April 4th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING Y/ORLD, 
483 
Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
(% 4%rkntng Work 
SATURDAY, APRIL 4m, 1885. 
Ahateub Ceiticism.— It is remarkable, but 
true none the less, that we very seldom meet with 
a real common-sense and practical article upon 
gardening, or even a report of a flower show, in a 
daily paper. The staffs of these kings of serial 
literature seldom include a practical gardener, 
though perhaps plenty of a sort who think they 
know, and thinking wrongly, egregiously fail. Our 
daily contemporary, The Standard, favoured its 
readers a few mornings since with a resume of plati¬ 
tudes which would have been well laughed at were 
the same to appear in any gardening paper. It is 
deplorable that such twaddle should represent to 
the public at large horticultural thought and 
knowledge as found in these professed educators, 
our daily papers. Happily the bane finds an 
earnest and able antidote in the real gardenin' 1, 
press, writers in which usually know what they 
are writing about, and as a rule neither indulge 
in balderdash nor mislead. 
Our daily contemporary’s leader-writer dis¬ 
courses euphonistically about flower shows, 
spring seasons, exotic and hardy plants, and 
too plainly exhibits at the same time that he is 
at the moment somewhat at sea. The way in 
which such things as Kalmias, Ehododendrons, 
Azaleas, Spirasas, Wistarias, See., are mixed up 
with hardy March-blooming plants is bewilder¬ 
ing. It would seem as if the critic were regard¬ 
ing forced plants as the natural products of the 
spring. Fashion is charged with being the cause 
of the banishment of so many hardy flowers from 
our gardens. Evidently it is by the writer held 
safe to charge upon fashion all the changes which 
have grown up in gardening taste during the past 
thirty years. Somehow, it seems convenient to set 
aside the fact that the introduction of vast num¬ 
bers of real novelties from abroad, and the 
wondrous evolutions in facile plants wrought by 
our florists at home, have been the prime causes 
of certain old plants having fallen into the back¬ 
ground, and if some old favourites are now being 
resuscitated, or other less known but good hardy 
plants are being introduced to our gardens, it is 
not because fashion wills, but because variation, 
change, progression, and succession are essentials 
to gardening, and without them it would soon 
become vapid, and decay. 
The “Daily ” critic seems also to feel himself 
on safe ground when he charges upon the gar¬ 
dener the fault of having thrust out of gardens 
the Anemone and the Eanuneulus. That form of 
criticism is as false as it is unwarrantable. Gar¬ 
deners universally cater for their employers, and 
are the agents of their employers’wishes. As a fact, 
they love these beautiful spring flowers, but whilst 
many are again taking up the Anemone because 
their employers want less bedding stuff, they do 
not much regret the absence of the Eanuneulus, 
as it is a ruddy, rotund, formal flower at the best, 
and hard -to cultivate with success. Again, we 
are told that the Hollyhock is now rarely seen, 
except in the cottager’s plot, but the cottager 
Mio can show us this old favourite flower is a 
rarity indeed. Here, again, the critic shows 
himself to be ignorant of the existence of that 
fell disease, the Hollyhock fungus with the 
unpronounceable technical name, which has 
cruelly done so much to strip gardens of plants. 
We only want to see the last of this visitation to 
once more make Hollyhocks as popular and as 
attractive as ever they were. 
Some regret too is evinced because of the com¬ 
parative decadence of the Tulip, but the culture 
of this flower is an expensive luxury, and its 
charms are very evanescent. Tulips are floral 
butterflies, gorgeous in hue, but fugitive in 
existence. They have their admirers still, if 
reduced in number, but in old days they were 
more the pets of fevered fancy than the children 
of genuine love. Our own observation rather 
leads us to rejoice over the wondrous progress 
horticulture in all its forms has made, rather 
than to cavil because an old-fashioned plant or 
two is in danger of being forgotten. 
New Potatos : The Chiswick Teials. —It 
will, we fear, bring anguish to many anti-Potato- 
phobists, to learn that the number of seedling 
kinds sent in to Chiswick Gardens for trial this 
year is so large that Mr. Barron’s resources are 
likely to be taxed to the utmost in order to find 
room for all and to give to each one a fair trial. 
Potatos have now become so good that it is 
exceedingly difficult to find room for improve¬ 
ment, and yet that advancing or actually improved 
kinds will be presently found amongst the number 
of new ones submitted for trial there cau be no 
doubt. Such has been the case every year, and 
such, in spite of the admirable characters of our 
present best sorts, will it continue to be. 
We are not very sanguine that the efforts put 
forth to obtain a new race of edible Potatos from 
the intercrossing of certain species with our 
present varieties of tuberosum will be productive 
of much good. Potatos are so good, so abundant, 
and so cheap that the rendering of them cheaper 
and more abundant will prove to be almost a 
misfortune, yet, owing to the wonderfully favour¬ 
able nature of the weather which has prevailed 
during the winter and spring, and the admirable 
condition of the soil, Potatos are being planted, 
not only early, but in great quantities, so that, 
with a fair season, we may look again for possibly 
a larger crop than ever. 
