580 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 16th, 1885. 
are other beautiful flowers besides Orchids, and 
all help to beautify and give happiness. A 
humble Pansy sometimes gives as much delight 
to the poor as the grandest of Orchids can to the 
wealthy. 
Gaeden Seedsmen. — Gardening opens up such 
a wondrous range of topics, and is so varied and 
far-reaching in character, that oftentimes subjects 
start up in the gardening papers that seem at first 
sight to have not the slightest connection with it, 
and yet is presently found to be linked with its 
interests very intimately. Thus in the matter of 
trading in garden seeds we find, curiously enough 
the question raised as to whether it is proper or, 
legitimate that chemists and grocers, amongst 
other small traders, should sell garden seeds, thus 
competing with the seedsmen. That topic seems 
to have been started rather late in the day, inas¬ 
much as we have seen co-operative stores in many 
large towns selling not only seeds, but plants, 
and all sorts of garden requirements, conjointly 
with almost everything else. The pinch of com¬ 
petition alluded to is most probably chiefly found 
in small towns where it is dangerous for one shop¬ 
keeper to tread upon another’s toes. And yet it 
seems very .difficult to understand why a grocer 
or a chemist may not sell garden seeds, if they 
are genuine and good, just as freely as anyone 
else; as in the same way the small seedsman may, 
if he likes, retaliate by selling to the public, even 
more cheaply than his neighbours if he can, sugar, 
soap, or many other articles retailed both by 
grocers and chemists. The real question is, How 
far by this free and wide dispersal of seeds can 
gardening be made to benefit ? and the answer is, 
of course, the more seeds sold the better. If the 
chemist’s seeds were bad, and turned out to be 
old and useless, the public could soon have their 
revenge ; but if on the other hand, as is asserted, 
the seeds so vended are all good, though cheap, 
the purchaser is the gainer, and the only course 
open for the retail seedsman is to sell as good an 
article, and as cheaply also, advertizing his wares 
widely, and thus attracting public attention. We 
cannot begin in these days of open trading to 
restrict a man as to what he shall sell, provided 
his wares are not exciseable, and are good. The 
large seedsmen have in many ways, especially in 
their packet system of selling seeds, shown how 
cheaply seeds may be retailed. It is for other 
seedsmen to go and do likewise. 
Hobticultuee at the Eoyal Academy. —For 
some, to us unaccountable, reason the garden in 
this year’s Exhibition is very poorly represented. 
It is not that people, from the wealthiest to the 
middle and even poorest class, are less fond of 
flowers than ever they were ; the cultivation of 
them is spreading at a wonderful rate, and with 
our advanced modes of culture, the price of even 
the choicer species of flowers is within reach ot 
a moderate income. But there is the fact, with 
regard to this year’s Eoyal Academy, that the 
proportion of garden pictures is much lower than 
usual, and the standard of merit lower still. Out 
of the 1,160 works in oil exhibited, fifty only, or 
one in twenty-three, treat of flowers, even as 
accessories, and most of these in only a cursory 
manner. We miss entirely the gorgeous masses 
of Azaleas, Eoses, and Lilies pourtrayed by the 
facile and graceful pencil of Miss Mutrie, and 
M. Fautin contents himself with a bunch of 
Eoses and a vase of Chrysanthemums. As to 
fruit pieces, there are very few worthy of the 
name. Even in water-colours, for several reasons 
the most suitable vehicle for flower painting, out 
of 315 drawings there are only twenty-four 
flower pieces, and the majority of these of so 
modest and retiring a nature—merely transcripts 
of ordinary garden flowers—that the several 
artists might be offended at our mentioning them. 
