October 15* 1898. 
102 THE GARDENING WORLD. 
His the brain that once again 
Hallow’s o'er Victoria’s reign— 
Expands her Empire sway 
Through Nile’s famed watery way 1 
Laurels for our Sirdar ! 
Erin's dauntless Son — 
Type of all its valor, 
Where fields hard fought are won. 
This for British glory !! 
Tell out the same old story— 
From Waterloo, to Omdurman 
At Kandahar, of Irishmen 
Victors in the fray ! 
Close up thy ranks, proud Albion, 
While shines thy steel 'mid air; 
To-morrow chant their requiems— 
Thy “ Dead ones ”—far and near. 
This bold, Imperial Sirdar,— 
He, too, remembers well 
The savage death of Gordon 
In Khartoum’s martyr’s cell: 
Then—bumpers for our Sirdar, 
While sparkling vintage sprays !!! 
While Britain’s flag once flies aloft. 
We toast for brighter days. 
Hip! Hip! Hurrah!!! 
— W. Baylor Hartland, Ard-Cairn, Cork, September 6 th. 
- 
FICUS PUMILA FRUITING. 
There is considerable dubiety about the names of 
many plants grown in gardens, the reason in a great 
many cases being that only the juvenile state is 
known to cultivators. That is the case with the 
well-known Ficus repens of gardens. The juvenile 
state of the plant happens to be of great decorative 
value in pots, or more often as a covering to the 
walls of ferneries, pits, stoves and other moist glass¬ 
houses. It is rarely seen in fruit in this country, the 
reason probably being that the plant must attain a 
considerable size and age before it can assume the 
adult stage, when it develops more rigid and stouter 
stems, with leathery leaves of two or more forms, 
beautifully netted beneath, many times larger, and 
altogether different from those of the best known 
creeping form. 
Mr. John Williams, gardener to Mrs. E. B. Evans, 
Whitbourne Hall, Worcester, sends us two fruits, 
and different forms of leaves from a plant in the 
conservatory there. It fruited for the first time last 
year, and again this spring. The accompanying 
illustration shows the fruit and the largest form of 
leaf characteristic of an adult or fruiting plant. The 
fruit suddenly contracts at the widest part, and then 
elongates a little at the apex, being thus very distinct 
from the ordinary hothouse Fig (Ficus Carica). The 
most characterisiic leaf attending the fruit is ovate, 
blunt, obliquely heart-shaped at the base, deep 
glossy green above, finely and boldly netted and 
glaucous beneath. Occasionally there is an oblong 
leaf of large size. Some sprays were also sent us 
bearing two rows of leaves of the same shape and 
texture as the largest one in the figure, but only 
about one-third the size. They are intermediate be¬ 
tween those of the creeping form of the plant, so 
well known to gardeners, and those of the fruiting 
branches proper. 
The interior of the so-called fruit contains the true 
fruits, like myriads of brown grains covering the 
inner walls. The greater portion of these grains 
consists of female fruits, popularly termed seeds. A 
zone of larger grains at the top consists of the male 
flowers. Above these the apical neck of the fruit is 
densely covered with ovate, blunt scales, which, no 
doubt, consist of modified leaves, for thay are nearly 
similar in shape, and furnished with a midrib. These 
leaves are, of course, colourless or yellowish, Dot 
being exposed to sunlight. The juice, so charac¬ 
teristic of the common Fig, is here very scanty. 
Several names have been given to this species, but 
the Index Kewensis gives Ficus pumila of Linnaeus 
as the correct one. It is also the Ficus repens of 
gardens ; the F. stipulata, of Thunberg; the Pleu- 
rostigma stipulatumi, of Zuccarini; and the Tenorea 
heterophylla, of Gasparini. The species is a native 
of Japan and China. 
-- mt* - 
A KENTISH SEED FARM. 
(iConcluded fromp. 26.) 
We have already spoken of the extensive plantations 
of China Asters, grown fcr seed at the nursery and 
seed farm of Messrs. Dobbie & Co., OrpingtOD, 
Kent, and now proceed to deal with other subjects 
grown there in greater or less quantity. 
Dahlias. 
A large collection of new and also comparatively 
new varieties of Dahlias belonging to different 
sections are grown here. Amongst the new sorts we 
noted a very neat and promising pompon of a bril¬ 
liant red hue. A fancy pompon was sometimes wholly 
red, sometimes creamy-white and varied in many 
arrangements of colour between these points. A 
new Cactus Dahlia, after the style of Gloriosa, had 
long, twisted florets of a deep carmine-crimson. A 
crimson show variety, also new, was beautifully 
neat. 
Amongst single varieties was a beautiful silvery- 
lilac flower with broad, overlapping rays, and named 
J. Mercer. Very fine also were Amos Perry, rich 
crimson ; Scarlet Demon, a sport from the blackish- 
maroon Demon, with intense crimson-scarlet flowers; 
Naomi Tighe, with yellow flowers and a red zone 
round the centre; and Janet Braes, of a deep 
magenta, flushed crimson, and having an orange 
zone. All of the above are first-class varieties with 
broad, overlapping rays. 
