May 17, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
587 
The lecturer then pointed out that a love for these 
fragrant blossoms was almost as old as human 
history itself, and gave quotations from the Homeric 
“Hymn to Demeter” (b.c. 1000), and from the 
“(Edipus at Colonus ” of Sophocles, both of whom 
mentioned Narcissus Tazetta for its glittering beauty 
and fragrance nearly 3,000 years ago. 
Turning from poetry and speculative “guesses at 
truth,” the lecturer next emphasised the fact that 
Mr. W. Flinders Petrie, the celebrated Egyptologist, 
had recently discovered—that is to say, in 1888—at 
Hawara, ia Egypt, actual flowers of Narcissus 
Tazetta, as before alluded to, these blossoms having 
been deftly woven into funeral wreaths or votive 
garlands as long ago as the first century before the 
Christian era. These offerings to the honoured dead 
are supposed to have been made by Greek residents 
in Egypt, and are now preserved in the collections at 
Kew, where they may be seen. 
After the poets of Greece, however, in chronological 
order, come the early Greek physicians, such as 
Hippocrates, and at a much later date, Galen, both 
of whom recommended the usage of the poisonous 
or narcotic roots of Narcissus for anaesthetic and 
medical purposes. 
Theophrastus of Eresus (b.c. 374—286), described 
the plant, and he appears to have been the first to 
allude to its increase by means of seeds, which he 
tells us “were sometimes gathered for sowing,” and he 
further says that the fleshy roots or bulbs were some¬ 
times planted. As a beautiful and variable wild and 
garden flower in Southern and Western Europe, in 
North Africa and in the East, there is no doubt but 
that this flower has ever been popular, but so far as 
English gardens are concerned, the Narcissus seems 
to have first become famous during, or shortly previous, 
to Elizabethan times, when all the greatest poets 
mention it; and during the same epoch, both Gerard 
and Parkinson, the royal herbalists of their day, 
illustrate or describe at least one hundred kinds, 
and of these old Gerard (1597 to 1633) more 
especially writes that “all and every one of them” 
abounded in London gardens. No doubt the common 
yellow Daffodil of the woods and meadows in “Merry 
England” had been popular as a flower for the making 
of festive wreaths or garlands long before exotic kinds 
were introduced and cultivated in gardens, since these 
were mentioned by Chaucer and other early English 
poets, just as they were by those of ancient Greece. 
When the great wave of early seventeenth century 
culture spread over Europe, choice Narcissi were im¬ 
ported from Constantinople and the Levant generally, 
as Gerard quaintly tells us was the fact, along with 
other bulbed flowers, these latter including the then 
more attractive Tulip, and, no doubt, the Hyacinth as 
well. 
Mr. Burbidge next alluded to the old Dutch 
paintings of garden flowers, dating from 1590 to 1650, 
and in which many kinds of Narcissi find portraiture. 
He in particular instanced one picture now to be seen 
in the Louvre (No. 477)—viz., “Triomphe d’Amour,” 
the figures by Zampieri, the wreath of flowers sur¬ 
rounding them being by Seghers ; “ Le Jesuito 
d’Anvers,” this wreath containing life-size portraits of 
fourteen or fifteen kinds of Narcissi and of Daffodils, 
some of which are the rarities of to-day. Other 
pictures exist in the “Musee des Arts Deeoratifs,” in 
our own National Gallery, and other collections, public 
and private, in which these flowers find a place, and 
even our English Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, seems to 
have been fond of them, since, in a portrait of her by 
Zucchero, hanging in the Examination Hall of Trinity 
College, Dublin, there is a flower of a purple-ringed, or 
Poet’s Narcissus, painted in a prominent position by 
her side. 
Again, in the rare old folios and other books of the 
same epoch (1590 to 1650), many species and varieties, 
including several natural or wild hybrids, are illustrated 
either by wood engravings (mostly made at the then 
celebrated Plantin, or Plantin-Moretus press at Ant¬ 
werp) or by copper-plate etchings or engravings. 
Especial mention was made of the works of the pre- 
Linnean botanists, such as L’Obel, Dodoens, L’Ecluse— 
who was one of the first and best of European plant 
collectors—Jean Robin, Gerard and Parkinson. 
