364 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 6, 1897. 
Dropmore, Backs, and which is, in all probability, 
the finest specimen of this species in the kingdom. 
Mr. Herrin, the gardener, tells us that it was 
planted in 1830, and is now 72 ft. high, or over 
that figure, as it has not been measured recently. 
It is a shapely specimen, being feathered from the 
apex to the ground, with a straight and beautifully 
tapered trunk about 3 ft. in diameter near theground 
where it thickens considerably. It frequently bears 
male cones in abundance, about the size of the seed 
cones of Pinus Strobus. The tree in question would 
be sixty-seven years old, and is fairly well sheltered 
by other trees. 
■ « »- 
FLOWER PICTURES AT THE SUFFOLK 
STREET GALLERIES. 
At the end of last week, through the murky atmos¬ 
phere of a wet day and the semi-liquid mud of the 
streets of London we wended our way to the Forty- 
second Exhibition of the Society of Lady Artists now 
being held at the Suffolk Street Galleries, Pall Mall 
East, S.W Saturday last was the private view, and 
this particular exhibition remains open to March 5th, 
at a moderate charge for admission. The show 
rooms are very commodious especially the large 
central gallery ; but every corner is well filled, it 
being difficult to find sufficient space elsewhere for 
the annual exhibition of this society. The pictures 
include all sorts of subjects, and the artists exhibit¬ 
ing are particularly numerous. There are 319 
pictures in water colours, and the “ oils” run the 
number up to 518. Other rooms include pictures 
representing handicrafts, and the Royal School of 
Art Needlework, the pictures and objects running the 
number of exhibits up to 763. Naturally, we were 
most interested in the flower pictures, which are 
fairly numerous, and it is pleasing also to note how 
extensively flowers are utilised in the handicrafts and 
the needlework. 
Water Colours. 
Spring scenery is frequently represented, including 
Blue Bells at Oxney Court Woods, near Dover. 
Here Scilla nutans looks interesting in masses of 
blue beneath tall deciduous trees skirting a walk. 
“Almond Blossom” is also suggestive of spring, the 
sprays of blossom being accompanied by Primroses. 
“ Spring in a London Garden” shows a confined area, 
consisting of a little bit of grass, with a large Cherry 
tree in full blossom, and the end of a greenhouse in 
view. Very pretty is •* The Valley of Argeles in the 
Pyrenees,” both the vegetation and the cloud-capped 
mountains suggesting a foreign scene. “Autumn 
Flowers" consists of beautifully - defined single 
Dahlias, Clematis, 3 ellow Marguerites and Hibiscus 
syiiacus, all of which are unnamed, but readily re¬ 
cognisable. "Christmas" is very suggestive, with 
its red and yellow-berried Hollies, Christmas Roses, 
Mistleto, and Solanum Capsicastrum in berry. 
" Daisies” would more properly be named Ox-eye 
Daisies, for “ the wee, modest, crimson-tipped 
flower" is not intended. "Japanese Anemones” are 
even more effectively rendered than the previous 
picture. "On the Moors—Yorkshire” shows a delight¬ 
ful bit of the purple heather on rising ground. The 
picture entitled “ Berries,” though moderate in size, 
is effective and prgtty. The berries consist of Elder, 
Guelder Rose, Sloe, and Honeysuckle, accompanied 
by flowers of the latter, and would suggest the month 
of August or September. 
Garden, field, wood, wayside, and mountain have 
been ransacked to furnish studies for the artist; but 
amongst representations of native flowers, none is 
more sweetly pretty than that entitled Meadowsweet. 
Intermingling with the blossoms of the latter are the 
Harebell, the Gray Heath (Erica cinerea), Honey¬ 
suckle and grasses on a ground colour of a slaty-drab 
hue. Nothing is either too crowded or too loosely 
arranged, but very natural. Poppies hardly ever 
escape the eye of the artist, and on this occasion we 
noted representations of the Corn Poppy, Iceland 
Poppy (in yellow, orange and white colours), and a 
vase of the double Papaver Rhoeas, differing from 
Shirley Poppies only in being double. Their large 
flowers and well-defined colours are well adapted for 
artistic representation; and we think water colours 
best and most clearly bring out their characteristics. 
