582 
THE HARDENING WORLD 
May IT, 1890. 
Death of Mrs. Rose.—We learn from a correspondent 
that Mrs. Rose, widow of Mr. H. Rose, who succeeded 
the late Mr. Ingram as gardener to H.M. The Queen, 
at Frogmore, and who died in 1874, died at Balham, 
Surrey, on the 2nd inst. 
Gardening Engagements.—Mr. JohnEllicott, lately 
gardener to H. W. Tugwell, Esq., Crowe Hall, Bath, 
as gardener to J. F. G. Bannatyne, Esq., Summerville, 
Limerick, in succession to Mr. E. Dumper. Mr. Thos. 
Copper, foreman at Thoresby Park, 011erton,as gardener 
to Sir J. Crossland, Royd’s Wood, Huddersfield. 
Visit of Tire Queen to Waddesden Manor.—On 
Wednesday afternoon Her Majesty the Queen paid a 
visit to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild at Waddesden 
Manor, near Aylesbury. On leaving, Her Majesty was 
presented with a bouquet composed entirely of Yanda 
teres, dotted with sprays of Odontoglossum Pescatorei; 
and the Princesses Louise and Beatrice with bouquets 
of Souvenir de Malmaison Carnations and Ferns, all of 
which were made by Mr. Jacques, and were worthy of 
his skill. 
The Secretaryship of the Royal Horticultural 
Society.—We are requested by the Rev. W. Wilks to 
state that he has not resigned the secretaryship of the 
society as announced in one of our contemporaries last 
week. It is true that Mr. Wilks is anxious to find 
some one who will take up the work, but he will not 
resign until a suitable successor is forthcoming, or more 
urgent reasons arise than at present exist. On all 
counts we are glad to make this announcement ; there 
are others on the directorate whose resignation would 
be less keenly felt. 
The Temple Show.—We are requested to state that 
schedules for the Temple Show on May 28th and 29th 
will take the form of a twenty-page 8vo. pamphlet, 
containing (1) a short history of the society (2) pro¬ 
grammes of the music each day by the band of H. M. 
Horse Guards (Blues), and (3) a list of exhibitors, and 
of their chief exhibits, but no names can be possibly 
inserted unless received by Mr. Barron, at Chiswick, 
or at the society’s offices, 117, Victoria Street, on 
Saturday, May 24th, at the latest. Ten thousand of 
the schedules are being printed in expectation of the 
Prince of Wales opening the show. 
An English School ofForestry.—A deputation waited 
on Mr. Chaplin, the Minister of Agriculture, on the 
9th. inst., as to the formation of a School of Forestry. 
On the part of the deputation, it was stated that, with 
the exception of Spain, there was no nation in Europe 
which wa4 without a School of Forestry. Further, that 
we imported yearly millions of tons of timber which 
this country was capable of growing itself. It would 
be impossible to commence the school without some 
preliminary help from the State. Mr. Chaplin, in 
replying, said it was not in the power of the Agricultural 
Department, over which he presided, to establish a 
School of Forestry ; but he would undertake to put the 
matter before the Government. 
The National Co-operative Flower Show is fixed to 
be held at the Crystal Palace on Saturday, August 16ih. 
The Agricultural and Horticultural Association of 
London contributes nearly £200 in prizes, and the 
Crystal Palace Company £150. It is expected that 
special prizes will also be offered by numerous London 
and provincial co-operative societies, as was done last 
year. The schedule just issued embraces offers of 825 
money prizes, besides Silver and Bronze Medals, and—■ 
for the first time—a Champion Gold Medal. One new 
feature is the division of exhibitors into geographical 
districts. For the more important prizes the country 
is mapped out into five districts, so that exhibitors 
from the north will not have to compete against the 
south, the west, the midlands, &c., or vice versd. The 
secretary is Mr. Edward Owen Greening, of 3, Agar 
Street, Strand, London, "W. C., from whom schedules 
can be obtained. 
Narcissus orientalis.—More attention is now given to 
this Daffodil for spring bedding than has been the case 
for some time past at least. It is sometimes supplied by 
the growers as a substitute or by mistake for N. incom- 
parabilis semipartitus. When seen in flower, however, 
there is no excuse for confounding the two. In the 
first place, the latter has the large flowers of the type 
with a deeply six-lobed corona. The perianth of NT. 
orientalis is more about the size of a form of N. Tazetta, 
and is of a pale sulphur-white or primrose when it first 
expands, and deepens slightly with age. The corona is 
of a clear, bright yellow, and divided more than half 
way down into three but sometimes more lobes, which 
are irregular in size. The same plant has received other 
names, such as N. Tazetta lacticolor and FT. T. 
ochroleuca. 