Mr. Burbidge also alluded to some rare works, such as 
Sweert’s Florilegium, the Hortus Floridus of Crispian 
Passe, junr., Jardin du Roy and Theatrum Florae., and 
to the ill-fated book of drawings issued by the Rudbecks 
in 1/02, the Campi Elysii, of which only two or three 
copies exist, most of the issue, woodblocks, &c., having 
been burned in the great fire at Upsala, in 1702. It 
was stated that the only complete copy of this last work 
is that in the Sherardian Library, at the Botanical 
Gardens, Oxford ; but there is also a copy, less perfect, 
in the Banksian Library, British Museum, which 
contains all the woodcuts illustrating the Narcissi. It 
was also stated that portraits of two of the beautiful 
white Spanish Daffodils were seen by Salisbury (a noted 
authority on these flowers about a century ago), in the 
palace at Fontainebleau. They were worked in coloured 
silks on a fire screen, said to have been given by Henry 
IV. to La Belle Gabrielle. Salisbury especially tells us, 
in the Transactions of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
vol. i., that these representations were most natural 
and life-like, the legend worked beneath them being 
“ Coquelourdes Blancs, 1598,” or the year before John 
Gerard, the barber-surgeon, published his famous 
Herbal, which, bulky as it was, gave a great impetus to 
the general study of botany and gardening in England 
for years and years after it first appeared. 
Mr Burbidge next alluded to the history of the 
cultivated and wild Narcissi, and to the now numerous 
and ever increasing garden hybrids and seedlings, as 
also to the men like Herbert, Leeds, Backhouse, 
Horsefield, Nelson, &c., who have in the main enriched 
our modern gardens with the most beautiful forms and 
phases of this flower. 
A considerable and valuable portion of Mr. Burtidge’s 
paper consisted of a chronological history of the genus 
from the days of Homer to those of Oscar Wilde ! In 
this tabulated list mention is made, under dates, of all 
the principal poets, physicians, philosophers and 
botanists, who have alluded to the odour, beauty, uses, 
&c., of this now fashionable flower, or with whose 
names it has become connected. 
-- 
Hardening §Tiscellany. 
—»*■— 
The Late Mr. James Flood. 
In common with many others who have known my old 
friend for a long number of years, I am sorry to hear 
of his death and deplore his loss. lie seemed to be 
particularly fitted for tbe part he played in the horti¬ 
cultural world, and it is satisfactory to know he played 
it successfully, winning all round a large amount of 
confidence and esteem. My knowledge of him dates 
back to the time when he was acting as clerk to the 
late Mr. Robert Marnoek at the gardens of the Royal 
Botanic Society in the Regent’s Park, and upon him 
devolved the clerical work connected with the exhibi¬ 
tions held there. It was his close acquaintance with 
it which induced the late Mr. Thomas Moore, as 
exhibition secretary to the great International Horti¬ 
cultural Exhibition, 1866, to engage James Flood to 
take the direction of the clerical work consequent upon 
that historic show, and he was engaged with a staff of 
clerks for many days on this important work. When 
his engagement with the Executive Committee of the 
International Horticultural Exhibition came to an end, 
he took upon himself the direction of exhibitions in 
the provinces, and I met him in this capacity at 
Stamford and elsewhere. One effect of this was that 
he taught committees how to do it, and in a year or so 
they were able to dispense with his services. Then he 
became connected with The Garden, and remained so 
until his death. I always found him a constant and 
faithful friend, and I deeply regret that he has gone 
from among us into the silent land. — R. D. 
Slug's. 
What am I to do to defend myself against these slimy 
little de—ars ? They are everywhere this season, and 
they eat everything that comes in their way. Lime I 
have tried with indifferent success ; soot also. Trapping 
them is effectual, but takes up a lot of time. Is there 
no royal method of despatching them on a large scale ? 
To see the seed-beds robbed in the most bare-faced way 
by these arch conspirators, is enough to make the pro¬ 
verbial saint swear.— Saint Andrew. 
New Zealand-grown Peas. 
I should like to hear what any of your readers have to 
say of seeds saved in New Zealand, who have had 
experience with them in this country. Some years ago 
I tried a sample of Veitch’s Perfection, which looked 
all right as seed, but tbey came up so thin and weak 
that I vowed I would never again have anything to do 
with New Zealand Peas. This year, however, some 
Peas came through my hands which I believed, when I 
saw them, to be of New Zealand growth ; the variety 
was Omega, and should have been green in colour, 
instead of that they were white, and had a sun-bleached 
appearance. In the pot trial their germinating power 
was over 90 per cent., but some sown in the open 
ground the first week in April are comparatively a 
failure, not more than 20 to 30 per cent, coming up. 
