November 2, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
143 
residence in the shape of a large wooden house built 
of logs, each a foot square, from Archangel, Russia. 
The first short journey northward from here, served 
to confirm Mr. Jackson's observations during the 
winter with regard to the character of Franz Joseph 
Land. He writes that the whole country is covered 
with a perpetual ice-sheet only interrupted at long 
intervals along the coast, by lofty basaltic cliffs 
having a steep slope of loose stones and soil. Many 
Sadges,Mosses and Arctic flowering plants grow upon 
these slopes forming a contrast to the snow-covered 
heights above, as striking as it is pleasant. The 
number of old sea beaches, sometimes as high as 
120ft. above the existing one, is an interesting fact. 
The country generally has a mean elevation of 
2,500ft. above the sea level. 
THE FIRST HYBRID BEGONIA. 
In your last week's issue, p.126, Mr. William Napper 
makes a statement which, in the interest of truth and 
justice, cannot be allowed to pass unchallenged, or at 
least without a demand being made for absolute proof 
in the form of confirmatory evidence. Mr. Napper 
says of his (and my) friend,Mr. Samuel Pope, that he 
“ is the father of the tuberous Begonia of gardens, 
for the first hybrid was raised by him at the Old 
Exeter nursery, and grew up under our care, a cross 
between B. Veitchii and B. Pearcei, having the 
brilliant flowers of the former with the beautiful 
foliage of the latter. This historical plant was 
christened B. Woodmanii, in compliment to the late 
Dr. Wm. Robert Woodman, &c.” 
I can hardly think that Mr. Napper would 
deliberately make this statement without having some 
proof in support of it, and that proof it is not un¬ 
reasonable to ask your correspondent to give us. 
Will he, therefore, be so good as to tell us in what 
year this “ historical ” plant was raised, in what year 
it was put into commerce, and in what catalogue, 
gardening paper, or botanical publication it was ever 
described or referred to in any way. I have always 
been under the impression that if there is one man 
more than another in this country who can fairly 
claim to be " the father of the tuberous Begonia” 
in the sense that he was the first raiser of hybrid 
Begonias, that man is Mr. John Seden, and we have 
it on record* and well authenticated, that the first of 
his seedlings sent out by his employers, Messrs. 
James Veitch & Sons, was B. Sedeni, the result of 
crossing B. boliviensis and an unnamed species 
which was never sent out. Now, B. boliviensis was 
sent home by Pearce to the Chelsea firm in 1864, 
and I presume the “ unnamed species ” also, and 
Seden made his first cross in 1867, B. Sedeni being 
one of the results of that cross. This plant was 
first shown at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural 
Society held in the old council room at South 
Kensington on June 2nd, 1869, when it received a 
First-class Certificate, and was put into commerce 
in the following year at 21s. each. 
Mr. Napper says that Pope’s first hybrid was 
between B. Veitchii and B. Pearcei, but B. Pearcei 
did not reach Chelsea until 1865, or twelve months 
after B. boliviensis, and B. Veitchii was not received 
until 1867 ; it therefore follows that unless these two 
plants were in the old Exeter nursery before the 
Messrs. Veitch received them, Mr. Pope’s cross 
could not have been made before Mr. Seden’s. No ! 
Mr. Napper, you must prove your case right up to 
the hilt before Mr. Pope's name can be put in front 
of that of Seden, Bull, O'Brien, Laing, Van Houtte 
and others. Mr. Pope has done real good work in 
ihe improvement and cultivation of the Begonia— 
all honour to him !—but it is too late in the day now, 
in the face of well-authenticated facts, to make such 
a preposterous claim on his behalf without the 
clearest of evidence, and that evidence should be 
given promptly or the claim be withdrawn .—A lover 
of the Begonia. 
- 
POLEMONIUM CAERULEUM 
VARIEGATUM. 
