204 
The Garden Magazine , May, 1923 
cooperating so it should be “quite a party.” At the same time trips 
to the Iris Test Garden at the Botanical Garden will be arranged for 
and experts will be on hand there to answer questions and guide the 
visitors around. The New Rochelle Public Library will have an ex¬ 
hibition of books on Irises during that week which should be rather 
instructive. On the grounds of this building is a small Iris Test Garden 
started by three enthusiastic members of the A. I. S., who are also 
members of the local garden club. A further feature of the show will 
be short talks on Irises illustrated with lantern-slides. These will be 
given by authorities on the subject and should add greatly to the edu¬ 
cational value of the affair. A very comprehensive list of classes has 
been planned so that all types of gardeners, whether amateur or com¬ 
mercial, may have a chance to compete, and these classes will be open 
to all comers and not limited to the members of the organizations giving 
the show. An admission of twenty-five cents will be charged, any sur¬ 
plus over expenses going to the New Rochelle Day Nurseries, a very 
worthy charity. Of course admission to the Test Garden at the Bronx 
is perfectly free, and the Botanical Garden will not receive any of the 
money taken in. Any one desiring a schedule of the classes or other 
information may apply to Mrs. J. J. Montague, 204 Drake Avenue, 
New Rochelle, N. Y.— Ethel Anson S. Peckham, Chairman Show 
Committee. 
Where Olden-time Herbs May Be Had 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
N REGARD to Mrs. Sterrett’s inquiry in the March number, 1 think 
a number of the old-time herbs that she seeks are quite easily found 
because a good many of them are very common wild-flowers and are 
described in Neltje Blanchan’s “Nature’s Garden.” Perhaps the 
difficulty is that they are familiar to Mrs. Sterrett under other names. 
Messrs. Thompson & Morgan, Ipswich, England, list seeds of An¬ 
gelica, Betony, Colchicum, and Sweet Cicely. Betony is listed under 
its old name of Betonica, but Nicholson’s “Dictionary of Gardening” 
is authority for listing it as a species of Stachys, and under this name 
plants are offered among garden perennials in various catalogues. In 
Dreer’s catalogue the common names of Betony and Woundwort are 
both given—and thus these two names of Mrs. Sterrett’s list belong to 
one plant. 
Colchicum is often sold as Autumn Crocus, though I believe it is 
different—but 1 think my “Autumn Crocuses” are really Colchicums. 
These may be had of almost any seedsman who carries other bulbs. 
The name Sweet Cicely is given to two different plants, I think, but 
I have forgotten what the American variety advertised by Mrs. Elsie 
McFate, Pittsburg, is called. It is my impression that the old variety 
is the English one, Myrrhis odorata, which comes quite slowly from seed. 
1 have raised a few plants, but they are not yet established in my 
garden. 
1 wonder if All-heal (Valeriana officinalis) is not meant instead of Self- 
heal, a very insig¬ 
nificant wild-flower? 
This Valerian be¬ 
longs to most old 
gardens, of course. 
Elecampane, Eye- 
bright, Vervain, 
Liverwort (Hepa- 
tica) and Self-heal 
are all common wild 
flowers described in 
the aforesaid book, 
and if Mrs. Sterrett 
could not find them 
near at hand, I fancy 
Mr. Gillett, who 
specializes in wild 
flowers, could find 
them for her. 
Is “ Pepper-wort” 
possibly Pepper- 
root (Dentaria la- 
ciniata)?—R. F. 
Howard, South Lin¬ 
coln, Mass. 
—In reply to Mrs. 
Cliff Sterrett’s in¬ 
quiry about certain 
herbs, the following 
may be of assistance: Nearly all the seed dealers in this country 
list Anise (Pimpinella anisum), this is, no doubt, what Mrs. Sterrett 
means by Licorice. Carter, of Barclay St., N. Y., lists Agrimony 
and Elecampane. The Basil of the seed catalogues is Ocymum 
basilicum, but there is a wild flower called Basil which is Calamintha 
clinopodium. This is no doubt “Calamint.” 
Sutton & Sons, of Reading, England, list Angelica (Angelica archan¬ 
gelica); Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie, of Paris, list Angelique, Colchique, 
and Vervein. H. Correvon, of Geneva, Switzerland, lists Euphrasia 
officinalis (Eyebright) and Levisticum officinale (Lovage). 
It seems certain that Woundwort must be Stachys lanata; this is 
listed by Palisades Nursery, Sparkill, N. Y. 
Betony is probably Betonica officinalis. This is listed by Correvon, 
possibly by others, while there is a Betonica listed by the Palisades 
Nursery which may be the real medicinal herb. Liver-wort is 
the common Hepatica triloba. Self-heal is Brunella (Prunella)vul- 
garis, a wild flower very common around my home, Nutley, N. J. 
Sweet Cicely is the name often given to the wild flower Osmorrhiza 
longistylus, Parsley family, but the Sweet Cicely asked for is more than 
likely Myrrhis odoratus, listed by Correvon. Verbena urticsefolia is 
commonly called White Vervain and is listed by Vilmorin. The 
others, Ambrosia, Ipecac, Pepperwort, Smallage, I do not know. 
I wouldn’t mind having some information on these myself.— Henry 
M. Bates, Nutley, N. J. 
Another Dahlia Seed Enthusiast 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
1TH great interest I read in the March issue an article entitled: 
“Experimenting With Dahlias from Seed” by Mr. W. K. Law- 
son; also an article on the same subject by Mr. C. B. Bolles. I, too, 
have had some experience in growing Dahlias from seed, and you who 
have not tried this, don’t know what you are missing! This was the 
most interesting of my many garden activities last summer. 
Plant a tuber of Attraction and you know just what to expect—a 
beautiful lavender, Cactus variety—or a tuber of Patrick O’Mara and 
you are sure of a fine orange and gold Decorative; but plant a few 
Dahlia seeds of good strain and watch for the first blooms—the results 
are often surprising. 
Last year, about the 1st of April, I planted seed in two large boxes, 
4 or 5 inches deep, in a building which was formerly a chicken coop 
and now makes a splendid greenhouse as the front is all glass with a 
southern exposure. About May first the young plants were set in the 
open and by June 1st I had two hundred or so fine hardy seedlings in 
my garden. My first blooms came the middle of July and from then 
on until the first hard frost in October the pleasure was all mine. Had 
Dahlias of all varieties, shapes, and colors, and while some were not so 
good, judged by points, the majority were large and of colors not found 
when growing well-known tubers. A vase of these seedlings exhibited 
at the fall show of 
the Allendale Gar¬ 
den Club won first 
prize. At the time 
of lifti'ng I had 
clumps of from three 
to eight well devel¬ 
oped tubers, so you 
see one can soon 
raise a farm of 
Dahlias from a few 
seeds. Dahlias seem 
to do best when coal 
ashes are mixed with 
the soil; equal parts 
of well-rotted horse 
manure and coal 
ashes make a very 
good stimulant both 
for tubers and seed¬ 
lings.— Roy Quack- 
enbush, Allendale, 
N. J . 
—In my garden I 
have had so much 
fun raising Dahlias 
from seed that I am 
glad to see the 
method advocated 
CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN JAPAN. KINTAI BRIDGE AT IWAKUNI 
Mr. K. Fashiroda, Fuchisaki, Kagawa, writes: The Cherry tree is the National flower. A Japanese saying 
runs “ Chief among flowers is the Cherry bloom, and among men the Samurai” while a popular song has 
“ Why hitch the pony to the Cherry tree in flower ? If the pony grow restive, the blossoms will fall 
