August 1, 1904 
such a very great number of what are really 
awell-known, popular flowers, which mostly 
everybody knows, and everybody wants to 
see in their season. Amongst these are 
a lot of perennials which flower the first 
season ; and it has become the almost uni- 
wersal practice to grow these as annuals. 
Where that is practicable, it is the most 
satisfactory for various reasons. . Seedling 
plants generally grow away freer and bet- 
ier than offsets or cuttings. Seedlings 
wive-a better chance of improvement or 
-wartation in any particular direction. 
While young they do not take up 
much room, as a good number can: be rais- 
ed up to a certain size in a small place, 
and, when done flowering they can be put 
away out of the way at once, as all that is 
wanted is a bit of seed to begin again. I 
xefer at present to plants cultivated a good 
deal in pots—Chinese Primulas, Cinerarias, 
Calceolarias, Mimulus—these seem to keep 
their place against all comers... They are 
popular mostly everywhere, and they do re- 
markably well in our climates, especially 
Primulas and Cinerarias. Chinese Primu- 
jas are specially nice for winter flowering 
pot plants, and I think if a little more at- 
tention was given to saving our own seed 
and. sowing of it a little earlier than is 
generally done, an advance might be made 
with this flower. There is a general im- 
pression about that seed of this and other 
things should be imported. I think that 
isa mistake. It does not improve seed to 
come 11,000 miles across the ocean, and 
through the hot tropics. . And our country 
is a good seed-producing country, better, in 
fact, than where it comes from, only they go 
to more trouble in looking after it than we 
alo. Selecting the plants and saving the 
seed are matters of the first importance. 
The same remarks apply to Cinerarias. Our 
own. saved seed generally comes freer and 
grows better than imported. The Cine- 
raria is in the old country a great fayorite 
as a pot plant for the spring decoration 
of conservatories and greenhouses. Here, 
in addition to these qualities, it is well ad- 
apted for planting out of doors in beds and 
borders. Care is required in raising and 
getting the young plants on through the 
thot weather, but when that is over they 
should not be too much coddled. Plants for 
putting out might be raised in beds of good 
soil planted out | ft. apart, and where they 
sould be protected from frost, and in the 
spring of the year they could be lifted with 
‘alls and pub where they are wanted to 
bloom. Calceolarias are rather more diffi- 
«ultto do with us, as they are later in flower- 
ang than the Cimerarias, and the petals of 
the flower are thin and do not stand our 
thot drying winds. I have sometimes seen. 
some very fair plants at some of our shows, 
but a house of herbaceous Calceolarias like 
i have seen in the old country, the Adelaide 
people have not seen yet to my knowledge. 
Some of the best of the growers save their 
own seed, and no doubt improvement in the 
e«ulture will follow. Mimulus are easier 
done than any of the above. They are 
. suitable for pots and bedding. Of late 
gyears we have Gloxinias grown from seed 
THK AUSTRALIAN GARDFNER. 
and flowered the same year. There has 
been a wonderful advance in. this flower 
since I first recollect it.. The flowers haive 
got to be large, bold, and attractive. The 
plant does not like the very hot weather, 
but through the mild weather in summer 
and on into the autumn they do well. 
Tuberous Begonias if well attended to may 
be bloomed the same year from.seed. They 
may be had in flower a long time, but I 
think they are best in the autumn. Few 
flowers are more popular than the Pansy 
among English people. Strictly speaking, 
it is a perennial plant, and it likes a cool 
climate, but with us it is best treated as an 
annual. The seed maty be sown about Feb- 
ruary in pans or boxes, the young plants 
pricked off when large enough into a bed of 
good soil in a sheltered place, where they 
can be attended to for water, &c., and when 
the rains come they can be planted out 
where the are wanted to bloom. Perhaps 
as an annual there are few things to beat 
for general usefulness Phlox Drummondlii. 
It suits our climate remarkably well, and 
may be had in bloom the greater part of 
the year. It seems strange to me that so 
much seed of this fine annual should have 
to be imported, as colonial seed is really so 
very much betiter ; there is, in fact, no com- 
parison. Stocks are well known to all 
English people that take any interest in 
flowers. I have an impression that they 
are considered common ; if they were to be 
rechristened with a more classical name 
perhaps they would be more admired than 
they are, for they are massive, beautiful, 
and deliciously scented when weil grown. 
