760 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Augusff2, 1890. 
FRoSJidUi^iff^. 
Border Pinks. 
It is not necessary to say much in favour of these 
lovely border plants, as the delightful fragrance of the 
Pink and its hardiness are well known. In the smoky 
districts of the Midlands, many of our outdoor flowers 
are cultivated under great difficulties ; but when they 
do well under such circumstances, it may be fairly 
assumed that they have good constitutions, and with 
better climatic surroundings, would he “things of 
beauty.” 
At Messrs. Thomson’s nurseries, Sparkhill, Birming¬ 
ham, a small collection is now in bloom, and amongst 
the varieties cultivated, the following are well worth 
growing :—Derby Day, rosy pink, with lighter margin ; 
Royal Ascot, another pink-coloured variety ; and Lord 
Lyon, deeper in colour, and the finest of the pink- 
coloured section. The three varieties are all very 
desirable. Anne Boleyn is another darker-coloured 
kind, of taller growth, a variety which has been in 
cultivation for a long number of years, and an old 
favourite. Mrs. Welsh is a pure white, of good size 
when well grown, as large as a moderate-sized Car¬ 
nation, and free-blooming ; and Mrs. Sinkins is another 
well-known white, but not equal to Mrs. Welsh. 
Amongst the laced kinds, both as exhibition and as 
border flowers, three stand out prominently. These 
are Lily, a purple-laced flower of dwarf habit, a most 
profuse bloomer, and a good grower, with short stout 
grass ; George White, an old well-known florists’ 
variety, here an excellent free-growing and blooming 
border sort; and Mrs. Thomson, a seedling, of a 
bright rosy lilac ground-colour, with bright, broad, 
rosy pink margin, good form and pod, and distinct. 
These are all excellent kinds, and desirable for deco¬ 
rative work. Mr. Herbert, the foreman here, propagates 
by layers chiefly, thus getting earlier stronger plants. 
Pinks also are grown by pipings placed under hand¬ 
glasses in sandy soil in a shady situation ; but amateurs 
who have little time for either mode of propagation 
can increase their stock by pulling away the shoots 
from the main stem, paring off the heels of the shoots, 
and planting them firmly in sandy soil in a close cool 
frame in a shady place for a few days, then admitting 
some air.— D. S. H. 
The Auricula Maggots. 
Let Auricula cultivators keep a sharp look-out for a 
pale green maggot that at this season of the year 
attacks the plants, eating'holes in the leaves and 
gradually forcing its way to the filbert-like heart, 
tunnelling into it downwards, and effectually settling 
any promise of bloom for the spring. Now it is 
so annoying to have promising plants treated in this 
manner, that I am emphatic in entreating growers to 
keep a very sharp look-out for the marauder. Whence 
it cometh, or into what strange form it passeth after it 
has worked destruction among the plants I know not. 
I have no mercy for anyone of these green visitors I 
come across. At first the maggot is quite small, but 
increasing in size it gorges more and more on the 
succulent leaves, until a big bloated devouring pest is 
developed. Directly 1 see signs of a plant being 
attacked, I examine the leaves, and if the maggot 
escapes detection, I stand the plant in a vessel of water, 
nearly submerging the leaves; and the maggot, 
apparently disliking drowning, climbs to the tips of the 
leaves, and discovers to me its whereabouts. 
Now that hot and sunny weather has set in, the 
plants need to be well looked after in the matter of 
water, for if they are allowed to become very dry and 
flag they lose their outer leaves, and become weakened 
in consequence. In the natural order of things the 
leaves turn yellow and decay, that being the usage of 
the plant; but it is a very different and quite a serious 
matter when they lose their leaves for want of water. 
Early-potted plants that have filled their pots with roots 
soon get dry, and it matters not in what position the 
plants are placed drying influences are sure to reach 
them. 
Some growers of Auriculas select as the summer 
quarters for their plants a position on the north side of a 
hedge. It is much better that it be a wall, and that 
for a substantial reason, put by the Rev. F. D. Horner 
in a sentence or two. “ The hedge may be the native 
place of snails, caterpillars, and divers grubs, all of 
which will take the earliest opportunities of calling 
upon the new comers, and soon come to spend the 
evening, especially if the master is from home.” If 
the frames are under a hedge or wall, the plants should 
be away from the drip of trees, for that is very hurtful 
to them. 
