June 9, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
645 
Weather in London.—The two closing days of 
last week were bitterly cold and rainy. Sunday and 
Whit-Monday were both lovely days, especially the 
latter. Tuesday and Wednesday were duller and 
slightly cooler. 
Appointments. -Mr. James Troup, for the past 
six and a half years gardener to Mrs. Jardine 
Paterson, of Balgray, Lockerbie, has been appointed 
gardener to Sir Robert Jardine, Bart., of Castle 
Milk, Lockerbie, Dumfrieshire. Mr. Wm. McLeaD, 
for the past seven and half years foreman at 
Laurick Castle, Perthshire, succeeds Mr. Troup at 
Balgray. 
The “ Rose of Hell.”—The " rarest flower in the 
world 11 has again been found. According to an 
American paper two prospectors (surveyors) have 
brought specimens of a plant from a mountain in the 
neighbourhood of Guatemala, and the flower was 
given its sulphurous name by the natives because it 
grows near the crater of a living volcano, which 
they suppose to be the entrance to the infernal 
regions 
Nettle Fibre in Germany.—Nettle fibre has lately 
come greatly into use in Germany in the manufacture 
of fine yarns and tissues. In nettles pinning alone, 
some hundreds of workmen are employed, these having 
in use over 10,000 spindles. The raw material is 
i mported almost exclusively from China, from whence 
660,000 to 800,000 lbs. are annually sent to Germany 
Nettle fibre produces one of the finest known tissues 
obtainable from any known kind of vegetable fibre. t 
Should favourable results follow upon some experi¬ 
ments which are to be made, nettle-growing will be 
more extensively added to. 
College Men as Foresters.—The Division of 
Forestry of the U S. Dept, of Agriculture com¬ 
menced investigating the condition of forests along 
the Pacific coast last summer. They are still pur¬ 
suing their quest, and several parties will start in 
June or earlier for the Red-wood belt of California 
and the Red-Fir forest of Washington. The object 
is to compare the reproduction with the present de¬ 
pletion, and to investigate the possibility of re-forest¬ 
ing logged-off lands. There will be from fifteen to 
twenty-five men in each state. Most of the work 
will be done by young college men under the 
direction of forest experts. 
Cannell’s Bedding designs.—It is evidence of 
the activity of a firm when it publishes a pamphlet 
of beddiDg designs, and classified list of the plants 
necessary for the effective filling of these beds. Such 
a publication, small though it is, will do as much or 
more than a large work embracing the subject. The 
plans for summer beds contained in Messrs H. 
Cannell & Sons’ “ Sixty bedding designs," are repre¬ 
sentative of many varied forms and conceptions 
each easy to understand, or to choose from. Each 
design is numbered and its parts are sectioned or 
marked out, lists of plants for each part being given. 
Those that suit our fancy most are No.’s 21, 22, 
24, 28, 33, 44, and 49. But we recommend the little 
work for personal inspection ; its price is 6d., from 
Messrs H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, Kent. 
CUCUMBERS AND MELONS. 
Our house is only 12 ft. by 9 ft. with no front lights, 
the roof resting on the front sills. It is heated by 
six rows of 4-in. pipes, two running under the bed 
at the front, across the west end, and along the back 
wall, finishing up with supply pipe. The bed being 
in the form of a brick pit, is filled up with brick 
rubbish, covering the pipes about 6 in., leaving an 
even surface for the soil, which consists of three parts 
leaf soil, to one of loam. 
The seeds are sown the first week in January, a 
spac9 being left at the west end of the bed for 
Melons, which have to be grown with the Cucumbers, 
and let me tell the young gardeners that it does not 
always answer one’s purpose to go by the rule of 
thumb, and if you have not a house built sufficient 
for all purposes, you must still try to be up to time 
with your more fortunate neighbours, and your aim 
should be to place on your employer’s table, fruits 
and vegetables before, or as soon as those who have 
gardens near by. Do not let those who er ploy you 
have to tell you that Messrs. So & So have had 
Strawberries, Cucumbers, Melons, &c , or ask 
" Why have we never had them ? ” As a rule they 
will not listen to any reason, and what does it 
signify, so long as your employer tells you the fruits 
you sent in were of good flavour ? I tell you the first 
fruits are the sweetest, grown under what conditions 
you like. 
