December 22, 1900 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
•267 
radiatiDg gray-leaved flower-heads, the plaDt being 
a member of the natural order Compositae. 
The flowers open in all seasons of the year, some 
in spring, others in summer, autumn and winter. We 
read that " With the Swiss maidens this little plant 
is regarded with almost sacred devotion. The hardy 
and poor mountaineer lover has often no gift but the 
Edelweiss to offer, and often on a Saturday he will 
climb the high and dangerous rock in search of the 
plant, and as it frequently grows in almost inacces¬ 
sible places up on the snow line, it is gathered only 
at great risk, and the Swiss maidens regard the little 
cloud-born plant thus presented as a proof of high 
courage and chivalrous devotion." There are a few 
legends (fabulous) respecting the origin and history 
of this sweet little alpine, but none is finer than that 
which appeared in American Gardcnhig above the 
ignature of Christene Wood Bullwinkle. 
THE LEGEND OF THE EDELWEISS. 
High up amid eternal snow 
There dwells the rarest flower I know ; 
Sweet Edelweiss. 
Alone she lives and blooms and sighs, 
And greets each bird that heavenward flies; 
But sad her heart—as she defies 
The snow and ice. 
A swan, her love in days of old, 
Dwelt on a mighty sea that rolled 
Beneath her bower. 
’Twas centuries ago, I ween, 
’Ere God-created man was seen. 
Frail blossoms hailed her, 11 Lovely Queen ! ” 
This snow-white flower. 
The Frost was jealous ; long he tried 
To make this beauteous flower his bride, 
The Amorous Frost! 
Now, daily, as the swan would float, 
So gracefully, the Frost did note 
And envied him his glossy coat — 
His joy was lost. 
’Twas love-songs sweet the swan would sing ; 
Brave heart the heart beneath his wing; 
He feared no foe. 
The Frost, with malice, sought a reed 
Well filled with poison and did lead 
The swan (all innocent) to feed. 
Alas ! 'Twas so ! 
The Edelweiss in sorrow weeps, 
And evermore in memory keeps 
A snowy feather. 
A prisoner she—the Frost-King’s band 
Surrounds her now on every hand. 
She grieves for her beloved land 
Of sunny weather. 
'Twas in the Tropics she did dwell 
Ere this dread fate her lot befell. 
Sweet Endelweiss! 
The sun wings high—the clouds float low ; 
While ages come and ages go, 
She blooms—the purest flower I know— 
Midst snow and ice. 
In gardens the Edelweiss is usually propagated by 
seeds and it succeeds either in pans for the alpine 
house, or on exposed pockets of the rockery in firm, 
well-drained sandy soil. In the Alps which tourists 
most frequently I visit, it is almost exterminated. 
The Swiss themselves gather and sell it .—Harrison D. 
SEASONABLE NOTES. 
The grounds and kitchen garden are now fairly well 
dressed and the winter smoulder-fire should now be 
made up. All the old Pea and Bean baulmsand the 
general stock of rubbish which even small gardens 
soon collect, should be gathered and set on fire. If 
some wcod and branches are included in the heap it 
should be banked all over with soil, whence it will 
smoulder perhaps for a week or a fortnight to form 
charcoal, burn-bake and wood ashes, all of which 
are of the highest importance as ingredients of com¬ 
posts for the culture of fruits and plants. The 
charcoal should be sifted and graded to be taken to 
the stove sheds; the ash residue may likewise be 
placed under some cover, otherwise the rain washes 
out its fertility. 
Pea sticks for next year's use have to be looked out 
at this, the tree-felling season. Good Beech 
branches are as suitable as any. 
Pear and Apple trees intended to be grafted may 
be headed down. Scions should be selected now 
that the pruning is being done, and these will keep 
fresh if they are heeled into the soil by the shady 
side of a wall. Grafting may commence at the end 
of February or March. 
Rhododendrons in pots can be grafted at the 
present time, though the work may be left for a 
couple of months when the plants are out of doors. 
R. ponticum is nearly always employed as the stock 
upon which the finer hybrid varieties are grafted. 
