548 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 27, 1895. 
The family of composites and the 
species of Scabious, are well adapted for 
the production of double flowers, as is well 
illustrated by Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, 
Gaillardias, Daisies, Pyrethrums, and 
others of that class. The so-called doub¬ 
ling in these cases is no doubling at all as 
compared with the subjects previously 
mentioned, because it consists merely in 
the elongation of the individual florets, and 
not a multiplication of parts. Sometimes 
the whole of the florets assume the strap¬ 
shaped form like those of the ray, but in 
other cases they remain or become tubular. 
Both particular forms may be formed 
amongst Chrysanthemums, Daisies, and 
several others, while Anemone Chrysanthe¬ 
mums consist of a varying proportion of 
both kinds of florets. When the latter are all 
regularly developed, the head of florets, or the 
bloom as it is popularly termed, assumes 
a pleasing Japanese form. Chrysanthe¬ 
mums are no exception to the rule, because, 
although the florets may be variously dis¬ 
posed, there is “ method in their madness,” 
and their ever-varying disposition is pro¬ 
ductive of fine and striking effects. Semi¬ 
double florets are often very beautiful, and 
for various reasons sometimes displace the 
double one of their own kind. There are 
instances amongst the Azaleas like 
Duetsche Perle, Chinese Primulas, which 
can readily be raised from seed, and 
amongst the Delphiniums. The smaller 
number of petals leaves space for their 
greater size and more regular arrange¬ 
ment. In the case of Delphiniums the 
small brown or yellow petals become en¬ 
larged and coloured like the petals, and 
have displaced the truly double varieties 
with their small crowded petals. 
— - « »- 
Aberdare Flower Show is fixed to beheld on August 
ist, 1895. 
Mr. C. H. H umphries, late sub-foreman in the flower 
garden at Kew, has been appointed to succeed the 
late Mr. William Crowtheras Curator of the Botanic 
station at Aburi, Gold Coast, Western Tropical 
Africa. 
Dictionary of Orchid Hybrids.—M. Octave Doin, 
8, Place de L’Odeon, Paris, has just published in a 
very neat and handy form, a list of “ all artificial 
and natural hybrids known up to the ist of January 
last, with names of the raisers or introducers, and 
the date of their appearanceThe work has been 
compiled by M. E. Bohnof. 
Clever gardeners— Several Continental journals, 
including Rosen Zeitung, Sempervirens and Bulletin 
d'Arboriculture, cite a case where two gardeners em¬ 
ployed by a Rose-grower of Lyons challenged one 
another for a record of grafting. Both set to work 
early in the morning. After a short time for refresh¬ 
ments they betook themselves to the job again, and 
put in eleven hours work. The patron afterwards 
counted the Roses grafted and he found that the two 
gardeners together had grafted about 4,506, that is, 
2,253 each and about 204 per hour. The most im¬ 
portant fact about it is that scarcely 8 per cent of the 
grafts failed. 
Hardy Fruit Growing.—The council of the Royal 
Horticultural Society of Great Britain offer a prize 
of £10 for the best essay on “ The Commercial 
Aspect of Hardy Fruit Growing in tne United 
Kingdom." The essay, not to exceed 10,000 words, 
is to be sent under seal to the secretary of the 
Society, 117, Victoria Street, Westminster, on or 
before August ist, 1895, each essay to be signed with 
a motto and the writer's real name and address 
enclosed in a sealed envelope bearing the same motto 
outside, the prize essay to become the sole property 
oi the council of the Society to deal with in any way 
they may think fit. Unsuccessful essays will be 
returned after October ist, 1895, on application, 
enclosing the necessary postage and the motto of the 
writer. 
Death of an Eminent Plant Collector.—We regret to 
learn of the death at Newtown, N. Y., on the 29th ult., 
of Mr. Ignatius Forsterman, at the early age of 40 
years. Mr. Forsterman was a native of Coblentz, 
and for several years was employed by Messrs. F. 
Sander & Co. as an Orchid collector in the East, and 
greatly distinguished himself in this arduous pursuit. 
