July 17, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
725 
Fruit on Excursion Trains.—The railway companies 
in Mexico are advertising Strawberries on their 
trains for the free use of their passengers all the year 
round. Another railway company in Georgia 
announces that in addition to the low rate of 
fares, there will be 500 fine Water Melons placed on 
ice in the refrigerator car for the use of the 
passengers. By such means the companies advertise 
for passengers. 
The Joobly Muddle.—Deer Sir I ’opes you are not 
in this Joobly muddle like me. 1 niver wur at no 
bored school, and no need neither ; but I knows that 
the kween 'as rained sixty years, and that the ryal 
'orticultural siciety ware to strike sixty meddles, wun 
fur each year, in ’onour uv them whot lived to see 
the raycord rain. Well, ’ere’s w'ere I ham muddled. 
W’en them 'orticultural papers come in I tryed to 
count the names menshuned and made out seventy 6. 
Now says I, I says, that’s rong. The missus counted 
and sayd it wur only a bakers’ duzzen chucked-in-like 
for luck. But that would only come to 60 five. 
“ O ” say s she, she says "you wur born two soon, 
and is now much be'ind in yer ’rithmetic. It’s the 
noo way of calkylashun.” “ If I wur born two soon, 
'ow can I be be’ind," says I. But she sayd something 
about 'er Joobly bonnet w’ich I did not understand, 
so I went to see my naybour gardener wots down on 
the list to offer 'im my congratsulayshuns, but he 
larfed and said that v. m. h. ment “ very much ’ad." 
" Well it’s laffable " says I; "but if the seventy 6 
’ave to toss for the meddles, there will be some 'ard 
’itting.”— P. Merribone. 
Victorian Diamond Jubilee Cups and Medals at 
Birmingham. — The Birmingham and Midland 
Counties Great Victorian Diamond Jubilee Chrysan¬ 
themum, Fruit, Primula and Vegetable Exhibition 
is to be made worthy of the name. It is to be held 
in the Bingley Hall, Birmingham, on the gtb, 10th, 
and nth November next. The" Right Hon. J. 
Chambetlain, M.P., is president. The City of 
Birmingham Victorian Diamond Silver Cup, value 
£25, is offered for a display of floral arrangements. 
A cup having the same title and worth £iy 10s. is 
offered as the second prize ; and others worth £10, 
£6. and £\ as the third, fourth and fifth prizes. 
Cups of the value of £15, £10, £5, and £2 are offered 
in as many prizes for a collection of British-grown 
fruit, not to exceed a space of 50 sq. ft., the first 
and fourth being offered by thegardeners of Birming¬ 
ham. Victorian Diamond Jubilee Gold, Silver and 
Bronze Medals are offered for nine large-flowering 
Chrysanthemums, and a similar set is offered for 
a group of Chrysanthemums. Groups of Chrysan¬ 
themums arranged with Ferns and foliage plants are 
to be similarly honoured. Victorian Diamond 
Jubilee, Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals are offered 
for twenty-four incurved, and also twenly-four 
Japanese Chrysanthemum blooms, distinct. Money 
prizes are also offered along with all these medals, 
so that we anticipate a very lively and contested 
struggle for the premier honours. Similar medals 
and money prizes are offered for Chinese Primulas, 
open in one case, but only to gardeners and amateurs 
in another. Grapes, Apples and Pears are similarly 
honoured. Altogether there are sixty-three classes 
in which prizes are offered, but this number is in¬ 
creased to 90 by special prizes. 
