612 
May 28, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
FhosicUdtUSe. 
An Amateur's Experience with Carnations. 
Mr. Martin Smith’s paper read at the Horti¬ 
cultural Club, which appears in your last issue, 
is most interesting to all lovers of the Carnation- 1 
have taken a great interest in the growing of Carna¬ 
tions for some years, and have spared no trouble in 
procuring and propagating the best varieties that 
come under my observation, more particularly the 
yellows and yellow grounds, and also grow a number 
of seedlings from yellow ground parents, and have 
succeeded in raising a nice stock of my favourite 
colours, and find them as strong and as free as other 
varieties. 
In 1887 I saved a grand lot of seeds, but since then 
till 1891 I have not been successful in consequence 
of the cold and wet summers. Last year I was more 
fortunate, having saved seeds from the pot plants. I 
have now a nice young stock of seedlings, all from 
yellow and yellow grounds looking, promising. I have 
for the last few years received seeds from Mr. Benary, 
of Erfurt, taken from his yellow grounds, and have 
some beautiful varieties which last season made a 
good show. I have now strong layers from them 
looking health)^ and well. 
We usually have about 100 plants potted on for 
the conservatory. We plant in the border a certain 
number of each variety, as we have stronger layers 
from those planted out than from pot plants; 
the whole are wintered in small pots in frames and 
turned out in March in the description of soil Mr. 
Martin Smith so well explains. We plant them in 
sets of eight, two rows of fours of the same variety. 
A wooden framework made of battens similar to the 
profiles used for military earth-works is placed over 
the beds, and when the plants are coming into bloom, 
we cover with tiffany. This is done solely to protect 
the blooms. They last much longer, and are of a 
purer colour if shaded from the glare of the midday 
sun. It is an inexpensive mode of protection, and 
weli repays for the extra trouble. 
Will Threlfall, mentioned in Mr. Martin Smith's 
paper, is one of the strongest growing Carnations I 
have ever seen, and easy to propagate from. The 
bloom is not to be compared with the beautiful 
Germania, which to my mind is the most charming 
Carnation in commerce, and I am pleased to say does 
well in our garden. The laterals, however, are not 
so prolific, consequently not so easy to multiply as 
Will Threlfall. Agnes Chambers, Terra Cotta, and 
many other yellow ground varieties raised by Mr. 
Douglas, do extremely well here planted out and in 
pots. 1 am afraid I am trespassing upon your space. 
As a lover of the Carnation 1 must thank Mr. 
Martin Smith, through your columns, for the 
impetus and assistance he has rendered to make the 
Carnation one of the most popular flowers, which, in 
my estimation, ranks No. 1 of all the beauties nature 
has bestowed upon us in the floral world.— IV. H. IV., 
Monmouthshire, May 21 st, 1892. 
Pansies, &c , at Batli 
Now being the best time to see Pansies at their best, 
and having a long-standing invitation from Mr. F. 
Hooper, of the Vine Nursery, Bath, I went to 
see him a short time since. Owing to the very dry 
weather we have lately experienced, I was very 
agreeably surprised to see such a grand show. The 
varieties Lord Roseberry and Mrs. Barlow being 
very conspicuous, the belting and blotches of each 
being beautifully defined, also a dark self named 
Fred Hooper, extra fine 
The white Pink, Her Majesty, also made a fine 
show ; about 100 plants in a cold house and all in 
full bloom was a sight lovely to look upon. It is a 
very robust grower, the blooms very full and large, 
and sweetly scented. It is without a doubt the finest 
white self Pink. 
A new yellow ground Picotee of Mr. Hooper's 
raising named Alice Brooks was carrying three 
grand blooms. It is very similar to Annie Douglas, 
being heavily edged and striped with bright rose on a 
good yellow ground, and the numerous petals are of 
very great substance. This will make one of the 
best yellow ground Picotees, as it not only possesses 
the above good qualities but has an excellent long 
pod. 
Since my visit I have learnt that a group of Her 
Majesty and Alice Brooks were exhibited at the 
Bath Spring Show last week, and were very favour¬ 
ably received by lovers of these beautiful flowers.— 
Brittle. 
