January 28, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
339 
friend Dodwell's garden, as I did not like to appear 
worse than others, but they were not allowed to 
remain there. My friends sought them out, and 
their kindness led them to dress and stage them, and 
when I returned to the table I was so astonished 
that I dared to question their being my flowers at 
all. The metamorphosis was complete—the blooms 
were nearly twice the size of those I had taken to 
the show, there was not a small petal to be seen ; in 
fact, my boxes were a thing of beauty, and I was 
compelled to admire them. Nay, I was told that I 
had won a prize, it was but a minor one, still, there 
was the fact. 
Now comes the question—How had the change 
come to pass ? Well, I was told that a friend had 
taken the blooms in hand and had dressed them so 
as to make them worthy of exhibition. In that case 
the prize was not awarded for excellence of cultiva¬ 
tion, it was the skill of the dresser that won. As I 
had never seen anyone dressing a Carnation, 
naturally I was anxious to learn the modus operandi, 
that I might be able to compete with others. I 
applied to that master of the art, Mr. Ben Simonite, 
who with characteristic good nature took me in 
hand. He told me to get him a blocm, and I got 
one of the best in the garden, an exquisite flower of 
Favourite, ever the most perfect. He laughed at 
me, remarking that I must be a " Natural ” to think 
of dressing such a bloom. "Bring the roughest 
bloom you can find, so long as there is plenty of 
stuff in it,” said Ben, and I thought it would be 
better that he chose for himself. Well, his choice 
was certainly a rough one, and I told him I could 
not conceive how he could make such a thing fit for 
exhibition. But he did. He carefully picked out 
every small, rough edged, or otherwise imperfect 
petal, then gently turned down the segments of the 
calyx, and proceeded to arrange the petals left. The 
largest or guard petals were regularly placed on the 
circular card, and the minor ones made to regularly 
overlap them so that a perfect circle was formed, 
the central ones being raised so as to obtain the 
hemispherical form. " There,” said Ben, " there is 
some credit in dressing such a thing as that,” and it 
was really beautiful. My first lesson was a revela¬ 
tion. I began to practice, and spent many an hour 
over the blooms, until I began to flatter myself that 
at last I could compete with some chance of success. 
But I was mistaken, for I could not find in my heart 
to cull out the small petals which seemed to me 
designed for filling out the centres and so form 
densely double blooms. I must find a place for 
every part as Nature intended, and while in so doing 
I did satisfy my own conscience, I did not satisfy the 
judges. I might have got an expert to dress my 
blooms for me, but I did not consider that that 
would be honest. If the judges are guided in their 
decisions by the dressing, then the dresser should 
share the honour, and the legend on the show cards 
should run—" Grown by Mr. A. and dressed by Mr. 
B.,” or "grown by Mr. A., dressed by Mr. B., and 
exhibited[by Mr. C.,” such combinations of talent not 
being unknown. There would be nothing unusual 
in this. We often read on the show cards at cattle 
shows—" Bred by Mr. A., and fed by the exhibitor, 
Mr. B.” When an exhibitor dressed his own blooms 
he would simply say, “ Grown and dressed by Mr. 
A.," and if he were successful would thus obtain 
additional glory. 
I do not consider the practice right, and therefore 
do not now exhibit, and I think there must be many 
more like me. In any case certain it is that there 
are hundreds of growers of Carnations, and but very 
few exhibitors, and there must be some reason for 
this. Doubtless there are many gardeners who are 
skilful growers, but who have no knowledge of the 
art of dressing, and if they had, it may be that their 
fingers have not the delicacy of touch necessary for 
the manipulation of the tweezers. What I would 
suggest to this section of the community is that they 
should combine to raise a fund for a schedule of 
prizes for blooms placed on the table in their natural 
form as cut from the plants ; and when such a Union 
is flormed, let there be consultation with the mana¬ 
gers of flower shows in order to discover the most 
attractive way in which the blooms can be exhibited. 
