April 25th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
531 
CARTERS’ 
INVICTA 
LAWN SEEDS 
FOR PRESENT SOWING. 
Per lb. Bushel 
CARTERS’ INVICTA LAWN SEEDS ... l % 25 1) 
Carters’Grass Seeds for Town Lawns ... 1 3 25 0 
Carters’ Grass Seeds for Cricket Grounds 1 0 20 0 
Caetebs’ Grass Seeds for Tennis Grounds 1 0 21 0 
Carters’ Grass Seeds to repair Old Lawns 1 3 25 o 
Caeters’ Grass Seeds for under Trees ... l 3 25 0 
Carters’ Grass Seeds for Pleasure Grounds 1 3 25 0 
Sow 4 Bushels of Seed per Acre. 
ALL PARCELS CARRIAGE FREE. 
Tor f urther particulars see Carters’ Pamphlet, “How to 
Form a Laion and Tennis Ground.” 
Gratis and Post Free on Application. 
SEEDSMEN BV SPECIAL WARRANT TO 
H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
231 and 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LOUDON, ff.C. 
DANIELS BROS.’ 
SPECIAL LIST OF CHOICE 
FLOWER SEEDS 
FOR PRESENT SOWING. POST FREE. 
We can highly recommend the following choice 
Flower Seeds as being really fine strains and well 
worthy of cultivation :— 
Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
darkling Morfo. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 25 tit, 1885. 
Emblematic Flowers. —We have, in common 
with many others who love flowers, and love them 
truly, deplored their association with political 
sentiment or persons. Flowers themselves are so 
universally appreciated, and so universally grown, 
that it is difficult to conceive of any uses to which 
they can be put which are more discordant with their 
exceeding sweetness and beauty than converting 
them into emblems of party-strife or antagonism. 
Had the lowly, lovely Primrose, the flower of the 
poorest as of the richest, been made an emblem 
of democratic feeling, as it is now the emblem 
of something totally diverse, we must then, as 
now, have protested against what is a desecra¬ 
tion. It would seem as if the national mind was 
revolting already against this dedication of the 
Primrose to the name of a deceased statesman. 
What was given to mankind cannot be given 
up to party, no matter which or what it may 
represent. 
The earnest yet often absurd ajsthete made 
the Sunflower the emblem of his art-tastes, and 
per pkt.—s. d. 
1 0 
Auricula, choicest Alpine. 
Antirrhinum majus, splendid mixed. 
Aquilegia glandulosa (true), splendid 
Aquilegia coerulea hybrida, very fine 
Aquilegia, splendid mixed, single and double. 
Begonia, Tuberous-rooted hybrids, very fine 
mixed _ .. . l s. 6 d. & 
Calceolaria bybrida, finest tigred and spotted 
varieties, very choice . Is. 6 d., 2s. c d., & 
Carnation, splendid double, from stage flowers, a 
remarkably fine strain . 2s. (id. & 
Carnation, Perpetual or Tree. 2s. G d. & 
Carnation, choicest yellow varieties 
Canterbury Bells, new double, rose ... 
Canterbury Bells, new double, white ... 
Canterbury Bells, new double, blue ... 
Canterbury Bells, single, pure white ... 
Canterbury Bells, single, splendid mixed ... 
Cineraria bybrida grandiflora, a brilliant strain 
of large and beautiful flowers ... Is. (id., 2s. Gd., & 
Cineraria bybrida, new dwarf, a beautiful class 
of dwarf-growing, large-flowered varieties . 
Delphinium formosum, splendid dark blue... 
Delphinium nudicaule, scarlet, fine. 
Delphinium, splendid mixed hybrids . 
Gloxinia bybrida grandiflora, Daniels’ superb 
mixed, beautiful large-flowered varieties Is. G d. & 
HoUybock, Chater’s fine double. 
Hollyhock, new large-flowered single, very fine, mixeii 
colours. . 
Mignonette, Golden Queen... ... 
Mignonette, “ Machet,” splendid for pots 
Mignonette, Victoria giant red, new, fine 
Mimulus, Daniels’ large-flowered. 
Pansy, Daniels’ Show and Fancy, splendid . 
Pansy, Daniels’ Prize Blotched, magnificent varieties 
-□ _ . , , _ Is. Gd. Sc 
Fansy, Daniels Improved Striped, very fine . 
Pentstemcn, from newest sorts, very choice. 
Petunia bybrida grandiflora, magnificent class, 
splendid mixed.Is. Gd. & 
Ficotee, splendid double, mixed . 2s. Gd. & 
Polyanthus, choicest Gold-laced . Is. Gd! & 
Primrose, brilliant hybrids, mixed. Is. Gd. & 
Primula, Daniels’ Crimson King, magnificent deep 
crimson-scarlet ... . 
Primula, Chiswick Red, splendid. 
Primula alba magnifica, very fine. . . . 
Primula, Daniels’ choicest mixed. Is. Gd. & 
F yr ethrum, new single-flowered hybrids, fine varieties, 
mixed. 
Stock, Brompton, giant scarlet. ... 6d. & 
Sweet William, Daniels’ Prize.Gd. & 
Viola, bedding, choice mixed . 
Wallflower, single,blood-red . ' 
xtt er > golden-yellow. 
W ailflower, single, choice mixed. 