I cut our first Cucumbers in the last week of 
March, from a plant in the bed, but I always fruit 
my earliest In 8-in. pots, which stand on a back stage. 
I cut from these a fortnight before the plants in the 
bed. They only carry two Cucumbers, then they 
are thrown away. Melons are now ripening.— J. 
Wallace, King’s Lynn. 
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RICHARDIA AFRICANA. 
This useful plant, better known as Lily of the Nile, 
Calla or Arum, is often not so well grown as it de¬ 
serves to be, and as a succession of flowers may be 
obtained for four or five months,there are few plants 
which give better return for the attention required. 
The treatment I have found to suit them admirably 
is as follows :—When they have ceased flowering 
(usually towards the end of May) water should be 
gradually withheld, and in three or four weeks the 
leaves assume a yellow tinge. The plants should then 
be cut down to within about one inch from the soil, 
knocked out of the pots, and planted out in the open 
ground, and when growth commences, water liberally. 
They should be carefully lifted towards the end of 
September, retaining as much of the soil about the 
roots as possible; remove all young shoots from the 
base, and pot in with a soil composed of three parts 
loam, and one part well rotted manure ; water them 
and place in an intermediate house, keep rather close 
for a week or ten daj s, then remove to a greenhouse. 
If an intermediate house is not to hand, place in a 
shady part of a greenhouse away from door or venti¬ 
lators until they have recovered from the lifting. 
Plants treated in this way grow more vigorously 
each year, until they are obtained with stems as 
thick as one’s arm, bearing on an average five 
flowers in succession from January to May.— 
G. Robins, The Gardens, Dudley House, Springrove, 
Isleworth. 
SEEDING FLORISTS’ TULIPS. 
I read with much interest Mr. Thurstan’s article on 
" Obtaining Seed from Florists' Tulips ” and 
cordially agree with everything he says. He, how¬ 
ever, gives us no idea of what varieties he would use 
in obtaining seed. Now my idea is that the chief 
thing to be aimed at in improving the Tulip is vigour 
of constitution. Older raisers seemed to have aimed 
at nothing more than refinement of marking and 
improvement of form, all very desirable I grant, but 
unless we can get vigour and robustness into the 
flower, its votaries will always be confined to a few 
enthusiasts. We ought also to try to get a race of 
beautiful breeders to rival the Darwin Tulips. 
There is no reason why this should not be done, and 
if we could produce breeders with the brilliancy and 
vigour of the Darwins, and the beautiful purity of 
base of the English Tulips, we shall have done 
something that will cause us to be praised by the 
horticultural world. With these various ends in 
view I would suggest the following cross fertilisa¬ 
tions 
Rose Hill x Annie McGregor, to get large scarlet 
breeders. 
Annie McGregor x Rose Hill, to get large scarlet 
breeders. 
Lady Grosvenor x Industry, to get intense scarlet- 
crimson breeders. 
Talisman x Glory of Stakehill, to get large rosy- 
purple breeders. 
Alice Grey x Bridesmaid, to get large pale 
lavender breeders. 
Dr. Hardy x Goldfinder, to get large orange- 
scarlet breeders. 
Samuel Barlow x Goldfinder, to get large orange- 
scarlet breeders. 
Mrs. Barlow x Rose Hill, to get rosy-scarlet 
breeders. 
Goldfinder x Sulphur, to get orange breeders. 
Polyphemus x Rifleman, to get darkest brown 
breeders. 
Sir J. Paxton x Lord Stanley, to get bright brown 
breeders. 
Talisman x David Jackson, to get deepest purple 
breeders. 
As the Tulip bloom is now on, I hope some of your 
readers will try some of the above crosses and I hope 
I shall live to see the result.— J. W. Bentley. 
