September 8, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
25 
which caused us much amusement owing to its seed 
pods exploding at the slightest touch. No doubt it 
was a Balsam, but its flowers were much too small 
for our native " Touch-me-Not,” which is, too, an 
extremely rare plant in the South. I have made 
enquiry and found that the plant in question is 
Impatiens parviflora, a native of Russia. How it 
became naturalised in Titsey Chalk-pit is, however, 
a mystery, and one by no means to be accounted for 
by any theory of seed coming with ballast on the 
line, for we found that we had something like two 
miles to cover before arriving at Oxted Station.— 
J. C. Stogdon, Inglenooh, Bellaggio. 
--I-- 
SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 
The New President. 
You will be pleased to hear that the American 
florists at their annual convention held at Atlantic 
City, from August 2ist to 25th, have conferred the 
highest honour they have to bestow—the president¬ 
ship of their great Society 
—upon a former English 
gardener, but now one 
of our leading and most 
respected nurserymen, 
Mr. Edwin Lonsdale, of 
Chestnut Hill, Philadel¬ 
phia. Mr. Lonsdale was 
born in the little Stafford¬ 
shire village of Shenstone 
near Lichfield, and it was 
at Shenstone Moss, then 
the seat of E. Bagnell, 
Esq,where he commenced 
his gardening career. He 
subsequently went to 
Envilleunder Mr. Taplin, 
at a time when the late 
Earl of Stamford and 
Warrington took great in¬ 
terest in the place,and the 
gardening there was of the 
very best. Here he was 
associated with a number 
of young men of good 
calibre, who have since 
madenames forthemselves 
both at home and abroad. 
Mr. Lonsdale went to 
America in the summer of 
1869 m company with Mr. 
George Savage, another 
young man from the same 
gardens. On his arrival 
he found employment in 
the nurseries of Mr. 
Thos. Meehana, in Phila¬ 
delphia. After making 
several journeys to Cali¬ 
fornia he paid a visit to his 
native village in 1874, 
and returning to America 
started in business on his 
own account in 1875 at 
Chestnut Hill, Phila¬ 
delphia, and subsequently 
entered into partnership with another Enville 
man, his brother-in-law, Mr. John Burton. This 
partnership was dissolved by mutual consent in 1887, 
and the glass divided, and both have greatly prospered 
since. Mr. Lonsdale has always been well to the 
front with everything he takes in hand, and has 
been specially successful with Carnations, Chrysan¬ 
themums, and Roses. He has of late years taken up 
Orchids with great enthusiasm, and grows a good 
quantity. Just now a fine batch of the new Cypri- 
pedium Charlesworthii is attracting a good deal of 
attention. The plants are doing well, in fact, are 
extra good, and show some very distinct pieces. 
Many are now in bud. Other Cypripediums are 
also doing well, especially a fine batch of C. insigne 
mcntana; these are unflowered, so there is a 
possibility that something extra good may come 
from them. A big batch of C. Lawrenceanum is in 
good shape. The Dendrobes are a fine lot and are 
doing very well, making extra good growths ; the 
sorts are principally D. nobile, D. formosum gigan- 
teum, D. Phalaenopsis Schroderae. Cattleya labiata, 
C. Trianae, C. Mendelii, C. speciosissima, and others 
are in good form, as are also Laelias in variety. 
A large house of Beauty looked fine, and in other 
houses there were good stocks of Palms. We 
also noticed a fine batch of Swainsonia galegifolia 
albiflora. Mr. Lonsdale, we believe, was the first to 
popularise this exceedingly useful New Holland 
plant, and its value cannot be overrated by the 
florist who wants something in white that he can 
always cut a little from wherewith to make up. 
Carnations are an important feature, and many new 
seedlings and varieties are being tested. Mr. L. 
finds that planting them straight on to the benches 
is best for several kinds; Buttercup, among others, 
is being treated in this way. 
Our friend is one of the kindliest natured and 
most genial of men, and needless to say it was his 
good nature and strict integrity that secured his 
election by a great majority. When I went to see 
him he met me at the depot and drove me round to 
see many beautiful private places about Philadelphia, 
in fact, gave up a day to the entertainment of his 
guest. Most heartily do we wish him a successful 
year of office.— Am. Cor. 