It was Mr. Forsterman who accomplished the long 
thought to be hopeless task of discovering the native 
habitat of Cypripedium Spicerianum, of which only 
a solitary plant originally found its way to this 
country. Subsequent to this Mr. Forsterman went to 
America as business representative of the same firm, 
and finally settled down at Newtown as a grower of 
market plants on his own account. He made troops 
of friends in his adopted country, and at his funeral 
the floral emblems sent by loving sympathisers would 
have filled two large waggons. 
The Wild Flowers Collecting-book.—This is the 
name given to a work being issued in parts by Messrs. 
Cassell & Co., Limited, London. Each part consists 
of twelve sheets, and when opened, the left hand p3ge 
contains a sketch of some British plant or other, to¬ 
gether with a popular description of the same. The 
right hand page is blank and is intended for actual 
specimens of the plant described and illustrated on 
the opposite page. Instructions are given in the intro¬ 
duction, concerning the method of drying plants and 
preserving them from mildew and insects. It is 
entirely intended for amateurs and beginners who 
may desire to make the acquaintance of the British 
flora at a minimum of time and trouble. By closely 
attending to the illustrations and following the 
descriptions we should think no one with a fair 
faculty of observation would fail to determine all the 
more common species at least. Six parts are already 
projected and take the plants in order as they 
come into bloom. They would cover a space up to 
August, or thereby, and must make the collector busy 
if he or she intends to collect them duringthe season, 
not on account of their number but the distances that 
must be travelled sometimes in order to get certain 
particular kinds. Popular names only are used, but 
we think that the botanical one should also have been 
appended, as the popular one often varies in different 
localities. The size of the sheets is 8J in. by 6§ in. 
so that all the space will be required to get typical 
representatives of some plants on to them. 
The Carnation.—At the monthly meeting of the 
members of the Brighton and Sussex Horticultural 
Society, on the 18th inst., at the Imperial Hotel, 
Brighton, under the chairmanship of Mr. W. Balchin, 
Jun., Mr. Richard Dean read an interesting paper 
on •* The Carnation." According to all accounts, he 
said, King Rene was the first cultivator of the Car¬ 
nation. Shakespeare in the “ Winter's Tale ” (1601), 
made Perdita describe the fairest flower of the season 
" The Carnation and streaked Gillivors,” so it might 
be assumed that the Carnation was then well known 
in England, and Chaucer, who lived so much earlier 
than Shakespeare, states that the Clove Gilliflower 
was cultivated in this country in the age of Edward 
III. But the modern history of the flower dated 
from 1850, when the first proper exhibition in the 
Society of England took place at Slough, and the 
National Carnation and Picotee Society was founded, 
and from that time to the present the Society had 
held exhibitions each year, and there were now 
annual Carnation and Picotee shows in London, 
Oxford, Birmingham, and Manchester. Mr. Dean 
went on to trace the evolution of the Carnation, and 
dealing with its classification, he said, in the estima¬ 
tion of the florist, the Bizarre type stood higher than 
the flaked Carnations. There were three classes— 
the most important being the scarlet Bizarre, which 
was flaked with scarlet and maroon, and the more 
brilliant the scarlet the greater was the contrast. 
Next came the crimson Bizarre, and in that case the 
colours were crimson and rose on a white ground ; 
while, lastly, there was the pink and purple Bizarre, 
the colours purple and pink on a white ground. 
He also dealt with the Picotee and its classification, 
and finally described in considerable detail the method 
of cultivation. 
The French Horticultural Society of London —This 
Society is organised on lines similar to that of 
mutual improvement associations in this country 
and has similar objects in view. Its annual report, 
sent out under the name of the Bulletin de la Societe 
Francaise D'Horiculture de Londres, is written in the 
French language, and gives the rules and organisa¬ 
tion of the Society as well as the names and 
addresses of its various members, a general report 
of the past session, and a report of the transactions 
of every meeting. The Society has been carried on 
for some years, and continues in a prosperous and 
flourishing condition. Thirty titulary members 
were added during the past year, and thirty-two 
new honorary members. Besides the higher officials 
the Society at present consists of thirteen honorary 
life members, 120 honorary and twenty-five titular, 
and fifty-four corresponding members. The meet¬ 
ings are held monthly throughout the year. 