There are two or three drawings, however, 
that deserve more than a passing notice. Fore¬ 
most of these is E. J. Poynter’s, E.A., “Arabian 
Nights ” (1225). It is an upright drawing, repre¬ 
senting a garden containing dense masses of 
tropical foliage, interspersed with a few flowers, 
chiefly Eoses and Camellias, Bamboos, Hickorys, 
Palms, Cedars, beneath a rich brown sandstone 
cliff. Some wreaths of Clematis Jackmanni, as 
it seems to ns, trail down the face of the cliff, 
added, no doubt, for its delightful contrast with 
Gloire de Dijon Eoses. Over the top of the 
stately pyramids of verdure rises the graceful 
cupola of a mosque ; a dark-eyed beauty, re¬ 
clining on a rich carpet spread on the turf, in the 
foreground. She is toying with a cockatoo of 
magnificent dark blue plumage. It occurs to us, 
as we look at the picture, that English artists 
seldom attempt an English garden of the highest 
rank, although the material would far outvie in 
splendour the “Dream of the Arabian Nights.” 
Two other drawings deserve notice, one a group 
of Oriental Poppies (1176), terribly brilliant and 
aggressive in colour, and the other a branch of 
Victoria Plums in a purple vase (1188), Wm. 
Hough. 
Out of the fifty oil paintings which are more or 
less suggestive of the garden, there are scarcely 
half a dozen in which the garden is more 
than an accessory to figures. “ Helping Gar¬ 
dener” (78i), by Miss Hallyar, is a bright and 
pleasant picture. An elderly gardener, one of 
the old school, who is taking a barrowful of 
Geraniums and Azaleas to the conservatory no 
doubt, is escorted by two rosy little lasses, 
each carrying armsful of rosy blooms. “ Sunday 
Morning” (672), Arthur Hughes, is a charming 
subject nicely treated. A young lady is wending 
her way through the prim old garden of a 
country house; two sleek colley dogs have 
followed her, but she turns to remind them that 
they must go back. Quite a forest of Eoses and 
other border plants help to make up a pretty and 
suggestive picture. There are two or three quiet 
little cottage gardens by C. E. Boutwood and 
G. S. Coke, and a pretty little interior of a green¬ 
house in winter by Miss Linnie IVatt. 
Mr. Boughton, E.A., in his fine picture (663) 
of “ Milton visited by Andrew Marvel,” has one 
of the pictures of the year. The poet is seated by 
his daughter on a bench outside his cottage. He 
is pressing the outstretched hand of Marvel with 
both his ; two friends have come to solace him 
with music. A son and daughter of Marvel, as 
it appears from the likeness, accompany Marvel, 
the daughter bearing a small bouquet of Honey¬ 
suckle and Dog Eoses. A jar of the same 
fragrant wildings stands on a table beside his 
daughter. They are favourites, no doubt, with 
the blind poet. In the right foreground is a 
border of Cloves and Carnations beautifully 
painted, and a verdant little vista, stretching 
away on the right, with flower-border, hedgerow, 
and slender trees. Of groups of flowers the 
most effective are “Hollyhocks of the Eoyal 
Garden, Kew,” by Miss L. Aumonier (312), 
simply three spikes, a crimson, flesh, and white, 
a most effective and ornamental panel; (385) 
“ Field Flowers,” by Maurice Page, a large bunch 
of Ox-eye Daisies and Corn Poppies, interspersed 
with Grasses and spikes of green Oats. The red 
cups are brilliantly suggestive of headache; 
caDnot the artist select a more fragrant and 
attractive subject for his clever pencil P (683) 
“ Autumn Eoses,” by W. J. Sanders, a group 
of Teas, Gloire de Dijon, Souvenir de Malmaison, 
Niphetos, and President, is beautifully painted. 
Several long panels of Eoses and Christmas 
Eoses, Hydrangeas, and several vases of some¬ 
what gloomv-looking Chrysanthemums complete 
the meagre list of Eoyal Academy flower subjects. 
Let us hope for better things next year. 
(Sar&cnfmg BttstcUanir. 
Flower Shows foe Next Week. — Wednesday ; 
Eoyal Botanic Society’s Summer Exhibition.—Paris 
InternalionalHorticulturalExhibition opens. — Friday: 
Grand National Horticultural Exhibition opens at Old 
Trafford, Manchester. 
