53 « 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 15, 1908. 
FRAGRANCE. 
A sweet old-fashioned garden! What 
a mental vision of old-world beauty and 
seclusion does the phrase conjure up. It 
is impossible to think of it without almost 
feeling some of the many sweet perfumes 
that would fill the air and delight the 
senses. 
When we do occasionally, in the course 
of an evening country walk, feel our nos¬ 
trils regaled u'ith the sweet scent of 
Southernwood, Bay and Lavender, which 
may come floating to us over the hedge 
from a dear old garden kept probably by 
some bent old man who may have culti¬ 
vated and loved it all his life—how that 
sudden whiff of fragrance may recall with 
painful vividness some scene of our'child- 
hood ; for there is nothing so closely asso¬ 
ciated with the memories of bygone days 
as the perfume of certain flowers. 
Surely we as gardeners have degene¬ 
rated, looking at the matter from Nature’s 
point of view. We have developed a 
mania—call it a taste or liking if you will, 
but I prefer the stronger word—for multi¬ 
coloured bedding schemes and floral de¬ 
signs arranged about the grounds with 
such perfect precision that any idea of the 
really artistic is utterly lost. Unfortu¬ 
nately the flowers which lend themselves 
best to these gaudy colour schemes are 
not those that fill the air with half a hun¬ 
dred mingled perfumes that were wont to 
make a garden a veritable bower of 
fragrance to wander in at dewy eve. In¬ 
stead we have to-day a highly correct, up- 
to-date display of closely-cropped lawn, 
studded at regular intervals with mosaic¬ 
like beds of bright but scentless blooms. 
I will except Wallflowers ; we do still give 
these a share of space in our borders—in 
this lies our redeeming feature — but by 
reason, perhaps, of their irregular height 
we refuse to allow them to trespass across 
the path into the more central positions. 
Close your eyes for a moment and recall 
the simple charm of the cottage garden 
your grandmother tended with such lov¬ 
ing care. Think of its Musk and Mig¬ 
nonette, its masses of Stock and Clove- 
scented Pinks, growing not within the con¬ 
fines of any laid-out pattern, but free and 
unfettered whither they would ; remember 
the Sweet Brier shrubs and the odour of 
Lad’s-love, the climbing Rose and the 
Lilac tree! In place of this we are to-day 
confronted with geometrical designs in 
definite blues, reds and yellows, the uni¬ 
formity of which is meant to be, and in¬ 
deed too often is, as flawless as that of 
any regiment of soldiers on parade. One 
may well ask, what is the idea ? Is it 
art ? Is it nature ? Is it a manifestation 
of man’s love for flowers ? No, it is none 
of these; it is simply gardening gone 
mad! 
Just inside the entrance to the West 
Princes Street Gardens at Edinburgh there 
is what they call a floral clock, which has 
attained quite a local fame. Everyone 
passing in and out of the gardens stands 
to watch it a few minutes, and pictorial 
postcards of it are exhibited and sold in 
every newsagent’s shop. 
Far better had that sloping bank been 
filled with fragrant Lilies and bush Roses, 
backed with white Lilac and Hawthorn, 
the blossoms of which would not only 
delight the eye but refresh the senses with 
the delicious perfume that Nature has so 
liberally bestowed on them. 
E. Vyner. 
“ Gardening for Women.” 
The above is the title of a book by the 
Hon. Frances Wolseley, with thirty-two 
illustrations, which are mostly reproduc¬ 
tions from photographs. Gardening in a 
general way for women would also be 
gardening for men, but the writer 
specialises to some extent, by showing 
what women can do in the way of garden¬ 
ing, the training required and the dress 
most suitable for working in a garden. 
The author also deals with jobbing gar¬ 
dening, floral decoration, the teaching of 
nature study and hints upon taking up a 
post as head gardener. In this she deals 
in a general way with the requirements of 
a family and directs her students to ascer¬ 
tain what are the requirements of the 
particular family whose garden she has 
just taken in hand. Then, as a matter 
of course, her duty in that particular case 
is to set about growing the various fruits, 
flowers or vegetables that may be wanted. 
The author deals with a cottage re¬ 
quired by such a head gardener, even 
giving directions as to what kitchen uten¬ 
sils will be required to furnish that cot¬ 
tage. Market gardening for women takes 
up a large part of the book, and besides 
dealing with gardening generally, it 
speaks of colleges and schools for lady 
gardeners, illustrating this part of the 
book by illustrations and information re¬ 
lating to the Studley Horticultural Col¬ 
lege, founded by the Countess of War¬ 
wick, showing, besides horticultural oper¬ 
ations, that bee-keeping, fruit-bottling 
and preserving, and marketing and pro¬ 
duce may also be given in the form of in¬ 
structions at such a school. Examples are 
also given of gardening as it is conducted 
by women and for women in Germany, 
Italy, Holland and other up-to-date 
countries. The book is published by 
Messrs. Cassell and Co., Ltd., London, 
at 5s., with postage extra. 
