April 30, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
551 
: Korean Paper is considered superior to that of 
China or Japan, and is used in both those countries 
as a substitute for glass, also for roofing and 
umbrella covers. 
Lily bulbs and Beefsteak.—From the western 
*• States ” comes the story of a man who had been 
sent a free lot of government seeds and bulbs, but 
whose wife promptly consigned the bulbs to the fry¬ 
ing pan in company with a tender bit of steak. The 
acknowledgment stated that the "Onions” were 
excellent. 
Syringa Senateur Volland..—In this we have one cf 
the handsomest of the many double-flowered Lilacs 
which have been raised by the celebrated nurseryman 
M. Lemoine, of Nancy, France. The flowers in this 
case are of good size, and rich purple when first 
expanded, but shading to lilac in the later stages. 
The trusses, too, are exceptionally large and heavy. 
The variety received an Award of Merit last year 
from the Royal Horticultural Society. 
A Chrysanthemum Controversy.—The awards made 
in the Jubilee Championship Competition for forty- 
eight Japanese Chrysanthemums held last autumn 
by the Ulster Horticultural Society appear to have 
given a considerable amount of dissatisfaction. We 
notice that a somewhat belated discussion is being 
carried on in the columns of the Irish Farming World. 
From the statements made by Mr. Peter Brock, of 
Glenmor Gardens, Drogheda, it appears that there 
have been some irregularities that at least require 
explanation. Mr. Brock states that in the exhibit 
made by Mr. Mease was a bloom of the Primrose 
sport from Madame Carnot, Mrs. W. Mease, and 
that this variety not being at that time in commerce, 
the exhibit should have been disqualified. The 
objection was lodged, but one of the judges, Mr. E. 
Beckett, of Aldenham House Gardens, Elstree, 
Herts, qualified it by declaring the variety to be 
Yellow Madame Carnot, as sent out by Mr. H. J. 
Jones. To this demur was subsequently made by Mr. 
W. Wells, of Earlswood, who claimed that the 
bloom should be labelled “ Primrose Sport from 
Madame Carnot.” This is the first point of issue, 
and it practically resolves itself into the question of 
the identity or non-identity of the varieties G. J. 
Warren, or Yellow Madame Carnot, and Mrs. W. 
Mease, the above-mentioned " Primrose Sport from 
the well-known white variety. As we have seen the 
two varieties exhibited in this country, Mrs. W. 
Mease is a much paler yellow than G. J. Warren—ia 
fact, it is a primrose yellow. The second poini of 
issue is that of paper collarets. Mr. Brock avers, 
and so far the statement has not been challenged, 
that in the exhibit which was awarded the third 
prize in this competition, thirty-one out of the forty- 
eight blooms were supported by paper collarettes, 
some of these collarettes being as much as 
5^ in. in diameter. In defence of these sup¬ 
ports, Mr. Beckett is declared to have said that 
*• cardboards, or no cardboards, the exhibit 
would have won,” which is not a justification but 
an evasion. Mr. Brock states that the support¬ 
ing of blooms by cardboard collarettes is contrary 
to the “ adopted and recognised standard regulations 
of the National Chrysanthemum Society.” If the 
Ulster .Horticultural Society has "adopted” these 
rules, there is no doubt of the breach of observance 
on the part of the exhibitor in question, and Mr. 
Brock’s argument is valid ; but, on the other hand, 
there are many societies who do not follow the 
N. C. S. rules and regulations, and if the Belfast 
society be one of them, the argument falls to the 
ground, unless, of course, there was direct contra¬ 
vention of a rule made by the Belfast society. In 
the latter case, however, we should imagine that dis¬ 
qualification must have followed. 
- — - 
Hardening ||iscellany. 
