326 
January 20, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
not easily expressed. She is in very truth the Queen 
of flowers— appreciated and loved by all. English 
growers, as Mr. Connett said, have not done what 
might have been expected of them in the way of 
raising new and improved varieties; this possibly 
has been more the fault of the Englishman’s love of 
hard work rather than his want of care in this 
matter. The raising of new varieties, whether of 
the Rose or any other class of plant, involves a 
great amount of patience, care, and attention, more 
than most people with a large business to look after 
care to spend or to see spent on one particular 
thing, and such things as hybridising, unless it be 
attended to in the spare moments of some one who 
has little else to do but run about and watch others, 
is looked upon as idleness and waste of time, and as 
it certainly consumes more thought and time than 
any very busy man can afford to give to one object, 
it is neglected by most nurserymen and left to the 
few who care to take it up. 
The craze for prize-winning Roses, I feel certain, has 
done much to increase its popularity, but at the 
same time has had a tendency to much harm in the 
way of getting rid of many of our old free-flowering 
and strong-growing kinds which have been 
supplanted by more highly cultivated varieties as 
are suitable only for the production of large blooms. 
The prize-gaining craze has to some extent abated, 
and those who now grow Roses do so more for the 
love of the flowers than for anything else. 
I think it a great pity that, in most instances, 
Roses are grown mostly in masses or in gardens 
purposely set apart for them. I should like to see 
them more generally used for the adornment of our 
hedges and shrubbery walks and borders. The 
Rose would add grace and charm to most of these, 
and in some of the more sheltered nooks and corners 
most of the Tea and Noisette varieties would do 
infinitely better than exposed as they often are in 
some of our Rose gardens. If I were a landscape 
gardener I should make free use amongst my 
shrubbery borders and groups of such things as 
Roses, Apple trees, and such like ornamental and 
useful things now utterly excluded, and for what 
reason no one knows, unless it has been from a fear 
of placing temptation in the way of “ those naughty 
boys.” 
The Cyclamen. 
One of the most charming of our autumn and 
winter-flowering plants, yet not so often seen in private 
collections as it might be, probably from the fact 
that when it needs most attention and care it is, in 
the bustle and push of spring and summer gardening, 
put aside and forgotten to a great extent; the 
corms become dry and hard, and unsuited either for 
the production of good flowers or foliage. Old 
plants might with advantage be planted out in a 
west border in some good rich free soil, and allowed 
to luxuriate during the summer, care being taken to 
cover the corms from the hot rays of the sun to 
prevent their becoming hard, and be taken up and 
repotted in the early autumn. Nothing repays the 
labour bestowed upon it more than the Cyclamen, 
as either a decorative plant when most flowers are 
scarce, or for cutting purposes, and these, with a 
good succession of plants, may be had in flower 
nearly all the year. 
Bouvardias 
Are also another most useful class of plant, and with 
proper care will yield an enormous supply of bloom 
which, to the gardener or florist who has a continual 
supply of cut flowers to provide, are most useful, 
commencing as it does to flower in the early autumn, 
when all other light and graceful flowers are de¬ 
parting. It fills a gap which otherwise would be 
serious to those who admire the light and graceful 
arrangement of flowers. Many I think fail in keep¬ 
ing their Bouvardias in good condition by either 
keeping them too cold, or by giving too much heat, 
without sufficient air. In the first case they suffer 
from damp, and become as it were deciduous, and in 
the other, they become overgrown and lankey, and 
soon go out of bloom in either case. What they 
really require is a good, warm, well-ventilated and 
dry greenhouse, and might be well done in the same 
house with the zonal Pelargoniums and Cyclamens 
during the winter, provided a separate house cannot 
be provided for them. 
Kitchen Gardening. 
This branch of the profession is often the most 
neglected in the education of our present day gar¬ 
deners, who instead of acquiring this at the first 
starting point leave it to come as it were by chance. 
