October 26, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
127 
Alpine plants grown in pots. The Everlasting Peas 
are well represented, and include some of the most 
useful and ornamental. The double Bindweed 
(Calystegia pubescens), with its pink rosettes of 
flowers, does well at Oxford. The blue flowers of Lathy- 
rus sativus grandiflorus are much larger than those 
of the type, and pretty. The golden-yellow Erysi¬ 
mum marshallianum grows 3 ft. high. Adenophora 
liliflora bears large panicles of pale blue, bell-shaped 
flowers. The curious Adlumia cirrhosa stood the 
winter out-of-doors, and has flowered profusely. 
The rosy flowers of the uncommon Incarvillea Olgae 
are attractive, and well deserve more attention. It 
also stood out the winter unprotected. Largeclumps 
of Hyacinthus candicans have made a grand display 
near the glass houses. A very peculiar Bellflower is 
Musschia Wollastoni, which bears its ochreous flowers 
in pyramidal panicles, and has long strap-shaped 
leaves, as well as the characteristic habit of many 
plants from the Madeira, from whence it comes. It 
is rare in cultivation, and has been grown and 
flowered in a cool greenhouse. 
Hardening |[iscellany. 
PARSNIP DISEASE. 
A specimen of this, which we examined, showed the 
ailment, or disease if it may so be called, to be con¬ 
fined to the skin and tissues immediately beneath it. 
All the rest of the Parsnip was sound and of good 
quality with ample evidence of good culture. The 
disease is also confined to the crown of the root with 
a small portion beneath it. The injured portion 
presents a rusty appearance : all the softer portions 
are destroyed, so that the tissue presents a spongy 
appearance with small portions of gum here and 
there, as if the injury was caused by bacteria, as in 
the case of the gumming of stone fruit trees. On 
the surface were a few threads of the mycelium of 
some species of Mucor, generally known as white 
mould, and which only attacks dead and decaying 
matter. Perhaps an examination of roots in an 
earlier stage or at an early period of the year would 
show something more of the cause of this trouble¬ 
some disease. 
THE WINTER MOTH. 
Concerning this pest, Mr. George F. Wilson writes 
to say that he has the bands put on the trees every 
year. They are kept clear of caterpillars, while he 
hears that in the neighbourhood they have been very 
troublesome It is time now that the bands should 
be put on. Mr. Wilson advises that the cart grease 
should be of good quality, and not contain tar. His 
plan is to tie on the bands about the second week in 
October, and he finds that the moths make their 
appearance about the end of October, and that they 
swarm in hundreds about the third week of Novem¬ 
ber. Their activity, however, is entirely determiued 
by the nature of the weather. The bands used are 
made of the Willesden Paper Co. s Canvas D.D., 
extra brown. As some grease gets through this, he 
found that a slip of Willesden waterproof brown 
paper, two ply, placed once round the tree before 
putting on the bands, kept the bark clean. The 
bands are removed towards the end of March. 
ROSA INDICA SANGUINEA. 
There are darker varieties of the China Rose in 
cultivation than this one, for some of them are 
velvety maroon-crimson. That under notice is, 
however, one of the brightest and most brilliant of 
the dark ones, for the flowers are of a rich bright 
crimson. The foliage to some extent corresponds, 
for it is of a dark bronzy-green, as are the shoots, 
and in all cases the colour is most intensified in the 
youngest stages. The variety is naturally dwarf and 
floriferous, the stems being about 12 in. to iS in. 
high, the latter being the robust shoots only. A 
bed of the variety is very conspicuous near the 
south end door of the Palm house at Kew. 
FUCHSIA MACROSTEMMA. 
Those who delight in the original and unimproved 
wild Fuchsias for outdoor cultivation will find in 
this one an object of much elegance and beauty. 