NEW HOLLAND PLANTS AT GHENT., 
In reading your "leader” upon the Ghent exhibition 
I was, like Rip van Winkle, obliged to rub my eyes 
to make sure I saw clearly; for to read that any¬ 
where out of the United Kingdom such things as 
Acacias, Ericas, Pimeleas, Diosmas, Polygalas, 
Chorizemas, &c., should take a leading position at a 
flower show, and that after they have been so long 
neglected among us is a startling revelation. Some 
day, perhaps, when it takes the public fancy to grow 
flowers for the pleasure of looking upon them, grow¬ 
ing on the plant rather than going to rapid decay in 
a heated apartment, these old favourites will come 
to the fore again. I hope this may come about 
before the generation of plantsmen, who delighted to 
grow and exhibit them, has all passed over to the 
majority, or else a later generation may have to feel 
its way in the dark when undertaking their cul¬ 
ture.- -W. B. G. 
CLEMATIS INDIVISA. 
This Clematis is a well known and valued occupant 
of the cool greenhouses and conservatories in this 
country, but its beauty and free flowering character 
have induced a number of American florists to take 
up its culture systematically for the purpose of sup¬ 
plying cut flowers. Blooming as it does early in the 
year, when flowers are as yet comparatively scarce 
it cannot fail to render good service if looked after 
properly. The plant was introduced to Europe 
from New Zealand in 1847, or more than 50 years 
ago. 
TRIPLE-FLOWERED CYCLAMEN. 
Twin flowers amongst cultivated plants of Cycla¬ 
men latifolium are fairly common, and three 
separate flowers upon a peduncle are not rare, but, 
speaking from memory, we do not remember having 
previously seen so complete a combination of three 
flowers as that sent us by Mr. A. Pentney, gardener 
to A. J. Howard, Esq., Worton Hall, Isleworth. 
The flower stalk was very stout, but perfectly round 
as a straw, and bore on the top a huge flower con¬ 
sisting of three completely amalgamated into one, 
with fifteen perfect segments arranged round a trans¬ 
verse opening showing the indications of three 
cups or openings with three clusters of stamens 
numbering sixteen in the aggregate, being one in 
excess of the normal fifteen required for three 
flowers. The variety belonged to the giganteum 
strain, and was pure white, except at the mouth 
which was slightly tinted with blush. It was dis¬ 
tinctly scented, though not very sweet, but this 
might have been due to the age of the flower. 
- » »- 
THE BARBERRY. 
Some of the Berberis family are among our showiest 
spring-flowering shrubs, and the majority of them 
being quite hardy makes them doubly valuable. They 
look well in the shrubbery, but far more conspicuous 
as isolated specimens on the lawns, for what is 
prettier than a huge bush of B. buxifolia (Syn. B. 
dulcis), quite 10 ft. high and 15 ft. through, with its 
drooping branches touching the turf, and crowded 
with tiny orange cups, with a yellow perianth ? It 
is a perfect mass of flower just now, and is worthy 
to be included in the planter's collection. B. steno- 
phylla makes another good specimen, whose habit is 
much more drooping than the first-named, and its 
flowers appear in clusters, unlike the former. The 
colour is very nearly the same. The finest plant 
that has come under my notice of this sort was at 
Broadlands, Romsey, South Hants., standing on the 
east side of the flower garden on the turf. This is 
supposed to be a hybrid between B. empetrifolia 
and B. Darwinii. 
The last-named is another showy kind, and thrives 
almost anywhere. I have noticed it growing on an 
old wall with but 1 in. or so of rubble to give it a 
start. This variety seeds and sows itself freely in 
Devon. Then there is the common Barberry (B. 
vulgaris) and its varieties, all very pretty, but much 
taller growing than the previous species, so they 
should be kept more to the shrubbery border proper. 
The berries of some of them are very pretty later 
on, and are often used to make a sort of preserve. 
B. nepalensis is another handsome species, if given 
a good position. It has cuspidate, pinnate leaves, 
nearly 2 ft. in length, and is well worthy of a place. 
There are several other kinds, but the foregoing have 
come under my notice more often than them.— 
Devonian. 
HOW A KNOWLEDGE OF BOTANY IS 
A HELP TO GARDENING. 
(Continued from p. 541). 
Again, flowering plants have two kinds of stem. 
