December 7, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
213 
in Jardinettcs and Hyacinth glasses in moist sand.” — 
JV. J. Murphy, Clonmel. 
[The following “over true tale” is taken from The 
American Florist, and may amuse our correspondent 
as well as other readers. The plant appears to he a 
variety belonging to the Tazetta group of Narcissi, but 
we shall know more about it when it flowers in the 
spring.—E d.] 
“ The fact that great anxiety existed in the minds of 
people to learn the origin of the Chinese Sacred Lily 
induced us to procure, at great expense, the services of 
two antiquarians and three linguists, whose labours, 
after close study and careful research for a period of 100 
days and 200 nights, have been rewarded by the eluci¬ 
dation of the following graphic and concise history : 
True Translation of the Chinese Label on the 
Baskets, giving the History of the Sacred 
Lily. 
“On the 4th of July, 1576, Hi Kin Foo, great and 
immortal Emperor of all the Chinas and brother-in-law 
to the moon, was out gunning for reed birds in the 
marshes around the Island of Juan Fernandez, which 
is around the corner from the Island of Pekin. His 
attention was drawn to what he supposed to be a beau¬ 
tiful bird, but which proved to be one of the many 
Lilies growing there. It was afterwards discovered 
that they were planted by Robinson Crusoe, private 
secretary to Christopher Columbus, who had a summer 
residence there. 
“The Emperor dug them up and brought them 
home to his palace, intending to put them in his green¬ 
house ; but his cook happened to see them, and 
supposing they were Onions took them into the kitchen, 
cut them up, and was about to put them in the pot. 
But the Emperor hearing of it ran into the kitchen, 
and dragging the cook out, ordered her to be beheaded 
in two places and hung in three. 
“Then she was cutup and boiled in her own pot 
and buried in the kitchen garden, back of the palace, 
along with the remains of the Lily roots she was cutting 
up. But the germs of the Lilies had life in them, and 
the old cook providing good fertilising material they 
grew to a wonderful size, and excited the admiration of 
the whole China world. The Emperor placed two 
companies of soldiers over them as guard. They had 
two cannons. One was loaded with the pieces of the 
cook’s pot, her back comb and hairpins, and the other 
with pin wheels, chasers and roman candles. These 
awful preparations struck terror into the whole Chinese 
nation, and from that date these Lilies were always 
considered sacred.— Nip and Tuck.’' 
-->3E<-.- 
SERMONS IN STONES.* 
The burden of my paper consists of geology in relation 
to horticulture, a subject which has not yet been dealt 
with at any meeting of this association, Geology is a 
science embracing all that is known concerning the 
structure, conformation, chemical composition, and 
physical properties of the solid crust of our planet. 
Adverting to plant food, we find that of the ten essential 
elements universally present in all green or chlorophyll- 
bearing members of the vegetable kingdom—namely, 
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, phos¬ 
phorous, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and iron—all 
are taken into plants, with the exception of carbon and 
a small quantity of hydrogen and nitrogen, by means 
of the roots or their substitutes, directly or indirectly, 
through the medium of and from the soil. The value 
of the latter to plant life therefore becomes apparent. 
Roots, however, cannot appropriate the solid matter 
of rocks, nor the detritus of the latter—namely, the 
soil—not even the finest particle of sand. The whole 
of plant food is taken into their bodies in the form of a 
liquid or a gas, and water is the vehicle of conveyance 
in every case. We have therefore to trace the tran¬ 
sition from solid rock to the liquid material of plant 
food that can be admitted through the instrumentality 
of the roots. Some are wont to talk of the everlasting 
hills. There is no such thing in nature. Those parts 
of the earth’s surface, including the highest elevations, 
that are exposed to the action of air, rain, and frost 
are continually being corroded, disintegrated, and 
crumbled. The finer particles are washed downwards 
to the plains, and the hills by incessant wearing are 
rounded at the top. When not carried away, the 
waste matter formed by the destruction of rocks 
accumulates to a greater or less depth all over the 
surface, forming what is termed the soil. The latter 
varies immensely in different localities, and if it has not 
* A paper by Mr. J. Fraser, read at the meeting of the Chiswick 
Gardeners' Mutual Improvement Association, October 25th. 
been transported from a distance and deposited there, 
a study of the chemical composition of the rocks 
immediately beneath it will indicate precisely the 
character and capabilities of that soil for the support of 
plant life. 
As the rocks consist frequently of different ingre¬ 
dients, and above all of the essential elements of plant 
food, so must the soils formed by their degradation 
vary in a proportionate ratio. It is an important fact 
to be remembered by horticulturists and agriculturists 
alike, that the fertility of any given soil depends not 
upon the greatest quantity of any essential element it 
may contain, but upon the smallest proportion of any 
necessary element present. But if one or more of the 
essential elements are absent, then such a soil must 
necessarily be as barren as the desert of Sahara. I 
have already stated that ten chemical elements are 
essential to the existence of green plants ; but some 
authors enumerate twelve or fourteen mineral in¬ 
gredients. We can then understand how important it 
is to ascertain what a soil contains, and of what it is 
deficient. A knowledge of geology here comes to our 
rescue, as it will explain why the land in one district 
is poor while in a neighbouring one it is rich. This 
may even occur on adjoining estates, on two adjoining 
fields, or even in the same one, owing to a difference in 
the geological formation of the rocks immediately 
beneath. 