CHICAGO EXHIBITION. 
Horticultural Department. 
Six acres have been set apart at the west end of the 
Midway Plaisance for a nursery exhibit, and plant¬ 
ing has begun. Two hundred rare trees from 
Colorado have been installed. New Mexico will 
have a fine horticultural display. Flowers will be 
used instead of statuary for decorating the Illinois 
State Buildings, under the direction of the West 
Park Board of Commissioners. 
Major Truman, of California, will probably be 
Chief of the Bureau of Viticulture. He has written 
extensively of the wine industry of the world, and 
has visited the leading vineyards here and in Europe. 
He has made it a study, and has exhibited here and 
abroad largely. 
■ The Women's Dormitory Association Shares have 
been fixed at ten dollars each, and are being rapidly 
disposed of. A certain number have been allocated 
to each State. Black soil is being spread over the 
grounds of the Department, and beds and plots are 
beginning to make their appearance. Roses are now- 
being planted. 
The sixteen-acre wooded island is nearly covered 
with black soil, and the great Rose garden in the 
centre has been completed. A good deal has been 
done in flower garden work along the banks of the 
water basin, and the area for flowers inside and out¬ 
side of the horticultural building is in shape. Much 
turfing has already been done. The propagating 
houses have been completed, and large numbers of 
plants are started in them. 
A good sized American Linden tree has been 
planted by Geo. W. Childs on the wooded island— 
the first commemorative tree. He has donated from 
his fine collection a number of beautiful Palms for 
the Exposition, eventually to become the property of 
the City The president of the Indian School at 
Arizona offers to loan a rare Date Palm 20 ft. high, 
which bore last year 200 lbs. of fruit. Some of the 
bunches weighed 18 lbs., with 1,100 dates in a bunch. 
Such a fine specimen will undoubtedly add greatly 
to the ornamentation of the grounds. Any number 
required of lawn mowers have been offered wdthout 
charge for use in the grounds by an Indiana Com¬ 
pany with an access of patriotism and disinterested¬ 
ness. — C. Macquarie, Chicago. 
-•*—- 
GRAFTING IN MOSS. 
1 wish to direct the attention of the viticultural 
world to a new method of making stocks and scions 
unite, which was tried on a large scale for the first 
time by Mr. Martinaud this year, after a successful 
preliminary experiment. Mr. Martinaud is a clever 
nurseryman of Indre-et-Loire. Within the next few 
years, perhaps by next year, it is anticipated that 
this new style of grafting will have replaced all the 
others, or at least so writes Mr. F. Larvaron, pro¬ 
fessor of agriculture in the department of Vienne, 
in the Cosmos of May 15th, 1892. 
The stocks and grafts are cut at the usual epoch 
of pruning, then grafted at once or preserved in sand 
by the ordinary methods until the time for grafting. 
The stock has two or three eyes, the graft only one ; 
it is then rather short. The workman has cut or has 
had cut both the stocks and the grafts which are 
placed on a table within reach. Until now the 
operation has been as in the system commonly 
employed. 
The difference begins here : w hen stocks and grafts 
have been united the latter are left without ligature, 
they keep their position by simple adherence. The 
grafts are tied together in bundles of twelve to fifteen 
with two bands of Raffia but not too tightly. 
Then the bottom of an ordinary box is covered with 
a layer of damp moss of eight to ten centimetres ; 
the sides also are lined with moss according as the 
bundles are arranged. These bundles are put length- 
wdse, separated from each other by some bits of 
moss. When the box is filled (an ordinary box will 
easil)' hold 1,500 to 2,000 grafts) it is covered over 
with another layer of moss -08 centimetres to ten in 
thickness. When the operation is concluded, the 
contents of the box will not be touched for at least a 
month except to w^ater the moss from time to time. 
If it is winter the boxes are put into greenhouses or 
heated rooms, and the temperature kept uniformly 
low. 
