August 15th, 1885. 
*■ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”—B acon. 
SATURDAY, AUGUST Urn, 1885. 
The Face of Natuee.— It is a common thing 
to speak of the surface of the earth and its pro¬ 
ductions as the “ face of nature,” and the symbol 
is by no means inappropriate. Nature certainly 
at times very much resembles a dirty, begrimed, 
withered visage, and when seen in that condition 
it is exceedingly unpleasant to look upon. But 
give the face of nature a washing, a thorough 
cleansing from dirt, soot, and other grimy sub¬ 
stances, and it becomes as fresh and as delightful 
as does the dirty human visage after it has been 
transformed by a vigorous ablution. How dis¬ 
tressingly nature’s face needed cleansing those 
residing near towns, and specially beside dusty 
thoroughfares, could tell sadly but a few days 
since. But not merely did the cleansing process 
become needful, moisture was also sadly wanting 
to revive and invigorate exhausted, withered, and 
almost dying vegetation. Fields, woods, hedge¬ 
rows, gardens, nay, all vegetation, in many 
districts had become so miserable through long- 
continued drought that nature gave no pleasure, 
indeed, its wretched state only created pain. 
After many weeks long waiting and severe 
ordeal of drought, the flood-gates of the fleecy 
water-carriers of heaven were once more opened, 
and the earth rejoiced under the influence of tho 
refreshing beverage. The effect seems to have 
been almost magical upon vegetation, for with 
the cleansing of dust and grime and the moisten, 
ing of the leafage, new life and vigour seems to 
have set in, and gardens, fields, and hedge-rows 
once more assume beauty and cheerfulness, too 
long wanting. It is true the rains have not been 
great, and the soil is moistened but slightly, still 
it is productive of a change so welcome that we 
dare not cavil. With the harvest in its full tide, 
along spell of rainfall would be a disaster, whilst 
a thorough soaking of the soil down to the roots 
of the late Potatos, Winter Greens, pastures, &c., 
would, if temporary in operation, be productive 
of incalculable good. 
Already the moisture has benefited the tree- 
fruits immensely, and Apples, Pears, and Plums, 
with Nuts, seem to have increased in size visibly. 
It is doubtful whether a deep ground rain, pene¬ 
trating to the very roots, would not now be 
harmful as likely to be productive, after com¬ 
parative rest, of renewed sap movement, and thus 
tend to thrust off the fruit whilst inducing 
unusual tree growth. Occasional showers and 
cooler temperature will now do a wonderful deal 
of good, and as a result we hope to see our hardy 
autumn fruits very much better all round than 
could have been anticipated a week or two since, 
when leaves and fruit were fast falling. Whilst 
moderate rains will do the Corn more good than 
harm, they will prove of the utmost beneficence 
to the root and green-field crops, indeed but for 
their interposition, white Turnips would have been 
impossible, and other roots small. Now ail is 
changed for the better, wide breadths of Turnips 
have been got in in excellent time, and roots 
generally have received a new lease of life. 
Market gardeners were in despair at the 
difficulty experienced in getting out green crops 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
787 
for the winter. Vast quantities of plants have 
been put out but to die, others have been kept 
alive by costly watering, whilst myriads of plants 
have been spoiling in the seed beds. These will 
now go out, and indeed have been got out largely, 
although the rainfall has not penetrated the soil 
so deeply as is desirable for their good. W inter 
Greens will not be too abundant presently, but no 
doubt rapid growth will be made. Potatos are 
the most difficult crop to connect with the change 
in the weather, for all the early kinds are ripe 
and beyond recovery, the second earlier can get 
no good from the moisture, whilst it is expected 
that the late kinds will very largely supertuberate, 
the plants having been so severely checked. 
Should such result follow there is reason to hope 
that with growth beginning early, a really good 
crop of new tubers may be lifted in October. 
The Hollyhock. —There seems good reason 
to believe that our old favourite hardy border 
flower, the Hollyhock, will soon again re-occupy 
its once prominent position in gardens. For 
many years it was the most striking of plants in 
gardens when in bloom, and had become a popular 
exhibition flower, indeed, stands of a dozen or 
two dozen of spikes, each from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in 
height, and literally masses of bloom, were objects 
which could hardly be excelled for attractiveness. 
Presently a fell disease seized upon our favourite 
flower; a pestilential fungus as destructive to the 
Hollyhock as the Peronospora infestans has been 
to the Potato plant, perhaps more so in fact, 
preyed upon the leaves and stems of the plants 
as they grew each year, until finally myriads 
succumbed and the Hollyhock was in danger 
of complete annihilation. It is doubtful whether 
of all those grand kinds sent out by the recently 
deceased Mr. Chater, of Saffron Walden, or 
from Edinburgh, Forest Hill, and other places, 
one old-named kind now lives. If any have 
survived the fungoid epidemic, then they must 
have proved most meritorious kinds indeed. 
