January 11, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
307 
distributed from York to Denbigh southwards, but 
cultivated plants in some districts extend almost to 
the Moray Firth, under the fostering care of those 
interested in the same. Although the druids, or men 
of the Oaks, laid most value on the Mistleto when 
found growing upon the Oak, yet at the present day 
it is comparatively rare upon that tree. The Apple 
undoubtedly heads the list as a host plant. The 
Hawthorn also takes a prominent position, and other 
members of the Rose family coming under this 
category are the Pear, Mountain Ash, Service Tree, 
Rose and White Beam. Other British trees that 
perform the same service to the parasite are the 
Black Poplar, Aspen, Lime, Ash, Maple, and Birch. 
Exotic trees include the Red Maple, Chestnut, 
Robinia, Magnolia glauca, Sycamore, and probably 
others. In the neighbourhood of Magdeburg the 
Scotch Fir (Pinus sylvestris) is said to support the 
Mistleto. 
Some Peculiarities of the Mistleto. —To our 
forefathers for many centuries past this plant was 
all mystery and peculiarity, but we have discarded 
the ancient beliefs for more tangible and provab'e 
ones. Even Loudon was of the belief that the 
Mistleto was the only true parasitical plant 
indigenous to Britain. Modern physiologists will 
hardly admit that, seeing that its stems and leaves 
are furnished with chlorophyll, and may draw 
upon the atmosphere extensively for its carbon. 
The species of Orobanche and Cuscuta being almost 
or entirely devoid of chlorophyll, are wholly depen¬ 
dent upon green plants for their carbonaceous food at 
least. Another peculiarity of the Mistleto is that 
seedlings which germinate upon the under side of 
branches of trees grow downwards, while those on 
the upper side grow upwards. Under other condi¬ 
tions this curious subject will spread in a horizontal 
direction or in various directions indifferently. The 
present is the- best time to insert or fix the 
berries to trees to obtain young plants, which, if the 
operator has been successful and nothing interferes 
with them, will germinate in the following spring. 
No leaves are produced till the spring of the second 
year. 
-- 
HEATING HORTICULTURAL BUILD¬ 
INGS. 
There was a good attendance of members of the 
Chislehurst Gardeners' Society, Chislehurst, on the 
the 17th ult., when Mr. H. Cannell gave a lecture on 
“ Heating, as applied to horticultural buildings.” 
At the commencement of his address Mr. Cannell 
said he did not profess to be a lecturer, but came 
before them as a gardener, and one who knew some 
of the difficulties that gardeners had to contend 
with. He hoped that no one present would hesitate 
to put questions to him on aDy point that did not 
seem clear to his hearers. Mr. Cannell then traced 
the history of heating glass structures, commencing 
with the old plan of hot beds of manure and leaves, 
placed inside and round the sides of structures to 
produce heat. Then followed the flues, but these 
were always a great anxiety, owing to their liability 
to crack, letting the sulphur fumes escape into the 
house and killing everything in it, but even under 
these adverse circumstances good plants were 
grown. This was in turn superseded by hot water. 
In its earlier stages the water was conveyed round 
the house in open troughs. Finally it reached 
the point we now see it—viz., carried round in pipes. 
The circulation of hot water was discovered in a 
very peculiar way. At a place near Bath an ostler 
made a bet that he would boil a leg of mutton in a 
wooden pail. This attracted a large number of 
people, and amongst them Sir Alfred Brady, who, 
seeing the bubbles rise to the surface when heated, 
went home and experimented, and found out the 
principle of circulation To illustrate the point Mr. 
Cannell heated some water over a lamp in a sheet of 
ordinary brown paper. 
From this time rapid strides were made in build¬ 
ings, the duty being removed from glass, larger 
squares were used. Mr. Cannell spoke at great 
length on boilers, giving preference to the welded 
boiler. The aim should be to get a boiler that 
would extract the greatest amount of heat from the 
fuel before it passed up the chimney. The manner 
of setting the boiler was also dealt with, as also the 
pipes and their arrangement in the house. The aim 
should be to have them spread over as large an area 
as possible. The advantage of having a pipe under 
the ioof was also pointed out; in fact, every detail 
was given with minuteness. At the close of the 
lecture, which was a very long one, a hearty vote of 
thanks was proposed by the president, and seconded 
by Mr. Lees. Mr. Cannell, in thanking the mem¬ 
bers, expressed a hope that he would be spared to 
come amongst them again. 
-.- 
THE GARDENER. 
Away from the city's flurry. 
And near the fairy glen, 
’Mong the trees, is the gardener’s cottage. 
With its cosy “ but and ben.” 
With glossy green, the Ivy 
Has covered its gray walls o’er ; 
And the Woodbine meets the Roses 
As they twine above the door. 
Within the old-world garden. 
With its borders bright and gay. 
And grassy walks like velvet, 
The gardener works all day. 
From the dewy morning, fragrant 
With the odours of the Rose, 
Till the Sunflower turneth westward 
And the Daisy's eyelids close. 
With a thousand lives depending 
On his constant, watchful care, 
For idle sport, the gardener 
Finds little time to spare ; 
And the flowerets seem to listen, 
For the footsteps of their friend ; 
Soon their pretty heads are drooping, 
If their wants he fails to ’tend. 
He has learned from Mother Nature, 
The secret of her powers ; 
And she and he, in concord, 
Evolve the fairest flowers. 