The saddle-graft should be employed and the lower 
it is the better ; the graft, in fact, should be covered 
with the soil when the Rhododendron comes to be 
planted 
Lawns should be renovated. Relaying, draining, 
levelling, turving may all be proceeded with. It is 
not advisable to sow till March, nor to apply top- 
dressings till then. The store rooms should be 
checked over ; and now that the seed catalogues are 
being sent out a day or two can be spent as soon as 
you like in writing out a list of all the requirements of 
the garden. This business demands knowledge and 
thought, but is one of the most pleasant that the 
gardener undertakes. 
The fruit rooms may be scanned to remove any 
damaged or decaying fruits. The Pippins, among 
Apples, are in grand condition just now. Out of 
doors pruning and digging are engaging attention ; 
and planting absorbs a deal of time. Asparagus and 
other permanent beds can be smartened up. A top¬ 
dressing of sea weed or leaf mould may also be 
applied with benefit. Early in January the Willows 
and Osiers for basket making may be cut. This is 
the best season or the operation.— K. 
LARBERT HOUSE, STIRLINGSHIRE. 
Larbert House, the seat of J. H. N. Graham, 
Esq., is about a mile from Larbert station and lays 
embowered amongst trees which clothe this portion of 
the estate. The mansion stands on rising ground 
and is surrounded by grassy sward in the immediate 
neighbourhood, but at no great distance are some 
handsome specimens of Beech and Lime having a 
wide sweep of branches. Other trees include the 
Ash, British Oaks, Turkey Oak, Mountain Ash and 
some handsome Birches, with elegantly drooping 
spray. Many fine old Portugal Laurels stand about 
15 ft. to 20 ft. high, and as wide or wider. There 
are also broad spreading clumps of Rhododendrons, 
some of them single plants. The walks in front of 
the house were at one time closely hidden by trees 
and bushes which came close up to the drive. 
Within the past few years they have been cleared 
away by Mr. David Airdrie, the gardener, who 
rightly concluded that more breathing space was 
required on sanitary grounds alone. Beautiful 
vistas have been opened out, and the sloping sward 
at some distance from the house have been planted 
with Daffodils, but even this portion is kept neat 
and trim after the Daffodils have died down At 
the bottom of the slope on one side is a large lake, 
with an island wooded to the water edge. On all 
the other sides are fine trees, ultimately giving place 
to open park and pasture fields. 
Flower gardening is not extensively pursued, but 
a design by the proprietor was laid out round the 
house. Last September, the central bed of the 
design was occupied with tuberous Begonias, with 
bands and lines of bicolor and bronze Pelargoniums 
and yellow Calceolarias. Around this were four 
crescent-shaped beds, one of which was filled with 
Nemesia strumosa Suttoni on a ground of Lobelias. 
The second was planted with tuberous Begonias and 
bicolor Felargoniums, while the third had Begonias 
surrounded by bronze Pelargoniums, &c., and the 
fourth had Begonias and Calceolarias, surrounding 
Happy Thought Pelargonium. Elsewhere were 
some isolated beds of fancy design filled with appro¬ 
priate material. 
The Glass Houses. 
The conservatory is attached to the mansion, and, at 
the period of which we speak, was occupied with 
Palms, Ferns, Grevilleas and other greenery, 
brightened with early flowering Chrysanthemums, 
Lilies, Fuchsias, &c. Pots of Asparagus Sprengeri 
were suspended from the roof, which was also 
adorned with Roses. 
The rest of the glass is situated in the kitchen 
garden, where there is a fine range of vineries, Peach 
and plant houses. We gave an account of the well 
kept vineries, and the splendid Grapes grown here 
by Mr. Airdrie on p. S7, so that on this occasion we 
shall confine our remarks to the other houses. 
The Peaches in the earliest house commenced to 
furnish a supply in the second week of June. The 
varieties grown were Royal George and Dymond 
Peaches, and on the back wall were Rivers' Orange, 
Sir Charles Napier and Early Rivers’ Nectarines. 
