February i, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
71 
always too small to be useful, too flimsy 
to be strong, and too high in price. 
Tools of medium size are equally con¬ 
venient for either lady or gentleman. 
The best place to buy is at a shop where 
they make a special business of supplying 
garden tools, and where can be obtained 
1 the best selection. 
Do not leave tools out of doors more 
than is absolutely necessary. The sun 
warps the wood, the rain and cold are 
equally injurious, and frost also is de- 
i structive. 
When a tool is done with scrape the 
earth off it, and if it is wet, wipe it dry 
and put it away in a shady, dry place. 
If not likely to be used for some time, 
smear the iron with vaseline or some 
other rust preventor, and where necessary 
paint the wood to protect it. Always 
keep tools hung up; it is the most con- 
| venient method and retains them in good 
condition. 
A tool-house is always a desirable addi¬ 
tion to the garden, and it is useful in so 
many ways for storing seeds, potting, etc., 
that its cost is trivial when compared with 
its advantages. 
Baynton-Taylor. 
-- 
The Washington 
--Thorn.- 
During autumn the various Thorns or 
species of Crataegus are amongst the 
most ornamental of our decorative trees, 
and are of exceptional beauty when laden 
with bright coloured foliage and fruit. 
Many of them, however, have but a 
limited period of splendour, as their fruits 
fall to the ground soon after they ripen 
or are stripped from the trees greedily by 
birds. The Washington Thorn, though, 
does not belong to the latter set, for it 
retains its fruit for a considerable period, 
often until the end of a mild winter. For 
some reason birds do not attack it as they 
do the other Thorns, and as a rule the 
fruits are left severely alone whilst other 
food can be obtained. Its correct name 
is Crataegus cordata, and it is of North 
American origin. It is of very old intro¬ 
duction, and good specimens are met with 
in many gardens. When mature, it forms 
a small tree 20 to 30 feet high, with a 
trunk 6 to 9 inches in diameter and a 
moderate-sized, evenly-balanced head. 
As the name implies, the leaves are cor- 
: date, and they bear rather a striking re¬ 
semblance to those of a small-leaved 
Maple—a fact which gave rise to the name 
1 of C. acerifolia, which one authority gave 
to the species — and they are a bright 
glossy green. The foliage is retained on 
the trees for a longer period than is the 
case with some species, for it is often 
green in December. The flowers are 
: small, white, and borne in dense corymbs 
in June. The fruits resemble mos' 
: closely those of C. Pyracantha in shape, 
colour, and size, and ripen in October. 
It can be raised easily from seed, and 
grows rapidlv when young. 
W. D. 
The Cardinal Flower. 
C 
When we apeak of Lobelias most gar¬ 
deners immediately think of the blue and 
white dwarf-growing Lobelias used for 
bedding purposes, and which require to 
be kept m a greenhouse during winter. 
There are, however, a number of species 
that may rightly be used as border plants 
as well as some hybrids. Some of them 
are quite hardy in alLthe milder parts of 
Britain, and the scarlet ones, of which 
we intend to speak, may be kept in a cold 
frame during winter. There are three of 
them with scarlet flowers hailing from 
Mexico, where they grow, as a rule, in 
wet or boggy places. In this country, 
therefore, there is a great confusion in 
the names applied to these three. Some 
people seem to be satisfied to call am¬ 
or all of them Lobelia cardinalis. Two 
of them have, however, bronzy purple 
leaves with a metallic look about them, 
and either of these and their hybrids are 
frequently named cardinalis. 
The subject of our note has green, 
(Lobelia cardinalis). 
shorter, and relatively broader leaves than 
the other scarlet Lobelias by which it 
may be distinguished at a glance by any¬ 
one who has seen it in contrast with either 
of the o<ther two. These leaves are well 
developed on the lower part of the stems, 
but gradually become shorter upwards, 
till above the middle the stem ends in a 
long raceme of scarlet flowers, as seen 
in the accompanying illustration. These 
commence opening at the lower part, 
and continue to expand as they reach full 
development, while the stem at the same 
time becomes longer. The whole plant 
may vary from 18 in. to ft., although 
2 ft. may be regarded as an average even 
in good soil. 
The seeds are small, like other Lobe¬ 
lias, so that they should be carefully and 
thinly sown in pots on the top of very- 
sandy soil and lightly covered with fine 
portions of the same compost. The pots 
should be stood in a house with a tem¬ 
perature of 60 degs., to give them a good 
Lobelia cardinalis. 
Maclaren and Sons. 