Wild Flowers.—The paper recently read on wild 
flowers before the members of the Paxton Society at 
Wakefield by Mr. G. Bott was of a most interesting 
character. In his opening remarks the essayist said 
that wild flowers forced themselves upon them. They 
were to be met in the hedgerow by the wayside, on 
the heath and common, and confronted them at 
every turn Some preferred the meadow, some the 
marsh, and some the dusty roadside. One of the 
most pleasing features of the study of them was that 
the scenes varied from month to month. Not long 
ago, for instance, the railway banks were dotted with 
the bright yellow of the Coltsfoot. Then come 
sheets of the yellow Hawkweed, trailing Convolvulus 
and lilac Scabious. He did not know why a railway 
bank should form such a rich wild-flower garden, 
except it was that it caught many seeds blown by 
the wind ; but he had repeatedly found plants grow¬ 
ing there which grew nowhere else in the neighbour¬ 
hood. Mr. Smith then went on to give interesting 
details concerning such common flowers as the 
Daisy, Speedwell, Ragged Robin (once considered a 
sovereign remedy for dropsy), Herb Robert, Cam¬ 
pion, Fumitory Stellaria and Forget-me-not. The 
Silver-weed (Potentilla anserina) was one of the 
prettiest of wayside weeds. The Pimpernel, com¬ 
monly known as the poor man’s weather glass was 
remarkable for its beauty and sensitiveness to the 
weather. The Lysimachia was said to have been 
put upon the yokes of restive oxen by the King of 
Sicily, when the oxen became quiet as lambs. An 
old writer has also said that the serpents healed 
their wounds with the herb. Mr. Smith also 
remarked upon the great vitality of which the seed of 
the Poppy was possessed. In conclusion the 
lecturer pointed out that the true beauty of many 
wild flowers was no’t to be seen except by close 
examination. The careful observer would find that 
they were not a whit behind the cultivated flowers 
in point of interest. 
-- 
SCOTTISH NOTES. 
The year 1897 will long be remembered in the north 
by gardeners of every class. The extremes of cold 
during summer, with high winds and cold rains, have 
rendered the raising of seedlings in the open ground 
a task which the smartest of cultivators can hardly 
cope with. 
Many of our amateur friends, who have long been 
leaders at provincial exhibitions are loosing spirit, 
because the destruction to vegetable crops, and flower¬ 
ing plants (especially herbaceous species) is appalling. 
Among vegetables which are very late, and have not 
done well are Onions, Leeks, Peas, Cauliflowers and 
Turnips. Where frames and other glass protection 
is ample difficulties are considerably reduced. We 
fear from cold and wet that French Beans, and 
Scarlet Runners will be very poor in the open, even 
if they pod at all. We are getting good supplies from 
plants grown in pits, but those on borders and other 
space struggle for existence. Potatos were four 
weeks later with us this season than for two years 
past. These are grown on a sharp ridge facing the 
sun, and protected with wire hurdles and mats. By 
far the earliest we have tried is Sharpe’s Victor — 
Peas grown in boxes and planted out are three weeks 
later than usual. Chelsea Gera, for earliness and an 
abundant cropper, is one of the best. Gradus is a 
fine sort, but has not stood the untoward weather well. 
We have had, several times in July, the Thermometer 
fall from 55 0 at night to 35 0 and 36° in the morning. 
Winds are often from North East, and often change 
suddenly to South West, causing great changes of 
temperature.— M. T., Canon. 
•I ’ - -- - 
SWEET PEAS IN ROOMS. 
At this season of the year no one with a garden even 
of limited dimensions need be without cut flowers of 
some kind or other according to taste, with which to 
adorn their rooms and render the cool evenings both 
bright and pleasant, with simple and inexpensive 
flowers that may vie with the brightest and rarest 
Orchids. 
Various hardy flowers might be mentioned as in¬ 
valuable for the purpose, but the object of this note 
is to call attention to the eminent suitability of 
Sweet Peas alone, without admixture of anything 
else. Flowers of one colour alone may be used, or 
mixtures of colours, according to fancy. They need 
only be cut or pulled the whole length of the flower 
stalks and mixed with a few sprays of their own 
foliage. No other dressing or accompaniment is 
necessary for the filling of glass and other vases with 
the most exqusite and quaintly formed flowers of all 
colours and shades of colour except dark yellow. 
Even Orange Prince, Adonis, and some others are 
salmon and pink rather than either orange or gold. 
Cream, creamy-yellow and primrose, are the darkest 
of this particular hue yet in existence. All other 
colours, from the purest white to the darkest, as well 
as the brightest glowing crimson, scarlet, and car¬ 
mine, are already at the command of the cultivator 
and tbe flower lover. 
These flowers impart a brightness to a room 
during the day, and are even brighter and more 
charming by artificial light. When you have for¬ 
gotten their presence, the scent becomes more 
powerful and penetrating, calling your attention to 
them as the shades of twilight fall. Have as many 
vases of them as yon like or can bear in a room ; but 
never on any account crowd the flowers, or you will 
rob them of more than half of their quaint and 
smiling beauty. 