Why is this ? New Zealand Cocksfoot often plays the 
same trick, and so do some kinds of flower seeds— 
Ranunculus Lyalli, to wit.— Seedsman. 
Gooseberry Caterpillar. 
Your remarks on garden pests (p. 565) are most oppor¬ 
tune. At present I am located in the midst of many 
acres of Gooseberries, and consequently I am in a 
position to observe the destruction wrought by the 
caterpillar. There are many orchards in this district 
in which the Gooseberry has nearly been destroyed by 
them. There is no object in the garden more exposed 
than the Gooseberry to insect depredation, caterpillars 
being developed in myriads in a single morning cn 
hitherto healthy bushes. To guard against these pests, 
the bushes must be looked over frequently during the 
spring months, and the under-sides of the leaves 
examined, and wherever signs of their eggs appear a 
dusting of Hellebore powder, or a wash with Fir Tree 
Oil, mixed at the rate of one pint of oil to four gallons 
of soft water, applying it forcibly with the syringe, will 
in most cases prove effectual. But as all insects are 
produced from eggs, the object of the gardener must be 
to circumvent them in that stage by destroying the 
eggs as they are deposited. To attain that object I 
hive adopted the following method with good results. 
In the winter, when digging between the bushes, 
spread the whole of the ground over with slaked lime 
and soot mixed, applying a good supply of it round the 
stems. In the spring repeat the liming, more especially 
round the stems and roots, and well rake the ground 
afterwards. Under this treatment, except under 
extreme circumstances, no future attacks from cater¬ 
pillars need be apprehended. In addition to killing 
the grubs, the lime and soot act as a good fertiliser to 
the soil of our very often overcropped orchards.— J. 
Charlton, Farnley Grove Gardens, Corbridgc-on- Tyne. 
The Spring Bulbs in Peel Park. 
Referring to a paragraph on this subject in your 
issue of the 10th inst., p. 572, signed “Visitor,” we 
wish to call your attention to an incorrect statement 
therein. To our miud, the actual mentioning of the 
firm who supplied the bulbs referred to, is intended to 
mislead. We inspected the Tulip display at Peel Park, 
and asked Mr. Moore who supplied the bulbs. His 
reply was, “ One side of the terrace is planted with 
bulbs supplied by your firm, and the other side of the 
terrace was supplied by D. B. & T. ”—the firm mentioned 
by “ Visitor ”—and we are convinced, if anyone asked 
the superintendent the same question, his reply would 
be the same. We offer these remarks in justice to 
ourselves, and to our numerous customers in and about 
Manchester, who no doubt were attracted by so magni¬ 
ficent a display, and shall therefore feel obliged by your 
giving our letter the same publicity in your next issue 
as the afore-mentioned paragraph had in your last.— 
Dickson <£• Robinson, 12, Old Mitigate, Manchester. 
[We published “Visitor’s” letter in all good faith, and 
regret he did not state the whole of the facts.—E d.] 
The Oleander-leaved Allamanda. 
Unlike most of the other species in cultivation, Alla¬ 
manda neriifolia, when left to take its own course, 
forms an erect bush ; and by keeping it in small pots, 
and occasionally pruning it back, may be kept in a 
comparatively small state for stove decoration. The 
flowers are tubularly bell-shaped, with a small lamina 
and a wide tube beautifully striated internally with 
brown on a yellow ground. They are produced in 
many-flowered cymes, keeping up a succession from 
spring all through the summer months. A large plant 
trained over a balloon-shaped wire framework has been 
flowering in the stove at Devonhurst for some time past. 
During the winter months it may be kept in a green¬ 
house, whereas other species would lose many of their 
branches if so treated. 
Cyclamen repandum. 
The flowers of this species are relatively of large size 
compared with those of C. coum and C. ibericum, and 
rosy purple with a darker ring round the mouth, as well 
as dark spots and markings over the rest of the seg¬ 
ments. The leaves vary from reniform to a cordate or 
orbicular outline, are repandly toothed at the margin, 
and occasionally, but not always, zoned with white on 
the upper surface. They are developed at the same 
time as the flowers, which are in perfection during 
