December 2 , 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
215 
As a general rule, stocks are planted considerably 
closer together than would be advisable for the re¬ 
sulting plant to occupy as a permanency. Where 
this is the case there can be no object in growing in 
very rich soil; far better to obtain a medium stock, 
and so secure a riper foundation with sounder union 
of the Rose buds. We do not need an extra strong 
growth upon maiden Roses; in fact, they transplant 
much safer and better when such is not the case. In 
any event, soil of medium richness will serve the 
stock for the first season, and can be slightly im¬ 
proved for the young Rose tree by mulchings in 
autumn or early spring. When the Rose is being 
placed in its permanent quarters is the time to see 
that it has good soil with plenty of suitable food in 
the lower spit; because unless placed there now, no 
future opportunity will present itself. We can feed 
on the surface, but the sub-soil is beyond our reach 
after the Rose is planted. 
Selection of Plants. 
Oftentimes we do not find sufficient attention paid to 
this most important matter, it being too much the 
aim of amateurs to sfecure large and strong plants. 
A plant that has produced coarse and rampant 
growth must necessarily have roots of a corres¬ 
ponding nature, and these do not lend themselves to 
so successful transplantation as those of a medium 
character. Nor is coarse or even strong and 
matured wood of any great benefit unless it be 
connected with established roots. A highly fed 
maiden plant undergoes a considerable amount of 
reaction, and this is increased during transplanta¬ 
tion. It must not be imagined from the above that 
I advocate the selection of weak plants; what we 
really want being those of a medium character, and 
carrying a fair balance of root and wood growth.— 
Experience. 
-. 4 *- 
ARDENING ^ISCELLANY. 
PRIVATE TRADING. 
It is with much pleasure that I note your editorial 
remarks on p. 192. The sentiment you express 
under the heading ‘‘ Money in the Garden ” will be 
echoed by all trade growers. Why should this 
unfair competition exist ? Many of us fail to see 
the difference between the large private gardens in 
our neighbourhood and our own trade establish¬ 
ments. Each grows for sale, and profits are the 
main object. Both use the same market, but the 
private (?) grower will often sell for much less than 
the cost of production. Referring to exhibitors, 
we are acquainted with those who figure as amateurs 
upon the exhibition board, and yet grow for sale 
with as keen an eye to profit as those who are 
dependent upon it for a living. Head gardeners are 
now expected to pay their way and also provide for 
the big house, and the retention of their situations 
is often conditional with this result. It is really a 
species of sweating, and has been the means of 
breaking up many hard-working florists with small 
capital, whd" cannot possibly compete with the 
numerous large private establishments, which are 
unfairly rated and do not form the sole support of a 
family. It is a most important question to the 
horticultural trade, and I would like to see it dis¬ 
cussed in your colums. While having a strong feel¬ 
ing against rings of any kind, I cannot help thinking 
that a combination of trade growers should be 
formed to cope with this matter as far as possible. 
Many private gardens have been sadly neglected 
during late years, chiefly on account of this hypo¬ 
critical system of trading.— A. Piper. 
OXYDENDRUM ARBOREUM. 
The Sorrel-tree, or Tree Andromeda as this is called, 
has an interest for the planter at two different 
seasons, namely, when the tree is in bloom in June 
and July, and again when about to shed its leaves in 
autumn. The flowers are white and similar to those 
of Pieris, best known under the name of Andromeda, 
and are produced in terminal panicles which consist 
of numerous racemes. The relatively large loaves 
are oblong and not unlike those of a Rhododendron, 
but they are sharply and finely serrulate, and in 
autumn change to a striking bronzy crimson. A 
large specimen or tree has a telling effect in the 
landscape when in this condition, and those who 
feel at all interested in autumn tints should not over¬ 
look the recommendations of this plant. In its 
native country, the Eastern United States, it varies 
from 20ft. to 40ft. in height, but a specimen 15ft. 
high in this country is not to be despised. It is 
probably best known under the name of Andromeda 
arborea. The name Sorrel-tree, and the generic 
name, refers to the sour taste of the leaves when 
placed in the mouth. It likes a peaty soil as in the 
case of other American plants belonging to the Heath 
family, and proves hardy over a considerable 
portion of Britain. 
