September 19, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
87 
A Problem in Algebra.—Given A. B. C. to find Q. 
The answer is—Take cab and drive through 
Hammersmith. 
Dibdin House Collection of Orchids.—We are noti¬ 
fied that Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Clapton, have 
purchased the entire collection of Orchids and 
seedlings, belonging to the late Mr. F. G. Tautz, 
Dibdin House, Hanger Hill, Ealing, W. 
We regret to chronicle the death of Sir T. D. 
Brodie, Bart., of Idvies and Gairdoch, who died at 
his Scotch residence on Sunday the 6th inst., after a 
short illness. The deceased nobleman who was in 
his sixty-fourth year was a great patron of all that 
appertained to horticulture and forestry, and his 
generous interest and support will be missed through¬ 
out his wide sphere of influence. 
The Fig-leaved Hollyhock.—The large, soft or clear 
yellow flowers of Althaea ficifolia have been a 
pleasing and interesting feature in one of the borders 
at the north end of Kew Gardens for many weeks 
past. The stems and branches are allowed to hang 
loosely, and the small tufts of flowers (sometimes 
only one) at the ends of the stems have a graceful 
elegance as they sway backwards and forwards in the 
soft sunshine of August and September. 
Musa Ensete in Cornwall —At the present time, a 
fine specimen of this Musa may be seen in the 
kitchen garden of Walter Pike, Esq., J.P , of Cam¬ 
borne, West Cornwall. His gardener, Mr. S. 
Lawrence, raised the plant from seed about eighteen 
months ago. The present season has enabled it to 
make fine growth, for it stands 5 ft. high, and the 
stem is 3 ft. in circumference. It is the intention to 
house it during the winter. 
Death of Mr. Richard Curnow.—It is with deep 
regret that we have to announce the death of Mr. 
Richard Curnow, of Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., 
which occurred at sea while on his way home on 
sick leave from Columbia. Mr. Curnow has been 
in the service of Messrs. Hugh Low & Co , upwards 
of twenty-two years, the last nineteen of which he 
had spent as one of their Orchid travellers. He 
was, without doubt, thoroughly at home in his 
employment on foreign service. Some three months 
ago he contracted a bad attack of malarial fever, 
from which he was recovering, but very slowly, when 
returning home, but succumbed to a stroke of 
paralysis on August 25th last. 
The Lapwing is a much persecuted bird.—In spring 
the eggs, which constitute delicate eating, and are 
used for making the finer kinds of varnish, are 
collected by the thousand. In autumn the birds are 
shot, and eaten by people who foolishly imagine they 
are eating something of a dignified and gamey 
nature. The flesh constitutes very indifferent eating, 
but that seems of no consequence to the consumers, 
so long as they think they are eating game. At 
present the bird may be seen in quantity in every 
London game dealer’s window. This is much to be 
regretted, for the bird is of blameless character, and 
on the contrary is of priceless value to the farmer 
and gardener on account of the vermin it destroys. 
Its extermination would be a great loss to the 
country at large. 
Dutch Horticultural and Botanical Society.—At the 
floral committee meeting of August 8th, 1896, the 
committee awarded First-class Certificates to Mr. A 
Buis, Jun., of Aalsmeer, for Phlox decussata fol. aur. 
var. ; to Mr. C. G. Van Dijk, of Zeist, for Rudbeckia 
lacmiata fl. pi. Gold ball, Cactus Dahlias Mrs. Bar- 
ness, and W. B. Wright; to Mr. K. Keessen, Jun., of 
Aalsmeer, for Cornus Spathii var. ; to Messrs. E. H. 
Krelage & Son, of Haarlem, for Gladiolus Lemoinei 
Yvette Guilbert, G. L. Emile Augier, G. L. Jane 
Dieulafoy, G. L. Prof. Le Monnier, G. nanceianus 
Pacha, G. n. Canrobert, G.n. General Duchesne, and 
G. n. Jules Finger ; to Mr. C. G. Van Tubergen, Jun., 
of Haarlem, for Canna Austria and C. Italia; and to 
Mr. N. de Zwaan, of Utrecht, for Begonia grandi- 
flora erecta cristata. Certificates of Merit were also 
awarded to Mr. Egb. Kloosterhuis, of Veendam, for 
Acer Pseudoplatanus argyreum and Robinia 
neomexicana ; and to Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, 
of Haarlem, for Gladiolus Lemoinei, J. J. Weiss, G. 
