January 4, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
285 
and during extra busy times when the supply seems 
uuable to keep pace with the demand, the flowers 
obtain their “standard colour” quite as well and much 
more rapidly in an oven, or specially constructed 
forcing stove. The stripping and tying process is the 
principal operation, for on the neatness with which this 
is done depends largely the amount of the cheque to 
be received at the end of the week. A box of flowers, 
neatly arranged and tied closely, will realise much 
more than a box just thrown together. 
The stripping and tying of Narcissus is simply child’s 
play compared with the preparation of Wallflowers, or 
“Walls,” as they are shortly termed, and Stocks. 
These have to be relieved of their lower bristling 
leaves, and generally trimmed into shape before they 
can be tied together, and when it is added that three 
or four “maunds’’ are often brought into the kitchen 
to be despatched by the next mail, it cannot be 
wondered at that womankind, on whom this branch of 
the work usually falls, feel no very great affection 
for the velvety “ Walls ” ! After being tied into 
bunches of twelve stems the flowers are placed in water, 
and at this stage they present a sight unequalled in 
England. Imagine washing trays, tubs, baths, boxes, 
tins of every size and shape filled with yellow blossoms, 
relieved by the deep brown of the Wallflower, or 
brilliant scarlet of the Anemone fulgens, all grouped 
together. They look beautiful enough in the fields, 
but the burst of colour presented by thousands of 
“Daffs ” arranged within a small compass must be seen 
to be appreciated. In the water they remain to open, 
and generally improve until the “steamer day” 
arrives. The afternoon before the steamer leaves for 
Penzance the packing of the flowers is commenced. 
Then that which is to make or mar the venture has to 
be decided—namely, the market to which the flowers 
shall be sent. Now, each flower salesman in the 
different centres has an agent at Scilly to whom baskets 
are consigned, and telegrams sent giving the prices of 
flowers and the prospects for the next market. 
Well, on the afternoon or evening before the flowers 
are despatched, some one off a farm will gallop into 
town and go from agent to agent with the familiar 
question, “What price fulgens?” “What does 
Jacobs say to-day ? ” or inquire about any other 
flower which may be foremost at the time. Some days 
the agent will come out smiling with his telegram— 
“Send as many flowers as possible ; great demand ! ” 
But at other times he leaves his telegram inside, and 
comes to the door with a rueful face—“ Bad weather 
to-day ; no sale ”—that is then the answer he has to 
give. Having got the various prices, the messenger 
will ride home and tell his master, “Daffs” are so 
much, “ Walls,” “ Leedsi,” “Sol-dors” and the others 
so much, and report on the markets according to the 
statements of the various agents. It is surprising how 
well the Scillonians battle with the names of their 
bulbs. Most of them are unspellable and unpronounce¬ 
able by ordinary mortals, yet the islanders converse 
familiarly to each other about them, and do it well, 
too, as learned men have admitted, when we remember 
that Latin is not taught in the schools. Those names 
which are too much even for their powers they calmly 
drop, and use others less exhausting to the tongue. 
On the report of his messenger the farmer decides to 
whom he will entrust the sale of his flowers on the 
morrow. But before this critical point has been 
decided, little boxes, specially made for the purpose, 
have been brought out, and into each about five dozen 
bunches of flowers have been laid very methodically. 
First pillows of hay or Ferns are laid at the ends of 
the box, on which the first row of flowers is rested. 
The second row is placed on the first, and so on until 
the box is full. A sheet of paper is put over them, 
with a ticket saying the number of bunches the box 
contains, after which the cover is nailed on and 
labelled; then the flowers are ready for market. 
Until a year or two ago the flowers were invariably sent 
off in large wicker “ flats ” belonging to the salesmen, 
who charged 10 per cent, for the loan of the basket and 
their fee as the auctioneer. But now the larger growers 
have quantities of thin wood cut in the necessary 
lengths sent them, from which they knock together 
their own boxes, and save 2J per cent, of the salesman’s 
fee. The packing and labelling being completed, the 
work is put aside until the next morning, when the 
carts are loaded. Then from seven until ten in the 
morning one long string ot carts goes rattling through 
the town to the pier where the steamer lies. 
