November 30, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
203 
RESULT 
proves more than volumes of print. My collection of Chrysanthemums has again suc¬ 
ceeded in winning the President’s Prize for Group of Plants, and the Gold Medal for 
Table of Exhibition Blooms at the great N.C.S. Show, November 5th, 1895. In addition 
to many other prizes my collection has now been awarded 
FIVE GOLD MEDALS 
in two years, the highest award attainable in each case. I have much pleasure in 
announcing that I have secured some grand Seedlings from our two most noted and 
successful English raisers, Chas. E. Shea, Esq., and H. Briscoe Ironside, Esq., which, 
together with my own Seedlings, will form a collection 
UNRIVALLED 
My General Guide is now ready, with reduced prices for all last season's novelties, and 
contains the following Cultural articles How to grow Japanese for Exhibition”; 
“ How to grow Incurved for Exhibition ” ; “ Plow to grow Specimen Plants ” ; “ How to 
grow for Decoration How to dtess Incurved for Exhibition,” and “How to save 
Seed.” A large number of Growers attribute their 
SUCCESS 
to following the advice given in my guide, which can be obtained post free for 8 stamps. 
My list of Novelties for 1896 will be ready in December. 
H. J. JONES, Ryecroft Nursery, LEWISHAM, S.E. 
Carnations! Carnations ! 
Carnations! 
The Choicest Varieties in Cultivation, from the 
late Mr. Dodwell's Garden, 
FROM 6s. PER DOZEN. UPWARDS. 
DESCRIPTIVE LIST ON APPLICATION TO— 
ARTHUR MEDHURST, 
THE COTTAGE, STANLEY ROAD, OXFORD. 
KENT, THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND. 
CUTBUSH’S MILLTRACK MUSHROOM SPAM. 
Everyone can readily grow Mush¬ 
rooms, and by using this Spawn will 
ensure success. All growers speak 
in high praise of the quality. Numer¬ 
ous testimonials. None genuine 
unless in sealed packages and printed 
cultural directions enclosed, with our 
Signature attached. Price 6s. per 
bushel, is. extra for package, or is* 
per cake, free per parcels post. 
WIVI. CUTBUSH &. SON, 
Nurserymen and Seed Merchants , 
Highgate Nurseries, London, N , & Barnet, Herts 
CARNATIONS. 
'"J'HE largest and most complete Collection in the 
Kingdom. Strong healthy layers now ready. 
Catalogues free. 
M. CAMPBELL, 
N urseryman, 
HIGH B LAN TYRE, N.B. 
TEC OWfl SM1T HII. 
The Finest New Flowering Plant, as easily 
managed as a Chrysanthemum. It produces in 
autumn large heads of brilliant red and yellow 
blossoms. 
New Seed of all Seedsmen. 
For Index to Contents see page 215. 
" Gardening Is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit ot man ”— Bacon, 
Ed ted by J. FRASER F.L.S. 
SATURDAY, NOV. 30 th, 1895. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Monday, December 2nd.—Sales of bulbs and plants by Messrs 
Protheroe and Morris. 
Tuesday, December 3rd.—Natior.al Chrysanthemum Society’s 
Show at the Royal Aquarium (3 days). 
Sales ot bulbs by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Wednesday, December 4th.—Sales of Dutch and Hardy 
Bulbs and plants by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Thursday, December 5th.—Sale of bulbs and plants by 
Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Friday, December 6tb.—Sale of bulbs and Orch : ds by 
Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Wlowers ofthe Olden Time. — As a con¬ 
trast to the present wealth of flowers 
which occupy the various glass-houses 
throughout the country, and load the flower 
stalls of the market, it may prove of inter¬ 
est to make a brief review of the more 
popular flowers at the command of our 
ancestors. At first sight it may seem that 
people in this country had nothing but 
British wildlings to enjoy ; nor do we deny 
that such was the case if we go sufficiently 
far back in history. That would be several 
hundred years ago, for even in early times 
many exotics sufficiently hardy to endure 
our climate in the open air were introduced 
by the monks, who, like the warriors of 
those ancient times, were the principal 
travellers to distant lands, but by far the 
more likely to engage in such humanising, 
though scarcely exciting, occupations as the 
the cultivation of flowers. It is by no 
means improbable that the monks intro¬ 
duced the Snowdrops, some of the Crocuses, 
and possibly the Lily of the Valley, plant¬ 
ing them in orchards where they revelled in 
a new-found freedom by being let severely 
alone. This is more probable than that 
they were escapes from gardens. 
