650 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 19, 1905. 
Notes on . . . 
Our Illustrations. 
ON CENTRE SHEET (pages 658 and 659). 
Black Currant Champion. 
It, follows that popular varieties of any 
garden plant get a plurality of names from 
different growers, each one thinking he has 
trot something different from Ins neighbour. 
Baldwin’s Champion is usually accepted as the 
name. The special features of this hire old 
variety are that it crops heavily, producing 
large berries, and when these have reached 
maturity they are sweet and pleasing. Tor 
this reason it lias long been a great favourite 
in the market, and always fetched a good 
price. Anything of special merit m this line 
is almost sure, sooner or later, to be attacked 
by some enemy, and this variety lias not 
escaped the bud mite any more than the less 
favoured varieties. , 
In the cultivation of Black Currants, the 
chief points are to keep the ground clean and 
free on the surface, so as to retain the soil 
moisture as much as possible, the Black Cur¬ 
rant being fond of moist situations. The 
chief pruning consists in cutting out old and 
dead wood, so as to make room for young 
shoots from the base. If these are too 
crowded, some of them should always be cut 
clean away, so as to allow a free play of light 
and air upon those that are left. This thin¬ 
ning out is, of course, gradual, only a portion 
beiim done every year. It should he done in¬ 
telligently, cutting away those stems which 
are ceasing to bear profitably, so that there 
may be no break between the bearing and 
non-bearing wood in any given year. 
A Useful Shrubby Veronica (Veronica 
Traversii), 
Several of the shrubby species of New 
Zealand Veronicas are relatively hardy in this 
country, provided they are placed under suit¬ 
able conditions. To plant them in rich moist 
soil is altogether a mistake. In their native 
country the soil must often be very hard and 
dry for great portions of the year. This, to¬ 
gether with the mild climate of New Zealand, 
has made them what they are, both shrubby 
and evergreen. It flowers over a prolonged 
period, according to different situations and 
aspects under which it may be placed. If 
placed in warm situations, it will dower well 
in May and June, but if shaded from the sun 
during the warmer periods of the day, it may 
not come into bloom till later ; but every bush 
is furnished with such a wealth of trusses of 
white dowers that one large bush continues 
to be showy for weeks together. 
A very useful purpose to which this can 
be placed is to put it in dry situations between 
the dwelling-house and the garden gate, abut¬ 
ting on the street in the case of cottage and 
villa gardens. It should be fully exposed to 
light and air, whatever the aspect on which it 
may be planted, but even when the dwelling- 
house faces the north, if the plant is close to 
the garden gate, it will have all the advan¬ 
tages of light, air, and sunshine during several 
hours of the day at least, provided the sur¬ 
roundings are not overhung by large trees. 
Only those who grow a bush about 4 ft. wide 
and high can imagine what a glorious occu¬ 
pant of the front garden it makes durincr the 
summer months. In case of a very severe 
winter intervening, it is always well to have 
a few young plants raised from cuttings and 
stored in pots in cold frames t,o> make good 
any loss. Those who have a conservatory 
would be able to save their plant, even in the 
severest winters, if grown in a tub and placed 
indoors in winter. 
Black Snake Root (Cimicifuga racemosa). 
Several species of Cimicifuga are grown in 
gardens, but in our opinion the best is that 
under notice. It is certainly more' widely 
represented in gardens than any other, and 
its chief rival might be described as a plant 
which flowers in the autumn, and therefore 
does not affect the place occupied by this one 
in gardens. 
The flowers are produced in long, slender 
branching racemes, and are white, tins hue 
being chiefly determined by the long brush of 
stamens., which form a conspicuous feature of 
the flower. The leaves bear a close resemblance 
to the Astilbe japonica, often wrongly named 
Spiraea. The plant under notice is a typical 
border subject, requiring nothing special in 
the way of cultivation, nor in matter of 
soil, provided it is fairly rich and well 
drained. Propagation is easily effected by 
division of the rootstock after the flowering 
is over ox in March, 
A Very Showy Iris (Iris aphylla Mme. 
Chereau). 
The wild form of this garden Iris is a native 
of Europe, and several good varieties have 
also been introduced. That under notice was 
raised in, gardens, and has white falls, witli a 
broad blue margin made up of numerous short 
stripes running from the edge inwards, after 
the fashion of a Carnation. The standards 
are also white, with a broader blue' margin 
and darker veins. Each plant, or rather 
crown, throws up a stem about 2^ ft. in height, 
each bearing a number of heads, from which 
flowers are given off in succession over a con¬ 
siderable period of time. Our illustration 
represents a fine bed of it, which bloomed in 
June in the Iris Garden, Ivew. 
