July 2, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
695 
THE HERBACEOUS BORDER. 
Choice Plants in Flower, 
Lilium croceum. — All the Lilies are choice and 
beautiful for garden decoration, but that under 
notice is easily grown, flowers regularly and the 
flowers are rich in colour. The stems are generally 
ft. to 3 ft. high, but under high culture and 
suitable conditions grow twice that height, 
terminating in a triangular raceme of erect, widely 
funnel-shaped flowers of a rich orange or golden 
yellow, tinted with scarlet, and finely dotted with 
crimson. 
Gentiana lutea.— Some would-be cultivators of 
this species complain of a difficulty in growing it, 
but north or south in this country it will grow in 
any good garden soil whether that has been specially 
prepared for it or not. Some grow it in a bed of 
peaty material and also succeed; but the real secret 
seems to be to get it planted in deeply-tilled well- 
drained soil, and allow it to get thoroughly established 
without disturbing it. The fleshy roots then 
penetrate the soil deeply, and large, smooth, glaucous, 
many ribbed leaves like a white Hellebore (Veratrum 
album) are produced, having a handsome effect. 
The stems grow about 3J ft. high, producing tier 
above tier of clear yellow flowers. 
Melittis Melissophyllum. — Old-fashioned 
border plants are often very showy, and this may be 
reckoned one of them. The stems are well furnished 
with large leaves and generally grow about a foot in 
height, bearing in their axils large white, two-lipped 
flowers. The middle lobe of the lower lip is purple 
with a white edge, and the purple extends down into 
the throat. It is a long lived and easily grown plant. 
Heuchera micrantha.— The leaves of this 
Heuchera are 5-7 Tobed, concave, and green. The 
flower stems grow about 12 in. to 16 in. high, bear¬ 
ing a long, graceful panicle of minute creamy white 
flowers with salmon coloured anthers. Small as the 
individual flowers are they are very beautiful in the 
mass, especially when used for mixing with cut 
flowers. The plant is easily increased by division 
either in the autumn or spring months. 
Papaver pilosum. —The stems of this Poppy 
grow about 2 ft. high, and they like the leaves are 
densely villous or pilose. The flowers may be con¬ 
sidered of moderate size for a Poppy, but they are 
delicate in texture and of a beautiful salmon-orange 
colour. The plant is perennial, and although a 
native of some parts of Greece is hardy in various 
parts of this country, even in the north. It may 
well be grown by way of contrast to P. orientale. 
Geranium pratense.— There are few species of 
Geranium that present a more striking or showy 
effect when in bloom than this British wilding, which 
should certainly be included in all good collections 
of herbaceous plants. The typical wild form has 
bright blue flowers, but there are varieties in cultiva¬ 
tion with pale blue, striped, pure white and also 
double flowers, all of which are more deserving of 
cultivation than in the case of several which are 
grown. The double variety is the latest to come 
into bloom. 
Lychnis Flos-jovis.— There are numerous fine 
things amongst the species of Lychnis which add 
much to the beauty of the herbaceous border during 
the months of June and July at least, although 
several of them can be continued much later. The 
species under notice grows from 6 in. to 12 in. high 
according to soil and situation, and has woolly white 
leaves which serve to show off the beauty of the 
flowers. The latter are of a beautiful rose with 
silvery scales at the throat, and are borne in a dense 
terminal, fascicled cyme. 
Rodgersia podophylla.— Both the leaves and 
the flowers of this fine Japanese subject are highly 
ornamental. Flowers are produced only when the 
plant is well established and gets strong. Individu¬ 
ally they are small and creamy white, but very 
graceful in the pyramidally branched panicle. The 
leaves are orbicular, but divided into five wedge- 
shaped segments of considerable length, and have a 
beautiful bronzy tint, especially when young. It 
likes a situation near water, so that when grown in 
the ordinary border the soil should be dug out to a 
depth of two feet and the hole filled with some rich 
material to encourage vigorous growth. 
