Feb. 7th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
36.5 
The Messrs. Page cultivate their plants on the 
modern principle of keeping them growing from start 
to finish, and a perfect market plant in a 48-size pot, 
with from twenty to twenty-five flowers standing well 
above the foliage is obtained in fourteen months from 
the time of sowing the seeds. For market work the 
Messrs. Page prefer the best type of persicum to 
the grandiflorum or giganteum strains, on account of 
their neat and compact habit and beautifully 
marbled foliage, and they also like those plants which 
throw their flowers some 3 ins. or 4 ins. above the 
foliage, these being considered the most useful for 
decorative purposes. But very few of the plants are 
grown in larger sized pots than 48’s, and the compost 
used is good turfy loam and leaf-mould, with a little 
bone dust. They are grown in a temperature not 
allowed at any time to fall much below 50 degs., 
and great care is taken to keep the plants free from 
insects, and especially free from thrip during the 
summer months. 
By selecting w r ith great judgment the strain of 
persicum (true) has been improved to a remarkable 
extent of late years, and in this work the Messrs. 
Page are taking an active part, as the batch of plants 
selected for seeding bear witness. Every one of these 
may be said to possess merit in the highest degree, 
and should in turn produce even something better. 
The whites are very pure, and range in colour at the 
base from a delicate shade of mauve to a full purple 
tint, and some are delicately scented. Others of them 
are of the colour of Phalsenopsis Schilleriana, a novel 
colour in a Cyclamen. The reds as well as the 
purples show a great range of tint between the 
lightest and darkest forms, and among the former we 
noted some with pale green flower-§talks, an unusual 
occurrence with the red-flowered varieties. The rose 
and cerise-coloured flowers are charmingly pretty, 
affording tints of colour that cannot be described, at 
least by us. The stock for next year consists of 
30,000 seedlings, which are now being potted off into 
small 60’s, and if all goes well with them, the Messrs. 
Page should in 1886 have a show second to none. 
— a—. ^nx > g-ij - ^o — 
DWARF SCABIOUS. 
These are well done in pots by Mr. J. Roberts, of 
Gunnersbury Park, Acton, and so successful is he 
with them, and so useful are they for cutting from in 
the autumn and winter months, that the wonder is 
more gardeners do not grow them to assist in giving a 
supply of flowers at the dullest season of the year. 
We are familiar with the tall old German Scabious from 
our childhood. The generic name, Scabious, is from the 
Latin Sea biosa, scurfy, from Scabies, scurf, in allusion 
to its scaly receptacle. The pretty Field Scabious, 
with its charming lavender - coloured flowers, will 
be known to many. This is Knautise arvensis, 
so-named in honour of Dr. Knaut, a physician and 
naturalist of Halle, in Saxony. The dwarf strain of 
Scabious is of German origin, and instead of growing to 
the height of 3 ft. or 4 ft., they do not get beyond 
18 ins. to 2 ft. The flowers are as large and 
handsome as those of the tall German type, and as 
varied in colour; the rich maroon-coloured ones are 
very striking, while the rose, mauve, pink, blush, and 
white are pleasing also. The white-flowered and pale 
varieties appear to possess the best habit of growth, 
but all are free branching, a good plant furnishing an 
immense number of blossoms. 
Mr. Roberts sows his seeds in April, which he 
considers the best time, to have the plants in flower in 
November and December. As soon as the plants are 
large enough, they are potted singly into 60-sized pots, 
and placed in a cold frame, then shifted into 32-sized 
pots, and again into 24-sized pots. During the summer 
they are stood out in the open, and made as hardy 
and stocky as possible, and well looked after in the 
matter of watering. They are kept in the open-air as 
long as possible, and when it is necessary to do so, 
are placed in a cold frame, and as they show signs of 
flowering, stood on a shelf in front of the glass 
erecture covering the Peach wall. The act of cutting 
induces fresh growth, and these flower in their turn. 
