little depredators found their way in, and what a 
havoc they made. 
The year also brought its quota of new plants and 
re-introductions, the most noteworthy perhaps being 
the importation in bulk of our long lost friend, the 
old Cattleya labiata ; next in importance is probably 
Dendrobium Phalaeropsis Schroderianum. Two late 
Grapes have also been put in the market for the first 
time, a rather unusual occurrence in one season. All 
things considered, if no great advances have been 
made horticulture has fully maintained its position, as 
witness the displays at our great exhibitions during 
the past season, and, while we bid adieu to 1891, we 
welcome the new year with hope, confidence, and 
determination to do our best as British gardeners.—- 
Jas. Brown, Arddarroch, Loch Long. 
Begonias and Gloxinias from Seeds. —Last 
January I procured a packet each of Begonia and 
Gloxinia seeds from Mr. Downie, of Edinburgh, 
from which I succeeded in rearing a number of 
beautiful varieties and had such a fine display in 
autumn that I am induced to pen this short note, in 
the hope that it may be the means of others trying a 
few seedlings for this purpose in the ensuing year. 
Towards the end of the month I sowed the seeds in 
pans of light soil and plunged them in a brisk 
bottom heat, keeping them in total darkness until 
the seeds germinated, which they did in prodigal 
profusion, hundreds of tiny plants appearing. These 
I gradually exposed to the light till they were strong 
enough to be placed on a shelf quite close to the 
glass, and this, let me say here, is very important, as 
it keeps the young plants dwarf and sturdy. As 
soon as they were large enough to handle they were 
carefully pricked off into pans of a light but fairly 
rich compost, watered with a fine rosed watering 
pot, kept shaded for a day or two till the roots had 
taken to their new soil, when they were replaced to 
their position near the glass, in a temperature vary¬ 
ing from 55 c to 65°. 
About the beginning of April, by which time they 
had made nice little plants, I transferred them into 
small pots, using a similar compost to the above 
mentioned. At this stage they were placed in a 
vinery at work in a position fully exposed to the 
light, shading from midday sun with a newspaper. 
Here they remained till the pots were filled with 
roots, when I repotted them into 4-in. and 5-in. pots 
according to size. The Begonias I removed to an 
unheated frame, and kept close for a week or so, after 
which they got a free admission of air during the 
earlier part of fine days, but were closed early so as 
to husband the sun heat as much as possible. By 
the middle of September they were nice compact 
plants, and were throwing up flowers in great pro¬ 
fusion, and I had them arranged along with the 
Gloxinias in a small Melon house from which the 
crop had been removed. 
The Gloxinias had in the meantime teen growing 
on a stage erected over the hot-water pipes in the 
vinery, and partially shaded by the foliage of the 
vines, and were also commencing to flower, so I had 
the two arranged together in a sloping bank on either 
side of the pathway. Those who have not tried 
Gloxinias and Begonias together would do well to 
try it; the effect was simply gorgeous, the variety 
and richness of colour attracting every one, and 
eliciting exclamations of wonder and admiration from 
all who saw them. 
The size, form, and diversity of colour among the 
Begonias exceeded my most sanguine expectations. 
The colours were endless, ranging from the purest 
white, yellow, salmon-pink, rose, scarlet to deep 
crimson in numberless shades. Brilliant, however, 
though the Begonias were, they were fairly eclipsed 
by the gorgeous colours of the Gloxinias, which 
were all of the erect-flowering type, which show off 
their flowers to greater advantage than the drooping 
sorts. The foliage itself beautifully and completely 
hid the pots from sight, forming a suitable base 
from which issued dozens of flowers in all the colours 
of the rainbow. Self-coloured flowers, pure white, 
pink, purple, scarlet, etc., and flowers mottled and 
streaked were produced in endless variety, and all 
combined made a display which the most fastidious 
could not fail to admire. — IV. Little. 
SOME GOOD 
DECORATIVE AZALEAS. 
The Azalea is one of our most popular and useful 
of spring-flowering plants. At Christmas Fielders 
White is largely grown for cutting purposes. It is 
very free ; it can be forced into bloom early and 
without endangering its constitutional vigour, and it 
will bear any amount of cutting. A. amoena is an 
early-flowering decorative species, of great freedom 
and of close compact growth. Then there are many 
other varieties: among them the following possess 
great decorative value—Madame Herman Siedel, 
pure white sometimes, and occasionally faintly 
striped with rose; in its former character it is like a huge 
semi-double Gardenia ; Pharailde Mathilde, white 
striped with pale red, very large, and double, broad, 
smooth petals; Flora, very bright rose, with a slight 
purple blotch on the upper segments, extra fine ; 
Perfection de Gand, red, shaded with purple, single, 
a flower of fine form; Vervasneana, bright pink, 
broadly margined with white, flowers very large, 
semi-double, extra fine; Ame de Coeur, pale salmon- 
red, large double flowers of extra fine quality ; Presi¬ 
dent Oswald de Kerchove, pale pink and salmon, 
sometimes with a slight edge of white, very double 
and well formed ; Theodore Reimers, magenta-lilac 
or purple, very fine and distinct, large and double ; 
Louise Pynaert, pure white, double, very large, and 
of fine quality ; Madeline, pure white, flowers very 
large and semi-double, becoming purer as they age, 
very fine indeed ; Grandes, pale or brick red, shaded 
with violet on the upper petals, extra fine; and 
Phoebus, deep salmon-red, with large purplish-crim¬ 
son spots on the upper segments, semi-double, very 
showy. 
I am quite of Mr. Thomas Baines’ opinion that 
for producing flowers for cutting the Azalea has 
few equals. A grower may cut with impunity with¬ 
out injuring the health of the plant, but of course 
plants should be grown for the purpose, as no one 
would think of cutting their best specimens, and, 
though it is sometimes said that cut flowers which 
have expanded in heat do not stand well, the fact 
is traceable to two causes—one is, using too much 
heat ; the other keeping them too far from the light. 
While being brought on into flower, the foliage 
should almost touch the glass ; so treated, Mr. 
Baines assures us, they would stand for a week in 
water, or in sand and water. 
In my own experience I have found the Azalea 
to be a plant not at all impatient of cold. I kept a 
plant in my cold house for five years, and it flowered 
abundantly each year until the winter of 1890—91, 
and then it went down before the attack. Mr. Baines 
states that he has seen plants in a north house con¬ 
siderably frozen in early spring, but that they after¬ 
wards flow’ered as w r ell as those which had not been 
subjected to so low a temperature ; and yet it must 
be best not to subject the Azalea to so great a strain. 
It is therefore desirable to keep frost from reaching 
the plants, but it is not necessary to keep them in any 
thing like a high temperature unless it i§ desired to 
bring them on early into bloom. 
