806 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 17, 1895. 
thousand crowns they should be ready in a fortnight 
—in itself a sufficient illustration of the efficiency of 
Mr. Iceton's supply, and, we might add, of the 
manager's business capacity to boot. 
It is obvious that we could not have bidden fare¬ 
well to Mr. Iceton’s nursery without a peep at the 
famous Stephanolis plants, which are certainly some 
of the largest and best in the country. Two giant 
specimens entirely cover the roof of a lean-to house, 
some hundred feet in length by twenty in width. 
They look a picture of good health at the present 
time, clean and free from mealy bug, and with large 
trusses of the waxy blooms appearing here and there 
amongst the richly green foliage, they are in them¬ 
selves well worth a visit. In conclusion, we may 
say that we left Granard Gardens with very lively 
feelings of admiration for the way in which things 
were managed and the business-like air that pervaded 
the establishment generally. 
--*•-- 
DOVER HOUSE. 
In visiting this establishment early in the season we 
particularly noticed the somewhat extensive prepara¬ 
tions that had been made for a fine display of bed¬ 
ding Violas. The plants were, of course, in their 
infancy, although their manifest healthiness and 
vigour augured well for a brave show later on. Nor 
were those early promises of good results disap¬ 
pointed ; for despite the exceeding dryness of May, 
June, and the major part of July, they have flowered 
away most profusely, and are now a perfect picture 
of gay and varied colouring. The Viola is now so 
highly thought of in all quarters as a showy and 
useful bedding subject that we need not at present 
launch out into a description of its merits and high 
class qualities. Admitted by most cultivators to 
have a great regard for an abundance of water at the 
root, it has been heavily handicapped this season. 
Some growers have kept their plants entirely with¬ 
out water other than that which they have received 
from the clouds, and report favourably upon the 
results obtained from this system of treatment. 
The value, however, of the Viola as a dry weather 
subject and its ability to withstand unharmed pro¬ 
tracted periods of drought have not been sufficiently 
demonstrated as yet to cause the majority of culti¬ 
vators to change their mode of giving the plants 
plenty of water, by means of the hose or the watering 
can whenever occasion requires. Indeed, Mr. McLeod 
informed us that every evening during the hot 
weather his beds had a good watering with the hose, 
and that this treatment has suited them well is very 
evident. The principal, and in many cases the only, 
use made of Violas in our flower gardens is as edging 
to beds filled with other subjects, but at Dover 
House an elaborate bedding design has been thought 
out and put into execution. So fine is the effect 
produced, and so worthy of extensive imitation is 
the system, that we trust this note may induce some 
gardener who is on the look-out for featurt s some¬ 
what out of the common to assist in rendering his 
flower garden more attractive, to go and do like¬ 
wise. 
A large border some fifty feet in length, and aver¬ 
aging about fifteen feet in width, is laid out in very 
pretty and tasteful fashion, narrow alleys serving to 
separate the beds from each other, and thus to render 
the design more evident. Briefly the arrangement 
is as fellows :—In the centre is a round bed flanked 
on either side by one of diamond shape, and sur¬ 
rounded by eight triangles, together with a wide 
margin. The light coloured varieties form, as it 
were, the groundwork of the whole, into which 
patches of dark flowered sorts are let in here and 
there with excellent effect. The bright yellow 
flowers of Wemyss Gold run all round the margin 
in a brilliant band of gold, from the midst of which 
stand out with singular effect the panels of Archie 
Grant, rich indigo-blue, and an especially fine 
bedder; Mrs. H. Bellamy, in which the upper petals 
are pale lavender and the lower deep purple in hue ; 
The Mearns, a wonderfully pretty sort, of a rich 
plum colour, the upper petals being margined with 
silver ; Acme, one of the very best crimson-purple 
bedders we have; and Rob Roy, bright yellow, 
heavily blotched with dark chocolate-brown. Fol¬ 
lowing this outer band come a couple of lines of 
True Blue, a splendid old sort, running the whole 
length of the border. The triangles, diamonds, and 
circular beds referred to contain such well known 
varieties as the following:—Bullion, rich gold, very 
handsome and free ; Quaker Maid, rosy lavender, 
with bright yellow centre; Tory, light blue; Blue 
Cloud, a very pretty sort, the white flowers being 
charmingly margined with ultramarine blue ; Edina, 
said to be of much better habit and a freer and more 
continuous bloomer than Countess of Kintore, which 
it much resembles in colour of flower, and which was 
also well represented ; and Max Kolb, a deep ultra- 
marine blue. 
