November 7, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
937 
to carry them in except some brown paper that he got hold of, 
so lie made up a big parcel of them and carried it on his head 
into Denver, three or four miles distant. Poor Peter! he 
was Cactus prickles all over from the crown, of his head to the 
tips of his shoes, and in agony for days thereafter. And the 
Denver newspapers found him out and exposed the story of 
his Cactus misery and his sacrifice to science and friendship. 
But everyone of those Cacti are still growing and happy in this 
smoky beehive of industry. 
Bedding Hyacinths. 
That picture, of Hyacinths (page. 782) is a valuable lesson, 
because, it shows a remarkably uniform grade of flowers; and 
all in bloom and the same stage of advancement, at the same 
time, and every spike is erect.—not one has topped over. But 
now comes the sting. The nlames of the varieties are not 
given. Such a. picture, with a number to each bed, and a 
corresponding number with the name in the text, would be 
very valuable information. As I grow thousand's of Hyacinths 
every year, I know from experience how few really good 
Hyacinths are first-class bedding varieties, fine though many 
may be.for pot,s. Their deficiency out, of doors is their early 
tendency to lop over by reason of them top-heaviness. To 
stake them is out of the question.. 
‘ Kewite.” 
Ye®, I am one, and right proud I am of the. honour, and my 
advice to every young gardener in Great Britain is—go 1 thou, 
to Kew. ' Never mind the low wages. When there I worked 
for and lived on 14s. a, week, and, considering what I learned 
there and the prestige it gave me in after life, it. was the best- 
paid place of my early manhood. But, I don’t, like that word 
“ Kewite ” ; can’t you give us a happier and more euphonious 
name than that ? 
Cactus Dahlias for Garden Decoration. 
A great deal of nonsense continues' to, be written in the 
gardening Press about the wickedness of the raisers of Cactus 
Dahlias in sending out so many varieties with short stems, 
plants that hide’ their flowers beneath the foliage. I always 
think these, cute observers who write so. much and know so. 
little take their observations from plants growing in a shady 
corner of a, suburban garden. Certain it is that they do not 
go to places where Dahlias are properly grown and attended 
to, or they would be able, to write with more truth and common, 
sense. 
For many years now, very few of the. Cactus Dahlias intro¬ 
duced can be described a® unsuitable for garden decoration, 
the vast majority being most profuse, bloomers. The. so-called 
trial at Chiswick this year must have been very poorly con¬ 
ducted, when only three varieties were considered to be worthy 
of an Award of Merit. I could have selected twenty varieties 
equally worthy. The following varieties have dome remark¬ 
ably well in. Scotland in this worst of all seasons, so, may be 
safely depended upon to do much better in a normal summer 
and prove much more successful in the. South: Coronation, 
glowing red, not an exhibition variety, 3 ft. ; Etna,, lilac, tinted 
with yellow, 4 ft., exhibition and garden ; Eva, pure white, 
3 ft. ; F. A. Wellesley, crimson,-scarlet, 4 ft., very long stems; 
Ibis, bright orange, edged with scarlet, 4 ft., very early ; Ida, 
yellow, 4 ft., good for exhibition or garden ; Mrs. W. Cutb- 
bertsom, maroon, 3 ft. ; Mabel Needs, orange.-scarlet and 
crimson, 4 ft,. ; Peace, small, creamy-white, 3 ft. ; Prince of 
Orange, dark amber, 4 ft. ; Vesuvius, yellow and crimson, 
3 ft. ; Aunt Chloe, nearly black, 3 ft., very profuse ; Arab, 
34 ft., maroon, very long stems; Edith Waters, 3 ft., rosy- 
pink ; Gabriel, crimson, with white tips, most profuse and 
early; Mrs,. Needs, crimson and purple, 3 ft., very free, Iona 
wiry stems ; P. W. Tulloch, salmon-pink, 3 ft. ; Spitfire, bright 
scarlet, not a very full flower, but most profuse, and a. very 
striking object in the garden, 3 ft. ; and Spotless Queen, white-, 
produces hundreds of flowers, a, perfect mass, 3 ft. 