Three ingredients alone—viz., clay, lime and sand— 
will supply all the constituents necessary for a fertile 
soil, and this may be obtained by the mixing of the 
detritus or crumbled remains of claystone, limestone 
and sandstone. Such a soil in relation to plant life 
The Heliotrope. 
performs three functions — firstly, that of affording 
the plant a means of fixing and supporting itself in the 
proper position peculiar to each kind; secondly, a 
supply of food ; and thirdly, constitutes a medium in 
which important chemical changes are effected in the 
preparation of suitable plant food. A relative value of 
the different soils may best be ascertained by reference 
to the various geological formations from which they 
have been derived, and gardeners in general may rest 
assured that they will derive both pleasure and profit 
by acquiring a knowledge of the science. 
(To he continued). 
-- 
HELIOTROPES IN WINTER. 
A supply of bloom may be obtained from plants grown 
expressly for the purpose in pots, or by planting out 
in a house where a minimum temperature of 50 3 or 65° 
is maintained during the winter months. Under such 
conditions the plants attain a considerable height, and 
throw out lateral drooping branches in great abundance, 
and flower, so to speak, perpetually. Small plants of 
bushy habit, such as is represented by our illustration, 
are, however, a desideratum for conservatory and other 
decoration, where they are admired as much, or more, 
for the fragrance of their flowers as for their beauty. 
Cuttings should be taken in early spring, and struck 
in a close frame, afterwards potting them singly, and 
growing them on in a temperature of 6C°. Pinch the 
tops out as the shoots grow until a bushy habit has 
been acquired. Stand the plants out of doors in the 
full sun during autumn to ripen the wood, but remove 
them indoors again before there is danger from frost— 
say, about the end of September. The undermentioned 
are suitable for pot culture. Bouquet Perfume has 
dark, sweetly-scented flowers, with green foliage, and 
is both dwarf and floriferous, as is Madame Jubbinger, 
which has dark foliage, as well as flowers. Miss 
Nightingale has dark lilac flowers, and is one of the 
best for bedding, on account of its dwarf floriferou3 
habit. The pale blooms of White Lady become pure 
white under glass, and the foliage is pale. It is one of 
the best for winter flowering. Other good kin Is are 
Buffon, Roi des Noirs, Madame E. Schiller, Madame 
Barbey, Mina, and President Garfield. 
-*»*<*- 
VINE BORDERS. 
Your able correspondent, Mr. Gaut, at p. 181, invites 
other readers to give their practical experience in this 
matter, and I therefore offer a few remarks. Mr. Gaut 
says that if he had a choice he would prefer outside 
borders. In this I differ from him, being an advocate 
of inside borders. I believe that as good results, if 
not better, can be obtained from inside borders alone, 
as from inside and outside borders combined. Your 
correspondent also says, “ If once the roots get away 
long distances all control is lost over them,” and this, 
I think, is of itself a strong point in favour of inside 
borders. The case he mentions of Vine roots having 
penetrated into a Raspberry plantation, and had, there¬ 
fore, to be cut back, to the permanent injury of the Vine, 
is another case in favour of planting inside, by which 
means undue wandering in search of food can be 
prevented. 
When I entered my present situation, three years 
ago, I found two vineries in which shanking, bad colour 
and poor flavour were only too evident, though my 
employer told me the borders had been made with 
great care some years previously. What fruit was left 
I had cut, and then set to work to examine the outside 
border, in which I found a good many long clean rods 
running right through, and more like fishing-rods than 
roots, with here and there large patches of canker and 
decay. Not a good serviceable root was to be seen, and 
yet the borders had been mulched every year with cow 
manure to no advantage whatever. A good supply of 
old turf was prepared, and with it we made up the 
portion of the border nearest the stems, in the hope 
that by its means the formation of young roots would 
be encouraged. We then examined the inside, and all 
the roots worth preserving were tied up carefully, until 
all the old soil had been removed. We then made up 
about half of the border with the fresh turf chopped up 
and mixed with a little stable manure, and carefully 
laid in what roots there were. 
On examining both borders in the following year I 
found that not a single root had ventured outside, 
whereas a fair quantity of nice fibres had started into 
growth inside, which considerably improved the fruit 
this past season. The other day I removed a few inches 
of soil from the inside border for the purpose of adding 
a fresh dressing, and found that the roots had travelled 
nearly through the fresh material, forming a perfect 
network of fibres. I am thus convinced that inside 
borders can be kept as sweet and wholesome as those 
made outside, and further, that outside borders are 
seldom, if ever, worth the trouble and expense incurred 
in making them.— James Cocker, The Gardens,Lochryan 
House, Stranraer. 
-—»»*<—— 
ECCENTRICITIES OP GRAPE 
CULTURE. 
In an excellent address on the Vine and its culture, 
recently given by Mr. J. Hudson, of Gunnersbury 
House Gardens, before the members of the Ealing 
Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Society, he alluded to 
some occurrences illustrating what might be termed 
eccentricities in Vine culture. One of these is the case 
of the Lady Downe’s Vines at Heckfield Gardens, which 
were originally on their roots, but which are now upon 
their heads. The vinery is a span-roofed one, the 
glass reaching nearly to the ground, and the Vines 
originally planted, as they made growth, were brought 
down on the other side, and produced splendid crops of 
Grapes. It occurred to Mr. Wildsmith to peg the tops 
of the Vines to the soil, with the result that the Vines 
were rooted at both ends. Then Mr. Wildsmith was 
induced to cut them off at the roots, and to this day 
they remain with their natural position reversed, 
actually upon their heads, and there has not appeared, 
in any way, any diminution of vigour of crops or fruit. 
I saw these Vines in July last, and they were carrying 
crops of the most promising character. 
Another instance occurred at Ealing Park while Mr. 
William Cole was the gardener there. He made an 
additional early vinery by carrying a branch of a Vine 