If the grafting is done after the cold weather, from 
March 15th to May 15th for example, the boxes are 
put into cellars, caves, or lofts, away from draughts 
of air. When there is sunshine the boxes may be 
put outside wdthout uncovering them, putting them 
back in the evening. At the end of about a month, 
owing to the heat and humidity, the union is com¬ 
plete, the radicles begin to bud, the stem of the graft 
is already several centimetres in length, but the 
gro.vths made in darkness are white and tender. 
You begin to uncover them in a dark corner, and are 
gradually brought to a brighter light to give con¬ 
sistency to the young tissues. 
Then they are planted in the nursery, in warm, 
damp soil : the young graft begins to grow vigorously. 
The development of the leaves takes place rapidly, 
and w ithin the year the new tissue forming the union 
ripens perfectly as also the young branch, and by the 
planting season you have fine grafts well joined and 
vigorous, which can be placed in position in all 
security. 
As moss is a bad conductor of heat, there are but 
very slight variations of temperature in the box the 
grafts have the same amount of heat and moisture 
in all their parts, they all unite well, and the unions 
are not only on one or two points of liber in contact, 
but along the entire length, therefore the grafts are 
more perfect and solid. Instead of returns of 25 to 
80 per cent, we have cent, per cent. 
Through the non-employment of ligatures, there 
is no need to purchase the various materials such as 
raffia, rags, sheets of lead, india-rubber rings, etc , 
and the time of fixing them is saved. In one day a 
man can make and tie 400 grafts on an average. By 
suppressing the ligatures more than 1,000 can be 
made. Young grafted plants have nothing to fear 
from the inclemencies of weather, because they are 
not put into the soil until they are quite united and 
strong. 
The actual cost price of 1.000 grafts is 150 francs 
[£6 sterling), calculating the waste. With the new 
system the cost price may be given, very roughly, as 
follow's:— 
£ s. d. 
American slips .. .. .. ..068 
Grafts .. .. ., .. .. o o 10 
One day's grafting by workmen .. ..034 
Box and moss .. .. .. ... o o to 
Work on boxes .. .. .. o o 10 
Planting; dressing, weeding .. .. 0 8 4' 
Total .. .. .. .. 1010 
Thus everything reckoned at a maximum, 1,000 
grafts will cost six or seven times less than by the 
usual methods, and will be infinitely superior in 
quality. Grafting in moss will then be a marvellous 
point in the annals of French viticulture.— J. 0 . S. 
_ a a __ 
FORSYTHIA* SUSPENSA. 
Of the two known species of Forsythia, that which 
we are now in a position to illustrate is by far the 
best either for garden decoration or for forcing pur¬ 
poses. It is a native of China and Japan, and has 
been grown in this country under various names, in¬ 
cluding F. Fortunei and F. Sieboldi. I he true 
name is given above, and refers to the drooping 
habit of the plant If planted in the open border the 
stronger branches grow upright, but the branches 
which are very slender soon assume a drooping 
habit. When grown on a bank or large rockery 
the branches. grow downwards, often assuming 
a great length. We have even seen it thriving 
well on the top of a brick wall, where the seeds had 
probably been carried by birds ; all the branches 
and stems were then truly suspended, confirming the 
significance of the specific name. The flowers are 
of large size, clear, bright yellow, and produced in 
opposite clusters all along the previous year’s wood, 
and when a bush is well furnished with young wood, 
the effect is very striking in April. The flowers are 
produced some time in advance of the foliage, and 
the question is whether in this case the effect is not 
better in the absence of foliage, for a bush is cer¬ 
tainly very conspicuous even from a distance. The 
stems of F. viridissima are stouter, and more erect, 
while the flowers are smaller and not so freely pro¬ 
duced. Our illustration of a small portion of a shoot 
of F. suspensa, natural size, will give an idea of the 
profuse flowering nature of the shrub. Propagation 
can readily be effected by means of cuttings of the 
ripened wood inserted in pots and placed in a cold 
frame or under a hand-light, or by layering or graft¬ 
ing on the common Privet; but cuttings root so 
readily that it is unnecessary to resort to other 
methods. 
