894 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 24, 1903. 
to 1 certain characters found in any good form of plant. The 
red Horse Chestnut has given trouble to botanists and gar¬ 
deners with regard to its origin for many years. The Kew 
hand-list now names it Aesculus carnea, and considers it a 
gar'den hybrid, while all the other names that have been 
employed for it are regarded as synonyms. We presume that 
Ae. carnea was the first, and therefore oldest, name given to it, 
and that the others have been applied to varieties of it by 
different people. The variations would to' some extent indicate 
that it is a hybrid, but varieties may, and do', occur in a wild 
state of a. very large proportion of the wildlings. We presume, 
however, that North America has- now been so well ransacked 
that if this Chestnut grew there, it would have been discovered 
ere this time. In this work it is recorded as a form of the 
common Chestnut under the name of Ae. rubicunda, a name 
which was kept, up in botanical establishments for many years. 
In the chapter on hardy flowers is a picture of Aubretia 
growing between the crevices of veiy large stones, and these 
latter are so well represented that one could almost wish the 
writer had said something about the stones. The pictures are 
fairly numerous in this chapter, and excellent in their way, 
but it would have been an excellent plan if more of the pictures 
had been selected to actually represent some of the plants under 
notice. What we mean is that certain excellent pictures of 
the more formal parts of gardens might have been placed in 
the text dealing with such features of gardening establishments. 
The picture on page 122 is veiy appropriate at the present 
time, as it shows a view of Water Lilies at Wisley, and would 
therefore give the impatient Fellows some idea of what they 
may expect to see when they do get there. Altogether, there 
are four pictures of Water Lilies, grown under natural condi¬ 
tions in ponds or other sheets of ornamental water and placed 
in. that part of the article on hardy flowers: which deals with 
Nympliaeas, and this we consider a. very appropriate method 
of using the pictures. They really constitute an object-lesson 
the aim and end of which can be grasped at a glance and 
imitated in practice or actually improved upon according to 
the cultivator’s skill. 
There is a chapter on Roses and Rose gardens by Win. Paul, 
and here the illustrations are very aptly employed, being 
either intended for the instruction, of the reader in methods of 
propagation and pruning, or they may be a record of Rose 
gardens as they actually exist in various parts of the country, 
both in the garden of the lord of the manor and that of the 
cottager. 
The writer, in speaking of Tea Rose®, advocates a practice 
which we have never seen carried out in reality with the object 
he mentions. Tea Roses make handsome standards, he says, 
but that they are subject to' annihilation by frost. A hard 
winter will kill them wholesale even when protected. In 
order to- guard against this, he recommends that they be “ fre¬ 
quently transplanted or laid in under a north wall each autumn 
until spring.” This, he admits, would retard their growth to 
some extent, but the saving of the Roses. is better than ugly, 
crippled stems, which much-damaged standard Roses would 
resemble. 
Roses are represented in great numbers and under a great 
variety of conditions, but. even in this lengthy chapter it. is 
not possible to deal with the whole subject of Roses asi it now 
exists. The Ayrshire Roses are described as the hardiest of 
rambling Roses, but we think the Wichuriana. Roses might 
now be added to the list on. account, of their very decided habit, 
rambling propensities and beautiful foliage. We admit, how¬ 
ever, that the- garden forms; are yet in a rapid state of transi¬ 
tion, and in the course of a, few more years we shall have 
something much more worth recording, fine a.s the varieties 
and hybrids already are. 
The subject of exhibition Roses is dealt with by Ed. Mawley, 
Esq., the secretary of the National Rose Society, and he 
tackles the subject by giving the reader information about the 
soil and situation best adapted for the preparation of Roses 
for exhibition purposes, the preparation of the beds, selection 
of varieties, planting, protection from frost, pruning, insect 
pests, watering and hoeing, and the selection of exhibition 
Roses for ordinary garden cultivation. 
We think that many exhibition Roses might be seen to meat 
advantage in cottage and villa gardens, growing under more 
natural conditions than that adopted for the production of 
exhibition blooms. The severe cutting keeps the plants dwarf 
and therefore in limited space, but few could doubt the effect 
produced by a huge bush laden with bud and bloom even if 
these were not of exhibition size. We have seen some glorious 
bushes of the old Rose Celeste in cottage gardens, fomiino’ 
broad pyramids of bloom, but although this is only a. garden 
Rose, we have also seen La. France under similar conditions 
forming a bush 8 ft. high and laden with blossom. 
The chapter on climbing plants for the greenhouse is not 
very lengthy, but if that had been taken in conjunction with 
the conservatory the subject would have been worth dealing 
with in more detail, for climbers requiring indoor treatment 
are now very numerous and productive of fine effects, helping 
to shade the conservatory and make it comfortable for the 
visitors during the summer months. We suppose, however, the 
subject had to be broken up and dealt with in detail by dif¬ 
ferent writers, and that the limits of space would not permit 
of expansion. 
Immediately after the chapter just named we have one on 
the Chrysanthemum, its history and progress, with another on 
the culture of Chrysanthemums for exhibition, and still another 
chapter deals with the; same subject for greenhouse and con¬ 
servatory adornment. Foliage plants for the 1 greenhouse, hard- 
wooded plants and succulent plants make three other headings 
relating to the same houses. The above will give some idea of 
the aim and scope of the. book, which contains a vast amount 
of useful information by various good authors. 
Dahlia Florence M. Stredwick. 
(See Supplement.) 
The best month to see Dahlias in perfection is September, 
and a visit to the annual show of the National Dahlia Society 
at the beginning of that month is certain to reveal to the 
visitor the best things to be seen for the year in the way of 
Cactus Dahlias, to which section the above, variety belongs. 
Last year we noted it for the first time in the exhibit of Messrs. 
James Stredwick and Son, Silverhill Park, St. Leonards-on- 
Sea, on the above occasion. For many years past raisers 
have been striving to produce a. pure white Cactus Dahlia of 
first-class quality. It is true that Cactus Dahlias have been 
undergoing a. transformation during the past decade or two, 
and the white ones which made their appearance were in keep¬ 
ing with the other types for some, years. In more recent years, 
however, almost any colour was better represented than a pure 
white true Cactus Dahlia, Within quite recent years Lord 
Roberts turned up as the best pure white, but although very 
pretty and neat, the bloom was small. In turn this latter 
ha.s been beaten by Eva and Florence M. Stredwick. 
What we wish to say concerning the 1 improvement visible 
in the last-mentioned variety is a veiy high centre and the 
tendency to be semi-globular instead of flat, which is a failing 
with many otherwise good varieties. We wish it to be in¬ 
ferred, however, that several other varieties in this same 
strain, but differing in colour, also show this high state of 
evolution in having long pointed florets pointing in every 
direction so. as to form a. semi-globular bloom. 
Florence M. Stredwick gained the Silver Medal for the best, 
bunch of a Cactus Dahlia in the professional class last year at 
the National Dahlia. Society’s Exhibition in September. It 
is a most reliable variety, wiiy in growth, and the high centre 
we speak of is constant, never coining shallow in the centre : at 
least, in the South. We may state also that the variety has 
been shown in every stand for competition put up by Messrs. 
Stredwick during the past two seasons. This should be a 
strong point in its favour as a. constant and continuous flower¬ 
ing variety. 