They should be sown if possible where they 
are wanted to bloom, but if that is not prac- 
ticable they. may be sown in beds of very 
sandy soil in March or the beginning of 
April, protecting them from heavy rains 
or too much wet in any way. When strong 
enough they can be planted out where 
they are to bloom. A very pretty class 
of annuals are the everlastings, especially 
the Acrolinum and Rhodanthe, our climate 
suits them well, and mostly any one will be 
pleased with them. | Then there are the 
Balsams and Coxcombs, it used to be a 
great thing in the old country to grow these 
well, Here they are getting more atten- 
tion of late, and as they do well in the open 
borders if they have good rich soil and 
plenty of water, they are well worth a little 
trouble. In my young days the China 
Asters were reckoned the very cream of 
autumn flowering annuals, and I suppose 
they are still. Florists have improved 
them very much since then. Our summer 
is too hot and dry for them on the plains ; 
in the hills they do better. I have not 
had much experience with them, but I 
think they may be had on the plains at 
times when they are better understood. 
Then there are our Zinnias, Marigolds, and 
Gomphrenus (Globe amaranths), which do 
well and do not require any particular care, 
but, of course, do better where they are well 
cared for ; but the magnitude of the subject 
of annuals quite appals me. When I un- 
dertook this paper I had no thought of do- 
ing anything but discussing the very criti- - 
5 
$s 
cal point as to what constitutes an annual 
- proper, and I think now it. would have been 
better if I had stuck to that; but to make 
the, best of a bad job I don’t think I can. 
do better than draw attention to the illus-. 
trated catalogues of the seedsmen ; they are 
full of information, and as it is all got up as 
a matter of competition in business, it is, 
as well done as it 1s possible to be. Even 
the seed packets, a good many of them: at 
least, are covered with information; - the 
danger is, I think, that this sort of thing 
will be overdone; it belongs to the cram- 
ming system of the age; there is no lack 
of information from many sources, only in 
cultivating annuals or any other sorts of 
plants it is not what you know, or what you 
think, it is what you do that is going to 
have any effect. To achieve success hard 
work is necessary, and the best sort of 
knowledge as an aid to that is that gained 
by observation and experience. Ifa person 
_ has the cultivation of any particular plant 
at heart, he will cultivate it well if he has 
never read one word about it; on the other 
hand, he may be crammed with information 
and yet do nothing. I think it would be ~ 
an advance if people were encouraged to 
think fer themselves and act on their own 
honest opinions, and not trust too much to 
current literature, as a great deal of it is 
a repetition of the same thing over and over 
again. More satisfaction, I think, would 
be gained by thinking and acting inde- 
pendently. ' 
CULTURE OF NARCISSUS. 
' The first thing to do isto get suitable 
soil.. Any good ground will do, but some. 
soils are better adapted for the purpose than 
others, Bulbs will thrive in light or heavy 
land, dry or wet land, provided there is no 
stagnant water at the roots. 
The best scil of all is a good deep 
medium loam, and a south or south-west. 
aspect if sheltered will answer as well as 
any. If the land hangs to the north the 
blooms will be earlier, Lut the bulbs do 
father better if not exposed to too much 
direct sun in the middle of summer. 
The soil should be deeply worked, not so 
deeply as to bring up a lot of poor subsoil. 
but deep enough to prevent the bulbs 
suffering from drought during the summer. 
Work with the spade in preference to the 
plough. Spade work is better, it-is gene- 
“rally deeper, and leaves no smooth bottom 
to prevent draining, asis the case in plough- 
ing. When the ground is well worked 
down, mark out the piece in beds. 
There are various- methods of planting ; 
some plant in much the same way as you... 
would plant potatoes. This suits very well 
for such large bulbs as Sir Watkiv, Em- 
peror, etc., but for medium and small bulbs 
the following will be found the quickest and 
cheapest plan :— Having marked out all the © 
beds in the piece by notching the edges of 
the paths, dig out the soil from the bed at 
one end to the required depth, caryring in 
to the other end of the piece to fill the last 
bed. Prepare the bottom by working it 
with a spade or fork, then putin the bulbs 
regularly and firmly, so that they will not 
be thrown down in covering them. Plant 