So pleased is Mr. Roberts with these pretty 
Scabious, that it is his intention to use them for 
bedding purposes next season, and for this purpose 
he will sow seeds during the present month, 
pot them off as before, and then bed out in May 
in the ordinary way. In bedding out in this way, 
the plants should be grown as dwarf and stocky as 
possible, and on no account should they be allowed to 
become drawn. If some seeds be sown in the open 
border in spring, the result cannot fail to be satis¬ 
factory.— E. I). 
— ?- -■ ■ •—p — 
IDESIA POLYPHKLLA. 
This remarkable tree is a native of Japan, where 
it is found under cultivation as well as in a wild 
state. It is a tree some 40 ft. to 50 ft. high, with 
straight trunk and numerous horizontal spreading 
branches, forming a broad rounded head somewhat 
resembling a Catalpa. It is quite hardy in this 
country. The female plant flowered in the Kew 
Arboretum last midsummer, and is represented in 
the January number of The Botanical Maga¬ 
zine. The bark is white or yellowish, the leaves 
drooping, with long stalks and an oblong cordate or 
orbicular outline, with distant serratures, deep green 
in colour and from 5 ins. to 10 ins. long. The flowers 
are J in. in diameter and yellowish in colour. The 
berries are numerous, as large as small Grapes, 
orange-yellow in colour, and with a greenish pulp. 
They are said to be eatable, though probably not 
worth eating, as they stain the herbarium paper dark 
brown or black, and would, perhaps, have a similar 
effect upon the mouth. It seems to have been first 
mentioned by Professor Oliver in 1864, from a fruiting 
specimen collected by Oldham, under the name of 
Kara Sendau, and to have been fully described two 
years later by Maximowicz, the Russian traveller and 
botanist, in commemoration of Ides, who undertook an 
exploration of China early in the seventeenth century. 
It was introduced to European gardens by Dr. Regel, 
of St. Petersburgh. 
jitters io fbe debitor. 
THE ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS, OLD 
TRAFFORD. 
A Manchester paper having recently published a 
notice of some plants which have lately been added 
to the collections in these gardens, I shall feel greatly 
obliged by your kind insertion of this letter, in order 
that the public may know something of our present 
requirements and recent proceedings. About four 
years ago we found that the old range of glass-houses, 
which had been standing for fifty years, was worn 
out, and its removal became imperative, consequently 
it was taken down and a new range was built, not so 
imposing as the old one, but far better adapted for 
cultural purposes. Two years later it was found that 
the exhibition-house was not safe; this also had to be 
demolished and the present fine house was built. 
These improvements have been effected at a cost of 
£6,000. This amount has been raised partly by the 
creation of life members, partly by the successful 
Whitsuntide exhibitions, and partly by donations 
from friends of the Society. When the present 
magnificent exhibition-house was finished many 
gentlemen who had plants which had grown too 
large for their houses and who had also a desire 
to embellish the building, presented some fine 
specimens of various kinds. These, with some of 
the old plants saved from the old houses in the 
garden, numbering together 200 fine plants, are at 
the present time in the exhibition-house, and form a 
magnificent spectacle. Now, inasmuch as the whole 
of these plants will have to be removed to make room 
for the great annual display at Whitsuntide, and, 
inasmuch as we have no house to protect them, are 
they to perish ? This must be the case to a certain 
extent unless a suitable home be provided. 
Our only sources of income are derived from annual 
subscriptions, life membership, and receipts from 
exhibitions. I mention this because it was only 
yesterday, when asking a gentleman for support, he 
asked me, “What amount do you receive from 
Government?” It is an unfortunate circumstance 
that the need for these extraordinary items of expen¬ 
diture should have come upon us all at once, but it is, 
of course, a circumstance over which no one has had 
any control. The exhibitions of horticultural produce, 
which for so many years have taken place here, have 
been among the most attractive events in Lancashire ; 
liberal rewards have produced keen competition, and 
gardeners know that to be the gainer of a prize at 
Manchester is to stand at the head of their class. 
