418 
March 4, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
for influenza. For early Carrots Nantes Scarlet 
Horn might be sown in February and in the begin¬ 
ning of March, followed in the middle of that month 
by Veitch’s Model in a warm border. As to Potatos, 
the most important of all vegetables, Mr. Andrews 
contented himself with the mention of the three best 
varieties, in his opinion — Sharp’s Victor, Puritan, 
and Abundance. Sharp's Victor was one of the 
earliest grown, was dry and mealy when cooked, and 
was fit as soon as big enough. If there was any 
fault in the Puritans they w'ere too good, while 
Abundance was best as a late Potato. In con¬ 
clusion, Mr. Andrews said there were vegetables 
which were worthy of papers in themselves. Arti¬ 
chokes, Asparagus, Rhubarb, and Seakale would 
make a capital subject for a paper, and Cucumbers, 
Marrows, and Melons for another. Saladings, too, 
would be an important one, and not least, if last, 
herbs, which of late years had been sadly neglected. 
--j-- 
EARLY SPRING FLOWERS. 
Perhaps some of my old gardening friends may say, 
What is there to tell about early spring flowers ? 
Why I write is this : Knowing many gardens and 
owners of gardens I am often surprised to find how 
few species and varieties of early blooming flowers 
are grown, and how often it is the old story Snow¬ 
drops, Crocuses, Winter Aconites, a few Scillas, 
Colchicums and Primroses. 
I am frequently asked by friends, amateurs, what 
is the best time to visit Oakwood Garden, the answer 
usually is that it depends upon taste ; individually, I 
prefer the earliest spring flower season, about the 
middle of February. There is an especial charm 
about the first flowers coming after the long wintry 
weather, sometimes in it, with their bright colours ; 
how beautiful is a large bank of Hepaticas with all 
the shades of colour. H. angulosa blooming first, 
then the double pink and blue, and all the different 
tints of single white, pink, blue and purple. I was 
told by my friend, Mr. Frank Miles, of a Dutch 
grower who had raised Hepaticas of very many 
colours, and was not disappointed with the collection. 
Moss grew up among the plants and added to the 
beauty of the bank. Miss North was so taken with 
the effect that she transplanted Moss to obtain it, 
but, alas, as the Moss grew stronger it became injuri¬ 
ous to the plants, and we had to grub it up. In old 
gardens are found big plants of Hepaticas but I don’t 
think that they are now planted nearly enough. 
Leucojum vernum is becoming more common, but it 
is not in general use. It makes a good companion to 
Snowdrops, and an effective mode of growing this is 
in a bed of Sedum pulchellum. 
As a carpet, where it sows itself and spreads, Leu¬ 
cojum vernum carpaticum, with its stronger growth 
and two flowers to the stem, is a great improvement 
on the type. The newer varities of Snowdrops are 
getting more into cultivation. Galanthus Elwesii, 
with its globular form, has very many admirers, others 
prefer the long-petalled graceful variety G. Imparti. 
One of the finest forms in bloom at Oakwood is G. 
Melvillei, which I owe to the kindness of the raiser. 
Good clumps of the different varieties of Saxifraga 
Burseriana on a bank bloom, I think, better than 
when grown under glass, but when out, deserve a 
bell glass to preserve the blossoms in rough weather. 
In warm sheltered corners the many species of winter 
and early spring flowering Crocuses hold their 
flowers well. Anemone blanda, given me by Mr. 
Ingram, is a gem, and the so-called white form, which 
with us usually comes a pale blue, is very pretty. 
Daphne Blagayana resists frost well and is as sweet 
as the greenhouse Daphne indica. 
Many of the Lent Hellebores which follow on after 
Helleborus Italicus and H. roseus, are now very 
beautiful and fine varieties of these may be raised 
from seed. Petasites albus, where there is room for 
it is not to be despised. All the Scillas and Muscaris 
are good but one of the finest e arliest flowering of 
these last came from Mr. Van Tubergen, Junr., under 
the name of Hyacinthus azureus, it is a lovely soft 
pale blue. 
There are now a great number of early flowering 
common Primroses with beautiful shades of colour, 
enough to make a spring nosegay by themselves. 
