December 16, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
251 
pointed petals marking out this as one of the finest 
in the section to which it belongs. 
The 1898 varieties were very numerous, and many 
of them excellent. Amongst them were the salmon- 
pink Tillie, the rich scarlet and straight-petalled 
Standard Bearer, the popular and showy scarlet 
Stella, the free and bushy Ruby, having its scarlet 
florets tipped with violet; Laverstock Beauty, large, 
and bright salmon, with curved and pointed florets ; 
and Laverstock Beauty, another variety, belonging 
to the type having incurved petals, with large and 
bright salmon flowers. The glowing crimson of 
Regulus was its redeeming feature, as the florets 
were rather broad. Night was the darkest and best 
of its section. The purple and violet shaded flowers 
of Miss Finch were small but very pretty. The 
glowing crimson, and the straight, pointed petals of 
Mrs. John Goddard made this the best of its par¬ 
ticular colour. Very pretty likewise was the straight 
petalled and dark crimson Gipsy. The best of the 
mauve varieties was Island Queen, with long and 
straight, delicately coloured petals. A large and 
showy one was Polka, having rosy-scarlet flowers. 
Capstan, an orange-salmon sort, added another to 
the incurved type The best of the yellows was 
Daffodil, dwarf in habit, and soft and pleasing in 
colour. Another popular variety noticed was 
Britannia, with very large, soft salmon flowers. The 
florets of the true Arachne were white, edged with 
orange ; but a sport from it had self-coloured orange 
flowers. The salmon-pink, incurved flowers of 
Alfred Vasey were very full, globular and handsome. 
The 1899 varieties, if less numerous, were gener¬ 
ally of a very high standard of merit. Ranji was 
almost black, but a shy bloomer. Very pretty, 
however, was Viscountess Sherbrooke, with long, in¬ 
curved, orange-salmon florets. The orange-salmon 
Radiance was tipped with scarlet, the florets being 
like fiery barbs. The Clown is well named, being a 
large, loose flower of a buff-orange, tipped with 
white. The salmony-scarlet of Countess of Lonsdale 
made an exceedingly pretty flower, by reason of its 
small size, neatness and beautiful colour. Captain 
Broad might be likened to a miniature Gloriosa, 
being free, early, bright scarlet, and a really good 
thing. A perfect hedgehog was Magnificent, the 
soft orange florets being very long, sharply pointed, 
and radiating in all directions. Exqusite was 
another incurved flower, of an orange-salmon, and 
very pretty. Very choice also was Wm. Cuthbert- 
son, having rich scarlet flowers and incurved 
petals. 
Pompon Dahlias. —A very large collection of all 
the newest and best varieties of pompons were 
grown in the same field as the Cactus Dahlias. In 
all the sections Messrs. Dobbie & Co. make a point 
of securing the best as they are put into commerce. 
The small and neat forms are the greatest favourites, 
so that the undermentioned are of the most up-to- 
date size, unless otherwise stated. Well tried and 
perfectly reliable are Amber, buff-amber ; Hypatia, 
salmon-red, with yellow centre; Agate, very pale 
primrose, or nearly white; The Duke, dark maroon ; 
Katie, salmon-pink, and pretty ; Nora, bright yel¬ 
low, small and neat; Nellie Broomhead, purple; 
Vulcan, bright scarlet; Captain Boyton, maroon ; 
Ceres, beautiful primrose; Clarissa, primrose, and 
lilac reverse; Douglas, maroon; Dr. Jim, rich car¬ 
mine tip and rose at the base; Dagmar, maroon, 
with fluted petals and very pretty. Hilda, red, 
tipped with white, and pretty ; Irene, white, with 
red edges; Jessica, yellow, edged with red, very 
small and attractive; Little Dorrit, dark carmine; 
Nerissa, deep rosy-pmk, and quite charming ; and 
Gannymead, soft lilac, tinted with yellow. The latter 
colour is even more developed in Flora, which might 
be described as bright yellow, tinted with red in the 
centre. The best yellow is Emily Hopper. A 
pleasing development is met with in Sunny Day¬ 
break, the florets of which are yellow, edged picotee 
fashion with orange. A good old yellow variety well 
worth growing yet is Whisper. 
The herbaceous borders still contained a good 
many flowers late in September, conspicuous 
amongst which was the Tiger Lily (Lilium tigrinum). 
