9 LO 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 31, 1903. 
Phoenix Roebelini. Two' very good Dracaenas were D. Yio 
toria and D. His Majesty, the latter having broad bronzy- 
purple leaves, the upper one® being rosy-purple, flushed with 
violet. Some very fine Hibiscus' Rosa sinensis in variety, 
Nerium splendens marginatum, Allamanda, Williaansii, and] 
Crowea, exifera, with rosy-pink flowers, represented flowering 
subjects which are well grown in. this warn house. 
The large Palm house contained a. splendid specimen o-f 
Phoenix rupicola, about the largest we have seen. Tire leaves 
were 22 ft. in length, and were clothed with their leaflets in a 
double row on each side. Here also, was a. grand specimen of 
1 \liaphisT1 abel 1 iformis, standing 10 ft. to 11 ft. high, and over 
7 ft. through. These Palms make useful subjects for decorative 
work. The house also contained a, great variety of the best 
Palms in smaller sizes. 
One house was devoted to' Begonia Gloire de Lorraine' in 
splendid condition. The early batch of plants had been sold ; 
those propagated in. June formed.nice plants 6 in. to 12 in. in 
diameter; those propagated in August. were 4 in. to 5 in. 
across. These are raised chiefly from one eye and a leaf. 
The next, place we entered was devoted to Adiantums and 
useful varieties of Pteris, such as P. serrulata cristatai and P. 
Wimsettii. The blue Coleus (C. thyrsoideus), and Dirnor- 
photheca Eckloni were also interesting subjects in this house. 
One house was chiefly devoted to useful decorative Palms, 
such as Kentia fosteriana, and Iv. belmorea.na, the latter a 
large specimen reaching to' the top of the house. A very 
unique specimen was K. fosteriana variegata, the leaves and 
petioles of which were striped with the same colour as Dracaena 
Lindeni. 
The conservatory was gay with such. Lilies as Lilium specio- 
sum, L. s. album, L. s. Melpomene, L. auratum, and L. a, 
ruhro-vittatum, all of which were well grown, and gave the 
place a bright and attractive appearance. Single and double 
Begonias, as grown for bedding purposes, were also located in 
this cool house. A number of hybrid greenhouse Rhododen¬ 
drons were also ripening up good growth. 
In the greenhouse we noted Acacias in great variety. Helio¬ 
tropes, Ivy-leia-ved and zonal Pelargoniums in single and double 
form, also single and double Fuchsia® in great variety, and 
Azalea, mollis flowering on plants that had been retarded. A 
veiy distinct Statice was that named S. Dipkinsoni, having 
long stems, spathulate leaves, and entirely red flowers. A 
very singular and unusual plant was Mueldeubeckia. platyclyda, 
with flattened green branches, resembling the well-known 
Acacia platyptera., except in the shade of colour. 
Notes and Comments. 
By William Falconer, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
The late William Thompson. 
And William Thompson is dead! My dear old friend and 
correspondent, and still we never met each other. But I have 
his catalogues and supplements for the last thirty years; they 
have a place beside the “ Kew Bulletins ” on my library shelf, 
and are a text book in themselves. What a painstaking, con¬ 
scientious and honourable man, he wa,s! I caused him a great 
deal of worry at one time. About twenty-five years ago, when I 
was in charge of the Harvard University Botanical Gardens, 
Dr. Edward Palmer collected large specimens of Agave Vic¬ 
toria,e Reginae in Northern Mexico,, and sent one of them to 
us at, Harvard, one to the St. Louis Botanical Garden, and one 
to the Agricultural Department at Washington. Our plaipt 
grew and bloomed right away and ripened a, big lot of seed. 
As Mr. Thompson had been so good to us, we sent him the 
seeds, and he advertised and sold them. The seeds germinated 
wherever sent, but the young plants all showed the leaves wit, 11 
marginal rows of saw-teeth, and the parent had no such teeth ! 