Early flowering shrubs such as Chimonanthus fra- 
grans and Lonicera fragrantissima are pretty gener¬ 
ally known. I could go on with other flowers but 
your space forbids. 
I think that the early spring flowers of the future 
will undoubtedly be found among the Irises. Iris 
Histrio, now in bloom at Oakwood, has richness of 
colour which few Orchids can surpass. Iris Baher- 
iana, I. Danferdise and I. Histrioides are all most 
beautiful early flowers; when they become as common 
and inexpensive as Iris reticulata a large spring 
bed of Irises will be gorgeous. It is to be hoped that 
Nurserymen will turn their attention to importing, 
or growing the rarer Irises from seeds, on a very 
large scale so that they may be generally grown.— 
George F. Wilson, Heatherbank, Weybridge Heath. 
NATIONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM 
SOCIETY. 
Perusing the report of the annual meeting of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society in your valuable 
paper, I could not help thinking it is about time that 
the annual farce of “ one-third of the committee 
retiring ” simply to be re-elected was brought to a 
close, and that an alteration was made in Rule 3, 
which would have the effect of introducing fresh 
blood into the committee. The alteration might be 
made either by amending Rule 3 to read that 
“one-third of'the General Committee shall retire 
annually, and shall not be eligible for re-election for 
a period of one year after their three years’ term of 
office,” or by substituting a different system of con¬ 
ducting the elections. 
I do not think it possible for our society to pro¬ 
gress, as we all, I feel sure, desire it should do, 
unless we give an opportunity for more of our 
members participating in its management. If we 
made it necessary for twelve new members to be 
added to the committee annually, it is impossible 
for us not to foresee what an immense amount of 
enthusiasm must naturally ensue among the friends 
and acquaintances of those newly elected, the 
accession of strength to the society in the form of a 
greater number of new members, and the greater 
interest which will be taken in its work. No doubt 
you will say that an opportunity is given to us of 
electing fresh men on the committee, but in reality 
this is not the case, as the thirty-six votes of the 
committee can always be relied upon by the retiring 
members 1?1 which, together with the votes of their 
own supporters present, will render absolutely nil 
the chances of any outside candidate. This fact is 
strikingly shown in the report of the meeting given 
in your last week’s issue. 
I do not for one moment wish anyone to think 
that I look upon the present committee as incapable 
of managing our affairs ; that is not my point at all. 
What I desire to do is simply to point out the 
greater amount of interest which will be taken in 
our society if we make it essentially necessary for a 
larger number of our members to share in its work. 
—William D. Challis, 17, Springdale Read, Stoke 
Newington. 
--L-- 
TRUFFLE HUNTING. 
Mr. Barker, a visitor to the French province of 
Aquitaine, gives the following account of a Truffle- 
hunting expedition, with a professional hunter and 
his pig : — Our work lies amongst the dwarf Oaks, for 
there are no Hazels here. At a sign from the old 
man the pig sniffs about the roots of a little tree, 
then proceeds to dig with her nose, tossing up the 
larger stones which lie in the way as if they were 
feathers. The animal has smelt a Truffle, and the 
man seizes her by the ear, for her manner is sus¬ 
picious. This is the first time they have been out 
together since last season, and the beast has forgot¬ 
ten some of her education. She manages to get a 
Truffle into her mouth ; he tugs at her ear with one 
hand, and uses his stick upon her nose with the 
other The brute screams with anger, but will not 
open her jaws wide enough for him to slip his stick 
in and hook the Truffle out. The prize is swallowed, 
and the old man, forgetting all decorum, and only 
thinking of his loss, calls his companion a pig, which 
in France is always an insult. 
Our Truffle-hunting to-day has opened badly, al¬ 
though one party thinks differently. In a few 
minutes, however, another Truffle is found, and this 
time the old man delivers a whack on the nose at 
the right moment, and, seizing the fungus,hands it to, 
me. Now he takes from his pocket a spike of Maize, 
and, picking off a few grains, gives them to the pig 
to soothe her injured feelings, and encourage her to 
hunt again. This she is quite ready to do, for a pig 
has no amour-propre. We move about in the dry 
open wood, keeping always near the trees, and 
Truffle after Truffle is turned up from the reddish 
light soil mixed with fragments of calcareous rock. 