L. Mad. Desbordes Valmore, G. L. Deuil de Carnot, 
and G. nanceianus Julien Girardin. 
Channel Island fruit has been having a good 
innings lately. No less than 1,893 baskets of 
Tomatos and 1,298 of Grapes were shipped from St. 
Peter Port, Guernsey, in one day, by the South- 
Western Railway Company’s boat. 
"Ice King Primrose.’’—Popular names never cease 
to assume new forms. A correspondent sent some 
of it to Gardening (American) and the editor pro¬ 
nounced it to be a kind of Oenothera or Evening 
Primrose. “ Ice King ” was, no doubt, originally a 
mistake or misspelling of the word evening by the 
label writer ; or it might have been due to a slip of 
memory after once having heard the name. We 
have noticed many similar instances. For instance 
we have seen the Chrysanthemum L’lle des Plaisirs, 
labelled Lily of Pleasure. 
The Comical Toad.—A writer in Gardening 
(American) writes : " Have you ever fed a toad with 
a caterpillar or Potato bug ? If not you have lost 
one of the most comical sights to be had, and one 
which we in our hurry to get every creature out of 
harm's way are apt to overlook. The toads are very 
useful little beasts, ugly though they be, and one can 
train them so that they do not fear our approach. 
How alert are they after dark, hopping in the walks 
of the garden and making many a snatch at the bugs 
they come within reach of. It takes five years for a 
toad to be full grown.” 
Refrigerated fruit.—Fruit, and particularly Apples, 
are very successfully kept in refrigerated chambers 
in the United States, and possibly this has influenced 
the Kent County Council in their decision to build a 
large cold store at Dartford for the use of fruit 
growers in that county. It is to be hoped that the 
experiment will prove successful, for it will certainly 
be imitated in other counties, if it proves a paying 
concern. Little is known as to how long fruit may 
be kept sound by the refrigerating process; but if 
fruit growers can avoid glutting the market by this 
means, it will be a great gain. 
" Knowledge.”—The September number of this 
monthly periodical contains an article on “ Some 
Curious Facts in Plant Distribution,” beiDg the 
fourth of a series by Mr. W. Botting Hemsley, 
F.R.S., of Kew. In this chapter be deals with some 
remote islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. 
The Seychelles in the Indian Ocean are about thirty 
in number, and are notable as the home of the Coco 
de Mer (Lodoicea sechellarum), which is, or was, 
common only in the Praslin Island. Formerly these 
islands were covered with a forest vegetation, which 
is fast disappearing before cultivation and forest 
fires. Living samples of this striking Palm may be 
seen in the Palm and Victoria houses at Kew. St. 
Helena, in the Atlantic, presents another very inter¬ 
esting case of an endemic flora which has almost 
disappeared, owing to the ravages of goats and the 
feller’s axe. The soil has even been washed from 
the rocks in many cases by tropical rains, since the 
destruction of the native vegetation which covered 
the hills and mountains to a high altitude. The 
original flora of St. Helena bespoke a great antiquity, 
geologically speaking. In the same periodical is an 
article on "The Affinities of Flowers,” by Felix 
Oswald, B.A., Lond. This is illustrated with 
neat drawings and dissections of the Harebell, 
Daisy, Rampion (Phyteuma) and Hemp Agrimony 
(Eupatorium cannabinum). The subject is treated 
very much in the same way as it would be at a 
practical lesson in botany, short of the actual speci¬ 
mens. Those interested in the subject of colour, 
will find an article on " The Causes of Colour,” by 
J. J. Stewart, B.A., Cantab., B. Sc., London. As a 
ball of iron is heated, it first gives off dark rays, then 
appears of a dull red changing first to yellow and then 
to white, according to the rapidity of the vibrations 
of the particles of iron, brought about by the heat 
applied. 
-- 
TUBEROSES. 
