June 11, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
651 
HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 
Trillium recurvatum.— The Trinity flowers 
have all been flowering with exceptional freedom 
this year, and T. recurvatum has not been forgotten. 
The flowers are rich deep crimson, very much of the 
same colour as those of the allied species T. 
erectum, but the difference between the two is 
apparent upon even casual comparison, for in T. 
recurvatum the calyx lobes are long, and reflex 
sharply, whilst in T. erectum they are erect, and 
press closely against the inner segments. The 
foliage of T. recurvatum, too, is distinct, on account 
of the mottlings of white upon the dark green ground 
which it exhibits. The height of the two is as 
nearly as possible the same, viz., a foot or there¬ 
abouts. 
Phlox subulata Nelsoni.— The dwarf Phloxes, 
varieties of P. subulata are many of the freest 
flowering things we have, and this variety Nelsoni is 
one of the best of all of them. The flowers are pure 
white, with five violet spots, and make their appear¬ 
ance in such numbers as to hide the foliage, leaving 
only a dazzling sheen of white. It should be planted in 
an open spot where it will get the full benefit of the 
light and air. It is rather curious that it is not em¬ 
ployed to a larger extent for spring-bedding, for 
which purpose it is admirably fitted, since it blooms 
all through May, with surpassing freedom; indeed, 
it is often difficult to get a sufficiency of good cut¬ 
tings from it for this reason. Cuttings strike pretty 
readily if taken about the beginning cf July, pricked 
off into a cold frame, kept fairly close, and shaded 
until they root. They will then make good plants 
by the following spring. 
Yiola pedata. —The rock garden has no prettier 
gem than the pedate-leaved Viola, or Bird's Foot 
Violet, as it has been called. Given a cool, sheltered 
position it grows, and flowers freely enough, and is 
perhaps the most beautiful of American Violets. 
The plant is only a few inches in height, whilst 
the flowers are about an inch in diameter, and bright 
blue. It does well in pots if not watered too 
heavily during the dull months of the year. The 
variety V. p. bicolor has the lower segments of the 
flower purple instead of blue, and is a pleasing varia¬ 
tion from the type.— Plant Lover. 
-- 
MEDICINAL FRUIT. 
Mr. G. Viand, a young veterinary surgeon in the 
French Army, devotes his spare moments to the 
study of plants. Basing his experiments on the 
spontaneous absorption of medicinal principles by 
plants he has succeeded in storing the tissues of 
alimentary plants with iron, lime, &c. Under this 
form it will be easy to take medicine, and assimila¬ 
tion will be more safe on account of the quasi 
natural state of the medicinal principles in the plant 
cells. Thus he has produced ferruginous Cress, 
Lettuce, and Endive. 
These plants preserve their good natural flavour, 
and are tonic in a high degree; they can be pre¬ 
scribed in cases of anaemia, constitutional diseases 
which are not cured by prolonged vegetable diet. 
This result is deserving of attention from gardeners, 
and we think that those who could supply ferru¬ 
ginous Lettuces and Endive would find sales re¬ 
munerative. An experiment costs little, as sulphate 
of iron can be bought retail very cheaply. In the 
same class of ideas fruit is recommended as a 
remedy for certain diseases. The Cherry, refresh¬ 
ing and acid, cures diseases of the bladder and kid¬ 
neys. It is said that a cure of asthma was effected 
by a regimen consisting of five or six OraDges eaten 
daily during some weeks. A youth who made a 
similar experiment with Cherries, on which he lived 
for eight consecutive days, was cured of chills, 
fevers, and bilious attacks. In the four following 
months he gained 18 lbs. in weight, his food being 
exclusively bread and Cherries. 
Another example of the therapeutic value of fruit : 
a young man was attacked by influenza, and as at 
the time be was a long way from home sickness 
would be unusually severe, through there being no 
one to attend to him. Being aware of this fact, he 
went to bed and remained there two days eating 
nothing but a couple of dozen of Oranges. At the 
end of this time he was quite fit for work. In 
another case a lady was cured by living for two days 
on Lemon®, remaining in her room during this time. 