BUNCH PRIMROSES OR BORDER 
POLYANTHUS. 
It is immaterial to me which name the present race 
of hardy border kinds goes under. I mean those to 
be seen now so largely used for spring gardening. In 
this race you get the early blooms through the 
autumn and winter, on single stems like the P t 
acaulis or wild form. Later on they throw up strong 
stems with big heads of bloom. This tendency 
favours the Primrose. Added to this it makes a 
distinction in the name from Polyanthus—unless 
you term one the gold laced, and the other border 
Polyanthus. To this same I may say they are all 
border kinds. It seems to me there is much in a 
name, looking at it from some people’s standpoint. 
However, to me a name is not of so much importance 
so long as the material is good. 
I consider these hardy kinds a great gain to our 
gardens. It is wonderful the time they continue in 
bloom, and the mass of bloom they give, throwing 
their trusses out of the leafage so well. I have a 
long border in front of my cottage filled with them, 
with a narrow border on the other side of the walk 
full of three different coloured Wallflowers, and now 
early in May the sight is grand. 
Rich crimsons, white, deep yellow, purples, and 
almost every shade are to be seen in these Prim¬ 
roses, and it is worthy of note how these can be had 
at such a small cost. I often think were such sights 
only to be had^ under glass, then we should hear 
more of them. But are they of any less value ? I 
consider them of more value, as they can be enjoyed 
by all classes.—J. C., F., Chard. 
- .|. 
PACKING CUT FLOWERS. 
At the present time, and for a while to come, seeing 
so many families are either " in town,” or at least 
from home, a very great deal of flower packing has 
to be done by those who produce flowers lot their 
employers. The aim of him who packs flowers, or 
aught else, should be to so perform his work that 
after having travelled for a long distance it can be 
undone in perfect form. 
The proper choice of boxes for flower packing is a 
most important matter. Good boxes from a grocer’s 
establishment are very often of first-class service. 
These can be bought cheaply. They should be 
thoroughly scrubbed out with scalding water. After 
drying them, and before use, lay a lining of tissue 
paper along both the sides and the bottom of the 
boxes. 
A wide selection of different sizes and forms of 
boxes should be on hand. Larger boxes are certainly 
necessary for Callas, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Kal- 
mias, Foxgloves, or Delphiniums. For Roses 
smaller boxes must be used, and each Rose bloom, 
especially if they are from the finer sorts and forced, 
might be wrapped in damp tissue paper. In the 
packing itself the long stemmed flowers should be 
put into the boxes first, and to make the layer cover 
the bottom, choose others with stems not so long, 
until at the opposite end from which one started, 
the blooms which have very little stem, such as 
Gardenias, Stephanotis, and the like, can be placed. 
Always place the heaviest blooms at the bottom. If 
a second row of flowers be inserted, and these are 
likewise heavy, it is generally best to place light 
stakes across the box, fixing them to the sides just 
above the lower layer. Over the stakes spread a 
sheet of tissue paper. Below the lid a thin light 
layer of damp moss may be placed. An important 
point in packing is to pick out boxes of a size that 
will almost exactly hold the quantity of flowers to be 
sent. By so doing, the unnecessary packing of 
extra material or undue crushing of the blojms is 
avoided. 
For heavier flowers, such as those I previously 
noted, cool Rhubarb leaves may take the place of the 
tissue paper. Cut out the thicker ribs from the 
blades. 
To send off a bouquet may at times puzzle the un¬ 
accustomed. Cube shaped boxes, 15 in. sq., having 
a partition in the centre inside, and a 4-in. hole 
through this partition to allow the handle of the 
bouquet to be taken through, must be prepared. A 
stout cord fastened to the bouquet handle and 
brought down through holes in the bottom of the 
cube, will act in retaining the bouquet in a firm poise. 
Wreaths may be fastened to boxes made wider than 
the wreath and 3 in. or 4 in. deep. To carry by 
hand, a riddle or sieve may be used.— Artist. 