Me. W. M. Baillie, gardener to the Earl of Wilton, 
at Heaton Park, has been engaged by the Danish 
Minister to succeed Mr. Butters (who is leaving next 
mouth) as gardener at Luton Hoo, Beds. 
The Eoyal Horticultual Society of Liege have 
conferred their large Silver-gilt Medal on Dr. Eobert 
Hogg, of London, in recognition of the merits of his 
Fruit Manual. 
We regret to hear that Mr. Stevens, of Trentham, 
is very ill in the Isle of Wight, and that his condition 
is the cause of much anxiety among his friends. 
It is interesting to learn that, even in these 
degenerate days, plant lovers are alive to the value 
of good novelties. This has been demonstrated 
during the last fortnight in the case of the new 
hardy white Passion-flower, Constance Elliot, Messrs. 
Lucombe, Pince & Co., of Exeter, having during that 
time sent out 2,000 plants of it. 
The committee appointed to wind up the affairs 
of the International Forestry Exhibition, held in 
Edinburgh last year, have at length completed 
their labours. The balance in hand, after paying 
all expenses, is £291 14s. The total income of the 
Exhibition was £22,957 9s. 8 d., and the expenditure 
£22,665 15s. 8 d. 
The many personal friends of the late Mr. Charles 
W. Shaw (editor of Gardening Illustrated ) will learn 
with deep regret of the death of his widow on the 
6th inst. Mrs. Shaw suffered from the same malady 
as her husband—consumption—and survived him only 
about five months. 
Tex thousand flower spikes of Lily of the Valley, 
besides numerous cut blooms of choice Orchids, were 
used in the floral decorations carried out on the 8th 
inst. by Messrs. Wills & Segar, at Mrs. Charles 
Waring’s mansion, 2, Grosvenor Square. 
Amongst the recent donations received by the 
Eoyal Botanic Society, and shown at the meeting on 
Saturday last, were many interesting plants, <&c., from 
Teneriffe, presented by Mr. W. Cossart., These in¬ 
cluded several flowers and fruits of a species of 
Eucalyptus, remarkable in that the horn-like lid of the 
flower is used as a cigarette-holder by the Spaniards. 
Professor Bentley said the various species of Eucalypti 
were of great interest, not only in the natural state as 
plants, but as affording some valuable medicinal 
substances, and in other ways, more especially in 
rendering malarial districts healthy. The Secretary 
said that in his recent journey he had seen the 
Eucalyptus flourishing equally well in damp situations 
and where the soil was very dry. 
Lady-birds and Aphis. —Those who have plant- 
houses cannot do better than collect the beetles of 
lady-birds or cow-ladies (Coccinella) in early spring 
before they have deposited their eggs, and place them 
among their aphid-affected plants. Some of the lady¬ 
birds will probably lay their eggs on the plants, and 
the young “ niggers ” which will hatch from them will 
make short work of the plant-lice, for a healthy nigger 
will consume thirty or forty aphids per hour. The 
larvie may be collected and placed upon Bose trees 
with great benefit, one or two of which larvie will soon 
clear an affected tree. These may be obtained by 
beating likely-looking hedgerows or tree branches over 
an inverted umbrella,and when found the “crocodiles” 
should be conveyed in a small tin box, as chip or 
wooden carriers are apt to become too dry, and so kill 
the captured larvie. In the autumn, lady-birds dis¬ 
appear after the first frosts of winter, and retire for 
hybernation. Where it is desirable to cultivate these 
little assistants—and where is it not ?—shelter may be 
provided for them. No better can be found than a few 
slabs from the sawmill placed close against the sunny 
side of a wall or other dry place, and the lady-birds 
will hide there in the winter in surprising numbers, 
returning to activity with the first warm sunny days 
of spring. Hop-poles are good hiding places for 
them, for they get into the cracks and chinks, and 
care should be taken not to shake them out when 
stacking for winter.— Field. 
