310 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 15, 1905. 
plague both farmer and gardener. But wliat surprised and 
shocked me most was to' see that gifted songster, the lark, in¬ 
cluded amongst the criminals and a price set upon his innocent 
head. The lover of nature taking a walk into the country 
just now cannot help being struck with the charming variety 
of bird notes. But above all, the lark compels you to look up 
and listen with softened feelings to' this beautiful sermon that 
he is preaching from the very sky above you, as he soars and 
sings. 
He is onlj* a speck in the sky, 
A mote in the eye; 
But such music as this 
No mortal need try. 
And you wonder that there is any person in humane Christian 
England with a heart so cruel and hard that could harm this 
O 
innocent songster. 
But the time is coming, although a little distant, according 
to a Chicago professor, when the birds will be revenged on 
ci;uel man. 
A Chicago professor has been telling his students that in a 
matter of three million years the human race will be extinct 
and the earth will be dominated by birds. “ First came the 
fishes. They were dominant for a while, and had to give way 
to the amphibians. Then came the reptiles, and soon they 
yielded to the mammals. Now the mammals are weakening, 
and the newest class, the birds, is growing is prominence, and 
in time, I certainly believe, will be dominant inhabitants of 
the earth.” A. McM. 
Edinburgh. 
Window Gardening. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,-—Early in February last you kindly allowed me to state 
in your columns that the Metropolitan Public Gardens Associa¬ 
tion was desirous of relieving the monotonous aspect of many 
of the streets in the poorer parts of the metropolis by encour- 
ao-ino' the formation of outside 1 window gardens, and that if 
some of the numerous windows abutting upon the public 
thoroughfare could be made fresh and gay with plants and 
flowers, a great improvement would bo effected. With this 
object in view, I mentioned that the association was prepared, 
within due limits, to provide money for prizes to any bona fide 
flower show, society, or other suitable organisation willing to 
arrange, as part of its summer programme, outside window 
garden competitions in poor localities in the metropolitan area 
on approved conditions. I should like to say, if you will allow 
me, that we have received and dealt with between, twenty and 
thirty applications, representing as many centres, where com¬ 
petitions will take place during the summer, and should there 
be any other bodies desirous of applying to the association for 
prizes, in order to set on foot similar competitions in other 
areas in London, it would be desirable that they should send 
in their applications to our secretary without delay, as the 
season is advancing. Meath (Chairman). 
Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, 
83, Lancaster Gate, W., April 7th, 1905. 
Primula megaseaefolia 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I can quite concur with “ Heather Bell ” in extolling 
the many good qualities of this Primula. But there is one 
qualification which it possesses that 11 Heather Bell ” has not 
realised, and that is its hardiness. 
• There is a plant of this Primula growing here on the margin 
of a hardy Lily pond, and growing most luxuriantly, and has 
been doing so for the past two years. It commences flowering 
towards the end of November, and continues to do so through¬ 
out the winter months, and "even now, at the time of writing 
(March 15th) it is still sending up its flower scapes, notwith¬ 
standing the fact that it has borne through the winter eighteen 
or twenty of these scapes. 
Primula megaseaefolia is a splendid addition to our hardv 
Primulas, and when it becomes a little more plentiful, t 
enable one to plant it in bold masses or colonies, it will b e a 
charming subject for the rock garden, and especially so as it 
blooms when there is very little else. 
With this, with , some of the other hardy species, such as 
P. denticulata cashmeriana, P. Sieboldi, P. deltoides,’ P. japo- 
nica, and others, a long succession of bloom can be obtained. 
As regards the style of the flower, my experience is the same 
as “ Heather Bell's." I have only seen thrum-eyed flowers, and 
moreover I am rather doubtful whether the* pin-eyed plant 
exists with this species. I think this a very wise arrangement 
on the part of Nature, because if this Primula was pin-eyed or 
Eng styled, I doubt very much whether it wmuld ever become 
fertilised by any natural agency, when we consider the 
season in which it blooms, and the difficulties which exist 
iii conveying the pollen to the long-styled stigma. Evidentlv 
this Primula will seed freely when fertilised by its own pollen 
because upon the plant here I have a large number of seed pods 
which are developing splendidly, and I am looking forward to 
some good seed. ' p jj 
Ponsonby, Torquay, March 15th. 
Bougainvillea glabra. 
This is a very free-blooming as well as a. free-growing plant, 
its mauve-c(Mjured bracts being very effective. It succeeds 
admirably in a cool stove if kept in a light, airy position, the 
chief point in its culture being the thorough ripening of the 
wood. Bougainvilleas do ivell when trained on a Walloon 
trellis, and look very attractive when grown as a standard. 
Train it to the height required, then stop, removing all the side 
shoots but the four on the top; these should be stopped as 
needed, so as to form a round, compact head. Neatly stake so 
as to keep the plant in position. It requires to be kept dry in 
the winter, but the wood must not be allowed to shrivel. From 
January it should be given a little water up to the time it com¬ 
mences to grow in February, and should be then potted. What 
pruning is required to be done should be done at the same 
timA cutting out all weak wood, leaving plenty of well-ripened 
wood for covering trellis with flowering shoots, which come in 
bloom in May and June. In potting, "most of the soil should 
be removed. Three parts of loam, one part of leaf-soil, one 
part of peat, and silver sand is a suitable compost. It is best 
not to sift it but break it up. rough. In watering, it should be 
given sparingly at first, but after growth commences it can be 
applied more liberally. As the pots begin to get full of roots, 
a weak liquid manure is helpful to them. After the first 
blooms are over, cut the shoots back to the sound wood. When 
the fresh growth begins, it will flov-er in August and Sep¬ 
tember. After this, the water should be gradually withdrawn, 
and let the plants go to rest. W. J. Welch. 
Braekland Gardens. 
Narcissus Leedsii Ariadne. 
Amongst the Daffodils shown at the-meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 28th ult, was a new' variety named 1 
as above. It will be recollected by Daffodil specialists that 
the Leedsii strain was supposed to have originated from N. 
poculiformis and N. incomparabilis. It would be difficult to 
say what some of the recent, ones have been derived from, 
owing to secondary or even more complicated crosses. The 
chief characteristics which determine their position are that 
the crown or chalice, should-be fib out half as long as the. seg¬ 
ments more or less, and either, pale lemon or wdiite, while the 
segments themselves should be wdiite from the commencement. 
About fifteen or twenty years ago most of the 1 flowers belonging 
to this section had very narrow segments, consequently the 
flowers had a starry appearance. .The improvements more re¬ 
cently effected have brought about flowers with very broad and 
overlapping segments. This Daffodil was brought up by Messrs. 
Barr and Sons, of Covent Garden, and received an Award of 
Merit. 