The picture named " Carduus beatus” (or 
Blessed Thistles), represent a Carlina, possibly 
C. acanthifolia, forming a colony on the 
rocky ground of a steep hill or mountain 
side. There are several pictures of Pansies, but none 
of them is more clearly defined than that represent¬ 
ing a bunch of the Peacock strain, now so well known 
in gardens, and here accompanied with a few yellow 
Pansy flowers. Two pictures of Michaelmas Daisies 
show how well adapted this autumn class of garden 
flowers is for the painter’s art. Indeed, we liked 
them better than a more ambitious and larger picture 
of Chrysanthemums. It would not be different to 
determine the species if the sprays had been longer 
and more individualised. In a corner of the large 
room are pictures suggestive of spring, summer and 
winter in the shape of Daffodils, Iceland Poppies and 
Christmas Roses, respectively. " Where the Bee 
Sucks” represents a florid display of hardy garden 
flowers in borders skirting a walk. We have noted very 
similar garden scenes in reality. 
Oils. 
To the untrained eye, that is, to the eye of the 
ordinary observer, the brightness of the colours of 
flowers is often obscured ; but there are exceptions. 
Fruit lends itself very well to paintings in oil. 
“ Fresh Gathered" is the title of a small but attrac¬ 
tive picture of Raspberries, beautifully and naturally 
represented with wasps as unbidden guests. The 
large white flowers of Convolulus sepium, ac¬ 
companying the Raspberries, are also very clearly 
defined. A bunch of crimson and pink Carnations 
is neat, but the colours, at least in the dull light of a 
winter day, are not clear. " Under the Window” 
refers to a large bunch of flowers of a white variety 
of the Indian Azalea, and another of Acacia dealbata, 
both of which are very well executed. " Roses on 
Prairie” would suggest an American scene, 
where the wild Roses, tailing on the ground, are 
covered with a profusion of rosy-pmk flowers. On 
the other hand “ Girasole” would seem to suggest an 
Italian scene, and represents a girl standing under 
some tall Sunflowers, Girasole being their Italian 
name. “ Hortus siccus” means a dry garden, but is 
most usually applied to a herbarium or collection of 
dried plants. Here it is made to do duty for the ripe 
and open seed pods of Iris foetidissima, the Winter 
Cherry, Thistledown, &c., forming a large bunch 
against a dark background. The whole forms a bold 
and unique picture of a great value, for a consider¬ 
able amount of lime must have been spent in its 
execution. "Strayed” represents a lamb which has 
strayed into a semi-wild portion of private ground 
from the neighbouring Gorse-covered common. 
Springtide is otherwise evident by the Primroses, 
Bluebells, Gorse.and Sloe blossom. “ A Lily Garden” 
shows a central walk skirted on either side by Lilium 
candidum, Poppies, &c. " Dog Roses” is a small, 
but perfectly natural and well-executed picture of 
sprays in a bowl. 
Some of the names or titles given to the pictures 
are very fanciful. Others have a motto rather than 
a name, such as those designated by " She has two 
eyes, so soft and brown. Take care ! ” and " Cross- 
patch, draw the latch, Sit by the fire and spin.” The 
secretary of the Society of Lady Artists is Miss 
Fanny E. Partridge, who is in attendance at the 
Suffolk Street Galleries. 
I 
-■*»- 
CULTURAL DIRECTIONS FOR SWEET 
PEAS. 
" They that be whole need not a physician, but they 
that are sick.” These directions are specially for 
those who are discouraged in trying to grow Sweet 
Peas. All the rules necessary for those who have 
favourable conditions of soil and climate can be put 
into a dozen lines. If you are one of those who have 
had success and you know how you did it, do not 
change your method. 
But are you troubled with your vines dying all the 
way from the time they are 6 in. high, or even vines 
that have begun to bloom ? And do you have a hard 
fight with cut worms ? And have you failed from 
any other cause ? I should be a " quack ” if I pre¬ 
tended to know all the causes and all the cures, but 
these directions are once more prepared with great 
confidence in their virtue. 