The foregoing are all 1902 and 1903 varieties, and the fol- 
o o 
lowing, although a, little older, .are well worth growing for 
garden decoration,; Alfred Vasey, bronze, 3 ft.; Art,us, orange- 
buff, 4 ft. ; Capstan, brick-red, 34 ft.; Capt. Broad, ver¬ 
milion; Fearnought, soft carmine., very early and exceptionr 
ally free, long wiry stems, 3 ft. ; Imperator, ruby-red, often 
open-eyed, 4 ft. ; Major Tuppeny, yellow .and pink, 4 ft.; Mrs. 
Dickson, rose, 4 ft.; Monarch, orange-red, tipped magenta, 
4 ft. ; Mrs. TYeseder, white ; .Standard Bearer, fiery scarlet, 
4 ft.; Stella, crimson, 4 ft.; Uncle Tom, crimson-maroon, 
4 ft.; and Mrs. Cuthbertson, crimson-lake, 4 ft. 
These notes were, taken from both, plants grown to produce 
exhibition blooms, and from stock plants up till the end of 
August—that is, judiciously thinned ; the small weedy growth 
removed to let, the larger shoots develop; and then from end 
of August throw as many flowers, as they pleased. For nearly 
two mon ths they have been smothered in 'bloom. Again, the 
same varieties are in, long lines, never thinned or fed, and 
the foliage can scarcely be perceived, the blooms, meeting in 
the alleys. This, is. not a. .selection, from a, few chance plants, 
but from thousands, and from observations extending over 1 
the whole season—July till November. J. 
East Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh. 
Since the care, of the. gardens has been taken in hand by 
Mr. J. W. McHattie, the city gardener, they have been greatly 
improved in. many respects. The East Princes Street Gardens 
used to. be uninteresting enough at any season of the year, 
their beautifully undulated character and their situation close 
under the Castle Bock being their most, interesting features. 
The. terrace on the. level of Princes Street lias been immensely 
improved during the. past two, years. 
The chief fault we. should place against it at, the present time 
is the great, number' of beds which have, been crowded into the 
space at command, thus cutting up- the grass. At a, short 
distance, the space seems so rich in floral beauty as to. resemble 
a winter garden rather than, a, garden in. the open air. The 
citizens of Edinburgh have just cause to he proud of the won¬ 
derful improvement that has been effected, for instead of an 
uninteresting repetition, of Pelargoniums, it- has. now been, 
shown that a, great variety of plants can be grown to. perfec¬ 
tion. even in the northern, capital. 
The beds have practically been as. bizarre or gay as some of 
the more, reputed London parks., which have long been noted 
for their interesting design® or rich floral display. It has been 
shown, however, that even, in, the latitude of Edinburgh, with 
its lower temperature,, more cloudy skies,, and greater rainfall, 
that a wealth of floral beauty can. be produced that does not 
fall so much behind gardens situated under more favourable 
conditions as to climate in the average of seasons. 
The beds in East- Princes Street, Gardens vary chiefly be¬ 
tween oblong and circular, and these, are placed in three rows, 
upon, the. grass, Lilies, chiefly Lilium speciosum, L. auratum, 
and their varieties, were a very conspicuous feature in Sep¬ 
tember last, owing to the! quantities' of them planted, and the 
freedom with which they flowered. 
Some, of the- round beds, were planted with a mixture of L. 
speciosum, L.s, Melpomene, and L.s. album on a, groundwork of 
dwarfer-growing plants. In some other beds L. auratum was 
the feature, but we do not think it excelled the bright and 
attractive appearance of the smaller-flowered Lilies above 
named. 
The Cape Hyacinth (Galtonia, can dican. s) was a feature of 
numerous beds, and although past its best, in the middle of 
September, many of the. plants were still at their best in this 
northern latitude. An interesting bed was that in which L. 
auratum, L. speciosum, and Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums were, 
planted in the centre, sufficiently far apart to allow of the 
planting of dwarfer subjects between. Plants of Lobelia 
Victoria, were inserted at intervals between these with very 
fine effect. 
Another very pleasing mixture consisted of tall plants of 
