May  24,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
443 
CARDEH.GIZEANINCS 
The  Chestnuts  In  Bushey  Park. — Visitors  to  Bashey  Park  on 
Sunday  would  be  disappointed  at  the  less  luxuriant  show  of  bloom  in 
the  famous  avenue  this  year.  Many  of  the  trees,  however,  present  a 
beautiful  appearance.  The  cold  weather  is  mainly  responsible  for  this. 
A  huge  branch,  some  60  feet  long,  covered  with  bloom,  broke  away 
from  one  of  the  largest  trees  in  the  park  on  Friday  last,  and  several 
persons  had  narrow  escapes  from  injury. 
A  prolific  Tulip  Bulb. — I  am  sending  a  bulb  of  Tulip  Mon 
Tresor,  which  has  four  blooms.  As  might  be  expected,  the  flowers  are 
somewhat  smaller  than  those  on  bulbs  that  produced  one  bloom  only. 
Mon  Tresor  is  a  magnificent  yellow  Tulip  of  robust  habit,  and  far 
superior  as  a  bedder  to  either  Yellow  Prince  or  the  Yellow  Pottebakker, 
which  are  in  beds  in  close  proximity. — A.  J.,  Moor  Hall. 
Aberdeen  Botanic  Garden — Dr.  J.  W.  Traill,  the  curator  of  the 
Cruickshank  Botanic  Gardens,  Aberdeen,  is  at  present  employed  in 
planning  the  beds,  but  it  will  be  several  weeks  before  the  gardens  will 
show  anything  indicative  of  their  nature  and  purpose.  Many  plants 
have  been  received,  but  they  are  not  yet  arranged  in  the  beds.  The 
unfavourable  weather  during  the  past  winter  hindered  the  work 
considerably. 
Strawberries  In  Abundance. — Outdoor  Strawberries  are  coming 
into  the  English  markets  from  Havre  and  St.  lilalo  in  good  quantities. 
Home  grown  hothouse  fruits  have  as  a  consequence,  says  a  daily 
paper,  declined  considerably  in  price,  and  are  being  sold  as  low  as 
Is.  6d.  a  pound.  It  is  quite  possible  that  before  the  month  is  out  they 
will  be  down  to  Is.  The  French  Strawberries  are  only  partly  coloured, 
but  very  large  quantities  may  be  expected  shortly,  as  this  season  the 
crop  will  be  a  phenomenal  one. 
The  Plora  of  Russia,— The  St.  Petersburg  correspondent  of  a 
daily  contemporary  writes  ; — “  An  attempt  is  to  be  made  to  compile 
and  publish  a  detailed  account  of  the  flora  of  the  Russian  Empire.  The 
work  will  be  divided  into  four  parts,  relating  respectively  to  European 
Russia,  Siberia,  Turkestan,  and  the  Caucasus  with  the  Crimea.  The 
Emperor  has  entrusted  the  directions  to  Mr.  C.  J.  Korgiusky  of  the 
St.  Petersburg  Academy,  who  will  commence  with  the  examination  of 
the  flora  of  Siberia,  in  aid  of  which  a  grant  is  to  be  made  of 
21,400  roubles.” 
Iris  Suslana. — I  was  much  interested  in  the  magnificent  specimens 
of  Iris  Susiana  that  were  exhibited  at  the  Drill  Hall  on  May  8th  by 
Messrs.'T.  S.  Ware,  Ltd.  There  were  about  a  dozen  and  a  half  of  flowers, 
and  all  were  in  the  most  excellent  condition.  I  have  many  times  tried 
to  grow  this  handsome  plant,  but  so  far  with  little  success,  as  my 
flowers  were  puny  and  inferior  in  colour.  I  have  tried  many  systems 
on  the  advice  of  professional  friends,  but,  so  far,  with  no  success.  I 
wish  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  would  give  the  details  of 
any  treatment  they  have  found  successful,  as  well  for  the  benefit  of 
others  as  for  myself. — W.  R. 
