528 
IHE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 28, 1892. 
hand have but a Thistle for an emblem, 
and common, unsentimental, and prickly 
as it is, yet is it regarded by that nation 
with profound esteem. Such is the differ¬ 
ence in temperament which distinguishes 
the phlegmatic Briton and the enthusiastic 
Scot. We do not learn that of the con- 
gerie of nations which make up the vast 
continent of America any other but the 
United States hunger after an emblematic 
flower. Canada is a gigantic part of that 
continent, but its people after all form only 
a colony probably, and are not yet a nation, 
though they will be such some day. 
The United States would copy some of 
our big European nations in having its em¬ 
blematic eagle, and sometimes its screams 
have been heard far and wide. It seems 
now as if the people were of a more humble 
disposition in seeking to have the lowly 
Pansy adopted as the national flower. We 
do not at all object. Unlike some other na¬ 
tional floral emblems it blooms over a long 
season, and if the Americans like the Pansy 
no one will complain as we shall still have 
plenty left for our enjoyment as well as for 
all the rest of the world. 
xpensive Patronage.— As some enthusi¬ 
astic members of committees of flower 
shows sometimes think that the best way 
to steer a sinking ship out of trouble is to 
obtain Royal Patronage, the following facts 
may help to elucidate the value of this form 
of assistance. A Chrysanthemum society 
of some considerable reputation last year 
resolved to invite the attendance of some 
popular members of the Royal Family, at 
their Chrysanthemum exhibition The 
day was fine, and the Royal visitors duly 
attended. There was also a large attend¬ 
ance of the public, especially of carriage 
folks. When the accounts are published, 
as they recently have been, it is found that 
whilst the special charges for fitting up a 
room, attendance, refreshments, &c_., for the 
use of the distinguished visitors amounted 
to some fifteen guineas, the takings at the 
doors on the first day amounted to only 
fifteen shillings and sixpence more than 
the corresponding day of the previous 
year—rather a poor outset against the extra 
special expenditure. Nor was^this all, as 
the secondday’stakings were lessby twenty- 
four pounds than last year, so that the 
returns with the added special expense 
showed a total loss of about forty pounds. 
The facts seem to illustrate the dangers 
incidental to seeking for patronage from 
high sources, and shows that after all it is 
safer to walk than to fly. Horticultural 
societies of any description can only hope 
to secure what is so needful—pecuniary 
success, by making their various exhibi¬ 
tions as attractive as possible to the mass, 
and not merely and meretriciously to the 
few or select. After all it is the paying 
patronage at the doors which leads to pro¬ 
fit. Trust solely in the patronage of a 
limited body only leads to failure. It is 
too often found that the tune played is not 
worth the cost of the piper, and the society 
above referred to certainly found such to be 
the case. There will probably be less 
anxiety to have to bear the burthen of 
such White Elephantshenceforth. Flower 
shows, if worth seeing, want no aids of the 
kind mentioned, whilst no one would object 
to their presence if they cost nothing. We 
must cater to secure the earnest co-opera¬ 
tion of the mass, and then, as has been 
found in so many instances elsewhere, 
success seems assured. 
“/|Chestnuts.” —Amongst the appellative 
curiosities of an age of Americanisms 
is the use of the term “ chestnuts,” only 
with a stronger emphasis upon the first 
“ t ” than is usually given, to what we for¬ 
merly called Munchausens, and our more 
frigid progenitors boldly called lies. There 
is no accounting for the origin of certain 
slang phrases, and they not unfrequently 
take their rise from very trifling causes. 
We have two very distinctive “ Chestnuts ” 
in vegetation—the Horse-chestnut, and the 
Sweet or Spanish Chestnut, of which some¬ 
thing interesting has of late been said as to 
its original introduction into this country, 
in one of the London daily papers, and of 
the fruits of which we partake—both home¬ 
grown and imported—with considerable 
avidity. 
We do not at all like the idea of classing 
fruits of this kind with ancient stories, how- 
soever humorous they may seem to be. 
The real deceiver of the nut tribe is the 
Horse-chestnut, for that is perhaps of all 
nuts the handsomest, as it is of home-grown 
produce the finest, and wears in its exter¬ 
nal appearance so much that is enticing. 
And yet we find in the flesh of this beau¬ 
tiful product that which is so obnoxious 
that partaken of unwittingly it is found to 
be a miserable deceiver. It is a literal as 
well as a figurative “ chestnut,” and yet 
spite of this deceitful character of the fruit, 
the tree which bears it is far from being of 
an unornamental aspect. 
We really have in the Horse-chestnut one 
of the noblest of forest trees, one of the 
grandest of ornamental elements our Parks 
and Gardens can furnish. Not that its 
timber is of much use, much less so than is 
the wood of its sweet-fruited congener, 
which also in some soils attains to very 
noble proportions. We appreciate our 
vegetable Chestnuts with some respect and 
admirarion, whilst abominating the “ chest¬ 
nuts” of the vocabulary of slang. How¬ 
ever, there is solace in knowing that whilst 
the trees will flourish and fruit for centuries, 
that vulgarism may soon be buried in 
oblivion. 
he Auricula.— Although the Auricula 
Show of Tuesday last was productive 
of no surprises, indeed having regard to the 
abnormally early date at which it was held, 
anything startling could hardly be looked 
for, yet the very accommodating nature of 
the show sections, as seen in the edged,seifs, 
and Alpines,was prettyfreely demonstrated, 
and showed forcibly that alter all, in spite 
of the assumed hardiness, those exhib tiors 
who can do so prefer to treat them as 
greenhouse plants than as hardy ones. It 
is indeed an odd comment on the common 
assertion that Auriculas are perfectly 
hardy, that every plant in Tuesday’s show 
should have had to be brought on in 
warmth. 
