December 28, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
277 
buds or eyes and are capable of re-development by 
fresh shoots at the axil of the leaves, which in the 
case of underground stems are replaced by simple 
scales scarcely visible. 
Although they may be kept through the winter 
and planted again the next spring they are in no 
respect anything more or less than portions of the 
old plant which had died down and apparently 
ceased to exist the previous autumn. Consequently 
while through the almost unlimited prolongation of 
the life of a single Potato plant weakness and 
deterioration often set in, there is practically no 
room for improving the original type by any selec¬ 
tion of tubers. This anyone can prove by planting 
a tuber which may from some cause or other be 
mis-shapen and the produce will be found to revert 
to the same handsome and uniform type as the other 
Potatos which were growing on the same plant. 
The only modification of this rule I am acquainted 
with is in the cases where all the tubers of one plant 
show a uniform divergence in character, either for 
better or worse. When this is so it is possible that 
by the selection of all or any of these tubers a 
slightly different Potato might result, as in the case 
of some types of the Ashleaf section, which are 
dwarfer and more compact, or else taller and 
coarser growing than others. Outside the Ashleaf 
class, however, I know of no such instances. 
In reference to this point Monsieur Vilmorin 
mentions he does not consider a really first-class 
seedling Potato is liable-to degenerate so quickly as 
is generally supposed. If degeneration sets in soon 
after its introduction it merely proves that the 
variety is one which never ought to have been 
brought to public notice. 
Potato Seed, on the other hand, is totally distinct 
in every way, being the seeds formed in the Potato 
berries which some, though not all, varieties of 
Potatos bear so freely. Before, however, describing 
the berries and the seeds they contain, I must 
show you a picture of the well-known Potato flower. 
In slides 5, 6, and 7 we shall see someof the berries 
in their natural condition, and also cut to show the 
arrangement of the seeds within the berries. A 
berry may contain from 100 to 300 seeds—the 
average of five berries examined being 232 !—and 
as the parent plant appears able to control but 
slightly the distinctive character of its progeny, and 
as all the different seedlings from one Potato berry 
may produce plants differing from one another, not 
only in form but many of them in colour also, it is 
here we find the great possibilities for improving the 
race by selection of the better seedlings. Even if 
no cross fertilisation of flowers was attempted, great 
improvement might be made by the selection of the 
most promising seedlings during the first few years 
of their existence, but where judicious crossing of 
the best known varieties is undertaken we can in a 
great measure combine in some of the resulting 
seedlings the merits of both male and female parent, 
although, even then, no two seedlings from the same 
berry may be exactly alike. 
Anyone attempting to raise Seedling Potatos must 
have abundance of patience. Like many other 
species which are not habitually multiplied by the 
seed, the Potato has a remarkable tendency to 
revert to the wild form. Is may be necessary to 
cultivate 100 or even 1,000 seedlings before finding 
one which is really worthy of a place amongst 
the better varieties already existing Mons. Vil¬ 
morin says that in France the raising of seed 
Potatos has been proceeded with in a somewhat 
haphazard manner, whereas in England, on the 
other hand, a more systematic method has been 
followed, mentioning that richness in starch, excel¬ 
lence of flavour, power of resisting disease, with 
little tendency to develop haulm, are the characters 
we generally seek. Unfortunately, he says, they are 
not always able to profit in France by progress 
realised in England, because the French have a 
marked preference for Potatos with yellow flesh, 
whereas in England, for many years past, there has 
been a preference for white-fleshed Potatos. On 
this account even the celebrated Magnum Bonum, 
which my house had the honour of introducing in 
1876, after having enjoyed a brief popularity in the 
Paris markets, has been almost abandoned as a table 
variety on account of the flesh being too pale in 
colour. Mons. Vilmorin remarks that in Germany 
considerable attention has been given to raising seed 
Potatos, but more particularly with the object of 
raising varieties which are specially adapted for 
the production of alcohol and starch .—Arthur W. 
Sutton. 