ABOUT TULIPS. 
There is a no more striking instance afforded of the 
liability of civilised man to indulge in a craze of 
some kind than that of the Tulipomania which pre¬ 
vailed during the seventeenth century, when human 
folly surely reached the extreme height which it is 
ever likely to attain in connection with floriculture. 
The trade in new and scarce varieties of Tulips 
during that period was in reality a species of 
gambling of the most reckless description, and was 
at its height from 1634 to 1637. Three thousand 
florins were often given for a single root of a 
favourite variety, and once 4,600 florins, a new 
carriage and harness with two horses were agreed 
upon as the price of a single bulb. Down to the 
close of the eighteenth century, and the opening 
years of the present one, the Tulip was still held in 
high esteem, and bulbs of superior varieties com¬ 
manded prices which, to those accustomed to buy 
Tulips at a few pence per doz. seem most astounding, 
£25 being asked for a single root of a new variety 
in 1792, and a few years later, £73 10 o was offered 
and declined for a root of the same variety. 
Instances of high prices are on record up to the year 
1838, the stock of one variety consisting of seven 
bulbs being sold for £140. The names of the various 
kinds and their purchasers are still on record. 
The Tulip was introduced to England from the 
continent in 1577 it having been under cultivation in 
Germany in all probability for twenty years prior to 
that date. The parent of our florists varieties is 
a native of Asia Minor, and seems to have been intro¬ 
duced into Germany by way of Constantincple. The 
raising of new varieties from seed was largely carried 
on during the eighteenth century, many superb 
varieties being raised, which, while they continued 
scarce, realised high prices. Seedlings generally 
when they first bloom have flowers without any 
stripes or markings, during which stage in their 
development they were styled “ breeders,” and have 
remained, in some cases for years, with the exception 
of the bottoms of the petals being either white or 
yellow, in this condition, and have been multiplied 
sometimes to an enormous extent before breaking 
into flamed or feathered flowers. 
They were divided into 
three classes: Bizarres, 
Bybloemens, and Roses. 
Bizarres have yellow 
grounds with marks of any 
colour; Bybloemens have 
white grounds with pur¬ 
ple-lilac or black marks; 
and Roses, white grounds 
with pink, crimson, or 
scarlet markings. Feather¬ 
ing is the marking round 
the edges of the petals, 
which varied from the 
slight even feather, the 
broad,even one,thefeather 
in which it ran down in a 
point towards the centre of 
the petal, and irregular or 
flamed feather. Flame is 
the coloured marking in 
the centre of the petals. 
Some flowers are flamed 
without any feathering ; 
some are both flamed and 
feathered; and again, 
others are only feathered. 
The flamed and feathered 
flowers were highly es¬ 
teemed, but it was most 
difficult to find them with¬ 
out the one running into 
the other, and so spoiling 
both. But there is such 
an amount of uncertainty 
about all this, for there 
may be two or three 
dozen bulbs of one kind 
in a bed and scarcely 
two flowers will come 
nearly alike, and what in 
one season will be a flamed 
flower, will in the next be 
feathered. 
All this may have a 
charm in it, but this very 
uncertainty has had, we think, very much to do with 
the decline in popularity of the florists’ Tulip. Any 
similar divergency of character among Dahlias 
would lead to similar results. Florist Tulips are 
still, however, to be had, and very beautiful they 
are. Those who care to do them well should select 
a well drained site, a good friable loam, not over 
manured, and trenched two spits deep ; or any good 
garden ground similarly treated will answer very well. 
If soil has to be procured specially, the top spit from 
a meadow, laid up to rot for some time, and frequently 
turned to sweeten and clear it from grubs and wire 
worm, is most suitable without manure. In low, 
marshy places the beds should be elevated some six 
inches or so above the ground level. 
Plant early in November, placing the bulbs from 
four to five inches down, and six inches apart. 
Nothing more is required till they appear above 
ground, which will generally happen during'February, 
when the soil may be stirred and broken fine, and 
placed close round the stems. Protection from 
frost is desirable, and when the flowers show colour, 
shading is essential, for a few hot days’ sun will 
often completely spoil the flowers, which, if properly 
shaded, will last in full beauty for two or three 
Mr. Edwin Lonsdale. 
