June 20, 1003. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
525 
juneTL < 3Chc Gardening World. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
weet Peas from North Wales. 
( A box of two varieties of Sweet Peas has 
ached us from Mr. T. H. Bolton, Baron Hill 
irdens, Beaumaris, N. Wales. As may be 
rmised, they have been grown under glass, 
d Mr. Bolton sends them with the object of 
owing how well suited they are for pot 
irk at this early period of the year. He 
.s been using them for the past six weeks, 
>th in the cut. state and otherwise. One 
liety was Gorgeous, and he thinks this 
e most distinctive variety yet introduced, 
cause it shows up well under artificial 
pit. We have frequently remarked the 
fauty of this variety at exhibitions and 
sewhere. The standard is of a brilliant 
orange, which tells up prominently against 
every variety approaching this colour. The 
wings are rosy-carmine, and therefore in 
marked contrast to the standard. The' flowers 
are very freely produced even when grown, 
in pots, there being usually three blooms on 
a stalk. The other variety sent was Golden, 
Gate, with pale ma.uve' flowers, more or less 
tinted with a darker hue on the upper edge 
of the wings. Each stalk in this case car¬ 
ried three or four flowers. Mr. Bolton finds 
this equally telling for breakfast or lunch- 
table decoration. The flowers were certainly 
very sweetly scented when they reached us, 
and wonderfully telling in colour, consider¬ 
ing that they had been grown and bloomed 
under glass. 
Parkinson’s Paradisus Terrcstris. 
The above book has always been, a scarce 
one, and in recent, years it lias become very 
dear, SO' that the idea of republishing it ex¬ 
actly as it was printed in 1629 is a good one. 
The publishers who are bringing out this 
work are Messrs. Methuen and Co., 36, Essex 
Street, Strand, London. The work will be a, 
reprint exactly the size of the edition printed 
at the above date. One thousand copies will 
he printed at the price of 30s. net, and 
twenty copies on Japanese vellum will he 
printed at £10 10s. John Parkinson was an 
apothecary of London and the King’s Her¬ 
balist. He was a, man of much reading and 
original observation, while his power of ex¬ 
pressing himself in English left little room 
for the reader to be in doubt -about, his mean¬ 
ing. In the sample pages sent us the print¬ 
ing is large and clear, which will he an im¬ 
provement, upon the original or old copies of 
the book which have become in any way 
worn. The page of illustrations of Irises, 
under the name of Flowerdeluce shows that 
the modem artist can reproduce the ancient 
one tolerably fairly. They are excellent re¬ 
presentations of the flowers for which they 
were meant. 
» ° 
Exports by the State of Victoria. 
A small pamphlet giving information con¬ 
cerning products exported by the State of 
Victoria to> Great Britain has been prepared 
by Mr. J. M. Sinclair, Superintendent, in 
London of Exports for the Victorian Govern¬ 
ment. In its pages we note information con¬ 
cerning various kinds 1 of agricultural pro¬ 
ducts, and also information about fruit. A 
large area has been planted with orchards, 
particularly Apples and Pears suitable for 
export to this country. The fruit season in 
Victoria being the reverse of that of Europe, 
they are able in Victoria to supply us with 
fruits which we cannot ourselves produce at 
that period of the year. He also discusses 
canned and dried fruits, fruit pulp, honey, 
tobacco leaf, and other exportable products. 
An Edible Ornamental Plant, 
The “American Botanist” for March, in 
speaking of Caladium eseulentum, describes 
it as a plant that is grown, for the ornamental 
effect of its foliage, but says that probably 
few are aware that the tuberous root is 
edible. In. warmer countries' it is grown, as 
a field crop under the name of Coco. The 
tubers may be boiled, roasted, or baked like 
a Potato. The young leaves are said to- be 
occasionally used as a pot herb. The proper 
name of this plant, we may remark, is Colo- 
easia antiquorum, the latter name evidently 
indicating that it was known to- the ancients, 
and the tuberous roots no doubt eaten by 
them when the production of food by arti¬ 
ficial cultivation was far less extensive than 
it is at, the present day. We could also men¬ 
tion a plant considered a, native of England, 
the tuberous- roots of which were used in 
much the same way by the natives in olden 
times. This was Arum italicum, which wasi 
known as Portland Sago. We may state 
that both of the above plants are more or less 
poisonous, but, as in the case' of many other 
plants, the poison is readily dissipated on 
the application of heat, whether roasted, 
boiled, or baked. We may mention Manihot 
utilissima, from which tapioca is prepared. 
In the ordinary green state it is highly 
poisonous 1 . & J 
The Double-Flowered Horse 
Chestnut- 
t The double variety of the common Horse 1 
Chestnut (Aesculus Hippocastanum) is widely 
distributed in both hemispheres', but evi¬ 
dently a, very uncommon plant in either. We 
cannot, say that it is more beautiful than the' 
ordinary single form, if it, indeed equals' some 
of those with fine red markings, blit, it has 
one qualification which recommends it for 
more general cultivation—namely, that the 
flowers are more durable. Gardeners might 
add another—namely, the absence of fruits 
which would save some trouble in cleaning 
them up in autumn, when the tree happens 
to be planted on lawns. Mr. Joseph Meehan 
has just been discussing the subject in. “ The 
Florists, ; Exchange,” because some fine trees 
of it have just been reminding him of the 
existence of this double variety. Some of 
the cultivators, of ornamental trees and 
shrubs in this country catalogue it, and oecar 
sionally we see specimens in some small 
gardens where ,the owners may possibly not 
have been aware of the unique character of 
their tree. It is also in the collection at 
Kew, hut is very far from being a common 
tree. The numerous petals fill up the centre 
of the flower and hide any markings that 
may be upon them, so that the thyrse of 
flowers is merely massive and white. 