They wake plant life at springtide, 
And train its tender shoots ; 
In summer, beauty crowns their toils, 
And autumn brings the fruits. 
Yes! the gardener has some troubles— 
Oft troubles manifold, 
And his constant care is needed 
Through changeful heat and cold. 
He keeps the fires a-burning 
Through winter s frost and gloom, 
But his labours are rewarded 
With a summertide of bloom. 
Then I’d choose the gardener’s calling— 
The gardener’s care and joy ; 
Like him I’d spend my labour 
In Nature’s sweet employ. 
— C. M. Thomson, A uchinleck Gardens. 
-- 
BEGONIA VEITCHII. 
B. L. states in The Gardening World, p. 291, that 
the above Begonia was sent out in 1869. He is wrong, 
for it was offered, for the first time, August 1st, 1868. 
B. boliviensis was sent out in the spring of 1868 ; 
they were both introduced to Europe by the late 
indefatigable collector, Mr. R. Pearce, for Messrs. 
Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. B. Veitchii was found near 
Cuzco, in Peru, at an elevation of 12’,500 ft. B. 
boliviensis came from Bolivia. They were both ex¬ 
hibited at several exhibitions in 1867, and were fully 
described at that time by the various botanical and 
horticultural papers. The plants of B. Veitchii 
grown in Messrs. Veitch & Sons’ establishment gave 
them good proof of their hardihood by withstanding 
a temperature of 25 0 Fahr. with absolute impunity. 
With boliviensis the following were offered for the 
first time—namely, Abutilon Thompsonii, Adiantum 
concinnum latum, Alocasia intermedia, Alocasia 
Jenningsii, Ancylogyne longiflora, the hybrid 
Caladium Chelsonii, two new Crotons from the 
South Sea Islands introduced by the late John Gould 
Veitch—viz., interruptum and irregulare—Davallia 
parvula, introduced by the late Thos. Lobb, another 
collector of the Chelsea firm ; also Retinospora 
filicioides and Selaginella Poulterii. These formed 
the set of plants sent out in spring, 1868. With 
Begonia Veitchii, sent out in August of the same 
year, came the popular and beautiful Ampelopsis 
Veitchii, the lovely double blue-flowering Clematis, 
John Gould Veitch (from Japan), Dracaena regina 
from the South Sea Islands, also one of J G. 
Veitch’s introductions. Being at Chelsea during the 
time these plants were sent out, I well remember the 
sensation they made amongst horticulturists, and 
how eagerly they were sought after. It was in the 
spring of 1868 that the famous Coleus raised by our 
recently-departed friend, Bause, were shown and sold, 
six of the best passing into the hands of the Chelsea 
fi rm —viz., Berkeleyi, Saundersii, Ruckerii, Bausei, 
Scottii and Batemanii. These were raised at 
the Royal Horticultural Society’s gardens at 
Chiswick, and were crosses between Verschaffeltii 
and Veitchii, and Verschaffeltii crossed with Gibsonii. 
These were sent out in July, 1869, and were 
purchased from the auction rooms of Messrs. Stevens, 
Covent Garden .—Alfred Outram, F.RH.S., Messrs. 
Sutton & Sons, Reading. 
PEOPLE I HAVE MET. 
Mr. Edwin Molyneux is a native of Yorkshire, and 
was born at SproxCon, a village near Hemsley in that 
county. His father at that time was engaged on the 
estate of the Earl of Feversham, Duncombe Park, 
and his father before him had been similarly engaged 
at Nuneham Park, Oxford. It was this ancestor 
who, enthusiastic in floral matters, was in his day a 
successful cultivator of florists’ flowers—Dahlias, 
Tulips, Hollyhocks, Pansies and Asters being his 
favourites. It is to him that the Nuneham Park 
Onion owes its origin, he being the raiser. The 
subject of our sketch evidently inherits some of the 
tastes of his grandfather, judging from his successful 
career in the horticultural world. 
Mr. Edwin Molyneux. 
Commencing at an early age in the gardens at 
Stillington Hall, near York, he served for some six 
years under Mr. Porter; from thence he went to 
Sutton Hall, also near York, and after a short 
sojourn in the nurseries of Messrs. J. Backhouse & 
Sons we find him at Long Hall, near Leeds. Then 
some further experience was gained in Messrs. F. & 
A. Dickson & Sons’ Nurseries/ Chester, and he 
subsequently obtained extensive knowledge of 
many subjects connected with the glass depart¬ 
ment in Major Walters’ gardens at Wallasey, 
near Birkenhead. Grapes were grown largely 
here. Mr. Molyneux’s skill in this department 
was particularly in evidence later on as a success¬ 
ful exhibitor at Liverpool, Birkenhead, and Man¬ 
chester, when engaged at Rock Ferry, Birkenhead. 
It was whilst at the latter place that he won the 
Silver Medal for a remarkably fine specimen of Grape 
Black Hamburgh. His next appointment was with 
the father of his present employer (VV. H. Myers, 
Esq., M.P.), at Camp Hill, Woolton, near Liverpool, 
where he stayed nearly two years ; and upon that 
gentleman purchasing the Swanmore Park estate 
Mr. Molyneux was appointed to the management in 
1878. 
It was in the autumn of two years later that he 
first commenced his career as an exhibitor of Chry¬ 
santhemums at Southampton, and from that time 
until he finally retired from the competitors' list in 
1888 he was the winner of no less than 124 prizes 
for Chrysanthemums alone, 102 of these being firsts, 
