260 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 21, 1895. 
•' So she is,” replied Lord Bewdley. “ I am her 
step-son. Dr. Curum sent me a telegram asking me 
to come over as she was seriously ill. I left Paris 
upon receipt of it and arrived here last night. The 
servants told me that the doctor had sent a lady to 
sit up with her, so I looked in as I passed to my 
room, but seeing Lady Bewdley apparently sleeping, 
I did not speak for fear of disturbing her.” 
Having arrived at the house, Eiley retired to her 
own apartments and laughed to herself at the simple 
solution of the midnight appearance. 
CHAPTER III. 
The Attack in the Lane. 
Under Eiley’s care, Lady Bewdley improved in 
health : she became stronger, and, at the end of a 
fortnight, it was no longer necessary for Eiley to sit 
up with her at night, so she slept in the dressing- 
room adjoining and went to her when she required 
nourishment or medicine. 
Lady Bewdley was still restless and disturbed in 
her sleep ; talked of the tall pale man and other 
things which made Eiley’s blood run cold ; but she 
was only dreaming, of course ! Eiley very rarely saw 
Lord Bewdley ; occasionally he passed her on the 
stairs when she was going to her meals in the morn¬ 
ing room, and sometimes she met him in the 
grounds when he would stroll along with her and 
talk of his travels, or encourage her to talk of her¬ 
self, her father's illness or her paintings. 
These chance meetings gave Eiley more pleasure 
than she would have cared to own, even to herself; 
and the days seemed especially long and dull, and 
the invalid unusually irritable and difficult to please, 
when it happened that one of these meetings did 
not take place. 
Once a week, Eiley walked over to the picturesque 
little churchyard where her father was buried, to 
place flowers on his grave. 
One sunny afternoon she was sitting upon a mossy 
bank at the side of a country lane, a short distance 
from the church. Her lap was full of Meadow¬ 
sweet which she was weaving into a large wreath. 
She made a pretty picture sitting amid the 
green ; a two miles' walk had brought a brilliant 
glow to her cheeks ; her hat lay on the grass at her 
side, and the summer sun peeping through the trees 
discovered a golden shade in the dark brown hair. 
She sang softly as she worked at the wreath. 
Hearing footsteps approach she looked up and 
saw a somewhat disreputable-looking tramp coming 
along the lane. 
Eiley, as already stated, was by no means a 
nervous girl, but somehow as she glanced at the 
the man coming towards her, she wished that she 
was not alone, or was nearer home. When the 
tramp got opposite to her, he stopped, and, looking 
at her scowlingly, said in a rough voice: " I suppose 
you haven’t got such a thing as a few coppers to 
help a poor man on his way ? ” 
Now, as it happened, Lady Bewdley had that very 
afternoon paid Eiley a month’s salary, which she 
had in her pocket, for, after putting the flowers on 
her father’s grave, she had intended going to the 
village to pay some arrears of rent which had been 
due during her father’s illness. The poor girl 
certainly had no money to spare to give to tramping 
beggars, but the look of this rough man and the 
loneliness of the place frightened her. 
Thinking it was best to give him something and 
thereby get rid of him, she drew out her purse and 
taking out sixpence gave it to him. 
His quick eye detected the gold pieces, so, looking 
at the silver coin lying in his dirty palm, he growled : 
“ That ain't much to help a cove on his way. I 
ain’t had nothing to eat all this blessed day; and I 
want to get to Liverpool, which ain’t no short 
distance, I guess. Do yer think a paltry tanner will 
get me there ? ” 
“ Indeed,” cried Eiley, “ I would gladly give you 
more if I had it; but I am very poor myself and 
have no more to give you.” 
The tramp burst into a brutal laugh. 
"Come, I say, that’s good! ain’t got no more to 
give me, eh ? Why I saw the gold a-glittering in 
yer purse; so come, hand over, my gal, unless yer 
want me to take it for myself.” He stepped towards 
her threateningly as he spoke. 