Numerous short papers on various horticultural 
subjects are printed at the end of the Bulletin, 
including articles on Climbing Solanums, the Vine 
of Hampton Court, Culture of Allamandas, Cycads 
and their Culture, the Javanico-jasminiflorum 
Rhododendrons, the English Culture of Forced 
Tomatos, the Book of Choice Ferns, and others, 
with which gardeners may be interested. Various 
books on gardening are presented to the Society 
from time to time by different donors, mostly 
English. A considerable number of the members 
are English, and others are Continental, many of 
whom are permanently or temporarily resident 
here. 
Shirley Gardeners’ and Amateurs’ Improvement 
Association. —The first meeting of this session was 
held at Shirley, Southampton, on Monday the 22nd 
inst., the president, Mr.W. F. G. Spranger presiding 
over a fair attendance of the members. ‘‘Seeds : their 
Composition, Growth, Structure and Germination" 
formed the subject of a very interesting and instruc¬ 
tive lecture most ably treated by Mr. W. F. Perkins 
M.R.A.C. The subject of curiosities of seed life 
enabled the lecturer to show some of the devices of 
nature for securing a distribution of seeds in places 
to which they could not otherwise attain. In illus¬ 
tration a large number of seeds were exhibited by Mr. 
Perkins and Messrs. Toogood & Sons, and a curious 
pod of seed was shown by Mr. W. H. Rogers con¬ 
taining a great number of winged seeds each about an 
inch square, name unknown. There was a good show 
of spring plants &c, and a hearty vote of thanks was 
accorded to the lecturer and the exhibitors, and a 
resolution passed to have an outing to Kew Gardens 
in July. 
--*-- 
PRIMULA OBCONICA. 
In all probability the outcry some time ago about 
this pretty subject causing irritation to the skin of 
some of those who engaged in its cultivation is the 
reason why we do not see it more generally grown ; 
or, when it is, why we do not meet with it in better 
condition, as in many instances it is wont to present 
such a puerile appearance as to give the observer 
the idea that it is dreaded, and therefore has had to 
take care of itself to a certain extent. In passing 
through the old-fashioned town of Eltham the other 
day I visited the gardens attached to Eltham House, 
and was much struck with a batch of Primula 
obconica I there saw. I enquired of the intelligent 
Head Gardener, Mr. A. Ryder, his mode of treat¬ 
ment, which he gladly gave me. He sows the seed 
about this time of year thinly in a pan containing 
fine light soil, with plenty of sand, allowing good 
drainage. The pan is placed in gentle heat, care¬ 
fully watered, and shaded with a sheet of paper 
to prevent the surface becoming baked by bright 
sunshine. 
The seed takes some little time to germinate, and 
when the seedlings are large enough to handle they 
are pricked off into other pans, potting them off into 
6o’s as soon as large enough for the purpose. 
During the summer they receive similar treatment 
to that accorded Chinese Primulas, shifting them 
into 48’s when sufficiently rooted. Mr. Ryder’s 
plants were housed in the beginning of October, 
have now been in flower several months, and at the 
time of my visit were a picture of health and flori- 
ferousness. The old stalks of decayed blooms are 
kept cut off, so that seeding does not rob the plants 
of vitality, but the removal of the seed pods greatly 
assists them to keep on producing flowers. 
It is of easy cultivation, a charming subject for 
grouping, and of great decorative value. As they 
were so good, I naturally thought they had received 
special treatment, and that the result was brought 
about by either particular compost or the application 
of some artificial manure, but Mr. Ryder smilingly 
assured me that such was not the case in either 
inference, nothing artificial had been supplied, and 
as to soil, they were cultivated in old “ Mum " com- 
