617 
nel3 1903 . THE GARDENING WORLD. 
' __ . nr . n ni AVT For details of this competition and prize offered, pteaae 
READERS COMPLIlIIUN. seepage 513 Please post on Friday night 
A Note on Tree Paeonies. 
There are many methods adopted in the propagation of the 
Tree Paeony, but none prove more satisfactory than that of graft¬ 
ing usin'? the herbaceous type as the stock. The two species 
best adapted for stocks are, undoubtedly, Paeony alba and P. 
officinalis. Those who intend to propagate their own Paeonies, 
and everybody should, should obtain a strong batch of either oi 
the two above-mentioned species. If old plants of the herbaceous 
Paeony are growing in the garden they may be divided if only a 
few stocks are required, but where a quantity are to be worked 
it is better to sow seed in frames as soon as it is ripe. The scions 
bein'? put directly on to the roots, it is essential to obtain 
sound healthy roots, and therefore careful attention should be 
„iyen ’to their preparation. The soil in which the tubers are 
produced should be rich and light in order to induce the produc¬ 
tion of plump, fleshy growth. About the first week m August 
take up the tubers, and select the finest pieces for stocks, taking 
care to remove all buds that may develop. The scions should be 
made from young shoots that have not flowered. Cut them off 
at a joint, and then cut them to a wedge shape, and having 
taken .a piece from the tuber, fit in the prepared scion exactly 
and carefully, and surround the union, with wax or clay. Be 
sure to put in the scion as soon as the wedge is cut, as if it is 
allowed to dry even slightly failure is courted. After the graft¬ 
in'? is complete plant the tubers in frames, so that the union is 
just below the surface. If done carefully the plants will be fit 
for removing the following spring. Pem. 
Insectivorous Plants and their Peculiarities- 
Probably the most interesting of all flowering plants are those 
included in the natural order Droseracece, which takes its name 
from the well-known genus Drosera, more commonly known as 
the Sundew. No less than 90 out of the 100 species (all.of which 
are carnivorous) belong to the genus Drosera. Of the remaining 
species ten are distributed among half as many genera. I con¬ 
sider by far the most interesting is Dionaea Muscipula, the 
Venus’s Fly Trap. In fact, I do not consider that it would be 
claiming too much to claim this as the most interesting of all 
plants. It is to be found wild only in the Southern States of 
North America, where it grows in boggy places in peat soil. It 
is called after Dione, one of the names of Venus. 
I should now like to call your attention to the more minute 
structure, and to the interesting functions carried on by the 
various organs of this vegetable curiosity. Should any of my 
readers be unfamiliar with this plant in its living state, I would 
refer you to a picture of the leaf, which can be seen in almost any 
text-book of botany. 
The short rhizome bears a rosette of leaves, and later a flowering 
stem, the whole appearing very insignificant to the glance. The 
leaves, however, on examination prove to be of the most highly 
specialised structures to be found among the vegetable organs of 
the plant kingdom. The lower portion of the leaves consists of a 
winged petiole, whose function is that of ordinary carbon-hydrogen 
“ assimilation.” The leaves are two-lobed, while on the inner sur¬ 
face are scattered six coarse hairs, commonly known as trigger 
hairs, three being on each side of the midrib. Scattered upon the 
upper surface also are a number of small red dots, which, when 
seen under the microscope, have the structure of secretory glands. 
The margins of the leaves are fringed with a number of sharp 
spines. 
The trigger hairs possess great irritability. If you pass a straw 
lightly across one of these hairs no noticeable result will occur, 
but if you repeat the action, no matter how lightly, the leaf will 
instantly close. The midrib also possesses great irritability, 
acting as a hinge, the marginal teeth or spines fitting between 
each other in the form of a perfect gin trap. Mutual friction 
apparently renders them more difficult to open. The reason for 
the trigger hairs requiring the second touch is clearly obvious, 
for should it close at a momentary touch it would very often be a 
great waste of energy. Should a small fragment of beef or some 
ot ler such food substance be put on the leaf so that it comes in 
contact with the trigger hairs, you will see that the leaf instantly 
closes. If after about an hour or two you forcibly open one of 
ie ear es, you will find the beef covered with a slimy secretion. 
is secretion has been found by experiment to contain an enzyme 
auied to the enzymes of the animal stomach. That the food 
undergoes a process of digestion is proved by the fact that little or 
none is found remaining when the leaf opens again. It will also 
be noticed that the leaves which close through being in contact 
with food substance remain closed much longer than the others. 