THE NOMENCLATURE OF 
ORCHIDS. 
The Council of the Royal Horticultural Society have 
adopted the following rules for the naming of Orchids 
for garden purposes. 
Sect. I.— Genera, Species, well-marked 
Varieties, and Natural Hybrids. 
1. The names of natural genera, species, and well- 
marked varieties, as well as of presumed wild hybrids, 
shall be written so as to accord with botanical language 
and usage, and to conform with the laws of botanical 
nomenclature (Lois cU la Nomenclature Botaniyue ) as 
adopted at the International Botanical Congress at 
Baris in 1867. 
2. Exhibitors showing, for the first time, a plant 
under a Latin name, shall be required to furnish the 
name of the botanist who has described the plant. 
Sect. II.— Artificial Hybrids between Genera. 
3. Every bigener shall receive a generic name in 
Latin formed by combining the names of the parent 
genera, and a specific name also in Latin, the sign of 
hybridity, X, being always added. 
Sect. III.— Artificial Hybrids between Species. 
4. Hybrids between species raised artificially shall be 
named in Latin, with the addition of the word hybridus, 
or of the sign of hybridity, x. (See par. 1). 
Sect. IV.— Artificial Crosses between Varieties. 
5. Crosses between varieties raised artificially shall 
receive suitable vernacular names. 
Sect. V.—General Recommendations. 
6. The Orchid Committee shall decline to recognise 
any unauthorised name, or any name that is deemed 
unsuitable, or is not applied in conformity with the 
preceding rules. 
7. A name once authoritatively adopted shall not be 
altered. 
8. An award may be made to any plant that is con¬ 
sidered by the committee worthy of such distinction, 
even though it be unnamed, or not named in accord¬ 
ance with the preceding regulations, provided that, 
within a reasonable time, to he determined by the 
committee, a proper name be given. Any award made 
under these circumstances shall be suspended until the 
plant has been properly named. 
9. The operation of these rules shall be prospective, 
not retrospective. 
10. The council wishes to impress upon Orchid 
growers the desirability of obtaining drawings or photo¬ 
graphs of all new and certificated Orchids, and of 
depositing such drawings in the Library of the society 
for reference. 
11. The council also desires to remind cultivators 
of the great importance of preserving specimens, for 
future reference and comparision, and suggests that, 
whenever practicable, specimens should be sent for this 
purpose to the Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew. 
-- 
THE YEW. 
The late Mr. A. Mongredien made the common Yew— 
Tazus baccata —a native of England. It is certainly 
found in Europe, New Zealand, and the Cape of Good 
Hope. We sometimes hear of animals being poisoned 
by eating the branches of the Yew, and we are 
informed on the best authority that they are decidedly 
poisonous both to man and to horses and cows. But 
while the foliage is so harmful, the fruit is perfectly 
harmless, and, indeed, agreeable to eat; and when 
a school-boy, with my school-fellows, I used to feed 
upon them heartily. They contain a sweet, glutinous 
juice, and drop when they are ripe. Wasps, cater¬ 
pillars, and several kinds of birds are said to feed upon 
them with avidity. 
