778 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 9, 1890. 
The Amateurs' Garden. 
SEASONABLE WORX in the GARDEN. 
Pancratium, fragrans.—The flowers of this and. 
other species are naturally rather ephemeral in their 
duration, but they may be made to last longer by 
removal of the plants into a cooler house just as the 
buds 'commence to expand. The atmosphere of the 
house in which they are placed should be kept in a 
drier condition than that of the stove from whence 
the plants were taken. 
Vallota purpurea.—The flowering season of this 
fine bulb may be prolonged by bringing forward a 
batch of plants in heat, while others are retarded by 
being kept out of doors. They delight in a liberal 
supply of moisture both during the period of growth 
and while in flower. The size and quality of the 
blooms are greatly improved by the use of liquid 
manure from the time the flower spike first appears till 
the blooms expand. 
Gesneras and Tydaeas.—The batches intended 
for autumn flowering should now be growing freely. 
They should be grown near the glass, to keep the 
plants moderately dwarf and sturdy and to give the 
foliage colour and substance. A low span-roofed house 
or a heated pit is the best place for them, and if plunged 
in coco-nut fibre, root action will be greatly encouraged 
thereby. 
Old Lsggy Dracaenas_In the case of most 
kinds, the tops of old plants may be taken off and 
rooted in bottom-heat. Such hard-wooded subjects as 
D. Goldieana are difficult to propagate in this way, 
although it can be done with good management. 
Should any difficulty be experienced with certain kinds, 
the best plan is to ring the stem immediately below the 
foliage, and tie a handful of sphagnum around the cut, or 
a flower-pot may be cut in half, and the two pieces put 
round the stem, filling the interior with light sandy 
soil. After it has rooted into either of these, the top of 
the plant may be cut off and potted forthwith. 
Lomaria gibba.—Young plants of this good old- 
fashioned species are now much in request for decorative 
purposes. They grow rather rapidly in a young state, 
and should receive careful attention if their vigour and 
beauty are to be kept up. A liberal supply of water is 
necessary during the period of active growth in summer. 
This will be the more evident if the pots are crammed 
with roots. In such cases it is well to re-pot now, so 
that the plants may become^ established in the fresh 
soil before winter. By this the health of the plants 
will be preserved and the foliage retained through the 
winter. 
Maidenhair Ferns.—In order to get a stock .of 
this plant, which may be expected to retain a healthy 
and green appearance during the winter months, a 
batch should b9 grown on in a cool, airy house, and 
reserved expressly for the purpose. Cool treatment 
with plenty of ventilation hardens the fronds and 
makes them more durable. 
Eupatoriums.—Cuttings of Eupatorium "Yein- 
mannianum if struck now will furnish dwarf and useful 
plants for the decoration of the conservatory in spring. 
They may be put five or six together in 5-in. pots, and 
rooted in a cold frame. By careful attention to 
watering after they are rooted the amount of bloom 
produced even by such small plants is astonishing, and 
more than repays the little trouble expended upon 
them. 
Early Vinery.—The present is a good time to 
renew the soil of the border if at all in an exhausted 
state. If there is an inside and an outside border, one 
only should be done this season. Clear out all the 
old soil and the drainage, carefully avoiding, as much 
as possible, damage to the roots, which should be 
protected with a wet mat while the operation is being 
carried out. Previous to commencing, a supply of soil 
should be got together and thoroughly incorporated. 
The compost should consist of good loam, old mortar, 
some charcoal, and a good quantity of J-in. bones. 
After putting in some clean brick-bats for drainage, 
cover them with a layer of turf and some soil, upon which 
the Vine roots should be carefully spread out and 
covered with about 9 ins. of soil. Mulch the whole 
with farm-yard manure, after treading the border down 
firm. Give the border a good watering, and close the 
house for some days till the roots lay hold of the fresh 
soil. 
Oranges —Trees in fruit will be greatly assisted by 
top-dressing with some rich material, and afterwards 
feeding with weak manure water. Abundance of 
water may be given till the fruits change colour. The 
syringe should also be vigorously applied to keep down 
mealy-bug and other insect pests. 