[The rest of the paper was devoted to the descrip¬ 
tions and explanations of the slides reflected on the 
screen by the magic lantern. There were forty-five 
of these slides, including illustrations of a Potato 
seedling at the end of the first year, " Papa 
Amarilla," various types ofthe Fir-apple, the Almond 
Potato of Norway, Solanum Maglia, some of the 
highest types of Seedling Potatos introduced by the 
Reading Firm, the Tomato and various others. He 
also made some interesting remarks upon experi¬ 
ments in grafting Tomatos and Potatos, made by 
the firm during the past summer. —Ed.] 
-- 5 -- 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Rose Culture. 
Roses and Rose Culture : a shilling book on 
Roses. By William Paul, F.L.S. ; Author of 
“ The Rose Garden,” &c. Eighth edition. 
London : Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & 
Co., and all booksellers. 
This little book of 104 pages consists of articles 
which originally appeared in the pages of “ The 
Florist and Pomologist.” Since it was first published, 
however, it has gone through several editions till it 
is now in the eighth—in itself a good guarantee of 
the usefulness of the book. It consists of twenty- 
one chapters and an index, but every article is kept 
down to the smallest dimensions, compatible with the 
necessary elucidation and fulness of each particular 
subject. The book is, indeed, intended to be the 
cultivation of Roses in a nut-shell. For amateurs 
intending to take up this subject as a pastime and 
have only a limited time for reading, this book will 
meet their requirements admirably. As the infor¬ 
mation is given by a practical Rose grower, it may 
be relied upon as correct and safe to follow. 
The chapter “On Soils and Climate,” is confined 
to four pages, yet soils are divided up into five 
classes, of each of which a clear description is given, 
and the treatment necessary to prepare them for the 
reception and growth of Roses. The Weeping Rose 
is a modification of the standard, differing from the 
latter only in the pendulous or drooping habit which 
the branches assume. The ordinary or Dog-rose 
stock answers the purpose admirably. Some of the 
varieties of the Ayrshire and Sempervirens Roses 
should be used to form the head of the tree, as they 
are naturally of trailing or weeping habit. The 
method of pruning and training is fully given in the 
book to which those interested may refer. These 
weeping trees should form very ornamental subjects 
for the lawn. 
As far as the form of the flower is concerned, the 
author divides Roses into four groups-namely, 
globular, cupped, compact, and expanded. Most 
Rose growers will agree that the most beautifully- 
shaped flowers belong to the first two groups. “To 
bed with the linnet and up with the lark ” is con¬ 
sidered the best motto of the exhibitor, and in this 
respect the practical and scientific men agree, for 
Roses that are cut in the morning are much more 
durable than those cut during the heat of the day. 
After describing garden and florists' Roses, exhibition, 
painters' and poets' Roses, the author says there is 
room for all, and deprecates the idea of one class of 
Rose growers setting up a standard or rule by which 
everybody else should be governed. This is indeed 
evident in the case of all other garden flowers, when 
one takes a practical view of the situation. Lists of 
Roses for all purposes are given, together with a 
monthly calendar of operations. There is a chapter 
"On Hybridising and Raising Seedlings,” and 
another “ On New Roses.” 
--- 
EILEY DEARIE 
By Evelyn C. Griffiths. 
CHAPTER IV. 
Dr. Curum Decides to Take a Wife.—The 
Discovery. 
Dr. Curum was sitting in his garden, enjoying an 
after-dinner smoke. He watched the smoke as it 
rose from his pipe, curled and disappeared; and 
smiled complacently, not at the fantastical shapes 
assumed by the said smoke ; oh dear no, he was not 
thinking of that at all. I doubt if he even saw it as 
it curled on its upward course, although his little 
grayish-green eyes followed it. 
He was reflecting upon an idea that had struck 
him about a week previously. So absorbed was he 
by his thoughts that he allowed the perspiration to 
gather in little beads on his forehead, to increase in 
size and eventually to roll uninterruptedly over the 
rotund surface of his cheeks The starch in his 
collar, having taken fright at the position of affairs, 
had departed, leaving the linen crumpled and limp. 