In gardens where there is a heavy demand for white 
flowers wherewith to make buttonholes, sprays, and 
bouquets, the Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) is well 
nigh an indispensable subject. Provided a good 
batch is potted up it is not a difficult matter to have 
a succession of bloom lasting throughout the greater 
part of the year. When the tubers, or bulbs as they 
are commonly but erroneously called, arrive in the 
autumn the whole of them should be potted off with¬ 
out delay. For the smaller ones 5-in. pots will do 
very well, although 6 in. will be better for the larger 
ones, one being placed in each. The compost should 
consist of two parts of good fibrous loam, and one 
part of dried cow-manure rubbed through a sieve with 
a good sprinkling of sharp sand. A little silver sand 
should be placed so that the bottom of the tubers 
rests upon it, for they always seem to start away 
better when treated thus. The pots should not be 
filled too full of soil, and the tuber should peep out of 
the soil for about one third of its total depth. 
After potting, the majority of the plants may be taken 
off to a cold frame, where they may be stood upon a 
bed of ashes near to the glass. About a score of the 
best may be transferred straight away to the stove 
or a forcing pit. They will do very well it stood 
beneath some spreading plant, and there will then be 
no necessity for providing a special place for them. 
The syringe should be employed now and again to 
sprinkle them and to assist them to start, and this is 
the only moisture the plants will need for the time 
being. It is not a good plan to deluge the soil with 
water immediately after potting. Other batches of 
plants should be introduced at intervals in order to 
keep up the succession. 
Once they are in full swing they must have plenty 
of water, and as soon as the flower spikes start to 
make their appearance occasional doses of liquid 
manure will be of service, for Tuberoses must not be 
starved under any circumstances. 
Where large batches are forwarded at the same 
time the plants should be stood together in a corner 
of the stove. Keep the syringe well at work among 
them whenever it is possible to do so, as both red 
spider and thrips are very partial to the succulent 
leaves, and they soon disfigure them if allowed to 
gain a footing. 
There are several varieties in cultivation such as 
Double African, Double Italian, Double American, 
and the Pearl. The last named is the best for 
general use as it is a good deal dwarfer than the 
others. 
-’--‘ t — 
CELOSIAS AS BEDDING PLANTS. 
One of the most striking and effective bits of colour 
that can possibly be conceived, just now, is a bed of 
the above in Regent’s Park. Happening to pass 
that way recently I was attracted by the glare, 
which, on closer inspection, turned out to be areally 
beautiful display of Celosias of the most unique 
tints—apricot, strawberry, orange, lemon, etc., 
besides other shades including crimson and scarlet. 
Each plant assumes a pyramidal form, which the 
individual feathery plumes of inflorescence also take, 
the result beiDg, as aforesaid, unique and pleasing. 
That such tender annuals should be employed for 
bedding-out, and employed with such effect, and in 
London too, is one of those problems which have 
taken years to solve, but which has now been solved 
by care, forethought, selection and successful cul¬ 
ture. Whatever else obtains in Regent’s Park—and 
many pretty combinations and landscape effects do 
obtain—Mr. Jordan is to be commended for his 
admirable show of Celosias. Doubtless, this year, 
he has been largely assisted by nature, but the fact 
remains that if these plants had not been experi¬ 
mented with, nature would never have had the 
opportunity of holding up the mirror, as it were, for 
future guidance.— C. B. G., Acton, W. 
-- 
EUPHORBIA JACQUINIAEFLORA. 
Some years ago, when I was a subscriber and 
occasional contributor to the columns of that excellent 
monthly periodical The Florist and Politologist, there 
appeared an article on this brilliant winter-flowering 
plant, from the pen of a well-known gardener and 
horticultural writer, in which he stated that he was 
" possessed of a secret anent its cultu’re, worth one’s 
birthright ” ; so, being of an inquiring turn of mind, 
and ever open to hearing the best methods of culti¬ 
vating so charming a flower, I penned a reply, and 
begged of the writer to divulge, and not keep a light 
under a bushel, as I, and doubtless other readers 
would be glad to be enlightened. I remember some¬ 
time afterwards there appeared another article from 
his pen entitled "Culture, the chief source of 
improvement ” ; but the great secret never came 
out. 
We have cultivated this subject in various ways ; 
and if merely growing it for cut flower purposes, 
prefer to have it planted out in a narrow bed in a 
stove or propagating house to produce the finest 
