July 15, 1899, 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
725 
Appointment.—Mr. Harry H. Thomas, an ex- 
Kewite, and lately in the Orchid houses at Messrs. 
James Veitch & Sons’ Nursery, at King's Road, 
Chelsea, has been installed as indoor fruit foreman 
in Her Majesty's garden at Windsor. 
Caterpillars.—The "forest caterpillar" is just now 
doing immense damage in New York State, and 
special notices have had to be sent out by the Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture. Maples are largely 
defoliated. Serious results will affect our commerce 
as well as America’s. 
Wisley in Surrey.—There is a photo, in To Day 
(June 29th) of a lovely scene in the wild garden of 
G. F. Wilson, Esq., at Wisley. Irises, Lupines, 
trees and shrubs, with also a brook running close 
by are the features of it. The photo, is from Alfred 
Bedding, Esq., of Clapham. 
High among the Rockies.—" For thirty miles out of 
Denver the great white peaks of the Rockies grow 
nearer and clearer, until, at their very base, we 
come to Boulder, the oldest city of Colorado. The 
air is sweet and clear, the mountain torrents dash 
through the streets, cold, clean, and never failing. 
The healthfulness of the place cannot be doubted. 
In fact, Mr. Hubbard told me they have to ' shoot a 
man when they want a funeral.’ Mr. J. E. Hubbard, 
by the way, has a monstrous floral establishment 
away up there in the mountains, 12,000 ft. of glass, 
and a mile and a half above the sea level, too high 
for Coleus and tender plants, but not too high for a 
good business in nardy bedding plants, nursery 
stocks, Roses, and ornamental shrubs, in which an 
extensive trade is done. Waggons are constantly on 
the roads between the mining towns."— American 
Florist. 
Syndical Chamber of Belgian Horticulturists—At 
the meeting of this body in conjunction with the 
Royal Agricultural and Botanical Society of Ghent, 
in the Casino, Ghent, on the 2nd inst., a Certificate 
of Merit was awarded to Coelogyne dayana, pre¬ 
sented by M. le Marquis de Wavrin. Certificates 
for culture and flowering were accorded to Cleroden- 
dron Balfouri and Nidularium rutilans shown by M. 
Em. De Cock (the former with unanimity); and to 
Rhododendron calophyllum, brought up by M. Cb, 
Gazelle. A Certificate for flowering was also 
accorded Aralia elegantissima, presented by M. Em. 
De Cock. Certificates for flowering were granted to 
Conophallus bulbiferus, and Laelia grandis tene- 
brosa (with unanimity) both shown by M. le Mar¬ 
quis de Wavrin. The jury wished to see again at a 
future meeting, Dracaena Toeffaerti, shown by M. 
A. Toeffaert; and a seedling Alsophila australis, pre¬ 
sented by MM. Duriez freres. 
Japanese ways of arranging flowers—A well 
known Japanese, named Mr. Eida.has opened at No. 
5, Conduit Street, Bond Street, a little exhibition of 
flowers arranged as his countrymen would have them, 
says The Field. It may be said that the loose and 
free, artistic style is the sum of their methods. Mr. 
Eida publishes an explanatory account of the various 
Japanese styles and the symbolisms which the flowers 
and arrangements bear :—Several styles are practised 
—as the Koriu, the Enshiu, the Misho, and the 
Ikenobo—and in each of these are various schools, 
each with its own interpretation of the universal 
rules, and each with its own secrets of manipulation. 
And among all of them curious traditional meanings 
are attached to the parts that go to make a flower 
composition. Thus, in the general formula of Ten- 
chi-jin, the three main stems stand for the heavens, 
earth, and mankind. A tall, almost upright, leaf or 
stem will represent Ten, the sky ; a lower leaf carried 
in a sweep almost horizontal, is Chi, the earth; 
while a third, on the opposite side and higher than 
Chi, though lower and smaller than Ten is Jin, the 
people of the world. A five-leaved formula repre¬ 
sents wood, fire, metal, earth and water. But none 
of these formulae is allowed to disturb in any way 
the attainment of pure beauty in the result. Indeed, 
they act rather in the manner of mnemonics, keeping 
the laws of the art before the eyes of the pupil, just 
as do the principles of In and Yo, or male and female 
—a formula recognised through all Japanese art. In 
the matter of flowers, the upper surface of a leaf is 
called male, the lower female; buds are female and 
full blooms are male ; blue is male and yellow female, 
and so forth; and the proper proportioning of male 
and female in flower, leaf, stem, and colour ensures 
harmonious blending in the result. 