Abundant fruit diet, particularly seasonable fruit, 
aids digestion. Ripe Currants, sweet Apples, Pears, 
Peaches, &c., do no harm to a healthy stomach, and 
in sickness are of great therapeutic value. If the 
organism wants acidity, acid fruit is the best of 
remedies. Sluggish liver and kidneys, as also pre¬ 
disposition to fevers and cutaneous eruptions, are 
greatly attenuated by eating fruit, if a nutrient and 
not stimulating regimen is followed. There are some 
persons who are frightened because fruit causes 
diarrhoea in children, but they never reflect how 
many intestinal diseases are due to absence of a 
fruit diet. If persons of a bilious temperament 
would put aside their medicine and study the gifts of 
Nature they would certainly, like Adam, be tempted 
to eat .—Gazzetta delle Campagne, December 20th, 
1897. 
LEGUMINOUS TREES AND SHRUBS 
AT KEW. 
Not only is the natural order Leguminosae one of 
the largest but it is also one of the most important 
natural orders. The value of many of its members 
from a food point of view is unquestionable, and the 
same may be said of many others of the plants 
grouped under it which take high rank as decorative 
subjects. Kew, with all its wealth of special features 
both to the botanist and the horticulturist has no 
more instructive feature than the collection of 
Leguminous plants which is located on the eastern 
side of that fashionable promenade, the Pagoda Vista. 
In this place there is congregated a great number of 
the most handsome plants of the order, and it may 
at least be claimed for them that they have done their 
best to please and to exhibit their beauties for the 
delectation of Whitsuntide visitors to the far-famed 
gardens, for on Whit-Sunday very many of the plants 
were absolutely at their best. 
At the northern end of the series of beds there is a 
round bed full of interest, or rather of interesting 
plants. There are three gnarled, twisted, and 
umbrella headed specimens of the handsome Cara- 
gana arborescens var. pendula, the feathery, pinnate 
leaves of which are touching a showy carpet of 
Genista pilosa. Next we find an oblong bed in which 
are more samples of the genus Caragana. In addition 
to C. arborescens, with its erect growing habit, and 
its fond tendency to develop short spurs along the 
whole length of its branches is the dwarf C. a. nana, 
also two fine specimens of C. a. Redowskii, a spread- 
ing, loose-habited Siberian tree, rather later in 
flowering than the type, but apparently a very free 
bloomer. 
In close contiguity is C. aurantiaca, hailing from 
Central Asia. The flowers here are yellow, with 
spots of brown, and a large, much reflexed standard. 
The habit is quite distinct, for the flower, stalks, and 
leaves being short the branches look like immense 
spikes of leaf and bloom. The drooping C. gracilis, 
with its long whip-like branches, was not in flower 
when we saw it, and the pretty C. microphylla was 
only commencing to expand its blooms. 
Cytisus purpureus incarnatus, a low growing and 
somewhat straggling shrub, was in a very luxuriance 
of bloom, and the rich rose flowers shading to car¬ 
mine at the base of the petals were showy. 
Genista hispanica, on the eastern side of the group 
of Caraganas, has been a mass of bright yellow. 
Passing on southwards, the magnificent clumps of 
the Brooms catch our eye. The common Broom 
Cytisus scoparius, if it were only less common 
would be held up to the public by every nurseryman 
as the perfection of a flowering shrub. Under culti¬ 
vation its large yellow flowers tend to become larger 
and yet more yellow, and as its freedom of flowering 
has never yet been gainsaid, the effect produced by 
large masses of it can well be imagined. Its hand¬ 
some variety C. s. andreanus is planted in a similarly 
imposing mass hard by, and is apparently attempt¬ 
ing to out-rival its ancestor in prodigality of bloom. 
The bright crimson hue which characterises the 
wings or side petals is present upon one side of the 
petal only, the outer; but as the wiDgs are folded 
upon themselves inwards, this is the side that is 
shown to a visitor. Another bed of handsome pro¬ 
portions is filled with the earth-hugging C. s. pen¬ 
dula, which, as growing here, is scarcely pendulous, 
since it never grows far enough from its mother 
earth to be strictly pendulous, but prefers to cover 
the ground as with a carpet of green and gold. 
