May 23, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
349 
Cactus Dahlia Fairy. 
at they have never grown before, 
hose who wish to have an early ins^c- 
)n of the newest and best varieties 
ould visit the Temple Show, which al- 
iys includes some wonderfully good ex¬ 
bits of Sweet Peas. G. F. Drayson. 
- +++ - 
Polvvonum vaccinifolium is one of the 
;S t of the few rock plants that flower in 
itumn. 
-- 
AN AMATEUR’S 
ARDENING GUIDE. 
There must be many amateur gar¬ 
ners who have found it difficult to get 
really good practical guide confined to 
e particular branch of gardening in 
lich they are specially interested. 
1 am going to point out a way to make 
ich a guide. There are nearly every 
eek most useful hints on almost every 
anch of gardening appearing in The 
ardening World. 
These I cut out and paste into an un¬ 
ited book of convenient size, and it will 
2 found that, after a few months, a 
ost valuable collection of information 
is been obtained. By this means the 
nateur will obtain a collection of hints 
.at most apply to his work without hav- 
g also many pages of advertisements 
id subjects on other branches of gar- 
ming which, although good, do not in¬ 
rest him. I have four such books now, 
id find them invaluable, for reference; 
is usefulness is largely increased if each 
ibject is carefully indexed, so that it can 
1 turned up at once. 
I have divided mine into :— 
1 st: Annuals. 
2nd: Perennials and biennials, which 
so include bulbs and tubers. 
3rd: Roses, which book includes 
reepers and other wall plants. 
4th: Rockery, which, of course, in- 
udes all alpines and everything con- 
;cted with the rock garden. 
Whenever there is an illustration in- 
uded in the article, I also cut this out, 
id so make my books attractive as well 
useful. If any article is printed on 
>th sides, it is easy to buy another copy 
: that issue and so secure both sides of 
e page. H. S. Levick. 
-- 
'ANDYO/’lir 
Sir, — Re your edition of April 18th con- 
ming a letter respecting our new gar- 
n and field tool, the “Andyo.” 
Mr. Mullins has our thanks for his kind 
ggestion of making the ridging end a 
tie wider. We are making them to suit 
y customer who desires the sizes varied, 
d our general stock line is altered to 
out 8i in. across the ridging end. We 
wavs make a point of studying our 
stomers’ requirements and suggestions, 
d shall always esteem any ideas your 
,aders may make to put a tool on the 
irket which should be to our mutual 
erests. We would send an “ andyo” to 
r. Mullins if he would kindly forward 
> address so that he would be able to 
igeof the merits of the alteration made. 
irnelius Whiterouse and Sons, Ltd. 
With the numerous beautiful varieties 
of Cactus Dahlias now in cultivation 
there seems little need to go back to the 
purely decorative type, even when they 
possess beautiful colours, as almost every 
shade found in the Dahlia has now been 
added to the various Cactus forms issued 
by the raisers. That under notice is of 
good average size, and gracefully built 
with long slender florets, especially the 
outer ones, which arch inwards, and often 
become partly whorled sideways. The 
bloom is pure white, and this added to 
its beautiful form is certainly a high re¬ 
commendation to a Dahlia that may be 
used for cut-flower purposes, whether for 
ordinary home decoration or exhibition. 
The variety was exhibited by Hobbies, 
Ltd., East Dereham, Norfolk, on the occa¬ 
sion of the show of the National Dahlia 
Union, Regent’s Park, last September, 
our photograph being taken on that occa¬ 
sion. 
It will be noticed that the flower, while 
perfectly full and even high in the centre, 
is not a round flower, as we sometimes 
meet with in high-class collections at the 
present day. All of these Cactus Dahlias 
agree in having very slender florets that 
are rolled back at the margins, and 
usually described as long-pointed by the 
average lover of Dahlias. There are, 
however, forms of the Cactus Dahlia in 
which the central florets stand up so as 
to make nearly a globular flower. This 
shape is also brought about in another 
way by the way in which the florets are 
incurved, so as to cover over the centre. 
There is room for all of these forms, as 
we have not yet reached that stage in 
which we can positively say that any Dah¬ 
lia or other flower is absolutely perfect. 
There are so many points to be con¬ 
sidered when judging of the excellence 
of a Dahlia that it may take florists a 
lifetime to get them all combined in one 
and the same, thing. It is not desirable, 
however, that everything should be so 
reduced to perfection that we could only 
think of growing one form, as we should 
soon get tired of that and wish for some¬ 
thing more novel. The variety in ques¬ 
tion is well-named, however, as it com¬ 
bines so many good qualities, and is beau¬ 
tiful to look at when used as cut flowers. 
Cactus Dahlia Fairy. Maclaren and Sons. 
