12 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 2. 1904. 
but after a poor night’s rest, he woke up to find his clothes 
khaki-coloured, his eyes filled with sand, and his throat in pos¬ 
session of the real Soudan thirst. Mr. F. S. Sillito© is in charge 
of these gardens, including all the gardens of the officers, open 
spaces, and avenue®. He has about 100 men, three sheikhs 
and one clerk under his charge, and fifty women to water the 
street trees. 
He says he has- an extraordinary difficulty in getting the 
lingo drummed into his head by an. Egyptian.. He seems toi 
have managed the imperative mood for which he may rest 
thankful, as .the natives most readily understand orders when 
given imperatively. It would seem that rain in that region, 
comes but seldom, but comes like a flood with thunderstorms, 
after which the streets are like canals and plants grow, as it 
were,"-by inches. Sandstorms', it would seem, are of more 
frequent occurrence than rainstorms. It will thus be seen 
that Kew men, have got to* put up with Nature in a great 
variety of moods anything but pleasing. 
Mr. M. T. Dawe speaks of having been delayed a fortnight 
while on a journey, owing to the railway having been washed 
away by a storm. He mentions a dock in the neighbourhood 
of Nakuro which assumes the character of a, shrub 3 ft. to 
6 ft. in height. 
Letters also come from many other Kewites, and we have 
no doubt that those from the least-known places will be most 
appreciated, and in. this category we would place a rather long 
article on a “ Journey to Uganda,” by Mr. J. Mahon. No less 
than ten obituary notices are given, including such notable 
men in horticultural literature as well as practical work as 
Alexandre Godefroy Le-beuf, George; Samuel Jenman, F.L.S., 
and the notable writer about- Palms, Hermann Wendland. 
Tire journal is just as interesting as ever, and will be appre¬ 
ciated by those at home a.s well as abroad. 
Horticultural Club. 
Scented Inconspicuous flowers. 
The usual monthly dinner of this club was held at the Hotel 
Windsor on Tuesday, the 15th ult., under the genial chairman¬ 
ship of Mr. Harry J.Veitch, and was subsequently followed 
by a most interesting joint paper by Mr. G. Bunyard and Mr. 
James O’Brien on “ Scented Inconspicuous Flowers,” Mr. 
O’Brien; naturally treating of the Orchid tribe, while Mr. 
Bunyard’si remarks' were of a more, general eha^aotear. A 
number of very curious facts were-stated in connection, with the . 
attraction undoubtedly exercised through their odours by 
many flowers, which would otherwise presumably escape that 
attention, of the insect world which is an essential f actor in.their 
reproduction, and the area, of these phenomena wasi largely 
extended in the subsequent discussion, in. which the Revdsi. 
Professor Henslow and Engleheart, Messrs. M. Charles Pearson-, 
A. Pearson, C. T. Druery, and others took part. 
With regard to the human faculty of appreciating! odours :, 
either as attractive or repulsive, or even a,s existent, or nphf 
existent, it was generally felt, that man is little qualified to 
judge for the insect or even, the animal world, since, as Mr. 
Engleheart pointed out, it was impossible to form a scale of 
odours in, the same w’ay as we can of musical sounds; or optical 
colours, and it is quite possible, and indeed more than pro¬ 
bable, that while our eyes and ears are limited in their scope to 
certain ranges of audible vibrations or a limited area of the 
spectrum, insect organs may be capable of appreciating at any 
rate sounds which are too subtle- for our senses, and their 
olfactory nerves may also be so differently constituted as to 
be sensible of subtle scents beyond our ken. 
The case of rare moths, in captivity attracting those of their 
kind from long distances are cited as an, example by Mr. 
