April 30, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
549 
DAHLIAS. 
H. CAN NELL & SONS, 
Sole introducers of the Cactus and single varieties, 
beg to assure all admirers of this family that they 
have for twenty-five years been awarded highest 
honours for the best general collection, and that their 
stock of 40,000 in 600 varieties is the completest and 
best kept in England, and give the greatest satisfac¬ 
tion from one end of the World to the other. As a 
proof append the following. 
G. Herbert Haszard, Esq., 
Charlottetown, 
Prince Edward Island, 
North America. 
March 31st, 1898. 
“ I wish to thank you for Dahlias. I got some from 
four different places in England which more or less 
failed. Whereas all yours are fine plants." 
Send for illustrated catalogue, free to coming customers. 
SWAN LEY, KENT. 
FINEST COLLECTION 
in the World. We make 
a speciality of CA.LA- 
DIUMS. Gold Medals 
Manchester& Leicester. 
- -Silver Cup, R.H.S., &o. 
Satisfaction guaranteed. JOHN PEED AND SONS, 
West Norwood, London. 
ORCHIDS. 
Clean Healthy Plants at Low Prices. 
Always worth a visit of inspection. Kindly send for Catalogue, 
JAMES CYPHER, 
Exotic fiorseries, CHELTENHAM. 
(Over 150 Pages. Nearly 150 Illustrations.) 
of Florists’ Flowers and Hardy Border Plants 
is got up regardless of trouble or expense, with the result that 
it is by unanimous consent pronounced the most comprehen¬ 
sive, most accurate, most reliable, most complete and beet 
extant. 
It gives full and accurate descriptions ol everything in the 
way of Florists Flowers, also colour, height, time of 
flowering, and price of all the best Hardy Border Plants, 
to.ether with then English or Common Names, and a mass of 
other Valuable Information that cannot be had else¬ 
where. 
It is In fact a veritable reference-book, invaluable to all 
growers of these plants, and should be in the hands of all 
intending purchasers. Free on application. 
JOHN FORBES, 
ESTABLISHED 1870. 
Nurseryman, Hawick, Scotland. 
JADOO FIBRE. 
WONDERFUL SUCCESS. 
At a great Horticultural Exhibition recently held 
in New Orleans, plants grown in Jadoo were 
awarded 
20 FIRST PRIZES and 2 SECONDS. 
ADVANTAGES OF GROWING PLANTS & 
SEEDS IN JADOO. 
Seeds germinate much more quickly in Jadoo than 
in earth. 
Greater perfection easily attained. 
Suits all kinds of plants. 
Is much lighter than earth. 
Less frequent watering is required. 
The flowers are larger, of richer colour, and last 
longer. 
No soil to mix : No manures required. 
Ghent Exhibition, 1898. The two prin¬ 
cipal prizes of the show (including 
Gold Medal), were gained by plants 
grown in Jadoo, by Messrs. Byrvet, 
Bros., Haarlem. 
PRICES :—3/6 per bushel. 8/- per 3 bushel sack. 
Special prices for large quantities. 
Testimonials and full directions for use post free. 
Obtainable through any Nurseryman, or from_ 
JADOO, Limited, EXETER. 
BOUGAINVILLEA CYPHERIl. 
Grand new plant, largest and best coloured 
Bougainvillea ever offered, a splendid grower and 
remarkably free bloomer. Awarded First Class 
Certificate at the Wolverhampton Floral Fete, 1896, 
and also at the Oxford Commemoration Show, 1896, 
and also the Gold Medal at Shrewsbury Great Royal 
Commemorative Show, 1897, for the best new plant 
in the exhibition. 
James Cypher has great pleasure in offering this 
grand novelty. Plants ready end of May, price 10/6 
each. 
Exotic Nurseries, CHELTENHAM. 
“ Gardening Is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man."— Bacon. 
^4 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , APRIL 30 th, 1898. 
oyal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.— 
Amongst the names of those who 
attended the great annual gathering of this 
charity, we notice many who were present 
at the Ghent Quinquennial Show, yet made 
a point of returning in time to show their 
loyalty to the interests of a good cause. 