The flowers are small and very numerous, with 
bright scarlet sepals and tube, which mean that the 
blossom is of that hue while still in bud, forming 
pendants as it were. The corolla is violet, but not 
very conspicuous on account of its small size The 
slender twiggy stems are very short when grown in 
the open air, but graceful, notwithstanding the dense 
character of the bushes. A large bed of it has been 
very attractive for many weeks past by the side of 
the long walk in the Royal Gardens, Kew. 
RUDBECKIA SPECIOSA 
When grown under favourable conditions, this is 
the best and showiest of all the dwarf Coneflowers. 
The long golden rays contrast handsomely with the 
black disc. The latter is conspicuous enough in its 
way, but only by colour, for though fairly prominent, 
it never attains the length seen in many of the taller 
species. The present is the best time to transplant 
it either in beds or borders, because the roots have 
time to become established before spring and are 
better able to resist drought when it occurs. The 
leaves may have been seen flagging in many gardens 
last summer when some other species did not seem 
to be visibly affected. It likes a considerable 
amount of moisture, so that naturally moist positions 
should be selected for it wherever possible, but yet 
in full sunshine. 
DOUBLE WHITE COLCHICUM. 
This variety of Meadow Saffron, not often to be met 
with, has been flowering freely with me for a month 
past, and is still a beautiful object in the herbaceous 
border. The warm September developed its pearly- 
white flowers to great perfection, three to six blooms 
springing up from each corm to about 4 in. high 
This variety, though it propagates slowly, is of easy 
culture. It delights in a light soil enriched with old 
cow manure, and likes a rather damp situation. Its 
leaves come up in spring and die down in July, so 
that now its flowers, naked and deserted-looking, 
seem to suggest that Nature was playing tricks with 
some of her well-known established laws. Be that 
as it may, the blossoms of the double white 
Colchicum, even without leaves, are autumn gems of 
the first water.—AT Cuthbcrtson, Rothesay. 
A GRACEFUL MIGNONETTE 
Very few of the species 01 Mignonette are in any 
way decidedly ornamental, and the common one 
derives its popularity chiefly on account of its 
delicious and agreeable fragrance. The plant to 
which this notice refers is Reseda virgata, hardly, if 
at all, known outside of botanical gardens, and might 
have been seen for weeks together in beautiful, 
graceful and attractive fcrm in the Botanic Garden, 
Oxford, last summer. The straight, slender, twiggy 
stems attain a height of 2 ft., and the upper portion 
bears long elegant racemes of white flowers, which, 
though small individually, are very conspicuous in 
the aggregate. They might well be employed in 
vases of cut flowers, for which their long stems 
render them well adapted, also for mixing in bouquets, 
sprays, and cut flowers generally. The narrow 
glaucous leaves are furnished with slender, bristly 
spines, which add somewhat to the distinct character 
of the plant, which is of perennial duration. 
--■ 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
For the Young Artist. 
The Wild Flowers Drawing and Painting Book. 
The drawings and instructions by F. Edward 
Hulme, F.L.S., F.S.A. Cassell & Co., Ltd. 
London, Paris, and Melbourne. Price 4d each 
part. 
The object of this work is evidently intended to 
lead the young beginner on gradually in the delight¬ 
ful study of our native flowers, training the hand to 
sketch and paint and the eye to observe correctly. 
It is issued in parts, each containing twelve draw¬ 
ings of common but interesting wild flowers, such as 
may be found in hedges, by the waysides, in the 
fields, and on commons, to which the student may 
have free access. Every alternate page is left blank, 
so that a drawing of the sketch opposite may be 
made and the natural colours painted by the student. 
Those intending to make tbemselves competent in 
the art of sketching and painting plant life true to 
nature would do well to follow the examples and the 
instructions given by the author of the book. They 
are recommended to look for and identify the plants 
represented, and thus get the proper colours direct 
from nature. No artist can be true to nature without 
exercising his or her powers of observation on real 
specimens, thus acquiring a sufficient knowledge of 
botany to act as a guide to the hand. 
The plant descriptions are terse and given in 
simple language with a minimum of technical terms. 