Early Chrysanthemums were planted out for the 
sake of cut flowers. Violas were gay in a long, wide 
border, and the miniature, sweet-scented Violetta 
formed beautiful edgings. Tropaeolum speciosum 
was flowering away, and fruiting upon the wall of an 
office in the grounds. 
Those flowers were on the lower slopes of the 
hill, in some of the breaks of which vegetables were 
grown, including a fine plantation of the Interna¬ 
tional Leek with long, blanched necks. Champion 
Leek, a thick-necked variety, was in equally fine con¬ 
dition. Celery was vigorous and tall. 
Springfield Nursery. 
One of the leading features of the outdoor cultures 
of the home nursery, situated behind the offices in 
the town, and stretching away up the steep hillside, 
was a good collection of single Cactus Dahlias, bemg 
in fact the largest assortment of this particular type. 
Pompon Dahlias are largely grown, for the sake of cut 
flowers, in many gardens, but the single Cactus varie¬ 
ties are even more graceful and capable of producing 
fine effects in vases and light arrangements of flowers 
generally. Brenda was a fine yellow,with long,incurved 
rays; Alice Lee, soft pink; Lady Edith, buff-purple, 
with a yellow zone and very pretty ; Finella, purple- 
pink, with an orange zone at the base, and prettily 
fimbriated at the tips ; Everand.glowiDg crimson with 
twisted florets ; Rose Bradwardine, yellow, and 
bronzy towards the tips, and twisted ; Rob Roy, deep 
purple, tipped with violet, twisted, and one of the 
oldest of this type; Abbess, white with a yellow 
zone ; Dominie, orange-scarlet, tinted with yellow at 
the base; and Nigel Olipbant, which is clear yellow 
and holds its flowers well up. Very distinct, also, is 
Nome, buff-yellow, incurved at the tips, and erect. 
The oldest single Cactus now in existence is Ivanhoe, 
rosy-purple, with a crimson zone ; it is still one of 
the best, and has large flowers. Guy Mannering is 
white, tinted with yellow on the lower half. Very 
floriferous is Lady Rowena, yellow, and faintly 
tinted with buff. Lucy Bertram is soft buff-purple 
with a yellow zone; Queen Mary, white, with a 
yellow zone; and Crusader, orange-scarlet and in¬ 
curved like a huge rayed star. There was a great 
mass of these single Dahlias,and the variety of colour 
was pleasing and attractive in September last There 
were 1,800 plants in a new garden that had just been 
added to the nursery. 
One of the newer Cactus Dahlias was Mrs. D. 
Bartram, a dark purple, but not very free. Show 
and fancy varieties were being grown for stock roots. 
New Pompon Dahlias on trial were Snowflake, pure 
white ; Madeline, primrose, edged 'light crimson; 
Iris, soft buff-salmon and pretty ; Distinction, small 
and deep carmine-crimson; Demon, dark carmine; 
and Claribel, suffused purple and silvery-white. 
Altogether, the Dahlias constitute a very important 
branch of the business of the firm at Rothesay. 
Away up at the top of the steeply rising ground 
was a plantation of 6,000 early flowering Chrysanth¬ 
emums, including pompons in great variety and in 
colours to please and suit everybody. 
- H- ■ - 
MR. FLEMING’S GROUP AT THE 
AQUARIUM. 
It is not the good luck of everyone to possess such 
high taste and judgment of proportions as is seen 
to be an integral part of some men’s qualities. 
Decorators, no less than good artists, or any other 
members of an artistic profession, are not made, 
they are born. True it is, we can all be trained, we 
can all cultivate 11 taste,” judgment, and perception 
as to the fitness in form and in the harmony or 
contrast of colours, enough at least, to pass muster • 
yet behind this, the genius at all times can find it 
easier to accomplish a design, to adjudicate upon the 
merits of an experiment, or to introduce befitting 
novelty. 
Those who saw the unique group of greenhouse 
flowering and stove foliage plants, which Mr. John 
Fleming, gardener to Sir Charles Pigott, Bart., of 
Wexham Park, Slough, arranged in the Royal 
Aquarium, at the N.C.S. show of December 5th, 6th ( 
and 7th, will certainly credit him with the very finest 
of artistic conception, and perception. For the 
benefit oi those who may care to have a fuller 
description of the make-up of this, the finest feature 
of the show, and for the sake of lending hints of 
guidance to intending exhibitors, these lines are 
written. The group occupied a central position in 
the Aquarium. Its back was to the west, being 
placed against a dividing partition covered with 
green baize. There were Palms of the graceful 
Phoenix tenuissima, and a brightening element lent 
by bush-grown Chrysanthemums,of yellow and white 
flowering varieties, placed slightly below the Palms, 
but in the same line. Standing distinctly clear, and 
rising like a rainbow-coloured fountain, from the 
bright carpeting of dwarf soft wooded plants, one at 
either side of the group, inward from the edge— 
which formed roughly three sides of an oblong— 
and outward from the back row,were two beautifully 
balanced Crotons ChelsoDi, about 3 ft. in height. 