SENECIO HERITIERI. 
The general appearance of this plant reminds one 
of the original or wild form of the Cineraria (Senecio 
cruentus). The leaves, however, are quite different; 
they are smaller and probably would never vary so 
much under cultivation as those of S. cruentus. 
They are heart-shaped, shallowly lobed or angled, 
and almost of snowy whiteness beneath. The plant 
forms a good-sized bush, producing numerous 
clusters of bloom at the ends of the shoots. The 
flowers, if anything, are larger than those of the 
wild form of S. cruentus, and are white with pale 
purple tips to the florets. The central disc is deep 
purple, and adds in no small way to the beauty of 
the flower as a whole. A few plants of it stood 
about in the conservatory or greenhouse would 
serve to add variety to the other occupants there. 
The plant is interesting, and its flowers are pretty if 
nothing else can be said of them. It may be seen 
in the temperate house at Kew. 
THE DIVINING ROD. 
Some very interesting and successful experiments were 
recently made at Sewerby Fields, by Mr. John Stears, 
engineer, of Coltman Street, Hull, who was invited 
to Sewerby by Col. R. G. Smith, for the purpose of 
ascertaining whether a supply of water existed on 
the farm. The want of water has been much felt in 
the neighbourhood during the dry summer we have 
just experienced, and it had to be fetched from the 
Bridlington Water works. Mr. Stears has been for 
many years endowed with what is called odic force, 
or animal magnetism, and has been successful in 
finding water in many parts of Yorkshire. At about 
ten o’clock the party met, and Mr. Stears selected a 
Hawthorn twig from the hedge, of this year’s 
growth, or rather two twigs joined at the base, 
making the form of a V. Taking hold of the ends 
of the twigs, having the base outwards, Mr. Stears 
walked along the stack yard, and had only proceeded 
a few yards when the twigs began to rise, indicating 
water. In tbis way two streams were found which 
joined, and following its course through an adjoining 
plantation, the stream was traced through several 
fields to the cliffs, where indications of an outlet 
were found on the beach. No difficulty was ex¬ 
perienced in following the streams, for the twig kept 
busily moving in an upward motion as long as he 
kept on the track of water, but as soon as he got off 
it, if even by an inch, the rod ceased to move. 
Mr. Stears anticipates that water will be found be¬ 
tween Soft, and 100 ft. from the surface. The 
greatest depth to which the power of Mr. Stears has 
yet extended has been 128 ft .—Bridlington Free Press_ 
ARBUl US MENZIESII. 
Of the several species of Arbutus or Strawberry Tree 
in cultivation, that under notice is anything but 
common; though the fruits do not attain the same 
perfection and beauty as those of the European A. 
Unedo, the leaves and bark are distinct. The former 
are broadly oval, slightly heart-shaped at the base, 
glaucous, and more intensely so beneath. The bark 
is of a peculiar and uniform gray colour, and there¬ 
fore very distinct from that of A. Unedo or A. 
Andrachne, the latter being of a rusty red, and as 
smooth as if the bark had been neatly peeled off. 
The species under notice was introduced from North¬ 
west America in 1827, and is stated to grow 6 ft. to 
10 ft. high ; but a tree in Kew Gardens is 12 ft. high, 
and evidently of great age. The white flowers are 
produced in panicles in September, but the fruits 
apparently do not set very freely, possibly the 
necessary agency for the transference of the pollen 
from the anthers to the stigma is absent from this 
country. Some fruits have set, however, and at the 
present time they are about the size of marrow-fat 
Peas, and yellow or tinted with orange. Judging 
from that, they will not attain proper size, a fact to be 
regretted, since they would have greatly increased 
the ornamental value of the tree. 
