Jane 18, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
667 
freely, and during July they will be once more in 
full beauty, when the same routine may be repeated. 
After this flowering, and when growing freely agaiD, 
moderate waterings with manure water will be 
required, and during September these should flower 
a third time.— W. B. G. 
—— - g —- 
ALPINE AND ROCK PLANTS. 
Gypsophylla cerastioides.— The short, elliptic 
leaves of this plant closely resemble those of a 
Mouse-ear Chickweed (Cerastium) and clothe the 
short trailing stems, above which the flower scapes 
rise only to a height of i in. to 2 in. The flowers 
are relatively large for the size of the plant, and 
white, beautifully lined with pink veins. The species 
is an ideal rock plant, a gem as it were for those who 
like to grow dwarf subjects corresponding to an 
alpine vegetation. It is easily propagated from 
cuttings of barren shoots during the summer months, 
in pots of sandy soil under a handlight or frame. 
Cheiranthus Marshalli.— The flowering season 
of this hybrid garden plant is now about over, but 
cultivators should set about securing a stock of 
cuttings for the raising of young plants. The 
flowers vary from golden-yellow to orange according 
to their stage of growth, and are perfectly barren, 
so that the plant must be perpetuated from cuttings, 
which are often difficult to get owiDg to the tendency 
the plant has of flowering itself to death. The 
great beauty of the large orange flowers is sufficient 
to make its perpetuation desirable, even in quantity. 
Cheiranthus alpinus.— While this is similar to 
the last-named in many respects, it differs in having 
pale yellow flowers, and by the production of barren 
shoots in considerable quantity by which the plant 
may be increased, or which may be left to flower 
the following season. This they never fail to do as 
soon as they acquire sufficient strength. The plant 
is naturally a rock-loving subject. 
Alyssum SAXATiLE.--The ordinary form of this 
plant is largely used for bedding purposes in spring. 
There are two varieties, as yet but little known, and 
well worthy of cultivating on the rockery, not merely 
because they are easy to cultivate, but because they 
are pretty and interesting on account of their great 
profusion of flowers, and conspicuous and showy 
character at a time when flowering plants in the 
garden are most admired. I refer to A. s. citrinum, 
with soft lemon flowers ; and A. s. flore pleno, a 
pretty double variety. A pot of cuttings of each will 
furnish the rockery in spring with all that is 
required of these colours. 
Wahlenbergia serpyllifolia —This may be in¬ 
creased by seeds or cuttings of the barren shoots in 
July or August. It belongs to the Bellflower family, 
but is very distinct from Campanulas generally. 
The lanceolate, dark green leaves are small and 
arranged in a circular tuft upon the ground. Many 
flower stems bearing a few small leaves spread 
around the crown upon the ground, and then rise 
up for 2 in. or 3 in., carrying a single, deep blue 
flower each. The plant is a native of Dalmatia. 
Cerastium alpinum. —The flowers of this alpine 
species are white, and almost as large as those of C. 
arvense, which is of much more straggling or spread¬ 
ing habit. It forms, in fact, compact tufts about 
3 in. or 4 in. high. There is a woolly variety of this, 
namely, C. a. villosum, which has a gray appearance, 
and bears the same relation to the species as Thymus 
Serpyllum lanuginosus bears to its original. It is 
essentially a rock plant. 
Daphne Cneorum.— Amongst dwarf plants of a 
shrubby nature few appear to better advantage on 
the rockery than this. Its terminal clusters of rich 
rosy flowers are produced in great profusion, and are 
no more showy and effective than they are delightfully 
fragrant, especially on calm, dewy evenings. The 
small deep green leaves set off the flowers well. 
The plant often flowers a second time in September, 
It likes to be fully exposed to sun and air, but should 
have a considerable quantity of peat or leaf mould 
incorporated with the soil in which it is planted in 
order to keep the roots moist and cool during periods 
of drought. 
Lychnis Lagascae. —Of Alpine Campions, few 
are prettier or flower more freely than this. The 
deep rose and large flowers are produced on stems 
only a few inches high. After flowering is over, the 
careful cultivator would do well to take cuttings of 
the flowerless shoots, which are not too numerous as 
a rule, owing to the freedom with which the plant 
blooms during June. 
