April 30, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
367 
[rood one) is to make up pans of the rooted cuttings, •which -will 
ensure having the plants of equal size, the distance between 
each plant to be governed by the habit of growth of the species. 
The soil for Selaginellas should be of a light character, con¬ 
sisting of good fibrous peat, leaf-mould in a half-rotted state, 
with a plentiful sprinkling of sand ; a little chopped sphagnum 
may also be used with advantage; while for the stronger¬ 
growing sorts, good fibrous loam may be added. 
An important point is giving them good drainage, this be- 
coming a fundamental principle when we consider the copious 
supply of water required by them during the summer; and I 
would also strongly advise the addition of a little charcoal 
among the soil and "drainage, which acts as a purifying medium 
where moisture is ever present. 
For the best species and varieties for culture I would refer 
my readers to a good Fern nurseryman’s catalogue. E. T. 
Caladiums. 
These are a class of plants too well known, I think, to need 
fully describing. They are grown for their lovely foliage, 
which is of varied hues and of great beauty. Well-grown, 
compact plants are splendid for house decoration, but of 
course they must on no account be used in a cold or draughty 
room; neither must they be left many days in any other room, 
or their delicate foliage will be spoilt. Large specimens make 
splendid subjects for exhibition purposes, and smaller plants 
may be used with advantage and great effect in groups, .etc. 
The best time to start the tubers into growth is February 
and March. When they have got well started into growth 
they should be potted on in a compost of equal parts of good 
fibrous loam, leaf-mould, and peat, with a little rotten manure 
and a good sprinkling of silver sand. 
The best way to propagate them is by cutting off the young 
sucker-like shoots, which spring up from the tubers. They 
should be cut off when about 4 in. or 5 in. long, and with a 
little bit of root, and put them into small pots in a mixture of 
peat, leaf-mould, and sand, and then put into a propagating 
frame and kept moist and well shaded. 
They will soon fill the pots with roots, when they may be 
taken out of the propagating pit and potted in the mixture 
recommended for the started tubers. 
Caladiums are a subject that must have plenty of pot room, 
so they must be kept potted on as they fill their pots with 
roots. They like plenty of heat, and will thrive in a day 
temperature of from 75 deg. to 85 deg., and a night tempera¬ 
ture of 65 deg. to 70 deg. 
To bring out the bright colours of the foliage to the full 
extent, they must be grown where they will get the greatest 
amount of light. It will be found necessary to shade them 
during the middle of the day, when the sun is brightest. An 
occasional watering of weak manure water will stimulate them 
very much. 
In the autumn water must be gradually withheld, so as to 
dry them off. When the foliage is dead the pots they are in 
must be kept perfectly diy during the winter months and until 
starting time again. 
There are a great many varieties of Caladiums in the market. 
I should particularly like to mention two of my favourites— 
viz., Argyntes, a lovely little dwarf-growing variety, with white 
and green foliage, and a splendid variety for dinner-table deco- 
ration; also Minus erubescens, which is a good companion for 
Argyrites, has crimson and green foliage, and is very dwarf. 
Of the taller growing varieties a few of the best are Candi- 
dum, an old variety, but still one of the best—it has foliage 
with green veins on a white ground ; Assungay, transparent 
rosy-pink leaves ; Golden Queen, pale yellow ; Prince of Wales, 
golden colour ; Madame J. Box, pink ground, veined with deep 
rose; Mrs. Harry Yeitch, a self-coloured variety, dark red 
eaves ; May Archer, white, with rose centre; Duchess of York, 
pink leaves, dwarf; and Baron Adolph de Rothschild, verv 
lar " e leaves, crimson, spotted with pink. 
These are only a few I have mentioned, but there will be 
many more varieties most likely far in advance of these. 
J. A. W. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
The Origin of Saxifraga Rhei, Guild ford Seedling. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sib, — I was much interested in perusing the notes of 
■' AY. A.” on page 320 of The Gardening AA t orld respecting 
,Saxifraga* to see that he mentioned the above 'variety, as I 
have since its first appearance considered it to be the best of 
all^ the mossy section!. I think it very desirable that all the 
information possible should be published concerning new 
plants, and as the above has received more than, one name and 
little seems to be known about hew it originated, I may per¬ 
haps be able to throw some light on the matter. It is pretty 
well known that the plant was introduced by the late Mr. S. 
Leonard, and received an Award of Merit when shown before 
the R.H.S. Tire first plant was a chance seedling, which ger¬ 
minated in a heap of cinder ashes lying in the nursery, and 
was found by Air. Pulham, who is now established in business 
at Elsenham, and was at that time acting as foreman of the 
Guildford Nursery. He thought the foliage differed from the 
typical S. Rhei and potted up the plant to see what the flower 
would be, with the result that it proved superior to any other 
of the mossy section, and such a richly-coloured flower had not 
before been obtained. Respecting its culture, I can endorse 
what "AY. A/’ says, and being a good grower it soon makes a 
conspicuous mass in the rockery. The plant is also easily pro¬ 
pagated by division or from cuttings, which root easily, and 
should be grown in good loamy soil and grit. 
How this Saxifraga obtained the name of Fergusonii I am 
unable to sax, but perhaps AA . A. could tell us, as it received 
the name of Guildford Seedling when first shown. 
Elstree. a, E. Thatcher. 
A Hard Case. 
To the Editor of The Gardening AA'orld. 
Like Past Kewite, I thinik that a truly candid ex¬ 
pression of my sentiments regarding the “Hard Case” he 
writes of might not find favour with you. Presumably the 
deposed head gardener obtained permission from his employer 
to absent himself for the purpose named. If so, it appears to 
Die impossible to find any excuse for the conduct of the popular 
Norfolk knight, whose name I should like to see published, 
so that his popularity—certainly so far as gardeners are con¬ 
cerned—might receive a, deservedly rude check. 
The knowledge that cases, of this kind can—and do—occur 
should, I think, spur gardeners on towards the formation of 
the “ Proposed Gardeners’ Association,” concerning which I 
have been very pleased indeed to read some interesting letters 
in your columns of late. 
Past Kewite s intimation that the deposed head gardener 
is well known in the gardening world leads me to hope that 
he has found no difficulty in securing a suitable re-engagement, 
but for the majority of gardeners the well-known fact that there 
are often over 200 applicants for a veiy moderate post might 
veil lender this hope a vain one. Substantial assistance 
towards placing well-qualified and deserving gardeners in suit¬ 
able positions is, however, only one of the benefits anticipated 
from the proposed association by Arthur Garnett. 
Kew, April 26th, 1904. 
Anatomy of the Stexi of Lycopodium- —Air. C. E. Jones gave 
an abstract of his paper on “ Morphology and Anatomy of the 
Genus Lycopodium ” at the meeting of the Linnean Societv on 
April 7th. He described the changes in structure which take place 
in the stems of the above plants from the early stages of their de¬ 
velopment until they become of a relatively woody character. 
His descriptions served to show the process cf development and 
the manner in which isolated portions of the stem become ligni- 
fied, forming islands or bands of woody tissue distributed through 
the softer tissue. The paper was' chiefly interesting from~a 
scientific point of view. 