Our midland friends have made a successful 
attempt at reform, for which every lover of the Car¬ 
nation must thank them, but still there is room -for 
improvement in the manner in which the blooms are 
staged. I do not approve of the plan of showing 
them on long stalks, and in bunches placed in black¬ 
ing bottles and pickle jars, but something more pleas¬ 
ing can surely be devised . — William Wardill, Luton. 
Mr. Wardill has overlooked one insuperable diffi¬ 
culty in the way of showing flowers undressed as he 
suggests. The perfect bloom of " Favourite,” which 
he has referred to, should have taught him this lesson 
—that Carnation flowers come so perfect, from the 
florists’ point of view, at times that dressing is not 
required, while dressing can be so done that neither 
he nor anyone else can detect it, or prove that it has 
been done, so long as the dresser keeps his own 
counsel. What therefore is the use of striving after 
the unattainable, or of making laws that cannot be 
Manchester, January igth .— At this meeting, at 
at which Mr. Bruce Eindlay presided, Mr. E. 
Griffiths Hughes read a paper in reference to some 
of the medicinal plants at the Botanical Gardens, 
Old Trafford. Specimens of the plants were exhi¬ 
bited at the meeting. In the course of his remarks 
Mr. Hughes said that a collection of plants for 
educational purposes is not only an advantage but a 
necessity in such a place as Manchester, where so 
many young men are trained for the professions. 
The Botanical Gardens should be supported as an 
educational establishment, and take its rank amongst 
the first of the kind in the United Kingdom. He 
proceeded: It has often struck me when going 
through the houses where these plants are located 
that they were very much like other creatures kept 
in captivity, stunted in their growth, and as it were 
pining for their natural atmosphere and freedom. 
This is very noticeable when we compare the speci¬ 
mens whose roots are confined in a pot, with those 
which are planted out in the large tropical house, 
especially the Sarsaparilla plant and the Eucalyptus. 
There you can see these glorious specimens indicat¬ 
ing what the plants are like when growing in their 
native soil. It may not always be possible to give 
sufficient room for the cultivation of tropical or sub¬ 
tropical plants in order to see them in their natural 
size, yet where room can be made, it is of great ad¬ 
vantage, as it enables the plant to develop its roots 
and branches, so that its full importance can be 
noticed and its value realised, and this brings to the 
consideration of the difference which exists in the 
value of medicinal plants of the same order which 
grow in different localities. This may be accounted 
for in several ways, but we need not go further for a 
substantial reason than that plants, like all other liv¬ 
ing objects, thrive better in certain localities than 
they do in others And as they cannot move about 
to seek the more favoured spots they do the best they 
can, and accumulate much or little of the properties 
which make them famous as medicinal agents for the 
cure of diseases in man. 
The same thing happens also with flowering 
plants, as in certain countries where the climate 
is suitable a much larger quantity of perfume 
is accumulated than in plants of the same species 
cultivated in a less favoured locality. There 
is another point which I should like to touch upon 
respecting the accumulation of the medicinal proper¬ 
ties in certain plants. It is known to most of you 
that a very large number of them come from the 
East, and as the physicians of old had no correct 
method of ascertaining the exact quantity of the 
medicinal properties in any plant, they exercised very 
great care in the ripening of such as were cultivated 
for the purpose of medicine, and always had them 
gathered when certain planets were in the ascendant. 
This we can well understand, as the study of astrology 
would lead them to place important planes as well 
as important events under the direct influence of the 
stars. In our time, however, matters have altered 
as regards the planets, and we no longer trust to the 
influence of the stars, but we go a much surer way, 
for we take the plants, or any given portion of them, 
and by means of another science, much more cer¬ 
tain in its method of procedure, we extract from each 
the quantity it contains, and calculate the value of 
the plants by the quantity of alkaloids which can be 
found in them. Thus the chemist of the present day 
can calculate to a certainty the medicinal value of 
any specimen which may be brought to him, while 
the herbalist still follows in the way of the ancients, 
and if he will only make use of such plants as are 
known to contain non-poisonous ingredients, he may 
go on to the end, for whether strong or weak little 
harm will follow. 
