October 13, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
101 
subjects, including grasses and the annual Dog’s 
Mercury (very plentiful here) serve to attract and 
arrest the attention. 
After following the undulations of the road for 
over two miles the brow of another hill is reached, 
from which the wayfarer looks down upon the 
romantic village of Bridge, which spans as it were 
the bottom of a valley through which a small stream, 
but clear as crystal, wanders. Before descending 
the hill, the banks, particularly on the left hand, 
are broad, high, and covered with a most interesting 
mixture of various British trees, berry-bearing 
shrubs and herbs, such as are frequent in the hedges 
everywhere in this neighbourhood. Just here, how¬ 
ever, the number of beautiful and interesting subjects 
is remarkably great. Some of the large bushes of 
the common Buckthorn are literally laden with their 
black and shining berries, which the birds do not 
seem to molest. They were used in medicine in the 
olden times. Dodoens, writing in 1578, says:— 
11 The berries of Bucke Thorne do purge downward 
mightily, driving foorth tough feme and choleric 
humours, and that with great force and violence, 
and excesse, so that they do very much trouble the 
body that receiveth the same, and oftentimes do 
cause vomit. Wherefore they be not meete to be 
ministred, but to young, strong, and lustie people 
of the countrie, which do set more store of their 
money than their lives.” As a medicine it must 
have been cheap and nasty, judging from the above. 
How different the case with the Bullace, almost 
every fruit of which had been annexed by the village 
children, as were those of the Hazel, 
and the Bramble to some extent. 
The common Privet and the Dog¬ 
wood were laden with shining black 
berries ; the Hawthorn was red with its 
stoney haws ; and the branches of the 
Dog-rose hung down with their load of 
scarlet heps. The black and juicy fruits 
of the Wayfaring Tree seem to be 
favourites with the birds, for great part 
of them were devoured. The Red 
Bryony was scrambling about over its 
neigbours in the wildest and most 
artistic way, and the same might be said 
of the Bittersweet, laden with its 
scarlet berries. The plants, at all events 
the stems, cannot be so poisonous as 
some would have us to imagine, for 
schoolboys of my acquaintance, and the 
writer himself in those days used to 
chew the stems just as tobacco is by 
some, and as are the rhizomes of the 
Sweet Flag by others in modern times as 
a substitute for tobacco. The wealth 
of berried plants just at this spot is 
remarkable. The common Spindle-tree 
may be added to the list, though I did not notice it 
in fruit. 
The English Maple was fruiting heavily, the 
winged fruits being tinted with red. The Ash also 
competed for some of the available space. The 
Traveller's Joy was scrambling all over some of the 
trees of Buckthorn, covering it with festoons of its 
long-tailed and shaggy fruits. Of this wilding, 
Dodoens says that some learned men in his time 
take it for a kind of Clematis altera, but it had not 
the great biting upon the tongue like the true 
Clematis altera, which was also known as Flammula 
and flowered in the autumn. This reminds me 
again that botanists in the olden times were much 
guided in the identification of plants by tasting them, 
for is not this one of the distinctions between 
the Mild Polygonum and the Waterpepper. The 
identity of the former is merged in that of the Slender 
Polygonum, by some good botanists. The blue- 
flowered Chicory and the Round-leaved Toadflax 
also grow here, the latter spreading over the ground. 
The day was indeed glorious, yet Poor Man's Weather 
Glass refused to open its eye, possibly because black 
clouds obscured the sky in places, and thunder was 
booming in the distance. 
Elsewhere the Elder was more or less heavily 
laden with its purplish black berries. Of the latter 
Dodoens says:—"The seeds, especially the little 
flatte seede, dried, is profitable for such as have the 
Dropsie and for such as are too fatte, and would 
fayne be leaner, if it be taken in the morning, the 
quantitie of a Dramme with wine, so that dyet be 
used for a certayne space." At the present day the 
berries are used for making one of the British wines, 
but I am not aware that the seeds are utilised for 
anything. 
Beyond the antique village of Bridge, the two 
species of False-Brome grass may be found growing 
together. The stemless Thistle, the Marjoram and 
Lady's-finger grow on the high, chalky banks on 
either side, and the small wild Ivy rambles about 
over every thing. Farther on a large flowered form 
of the Eyebright is charming in its simplicity and 
lowliness. The ground continues undulating and is 
much wooded with open pastures between, so that 
as the traveller proceeds he is delighted with the 
rustic, sylvan and hilly character of this part of 
Kent ; and when the day is fine as in this case, he 
must be dull indeed who cannot appreciate the 
natural beauty of his own fatherland, in spite of the 
greatly lauded foreign scenery. --Rambler. 
-•*—- 
LORDS AND LADIES. 