-- 
Carnation Splendour. 
The above is a border variety with large 
circular flowers, broad petals with smooth 
edges. The colour is a rich carmine 
purple. Award of Merit by the R.H.S. 
in July when exhibited by Mr. James 
Douglas, Great Bookham, Surrey. 
Begonia kewensis. 
The above Begonia was said to have 
been introduced from the Cape, but it 
might have been in cultivation there. The 
leaves are oblong, unequal at the base, 
produced in two ranks on drooping stems, 
and are rather handsome. The flowers 
are white and produced in large clusters 
along the leafy stems. First-class Certi¬ 
ficate to Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, 
King’s Road, Chelsea, at a recent meeting 
of the R.H.S. 
Royal Botanic Society. 
At a meeting of the Fellows of the 
Royal Botanic Society held on July 22nd 
a ballot was taken as to whether the 
annual subscription of Fellows should be 
increased from -£2 2s. to £3 3s., the in¬ 
creased amount to include the advantages 
of the Club. As a result 62 voted in favour 
of the amendment of the Society’s by-laws 
to that effect and 14 against. As this was 
the necessary majority required, the pio- 
posal was declared carried. 
HOW TO DECORATE 
WINDOW BOXES. 
The multitude of floral beauties which 
we can place in our window boxes is, with¬ 
out doubt, bewildering, yet nearly every¬ 
one fixes on the same flowers year by- 
year. One frequently sees a window 
framed with clusters of white Marguerites 
and bright Geraniums, generally pink 
with a neat edging of Lobelia. But we 
want variety, and the following arrange¬ 
ment looks effective. Arrange your box 
in three rows; in the front you can have 
Mignonette, Lobelias, or dwarf Stocks; 
in the middle row the plants should be 
from ten to twelve inches high, and should 
consist of Calceolarias, Pelargoniums and 
Heliotropiums ; in the last row the plants 
should be about eighteen inches high 
and should consist of Fuchsias, Petunias, 
and other plants, which will continue 
flowering during the season. It must be 
borne in mind that however handsome 
may be the receptacle for our flowers, no 
arrangement is so pretty as that which 
gives them trailing blossoms, and 
greenery to hang and cluster over the 
edge. Campanulas are always ready to 
do this task, and can be had either in 
pink or white. Trailing Ivy-leaved Ger¬ 
aniums also add a note of grace. Pe¬ 
tunias are now brought to the greatest 
perfection, and may be had in beautiful 
colours, from the palest pink to the 
deepest crimson, and the fringed blos¬ 
soms are exquisite and charming. 
Miss D. Sparkes. 
Putney. 
-- 
Sweet Pea Mrs. Henry Bell. 
The flowers of this variety are waved, 
of huge size, and of a pleasing soft pink 
colour. First-class Certificate by the 
National Sweet Pea Society, after trydng 
it at Reading. The raiser was Mr. Robert 
Bolton, Warton, Carnforth. 
Q.E.R. Employees’ Flower Show. 
The second annual exhibition of the Gt. 
Eastern Railway Employees’ -(Southern 
Division) Horticultural Society was held 
in the G.E.R. Mechanics’ Institute, Strat¬ 
ford, recently, and showed a great im¬ 
provement upon last year’s exhibition. 
In some of the classes, such as that for 
Sweet Peas, the number of exhibitors was 
less than last year, but everyone who 
came forward showed a great advance 
upon the arrangement of their flowers as 
compared with last year. Flowering 
plants in pots also showed an improve¬ 
ment. In our opinion the vegetables con¬ 
stituted the strong point of the show, 
judging from the quality and number of 
the exhibits. Owing to the long continued 
spell of dry weather the Peas in certain 
instances were past their best, but the 
size of the pods and their well-filled char¬ 
acter showed that the growers understand 
this class of vegetables. The collections 
of vegetables really constituted the First 
Class in the schedule, and in every case 
the show had a marked improvement upon 
last year. Runner Beans, Kidney 
Beans, Broad Beans, Potatos, Onions 
and other vegetables were also in excel¬ 
lent form. The entries for fruit showed 
wonderful quality for the dry season. In 
a large number of cases the gardens are 
situated close by the railway lines. 