We become acquainted with the flowers 
that were cherished by the people, whether 
growing in their native wilds or in gardens, 
from the songs and writings of the poets, 
and from the narratives of those who re¬ 
corded the popular sports and games of the 
day, as well as from other incidental 
sources. We are often astonished at the 
simplicity and enthusiasm with which our 
forefathers entered into games and pastimes 
in which the simple wild flowers of our 
native land formed a leading feature. No 
doubt many of those pastimes were a 
remnant or modification of siill older games 
and festivals, extending back to still earlier 
and even heathen times. Little doubt need 
be entertained, however, that the people in 
those days w r ere progressive, and knew it 
just as much as we do in the nineteenth 
century. Nor must it be forgotten that the 
towns were smaller and the scanty popula¬ 
tion, scattered over the country, was more 
in direct contact with nature, so that 
their pastimes were much more natural 
than ours. There was less necessity in 
those days for flowers at all seasons of the 
year, seeing that the inhabitants were more 
in direct touch with nature, and less pent 
up in towns than are the modern inhabi¬ 
tants. Under such conditions it was quite 
natural that festivals and days of public 
amusement should have been held when all 
the face of nature was gay. It is, and has 
been so, in all primitive countries before 
high civilisation induces the building of 
large cities in which the population becomes 
cribbed and confined. 
In ancient times there were no Roses, 
Chrysanthemums nor Violets in autumn 
and winter. The Chrysanthemum had not 
been introduced. Roses, such as they were, 
had to be sought for in summer ; Violets 
and Daffodils in spring. There were no 
double Violets then, we may presume, but 
the single ones were just as sweetly scented. 
The Daffodil, or true Lent Lily, existed 
originally only in the puny typical form 
of Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus ; but as the 
monks, and in later times the churchmen, 
took an interest in flow r ers, it is not at all 
improbable that the British Lent Lily was 
supplemented by larger and finer forms 
brought from the south of Europe, though 
such introductions have been allowed to 
slip unrecorded. As the last of the summer 
flowers faded, and the autumn tints began 
to make their appearance, it is not unlikely 
that the inhabitants looked upon these signs 
of the approach of a long, dreary winter 
with regret ; and quite as natural that they 
should behold the approach of summer in 
the advent of spring flowers, and rejoice 
accordingly. What Crocuses they pos¬ 
sessed doubtlessly appeared as charming 
in their eyes as the magnificent blooms 
that grace our modern spring gardens, or 
our conservatories in t winter. The 
economic interest in flowers must haye 
been of great importance in those days, 
and one instance of it comes home to us in 
Crocus sativus which was cultivated for the 
sake of saffron. The commerce in cut 
flowers, simply for the sake of their own 
intrinsic beauty, must have been of an 
extremely limited order. 
The Daisy has doubtlessly been a 
popular native flower from very early 
times ; and though the poet srys that “the 
Rose has but a summer’s reign, the Daisy 
never dies,” yet it is for all practical pur¬ 
poses a spring flow r er whether growing in 
garden or meadow. The English Bluebell 
is another spring flower just as the exotic 
Oriental Hyacinth and Tulip. We have a 
native Tulip but it could hardly have been 
of much importance to our forefathers 
judging from its behaviour at the present 
day. Primroses and later on the Cowslips 
and Oxlips must have been truly popular 