Gooseberries and Currants.—If a supply of 
fruit is required as late in the season as possible, a few 
bushes should be closely protected with netting to 
keep birds away. Some even resort to the practice 
of covering up the bushes with mats, but this must be 
greatly injurious to the bushes themselves if kept dark 
for any length of time. 
Fruits on the open Wall.—Apricots are now 
ripening, and must be gone ever to remove the fruits 
that are ready to fall, otherwise they will get bruised. 
The same applies to early Pears, such as Citron des 
Carmes and Bargamotte d’Ete, which soon become 
worthless if not removed from the trees and eaten as 
soon as perfectly ripe. 
--- 
THE ROSE IN HISTORY. 
The ancient Romans dedicated the Bose to both Venus 
(the god of love) and Harpocrates (the god of silence) ; 
and in after times models of Boses were placed over 
the Confessional as a symbol of silence, whence un¬ 
doubtedly originated the term, “Under the Bose.” 
Newton, in his “Herbal of the Bible,” published in 
1587, says, “ I will here add a common country custom 
that is used to be done with the Bose, when pleasant 
and merry companions do friendly meet together to 
make good cheer. As soon as their feast or banquet 
is ended, they give faithful promise mutually, one to 
another, that whatsoever hath been merrily spoken by 
any in that assembly should be wrapped in silence 
and not be carried out of doors. For the assurance and 
performance whereof the term they use is, that all 
things there said must be taken as spoken (under the 
Bose) ; whereupon they use in their parlours and 
dining rooms to hang Boses over their tables, to put 
the company in memory of secresy, and not rashly or 
indiscreetly to clatter and blab out what they hear.” 
A relic of this custom is said to be still seen at 
Lullingstone Castle, Dartford, Kent, the seat of the 
Dykes. In its hall is a huge representation of a Bose, 
encircled by this inscription :— 
“ Kentish true blue, take this as a token 
That what is said here under the Bose it is spoken.” 
In 1453, the white Bose being blazoned on the shield 
of Richard, Duke of York, and the red Bose on that 
of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, their contest for the 
crown of England was aptly termed the “Wars of the 
Boses ”—a war so fraught with misery to England, that 
Sir "Walter Scott’s fine lines are no more than just: — 
“ Let merry England proudly rear, 
Her blended Boses bought so dear.” 
Boses have been adopted for many ages by the Popes 
as tokens of their good wishes. When a princess of 
France was married, the Pope then reigning sent her a 
Bose which he had blessed. Pope Servius IV., in the 
year 1009, is said to have been the first on Christmas 
night to consecrate Boses and other tokens to be sent 
to those he wished to honour. Leo X. sent a conse¬ 
crated Bose to Frederic, Duke of Saxony, with a request 
that he would banish Luther. These Boses were made 
of gold. 
Parkinson, who wrote in 1620, states there were but 
twenty-four kinds of Boses at that time known in 
England, including the Sweet Briar. In the quaint 
style of that day he remarks—“ I will begin with the 
most ancient and known Boses of our country, whether 
natural or not I know not, but assumed by our 
precedent kings, of all others, to be cognizances of 
their dignity, the white Bose and the red, whom shall 
follow the damask of the finest scent, and most use 
of all the other sorts.” Among others of his twenty- 
four sorts is the parti-coloured Rose, called by some 
York and Lancaster. 
The double yellow Rose is of great account, both for 
the variety and doubleness, “ though most of them 
fall or wither away, so that its shy flowering is not a 
symptom of declining vigour or forgotten modes of 
culture.” It was first procured to be brought to 
England by Master Nicholas Lete, a worthy merchant 
of London and a great lover of flowers, from Constanti¬ 
nople, which, as we hear, was first brought thither 
from Syria. “ It perished quickly, both with him and 
with all others to whom he imparted it. Yet afterwards 
it was sent to Master John de Franqueville, also a mer¬ 
chant of London, and a great lover of all rare plants as 
well as flowers, from which is sprung the greatest store 
that is now flourishing in this kingdom,” Such 
is the record handed down to us by an old writer. 