Lilium Harrisii.—The first of the regular supply of 
this Lily from Japan will reach New York about 
July i8tb, though an earlier cargo has already been 
received. 
Laburnum poisonous.—At Buckie, N.B., a few 
cows grazing in a field wherein were some Laburnum 
trees, ate some of the lower twigs and leaves, the 
effect of which shows itself in the death of three of 
the number. 
Last week's illustrations.—We wish here to make 
good a matter overlooked last week in connection 
with the figure of Incarvillea Delavayi. The draw¬ 
ing came to us from Mr. William Logan, of Messrs. 
Barr & Sons, Covent Garden, whose name we inad¬ 
vertently omitted to mention. 
The R.H.S. of Ireland. —This society held its 
annual Rose Show on Thursday, June 29th, in the 
beautiful grounds at Merrion Square, Dublin. The 
number of entries falls behind that of the year pre¬ 
vious, but the quality retains the same standard. 
Four large tents were used for the exhibits. The 
attendance (and attractions) were very good. 
A Libel on the Sparrow.—" Give a dog a bad name 
and it sticks to him" is a truism we all know the 
weight of. American Gardening gives the latest 
about Sparrows, relating that in New York State 
these little wretches are destroying the Tomato plants, 
which surely is bad enough; but we are further told 
that on the farmer proceeding to drive off the birds 
they flew up and attacked him, injuring him severely 
in the face. Next, please ! 
L.C.C- Gardening Scholarships.—Mr. T. A. Organ, 
chairman of the L.C.C. Technical Education B.oard, 
gives the information that the previously awarded 
scholarships in horticulture have been so successful 
that four more are to be awarded very shortly. Can¬ 
didates must be between the ages of fourteen and 
sixteen, and their parents must not have a greater 
salary than £250 a year. The necessary forms may 
be obtained from the secretary of the board, 116, St. 
Martin’s Lane, W.C. 
Plants that Taint Milk—One of the commonest 
causes of the strong " Oniony ’’ flavour of milk in 
early spring, says the Farmers' Gazette, is the fact of 
the presence in the feeding grounds of the wild 
Garlic (Allium ursinum). Another plant popularly 
known as Jack-by-the-hedge (Sisymbrium Alliaria) 
causes great annoyance. This plant acts much in 
the same way as Garlic. The reason of their harm¬ 
fulness only in springtime is that they afterwards 
finish growth and die down. 
Rare Ferns.—At a meeting of the Linnean Society 
on June 15th Mr. W. Whitwell, F.L S., exhibited:— 
(1) The only known British specimen of Botrychium 
matricariaefolium A. Braun, gathered in July, 1887, 
on the seashore at Stevenston, Ayrshire (Journ. Bot. 
1898, pp. 291-297). (2) An undescribed variety of 
Asplenium Ruta-muraria, Linn, from an old wall on 
Dartmoor, about five miles from Plympton. Its 
chief peculiarities were stated to be the length (3 in.) 
and the narrowness (J in.) of the lamina. The 
pinnae are closely set, expanded, and flabellate, 
partially subdivided, and placed on short stalks on 
alternate sides of the racbis; the contour of the 
whole thus differed entirely from that of the ordinary 
forms of A. Ruta-muraria. (3) A specimen of Rye 
with two ears on the same stalk, gathered at Romsey, 
Hants. 
ARDENING MISCELLANY. 
CYPERUS PAPYRUS. 
The above is a loosely growing, graceful form of a 
well-known aquatic or semi-aquatic plant. It is 
the Egyptian plant from which the ancients made 
much of their writing-paper. It is easily cultivated 
in a warm house, given also a moist bottom. 
LEUCOJUM AESTIVUM. 