Here the boxes are unloaded and given over to the 
steamship agent, who flits hither and thither amongst 
the flowers like the busy bee “improving each shining 
hour,” not gathering honey, however, but making out 
waybills and completing necessary arrangements. On 
stormy mornings, when there is a doubt as to whether 
the steamer will venture out, if the captain decides to 
go, the “ Blue Peter ’’ sailing flag is hoisted, and a long 
whistle is given the steam “hooter.” The Lady of the 
Isles used to make one trip with flowers every Monday, 
but the day has since been changed to Tuesday. To 
prepare the flowers by Monday, meant working on 
Sunday night, or rather, Monday morning ; for the 
Scillonians say they always used to wait until 12, the 
midnight hour, had struck. Anyhow, the arrange¬ 
ment was most inconvenient, and it has been altered. 
In this way the West Cornwall Steamship Company 
has ever been obliging to the islanders. If, as some¬ 
times happens in winter, the steamer cannot cross from 
Penzance on the proper day, they bear the cost of send¬ 
ing a pilot cutter to Penzance with the cargo of flowers, 
and they have lately added a new and larger vessel— 
the Lyonesse—which steams faster, and is luxuriously 
fitted up. 
After the flowers have been delivered, all haste is 
made back to the farm, where operations for the next 
consignment are in full swing. In May and June, the 
Scillonians enter upon a regular struggle against time, 
for then the early Potatos must be drawn and sent to 
market, as well as the flowers. These Potatos are 
planted during January and February, and the earlier 
sorts should be fit for drawing in May and June. 
Formerly the islanders commenced “ teeling,” as they 
say, in December, but now they place the seed on 
boards to sprout, and they get such long shoots on 
them that it is unnecessary to till before the new year. 
Wheat is sown in February, but very little is now 
grown. The Potato crop has become of quite secondary 
importance. Last year, for instance, only a thousand 
tons were despatched from the isles, and the great pro¬ 
portion of these come from the off islands, which cling 
more tenaciously to the old staple. For the earliest 
Potatos this season, id. to 6 d. per lb. was realised. In 
the middle of the summer, 15s. per cwt. was the 
average price, and this gradually declined to 5s. per 
cwt. It is not in human nature to go on producing 
Potatos at 5s. per cwt., when by tilling bulbs a man 
may get £5 out of the same extent of ground. Again, 
Potatos have to be heavily manured with seaweed, and 
fresh seed put in every year, whereas for Narcissus, the 
manuring required is not worth considering, and a 
man’s stock increases spontaneously threefold year by 
year. Thus Potatos are doomed in Scilly. A certain 
quantity will be grown this coming year, a little 
steamer having discharged a cargo of seed, but the 
smaller farmers have absolutely no land available, and 
the larger holders begin to find themselves cramped. 
There is no doubt whatever that the farmers of Scilly— 
farmers no longer, but florists—are in the height of 
prosperity, and there would be no more profitable 
investment than a Scilly farm, only that there are 
none to be had ! If a field falls in to the lord pro¬ 
prietor, it is easily snapped up, at many times its 
former value, and even then the lucky tenant is amply 
repaid by the flowers he produces. 
Ten, even fifteen, tons of flowers will sometimes be 
sent to Penzance at a time, and the Great Western 
Railway runs special trains to convey them to market. 
It is hard to realise the quantity of blooms included in 
ten tons, but if one can grasp that, let him think of 
those ten tons being sold at from 2>d. to 2s. per bunch of 
twelve flowers, and he will get some idea of the 
enormous amount of money which circulates in those 
far-off isles, week by week during the season .—From 
The Western Morning Mews, December 27th. 
--»=&e-- 
LIVERPOOL HORTICULTURAL 
ASSOCIATION. 
The third, and by far the most successful annual din¬ 
ner of the members of this association took place on 
Saturday, December 14th, at “ The Bears’ Paw Restau¬ 
rant,” Liverpool, when the company numbered nearly 
200. After dinner the chair was occupied by the hon. 
treasurer, Mr. Fletcher Rogers. The vice-chairmen 
were Messrs. White, Cox and Powell. The loyal 
toasts having been duly honoured, the chairman, in 
proposing “The Liverpool Horticultural Association,” 
said that it had been of great benefit to the neighbour¬ 
hood, and if its efforts had not been appreciated as they 
ought to have been, its members were men who never 
knew defeat, and who would do their utmost to win 
success in the future. The chairman of the association 
(Mr. White), whose name was coupled with the toast, 
in responding, said that owing to the favourable 
weather the autumn show had been the most successful 
the association had had for a great number of years. 