Wallflower, double German, 6 superb varieties 
wallflower, double German, choice mixed ... cd. & 
DANIELS BROS., 
THE ROYAL NORFOLK SEED ESTABLISHMENT, 
NORWICH. 
the poor Sunflower, after a season or two of fame 
fell into impotence, and is now neglected. That 
such a fate should befall the Primrose we should 
all deplore, and it may be that the nationalization 
of a yet sectional Primrose Festival may prevent 
a calamity, and restore our loved wild flower into 
the position from which ill-advised partizans have 
reduced it. Observation made widely on Satur¬ 
day and Sunday last, the official and actual 
anniversary of the death of the great statesman to 
whom we have referred, showed that Primroses 
were almost universally worn, and by myriads of 
people who did so because of no political signifi¬ 
cance, hut because they would be in the fashion. 
The 19th of April seems rather tending towards 
a national festival of the Primrose than a com¬ 
memorative day for anyone, and in that sense 
the universal wearing of bunches of Primroses 
would show little that was objectionable, and 
nothing that was partizan. The Irishman loves 
yet to commemorate the natal day of his patron 
saint by wearing the Shamrock. The Scotchman, 
on St. Andrew’s Hay, yet where possible adorns 
himself with the national Thistle, and the Welsh¬ 
man commemorates St. David by displaying the 
odorous Leek. Curiously enough, Pritons, whilst 
having as the Pose the most beautiful of all 
national floral emblems, yet treat St. George’s 
Day with absolute contempt, for no one is seen 
to display a Pose on that day specially in our 
patron saint’s favour. Without doubt, customs 
of this kind are better honoured in the breach 
than in the observance, especially when, as some¬ 
times happens, they lead to strife and contention. 
It is true, St. George’s Day falls upon April 
23rd (Thursday last), and is hardly in the Pose 
season. Still, we may take it for granted that 
were a special demand for these flowers to be 
created, the supply would soon be created also. 
Perhaps the national Pose is, after all, the 
Primrose. If that he so, it is odd that we should 
only have just discovered its emblematic nature. 
Still farther is it strange that we do not follow in 
the wake of our allied nationalities, and make St. 
George s Day the feast of St. Primrose also. A 
very warm-hearted and practical lover of flowers 
has made the suggestion that with us, if the 
Primrose is to be held commemorative at all, it 
should be of that grand old botanist and exponent 
of Primrose life and beauty, Charles Darwin. 
Alas, the proposal comes too late for full accept¬ 
ance, because it is not possible to blend scientists 
who belong to humanity and statesmen who 
belong only to party together. If Darwin, who, 
curiously enough, died on the 19th of April also, 
as Lord Beaconsfield did, is to he thus honoured, 
let it he rather by the garden Primrose, and 
its congener, the Polyanthus, than by that wild 
form which shows no progress or advance from 
its earliest character, whilst the garden Primula, 
or a progeny of acaulis and of veris have, 
like science, gone ahead in development, and 
now display charms and beauties which words 
cannot fully describe. Still our verdict is rather 
for the absolute neutrality of flowers in all things. 
They are the world’s, they are for the delight of 
humanity, they are the prized and loved of every 
section, and it is better that they should he so 
prized and loved than he otherwise regarded. 
- >*< - 
Gooseberries. —We shall not commit the too 
common mistake of counting the chickens before 
they are hatched, but it does seem as if, as far as 
Gooseberries are concerned, there is this year a 
big “ sitting,” and that a monster hatch is in store 
for us. Gooseberries are pretty hardy fruits, after 
all, and take a good deal of rough usage. Perhaps 
they have undergone already the worst they will 
have to endure this season, and if that be so, 
then we shall see one of the largest crops of 
recent years. The bushes are now in rich and 
abundant leaf, which is expanding and thickening 
every day, and the embryo fruit is thus finding 
valuable protection. It is fortunate for the 
Gooseberry crop from year to year, that we 
relieve the hushes of their wondrous produce 
so largely, through the fashion of consuming the 
berries when in a green state. By so doing the 
bushes are enabled to recuperate and prepare 
ripe wood and buds for fruit production in the 
succeeding year. 
It may he that in thus so very largely con¬ 
suming the fruit when green, and of course not 
matured, that we waste much and consume much 
that is neither wholesome nor healthful. On the 
other hand, growers find the custom of consuming 
the fruit so early to be singularly useful and 
profitable to them, for they secure a long season 
of sale, and can, if a glut of green fruits prevail, 
save the crop over till ripe, and thus secure 
another chance to obtain a good market. With 
so large a crop in prospect, we may well study 
how best to utilize it to the full, and inasmuch as 
we can hardly hope to utilize all in a green state, 
or to eat what remains as ripe dessert fruit (and 
good ripe Gooseberries are exceedingly wholesome 
and pleasant), we must convert a considerable 
quantity into preserve. Fruit-growers may well 
bless the original discoverer of the culinary 
process of preserving, and lovers of sweet things 
may hallow his memory. Green Gooseberries 
make good preserve for early use; ripe Goose¬ 
berries boiled for a short time in water to soften 
their skins make better. All honour, then, to 
Gooseberry jam. 
- *$+ - 
Mushrooms and Mushroom Spawn. —Some 
rather sensational accounts have of late been 
published with respect to the productive powers 
of Mushroom spawn, so that it has come to be 
imagined that a new era in relation to the edible 
fungi of gardens is opening. That these wonder¬ 
ful growths of Mushrooms have been obtained 
there has been ample evidence, and the prosaic 
explanation of the phenomena given is that now 