The variegated Jacob’s Ladder is one of our most 
beautiful hardy variegated plants, and is most 
admirably adapted for flower garden decoration, 
but seems like some other fine things for a like 
purpose to have fallen into the background. For 
a row near the front of a ribbon border or an edging 
to flower beds it is one of the prettiest things 
imaginable. It grows from 6 in. to 12 in. in 
height and the leaves are thrown out from the 
centre stem; they are light green and white, in 
about equal parts, and are delicately beautiful as 
any Fern frond. To keep up a stock of this and 
have it in full beauty during the summer season, it is 
necessary to lift the plants during November or 
December and place them in pots, keeping them in a 
cold frame. Use very light soil and keep them just 
moist, that is, neither over wet or dry till the 
spring. Old plants generally send up a number of 
fresh crowns; by taking them off in March and 
potting them into small pots and keeping them 
close and moist in a frame they soon take root and 
make nice healthy specimens, which may be planted 
out early in May in the place allotted to them. In 
these young plants the full beauty of this really first- 
class summer decorative subject is fully developed. 
Old plants left out in the open, although quite 
hardy, lose colour and are wanting in that fine varie¬ 
gation which is the principle attraction of the 
plant.— IV. B. G. 
--- 
A GREEN CARNATION. 
Penzance Natural History Society held a long dis¬ 
cussion on the 18th ult. on a well-written paper by 
Miss Allen, of Penzance, the subject being “A Green 
Carnation,” giving a description of a curious green 
malformation of a Carnation. The most peculiar 
fact, as stated, was that the malformation was per¬ 
petuated in cuttings from the plant. A well-known 
botanist, to whom the Carnation had been sent, 
expressed the opinion that the malformation was 
due to the presence of aphides. 
What is the Divining Rod ? 
Another paper read at the same meeting had refer¬ 
ence to the ” divining rod,” in which the writer gave 
a number of instances of alleged successful use 01 
the divining rod in searching for water, particularly 
alluding to the exploits of a man named Mullins, who 
is said to have found water on many gentlemen's 
estates, the proprietors of which have employed him 
after all ordinary means have failed. The conclu¬ 
sions arrived at with regard to the use of the twig or 
wand were three. First, that there is really a 
natural force to which some constitutions are sensi¬ 
tive. Second, that the operators really act on their 
own judgment and observation, but have a super¬ 
stitious belief in the green twig gathered from the 
garden ; and third, thit they are very keen observers 
of the lie of the country, and the twig is only a blind. 
Some interesting photographs of monstrous vegetable 
growths, which have been exceptionally plentiful 
during the late summer, were exhibited —Our 
Western Correspondent. 
-- 
OLD PELARGONIUMS. 
I should like to give Sepia a little encouragement as 
to saving old plants of zonal Pelargoniums ; he says on 
p. 108, he has tried for several years but always 
unsuccessfully. I may say I am always successful on 
this point, although I do not prefer old stuff to fresh- 
struck cuttings; but I always save some of the best 
sorts, such as Bronze, Mrs. Pollock, and Flower of 
Spring. 
I will now give you my plan of saving them. I 
dig them up very carefully and clean them from 
decayed leaves and cut the long roots back and sort 
them into sizes ; then I take about half a dozen 
plants, and (the pots varying in size), I put the 
smallest lot of six into 5-in pots, the next into 5$-in. 
and the largest into 6-in. ones .1 give them some nice 
fresh soil with a little sand added (some think any 
old potting material is good enough but my experi¬ 
ences teaches me different. I give them clear loam 
with the addition of a little sand). After potting, I put 
them in a sheltered place out of doors if the weather 
permits and give them a good soaking of water; 
after a week or ten days I take them into the green¬ 
house and give them a little heat, enough to keep 
frost out. I like, if possible, to take them up the first 
week in October. I do not cut the tops off until the 
first week in March. I then cut them hard back 
and put the best of the cuttings in to strike and 
leave the old plants to push out again, which they do 
and make real good plants. I leave them as they 
are, remove them to a frame in April and separate 
them at bedding-out time. I find the plan to answer 
admirably. If Sepia would act upon it I think he 
would be highly pleased with the result.—C. 