Wet or watery places are not a necessity for 
these Irises, provided the natural soil is re¬ 
moved if it consists of inferior material. If 
this is replaced by good, substantial, fibrous 
loam, the Ins will make wonderful growth 
and flower freely. A large clump or patch is 
just as handsome in a villa garden as a large 
bed in a garden of more pretensions. 
The White Dutch Currant, 
Readeis who are' exhibitors will recognise 
the sparkling character of a RVhite Currant 
when fully ripe and ready to be placed before 
the public. Owing to the absence of the red 
pigment, the skin is practically transparent, 
and the seeds or their outlines can often be 
seen through the skin. All White Currants 
are merely varieties of tbei red. 
When properly grown, the berries are of 
large size, and amongst the earliest of the 
Currant kind. A White Currant must not be 
treated m the same way as a Black Currant 
as it flowers and fruits chiefly on the spurs 
-of the old wood. A White Currant, accord¬ 
ing to its size, consists of a greater or less 
number of straight ascending or spreading 
shoots, from the old wood of which the Cur¬ 
rants are annually produced. In pruning a 
bush in winter, presuming that no summer 
attention has been given, the operator begins 
by cutting away all the side slicots that pro¬ 
ject from the leading stems, leaving only 
about jin., or even less, of the young lateral 
shoot. If the bush has reached the limit of 
size, the leader may be cut hack closely in 
the same way as the laterals ; on the contrary, 
if the bushes are young, and there is still 
room for their extension, about 6 in. or 8 in. 
of young wood—that is, of last summer’s 
■shoot—should be left, in order to extend the 
leader. Usually these bushes get to the 
limits of size soon enough, so that 6 in. of 
leader is usually sufficient to leave. 
Hall’s Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica 
halliana). 
Several names have been given in gardens 
and nurseries to this beautiful Honeysuckle, 
but the correct one is that above given. It 
is a variety certainly of the Japanese Honey¬ 
suckle, but flowers much more freely than 
that ; consequently it has attained a con¬ 
siderable amount of popularity, both in this 
country and in America. 
The plant shown is grown on a high iron 
pillar in Ivew Gardens, the main stems being 
secured to the pillar, while all the side shoots 
are allowed to hang down freely. The flowers 
are produced in jiairs, and, when first ex¬ 
panded, they are white, but vexiy soon change 
to a honey-yellow. These flowers 1 are pro¬ 
duced in excessive numbers, so that the plant 
is quite effective as a climber, independently 
of the sweet odour which emanates from the 
blossoms. 
Tlie Garden Salpiglossis (Salpiglossis 
sinuata). 
At the lower rignt-hand corner of our sheet 
of pictures is a bunch of the garden Salpi¬ 
glossis. The plant proves only annual in this 
country, and has, of course, to be raised every 
year in the same way as Stocks or Asters to 
get them into bloom early. It is a plant that 
delights in dry weather, owing to the numerous 
sticky glands with which all parts of the plant 
are furnished. It belongs to the same family 
as the Potato, but is not a very ordinary form 
for that order. 
The flowers are funnel-shaped, produced in 
■great continuity during July, August, and 
September if it has been raised sufficiently 
early. A packet of a good strain of seeds fur¬ 
nishes seme remarkably beautiful varieties in 
the way of colour and venation. Blue, purple, 
orange, crimson, and various other shades 
seem to interblend with one another, forming 
flowei'9 of a- very complicated pattern. The 
more intense colours run along the chief veins 
of the flower, as may be gathered from our 
illustration. Besides its use for garden 
decoration, it is also useful in the way of cut 
flowers, and for any decorative purpose that 
does net require much handling of the' sticky 
fl owers. 
Henry Eckford Testimonial.— The con¬ 
tributions to this fund up to the evening of 
Saturday, August 5th, are as follows:—Pre¬ 
viously acknowledged, £45 12s. 3d. ; the 
Florists’ Exchange Fund (W. Atlee Burpee, 
W. N. Craig, G. H. Rowdon, and the Florists' 
Exchange), £4 16s. 6d. ; Mr. G. Mitchell, Is. ; 
Mr. J. W. Moss, 10s. 6d. ; Mr. H. Sickelmore, 
2s. 6d. 