A large specimen Humea elegans, with its pendant 
red plumes, rose from a central spot immediately in 
front of the back row, its feathery sprays twisting 
and dripping downward through and amid the arch¬ 
ing fronds of a fine tall Cocos weddeliana. The 
brilliant fiery scarlet racemes of Euphorbia jac- 
quiniaeflora bad been neatly traced up the Cocos 
stem and looped over the lower fronds at their axils i 
so as to spout forth and lend their pretty glow to 
enrich the higher spheres. On each side, and a 
little in front of these central Cocos and Humea 
plants were placed two plants of Dracaena 
Sanderi each exactly the duplicate of the other. 
These were about 2J ft. high. Nearly straight 
with them but again nearer the front, were 
bushy samples of Croton Heathii elegans. 
Well balanced Cocoses, slightly dwarfer than the 
central specimen, were placed like pillars to guard 
the outer corners. Now, around each of these pro¬ 
minent plants whose positions have been described, 
were batches of the following plants, mounded 
up to form a conical base, and from the 
basal points they merged off to cover, like a 
sweetly patterned carpet, the spaces between the 
standard plants. Thus, white, pink and bright 
magenta flowered Cyclamens, peach coloured 
Primula sinensis, Erica hyeroalis, Cypripediums, 
Lily of the Valley, Roman Hyacinths, Statice pro- 
fusa, Begonia Gloire de Lorraine, tree Carnations, 
Fittonia argyrea, and Poinsettia pulchernma in all 
sizes, from those whose crimson flower bracts only 
rose above the Hyacinths and Cyclamens, to others 
1, 2, and 3 ft. high. The manner in which these were 
used, and the great effect which they produced, was 
strikingly unique, and from being unique, they lent 
the group a fund of interest to the visitors. Callas 
were there too, being well shown toward the back 
parts; Indian Azaleas in full bloom, and long sprays 
of Dendrobium were additional features which,with a 
dark green edging band got from the use of wall 
moss, formed an effort of skill in floral art of which 
anyone might well be proud. 
THE ART OF GRAFTING. 
The art of grafting is an old one ; and how early it 
was known to man must ever, we suppose, remain 
like a good many other things, buried in the mis 
of antiquity. It appears that the art was known to 
Theophrastus, a disciple of Aristotle, and who wrote 
two books on plants, and refers to the subject. How 
long before his time grafting was practised is not 
known, but it is certain it must have been known for 
at least some centuries. Thales, a Greek philosopher, 
who flourished 300 years earlier, made a tour to 
Egypt to gain a knowledge of the arts at that time in 
possession of the Egyptians. There is nothing im¬ 
probable in the supposition that grafting would be 
among the arts which the philosopher took home. 
Indeed it is very probable that it would, as Thales is 
regarded as the first to enter into phytological in¬ 
vestigations, and from all accounts he is supposed to 
have made considerable progress. The next thing is, 
did the Egyptians have the art to communicate to 
Thales ? Of this we do not think there can be any 
doubt. Though Egypt’s civilisation was then nearly 
2,000 years past its zenith, much of its galaxy un¬ 
doubtedly would be in evidence, and grafting would 
not likely be unknown to a people who it may be pre¬ 
sumed enjoyed some thousands of years of a civilisa¬ 
tion, perhaps not inferior to that which we ourselves 
now possess. 
Of course we have no evidence that any such 
thing was practised by the Egyptians at all; but 
still we think the inductions can with safety be de¬ 
duced from the meagre glints of the dazzling nature 
of their civilisation that now and anon penetrate 
through the intervening darkness. 
The halcyon days of Greece were waning at 
Theophrastus’s time, and it is not likely that much 
was done to further phytological research under such 
disintegrating influences as accompany the decay of 
nations. At all events little is known of any pro¬ 
gress in this direction after the latter philosopher's 
time. 
We next find the subject spring up among the 
Romans with a zest hitherto unknown among the 
