THE GARDENING WORLD. 
1030 
December 12. 1903. 
planted in America., we should think that by deductions from 
geology there was nothing unreasonable in considering the 
Heather a true native of America. The evidence of geology is 
that there must have been some connection between the con¬ 
tinents of the old and new world at one time., seeing that they 
possess in common similar and closely related or even identical 
types of vegetation. Then why deny that the Heath found its 
way down both sides of the Atlantic in ancient times? There are 
some eminent men who' believe that a large number of plants 
originated in Greenland and migrated both to the old and ne w 
world, so that they are represented at the present day by such 
plants or their lineal descendants. The Heath family, includ¬ 
ing the Rhododendrons', Pieris, Andromeda, and similar plants, 
have their representatives in both worlds 1 , and no doubt such 
had a common origin, whatever means may have existed ; n 
ancient times for their dispersal. This finding and noting of 
localities for the Heather on the western continent has its 
humorous as well as its .serious side. “ Vanity Fair’s ” car¬ 
toon of the Flower .Committee of the Massachusetts Horticul¬ 
tural Society searching for Heather at. Tewkesbury is certainly 
comic, and the account, given with the picture is equally so. 
All phases of the question have been touched ujron, and tire 
author would have seemed to have ransacked every book con¬ 
taining an allusion to the Heather, its u.tes, economics, and 
medicinal value. Among the more recent questions raised 
with regal'd to the Heather is that of symbiosis. For some 
years past we have heard or read of various plants that require 
the aid of a fungus in order to live, including such as Orchids, 
the Beech, Scotch Fir, Rhododendrons, and many others. It 
is even admitted that the Heath tribe are lime haters, and 
must be planted in soil from which that is absent, or relatively 
so; otherwise .they fail to thrive. All the evidence points to 
the fact that the common Ling or Heath would derive benefit 
from its connection with a. fungus a,s the other plants named. 
The idea was, of course, received with incredulity by a large 
number of its admirers, and the late Thomas Meehan, of Ger¬ 
mantown, proposed to investigate the case for his own satis¬ 
faction in the spring after the frozen ground had thawed, but, 
unfortunately, his death prevented him undertaking that 
examination. 
In a chapter on the economics of the Heather is a, record of 
a form of punishment meted out to a woman who was convicted 
by the kirk session of a misdemeanour. It. was in the chapter 
relating to. the use of Heather for thatch. One of the elders 
did not believe that the woman would carry out the payment, 
and gave vent to his views as follows: “ The jade ’ll never pay 
ye; she's nae guilty o? payin’ ony ane; gar (make) her pu’ a. 
few biins o’ fine swank Heather to make the kirk water-tioht.” 
The story about. Heather beds reads like a romance. Several 
important writers in books; and papers relating to the High¬ 
lands have recorded their findings, information, and actual ex¬ 
periences with regard to the value of Heather asi a bed. This 
is made by pulling the fresh Heather and laying- it down evenly 
with the tops uppermost. What, if any, clothes may be used 
are put. on the top of this, but the reports relate chiefly to the 
summer season, and even when the Heather was in bloom, so 
that the latter was the most important, of the above furnishing. 
The hardy Highlanders would lie down on this merely wrappe 1 
in their plaids. The writers state that such a bed had the 
effect oi drying up superfluous moisture, keeping everything 
dry, that it was as soft as a feather bed, .and fragrant, while the 
sleepers who lay down faint and weary at night would rise up 
in the morning nimble and sprightly. ‘ Soldiers have done this 
on frequent occasions, and especially in the olden time, when 
every able-bodied man of the clan was a fighter, and frequently 
had to engage in warfare at the call of his chief. Even 
poachers can make a comfortable bed amongst the Heather, 
from which it is first necessary to .scrape away a portion of 
the. snow in order to make up a couch. Only one writer com¬ 
plains of his experiences in the Highlands in this respect, and 
that, was owing to. the width of the chimney, which allowed 
the snow to come in and fall upon him during the. nmht. 
The writer of this book is 1 , of course, a Scotchman, and 
therefore able to give a correct rendering of all these stories, 
but his experience with regard to the cutting of peat for fuel 
is somewhat different from ours. The method is carefully de¬ 
scribed, but the point on. which we disagree is that the 
who cuts the peats throws them to the edge of the bog, where a 
woman receives them, places them on a wheelbarrow, and 
wheels them away to some more elevated situation to harden 
and dry in the sun. 
Our experience lias been that real live peat would not stand 
so many manoeuvres. When cut out of the mass in the form 
of bricks it is as soft as the jellies put on the dinner table, 
Avithout their cohesion or toughness, and if handled so manv 
times in the fresh state would all go to pieces. The man who 
cuts the peat of such a nature places each brick-shaped mass 
directly upon a barrow without sides, and when the barrow 
is full the woman wheels it away, and tips the harrow in such 
a way that the Avhole mass Avill stand slantingly upon the 
ground in an unbroken heap or barrowful. This is left for a 
week or ten days until the peats dry and stiffen. They are 
then spread flat upon the ground one layer deep, and left until 
they harden sufficiently to be set up in heaps to dry tlioroughlv 
and be ready for carting to the homestead. 
Taking it altogether, we consider the book one of the most 
interesting we have read for many a day, and we have no doubt, 
it will be appreciated by all who are thoroughly at home in the 
Heather country, and by those who have left it. 
Chrysanthemum Maude Du Cros. 
(See Supplement.) 
The above variety first came under our notice on October 
6th, when it arrived too late for the committee of the National 
Chrysanthemum Society. On October 26th it again came up, 
and was awarded a First-class Certificate. On the following 
da.y it was brought before the Floral Committee of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, and received an Award of Merit. It is 
a Japanese variety, with drooping florets of a clear canary 
yelloAv, Avith a silvery yellow reverse. The florets are fairly 
broad and interlaced, so that it makes a handsome bloom about 
8 in. wide, 7 in. deep, and 26 in. in circumference. 
Judging from the time it first appeared, the variety will 
prove very suitable for exhibition and decorative work during 
the month of October; but no doubt by a judicious timing of 
the buds it may be had in perfection for the principal Novem¬ 
ber shows. It was raised by Mi". T. Bullimore, gardener to 
Arthur du Cros, Esq., Canons Park, Edgware, N., who obtained 
it as a seedling from Mme. Carnot. It came, in fact, from the 
same bloom as Mildred Ware. Since then, however, the variety 
has passed into the collection of Mr. H. J. Jones; Ryecroft 
Nursery, Hither Green, Lewisham, S.E., who will put it into 
commerce. 
Azalea Deutsche Perle. 
For early work I know of no better - variety than the above, 
requiring but little forcing to get it into- flower by Christmas, 
remaining in good condition for a very long time, proving most 
useful for decoration of the conservatory or mansion. It does 
not make much groAvth; consequently is not so useful for 
cutrflower purposes as some varieties, but for a lengthened 
display of bloom few can compete with it. The flowers are 
pure white and semi-double, and good-sized plants, 18 in. to 
20 in. across; can be had in 8-in. pots. A. Narcissi flora is 
another good variety, but I have had trouble with this; making 
its growth so early, it opens its flowers; during October, even 
when standing outdoors. To obviate this, the growths should be 
pinched early in the season or grown as cool as possible. A. 
Borsig is very similar to Deutsche Perle, but. perhaps 1 not quite 
as free; yet it is a valuable variety for winter work. J. M. 