Siiene alpestris.— The small but dainty white 
flowers of this Catchfly have their petals cut in a 
way that reminds one of Ragged Robin in miniature. 
The leaves are small and neat. Propagation may be 
effected by division or cuttings.— 7 . Effe. 
- mf - 
BELGIAN NURSERIES. 
VI.—M. Arthur de Meyer, Ghent. 
Seeing that so many nurseries are situated in the 
suburbs around Ghent it is but natural that many 
of them would have certain specialities to which 
particular attention is given. While such is the 
case here, M. Arthur de Meyer caters for foreign 
business alone, that is, he sends his plants to various 
countries outside of Belgium, such as France, 
Germany, Britain and America. He does a large 
business with the latter country, and we had the 
pleasure of witnessing a large consignment of Ficus 
elastica, Araucarias, and other plants packed in large 
wooden cases ready for shipment. Already on the 
occasion of our visit he had despatched 5,000 
Araucarias, so that only a few of the plants of suit¬ 
able size then remained. The plants of Ficus we 
noted were knocked out of their pots and the ball of 
soil and roots tightly wrapped up in wood wool. 
These were then laid all round the sides of the cases 
with the roots against the latter and the leaves pro¬ 
jecting into the middle of the case, which was left 
open as air space. The solid layer of plants was 
then pressed down tightly so that no shifting could 
take place, and the lid was then placed in position 
and nailed down. In such position they cross the 
Atlantic and come out as fresh as if placed there 
only the day before. 
Mr. Arthur de Meyer's nursery consists entirely of 
glass, and is situated at Chausee d'Anvers, Mont- 
St.-Amand, Ghent, Belgium. The establishment 
consists of some thirty-five houses, but many of 
them are 13 metres wide ia metre being 3 ft. 3^ 
in.). One is 20 metres wide and 27 metres long, 
being a gigantic structure all under one roof, sup¬ 
ported by slender iron pillars. This house contains 
seven huge beds, running the whole length of the 
building, and was occupied with Indian Azaleas, all 
planted out in leaves. Shelves or little elevated 
benches in this house are filled with young Boronias, 
planted out in decaying leaves, that is, leaf soil. Of 
Azaleas we noted 25,000 cuttings being rooted. 
They are fit for market in the course of two or three 
years. BOronias constitute one of the principal 
specialities of the establishment. The species grown 
are B. heterophylla, B. elatior, and B. megastigma. 
Of these we noted 30,000 saleable plants, bushy 
specimens about 1 ft. high, and all clean, healthy, and 
faultless. They would be a credit to any greenhouse 
or conservatory. In the propagating pits we in¬ 
spected the frames containing 25,000 cuttings in the 
process of being rooted. The frames were simply 
covered with large, movable sheets of glass that 
could be removed for the inspection of the cuttings 
at any and every particular point in the houses. The 
cuttings are first of all put in thickly in small pots, 
and the latter plunged in the finely chopped stems of 
Flax, a plunging material w e have never seen utilised 
in this country. The great point with these cuttings 
is to keep the foliage dry until they are rooted, the 
process taking three or four weeks. The young 
plants are then put singly into thumb pots, and take 
two years to develop into bushy specimens 1 ft. 
high. 
A third great speciality of this establishment con¬ 
sists of the more useful Palms, which are grown in 
thousands. Kentia fosteriana and K. belmoreana 
are universally grown, many houses being filled with 
them here. A very sturdy growing Palm is Phoenix 
tenuis, with short leaves and leathery dark green 
pinnae, forming compact, well-grown specimens well 
fitted for decorative purposes. In addition to the 
above, another block of two large houses contained 
Phoenix canariensis and Latania borbonica in the 
pink of condition and plunged in Flax. The Canary 
Island Phoenix is also a sturdy growing species that 
will stand a lower temperature than most of the other 
species in cultivation. Cocos weddeliana is another 
favourite grown in considerable quantity, the seed¬ 
lings or young specimens being grown in pots. 