Druery; and while Mr. Charles Pearson, considered that, this 
attraction might be due to extremely high-pitched. sounds 
emitted by the captives, Mr. Engleheart quoted an instance 
in support of Mr. Druery’s- contention which indicated the 
attraction of certain moths, whose only habitat was seven 
miles distant. Applying this to flowers, it, is conceivable that 
inodorous ones to man, may nevertheless yet attract the needful 
insects by scent. The curious fact of certain recognised odours 
being common, not. merely to flowers of quite different species, 
but even to animals and minerals, was brought forward, the 
pungent, odour of the Onion being perceptible not only in other 
plants;, but also in, the small snail Helix alliaria and in vaporised 
arsene. 
Allusion was, also made to the singular cases of flowers with, 
to man, the moist repulsive odours attracting carrion, flies in- 
large numbers, with the result that they laid their eggs in 
profusion upon, such flowers, though these eggs were destined 
to perish, since no; real food, such as w T a,s suggested by the 
odour, existed for the future brood. Some of the Stapeli-as 
possess this, peculiarity, and Mr. Druery suggested the possi¬ 
bility of such plants- being allied to carnivorous ones, the addled 
eggs acting as nutricants. The subtle nature of odours was 
also indicated, the musk gland® of animals having the power 
for many years not only retaining their peculiar scent, but 
of imparting it perceptibly to the surrounding air and adjacent 
articles without any appreciable decrease in substance or 
weight. Referring to- the- innumerable odours of the foliage 
apart from the flowers, it was mentioned that, such emanations 
had been regarded as the mere throwing off of useless materials. 
This view, however, co-uld hardly be justified, since there was 
undoubted evidence that in- some cases these odours exercised 
a, deterrent effect- upon verminous foes. Both papers teemed 
with examples of curious relations between, scent and incon¬ 
spicuousness, while on the other hand it was pointed out that 
many very conspicuous one's had, as it were, two- strings to 
their bow, being fully as odoriferous as their humbler relatives. 
A hearty vote of t-hanks to both contributors closed the, pro¬ 
ceedings. 
Hybrid Tea-scented Rose Irene. 
(See Supplement^) 
The above lovely variety which is represented by the col¬ 
oured plate on, our supplement was raised as a. cross between 
Caroline Testout. and Mme. Jules Finger by Messrs. Wm. 
Paul and Son,, in their nurseries at Waltham Cross, Herts. 
The high qualities of Caroline Tes-tout are too well known to> 
need any comment, and if the newcomer possesses the free 
flowering qualities of that hybrid Tea, Rose, it will indeed be 
a,n, acquisition to the Rose garden. Mme. Jules Finger is a 
hybrid Tea,-scented Rose that is much less known and much 
less frequently cultivated in, gardens. 
The new variety named Irene may be described as a white 
Caroline Testout, the flowers having a, faint tinge of blush in 
them, .and they are purer in colour than Admiral Dewey, 
which is a blush sport from Caroline Testout. Irene is a-lso- 
a stronger grower than Admiral Dewey. The flowers are, a,s 
shown in.the plate, large and full, of good substance as regards 
the petals, and produced on strong upright stalks, ■ > that it 
is well adapted for cuftflower purposes. It is of a free flower¬ 
ing habit, and has all the other go-od qualities of the best 
hybrid Tea, Roses, and will make a fine bedding and de¬ 
corative: Rose a,s well as an excellent forcing and greenhouse 
variety. 
We trust it will also prove useful for exhibition purposes 
when once it has- been fairly tried. Not vet being in com¬ 
merce, it can, hardly be described as having been tested in 
various soils and under different climatic conditions. It has 
done excellently, however, in Messrs-. Wm. Paul and Son,’a 
nurseries, who are well able to gauge the qualities, of a, good 
Rose. We believe they are arranging to distribute the variety 
next May. With all the above qualities it cannot fail to find 
many admirers, even if exhibitors do- not take it up- so freely 
a,s in, the- case of the, well-known, Caroline Testout. 
The other parent above named, that is Mine. Jules Finger, 
is- a hybrid Tea which w r a,s, raised by Guill-ot in 1893. The 
plant is of strong growth, and produces creamy-white flowers, 
shaded with silve-iy rose, while the centre is of a salmon hue. 