It is a long time now since I first saw the Leucojum 
(or Leucoium as some spell it) in my father’s garden, 
and wondered what secret he possessed to enable him 
to keep his Snowdrops from flowering until the warmer 
weather had come, so that they might, I supposed, 
grow bigger. It falls out, however, that the Leucojum 
is closely allied to the Galanthus or Snowdrop. It 
thrives very well in deep moist soil and does not 
deteriorate under moderate shade. Increase is 
by offsets. L. vernum is almost as well-known as 
L. aestivum.— D. 
PHLOXES. 
We would more particularly mention three of the 
dwarf creeping kinds, for there are decumbent and 
erect forms, hardy perennials and half-hardy 
annuals in this important genus. Phlox amoena is 
a purple and pink, very much clustered blooming, 
little border plant flowering in May and June. 
P. subulata (synonym P. setacea) the Moss-Pink is 
much the same as the former, but flowers earlier. 
Lastly there is P. canadensis (syn. P. divaricata) 
which is much taller than the previous two and of a 
light blue colour. They are sometimes used in rock¬ 
eries and do well in such positions. Sometimes after the 
winter frosts and dampness the centre of the tufts 
die away, and it would be well to re-arrange these 
before the flowering period arrives. They may be 
propagated in a variety of ways, by seeds, cuttings, 
and division. 
ASPARAGUS SPRENGERI. 
For an easily grown, yet gloriously beautiful decora¬ 
tive plant, what is better than the comparatively new 
Asparagus Sprengeri ? Give it a temperature of 
6o Q , and a steady supply of water at the roots, and 
the requisites known to be necessary to plant life; 
and one thing may here be noted, this plant likes a 
full flow of sunshine. It does well enough in borders 
trained as a climber, but its only proper place is in a 
pot or basket hanging as high as possible from the 
roof of a tall, heated conservatory. 
KERRIA JAPONICA. 
Compared with the double variety of this shrub I 
think this is far before it as a useful decorative under¬ 
growth. Perch it upon a sunny bank overlooking 
some rugged rock-work, and plant it—as nearly all 
of the smaller shrubs should be planted—in big 
clumps and spreading brakes. Then the swinging, 
loosely strung, yellow flowers of the slender Kerria 
will please all who come to look.— D. 
THE VIRTUES OF FRUIT ACIDS. 
According to one of the medical journals one of the 
best preventives of the most fatal contagious 
diseases is a constant and liberal use of different 
kinds of fruits. The juice of the LemoD, says this 
authority, is as deadly to cholera germs as corrosive 
sublimate, or sulphur fumes, or other disinfectant. 
SAMBUCUS RACEMOSA FOLIIS AUREIS. 
The golden Elders are much used for the brightening 
effect of the yellow foliage upon lawns or the fringes 
of shrubberies, and in vases placed about for 
prominence Their adaptability for town areas also 
unites to raise the value of this graceful, fast growing 
plant. The variety mentioned above was seen in 
neat form at the recent R. H. S. show. It is dwarf 
and bushy, very much laciniated and bright yellow in 
colour. 
ALPINE PHLOXES. 
Considering the great beauty of these it seems 
strange that 10 a comparatively large number of the 
gardening community both professional and amateur 
they are comparatively unknown. It is almost as 
rare to find a collection of them in gardens as it is 
to find a garden where the tall growing Phlox 
deccusata is not represented by one or more 
varieties. Among close growing plants there are 
none more lovely than these which when in bloom 
form dense masses of colour, associating well with 
such things as Aubrietias, Saponarias, some of the 
Silenes and Gentianas. I have designated them 
alpine Phloxes, thinking that term would convey to 
the lay mind a just idea respecting their habit and 
style of growth. At the same time it should be 
borne in mind that a rockery or similar device is not 
an essential requirement. They will flourish in 
almost any soil and situation, which is not too much 
shaded. To be seen at their best they should be in 
large patches. It is as well to replant them every 
four or five years at the most and renew the soil if it 
is desirable to retain them in the same position. 
Among the best are P. amoena, bright pink (this is 
rather taller than the others I mention); P. Nelsoni, 