Other fine foliage plants include Dracaenas, of 
which D. indivisa is reared in quantity from seeds, 
the younger specimens having only one or two leaves 
at the time of our visit A batch of D. Lindeni was 
handsomely coloured, the pure air of Belgium being 
well suited to their welfare. Aspidistras, both green 
and variegated, are grown in quantity ; and such is 
the demand for them that they are plunged in Flax 
to bring them on more quickly to meet the require¬ 
ments. The graceful and useful Carex brunnea 
variegata, better, but incorrectly, known as C. 
japonica variegata also receives due attention. The 
beautiful Asparagus Sprengeri is being reared from 
seeds in quantity ; the plants already occupied 60-size 
pots. Amongst Araucaria excelsa we noted two fine 
plants of a new variety named A. e. glauca Joseph 
Napoleon Baumann having stroDg branches, thickly 
clothed with stout rigid leaves. They were six years 
old, and two companions to them went to America at 
100 francs, which will give an idea of the value placed 
upon them. 
R. H. S. EXAMINATION IN HORTI¬ 
CULTURE. 
The undermentioned are the results of the examina¬ 
tion held on April 6th last. The highest possible 
number of marks obtainable by the candidates 
was 300. 
First Class. 
No. of Marks 
gained. 
1. Miss Olive M. Harrisson, Horticultural 
College, Swanley .. .. .. 285 
2. Miss Mary Banks, County Technical 
School, Stafford .. 
2. Mr. O. H. Faulkner, County Technical 
School, Stafford 
2. Mr. C. Lawrence, County Technical 
School, Stafford .. .. 
2. Miss Ethel S. Lutley, Horticultural Col¬ 
lege, Swanley 
2. Mr. C. Mann, County Technical School, 
Stafford 
2. Mr. M. Wilson, Horticultural College, 
Swanley. 
8. Mr. F. A. Gwilliam, A.R.H.S., Palace 
Gardens, Gloucester 
8. Mr. A. Tanner, School House, Cobham, 
Surrey .. . 
8. Mr. F. Ovenden, County Technical 
School, Stafford .. 
11. Miss Mary H. Graves, Horticultural Col¬ 
lege, Swanley 
11. Miss Ethel E. Rands, Horticultural Col¬ 
lege, Swanley . 
13. Mr. Henry Mitchell, County Technical 
School, Stafford 
Miss Jessie H. Price, Horticultural Col¬ 
lege, Swanley 
Miss Lilian Deane, Horticultural College, 
Swanley 
15. Mr. Herman Spooner, Technical Labora¬ 
tories, Chelmsford.. 
15. Mr. Harry H. Thomas, 346, Kew Road, 
Kew .. 
15. Mr. Geo. Underwood, Municipal Tech¬ 
nical School, Leicester 
Miss Eunice Watts, Horticultural Col¬ 
lege, Swanley .. ... 
Mr. W. H. Brownridge, County Techni¬ 
cal School, Stafford 
20. Miss Ada C. Bryson, Horticultural Col¬ 
lege, Swanley 
20. Mr. G. Mills, Bayham Gardens, Lamber- 
hurst, Kent.. . 
23. Mr. F. Botterill, County Technical 
School, Stafford 
Miss Ethel Edmunds, Horticultural 
College, Swanley .. 
Mr. Robert Gaut, 3, Gloucester Terrace, 
Kew, Surrey 
23. Mr. Jos. Gillibrand, Horticultural 
School, Holmes Chapel .. 
Mr. Jos. Hope, The New Gardens, Elve- 
den, Thetford, Norfolk .. 
Mr. Arthur Jones, Horticultural School, 
Holmes Chapel 
Mr. Harry Miller, Technical Labora- * 
tories, Chelmsford 
Mr. F. E. Boyes, ig, Woodland Grove, 
Wbitegate Lane, Blackpool 
Mr. E. T. Cole, Technical Laboratories, 
Chelmsford.. 
13 - 
15 - 
'5- 
20. 
23 
23 
23 
23 
23 
30 
30 
280 
280 
280 
280 
280 
280 
275 
275 
275 
270 
270 
265 
265 
260 
260 
260 
260 
260 
25S 
255 
255 
250 
250 
250 
250 
250 
250 
250 
245 
245 