The last clump of the Brooms is perhaps the 
showiest of all, one of C. albus, one of the distin¬ 
guished parents of the not less distinguished C. 
praecox. At the time of writing these plants are 
simply a dazzling sheen of white, and constitute a 
picture that no lover of plants in general, and hardy 
shrubs in particular, should miss seeing. 
-- 
MESSRS. WM. WOOD & SON, LTD. 
As the years roll on, the range of the gardeners’ 
operations is ever widening, and with this increase 
comes a corresponding increase in the number of 
things that are to him necessities, if he is to fulfil 
the demands made upon his time and skill. Labour 
saving appliances of all kinds have been called into 
existence, in addition to numerous specifics which 
enable the cultivator of the soil to hold his own 
against his enemies, both insect and fungoid, which 
come to plague him and rob him of the due result of 
his labours. 
How many and how varied the wants of the gar¬ 
dener are none but those who have been behind the 
scenes can tell. Even the ordinary gardener can, 
unaided, have but a faint perception of the quantity 
and variety of material that must, perforce, be in¬ 
cluded in the stock-in-trade of a first-class horticul¬ 
tural sundriesman. 
We recently paid a visit to the establishment of 
one of the most reputed firms of this description in 
the country, viz., Messrs. Wm. Wood & Son, Ltd., 
of Wood Green, and must confess to a sense of sur¬ 
prise when the thousand and one gardener’s needs, 
crystalised as it were, upon the shelves of the store¬ 
rooms and warehouses brought home to us the far- 
reaching and important character of this branch of 
the horticultural trade. Not one country alone, but 
many are taxed to meet the demand, and it would be 
difficult to mention a part of the habitable globe 
that does not contribute in some way to the every¬ 
day needs of the British gardener. 
The premises of the firm are almost adjoining 
Wood Green Station,and indeed are connected with it 
by a private siding by which goods may be 
despatched and delivered, and which must be vastly 
convenient in these days when promptitude and 
despatch count for so much in business transactions. 
This siding is all the more necessary when we con¬ 
sider the big trade done by the firm in horticultural 
Anthracite, and other coals and coke. The frontage 
of the building or rather series of buildings is 
towards an open space or public garden prettily laid 
out and well kept up, and the large central show 
store-house is both a roomy and a commodious build- 
ing. Truly it had need so to be, for even small 
samples of each of the goods in stock take up a lot of 
room. In the background other large store-houses 
supplement the show room. Here we found ample 
supplies of the various specialities of the firm. 
Amongst these mention may be made of shadings, 
now so important an appendage to glasshouses. The 
“ A. White ” variety, specially recommended by the 
firm, is a capital material at a reasonable price, and 
eminently suitable for all ordinary purposes. Many 
orders are annually taken for it, and these not infre¬ 
quently include the making and fixiog of the blinds 
in position, a branch of the business to which special 
attention is given. Green shadiDgs are kept in stock, 
but they cast too heavy a shade for ordinary pur¬ 
poses, although they have a tendency to bleach with 
age. A special line is the ticks used for blinds which 
can be had in a variety of patterns which are stocked, 
or customer's own patterns can be worked up to 
order, since the Messrs. Wood are manufacturers as 
well as vendors. 
Archangel mats are represented by huge bales 
filling several rooms, and of labels of all sizes there 
is goodly store. The quality of raffia supplied to 
customers is exceptionally good, for some of it 
measured fully 6 ft. in the twist, and moreover 
was of that soft and easily twisted character for 
which the gardener is always on the watch. 
Bamboos in all sizes, from thin tips suitable to 
staking such subjects as Freesias, Achimenes and 
other plants where light and neat staking is indis¬ 
pensable, to stout poles of 20 ft. in length, fit to 
support a sapling Oak, are stocked in thousands. 
These canes are the best productions of China and 
Japan and are shipped from thence to this country in 
thousands of bundles annually. They are sorted and 
cut up into special sizes to suit special plants. Thus 