We cannot believe that such constant 
culture in warmth conduces to perpetuate 
that hardiness of constitution which always 
marks the Auricula when naturally grown. 
Ordinarily the progenitors of the Florists, 
Auricula came to their hands originally 
from the. regions of snow and therefore may 
well have ranked among the hardiest of 
nature’s products. They have gone through 
a wondrous process of evolution since first 
operated upon by the hybridist, and we 
have now in the finest edged flowers pro¬ 
bably Auricula perfection in form and in 
marking. Truly a first-class show Auricula 
flower is one fearfully and wonderfully 
made. Nature has done it all, but then 
only under the guidance of the Florist who 
has directed the process, manipulated the 
machinery, and compelled nature to obey 
his behests. Left to nature’s sole guidance 
the Auriculas of to-day would never have 
seen daylight. 
After all the human power which can 
call the lightning at command, and direct 
the electrical forces of the unniverse in a 
thousand useful ways, does nothing so 
very wonderful when it can in the course of 
perhaps a century change the simple 
Primula of the Alps into one of the most 
perfect flowers, showing also the most 
wonderful combinations in material' and 
marking to be found in Floriculture. An 
Auricula pip is not much to look at. It is 
small and almost insignificant compared 
with a Poppy, a Rose, a Hollyhock or a 
Dahlia, but as an element in confounding 
the horticulturally wise it is little less than 
marvellous. 
-■*-- 
The Chicago Exhibition. —We are requested by 
Sir H. T. Wood, Secretary of the British Royal 
Commission, to state that owing to her Majesty’s 
Government having increased to £60,000 the grant 
of ,£25,000 originally made for the purposes of the 
British Section at the Chicago Exhibition, the Royal 
Commission for that exhibition are enabled to 
dispense with the revenue it was proposed to raise by 
charging the exhibitors in proportion to the extent of 
space occupied, and that therefore all space in the 
British Section will now be granted free of charge. 
The late Mr. Thomas Statter, of Stand Hall, 
Whitefield, steward to Lord Derby, and whose fine 
collection of choice and rare Orchids is shortly to be 
disposed of by auction, left personalty valued at 
/ 78 . 673 - 
The Rainfall. —It Ts stated that the aggregate 
rainfall for the present year is now far short of the 
average, the total since the beginning of January 
being less than two-thirds of the normal over the 
eastern and midland counties of England, and very 
little more than half in the west of Scotland and the 
south and south-west of England. 
“ Hints and Helps to Amateurs,” is the title of a 
little work that will be found of much use to northern 
amateur gardeners requiring guidance in the cultiva¬ 
tion of hardy and half-hardy Annuals, Biennials, 
Perennials, and Vegetables. The author, Mr. 
William Reid, 8, Haddon Street, Aberdeen, who is 
also the publisher, states that the cultuial directions 
are by practical men, resident about Aberdeen, and 
therefore can be thoroughly relied upon. 
Tasmanian Apples.— Messrs. Duthoit, Sansbury & 
Co., of Fenchurch Street, state that the P. & O. 
Steamer Victoria, which arrived in the Thames on 
the 10th inst., brought 8,984 cases of Tasmanian 
Apples, and that the Orient liner Oroya, which 
commenced discharging cargo on Tuesday, brought 
7,600 cases. The shipments of Tasmanian Apples 
of the present season are expected to amount to 
about 175,000 cases—by no means a large increase 
over last year. 
Mr J. Carruthers, son of Mr. William Carruthers, 
F.R.S., head of the Botanical Department of the 
British Museum, has accepted the post of Lecturer 
in Botany at the College of Agriculture, Downton, 
for the coming summer. Mr. J. Carruthers is the 
author of a useful paper on "Larch Disease,” and 
has been for some time Demonstrator of Botany 
under Professor Murray in the Royal Veterinary 
College, London. 
Mr. John Barry, who for some years was clerk 
in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden, at 
Chiswick, has been engaged as traveller in the 
Southern Counties to Messrs. W. Clibran & Sons, 
Oldfield Nurseries, Altrincham. 
Peach Stones as Fuel. —It is stated that in California 
Peach stones are found to burn as well as the best 
coal, and give out more heat in proportion to weight. 
The stones taken out of the fruit that is tinned or 
dried is collected, and sold at the rate of 24s a ton. 
Apricot stones also burn, but not so well as peach, 
and do not command so good a price. 
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. —In the 
examinations which brought the spring term to a 
close at this College, last week, a former student in 
the Royal Horticultural Society’sgarden at Chiswick, 
Mr. Arthur Noel Joseph Whitley, carried ofl the 
highest honours, he being first on the list of 
successful candidates for the College Diploma of 
Membership with a total of i.goS marks out of the 
maximum number of 2,100. Mr. Whitley also won 
the Ducie Gold Medal. 
A New Hybrid Rose. —A correspondent of The 
American Florist states that a Boston grower has 
been awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Mass, 