The above is the popular name of Arum maculatum, 
which grows on hedge banks by the waysides, and 
under trees in half shady positions elsewhere. It 
flowers in spring and is practically at its best in the 
month of May, when Cowslips, Daisies, and various 
species of Orchis are also in full bloom, enlivening 
the meadows with their quaint old-fashioned and 
time-honoured beauty. The spikes of red berries 
might have been seen under the hedges until quite 
recently at least, and possibly some of them may 
still be found. The present is a suitable time to 
plant the tubers ; cool and slightly moist places in 
half shady situations should be selected for them, 
and they will be ready to unfold their beauty in 
spring. The bright green leaves are usually spotted 
with purple, although many specimens may be found 
in a wild state without any spots whatever. The 
spathe varies in the same way, though the ground 
colour is always paler. The spadix is usually purple, 
but yellow ones may sometimes be found. The 
accompanying illustration shows the true habit of 
the plant and its quaint beauty. 
— 1 -- 
BORDER CARNATIONS. 
Spring v. Autumn Planting. 
" At what time shall I make mj plantations of 
border Carnations?” This is a question that has 
often been asked, and crops up year after year with 
surprising regularity, and, I suppose, will continue to 
do so. It is characteristic of the gardening profes¬ 
sion that its clients are for ever falling out among 
themselves as to which is the best way to perform a 
certain operation. This is as it should be. It is 
quite the best method of getting to the bottom of 
things, to sift out and intelligently discuss the pros 
and cons with regard to any given branch of culti¬ 
vation. Horticulture in all its branches is one of 
the subjects concerning which mankind were not 
made to agree, so we may well apprehend differences 
of opinion with regard to the best time of the year 
for planting border Carnations. 
While I am aware that planting in autumn finds 
favour with not a few growers, and is, therefore, 
pretty extensively practised in some districts, I do 
not consider it such a safe, and hence not so good a 
method of procedure as to plant in spring (March 
usually). True, it may be urged that the Carnation 
is a very hardy plant, and that it is a saving of time 
to plant in autumn. Again, we may be told that to take 
up the layers, pot them, and place them into cold 
frames during the winter, is only a waste of under glass 
space, that might be turned to greater advantage if 
utilised for some other purposes. With regard to the 
first point—that relating to the hardiness of the 
Carnation—I must answer yes and no. 
It is, undoubtedly, hardy with regard to cold, and 
plants will pass through a dry, if frosty, winter 
almost with impunity. But, then, how often do we 
get a winter of this description ? Once in fifteen or 
twenty years maybe—certainly not much oftener. 
Instead, we get alternate spells of hard dry frost and 
thaw, cold winds and fogs, rain and snow, with bliss¬ 
ful regularity, or rather irregularity. 
Now, although it is perfectly true that the border 
Carnation (I am alluding more particularly to the 
delicate-named varieties of later introduction), will 
stand cold—it is very impatient of wet. If after 
a week or so of frost and snow we get a rapid thaw, 
then, as is often the case, a raw biting wind, the 
plants will go off wholesale. The snow and con¬ 
tinued damp rot the tissues of the bark at the collars, 
cracks occur, and the winds and subsequent frosts 
step in and complete the work of destruction. A far 
better plan we should imagine is to lift the young 
layers and pot them off singly into thumb pots or 
small sixties, according to their size 
and vigour, afterwards plunging them 
in ashes in a cold frame near the glass. 
No water at all will be needed, as a 
rule, after the initial watering-in, until 
things begin to move in the spring. 
Plenty of air must be given and the 
lights should be removed when the 
weather is open. 
A slight covering must be thrown over 
the frame during the prevalence of 
severe frosts. But, generally, little 
trouble will be given, and the 
amount of space taken up is much too 
small to make a fuss about, for the plants 
may be placed nearly pot thick. With 
regard to the saving of time by plant¬ 
ing in autumn, I must confess that I 
cannot exactly see where this comes id. 
Even in localities favourable to the 
conduction of autumn planting it is 
always necessary to go over the beds 
in spring and make good deficiencies 
which are sure to occur in a greater or 
less degree. 
Moreover.it must be borne in mind that 
the element of risk with regard to the safety of the 
plants is, to say the least of it, far greater when they 
are exposed to the vicissitudes of climate during late 
autumn and winter than it is when protection is 
afforded them under glass. Again, in localities 
where the soil is heavy and tenacious, and, as a 
natural result, cold and wet, the chances of losses are 
greater than when the soil is of a lighter (and, conse¬ 
quently, warmer) character.— G. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned subjects were exhibited at the 
Drill Hall, on the gth inst., and received awards 
according to merit from the Royal Horticultural 
Society. 
Gladiolus Leonora.— The flowers of this 
variety are of large size and bright salmon with a 
creamy blotch on one or two of the lower segments 
and a crimson band along the middle. Award of 
Merit. Exhibited by Messrs. J. Burrell & Co., Howe 
House, Cambridge. 
Gladiolus Grandis.— About ten . flowers were 
open on the spike ot this sort with numerous buds. 
They were of a warm salmon with a purple blotch 
along the lower segment. Award of Merit. Exhi¬ 
bited by Messrs. Burrell & Co. 
Gladiolus Casilda. —Here eleven flowers were 
open upon a fine spike. They were of a soft nankin 
yellow with a purple band along the middle of the 
two lower segments and some purple at the very base. 
Award of Merit. Exhibited by Messrs. H. Burrell & 
Co. 
Arum maculatum. 