The Chairman said with regard to the collection of 
plants at Old Trafford it had been arranged that 
Professor Weiss should give a series of lectures, illus¬ 
trated by living specimens and diagrams. It was 
hoped that these would be the forerunner of some¬ 
thing useful being done from an educational point of 
view in reference to the study of plants. Messrs. 
Robert lait, W. B. Upjohn, Thomas Rogers, andW. 
Plant, each said a few words in the conversation 
which followed the reading of the paper. 
Woolton, Januaty tg tli .— The fourth annual meeting 
of this association was held on the above date at the 
Mechanics’ Institute, Mr. B. Cromwell, of Cleveley, 
presiding. The report presented by the committee 
proclaimed a very healthy state of affairs. The 
lectures in connection with the Lancashire and 
Cheshire Association for the extension of university 
teaching included two courses, that in the spring by 
Mr. R. J. Harvey Gibson, M.A., lecturer on botany 
at the Liverpool University College, on “ The 
Geographical distribution of Plants,” and the autumn 
course by Dr. T. L. Bailey, University College, 
Liverpool, on “ The Chemistry of Soils and 
Manures.” The competition for the prizes offered 
for essays ‘proved to be generally keen, and the 
papers sent in were highly spoken of by the adjudi¬ 
cators. The successful essayists were Messrs. VV. 
Disley, on " Mushrooms ” ; A. Rowlands, on " Hardy 
plants suitable for cottage gardens”; H. Corlett 
(first), and J. J. Craven (second), on ‘ The Principles 
of Heating.” The "Floral Concert” produced a 
balance of £i 2, which was equally divided between 
the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution and the 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. The library, which has re¬ 
ceived several additions by gifts and purchase, has 
been well used during the year. The statement of 
accounts showed income:—Concert, £25 6s. iod. ; 
extension lectures, /31 ns. ; general account, 
£8 12s. 2d.; and expenditure :—Concert expenses, 
£13 6s. iod.; gardening charities, £12] lectures, 
Li 1 ns.; general, including purchase of books, 
£5 2s. 1 id., leaving a balance in the treasurer’s hands 
°f £3 9 s - 3d- The election of officers resulted as 
follows :—Treasurer, Mr R. G. Waterman ; secre¬ 
tary, Mr. W. Disley ; librarian, Mr. T. R. Burrows. 
It was announced that a spring course of lectures on 
“ The History of Botany and Horticulture” would 
be delivered by Mr. R. J. Harvey Gibson, M.A. 
-- 
Parsnips. 
The seeds of this vegetable should be about the first 
to be sown in the open ground. Of course this must 
be regulated by the state of the soil. A piece of 
ground should be selected that has been deeply 
trenched in the autumn; the seed must be sown 
thinly in drills, from 18 in. to 2 ft. apart, depending 
upon the size of roots required. If for exhibition 
plenty of room must be given, and the holes must be 
specially prepared with an iron bar and filled with 
sifted soil, or perfect roots cannot be expected. As 
to varieties The Student is the best for general pur¬ 
poses. 
Shallots. 
These may be planted as soon as the soil is in a good 
working state, in drills about 15 in. apart and 9 in. 
apart in the rows. Plant near early Peas or Potatos, 
as the ground will then all be cleared at the same 
time for the next crop. 
Cabbage. 
If the frost has killed or injured the autumn Cabbage 
plants, a box or two of some early variety should be 
sown at once in heat. Do not sow thickly, and take 
care that the plants do not become drawn. Ellam's 
Early is as good as any for this purpose. As soon 
as the seedlings show the rough leaf, prick them out 
in a frame or pit, and when large enough plant out on 
a well-manured piece of ground. 
General Work. 
Keep a sharp eye on all seedling plants of Cauli¬ 
flowers, Lettuce, &c., to see that they do not get 
drawn or damp off. All these things will be doubly 
valuable after the late protracted frost, which I fear 
has done great mischief to many vegetables ; some 
varieties of Brocoli have suffered severely. Those 
who require early Celery should sow a pinch of seed 
at once in pans or boxes.— G. H. S. 