Veronica Teucrium.— As seen in gardens this is 
a variable plant both as to habit and stature, but the 
flowers are always of a bright blue and produced in 
great profusion. The plant is easily propagated 
either by cuttings in sandy soil under a hand light 
or by division. It is most effective when grown in 
lines or in broad masses ; and seeing that increase is 
easy there is no difficulty in getting up any quantity 
of stock. 
Erigeron aurantiacum. —The large orange- 
coloured flower-heads of this Erigeron are produced 
singly on stems 6 in. or 8 in. high. The leaves are 
small and tufted ; and in fact we are surprised that 
it has not made more headway in gardens since its 
introduction. It is easily propagated by division 
and grows in any fairly good garden soil. 
♦ 
SCIENTIFIC SENTENCES. 
If, to employ the words of the stereotyped advertise¬ 
ment, this should meet the eye of Professor Michael 
Foster, or failing that then of Mr. F. W. Burbidge, 
of Dublin, who has quoted an odd sentence from 
Professor Foster at the head of his paper on 
“ Culture v. Nature,” which was found on p. 678 
last week, will one or both kindly explain what it is 
intended to convey in the quotation. I am not a 
scientist, and in that respect am lacking in the true 
inspiration of the cult. I am only a poor scribe who 
has to put what he has to say in plain, simple, 
unpretentious language, and to whom all strange 
word phrasing is mystery. 
Now the quotation runs, “ All knowledge is of use 
if applied aright; no knowledge is of use if applied 
awry.” This is, at the best, but a somewhat garbled 
paraphrase of the famous and too often distorted 
quotation, ” A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. 
Drink deep, or taste not the aperient spring,” by 
which the poet meant to convey the moral that if 
you would have knowledge then get much rather 
than little. But Professor Foster says, “ All know¬ 
ledge is of use if applied aright.” Just so, and all 
knowledge is of use howsoever applied ; but what he 
doubtless meant to say was that “ All knowledge is 
of most use when applied aright.” 
Then comes the strange remark, " No knowledge 
is of use when applied awry.” Here the negative is 
placed before the noun, with the result that it con¬ 
veys the information “ ignorance is of use when 
applied awry.” Had the sentence been properly 
written, it would have read, “ All knowledge is of 
use, and should be applied aright ; but knowledge is 
of no use if applied wrongly.” In that sense all 
horticulturists will cordially adopt the moral, the 
which is—get knowledge, and then use it worthily 
and profitably.— A. D. 
--- 
FREELANDS, PERTH, 
The magnificent residence of C. L. Wood, Esq., is 
situated about three miles from Perth on the south 
side of the river Earn, and is surrounded with noble 
Beeches of quite colossal proportions. In the plant¬ 
ing of the trees considerable forethought had been 
taken in the arrangement of them, so as to develop 
and enrich the natural beauty of the situation. 
When passing through the grounds I could not help 
thinking how far-seeing some of the planters' 
gardeners were three or four generations ago, as 
every tree and shrub had their proper places. 
The pleasure grounds and gardens of Freelands 
have many attractions for the lover of horticulture 
at all seasons of the year, but at the time of my 
visit, May 16th, the centre of gravity was to be 
found in the plant houses. Mr. Sharpe, who con¬ 
ducts the gardening operations here, guided me to 
them, and I must say that a wonderful treat was in 
store. The first houses entered were the two cool 
ones, measuring 20 ft. by 10 ft. each, and in these 
two houses I counted 450 spikes of Odontoglossum 
crispum and varieties, and some 800 Masdevallia 
flowers, etc., making one of the finest displays I had 
seen for many a day. The East Indian house was 
gay with Cypripedium Lawrenceanum, C. barbatum, 
C. Veitchii, C. grande, Vanda suavis, Laslia pur- 
purata, Cattleya Skinnerii, Dendrobium Wardia- 
num, D. Jamesianum, D. infundibulum, D. thyrsi- 
florum, D. densiflorum, many representatives of 
each. 