Just now the plants may be said to be taking their 
mid-summer rest. Any not already re-potted should 
be subjected to this process at once. It is not well 
that the re-potting be pushed on to the end of 
August. When this is done it is too frequently the 
result of neglect, and it is decidedly weakening to the 
plants. 
Any young plants in small pots should have a shift 
if they require it. These can be grown on into good 
flowering specimens only by leading them on gently by 
close attention and good culture. I have met with 
growers of the Auricula who say that all their attempts 
to grow a small plant of George Lightbody, Lancashire 
Hero, or some other crack, have only resulted in 
failure. This is unfortunately true in some instances, 
and that is why I emphasise the two essential con¬ 
ditions—close attention and good culture.— R. D. 
-*»$«*- 
TULIPS. 
Groovers who took up their Tulips at the end of June 
are now going through them, taking away the decaying 
roots that cling to them and the old outer skin. By 
the middle of June the new bulb will be found complete 
and ripe, for it is the custom of this gorgeous flower 
to form a new bulb every year, and very frequently 
another strong enough to flower, with a small off-set or 
two about the radical plate. The old bulb at taking up 
time will be found to consist merely of a few loose skins 
wrapped around the new one. It is usual to lift the 
bulbs with the skin of the old one attached, and when 
perfectly dry the bulb is found to be in a thin, brown 
satiny skin that clings closely to it and prevents any 
loss by evaporation. Now it is to be found in 
experience that if the bulb is taken up late, that is 
to say, if it is allowed to remain in the ground longer 
than usual, even only apparently so long that all the 
foliage has died away, the skin will have thickened 
and darkened, will crack with drying, and perhaps 
come off. This will also occur in the case of the early- 
flowering Dutch Tulips, therefore it is that growers of 
experience recommend taking up the bulbs about the 
third week in June. 
When the bloom is over, Tulips ripen rapidly for 
rest and removal, and by the time just mentioned are 
ready for lifting. “ So long as the clean stem below 
the flower will snap shortly on being bent, the time of 
lifting has not come ; but when the stems will bend 
double without snapping off, the bulbs may be taken 
up.” 
It is at this point the lifted Tulip bulbs commence to 
present to view another of those curious physiological 
aspects the life-history of the plant reveals. In one of 
his best papers on the Tulip—that which appears in 
Gardening for Amateurs, by Mr. Geo. Kidson, of Hull— 
the Rev. F. D. Horner points out how, when taken up, 
the young bulb may be said to be given its independent 
life. A powerful passage states: “It is then fairly 
alone in the vegetable world, separated from the fibres, 
now old, that have fed it, and from the stem through 
which the foliage has done so much towards its de¬ 
velopment. It has arrived at maturity when taken 
up ; and, perhaps, when some novice of an owner has 
obtained it, and laid it by after a few days in some dry 
airy shelter, to ensure its not being stored away with 
any dampness clinging about it, he imagines it will 
perform no function of life until planted again ! But 
life is never stagnant, even though it may seem 
dormant. There is no suspended animation in 
the Tulip bulb. It is full of ripe, ready, and active 
juices, and these are stirred by such nerve and pulse as 
may be in vegetable life, and are used at once, though 
invisibly, in building up tissue and structure of next 
year’s foliage, stem, blossom, and seed pod, together 
with—not least among the hidden wonders—the germ 
of the bulb to follow. Cut through the bulb, when 
newly ripe in June, and you shall see nothing but so 
many fleshy, juicy layers, united on a base or radical 
plate ; but watch the bulb from time to time as autumn 
draws on, and you will see that its very shape has been 
gradually altering. Instead of losing flesh, it seems to 
have gained it, and its tissues are fuller of sap than 
ever. They are tense, bright, and fervent, while at the 
vital base of the bulb—its most vulnerable part—the 
coronal of fibres, w'ith the point of almost every future 
rootlet pricking through, is very prominent. Probably 
the pale tip of the young shoot—the “guard-leaf,” as 
it afterwards becomes—is already visible ; but if not, 
dissection would reveal every leaf of the future foliage, 
every petal of the coming flower, with every chance 
notch and imperfection of shape prefigured in it, every 
stamen, and the seed pod, with its triple stigma. 