Of course, Mr. Thompson thought there was a, mistake', and 
bis customers who' had raised the seedlings wrote to him com¬ 
plaining about the “ error.” Mr. Thompson wais very much 
worried, and I believe stopped selling any more of the seeds. 
I even had the late Dr. Asa Gray write to him to tiy to convince j 
him of the truth of the matter. But he could not shut his 1 
eyes to the rows of saw-teeth on the leaves and none on the 
true Victoriae Reginae. In a couple of years, though, the saw- 
teeth edges dropped off in a white shaving, leaving the little 
plants identical with their beautiful parent, and we all were 
happy. 
The “ Master.” 
“ A very large proportion of them (gardeners) have to rear 
a given amount of produce annually for their master’s house¬ 
hold.” (See page 631). That word “ master ” in that sense is 
intensely repugnant to me. I care not whether he is the 
lord of the manor or the head gardener, it rasps the soul. 
Why not say employer 1 ? We do' not use that word “master” 
in this sense in America, and I am glad of it. 
The Mosquito Plant (p. 631). 
In our coast salt, marshes and inland shady, swampy places 
where mosquitoes abound in, myriad millions, I fear the 
Ocimum viride will not grow ; at any rate, in quantity, to 
affect these pernicious pests. The “ Mosquito Plant ” that I 
know and have grown, for many years, is Vincetoxieum acumin¬ 
atum, a very pretty hardy herbaceous, perennial. Now it does 
catch mosquitoes; it catches them by the proboscis and holds 
them fast till death, no matter how hard they may kick. But 
if the whole world were carpeted with this, Vincetoxieum there 
would be no visible diminution of the perky blood-suckers of 
New Jersey or the shore-lands of Long Island. 
Killing Weeds in Lawns (p. 636). 
Now, you head gardeners and practical men, tell me: How 
would it be on your lawns, big or little, to' snread a, lot of 
men in, a line, each with an oilcan, dropping a drop of sulphuric 
or crude carbolic acid into eveiy crown of Dandelion, Dock or 
Plantain in the grass,? After you had killed these weeds in 
this: way you would have to- pick them out of the grass, anyway : 
else your lawn would look as if it, had the sod-measles. Now, 
wouldn’t, you rather spread your hands over the lawn some 
morning after a rain, and pluck these weeds right out by the 
roots, wheel them away, and then roll the lawn? This is what 
I d'o and have done, and I have' laid down many, many acres 
of lawns, and we have mighty pretty grass, and clean, too, 
from perennial weeds. 
The Gardeners’ Dinner Committee (p. 638) 
When I look upon that group of gardeners, I cannot help 
being impressed with the great difference between the gar¬ 
deners of Britain, and of America. Here our gardeners, as a 
rule, are hired gardeners only just long enough to' get a, few 
dollars together to enable them to start into independent 
business for themselves, and they then become trade florists, 
nurserymen, landscape gardeners, contractors, fruit farmers, or 
the like. Not many of us remain into the sn,owv age working 
for wages for other people. But, I am one of them. That 
committee shows a, splendid set of men—earnest,, solid, trust¬ 
worthy appearing gardeners. You can, well be proud of them. 
Malmaison Carnations. 
We do not grow these. Why? Because we cannot. Oh, 
every now and again, a, few weak spurts are trained in their 
direction, but to no permanent use. But do not for a moment, 
think because we are off on M atm a,i sons we cannot grow Car¬ 
nations ; a, peep 1 into our great growers’ greenhouse® in winte" 
would he a sight the veiy best, of you Britons would declare 
superb. 
Lilium Brownii (p. 665). 
I find this one cf the most permanent of the Japaner' 
species; it lives better and longer out of doors, with us tha - ' 
any other of the longiflomm race; furthermore, it is the least 
affected by the Lily disease. Speaking of the Lily disease, 
however, reminds me that Lilium Hansooi is the most immune 
species of any class' or country, so, far as mv practical acquaint¬ 
ance extends, and I have grown many of them. 
(To be continued.) 