The forgotten training soon comes back to our in¬ 
valuable auxiliary; a mere twitch of the ear is a 
sufficient hint for her to retire at the right moment, 
and wait for the corn that is invariably given hi ex¬ 
change for the cryptogam. Indeed, before we leave 
the ground the animal has got so well into work that 
when she finds a Truffle she does not attempt to seize 
but points to it, and grunts for the equivalent in 
Maize. The pig may be a correct emblem of de¬ 
pravity, but its intelligence is certainly of a superior 
order. 
-- 
PEACHES AND NECTARINES.* 
The subject which I*have chosen to lay before you 
on this occasion is one in which all gardeners are 
truly interested, from those who cultivate the 
broad acres of a ducal establishment down to 
the caretaker of a villa garden. In opening tnis 
paper, if I travel outside the practical part of the 
subject in some few particulars, I do so for the purpose 
of introducing more variety into the discussion. The 
natural order Rosacese is one of the most remarkable, 
as well as one of the most useful to man, in the whole 
vegetable kingdom ; it contains the majority of our 
hardy fruits, also several of the most ornamental of 
our garden flowers. The order derives its name 
from the genus Rosa, and comprises, according to 
Bentham and Hooker, about 71 genera and 1,000 
species, and some authors credit it with even more 
than this number. 
The principal plants which are cultivated for their 
fruit belonging to the order are, the Almond, Apple, 
Apricot, Blackberry, Cherry, Medlar, Nectarine, 
Peach, Pear, Plum, Quince, Raspberry and Straw¬ 
berry ; and of those which are cultivated for their 
flowers, the Rose is a good example, and is to my 
mind the finest flowering shrub of our gardens. In 
Rosaceae several species are valued for their medi¬ 
cinal properties, while others produce a gum nearly 
allied to gum arabic, and the bark of some species is 
used for tanning, and the leaves of others have been 
used as a substitute for tea or for adulterating tea. 
There are two characteristics of the order under 
cultivation worthy of notice, first, the readiness with 
which sports are produced by many of the species, 
and the second is their liability to the attacks of 
insects and diseases. 
The early history of the Peach is a very unsettled 
matter. There is a considerable difference of opi. 
nion amongst botanists as to its native country, and 
many authors avoid giving any definite information, 
from which fact we may draw the inference that 
nothing definite is known. Persia is considered by 
many as the place of its origin, whilst others attri¬ 
bute it to China. I find both Peaches and Apricots 
spoken of as Persian fruits, but this was probably 
owing to the absence of a scientific system of bota¬ 
nical matters in those days. 
It is very generally recorded that the Romans 
received the Peach from Persia in the reign of the 
Emperor Claudius ; and that during the first century 
a.d. the more enterprising of the gardeners or fruit 
growers in Italy planted Peaches and Apricots with 
a view to profit, and obtained high prices for the 
first of these rare and aristocratic fruits produced. 
The Peaches were spoken of as Persian Apples, and 
the Apricots as Armenian Plums, these names there¬ 
fore clearly fix the countries from which the Romans 
obtained them, namely Persia for the Peach, and 
Armenia for the Apricot, whether these countries 
were their original home or not; and the botanical 
name Amygdalus Persica points strongly to Persia 
as the home of the Peach. De Candolle was, how¬ 
ever, of opinion that China was the native country of 
the Peach, and advances many arguments in favour 
of that country It is mentioned in the writings of 
Columella, and Pliny describes several sorts. Be all 
this as it may it is certain that it has been in culti¬ 
vation in Asia from a very remote period. It was in 
cultivation in England about the middle of the six¬ 
teenth century, but was probably introduced by the 
Romans when they had possession of the country. 
Whatever country the Peach sprang from matters 
not, and I think we may safely affirm that it is now 
in cultivation over the whole civilised world. 
The Peach (Amygdalus Persica or Persica vul- 
* A paper read by Mr. T. Waugh, at a recent Meeting 
of the Chiswick Gardeners Improvement Society. 