Eiley rose quickly from the grass, and tried to slip 
her purse into her pocket, but before she could succeed 
in doing so, the man seized hold of her roughly, and 
endeavoured to snatch it from her hand. Eiley’s 
spirit was roused, and she struggled desperately to 
retain possession of the money she so much needed. 
Her clear voice rang through the still air as she 
called loudly for help. 
Not getting the purse from her so easily as he ex¬ 
pected, and fearing someone would hear her screams, 
the tramp suddenly flung her with brutal force to the 
ground. The purse dropped from Eiley’s hand as she 
fell and her head struck violently against a pile of 
flints which had been placed at the side of the road 
for repairing purposes. The man picked up the purse ; 
then, looking at the insensible form of the girl, 
muttered : " D-her ! It was her own fault; what 
did she struggle and scream so for ? ” He walked 
quickly down the lane, turned the corner, and dis¬ 
appeared. 
(To be continued.) 
---- 
TREE AND SHRUB PLANTING. 
There need be no cause for wonderment at the 
death-rate of trees and shrubs when new plantations 
are formed. Without altitude being considered, or 
the nature of the soil treated in any form, trees are 
frequently planted as if they were in a damp morass. 
In high, dry positions, means to catch rain should be 
allowed. On trenched land this is unnecessary, but 
large trees are often placed wide apart on a hard 
unbroken pan, and little room left for roots to 
extend, and frequently left unstaked or protected 
with means of any sort against wind. The roots 
struggle on, but can take no hold, and if the plants 
live they become stunted. If the balls of earth are 
large the plants may struggle on, but free growth 
is not made if fresh roots cannot freely enter the 
surrounding soil. In low-lying ground a different 
course may be pursued. The roots should have 
well-broken ground underneath them, and be kept 
well up in order to allow wet to pass freely away 
from them. Many trees perish from undrained land 
and sour soil I am often asked for advice in plant¬ 
ing, and frequently get on better with labourers 
doing the work than with men who have theories 
established in their minds—such as planting all 
deciduous trees and evergreens as well as shrubs of 
every class on the same principle. I am prompted 
to write this after admiring a number of trees which 
were some years planted on a steep bank. A number 
were planted by one who was called an “ experienced 
man," and others by an ordinary labourer, who did 
exactly as he was told. The first put the roots right 
enough in the sandy soil, but in such a way that the 
rain rushed down the steep ; while the labourer left 
cups to catch moisture. In the first plantation 
many died or struggled for life ; in the latter case all 
lived and have grown well.— M. T., Stirlingshire. 
--- 
ARDENING 
ISCELLANY. 
IMANTOPHYLLUM MINIATUM. 
In looking around various gardens wherein this 
noble plant finds a home, we have the inference 
almost forced upon us that the majority of gardeners 
consider it necessary to keep it in a very high tem¬ 
perature in order to achieve success in its culture. 
It is very true that it does flourish in tropical heat, 
but it is also true that it is a very accommodating 
plant, and one that will adapt itself very readily to 
changed conditions. Quantities of it are grown by 
Mr. G. Stevens, at St. John’s Nurseries, Putney, in 
order to assist in supplying the demand for cut 
flowers that is experienced more or less, the whole of 
the year round. The plants thrive wonderfully well, 
however, in little more than a greenhouse tempera¬ 
ture, and each season throw up huge trusses of their 
brilliant orange-scarlet flowers that find a ready sale. 
This is a fact that should encourage those who have 
hitherto been deterred from attempting the culture 
of this truly regal subject by the mistaken idea that 
it needs a high temperature the whole of the year 
round, in addition to a considerable amount of space 
CHRYSANTHEMUM RYECROFT GLORY. 
In the earlier part of the Chrysanthemum season, a 
large batch of this superb decorative Chrysanthe¬ 
mum formed a prominent feature in the plant-houses 
at Mr. T. S. Ware’s, Hale Farm Nurseries, Totten¬ 
ham, N. Of the introduction of new varieties of the 
autumn flower, like the making of books, there 
seems to be no end, and it is well worth while to take 
note of those that possess the greatest number of 
good points; for it is only by doing so that the 
gardener can pick out from amongst the many 
hundreds of sorts that are catalogued, the compara¬ 
tive few that are to represent the numerical strength 
of his collection. The above sort is one of the very 
best of the second early ones. It runs to about 4 ft. 
in height and readily assumes a large bush-like habit. 