The little red dots before mentioned secrete the slimy fluid, the 
process of digestion usually taking from one to two weeks. The 
soil where this plant grows being deficient in combined nitrogen 
(nitrates, etc.) to remedy the deficiency, the leaves are specially 
modified to form an ingenious trap to capture small insects. 
I had intended dealing with the Sarracenia, Nepenthes, 
Drosera, etc., but space will not permit ; but with the editor’s 
consent, I will probably deal with those on a future occasion. 
[Yes, certainly.— Ed.] Harold J. Baker. 
Hybrid Water Lilies- 
Water Lilies vary considerably in the form of their stems or 
the parts from which their leaves and flowers spring. N. caro- 
lmiana and some of the N. odorata section have rhizomes 
which are easily divided. N. flava (although it did not prove 
hardy here) covered the mud during the summer with stolons 
as freely as a Strawberry plant. But most of the hybrids have 
a thick feshy base, with one or more buds or “ leads,” the 
number of these varying according to the variety. N. Lavdekeri 
rosea is extremely shy in this respect, but there is now a more 
prolific variety, N. Laydekeri prolifera. Others increase so 
rapidly that nothing but the large demand for them can have 
kept the price so high. It is a tact that unless divided every 
two or three years, most of them grow so thickly that neither 
foliage nor flowers are displayed to the best advantage. 
Now with the ordinary garden tools it is not easy to dig up 
a Lily plant equal in size to a three-year-old Rhubarb stool in 
2ft. of water. Here a little help from the blacksmith facilitates 
the operation. A keen-edged spade has a long simple shaft 
fitted to it in place of the ordinary handle, while the corners 
which always catch in the leaf stalks have a small guard rivetted 
to them, the other encl being fastened to the handle 6in. from 
the blade. With this the roots can be severed at a suitable 
distance from the plant, afterwards lifting it out with a two- 
tined drag hoe, when it can be divided at discretion. The 
sections are afterwards weighted and returned to the places 
chosen for them, pressing their roots into the mud when the 
water has cleared. Any side buds that form on choice varieties 
car. be taken off with a small slice of the stem attached, fast¬ 
ened to a piece of turf, planted in a tub, and grown on in the 
ordinary way. 
Nymphaeas are longer than most plants in perfecting their 
seeds. When ripe the pods open and the seeds, surrounded 
by a jelly-like substance, float on the water. After collecting 
them with a hair sieve place them in a shallow tub, 3in. of loam 
and 6in. of water, putting it in a warm, sunny corner, taking 
great care when renewing the water not to disturb the soil. 
Messrs. Laing, of Forest Hill, were, I believe, the first English 
nurserymen to offer hybridised seed for sale. It would He in¬ 
teresting to learn what success attended efforts to raise plants 
from it. 
Weeds are sometimes very troublesome. The Vernal Water 
Starwort (Callitriche verna) is especially a nuisance just as the 
Lilies commence to grow. But the Floating Pond Weed (Pota- 
mogeton natans) is far more difficult to eradicate ; its under¬ 
ground roots are so brittle that they are not easily got out. An 
old-fashioned daisy rake, with collecting pan cut out, and a 
brace fitted to strengthen the teeth, is the most serviceable of 
all the tools I have yet tried for weeding. 
In early spring some damage is caused by water snails, etc., 
depositing their eggs on the under side of the leaves, causing 
them to curl and become deformed, but from this the plants 
soon recover. In hot weather aphis infest those parts of the 
plants which are above the water level, but the worst plague 
is a small black grub, which makes its appearance in July or 
August, and eats channels on the upper side of the leaves in 
the same manner as the slugworm (Eriocampa limacina) does on 
the leaves of the Pear. I remember Mons. L. Marliac, in a 
paper read before the R.H.S., recommended jdacins on the 
surface of the water a mixture of colza and paraffin oil as pre¬ 
ventative of insect attacks, but as the leaves attacked are gene¬ 
rally above the water level this does not reach the marauders. 
Spraying the leaves with a solution of quassia extract is the 
only remedy that has proved efficacious. J. C. 