Knowledge has been sought for, and improved methods 
of cultivation have been gradually discovered. Horti¬ 
culture is the parent of agriculture. It determines on 
a small scale the value of the principles on which 
an extended cultivation of the soil depends. It is 
associated with our food, our wealth, and many of 
our social enjoyments. 
It is very gratifying to read in the public prints 
of large sums being given from time to time for 
purposes of art study and the preservation of art 
treasures. Surely it is of equal importance that a 
suitable home be provided for nature’s treasures. 
In the best periods of art the science and art of 
gardening was united to the sister arts of architecture, 
sculpture, and painting. Then the same feeling per¬ 
vaded and the same principles regulated them all, and 
if the misuse and misapplication of these principles in 
later times have forced again upon us the simple study 
and imitation of nature, individual arts have suffered 
by their disjunction, and it is satisfactory to know 
that they are now more combined. It is very gene¬ 
rally admitted that the Manchester Botanical Society 
has been for many years doing important public work. 
At the annual meeting of the society two years ago 
the President of the institution said: “ In merely a 
utilitarian and material point of view, he had no doubt 
it had a great deal more than repaid any expenditure 
which it had caused, but far above and beyond that 
he was quite certain that in a place like Manchester 
and a county such as Lancashire, it furnished a 
civilizing and humanizing agency with which they 
could not afford to dispense.” I may state that the 
sum required is £2,000, and it is earnestly hoped that 
this sum will be raised by an extension of membership 
and donations from ladies and gentlemen who have 
the means to assist so worthy an object.— Bruce 
Findlay, Old Trafford. 
A COTTAGE GARDEN IN ESSEX. 
I WAS greatly interested in the leader in your issue 
of January the 24th on Teetotal Gardening, and 
especially in your reference to the Birmingham 
gun-finisher’s garden. If you will allow me I will 
endeavour to give you a short sketch of a cottage 
garden in the south-eastern county of Essex. Being 
an agricultural county, the cottager is, of course, a 
labourer, his working hours being from 5 o’clock a.m. 
to 5.30 p.m., and his average wage 15s. per w r eek. No 
sooner is the day’s work finished and supper (or tea) 
over than he is busy in the garden, and besides what 
is termed the “home-garden” he has 20 rods of 
allotment, for which he pays 7s. 6 d. per year, the 
home-garden being about one-half the size of the 
allotment. Like the Birmingham gun-finisher, our 
cottager is fond of his garden, and is not only able to 
boast of having space for a few things, but sufficient 
to supply the family with vegetables the whole year, 
Potatos, of course, predominating, while various other 
vegetables receive their share of attention. But the 
flower-garden is one of the chief objects of interest, 
being a strip on the left hand side leading to the front 
door, about 15 ft. long and 5 ft. broad, with a rustic 
edging of large stones, inside which is a row of red 
and white Daisies, while the border itself is planted 
with Stocks, Wallflowers, Pansies, &c. In spring a 
row of Crocuses may be seen peeping through, inside 
the row of Daises, and, later on, a few Tulips join in 
welcoming the coming summer. During the summer 
it is generally gay with annuals, Candytuft, dwarf 
Nasturtiums, Mignonette, Ac., while at the back of the 
border space is afforded for two or three standard 
Roses, the Briars having been planted and budded by 
the owner. 
Window gardening, too, receives a liberal share of 
attention, the chief subjects grown being Pelargoniums, 
Zonal and French, a Fuchsia or two, and a Begonia 
Weltoniensis, which grows and flowers uncommonly 
well, in fact seems “quite at home.” A small piece 
of the kitchen-garden has recently been set apart for a 
few Dahlias, which are great favourites, and, in spite 
of its being only a cottage-garden, flowers of sterling- 
merit are to be found in it. Both the scarlet Cactus 