The flowers are of a rich oraDge-yellow hue, are very 
freely produced, and invaluable for cutting. 
FAVOURITE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
The ever-increasing number of new Chrysanthe¬ 
mums makes it yearly more difficult to know which 
to select to grow for exhibition, especially when we 
can only grow a limited number. From a careful 
examination of the reports which have appeared in 
The Gardening World, of the leading Chrysan¬ 
themum shows, both metropolitan and provincial, it 
appears to me the subjoined twenty-four are first 
favourites; at least they appeared most frequently 
on first prize stands in the leading classes—Viviand 
Morel heads the list, closely followed by Madame 
Carnet, and Mons. Pankoucke next. In their relative 
order come Mdlle. Therese Rey, Sunflower, E. 
Molyneux, Mrs. C. H. Payne, Miss Dorothea Shea, 
Mrs. W. H. Lees, Mutual Friend, Chas. Davis, G. 
C. Schwabe, Phoebus, Mons. E. Molin, Van den 
Heede, Miss Rita Schroeter, Col. W. B. Smith, 
Mdlle. M. A. de Galbert, Etoile de Lyon, Inter¬ 
national, Mdlle. Marie Hoste, Niveus, Chas. 
Shrimpton, and G. W. Childs. —A. P., The Gardens, 
IVorton Hall, Isleworth. 
-- 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
The Journal of the Royal Horticultural 
Society. Edited by the Rev. W. Wilks, M.A., 
Secretary ; aud Mr. John Weathers, Assistant 
Secretary. Offices, 117, Victoria Street, S.W. 
Part 2 of Vol. XIX. published in November last is 
a very interesting one, and should be of much 
assistance to those connected, or about to be, with the 
fruit-growing industry ; for by far the greater portion 
of it is devoted to essays on fruit culture. There 
is a lengthy chapter on “Fruit Culture in France," 
which should furnish some hints to those who desire 
to learn the ways and methods pursued by their com¬ 
petitors on the other side of the “ the silver streak." 
M. Chas. Baltet, F.R.H.S., is the well-known 
author. This is followed by an admirable paper on 
“Manures and their Uses,” by Mr. Geo. W. Watson, 
and which should prove useful at the present time 
when the question is attracting so much attention 
from gardeners and cultivators everywhere. There 
is one point in this paper to which we should take 
exception. The author says that 95 per cent, of all 
the substances found in plants are obtained from the 
atmosphere. Half the dry matter of plants consists 
of carbon, and this is taken from the atmosphere in the 
form of carbon dioxide. The quantity of hydrogen and 
nitrogen absorbed by the leaves is only infinitesimal 
as far as science has proved it, and that only under 
abnormal conditions, and therefore of no practical 
value either to plant or cultivator. The oxygen 
taken up in the form of carbon dioxide is again 
liberated. The free oxygen of the atmosphere is 
only used for the purpose of respiration ; that which 
goes to build up the plant body is absorbed by the 
roots in the various compounds that constitute plant 
food. In the case of Lettuces and White Turnips, 
about 95 per cent, of the living plant consists of 
water absorbed by the roots. 
The essay on “ New Fruits of Recent Introduc¬ 
tion,” by Mr. G. Bunyard, F.R.H.S., is concise and 
exceedingly interesting, inasmuch as it supplies at a 
glance the tendencies and development of the recent 
introductions, so that the intelligent cultivator can 
compare the merits of each variety with those of 
older and recognised merit. Useful information and 
the particular recommendation is given with each 
variety. Mr. Bunyard thinks that American Brambles 
have proved a failure. It might be worth while for 
some enterprising grower to improve some of the 
British Brambles. The two “ Prize Essays on the 
Commercial Aspect of Hardy Fruit Growing,” by 