With regard to the seedling kinds to which 
reference has been made, it is satisfactory to 
learn that they will be well overhauled and 
tested, and certainly the severe ordeal which has 
to be passed through should satisfy the most 
sceptical that none but really first-class kinds 
will pass muster. It seems certain that as 
candidates for honours increase so must the 
standards of quality be proportionately raised. 
Floweb Show Jaegon. —A very clever paper 
was once written on The Nonsense of Flower 
Shows. It was very sweeping in its condemna¬ 
tion, but there was, notwithstanding, a good deal 
of sound sense in it. Among other things, it ridi- 
culed the use of the terms “ Show ” and “Fancy,” 
in schedules of prizes as applied to Dahlias, 
Pansies, Pelargoniums, &c. Well, they do some¬ 
times become the bugbears of schedules. Take 
Dahlias, for instance. In many parts of the 
country the distinction between Show and Fancy 
Dahlias is imperfectly understood, and exhibitors 
of the latter put all kinds of tipped Dahlias into 
a stand of fancy flowers. The exhibitors never 
will be able to understand the distinction made 
by professional Dahlia-cultivators. It sometimes 
happens that a judge shows a kind of passion for 
disqualifying; he evidently thinks it an admir¬ 
able way of displaying the possession of a superior 
knowledge, and much heartburning is caused 
thereby. The wisest course to adopt on the part 
of a stranger going to a particular Show for the 
first time, would be to inquire as to the practice 
of previous judges, and if he finds they have 
admitted all kinds of tipped flowers, he will do 
wisely to follow their lead. In country Shows 
the terms fancy and show Dahlias should be 
abolished, unless retained by a body of florists 
who fully comprehend their significance. 
In regard to Pelargoniums, the fancy section 
are scarcely shown, and the term “ ladies,” as 
distinguished from the large-flowered or “ Show,” 
was always better than “ fancy.” And who shall 
venture to say what is, and what is not, a “ regal ” 
or a “decorative” Pelargonium? It is getting 
very difficult to draw a distinction between a 
Show and a fancy Pansy. It formerly represented 
two classes with sharply defined differences of 
character, but it no longer does so. The blooms 
are invariably found to be mixed up in Shows 
where these distinctions are maintained, but never 
regarded in practice. In the cases of the 
Auricula and the Polyanthus, the term “ fancy ” 
has recently come to be applied. But they are 
ill-defined in the case of the Auricula, and difficult 
of demonstration. The simplification of schedules 
is a matter of great importance. In not a few 
instances the rules and regulations contain a 
clause to the effect that the interpretation of any 
dubious phrases shall be left to the judges. When 
this is so, they should always be interpreted in 
the very widest sense; this will always be found 
the best course in the long run; it will reduce 
causes of disagreement, and inspire confidence in 
the fairness and justice of the executive. 
The Indian Azalea. —It was once stated by 
the late Dr. Lindley that the Chinese Azaleas 
were not much known in this country until 1821. 
At that time they were small, difficult to grow 
and blossom, and were only to be found in the 
gardens of the curious, not being considered 
objects of decoration. According to Paxton’s 
Botanical Dictionary, we find that the first 
species of this useful genus (A. indica) was intro¬ 
duced from China in 1808, and A. sinensis, 
A., variegata, A. phoenicea, and A. ledifolia in 
1823-24. Since then came A. Danielsiana, A. 
exquisita, and a few others ; and from these have 
sprung the numerous varieties now in cultivation. 
The original progenitors are natives of the cool, 
moist, hilly regions of India and China. It 
would be interesting to know who was the first 
to cross the Azaleas, and so commence the work of 
improvement. Messrs. Ivery & Son, then of the 
Dorking and Eeigate Nurseries, did much to 
improve this useful flower forty to fifty years 
ago, but others had been at work previously, 
though but few records of their work are left to 
us. Such raisers as Smith, Kinghorn, Frost, 
Knight, and Lee, among others, did their share, 
and gave to cultivators varieties of high-class 
merit. 
Of late years our best varieties of Azaleas have 
come from the Continent. The Belgian raisers 
in particular have been greatly successful in 
originating new varieties, both double and single. 
The flowers are large, stout, and finely formed, 
and the plants are of an excellent habit of growth. 
A few of these maybe mentioned as representing 
the very cream of the collections now in cultiva¬ 
tion : —Antigone, white, striped and blotched with 
bright violet; Apollo, white, striped carmine, 
extra fine; Charles Leirens, a very flue semi¬ 
double variety, colour, dark salmon; Emperor of 
Brazil, deep rose, edged white, fully double; 
Empress of India, rosy-salmon, edged with white, 
semi-double, extra fine; Flambeau, glowing 
crimson, deep in colour, yet very bright and 
effective; Jean Vervaene, deep rich salmon, 
edged and striped with white; Madame Van 
Houtte, bright rosy-salmon, edged white, extra 
fine; Memoire de Louis van Houtte, bright 