The smoke continued to curl, the beads to roll; the 
last grain of starch disappeared, and the doctor 
heeded not. His day dreams seemed to be of a 
pleasant character to judge from the way he chuckled 
to himself. 
"Yes, Eiley Deane,” he soliloquized; “ I think 
you will do very well—very well indeed. You are 
just the very person. I have watched you attend to 
her ladyship and I like your way, you are careful and 
gentle. Yes, I have made up my mind—I will marry 
you. I am almost sure to be laid up again in the 
winter with that wretched bronchitis and I shall 
require someone to nurse me. Jane is so rough, she 
burnt me dreadfully with those plasters last year ; 
and she makes such awful beef tea, it is quite un¬ 
drinkable. Now, I noticed Eiley Deane put a plaster 
on Lady Bewdley, and she was most careful in doing 
it—most careful. 
“ I have also observed that she will stand any 
amount of bullying and never answers ; that will 
suit me exactly—exactly. Yes, I will marry her— 
yes. I know she is obstinate, very obstinate. I saw 
that when engaging her as nurse ; but when she is 
my wife I can easily knock that on the head— 
easily. 
“ Now, let me see, I think I had better settle it 
with her to-day. Lady Bewdley was telling me 
yesterday that, now she is able to get about the house 
again, she really does not require her any longer as a 
nurse, but is keeping her on for a time as she finds 
her useful in many ways. Well, her ladyship is 
rather a changeable sort of party and might send 
Miss Deane away at any moment; so all things con¬ 
sidered I think it is decidedly best to speak to her 
to-day. 
“ I might do better of course—a very great deal 
better; I should rather think so, indeed ! I flatter 
myself that Dr. Curum could marry the best lady in 
the land if he felt so disposed; buc women are so 
dreadfully useless—dreadfully useless ; it is not one 
in a thousand that can cook a dinner or make a 
plaster properly ! Now, I think Miss Deane can. 
She is nothing to look at, in fact I consider her 
awfully plain ; looks horribly anaemic, and in that 
black dress she always wears, reminds me of a mute 
at a funeral; but she is a good nurse and that is the 
principal thing. I have still got a mark upon my 
chest where that wretched Jane burnt me with a 
mustard plaster, and one night she gave me lamp oil 
to take instead of castor oil—ugh ! Yes, I really 
must-” 
The sentence was never completed, for at this 
moment he was rudely awakened from his day 
dreams by a huge Newfoundland dog, which had 
come through the open gate, springing upon him, 
knocking his pipe out of his mouth and his matri¬ 
monial projects out of his head for the time being. 
“Down, Carlo, down !” called a voice from the 
road, and Lord Bewdley made his appearance at the 
gate. His stern features relaxed into a smile at the 
discomfiture of the little doctor who puffed and 
blowed as he fumbled for his pipe and brought the 
red handkerchief energetically to'work. ,» 
“ Good day to you, my lord. Carlo is rough, but 
well meaning—well meaning. Beautiful day, is it 
not, though warm—rather warm.” 
“ Yes, you appear to find it warm, Doctor. Carlo 
and I have been taking advantage of the fine day and 
have had a ten miles' walk. We are homeward 
bound now.” 
“ Ten miles ? Oh yes, very nice—very ! You say 
you are going home; will you kindly tell her lady¬ 
ship that I shall be round at the Manor some time 
before dinner ? Also, tell Miss Deane that I particu¬ 
larly wish to speak to her—very particularly.” 
“ Miss Deane is no longer on duty as nurse you 
know, Doctor ; she is acting more as Lady Bewdley’s 
companion.” 
“ Yes, I know that, my lord; I know that 
perfectly well. What I want to say to her is not 
about nursing—at least, not in connection with Lady 
Bewdley.” 
The little Doctor tried to look mysterious. 
“ Ha, ha, ha ! ” he laughed. “ It's a little surprise. 