The reason, probably, for this, is the great desire of 
the pupil to make himself proficient in the finer and 
what to outsiders must appear the more necessary, 
and possibly to some the more refined branches. I 
refer of course to plant and fruit culture under 
glass. Here undoubtedly the gardener has possibly 
more to learn and contend with, as well as more to 
interest and fascinate him. But at the same time, it 
must he acknowledged that kitchen gardening is a 
branch, if not the most important, then one of 
the most important, to be considered in the gardener's 
education, and as such, should not, as is often the 
case with young men who serve their apprenticeship 
at large establishments, be entirely neglected and put 
aside from their first instructions, and oftentimes 
entirely lost sight of, till as head gardeners, they 
find themselves in a dilemma. Entire ignorance on 
one side, and a crusty, cantankerous old kitchen 
gardener on the other, "a nice pickle,” "a pretty 
how d'ye do,” a very serious position for one placed 
for the first time in power to find himself. 
It should never be lost sight of by young men, that 
the highest art in good governorship is to be a good 
and competent workmen, to have a thorough know¬ 
ledge of what has to be done, and not only so, but to 
be in a position to show others how to do it. No 
one is so qualified to judge of a fair day’s work, and 
the quality of such work as he who can if needs be 
do the same work well himself. Ignorance, therefore, 
on the part of a gardener, of what is essential to the 
well stocking and well doing of his kitchen garden, 
must at once place him in a most ridiculous position, 
especially so when he is brought into contact with 
such able men as are usually to be found upon large 
estates. I refer to the old kitchen garden man, who 
had done nothing else his whole life long but revel 
in Green Peas and new Potatoes, Curly Kale, and 
Brussels Sprouts, and who sees no beauty in those 
tender plants with ugly unpronounceable names, 
that can only exist under glass, and don't supply the 
ever inner craving of man. 
To keep good friends with the cook, and through 
the cook with his employer, for there is no nearer 
or surer road to an Englishman’s heart than through 
his stomach, a gardener must at all times have a 
goodly supply of all kinds of vegetables, or of the 
most appreciated kinds, and to do this a keen 
practical knowledge of vegetable growing is necessary 
—first what seeds to obtain and the best varieties 
of each class; secondly when to sow and how to 
plant, and the conditions necessary to bring each to 
perfection, and to arrange for successive crops.—IF. 
Machay. 
-- 
Shallots. 
In gardens where Onions do not grow satisfactory, 
these should be grown largely as a substitute, for if 
well grown there is no crop that pays better. The 
ground should be rvell manured and deeply dug, for 
Shallots are gross feeders. If early bulbs are re¬ 
quired, the sooner in February that planting is done 
the better will it be for their growth. Having got 
the ground ready, select a fine day for planting, when 
the soil is in a workable condition. Stretch a line 
across the piece to be planted, then with a potting 
trowel take out holes 6 in. apart, and 2 in. deep. 
Place one bulb in each, and cover with about an inch 
of soil. The object of covering the bulbs is to pre¬ 
vent them from being lifted out of the soil when they 
commence to root. The reason that planting is re¬ 
commended with a trowel rather than with a dibber 
is because the latter on heavy soil has a tendency to 
make it hard round the holes, and if inserted too 
deeply leaves a hollow under the bulbs. It is a good 
plan on such ground to use a couple of boards, each 
about 3 ft. long, to stand upon while planting, as this 
would prevent the soil from sticking to the boots and 
being carried off on to the paths. The rows should 
be from a foot to fifteen inches apart, according to 
the qualities of the ground and the variety of the 
Shallot, as some kinds grow much stronger than 
others. When growth has been made to the extent 
of a few inches, and the roots have taken a firm hold 
of the earth, remove the soil from round the bulbs 
level with their base, and leave this to form a ridge 
between the rows. This will admit of water being 
more easily given, as the ridges will prevent it from 
running away. If large bulbs are desired, the clusters 
must be thinned, leaving but three or four of the 
strongest at each root. This, however, is not the 
most profitable mode of cultivation, as a greater 
weight can be produced from a root if all are allowed 
to remain. Liquid manure should be given fre¬ 
quently in dry weather, and a dressing of lime and 
soot will greatly assist their growTh. A little nitrate 
of soda sprinkled alongside of the rows previous to 
watering is also beneficial. If any show signs of 
going to seed, these should be at once removed, as 
they rob the others of nourishment. 