In making this Viola garden, Mr. McLeod’s idea 
was to utilise as many sorts as possible, and in this 
he has splendidly succeeded, for the floral picture 
spread out before our gaze could only be compared 
to the brilliant hues of the kaleidoscope, so bright 
and varied, and withal so pleasing, were the 
numerous colours. Any flatness that the Violas 
might have possessed of themselves was admirably 
relieved ty the dotting here and there cf Fuchsias, 
which with their profusion of bloom were evidently 
striving to prevent the Violas from out-floweriDg 
them. A narrow border on the other side of the 
walk had been furnished in a similar way, with the 
difference that whereas in the larger garden the 
lighter coloured varieties had served as a ground¬ 
work for the darker ones, in the smaller one the 
position of things was reversed, and panels of the 
light flowered sorts stood out here and there amidst 
the more sombre beauty of the dark varieties. A 
very pretty contrast between the two borders was 
thus apparent. The plants have been blooming 
away for a long time with exceptional freedom, and 
have grown so strongly that it has been necessary to 
thin out the growths during the last week or two, 
an attention which cannot fail to be of service to the 
crowded plants. 
■ « » 
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. 
Before us lies the 108th Annual Report of this well- 
managed establishment, and which has been drawn 
up by Dr. King, the Superintendent, who dates the 
report from Darjeeling. The principal alterations in 
the garden since last year consist of the re-modelling 
of the intermediate conservatory (the whole of the 
plants in which, with exception of hanging baskets, 
are planted out), and the repair and alteration of a 
road about a mile in length running along the banks 
of the river Hoogly, and which was done with 
material taken from the bed of that river. The con¬ 
servatory has been laid out on a more artistic plan 
than the formerly, by the Curator, Mr. R. L. 
Proudlock, and was planted by Mr. J. Davies, the 
Assistant Curator, under the direction of the former. 
During the year, 22,553 plants had been received for 
the garden from various sources, and 42,188 have 
been sent away to numerous other places. Likewise, 
1,2^3 packets of seed were received and 3,059 packets 
distributed. During the same time 13,119 herbarium 
speeixens were received from various parts of the 
world including 2,198 from Kew, and 15,530 were 
distributed, Kew receiving 2,044. All this must 
entail a considerable amount of work on the part of 
those in charge. 
—-» t — - ■ — 
AUBRIETIAS. 
These beautiful spring-flowering plants, useful alike 
on the rockery, for masses in the bcxders, or spring 
bedding arrangements, are at home almost anywhere 
on old crumbling walls and buildings. We have in 
our mind an old garden in which, on one of the 
parting walls,Aubrietias grew and flourished amongst 
the fruit trees, and, when in flower, were a most 
beautiful sight. As the flowering season is now 
past, the plants may be cut over if getting too large ; 
and if a larger stock of them is required, a fortnight 
or so afterwards lift them carefully and shake out 
the soil, or washing it out will be better. It is then 
easy to separate the young shoots with roots from 
the old stools; these may be planted as required. 
Another method of increasing the stock is, when the 
young growths are about two inches in length, to 
strip them off with a heel, and dibble them in as 
cuttings under a handlight in a shady place. Use a 
sandy soil; if well attended to, they should be rooting 
in three weeks. A knife is not required ; in making 
these cuttings insert them just as they are stripped 
of the mother plant. The best forms are Campbelli, 
Improved, Hendersoni, and graeca. There are 
others, but these will meet the requirements of most 
people.— W. B. G. 
THE SALE OF POISONS. 
At the Mansion House Police-court on the 25th ult. 
