September 19 . 1903 . 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
785 
ep™. R 9 D ^o 3 ‘SChe hardening "World. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
ulips. 
''New varieties continue to be raised, and 
>w species to be introduced. The Tulip 
,-s recently been spoken of as the coming 
■wer, although one would almost think of 
em as the flower that has come, consider- 
? the enormous number of them now in 
dtivabion and the immense amount of 
riety which they present. There can be 
question of their decorative effect in 
rdens, and we think that in this respect 
a flowers which depart from the old stereo* 
ped and goblet-shaped flower of the florist 
3 amongst the most handsome. We cer- 
nl y require them to furnish variety in a 
nus ' n which so much has hitherto been 
pended upon in the matter of colour for 
w productions. % Amongst the new species 
we should mention Tulipa kaufmanniana, T. 
micheliana, T. praestans, and T. wilsoniana. 
We have been familiar with the first-named 
for some years past, but it has now got into 
many collections for the first time, and we 
think it is capable of giving rise to many 
beautiful varieties in the near future. Some 
disparaging remarks have been made with 
regard to T. micheliana, but it is a wonder¬ 
ful Tulip, with striking markings, especially 
on the inner face, and its form may yet be 
improved as time goes on. 1 We also re¬ 
member the notice taken of the charming 
miniature variety, T. Haageri nitons, with 
shining red flowers and a dark centre, and 
which when fully expanded under the in¬ 
fluence of sunshine seems to he ■something- 
different from a Tulip. Amongst varieties 
we may mention Ellen Willmott, which we 
might describe as a pale edition of Mrs. 
■Moon, the queen of the Tulips of goblet 
shape. New varieties have really been 
fairly numerous, and will take their proper 
place presently when they have shown their 
capabilities. A very fine one is that named 
Inglescombe Scarlet, 
-O'— 
Bulbous Irises. 
In our opinion two of the finest bulbous 
Irises brought before the public during the 
past spring were I. Tauri and I. buchariea. 
The first-named is closely allied to I. persica, 
hut differs in its much larger flowers and 
greatly intensified colours. Indeed, form is 
the particular in which it most closely ap¬ 
proaches I. persica. The second form which 
we mention is allied to I. orchioides, and its 
most prominent distinguishing feature is 
that the falls have a clear bright yellow 
blotch -on the centre, the rest heintj satiny- 
white, and very handsome. 
The Foxglove in Medicine. 
It is now pretty well known that the Fox¬ 
glove (Digitalis purpurea) contains a con¬ 
siderable amount of poison in its tissues, and 
in this respect it may be compared to the 
equally well-known Solanum family, with its 
numerous poisonous members. ' The Fox¬ 
glove, however, has been turned to very use¬ 
ful account in the case of heart diseases. Its 
use in this respect was made known by Dr. 
George Balfour, recently deceased. He gave 
an account of it in a book written by him, 
and several others who followed his advice 
and teaching wrote books and dedicated the 
same to Dr. Balfour. Digitaline is an infu¬ 
sion of the leaf of the Foxglove, which is 
scattered all over the British Isles, The 
Foxglove has, indeed, been used for centuries 
with considerable success or otherwise ac¬ 
cording to the skill of the physician employ¬ 
ing it, but they often administer it under 
the mistaken belief that its action was that of 
a sedative. On the other hand, it acts on 
the heart as a stimulant, hence the necessity 
for every practitioner who uses it to be tho¬ 
roughly acquainted with its real properties, 
Forgotten Use of a Common Tuber. 
It seems that Dahlias were at one time 
grown in Europe for the sake of their tubers, 
which were utilised as food. The “ Scientific 
American” makes some reserve, however, in 
the statement it makes with regard to the 
use of these tubers. They are said to be 
both wholesome' and toothsome when roasted. 
It continues 1 , however, that observation on 
this line would be desirable'. This reminds 
us of the love of Chrysantheuiumists towards 
their favourite flower some years ago, and 
who tried to make them palatable by frying 
them, and also by using the florets as an in¬ 
gredient in soup. After all this was done 
they failed to prove palatable, but some more 
distressing things in connection with this diet 
was the powerful odour they gave off while 
being cooked, and the almost inevitable pre¬ 
sence of green fly upon them in great num¬ 
bers if the flowers had been expanded for 
some time. We are afraid that the odour 
of roasted Dahlia roots would require some¬ 
thing to counteract the same in order to get 
them past the censorship of the nose. 
Willows used in Pharmacy. 
At the fortieth meeting of the British 
Pharmaceutical Conference, held at. Bristol, 
a paper on the “ Willows Used in Phar¬ 
macy ” was read by E. M. Holmes, F.L.S. 
This scientific worker said that comparatively 
little information concerning Willow bark 
was given in materia medica, works. Even 
less was said about the species of Willows 
from which the saliein of commerce was ob¬ 
tained. It seems that here again what 
ought to have been a British industry was 
allowed to go out of the country for the 
benefit of the persevering foreigner. The 
question was brought to. his attention owing 
to its. appearance in the Court of Session, 
Edinburgh, where it was stated that Salix 
fragilis was the species employed for the 
manufacture of saliein. He. speaks of a 
number of species of Willow that are culti¬ 
vated for the purpose of basket or eliair 
making, but says that, the steeping of- the 
Willows for the purpose of removing the bark 
causes the loss of saliein. The bark also 
loses saliein by being kept. The best yield 
of saliein is obtained from fresh bark, and 
the Belgians obtain the fresh bark by setting 
up chemical works close to the lands where 
the Willows are grown. The author men¬ 
tions a number of species from which saliein 
is obtained, and others which do not contain 
any of this substance. He concludes by 
referring to what has been done at Kew in 
order to determine which species of Salix 
yield the desired product. The species in this 
case were S. triandra, S. purpurea, S. rubra 
forbyana, and S. decipiens. 