Only, at this early stage, the proportions of the various 
plants are not in their final order, for the embryo 
stamens are larger than the petals of the unborn flower, 
and there is little or no visible stem. Close by, and 
upon the radical plate, like the rest, will be seen a far 
tinier shoot or eye, and this is the crescent bulb for a 
year beyond the present. Contemporary offsets are 
similar germs, attached also to the radieal plate, and 
lying between the folds of the parent bulb. If they 
are large, they may be seen attached in the same way 
to the outer layer of the bulb.” 
This is a remarkable passage, because it sets forth in 
nervous language facts in the vegetable kingdom that 
cannot fail to strike with wonder many who peruse it, 
and one learns something of the importance which 
attaches to the Tulip bulbs being lifted at the right 
time, and properly cared for when so lifted. Well and 
truly did Shakespeare say that there are “ tongues in 
the trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in 
stones, and good in everything.”— R. B. 
- »X - < -- 
TUBEROUS BEGONIAS. 
When once variation amongst plants has been induced 
under cultivation, it is impossible to say to what an 
extent it may be carried ; and it is equally difficult to 
say what may be the limits of perfection. Certain it 
is that improvements continue to be made amongst 
tuberous Begonias, both in the shape and colour of the 
flowers, but more particularly amongst the double 
varieties. Flowers with flat or even undulated petals 
arranged round a common centre are being produced 
and selected in preference to the older hard and lumpy 
blooms with the small crushed petals that used to pre¬ 
vail. 
The illustration of a single variety named The 
Lady on p. 757 shows how nearly orbicular the 
flowers tend to be. The inner petals are also being 
slowly widened ; but if they became as broad as the 
outer ones the latter would be hidden. The habit of 
the plants is dwarf, the flowers are pure white, and the 
variety has been honoured with a First Class Certifi¬ 
cate. 
A good type of a modern double is that named 
M. Paul de Vicq. The petals are rounded, imbricated, 
and flattened, with exception of the central ones, and 
the whole flower is not unlike a Carnation in form. 
The colour is bright carmine-cerise. It has also been 
certificated. The flowers of Rosamonds are large, 
double, rosy pink, and made up of numerous rosettes of 
petals. Those of Blanche Duval, on the contrary, 
consist of a single large rosette, the petals of which are 
broad and undulated, as frequently occurs in the best 
double Hollyhocks. The petals are creamy white, with 
exception of the guard petals, which are of a deep blush 
or pink hue. The flowers are also of great size, and the 
variety has received a First Class Certificate. We are 
indebted to Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, for 
the opportunity of illustrating these fine modern 
types of one of the most popular classes of flowering 
plants. 
-- >X< -- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES 
FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 
Chrysanthemum growers in the old country will be 
fully occupied in keeping their pots well supplied with 
water—and possibly with something stronger—by the 
time this reaches you, and otherwise preparing them 
for the coming fray in November next. Here we have 
scarcely yet lost sight of our last show, held in the 
Exhibition Building, Prince Alfred’s Park, on April 
23rd, 24th, and 25th. Though so far removed from 
you, it may interest some of your readers, not a few of 
whom are numbered amongst my own personal friends, 
to hear that our show was a decided success. We are 
not up to the same standard of excellence to be found 
in most of your own exhibitions it is true ; neverthe¬ 
less many exhibits were on view—particularly in 
the cut bloom classes—which would have come out 
very creditably five years ago in any of the large 
exhibitions at home, especially amongst the Japs. 
There were many stands literally covered with fine 
examples of this section, and stands of the regulation 
pattern are not found thus when bad flowers are placed 
upon them. 
Having very carefully noted the size and general 
character of the cut blooms staged at the autumn exhi¬ 
bition of the previous year, I was astonished at the 