The last-named ripens fourteen days earlier than any 
other variety in the house. The trees bad been 
pruned after the gathering of the fruits. The roots 
are also pruned about every second year in the same 
way as those of the Vines. In the second early 
Peach House, some fruits were still hanging, parti¬ 
cularly Golden Eagle, the colour being rich and 
handsome. Others were Violette Hative Nectarine 
and Stirling Castle Peach, while a large tree of 
Elruge Nectarine occupied the back wall. The trees 
were in excellent health and good crops had been 
gathered. 
The fourth Peach house is an open corridor with¬ 
out a door, and here Goshawk and Crimson Galande 
Peaches were finishing off a fine crop. On the back 
wall were Pitmaston Duchess and Marechal de la 
Cour Pears and Elruge Nectarine. The late house 
was occupied with Pitmaston Orange, Newton and 
Pineapple Nectarines, the latter having been finished 
by the third week of September. 
About the middle of the range is an ornamental 
house with a high roof. A quantity of Figs grown 
in pots were located here; and from the roof 
Dendrobiums were suspended to ripen up their 
growth. An uncommon Palm was Brahea filifera 
raised from seed. The fan-shaped leaves are notable 
for the long thread-like fringes which bang from their 
edges. 
A large greenhouse was filled with tuberous 
Begonias that had been flowering since May. Very 
pretty was a white one, having carmine-rose edges to 
the petals, and named Mrs. M. Temple in compli-' 
ment to the wife of Mr. M. Temple, of Carron, who 
is a neighbour. Zonal Pelargoniums are largely 
grown, including the new varieties sent out by 
Messrs. Cannell, H. J. Jones, and Pearson; also the 
Ivy-leaved varieties. Tradescantia multiflora and 
Nepeta Glechoma variegata, grown as basket plants, 
had developed a pretty pink tint as well as the white 
variegation, and this was evidently due to the 
abundant ventilation. 
Next in order came a pit occupied with Ferns, 
Orchids, Acalypha sanderiana, &c. Late flowering 
plants of Cattleya gaskelliana bore large and hand¬ 
some flowers. The Croton house was filled with 
plants of a useful table size of some fifteen or sixteen 
named varieties. Golden Ring is the favourite for 
general purposes, and very handsome it is with’ its 
twisted and richly coloured leaves. 
Stove plants proper are gradually getting crushed 
out to make room for Orchids. There were, never¬ 
theless, well grown specimens of Palms, Anthuri- 
ums, Dracaenas, Maranta kerchoveana, &c. There 
is a good collection of Cypripediums, including C 
Sedeni, C. chamberlainianum, C spiceirianum, C. 
Charlesworthii, C. leeanum superbum,'C. superbiens, 
C. oenanthum superbum, and other beautiful and 
useful varieties. A batch of Calanthe Veitchi was 
finishing off good growth. Dendrobium dalhousiea- 
num had made grand growths ; and alongside of it 
were D. Rolfeae, D. nobile nobilius, and other choice 
forms. Sobralia macrantba is also grpwn well. 
Nepenthes hookeriana was suspended from the roof. 
Another greenhouse is largely devoted to growing 
Malmaison Carnations and Pelargoniums. Close by 
is a cool house devoted to the cultivation of 
Coelogyne cristata, C c. alba, and Cypripedium 
insigne, all of which afford a fine lot of flowers for 
cutting. 
Some span-roofed houses stand outside the walls 
of the kitchen garden, and in one of them was a fine 
batch of Pineapples. Some fine fruits of the Queen 
Pine were ripening, the pips being of large size, 
while others were in various stages of development. 
Smooth Cayenne was also well grown in pots, and 
fruiting. Another compartment was devoted to 
Tomatos, including Lister’s Prolific, a free-fruiting 
sort with large clusters. A new variety has also 
been raised at Larbert House, but the favourite 
Tomato is named Larbert House, which has medium¬ 
sized, highly coloured, and perfectly smooth fruits. 
The stems are very short jointed, and bear clusters 
of four to six fruits at every joint, so that it is very 
handsome when in full bearing. The flesh is solid 
and of good flavour, with few seeds. 
Kitchen Garden. 
As is customary at many establishments throughout 