Yew trees are undoubtedly of great antiquity. It 
would be only natural, perhaps, to expect the greatest 
longevity in indigenous trees, and though it has been 
a disputed point among botanists and others 
as to what trees are really natives to the English 
soil, etymology alone would indicate that the 
following were of Roman importation :—the Elm 
(Ulmus), the Plane (Platanus), the Poplar (Populus), 
the Box (Buxus), and the Chestnut (Castanea). The 
Yew, on the contrary, is probably indigenous, though its 
opponents find some reason for their scepticism in 
the fact that its larger specimens are chiefly found in 
churchyards and artificial plantations. The favour of 
its claim is the fact that its pretensions to longevity 
seem to be better founded than those of any other 
English tree, not even excluding the Oak. It supplied 
the wood that formed the bows with which, before the 
introduction of firearms, the English soldiers gained 
many famous historical battles. About midway 
between Matlock and Cliatsworth, in the churchyard 
of Darley, stands a venerable Yew, stated to have 
existed 600 years, and to be the finest and oldest in 
the county of Derby. A Yew that was dug up from a 
bog in Queen’s County, was proved by its rings to have 
been 545 years of age, yet for the last 300 years of its 
life it had grown so_slowly that near the circumference 
100 rings were traceable within an inch. Some great 
and sudden change for thejworse in 4 the external condi¬ 
tions may have accounted for so slow a rate, but it 
would hardly he safe, with such evidence before us, to 
allow more than 3 ft. a century as the normal 
growth of a Yew, in which case the Fortingal Yew 
in Scotland, 56 ft. round in 1769, may have lived more 
than eighteen centuries, and a longevity in proportion 
must be accorded to the Yews at Fountains Abbey, or 
to the Tibsury Yew in Dorsetshire, which boasts of 
37 ft. in circumference. Hence, tradition in this case 
would seem to contain nothing incredible when it asserts 
that the Yews on Ivingley Bottom, near Chichester, 
were on their present site when the sea kings from the 
north landed on the coast of Sussex. 
The employment of the Yew in churchyards also 
dates back for a considerable period. The dark and 
sombre Yew tree has from the remote past been invested 
with an essentially funereal character ; hence its pro¬ 
pinquity to tombs. The Egyptians regarded it as a 
symbol of mourning, and the idea descended to the 
Greeks and Romans, who employed the wood as fuel 
for the funereal pyres. The Britons probably learned 
from the Romans to attach a funereal signification to 
the Yew, and inasmuch as it had been employed in 
ancient funereal rites, they regarded the tree with 
reverence, and probably looked upon it as sacred. The 
reason assigned by some for the custom is, that the 
poisonous foliage of the Yew typified death ; others, that 
its durability and slowly altering features symbolised 
resurrection ; other?, in order that it might afford a 
supply of twigs to he worn on Palm Sunday ; and others 
again, taking a more utilitarian view, that there might 
be always at hand a supply of wood for making bows. 
Eew trees are less fastidious in regard to soils and 
situations, and handsome specimens are to -be found in 
every district of the country, growing and thriving in 
almost every variety of soil. There is no doubt, how¬ 
ever, that they prefer a rich deep loam, with a subsoil 
cool and moist, and a situation moderately sheltered 
and shady, rather than exposed to the full rays of the 
sun. The Yew is one among the few evergreens that 
succeed well in the shade of high trees, not only grow¬ 
ing well in such circumstances, but developing the 
peculiar dark glossy green of their foliage to the 
greatest perfection. 
Having naturally a dense twiggy habit of growth, 
and as it may be cut or clipped into almost any shape 
with the greatest impunity, the English Yew has few 
equals as an evergreen garden-hedge plant, and as such 
it has long been extensively employed. In the day— 
now happily passed away—when it was fashionable to 
adorn gardens with shrubs cut into architectural forms 
as well as those of animals, and even men, its patience 
under the knife^was amply taken advantage of, pro¬ 
ducing some of the most grotesque and intricate 
designs, with a solidity and sharpness of outline superior 
to either Juniper or Boxwood. Examples of this 
method still remain among us ; hut, as a general rule, 
this unnatural clipping has come to an end, and trees 
once clipped are now permitted to assume their natural 
shape.— E. D. 
->X-c-- 
THE LILY OF THE NILE. 
The Richardia africana, most commonly known as 
Calla rethiopica (Lily of the Nile), is in all respects a 
plant of noble - appearance and conspicuous beauty, 
whether in flower or not. Its massive semi-erect foliage, 
of a glossy green hue, with its heavy veius of a paler 
shade, combined with the closely spotted sheath at the 
base, render it an object of no little attraction when 
associated with the general collection of greenhouse 
plants. For large conservatories, corridors, entrance- 
halls, and staircases, the Calla has few equals, as it can 
withstand very heavy shade, and even draughts, better 
than most plants. It has of late become a very popular 
plant amongst the middle classes for window and lobby 
decoration, and it is marvellous to observe how much at 
home it seems where carefully tended with water, 
and an occasional sponging to keep the foliage free 
rom dust. Under such circumstances, however, it 
arely blooms with much freedom, and I presume this 
act alone may be accounted for in not being afforded a 