-- 
?afde)ierf’ jpipfoyapiept jlp?ociatio)ip, 
Scottish Horticultural Association.— The first of 
a series of lectures on horticultural subjects, 
organised by this Association, through the liberality 
of the Edinburgh Town Council, was given last 
week by Mr. Malcolm Dunn, of Dalkeith, before a 
large audience of young gardeners. Mr. Dunn, 
harking back to the "grand old gardener and his 
wife ’’ in Eden, showed how ancient and honourable 
their profession had been in alt the ages of the 
world; and gave some interesting facts regarding 
gardening among the Greeks and Romans. Coming 
to the present day, he took up the special study of 
the winter’s course, the vegetable garden, and dis¬ 
cussed in an exhaustive manner the principles upon 
which such an undertaking should be conducted in 
order to make it horticulturally and financially a 
success. He explained how such a garden should be 
laid out, protected from winds, sown, manured, 
tended, and reaped ; he showed how a certain rota¬ 
tion in cropping was good in the garden as well as in 
the fields, and from his long experience of such work 
gave a number of average prices and quantities re¬ 
lating to the various branches of expenditure in 
every well-managed garden. He concluded by an 
earnest appeal to the young men to cultivate their 
minds, so that their daily work might not only be 
their means ®f livelihood, but a source of happiness 
to themselves. The chairman, Mr. Loney, of 
Marchmont, moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Dunn 
for his able address, and this was heartily accorded. 
Councillor Mackenzie, in proposing a vote of thanks 
to the chairman, took occasion also to urge the 
young men to take advantage of the many oppor¬ 
tunities which exist in Edinburgh for improving 
themselves, and developing the mental side of their 
natures. Some of those who were called the leaders 
of the working classes spoke as if a millennium for 
the artisans of the country could be ushered in by 
legislative enactment. That was all nonsense. They 
might depend upon it that a man would only raise 
himself in proportion to the measure of attention he 
gave to the improvement of his mind ; for in those 
days, in all walks of labour, unless a man could use 
his brains as well as his hands, he had little chance 
of getting on in life. He trusted the lectures now 
inaugurated would be very successful, and he 
further hoped to hear that many of the young men 
were also taking advantage of the other means of 
mutual improvement which the city afforded. 
-- 
©bituar^. 
Who of the present generation remembers John 
Daniels, of Swyncombe Park Gardens, Henley-on- 
Thames, and the magnificent example of Bougain¬ 
villea spectabilis he cultivated with so much skill 
and success ? The veteran gardener died near to 
Henley-on-Thames at the ripe age of 77 years. 
Those of us who in days gone by made a pilgrimage to 
Swyncombe Park in the spring time to see the 
wonderful Bougainvillea in all its beauty have 
always borne in our hearts tender memories of this 
genial and kindly gardener, who always had a warm 
and hearty welcome for every knight of the spade 
who visited the gardens he had the charge of for the 
last forty-two years. For some years past he had 
dropped out of the record of horticultural doings, 
but he made his mark in his day, and was honoured 
and respected by all who knew him. 
Born at Kniveton, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire, in 
1816, he while quite a child was placed with a 
nurseryman in the neighbourhood, who perceiving 
the ability of his young employe, and having dis¬ 
covered his trustworthy character, would while 
quite a youth send him at the head of a gang of men 
to lay out grounds and effect improvements in estates. 
In this employ he remained for six or seven years, 
after which he became second gardener at Surthland 
Hall, Leicestershire, and after two to three years’ 
service here he became head gardener at Shenton 
Hall in the same county. From here he went to 
Elsenham Hall, in Essex, then occupied by George 
Rush, Esq. Here he remained for nine years, leaving 
eventually on the death of his employer. In 1850 
he went to Swyncombe Park as gardener to the Rev. 
E. C. Ruck-Keene, and after his death to his son and 
