582 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 14, 1898. 
in preventing or removing scale in boilers. The oil 
of the Mountain Ash, a common species of Eucalyp¬ 
tus, dissolves gutta percha readily, and can be used, 
like kerosene, for lamps, having a greater illumi¬ 
nating power, a pleasant odour, and absence of 
liability to explosion. Three ounces of the oil have 
been found sufficient to scent eight pounds of soap 
at a cost of one farthing per pound. 
The oil obtained from the Stringy Bark is found 
to be more efficacious, in many complaints, 
than the ordinary English Peppermint, being less 
pungent and more aromatic. The oil of the White 
Gum has been suggested as a soap-perfume. The 
Woolly Butt oil possesses the remarkable property 
of imparting an indelible stain to paper, but at pre¬ 
sent it has not been utilised for commercial or in¬ 
dustrial purposes. The oil of the Grey Gum pos¬ 
sesses a delicious citronelle odour, and makes an 
excellent soap perfume. Several varieties of the Tea 
Tree furnish an oil possessing most, if not all, of the 
properties of cajuput, so largely used in India as a 
remedy for rheumatism. Practically the number of 
native shrubs and trees in New South Wales capable 
of being utilised in the manufacture of perfumes and 
essential oils is without limit, and when the large 
quantities of either product, obtainable from com- 
partively small proportions of bark or leaves, is 
taken into consideration, it will be seen that in this 
direction New South Wales possesses exceptional 
advantages for those possessing the requisite capital 
and experience to establish large remunerative pro¬ 
ductive industries. It may also be mentioned that 
the Olive, Castor Oil Plant, and Linseed grow luxuri¬ 
antly in*the colony, and are easily cultivated. 
- . 1 - .— 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Flower Favourites: Their Legends, Symbolism, 
and Significance. By Lizzie Deas. London : 
George Allen, 156, Charing Cross Road. 1898. 
Price 3s. 6d. nett. 
Those who delight in reading and treasuring 
legends, fairy tales, traditions and sentimental tit¬ 
bits concerning the popular flowers of garden, field, 
and wayside, will find much in this handy little 
volume to gratify their taste and occupy their 
leisure moments. It consists of some 229 pages, is 
of foolscap octavo size, and contains short quota¬ 
tions from the poets, but has no illustrations. The 
letterpress is of large and clear type, requiring little 
exertion of the eye in following it. 
Naturally the Rose, Thistle, Shamrock, and Leek 
come under review, together with other old flowers 
with which most people come in daily or frequent 
contact. Tales concerning the Rose go back to the 
time of the Arabs and Persians, thence onward to 
the king of Babylon, Greeks, Romans, and peoples 
of other paits of the world. The account of the 
English emblem comes under the heading of Rose 
Brier, ard it is stated, according to some authorities, 
that the Rose argent of York was a cultivated form of 
the Field Rose (Rosa arvensis). The “York and 
Lancaster ” R se symbolical of the union of the two 
ancient royal families of England, is rightly 
ascribed to a variety of the Damask Rose, notwith¬ 
standing the fact that it is frequently confounded 
with Rosa Mundi, a variety of Rosa gallica. There 
are also English legends about the Rose, which he 
who runs may read. 
The legends, tales, and accounts of the Thistle, 
including amongst several other species the Scotch 
Thistle, are very fully given. One tradition given 
about the adoption of the Thistle as the badge of 
Scotland attributes it to a company of bearded men 
with high crowned hats, who met in the Council 
House of Edinburgh, about the middle of the 
sixteenth century. The Order of the Thistle, 
according to another legend, goes back to the time 
of Archius (other history spells his name Achaius), 
a celtic king of the Scots, and it claims, therefore, 
to be the most ancient of all orders of high honour. 