The forcing of fruits, flowers, and vegetables is 
carried on at all seasons of the year, and at the 
time of my visit Vines, Peaches, and Melons were 
looking exceedingly well. The whole establishment 
reflects great credit upon Mr. Sharpe for his able 
management.— J. McNab. 
ABOUT MOLES. 
Taking his size into consideration, the mole is the 
strongest animal we know. Whatever he does, too, 
he does with all his might. One can see the reason 
of the comparison " blind as a bat; ” but why folks 
should ever say “ blind as a mole ” is incompre¬ 
hensible. Watch him as he runs about in the bright 
sunshine, after a spell of underground work, and tell 
me whether you think those eyes of his, small though 
they are, do not serve him in good stead. And that 
beautiful coat never shows any dirt upon it, no 
matter how clayey the soil may be amongst which he 
works. Considering the good services he renders 
the farmer, it is hard rather that the “ mowdie- 
warps,” as moles are called in some counties—a 
corruption of the old English name, “ moldwarp,” a 
thrower up of earth — should be looked upon as foes, 
and hunted out so mercilessly. True it is that he 
spoils the appearance of some of our fine lawns, but 
then the number of worms and insects that he can 
dispose of is simply incredible. Out in the fields, 
in wet pasturelands, having insufficient drainage, he 
is most useful ; that, in fact, is his legitimate 
domain. The tunnels he makes drains the lands 
perfectly, and those mounds of fine earth that he 
throws up make the soil so fertile that the cattle 
invariably thrive better on such than they will else¬ 
where. The chief objection, of course, to those 
unremitting labours is that in mowing lands the 
hillocks he raises cause the hay-cutting machines to 
break down when they come in contact with them. 
But surely even this need not lead to the wholesale 
destruction in other places of one of the most indus¬ 
trious and useful of our small animals. True, he 
will destroy and eat the young of the privileged 
robin redbreast; the nestlings of the willow wren he 
will not spare either ; in fact, no small bird that 
builds its nest on the ground is safe from our so-called 
blind mole. He too, however, has his enemies 
amongst the birds of prey ; these will watch for him 
as he throws up his hillocks of fine earth, and secure 
him when they can. By the way, sheep thrive 
especially well on pastures where the moles are 
busiest. The grass that grows upon the hillocks 
suits them perfectly. And the small farmer has no 
better dressing for spreading on his fields than the soil 
that has been worked by the mole —Pall Mall Gazette. 
Gardening Miscellany. 
A CALIFORNIAN INSECTICIDE 
DISTRIBUTOR. 
I hear there is a light apparatus successfully used 
in California or the United States for cleansing trees 
from insects very effectually. It has been described 
to me as follows: Consisting of a tank holding 
twenty or thirty gallons, into which is fitted a small 
double-action force pump to force a solution of 
caustic soda through hose with sprays or fine jets. 
The hose coils and uncoils on a reel fixed to the tank, 
and underneath the tank is a small heater to keep the 
temperature of the contents at 130° Fahrenheit. 
Perhaps from this explanation some of your corres¬ 
pondents could give me some further information 
respecting the machine, and say also where one 
can be procured.— J. Compton Merryweather, 63, Long 
Acre, IV.C. 
ALYSSUM MONTANUM. 
Several of the species of Alyssum are notable for 
the profusion of flowers which they produce during 
the months of May and June, and A. saxatile with 
its variety compactum is not to be overlooked in 
this repect. A. montanum is however a dwarfer and 
altogether neater plant, with lanceolate scaly leaves 
and golden yellow flowers. Being naturally a 
mountain plant it is well adapted for culture on 
rockwork, where a great amount of space is 
altogether unnecessary. The soil in which it is 
grown may be a mere chink or crevice amongst the 
stones or rocks, but the soil in the pocket or crevice 
should be in direct connection with the main body 
below, so that the roots may penetrate deeply in 
quest of moisture, and the latter may rise by 
capillary attraction so as to be within reach of the 
roots. 
KALMIA ANGUSTIFOLIA. 
The species of Kalmia are easily grown in any good 
garden soil, and if a little peat is added where the 
natural soil is of a stiff and tenacious character, or 