Messrs Spiers and Pond (Limited) were summoned 
before the Lord Mayor, at the instance of the 
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, for an 
infringement of the 17th section of the Pharmacy 
Act, 1868.—Mr. C. F. Gill and Mr. Clifford Probyn 
were counsel for the Society, Mr. J. P Grain for 
the defendants.—Mr. Gill said the Pharmacy Act 
was passed for the protection of the public, and it 
provided that certain regulations should be observed 
and precautions taken in the sale of poisons. 
Among these were that no poisons should be sold to 
any person unknown to the seller, unless introduced 
by some one known to the latter, and that every 
sale should be entered in a book giving the name and 
address of the purchaser, whose signature was to be 
appended to the entry. Among the articles 
scheduled in respect of which these precautions were 
essential were "arsenic and its preparations." 
Messrs. Spiers and Pond, it was alleged had sold 
arsenic in large quantities without taking the steps 
required for the safety cf the public. They carried 
on a large business in Blackfriars, including a drug 
department, where medicines and drugs vxre made 
up and sold. That they were perfectly aware of the 
provisions of the Pharmacy Act was obvious from 
the directions included in their catalogue as to the 
sale of poisons. Among other articles sold by them 
was what was called a " Patent Weed Killer. ’’ It 
was packed up in tins, and sold at is. 8d. each. A 
tin was bought by a perfect stranger without any of 
the precautions directed by the Act, and when 
analysed was found to consist of no less than 75 per 
cent, of arsenic, and 25 per cent, of caustic soda 
mixed in the form of a coarse and uneven powder. 
Each tin contained 2ilbs. 130ZS. of that substance, 
sufficient to kill 6,000 people. 
Mr. E. J. Eastir, Demonstrator of Practical 
Chemistry to the Pharmaceutical Society, and Dr. 
Thomas Stevenson, of Guy's Hospital, the Analyst 
to the Home Office, gave evidence as to their 
analysis of the " Patent Weed Killer " Dr. Steven¬ 
son added that the preparation was of a highly 
dangerous character and that although it had, when 
used, to be diluted with water, arsenic persistently 
adhered to the sides of every vessel in which it was 
contained. It was certainly in his opinion " a pre¬ 
paration of arsenic" within the Act.—The Lord 
Mayor said it seemed to him to be more arsenic than 
preparation.—Mr. Grain admitted the sale and the 
correctness of the analysis, but urged that it was a 
straining of the Act to apply it to such a case, when 
carbolic acid, oil of vitriol, and other poisonous 
substances were allowed to be sold. Besides, while 
the preparation, “ Vermin Killer," was specifically 
mentioned in the schedule, there was no allusicn to 
substances used for destroying noxious weeds. The 
defendants, if they had erred at all, had done so in 
innocence and through inadvertence, and directly 
their attention was called to the matter they with¬ 
drew the article from sale.—The Lord Mayor said 
there was no doubt the preparation came within the 
Act, and it was an element of additional danger to 
the public when an eminent and respectable 
company like the defendants' sold such an article 
openly and in the usual course of trade. He im¬ 
posed a fine of £5 and £5 5s. costs. 
« I «- - 
STATICE PROFUSA. 
This lovely plant, which is by the way a cross 
between S puberula and S. Halfordii, is one of the 
finest decorative subjects xve have, and one that 
comes in very useful in the greenhouse during the 
months of August and September. The flowers are 
produced in great numbers upon many branched 
corymbose heads. The corolla is a pure white, 
whilst the calyx is of a rich purple shade, and the 
contrast in the colour of these two floral envelopes is 
remarkably striking. Not unornamental are the 
leaves, which are rather spathulate in shape, of a 
leathery consistency, and a shining dark green hue. 
S. profusa answers to ordinary greenhouse treatment 
very well indeed. Cuttings taken in spring and 
placed under a bell glass root readily enough, and 
soon grow into nice plants. A little charcoal in the 
soil is of great service. We lately noticed some very 
fine examples of it flowering away most profusely in 
one of the cool houses in the gardens at Dover 
House, Roehampton, the seat of J. P. Morgan, Esq. 