CARNATIONS AT CHELSEA. 
Just after the first flush of the Rose’s beauty has 
passed comes the Carnation with all its many and 
subtle shades of colour to cheer our homes and adorn 
our gardens. July is the month of Carnations, and 
June is usually regarded as the month of Roses. The 
Gilliflower of Chaucer has been wondrously 
developed in the lapse of centuries, and now flaunts a 
garb strangely different to that worn by its progeni¬ 
tors of which the old herbalists wrote and the old 
poets sang. The Carnation of to-day is a wonder¬ 
fully good tempered flower. It is at home in the 
country, and it acts its part right well amidst the 
murkier and less kindly atmosphere of the town and 
city. Messrs. J. Veitch & Son, Limited, have at the 
time of writing an excellent display of Carnations 
and Picotees in their nurseries at Chelsea, and as 
their collection comprises all the leading varieties 
the interest attaching to it is of the greatest. The 
outdoor plants are accommodated in the same beds 
as usual. Owing to the fact that a change of soil 
was given to these beds last autumn wireworms have 
proved very troublesome, and a vacancy here and 
and there in the ranks of the plants speaks of the 
necessity of keeping a sharp look out for this pest. 
A large number of plants have been grown on in 
thirty-two sized pots, and these are being flowered 
under glass, where the colours of the flowers can be 
easily preserved by shading. Both indoors and out 
unequivocal evidences of good culture are to be seen, 
and, as the list of varieties each year is subjected to 
a severe scrutiny, only the highest quality of flower 
finds a place. Some of the old varieties however, 
still hold their own. Of these, perhaps, Germania is 
the most notable instance, for it is to-day, as it was 
when introduced, a yellow without which no col¬ 
lection could be complete. With regard to the 
general character of the collection the predominance 
of self-coloured forms is noteworthy, thereby afford¬ 
ing an index to the popular favour. Picotees are 
growD, and grown well too, but the demand for them 
seems to be falling off, the self evidently usurping its 
place except in the case of the yellow-ground section. 
Flakes and bizarres, once so highly thought of, are 
being gradually relegated to the limbo of a dead past. 
Their capricious behaviour is doubtless largely to 
blame for this, and besides, the markings when true 
give the flower a rather garish appearance, and we 
are nothing if not aesthetic in this Jin de siecle age. 
AmoDgst the newest seifs there are several grand 
forms. Her Grace has large flowers of perfect form, 
delicate blush in colour, changing to white in the 
later stages. Seagull is very similar in build and 
habit, but exhibits a several shades deeper hue. 
Exile is one of the largest of the newer sorts. It is 
deep rose in colour, and has petals of great sub¬ 
stance, added to which it is of vigorous habit and 
very free flowering. Garville Gem is the best of the 
heliotrope coloured forms, and is a good doer and 
free bloomer. Bendigo with its dark blue purple 
flowers is noticeable, not only for its colour, but also 
for the stoutness and strength of the flower stalks. 
Hayes Scarlet is still the best of the scarlet seifs, 
and should be in every collection. Sadek has dark 
rose flowers, and it is a great pity that the colour 
should go so quickly, for it is very sensitive to the 
influence of the sun. Very charming is Miss Maude 
Sullivan, which has perfectly formed salmon-pink 
flowers with very full and well developed centres. 
The old Crimson Clove is always a favourite on 
account of its rich colour and sweet scent. The 
newer variety Mephisto has the same colour, but is a 
smaller and better formed flower, and is not so much 
addicted to the sin of pod bursting. Duke of Orleans 
is one of the very best yellows, and has done and is 
doiDg especially well at Chelsea this year. Water- 
witch is a very handsome flower,large, well shaped, and 
with petals of great substance. The edges of the latter 
are fringed prettily, and this adds to, rather than 
detracts, from, the flower. Mrs. Eric Hambro is the 
perfection of a white variety for form, habit, and 
constitution. 
Joe Willet as a bedding variety is simply grand. 
The habit is dwarf and sturdy, and the bright scarlet 
flowers are produce! in great numbers on stout foot¬ 
stalks. Mrs. F. Watts is the counterpart of Joe 
Willet as far as habit goes, but the flowers are pure 
white. Although perhaps not up to the highest 
florist s standard these two sorts are well worth 
growing. Rose Celestial may be added to the list of 
good bedders. 