Williams, Belmont House, Doncaster. 
ISCELLANY. 
JAPANESE TOAD LILY. 
This is evidently well grown by G. F. Wilson, Esq , 
L.R.S., in his beautiful gardens at Weybridge and 
Wiseley, Surrey, judging from the bunch of well- 
flowered stems which he exhibited at the meeting of 
the Royal Horticultural Society on the 15th ult. 
The stems were well furnished with foliage and the 
flowers were borne in numerous clusters from the 
axils of the upper leaves. The perianth measures 
about an inch or more in diameter, and is white, 
more or less densely spotted or blotched with 
purple, giving rise probably to the English name of 
this Liliaceous plant. Botanically it is Tricyrtis 
hirta, the generic name referring to the gibbous 
character of the three outer segments. The plant 
requires a warm, sheltered position but not a dry 
one, to bring it to the flowering stage in our rather 
fickle and uncertain climate. It is perfectly hardy, 
but the flowering stems are liable to injury from an 
early advent of frost. Mr. Wilson’s treatment of it 
certainly meets with great success. 
CAREX VARIEGATA. 
Under this name, a beautiful variety of a Sedge 
received a certificate, some years ag6, from the 
Royal Horticultural Society. No cultivator, 
apparently, has ever flowered it, so that its botanical 
determination has been impossible In spite of its 
graceful beauty, it is seldom seen in anything like 
good condition. It seems to us that the plants are 
more often than otherwise kept in too high a 
temperature An intermediate house seems most 
conducive to its welfare, judging from the fine 
specimens we noted in the gardens of V. L Oliver 
Esq., Whitmore Lodge, Sunningdale, Berks. Mr. 
J. Cowie, his gardener, gives the plant in question 
no special treatment, yet the long, grassy leaves are 
12 in. to 14 in. long and hang down over the pots in 
a most graceful manner. They are narrowly linear, 
and bright green, with more distinctly white edges 
than are possessed by those of its congener, Carex 
brunnea variegata, which everybody can grow and 
which is often but erroneonsly named Carex japonica 
variegata. Notwithstanding this fine growth it has 
never, however, shown any disposition to throw up 
flower stems. It is nevertheless very ornamental, 
and perfectly distinct from its congener above 
mentioned as well as the better-known Scirpus 
riparius (Isolepis gracilis). 
A GRAND PLANT OF STAPELIA GIGANTEA. 
A huge plant of this striking species has been 
flowering for the last two months in the gardens of 
Lord Harlech, Tetworth Sunningdale, Berks. Mr. 
Edge, his gardener, says a very small piece was 
received from the Cape about six or seven years ago. 
and having been put in a basket has thriven ever 
since. We counted eight stout pendent stems, each 
about two feet long, with numerous, short, ascending 
branches upon them. The other day, four of its 
gigantic flowers, each measuring a foot in diameter 
were fully expanded and six more were on the point 
of expansion. The flowers are pale yellow, finely 
wrinkled and densely marked transversely with 
brownish-red lines. The corona is dark purplish- 
brown. The whole surface is covered with shaggy 
woolly hairs, which are gray, especially on the edges, 
while those towards the centre of the flower have a 
velvety red flush. The plant was originally intro¬ 
duced from the Cape in 1862, and has, therefore, had 
plenty of time to attain a large size, but we must 
confess that the plant under notice is many times 
the size of all the specimens that have yet come 
under our notice, so that the treatment given it by Mr. 
Edge, is perfectly in accordance with its require¬ 
ments. The fully expanded flowers at a certain stage, 
and especially under the influence of sunshine, are 
possessed of a quality of which we must speak in bated 
breath. They are strongly and peculiarly fetid so 
that the plant, locally, has acquired a special name 
which need not be mentioned. The flies are deceived, 
lured, and induced to lay their eggs upon the flowers, 
and the young grubs hatch out to be disappointed 
with starvation staring them in the face. 
BANANA PLANTATIONS. 
In the Canary Islands these are very picturesque. 
They are planted about 1,000 to the acre, and taka 