Tree  Butchers. — The  remarks  under  this  heading,  which  we  take 
from  the  “  St.  Louis  Star,”  are  equally  true  of  many  London  and 
provincial  trees,  but  we  thought  they  did  things  properly  in  America. 
“  There  are  workmen  and  workmen  in  all  branches  of  mechanics.  There 
are  competent  and  incompetent  men  plying  the  several  trades.  It  is 
not  the  palette  and  the  brush  that  make  the  artist,  nor  yet  the  paint 
pot  that  designates  the  painter,  not  the  pruning  hook,  the  hatchet,  or 
the  saw  that  speaks  of  the  horticulturist,  nor  the  trowel  and  the 
sprinkling  pot  that  tell  the  story  of  the  florist.  In  all  callings  some 
men  excel,  and  alongside  of  them  others  miserably  fail.  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  when  asked  by  a  young  artist  how  he  mixed  his  colours, 
answered,  ‘  With  brains.’  That  is  the  true  touchstone  of  success  in  all 
callings.  There  is  one  class  of  fellows,  just  now  plying  their  so-called 
calling  in  the  residence  part  of  St.  Louis,  who  are  wonderfully  lacking 
in  brains.  They  call  themselves  ‘  pruners.’  To  judge  from  their  work 
they  would  better  be  called  tree  butchers — for  that  is  what  they  have 
been  doing  for  a  week  or  two  back,  and  are  now  doing  out  in  the  north¬ 
west  suburbs — butchering,  murdering  some  grand  and  stalwart  trees 
that  have  stood  and  faced  the  storms  of  many  winters.  Next,  almost, 
to  murdering  humanity,  it  is  a  crime  to  mutilate  these  stately  Oaks  and 
Elms.  The  city  should  pass  a  stringent  law,  requiring  each  man  who 
professeg  to  be  a  pruner  to  hold  a  license  for  doing  such  work,  and 
debar  him  from  receiving  such  license  except  upon  the  presentation  of  a 
diploma  from  a  school  of  forestry,  or  at  least  a  recommendation  from 
some  well  known  local  individual  thoroughly  versed  in  ‘  treeology.’  ” 
Rhododendron  Thomsonl. — In  referring  to  the  Rhododendron 
garden  at  Rooksnest  on  page  419  of  the  last  issue  I  omitted  to  mention 
the  grand  specimen  of  Rhododendron  Thomsoni,  which  has  recently 
collapsed.  This  fact  is  much  to  be  regretted,  as  it  was  a  really  mag¬ 
nificent  plant,  and  was  described  by  Dr.  Hooker  as  one  of  the  finest  he 
had  seen  out  of  doors.  The  plant  grew  to  a  height  of  14  feet,  and  had 
a  diameter  of  12  feet ;  it  had  lived  in  the  same  position  without  the 
slightest  protection  for  nearly  twenty  years,  and  when  in  flower  was  a 
superb  object. — Zingaei. 
Seeds  for  ladysmlth. — During  the  worst  stage  of  the  siege  of 
Ladysmith  the  Town  Clerk  wrote  to  an  Australian  gentleman  to  whom 
he  had  been  recommended  for  a  supply  of  garden  seeds.  Here  is  the 
letter  : — “  Town  Office,  Ladysmith,  Natal,  19th  February,  1900,  lllth 
day  of  siege,  114th  of  bombardment. — Dear  Sir, — Mr.  - -  has 
informed  me  that  if  I  write  to  you  to  apply  for  a  few  seeds  the  request 
will  probably  be  granted.  I  simply  require  a  few  for  my  garden.  If 
this  could  be  done  I  should  be  very  much  obliged.  We  are  -hoping  to 
get  relieved  soon.  The  present  situation  is  very  trying,  and  most  of  us 
are  suffering  from  hunger.”  The  Australian  seedsman  has  sent  on  a 
variety  to  the  now  free-breathing  town  clerk,  enclosing  a  message  of 
congratulation  on  his  philosophic  coolness  during  a  siege. 