The English name or names only of the several plants 
are given, but we think it would have been a decided 
advantage to have added the botanical name in 
brackets to render the nomenclature or the type of 
plant selected more definite. English names are 
often misleading, because they vary so in different 
localities. The drawings, however, are in black and 
white, and generally so true to nat ure that we can readily 
recognise almost every one without name or descrip¬ 
tion. In looking over six parts of the book we noted 
only one plant under a wrong appellation, namely, 
the Dove’s-foot Crane s-bill (Geranium columbinum 1. 
The name in question is applied to a plant which 
would pass for the Round-leaved Crane’s-bill, but 
certainly not G. columbinum. A large proportion of 
the descriptive text is taken up with instructions 
about the proper colours to use for each respective 
plant. The colours mentioned total up to fifteen, 
and directions are given as to the mixing of certain 
of them to produce the desired results in each case, 
according to the particular plant in hand. The 
book under notice is intended as a companion work 
to " The Wild Flowers Collecting Book, noticed by 
us some months ago, and is on the same plan. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 
Chelsea. 
The ever-popular Chrysanthemum will always be 
reckoned an autumn flower, but it is no longer con¬ 
fined to November, as it practically used to be. A 
large number of varieties have been flowerin g for 
some time past in the nursery of Messrs. J Yeitch 
& Sons. Chelsea, and on the occasion of our visit 
last week the Chrysanthemum house was quite gay, 
though really filled with flowers in all stages of 
growth, from the incipient bud to the blooms that 
had been fully expanded for a fortnight. All the 
best of the new varieties are to be found at Chelsea, 
as well as the best of the old ones ; the result is that 
the show house proper is unable to contain the stock 
of flow-ering plants, and several cool houses close by- 
have to shelter a large quantity of the very best 
sorts. 
The beautiful bronzy sport from Wm. Tricker. 
and known as Mrs. E. S Trafford, is striking in its 
new colour. Close by we noted Th. Dennis, with 
red flowers and a buff-yellow reverse. Lady- Ran¬ 
dolph is a compactly built and conspicuous rosy- 
purple bloom, showing much of a silvery reverse. 
Interocean is a big and graceful, pure white flower, 
useful either for exhibition or cutting purposes The 
deep rose-purple of Commandant Blusset also 
attracts the attention by its size and bright colour. 
Louise is a massive, white, incurved Japanese sort 
that always arrests the attention. When developing, 
Madame J. de Bey lie is bright yellow-, but ultimately 
changes to pure white. President Borel is purple, 
with a yellowish centre. The flesh-pink Mrs. E. G. 
Hill is a chaste and beautiful variety admired by 
thousands. Several fine plants carry grand blooms. 
Pallanza is the best golden-yellow- for market pur¬ 
poses that has yet been sent out. It is easier to 
grow than Sunflower and diffeJent in form. John 
Lightfoot is a blush-pink variety of great merit. 
Quite of another type is the handsome golden- 
yellow, Wilfred Marshall, with incurved florets. 
Mons. C. Molin is golden-yellow, heavily bronzed 
and attractive. Quite of another type is Madame 
Ad. Moullin with lcng-spread ing pure white florets. 
Mons. Pankoucke. must also be placed amongst the 
meritorious golden-yellow varieties. One of the best 
whites is the new and scarce Mutual Friend having 
broad spreading florets. M. Georges Biron has the 
colour of Ed Molyneux, but is a more certain 
bloomer and very dwarf. The clear white Madame 
Ad. Chatin is a beautiful, slightly incurved sort. 
The heads of Wm. Bolia are rich crimson-rose with 
a silvery reverse : some of the outer florets are J in. 
to J in wide. Thomas Davison is comparable to 
Mons. Chas. Molin in colour. A ery dwarf is Presi¬ 
dent Armand, and the crimson florets with old gold 
reverse are whorled like those of Col. W B. Smith 
What a charming flower is Queen of Buffs, half¬ 
yellow, lined and edged with rose ! The centre is 
high, and full with incurved florets. Graphic is a 