The Moss Bose was introduced into England at the 
beginning of the last century, and first mentioned 
by Furber in 1724, and in proof of the little interest at 
that time felt in such matters, we appear to have no 
authentic record of the time of its introduction 
or by whom introduced. The origin of the mossy 
covering to the buds is accounted for by a German writer 
who informs us that the angel of the flowers, one day 
when sleeping under a Rose tree, said that he would 
grant any request the Boses might make. The Bose 
asked that another grace might be bestowed upon it, 
and the angel paused for a moment, considering what 
grace the flower did not already possess, then threw over 
the buds a veil of moss— 
“And robed in Nature’s simplest weed, 
Could then a flower that Bose exceed ? ” 
—if. D. 
-- 
fjARDENiNG ffflSCELLANY. 
--t.- 
The Potato Disease. 
I have read in The Gardening World (p. 740) that 
the Potato disease is making great ravages among your 
crops, but you do not indicate any remedy. Here is a 
very efficacious and well-tried one in this country, that 
has been used for some years past for the Potato and 
Tomato disease. Four kilogrammes [about 9 lbs.] of 
sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), 5 kilogrammes [about 
II lbs.] of lime, and 100 litres [about 22 gallons] of 
water. Stir the whole up well, and syringe in fine dry 
weather.— Louis Morhardt, Jardinier-in-Chef, Chateau 
de Crans, Celigny ( Vaud ), Switzerland,. 
Antirrhinums and Sweet Williams. 
"Wf, have just received a box of the above quaint, old- 
fashioned flowers from Messrs. Bell, Stuart k Co., 
Chapel-hill Nursery, Rothesay, N.B. Striped Antir¬ 
rhinums are still in good form in the north, although 
we should like to see a race of seifs, of distinct and 
well-defined colours, improved and fixed by selection. 
Those sent us had broad and dark purple stripes, also 
narrower purple stripes on a white and a creamy 
yellow ground ; while others were striped with crimson 
on a bright yellow ground. Some of the Sweet 
Williams showed rich and well-defined colours, such as 
dark velvety crimson with a white eye and a narrow 
white margin, and dark velvety maroon with a broad 
white margin and a clear eye. Other kinds had a 
narrow red zone about the middle of a white ground. 
Crimson and purple varieties with a white eye and 
margin were also good in their way for garden decora¬ 
tion ; but the outer edge of the dark colour was less 
clearly defined. Selection can, however, do much in 
working up these beautiful hardy flowers to a great 
state of refinement. 
Lilium monadelphum Szovitsianum. 
We received the other day, from Mr. F. Excell, Misarden 
Park, Cirencester, some flowers of this grand Lily, which 
he had growing under the name of L. colchicum, but 
doubted the name from the fact that the segments of 
the perianth were but slightly spotted with purple. It 
is a variable Lily, both with regard to the colour and 
the number of flowers produced on a stem. The flowers 
sent by our correspondent were taken from a plant 
bearing forty flowers on a stem, and which must have 
presented a noble appearance. They were of a clear, 
bright shining yellow, slightly spotted with purple 
where the segments curved outwards, and stained with 
claret-purple at the base of the tube externally. Besides 
the name given at the heading of this note, this Lily is 
known under the names of L. colchicum, and L. 
Szovitsianum in gardens. The variety differs from the 
type in the stamens being quite free, not united, and in 
the segments being broader below the middle, and 
reflexed farther down. The pollen is of a very dark 
orange-red colour. 
Seedling Carnations. 
At the Portland Road Nurseries of Messrs. Sutton k 
Sons, Beading, a square of ground is devoted to the 
culture of seedling Carnations. Those in flower now 
were sown on the 20th of February, 1SS9, or just over 
seventeen months ago. The seeds were sown in heat, 
and kept indoors till the advent of warm weather, when 
they were planted out rather closely in rows till autumn, 
and then transferred to the position they now 
occupy. In spring, say about March, the ground is 
made very firm around the plants, and each receives a 