A charming pompon Dahlia was Sweetheart, with 
scarlet florets, tipped white, and very neat in form. 
Clarissa was pale primrose ; Elegant, white, tipped 
crimson,and exceedingly neat in form; and Ganymede, 
fawn, shaded with lilac, small and very pretty. A pro¬ 
fuse bloomer is Fashion,having bright orange and very 
attractive flowers. Dr. Jim is a small, dark crimson- 
purple flower, and first-class of its colour. The 
amber-yellow flowers of Jessica have a narrow red 
edge to the florets. Small size and neat form are 
now reckoned indispensable characteristics of a pom¬ 
pon Dahlia, and this is a rule that should be adhered 
to by every raiser. They are extremely useful for 
cut flower work on account of their lightness. 
Cactus Dahlias are now reaching a state of great 
perfection, upon which it would be difficult to im¬ 
prove. The decorative Dahlias are now being com¬ 
pletely put into the shade by them, and in the course 
of a year or two, we think, will be entirely discarded, 
even in private establishments. They are very 
coarse compared with the superb neatness of the 
best Cactus forms. First-class varieties are Lady 
Penzance, clear yellow ; Harry Stredwick, deep 
crimson-maroon ; Starfish, rich orange-scarlet, and 
of handsome form; Fusilier, deep salmon, large 
and handsome; Ophelia, bright cerise, and a large 
and handsome exhibition flower; and Cinderella, 
with dark purple, long and pointed florets. The 
old Gloriosa is a fine scarlet flower, and can scarcely 
be beaten in its class for richness of colour. Miss 
Webster is now defined as a decorative variety, but 
will retain its place for purity until a really pure white 
Cactus form displaces it. 
A large collection of show Dahlias is grown here, 
but we noted only a few of the more recent, including 
the new Harbinger,with soft lilac flowers of fine form. 
Nansen is orange-scarlet, tipped with gold and very 
neat. The blush-white florets of Countess are 
edged with lilac, and very pretty. A large and 
handsome sort is Queen of Autumn, with orange- 
buff flowers. 
Annuals and Florists' Flowers. 
There are some fine strains of Antirrhinum, which 
may be bedded out or grown in quantity for garden 
decoration. Yellow Queen is pale yellow, with an 
orange palate, but a large and well-formed flower, 
while the plant is of dwarf, branching habit, flori- 
ferous and continuous for many weeks. Antirrhinum 
Dobbie’s Crimson has large and glowing, fiery crim¬ 
son flowers, and varies from rj ft. to 2 ft. in height. 
By way of contrast to the above we may mention 
four very long beds of a dwarf strain in many 
colours. Most of the plants were carrying a heavy 
crop of seed on the occasion of our visit. The strain 
is very useful for bedding, on account of its remark¬ 
ably dwarf habit. 
Godetia gloriosa is a grand new variety, with rich 
crimson flowers, shaded with carmine. A large col¬ 
lection of Sweet Peas is grown at Orpington, where 
they are as dwarf as the Rothesay collection is tall. 
Other subjects grown here for seed are a fine variety 
of the white Candytuft (Iberis amara), Sweet Sultan, 
Shirley Poppies, double Balsams and the Cornbottle 
(Centaurea Cyanus) in blue, rose and white varieties. 
The orange and lemon African Marigolds are grown 
extensively, as are the striped French Marigolds. 
Altogether the Marigolds cover over four acres of 
ground, a fact that will give some idea of their im¬ 
portance. 
Amongst perennials, of which there is a good col¬ 
lection here, was the new Rudbeckia Golden Glow, 
carrying grand heads of golden-yellow flowers. Car¬ 
nations are also grown here in great quanlity, in¬ 
cluding the best named border varieties. All those 
of weakly constitution are discarded. Pinks are also 
grown in considerable quantity to meet the demand 
for garden decoration. This year’s seedling Pent- 
stemons were in full bloom and the best of them 
were being marked for preservation and propagation 
for further trial. AmoDgst them we noted varieties 
with huge crimson-purple flowers and a wide white 
throat; a similarly coloured variety of entirely 
different form ; and a third grand variety with crim¬ 
son-purple tube and a scarlet lamina. For summer 
and autumn flowering Pentstemons from seeds are 
being more and more employed every year. 
Roses. 
An extensive collection of Roses is being got together 
and many of them have made excellent growth in 
the clay-loam overlying the chalk. A plantation of 
Crimson Rambler has made wonderful growth, not¬ 
withstanding the dry weather. Brier cuttings from 
the old Dog Rose have proved the best stock here, 
both for Crimson Rambler and hybrid perpetual 
varieties. The Manetti and Gr,ffeiae stocks are 
also used to some extent. A splendid Moss Rose is 
Zenobia, a very vigorous grower, with large leaves 
and charming satin-rose flowers. While speakmg of 
stocks we may say that Crimson Rambler on the 
Grifferae stock formed quite dwarf bushes, while 
those on the Brier grew 8 ft. to 9 ft. during the past 
season. The weak growing La France was doing 
Ficus pumila. 