Potato OP Underground Onions. 
In some places, particularly amongst the cottagers 
in the South of England, this is the only kind grown, 
for it is seldom that the Onion grub, " the lar\'ae of 
Anthomyia Ceparum," attacks them. Like all others 
of the Onion tribe, this requires good nourishment, 
then it will thrive, but if the ground be poor then 
the bulbs will be small. It is astonishing how some 
of the cottagers in the South grow these on poor soil 
which one would scarce think capable of producing 
anything. The bulbs are planted in the winter in 
the same way as Shallots, only more room is allowed 
between them. They receive constant attention in 
the way of watering and feeding, the soil being care¬ 
fully removed from around the roots to allow them 
more room to swell, but the base of the bulbs are 
never exposed. When ripe they are taken up and 
stored the same as Shallots.— Kitchen Gai dener. 
• -- 
IaRDENING UlSCELLANY. 
A NEW SPECIES OF ARISAEMA. 
A BEAUTIFUL Aroid flowered in the botanic - garden 
of Florence last year from tubers sent from Shen-si. 
in North China, by Mr. Antonio Biondi from the 
missionary Father Giuseppe Giraldi, an assiduous 
collector of plants in that region. The tuber is 
subglobose, flattened and furnished with conical 
tubercles. The plant produces only one leaf each 
year, and stands about 20in. high when full grown. 
This leaf is the most ornamental part of the plant, 
and consists of 12 to 13 lanceolate, entire leaflets, 
arranged in one almost circular plane, and therefore 
very graceful. Each leaflet is narrowed to a stalk 
at the base, and is nearly 8 in. long and J in. to i Jin. 
wide. The upper surface is green and the lower 
one glaucous-yellow. The petiole is not variegated, 
but is surrounded by two cylindrical sheaths at the 
base. The greenish-yellow flower spathes arise in 
the sheaths surrounding the petiole. The spadix 
projects from the mouth of the spathe, and is club- 
shaped, but not tailed. Male and female flowers are 
produced on different plants. The spathes reach the 
top of the petiole as a rule. The species ha» been 
described by Eugenio Baroni in the BuUeiiiio della 
R. Societd Toscana di Orticulhira for December last. 
A full page woodcut illustration accompanies the 
description in the same Italian journal, and the name 
given to the plant is Arisaema Giraldii. 
PEACH BUDS FALLING. 
After long experience I have come to the conclusion 
that there are three causes for the dropping of 
Peach buds, namely, cold, wet, and badly-drained 
outside borders; secondly, inside borders insufifi- 
ciently watered at the right times, especially after 
fall of leaf ; and thirdly, unripe wood caused partly 
from want of sun heat, or of a little artificial heat to 
assist the ripening process, and greatly from cold 
outside borders, when all should be free and open to 
allow the autumn rains to pass away.— Erin. 
SUTTON'S A1 MELON. 
Having had over twenty years' experience in the 
cultivation of Alelons, and also being a large grower 
of this fruit for market purposes as well as for the 
table in private establishments, I thought I should 
like to give my opinion of Sutton’s Ai Melon, which 
I have grown for this last three seasons. As to its 
merits, it is the best scarlet-fleshed Melon that I have 
ever met with, both for its handsome appearance and 
fine flavour, and having grown it in the Melon houses, 
and in unheated pits and frames, I have found it to 
possess a good constitution, it being a robust grower 
and an extraordinary free setter. The fruits which 
average between 3 and 4 pounds each are beautifully 
netted from the largest to the smallest ; the flesh is 