The popular legend about the origin of the high 
respect given to the Thistle by Scotchmen is also 
correctly recorded. A party of invading Danes 
were proceeding to surprise the Scottish camp by 
night when a bare-footed Dane trod upon a Thistle, 
and gave vent to an involuntary howl which aroused 
the Scots, who flew to arms with a mighty shout and 
bloody rout, according to their wont, and drove back 
the foe. If this is the correct origin of the Thistle 
as the national emblem of Scotland, the date must 
lie somewhere between 839 and 1014 a.d., the begin¬ 
ning and end of the Danish invasions north of the 
firths of Forth and Clyde. No mere than other 
authorities is the author able to settle the specific 
identity of the Scotch Thistle. The Heraldic device 
does not, in our opinion, represent a Thistle, native of 
the British Isles within the botanico-historic period 
at least. 
The story of the Shamrock is discussed in a short 
chapter of about three pages. It is stated to be a 
Trefoil, but beyond that its specific identity remains 
undetermined as in the case of the Scotch Thistle. 
If we are to accept the cultivated Leek as the true 
Welsh emblem there would be no doubt as to its 
botanical name. Oa the contrary, if, as tradition 
says, Welshmen wear the Leek in memory of St. 
David, their patron saint, the specific indentity of 
the plant again becomes obscure ; for St. David "did 
feed only upon the Leeks which he gathered in the 
fields.” Now there are several wild Leeks, and the 
cultivated one (Allium Porrum) is not a native. 
Several legends hang around the Blue Cornflower 
(Centaurea Cyanus). At the present day it is held 
dear to the Germans as the national emblem of 
Germany. When Queen Louise of Prussia was 
forced by Napoleon to flee from Berlin, she took 
shelter in a cornfield where she amused her children by 
making them wreaths of the Blue Cornflower. Her 
son Wilhelm, afterwards king of Prussia and first 
Emperor of United Germany, chose as his emblem 
die Kornblume ; hence it is dear to all patriots of the 
Fatherland. The above notes culled from the book 
will give our readers a general idea of the tenor of 
the book, much of which is interesting. 
REASONS WHY APPLES DO NOT 
KEEP WELL. 
Those proprietors of gardens who have a limited 
experience of fruit keeping are oftentimes sorely tried 
by finding, after following the best advice obtainable, 
that in some seasons no inconsiderable portion of 
their Apple harvest goes prematurely to decay, and 
possibly accuse the unfortunate individual who 
gathered them with carelessness, without justifiable 
reason beyond their own want of knowledge. Now 
Apples, like almost or quite all vegetable productions, 
are liable to so many diseases and enemies that it is 
almost sure, whatever the Character of the season 
may be, that at least some of the fruit will be 
affected by one or more parasites in a greater or 
lesser degree, as the atmospheric conditions have 
favoured their development. In some years the 
damage done is very little, and almost or quite 
escapes notice; in others the damage is much 
greater, and calls for constant attention in the look¬ 
ing over the fruit, and using those having symptoms 
of decay first. 
It will frequently be found that in even small 
collections of Apples and Pears there are two or 
three of these fungoid growths among them. One 
of the most common belongs to the genus Clados- 
porium, which, developing beneath the true cuticle, 
often covers the surface of the fruit with dark round 
spots. Decay frequently takes place at these. 
Sometimes, however, it dries up the fruit, causing it 
to adhere to the tree through the winter, and when 
allowed to remain is often a cause of canker. Again, 
it not unfrequently happens that some fruits turn 
brown on the trees, and soon after round mealy spots 
form on the surface showing that the spawn of 
Oidium fructigenum has been vegetating in its 
tissues. 
Sometimes a fungoid growth will be found in 
apparently sound fruit, much resembling in appear¬ 
ance the Potato disease. So far as my own experi¬ 
ence goes the softer fleshed Apples are the most 
subject to this, and it appears to be most prevalent 
after dry, hot summers. The fruit is available for 
culinary purposes for some time after it is first taken 
with the malady. Lastly, fruit decays naturally in 
the ordinary course of things according to whether 
it is naturally an early or late variety. For instance 
a French Crab will keep for many months after 
Codlings, and yet these latter may in truth be said 
to have kept well if preserved in fair condition two 
months after being gathered. Now it is out of all 
reason to expect these varied enemies to be kept 
altogether at bay; but when observed all affected 
fruit should be carefully removed from those which 
are sound, because if no Other mischief is done, it is 
certain that sound fruit will acquire a musty taste if 
surrounded by that in a state of decay.— W. B. G. 