1. Catch this —We must abandon the trench 
method of planting Sweet Peas. The trench 
method was used to secure deep planting, and the 
substitute for deep planting is firming the soil. Since 
the trench method apparently causes the blight, we 
must stop it. Sweet Peas do best in a heavy soil, 
and you can get very nearly the same effect if your 
soil is light, by firming it. Plant if possible in your 
vegetable garden where the soil has been deepened 
and enriched in past seasons. And if where your 
row comes it has been newly spaded, tread it down 
considerably before planting. This treading will 
hollow out the place for your row about right (tread 
enough so as to hollow it about 2 in. deep and 2 ft. 
wide) and it will thus collect moisture, and by its 
compactness will hold it. In this hollow, scratch 
the lines for your seed 1 in. deep, covering them only 
this 1 in., and firm the ground above the seed with a 
garden roller or its equivalent. Your seed will thus 
be in this hollow, and when they come up do not 
fill in any earth about them, at least for six weeks. 
Every time you hoe, firm the ground compactly 
about them, and don’t let moles loosen it up. You 
will notice that vines that come up in the well-trod 
path do not have the blight. This method applies 
to light soil in which the blight is troublesome. In 
the case of heavy soil, it settles soon of itself, and 
the surface of it must of course be kept from baking. 
In either case, after the buds begin to appear, put on 
a light mulching to shade the ground. 
But in thus abandoning the trench method do not 
fail to have a soil of at least 12 in. of good loam, 
properly enriched. If you do not have such a place 
in your garden it may be necessary to dig a trench 
and fill in with good material. If you do, make it 
of good depth and liberal width, and put well rotted 
compost or tobacco stems in the bottom, covering 
with 8 in. of soil, and tread down well every layer so as 
to have a firm bed. Or such food as wood ashes or 
bone flour may be profitably worked in. As to 
using phosphate, it is so quick in its effect that a 
good time to apply it is just when buds begin to form. 
If you thus fill in a trench, fill it compactly within 
2 in. of top and proceed as above. 
But if you want to learn the art of floriculture, 
you must begin in the fall. Our high-class flowers 
will more and more be subject to diseases and insects. 
It must be a cardinal doctrine to doctor the soil 
instead of waiting till plants are sick. Begin as soon 
as the flowering season is over. Burn old rubbish 
where the ground has been infested with insects. 
Freeze them out by spading just before winter. A 
safe quantity of salt can be put on in the fall (four 
quarts to the square rod, once in three or four years). 
Break up some unslaked lime, and bury it in a shallow 
furrow so the fumes and heat will permeate the soil. 
Gas lime can be used in the same way. All this is 
fall treatment for ridding the soil of insect pests and 
fungus diseases. Once catch the idea of doctoring 
the soil in the fall and it greatly aids your summer 
work. But such rank medicine must be applied long 
before the tender plants start. 
2. Now, next to the blight, the.cut worms are the 
most serious enemy of the Sweet Pea. If you have 
not given your ground vigorous fall treatment, and 
the cut worms are likely to be on hand, try planting 
alongside of your rows something inexpensive that 
they like. Try Lettuce seed or the old Sweet Pea 
seed that you saved, hoeing up what is left of it 
after all danger is past. Mix a water pail of dry 
bran and a tablespoonful of Paris green, and a 
handful of sugar, and sow this along the row. But 
the worms should also be hunted out, by early morn¬ 
ing visits. They will almost always be found just 
hidden under the surface near where they have cut 
off a plant. 
3. Quantity ©f Seed.— Of common seed, use 
about 1 oz. to 10 ft. of double row. But after all 
danger of blight and worms is past the plants ought 
not to stand nearer than 3 in. apart. 
4. Eckford's sealed packets must, in our 
vigorous northern climate, be planted in boxes under 
glass, or in the house and transplanted. 
5. For supports use either strong birch brush or 
some form of wire trellis, bearing in mind that Sweet 
Peas have a branching habit and do not like to be 
cramped. Brush should be cut 7 ft. long and set 
firmly in the ground. 
6. Watering should be done sparingly previous to 
the time of bloom. After they begin to blcom, the 
vines are ready to feed and drink freely, and liquid 
manure or suds can be profitably used. 
7. A new insect, very much like the red spider, 
but apparently a louse, and hardly visible to the 
naked eye is now troublesome. You will detect its 
presence by the whitish spotted look of the leaves 
from the base of the vine, up. The vigorous use of 
the hose with spray is the simplest treatment, but if 
taken in time, a tobacco tea will be effective. Ask 
your florist how to make and apply it. 