Briar  Root.  —  The  root  from  w-hich  the  Briar  root  pipe  is 
made  comes  into  Leghorn  cut  into  the  shape  in  which  it  is  exported 
to  the  pipe  manufacturing  centres,  which  are  principally,  at  least  as 
regards  Italian  Briar,  St.  Claude  in  France,  Nuremberg  in  Bavaria,  and 
various  towns  in  Rhenish  Prussia  and  Thuringia.  T  he  roots,  which 
are  sometimes  of  a  circumference  of  2  feet  or  more,  are  cut  into 
blocks  and  then  boiled.  If  there  is  any  defect  in  the  root  which 
has  not  been  discovered  before  the  boiling  process,  the  blocks  are 
bound  to  split  sooner  or  later.  Briar  root  blocks  are  cut  into  aboqt 
twenty-five  different  sizes  and  three  principal  shapes.  The  shapes 
are  “Marseillaise,”  “  Releve,  and  “Belgian.”  The  first  two  are  the 
more  usual  shapes;  from  the  “Marseillaise”  blocks  are  cut  the 
ordinary  Briar  pipes,  which  have  bowl  and  stem  at  right  angles, 
“  releve  ”  blocks  are  cut  into  a  shape  for  converting  into  hanging 
pipes,  and  “Belgian”  blocks,  for  which  there  is  only  small  demand, 
are  shaped  to  fashion  into  pipes  which  have  bowl  and  stem  at  an 
obtuse  angle.  A  considerable  quantity  of  blocks  is  sent  to  the  United 
States  of  America,  but  apparently  none  to  the  United  Kingdom. 
Turf  Walks  In  Cardens. — When  I  recently  told  Mr.  Bowerman 
that  I  should  call  and  see  him  at  Hackwood,  he  replied  in  his  charac¬ 
teristic  way,  “  We  have  nothing  to  show  you.”  Well,  when  I  visit  a  garden 
I  want  no  one  to  play  the  showman.  I  can  always  see  for  myself  all 
that  is  good  to  see,  and  sometimes  that  which  is  not  good.  But  at 
Hackwood  everything  when  I  looked  in  there  on  the  12th  was  of  the 
former  order,  and  notably  the  delightful  turf  walks  of  the  great  kitchen 
garden.  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  form  of  walk  being  neater,  pleasanter, 
or  more  attractive  in  a  kitchen  garden  than  those  at  Hackwood, 
and  in  that  great  garden  there  is  not  an  inch  under  gravel.  Readily 
mown  and  edged,  very  smooth  and  firm,  nothing  could  be  nicer  to 
walk  or  to  look  upon.  One  wonders  why,  after  seeing  how  admirably 
turf  walks  answer  at  Hackwood,  such  walks  are  not  found  in 
many  gardens.  It  was  not  less  an  interesting  feature  of  this  fine 
kitchen  garden  that  not  a  weed  was  to  be  seen  on  it.  Every  part  was 
as  clean  as  could  be.  Crops  in  every  direction  were  coming  on 
admirably,  though,  like  all  else,  rather  late,  for  the  situation  is 
a  somewhat  cold  one.  The  walls,  and  they  are  extensive,  are 
capitally  furnished.  No  trees  could  be  better.  What  interest  would 
attach  to  the  judging  of  such  a  garden  in  competition  with  many 
similar  ones  on  the  same  lines  that  cottage  gardens  are  judged  ? 
Hackwood  garden  would  indeed  be  hard  to  beat.  It  is  now,  and  will 
be  for  some  time,  well  worth  a  visit.  The  same  excellent  culture  found 
outside  is  seen  in  the  houses.  The  trees  in  the  park  and  pleasure 
grounds  are  magnificent,  and  just  now  that  they  are  clothed  in  their 
new  leafage  are  most  beautiful.  There  are  few  southern  places  that 
can  excel  Hackwood  Park.— Inspector. 