He was pleased to say that there had been no falling off 
in the list of subscribers, and this, and the success of 
the autumn show, had buoyed up the committee and 
stimulated them in their resolution to give a spring 
show in 1890. The chairman next proposed “The 
Horticultural Trade,” and Mr. Davies, of Wavertree 
Nursery, in replying, said the members of the trade 
around Liverpool had the prosperity of the association 
at heart, and he knew that everyone would help it 
forward as much as possible. Mr. Henry Middlehurst 
also briefly responded, endorsing all that Mr. Davies 
had said. The toast of “The Press ” was responded 
to by Mr. Edwards, of The Liverpool Mercury ; “ The 
Hon. Treasurer,” by the chairman ; “ The Visitors and 
Contributors to the Entertainment,” by Mr. Ewing. A 
noteworthy feature at this dinner is the excellent 
musical programme always provided, and which includes 
the names of well-known gardeners in the Liverpool 
district. Among those who assisted on this occasion 
were Mr. Blomiley, Aigburth; Mr. R. Pinnington, 
Roby ; Mr. G. Kilburn, Mr. A. G. Hannah, Mr. J. S. 
Sudlow, and Mr. A. G. Davies, with Mr. G. H. Fisk 
as accompanist. The arrangements were admirably 
carried out by a committee consisting of Messrs. Cox, 
Powell, Blackmore, Curie, and the energetic secretary, 
Mr. Bridge. 
-——- 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
—-t-— 
THE STOVE. 
Winter-flowering Plants. —After Christmas and 
the new year, the houses that previous to then were gay 
with all sorts of flowering subjects, will now present a 
rather decimated appearance, owing to the great demand 
for cut flowers at those festive times, and will require 
re-arrangement. Select the best of the Poinsettias for 
stock, and throw the rest away when the heads of 
bracts have been cut off. Place those kept for stock 
on a shelf near the glass, so that the wood may be 
thoroughly ripened; gradually withhold water until 
the wood is quite firm, when it may be discontinued, 
and the plants be removed to a house with a night 
temperature of 55°. Euphorbia fulgens (jacquiniseflora) 
need not be dispensed with yet, because if kept 
moderately dry till the stems start afresh, side shoots 
will develop from time to time, furnishing a supply of 
bloom till March or April. Throw away Rivinias that 
have been rendered useless for decorative purposes by 
having been indoors. Reserve a few for stock. 
Gardenias, &c. —A few of these may be put into 
heat to bring them on more rapidly, to furnish a 
supply that will presently be much wanted, owing to 
the dearth of flowers. Plunge them in a bottom heat of 
85°, with a somewhat lower temperature in the body of 
the house. Select those plants whose buds are most 
advanced. Tabernaemontana coronaria flore pleno is of 
similar habit, and may be treated in the same way to 
hasten it, if the flowers are likely to be required. 
Allamandas and Stephanotis. —When plants of 
these are grown in pots and require to be brought on 
early, they must be re-potted and started at a corre¬ 
spondingly early period. The buds should have just 
commenced to make fresh growth before the operation 
is started. Give a thorough watering a short time 
before turning them out of the pots, and the ball will 
come out all the more readily without damaging the 
roots. About every three years will be often enough 
to re-pot Clerodendrons, as both they and Allamandas 
may be fed with liquid manure while growth is being 
made. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Camellias.— Keep the plants now in bud, and in the 
process of flowering well supplied with water to prevent 
the dropping of the buds, and if a little soot-water or 
manure water be given them at intervals it will assist 
them materially. 
Azaleas. —A large quantity of bloom may be ob¬ 
tained from the early-flowering kinds by keeping them 
in a gentle warmth in the greenhouse. Such kinds as 
A. indica alba and A. i. narcissiflora, together with a 
few others, naturally flower early without any forcing. 
A. amoena and the Carmichiel strain of hybrids obtained 
from the latter, if forced and then put in the greenhouse 
will give a large quantity of bloom lasting over a con¬ 
siderable period. 
Epiphyllums. —After flowering is over keep the 
plauts rather dry, aud stand them in a house with a 
lower temperature. A greenhouse will suit them quite 