The Dicotyledons increase in size on the outside by 
a continuous ring of wood, and are called exogens. 
They include trees, shrubs, and a great many of our 
choicest flowering plants. Monocotyledons have 
their woody matter arranged in isolated bundles 
scattered through a groundwork of cellular tissue. 
They include Palms, Liliaceous plants, grasses, 
Bamboos, Cereals, Orchids, and various other plants. 
A third division is called Acrogens ; and these are 
non-flowering plants, which increase or grow on the 
top, as you very plainly understand by the growth 
of the Tree Fern. These form a part of the sub¬ 
kingdom Cryptogamia. 
Now a few words on the germination of the seed 
which contains the embryo or future plant. The 
embryo is composed of three parts, namely, the root, 
the seed leaves, and the young stem. Then again 
seeds differ much in their composition. For instance, 
in the natural order Leguminosae, which is the Pea 
and Bean family, you will find that these two seed 
lobes are thick and fleshy, and occupy the entire 
seed; while in other cases the embryo or future 
plant occupies but a very small space in the seed. 
The other portion of the seed is filled with nourish¬ 
ing matter known as perisperm, which substance 
nourishes the embryo or young plant until it has 
attained a certain state of development and has 
sufficient root and leaf to provide for itself. 
Now before germination can take place this 
nourishing matter has by the agency of moisture, 
heat, and air, to be brought to a state of solution or 
decomposition. Hence the truth of the proverb where 
it says, " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground 
and die it abideth alone.” 
Well, then, what are we to gather from a know¬ 
ledge of the seed that may help us in accomplishing 
its germination ? It is just this, that we let the seed 
get due proportions of heat, moisture, and air. If a 
pan is not well drained, the pores of the soil remain 
clogged ; air cannot penetrate, and consequently the 
seed will remain a long time dormant or very pro¬ 
bably perish. The system to be adopted for all 
seeds, and especially for those which are very small, 
is to well water the pans before the seed is sown, to 
let the pot stand for a time so that the superfluous 
water may drain away and then to sow the seed on 
the even surface of the soil. By the time the pot 
again wants watering, if stood in a moist atmosphere, 
in most cases, your seeds will have germinated. 
Some recommend that if a pan of seed becomes 
dry it should be stood in water in order to give it a 
thorough soaking. With this I entirely disagree. 
By watering a pan in this way, in almost every 
instance, the rushing in of the water at the bottom 
causes the material on which the soil is resting to 
get displaced ; the soil also settles down and it never 
again assumes a condition suitable for the growth of 
seeds. Now I have tried both systems here men¬ 
tioned ; with the former I seldom get a failure, but 
with the latter seldom a success. 
Let me give you an instance which has occurred 
under my notice during the different processes 
which I have tried. This was with a pan of seed of 
an Arabian Thistle, which was sown in the ordinary 
way, watered as some recommend, and placed in a 
position, supplied with bottom heat, having a mini¬ 
mum of 65°, and a maximum of 75 0 . The seed 
remained there for about four or five weeks, and 
showed no signs of germination; therefore, I took 
the pan containing the seed and placed it under a 
warm wall in the open air, and allowed the soil to 
get dry, then watered again in the ordinary way, and 
what happened ? In a few days the seed grew 
splendidly. 
What was the cause of failure with this seed, let 
me ask ? Simply this: the soil retained far too 
large an amount of moisture, the air could not per¬ 
meate, as freely as it should have done, to insure 
germination. I found by close observation that as 
soon as the soil resumed its proper condition, with 
the proper amount of air, heat and moisture, growth 
at once took place. 
Here again is another difference in the growth of 
the root with those two great classes of plants which 
have been previously mentioned, and this also is 
worthy of our notice. In the Dicotyledons the root 
grows by one direct prolongation of the radicle, and 
it never branches until after leaving the seed: while 
on the other hand amongst the monocotyledonous 
plants, with one seed lobe, a branching of the root 
takes place immediately on germination. 
(To be continued.) ■ ■ 