But in spite of this destruction, Hollyhocks 
still exist, although it is very possible that for 
what we now have we are chiefly dependent 
upon the continental seed raisers, who, more 
favoured than we, have been enabled to keep seed 
strains of the plants in existence. It may be 
that here we had somewhat crippled the con¬ 
stitution of the Hollyhock by our unnatural 
methods of propagation, methods simple enough 
to florists, but possibly detestable to nature. She 
has very kindly furnished these flowers with 
free seeding properties, and therefore it seems 
evident that if we would increase and multiply, 
then we should employ the means nature has 
thus so liberally placed at our disposal. 
But though through seed we get variety, and 
often wondrous and very beautiful variety, yet 
we may not trust nature absolutely to reproduce 
from seed what she has previously created, where 
Hollyhocks are concerned, and hence our raisers 
when they had a fine variety increased it by pro¬ 
pagating from cuttings and other ways, all of 
which, it is feared, did tend to some extent to 
weaken the constitution of the plant. Certain it 
is now that with the dreaded fungus much less 
destructive than formerly, yet plants increased 
by propagation are much more readily affected 
by it than are those raised from seed, hence we 
see that in the seed-raising process some strength 
is obtained which is wanting in other ways. We 
have the authority of Messrs. Sutton & Sons, 
who have had great experience in raising Holly¬ 
hocks from seed, for the above statement, and 
feel assured that it is true, because to seedling 
raising almost alone do we owe the existence of 
Hollyhocks now. 
It is a good time to allude to this matter now 
also, because, with the plants in bloom on the one 
hand and commanding admiration on the other, 
it is a fairly good time to sow seed, although a 
month or two earlier would, perhaps, have been 
better. However, if seed be sown at once in 
pans, shallow boxes, or in a frame, and kept under 
glass, watered, and shaded during hot sunshine, 
it will not be difficult to have some strong 
plants to put out in November, and these should 
carry fine spikes of bloom next autumn. Whilst 
for seed production Hollyhocks can hardly bloom 
too early, yet, when the production of fine blooms 
and spikes is the chief desire, there is gain in 
having the plants to bloom a little later and 
when a little cooler than otherwise. The bloom 
spikes, if very strong, may be stopped at a height 
of 6 ft. with advantage, and each one should have 
the support of a stout stake. The more double 
the blooms are the better they are appreciated, 
but still fine single blooms are very pleasing. 
However, any good strain will give very fine 
double flowers in several rich distinctive colours, 
and for an outlay of half-a-crown enough seed 
may be obtained to produce a small army of 
plants. 
IJJisalknir* 
Flower Shows for Next Week. —Tuesday : Annual 
Flower Show at Basingstoke.—Weston-super-Mare 
Annual Show. Wednesday and Thursday : Shropshire 
Horticultural Society’s Annual Summer Show in the 
Quarry, Shrewsbury. Thursday : Wiltshire Horti- 
cultural Society’s Show at Salisbury. Friday ; Flower 
Show at Exeter. 
Mr. W. Jarman, for thirteen years gardener at 
Westwood Lodge, Thanet, has been engaged as 
gardener to J. Farmer, Esq., Chapel Hill House, 
Margate. 
On Saturday last, a deputation from the Fruiterers’ 
Company waited upon the Lord Mayor at the Mansion 
House, to make the usual presentation of the season’s 
fruits. As in previous years, the fruit was of the 
choicest description, and the Lord Mayor warmly 
thanked the Company for the present. 
The forty-sixth anniversary meeting of the Boyal 
Botanic Society was held on Monday, Mr. J. P, Gassiot, 
vice-president, in the chair. The reports of the council 
and auditors for the year were read. The receipts 
have been from all sources £6,453 3s. 10d., a very good 
average, while the expenditure, notwithstanding the 
heavy outlay for building, has been £300 less than that 
of last year. The attendance of visitors at the exhibi¬ 
tions held during the spring and summer months 
continues on the increase. More especially was this 
noted as regards the evening fOte, when the numbers 
reached 8,450, an increase of 500 over last year, which 
had hitherto been considered the best. During the last 
five years 3,824 free orders of admission, of from three 
to six months, have been given, and 245,426 cut 
specimens of plants and flowers distributed to the 
various medical and art schools of the metropolis. 
At a meeting of the Belgian Chamber of Horticul- 
ture, held at Ghent, on Monday last, Certificates of 
Merit were awarded to Messrs. Yervaet & Co. for 
Dendroehilum filiforme; to Mr. James Bray for 
Cattleya Dowiana and Cypripedium Stonei; to Mr, 
A. D’Haene for Pandanus D'Haenei; and to Mr, 
A. Peeters, Brussels, for Cypripedium Morganfe. 
Turner Memorial Dahlia Prize. —The Committee 
of the National Dahlia Show have decided to offer a 
special prize as a memento of the efforts made in the 
establishment of this show by the late Mr. Charles 
Turner, of Slough. The prize is to take the form of 
a Silver Cup, value ten guineas, to be competed for 
by amateur cultivators only, and to be offered for 
twelve Show and six Fancy Dahlias. The cup is to 
be competed for annually until it has been won three 
times by the same exhibitor, when it will become 
his property. In the meantime the winner of the 
cup at each competition is to hold it for one year 
only. Intending competitors must send in their 
entries before August 28th, to the Hon. Secretary, 
Mr. T. Moore, Botanic Garden, Chelsea, London, 
S.W., in eordance with rule two of the published 
schedule, 