Notwithstanding the fidelity displayed by 
the staunch supporters of the Fund, we note 
a falling away in the amount collected at 
the annual festival. No doubt several 
causes have conduced to this result, and we 
do not anticipate that this deficiency will be 
anything more than temporary. While 
such a conclusion is entertained, the 
supporters of this excellent charity should 
relax no effort to maintain its vigour and 
effectiveness in dealing with the distressed 
orphans of gardeners, who may have been 
worsted in the battle of life through no 
fault of their own. But while efforts are 
made by this and the other gardening 
charity to induce the great body of gar¬ 
deners to contribute to the support of the 
same, it must not be forgotten that this 
industrious body of men are often sorely 
taxed to maintain themselves and families 
in the early and middle portions of their 
life, in a manner befitting their social sur¬ 
roundings. While this is undeniably true, 
it is germane to the subject to recall the 
suggestion of N. N. Sherwood, Esq., at the 
dinner, that the children of noblemen and 
gentlemen, who have large estates, should 
be invited and encouraged to save money 
and initiate special funds for the benefit of 
the orphan children of gardeners. There 
are, doubtless, many owners of gardens 
endowed with sufficient philanthropy not 
only to encourage their children in works of 
benevolence and charity, but to lend a help¬ 
ing hand themselves by contributing to the 
special funds started by the younger mem¬ 
bers of their families. We think that if a 
few influential employers of gardeners were 
to set the example, it would be copied and 
adopted by a considerable number of them 
in various parts of the country in the course 
of a few years. The lady members of the 
family would generally have most leisure 
for this sort of thing, and the charitably 
disposed could not but find it a congenial 
occupation. The knowledge that they 
would be helping the less fortunate of their 
servants, could not but act as an incentive 
to strengthen and support their endeavours. 
J|epth to which plants penetrate the 
soil.— At first consideration many 
gardeners would regard this as a purely 
scientific subject, and beyond their sphere 
of action. Nevertheless, it applies and 
appeals to every cultivator of the soil on a 
small as on a large scale. The subject is 
dealt with by Prof. F. W. Oliver in a paper 
which appears in Vol. xxi, part 3 of the 
Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 
just to hand. He commences his subject 
by referring to the subterranean rhizomes, 
bulbs, and tubers of plants, which have 
each their peculiar depth to which they 
penetrate the soil. This has a bearing 
upon the subject, but the roots are the 
more important organs to consider, seeing 
that they are the collectors of plant food in 
the soil, and that the depth to which they 
penetrate the latter has a direct bearing 
upon the cultivator’s art. The subject, 
therefore, is of primary importance to gar¬ 
deners, and they cannot too early in life 
give it their most serious consideration. In 
a state of nature germinating seedlings 
usually commence at or near the surface, 
but many of them in the course of a few 
years make a strong effort to bury their 
crowns at varying depths in the soil. 
Many seeds, by accident or otherwise, get 
deeply buried by soil or fallen leaves, and 
if naturally provided with the means raise 
their crowns through the superincumbent 
matter till they reach the surface. Large 
seeds come into this category rather than 
small ones. Professor Oliver speaks of the 
root-shortening which is peculiar to and 
more or less conspicuous in certain plants, 
but while that is the case we are fully con¬ 
vinced that such roots as Carrots, Parsnips, 
and Beet are often shortened through force 
of circumstances, that is, by their inability 
to penetrate the soil beyond a certain depth, 
owing to its hardness, dryness, and impro¬ 
perly prepared condition generally. These 
tap roots often, indeed, throw themselves 
partly out of the soil, so that the exposed 
parts soon become unfit for human food, 
and thereby represent so much wasted 
matter. 
The tuber of Arum maculatum (Lords 
and Ladies) is taken as a type of what 
results in this particular case by some of 
the roots being contractile while others do 
not possess this faculty. The miniature 
tuber has its apex erect the first year 
although by the action of the cotyledon it 
has been buried to a certain depth in the 
soil. During the second year the con¬ 
tractile roots have the effect of dragging 
the apex of the tuber on one side, and this 
action goes on till the tuber has its apex 
giowing more or less perpendicularly down 
into the soil. This continues till the tuber 
has reached its normal depth in the soil, 
after which it penetrates the same horizon¬ 
tally. This depth varies according to the 
species, but we find it in Tulips, Colchicum, 
Crocuses, Gladioli, and various other sub¬ 
jects. These may be regarded as subjects 
which bury their buds or crowns at a cer¬ 
tain depth in order to protect them against 
various casualities to which they are sub¬ 
jected in their natural habits, the roots 
penetrating to a still greater depth, become 
more or less exempt from the incidents and 
effects of a dry soil and droughty season. 
Except where the gardeners engaged in 
the raising of seedlings, the above facts are 
more or less of purely scientific interest 
to the gardener, because the bulbs, conns 
and tubers find, of their own accord, the 
normal depths at which they can carry on 
their functions to the best advantage. 
Turning to root crops such as Carrots, Beet 
and Parsnips no one knows the advantage 
of assisting Nature better than those 
gardeners who grow vegetables for exhibi¬ 
tion purposes. Unless the ground is 