CINERARIA STELLATA. 
There is a considerable diversity of opinion about 
this strain of Cinerarias which has been worked up 
and put into commerce by Messrs. Sutton & Sons, 
Reading. The strain is the result of crossing the 
modern greenhouse race of Cineraria with the old C. 
cruenta. The general public is generally highly 
delighted with, and full of admiration for, the easy 
grace of the large panicles of starry flowers, as well 
as the great variety of colours already to be met 
with in the strain. The gardeners, on the contrary, 
have for some years past been so heavily weighted 
with the idea that massive, imbricated flowers and 
dwarf plants are the only things worth striving for in 
a Cineraria, that every thing else must be put in sub¬ 
jection to this view. 
We may recall the fact that only a few years ago 
the wild C. cruenta was re-introduced and annually 
raised in some quantity at Kew, when and where it 
was greatly lauded for its graceful and elegant appear 
ance, notwithstanding the fact that the plants varied 
from 3 ft. to 5 ft. in height. Now by the crossing of 
the wild original with its cultivated progeny, the 
plants have been reduced to half the height or less. 
Surely that in itself is an advantage. The flowers 
are intermediate in size, and intense as well as pale 
colours of many shades have been imparted to them. 
The strain is, therefore,well adapted for conservatory 
decoration, even where space is limited. The decora¬ 
tive value is infinitely superior to that possessed by 
their dumpy garden relatives. A purpose may be- 
served by both strains which are well worth preserv¬ 
ing, so that neither may be discarded to give exclu¬ 
sive preference to the other. It may be urged that 
the new strain lacks pedigree, but that is merely senti¬ 
ment, and a narrowing of the view of what may be 
regarded as really beautiful. That of course is a 
danger to which specialists lay themselves liable; but 
let us not forget the once despised race of Japanese 
Chrysanthemums, and the Carnations that would not 
conform to the canons of the florist. 
The new strain known as C. stellata shows a great 
range of colour such as mauve, pink, purple, 
magenta, magenta-purple, blue-purple, lilac, rose- 
purple, white tipped with purple and other shades, 
which have been flowering in profusion at Reading 
for some time past. In company with them are 
batches of C. lanata, C. pepulifolia, and C. multi¬ 
flora, which have more or less of a shrubby habit, 
with smaller, generally woolly leaves, and are later 
in coming into bloom. All these intercross with one 
another, and whether the strain of C. stellata can be 
improved by intercrossing with the above-named 
species remains to be seen. The garden race has 
every appearance of having been brought to its 
present stage of development simply by intercrossing 
and selection from the wild C. cruenta, if we are, to 
judge from their strictly herbaceous character and 
large leaves. 
« ■»<-T. 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS. 
By the Editor. 
Dendrobe and Odontoglot from Fairfield.—A 
richly-coloured variety of Dendrobium nobile comes 
to us from Mr. A. Grigor, gardener, to Alex. O. Gill, 
Esq., Fairfield, Aberdeen. The upper half of the 
sepals and petals is of a rich, intense purple, quickly 
giving place to a pale, nearly white ground towards 
the base. The lip also has the usual colour mark¬ 
ings much intensified. The bloom is of average 
size, but the rich colouring makes it a variety of no 
ordinary merit. Accompanying it was a bloom of 
Odontoglossum polyxanthum, also highly coloured 
as far as the blotches were concerned, but the mark¬ 
ings on the petals were reduced to one small blotch 
at the base, leaving all the rest of a bright yellow. 
The lip was shorter than we often see, and almost 
roundly-cordate. Both Orchids were therefore good 
of their kind, the Dendrobium being the more dis¬ 
tinct of the two. 
Cypripedium kerchovianum W. H. Young, 
Nov. vav .—The original or typical form of this 
hybrid was raised in the Brussels Botanic Garden, 
where it was first flowered in 1892, as the result of 
