134 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
\ 
February  18,  1897 
refrain  from  having  a  friendly  difference  with  the  talented  Yicar 
of  St.  John’s,  always,  of  course,  from  a  gardening  point  of  view. 
In  an  earlier  instalment  of  his  delightful  paper  he  is  a  little  too 
severe  upon  the  florists'  points  of  perfection  in  a  flower.  Yet, 
after  al1,  Mr.  Allen’s  new  Snowdrops,  which  he  admires,  are 
selected,  one  can  easily  «ee,  upon  the  principles  which  guide  the 
florist  in  l  is  work. 
The  writer  knows,  both  from  Mr.  Ewbank’s  public  writings  and 
his  letter?,  which  ic  is  always  a  pleasure  to  receive,  that  he  has 
much  in  common  with  him  in  the  way  of  kindred  tastes  in 
gardening.  It  is  likely  enough,  however,  that  Mr.  Ewbank’s 
criticism  was  meant  mainly  for  that  spirit  which  would  carry  the 
flori>t’s  art  far  beyond  its  proper  bounds,  and  which  has  doubtless 
in  too  many  cases  given  us  monstrosity  instead  of  shapeliness,  and 
ugliness  instead  of  beauty.  There  is,  however,  a  sphere  in  which 
the  florist  can  operate  without  debasing  the  flower.  When  he  goes 
beyond  this  a  protest  is  needed,  and  Mr.  Ewbank’s  words,  if  so 
limited  in  their  aims,  are  not  uncalled  for.  Unless  one  is  mistaken 
there  is  not  very  much  difference  at  bottom  between  us. 
Another  very  striking  Snowdrop  which  has  come  early  into 
flower  is  the  best  form  of  G.  Imperatq  which  is  named  Atkinsi. 
It  is  extremely  fine  this  year,  and  is  well  worth  trying  to  obtain. 
Deep  planting  is  very  desirable  with  this  fine  Snowdrop  as  well  as 
with  most  others.  A  good  seedling  Snowdrop  raised  in  Lanark¬ 
shire  has  also  been  very  early.  This  I  have  named  Fenella.  It  is 
large,  robust,  and  of  capital  form.  Its  parentage  is  plicatus  x 
nivalis,  ard  it  differs  from  the  most  of  those  raised  in  the  same 
garden  by  reason  of  its  greater  earliness.  Galanthus  caucasicus 
has  also  been  in  bloom  for  some  time.  The  small  size  of  the 
flowers  is,  however,  a  defect  in  this  species  ;  they  are  too  small  to 
be  in  keeping  with  the  length  of  the  stem.  The  leaves  are  the 
chief  merit  of  this  Snowdrop  ;  they  are  not  fully  produced  until 
the  flowers  are  past,  but  are  very  broad  and  fine. 
G.  Alleni,  in  rather  stiff  soil  at  the  base  of  a  rockery,  is  coming 
on  well.  Then  G.  flavescens,  one  of  the  few  with  yellow  instead 
of  green  markings,  and  with  yellow  ovary,  has  been  coming  on 
quickly,  although  the  look  of  the  plants  would  lead  one  to  think 
that  the  yellow,  which  is  its  distinctive  feature,  will  be  less  pro 
nonnced  than  usual.  G.  Elwesi  Beauty,  another  of  Mr.  Allen’s 
seedlings,  is  also  wery  fine — or  rather  was  before  the  snow,  and  will 
be  once  more  when  it  goes  again. 
The  dreaded  Snowdrop  fungus  has  again  made  its  appearance  in 
one  part  of  the  garden,  where  it  was  introduced  by  roots  brought 
from  a  neighbouring  wood.  Whenever  it  is  observed  all  that  can 
be  taken  away  is  removed,  and  put  in  the  fire  of  the  greenhouse 
boiler.  The  fungus  shows  itself  in  a  white  mould-like  mass  on  the 
surface  of  the  soil  just  where  the  stalk  of  the  flower  comes  through. 
The  stalk  will  be  found  to  be  rotted  down  for  a  little  distance,  and 
ought  to  be  removed  and  burned  also.  Mr.  Allen  has  found  several 
cases  of  fungus  in  his  garden  this  year  again,  bat  one  must  hope 
that  that  successful  Snowdrop  raiser  may  not  have  once  more  to 
deplore  the  loss  of  some  good  flowers. 
Here  the  early  Irises  are  rather  late,  but  Mr.  Allen  tells  me  that 
on  New  Year’s  Day  the  first  of  his  opened  at  Shepton  Mallet.  This 
was  a  very  pale  blue  form  of  Iris  reticulata  of  great  beauty  and 
hardiness,  although  not  robust,  nor  increasing  rapidly.  The  Netted 
Iris  is  so  very  beautiful  that  we  could  well  do  with  a  few  more 
varieties.  We  want  more  workers  in  the  field  of  raising  seedlings 
of  bulbous  flowers  not  taken  in  hand  by  the  ordinary  raiser  of 
plants  from  seed.  It  would  be  wrong  to  hold  out  a  prospect  of 
reward  in  the  shape  of  £  s.  d.,  that  is  unlikely  to  follow  so  readily 
as  to  repay  anyone  for  their  time  and  care,  but  the  pleasure  of 
adding  new  plants  to  our  gardens  would  be  some  recompense. 
That  was  an  interesting  article  on  “  Hepaticas  ”  which  appeared 
in  the  Journal  of  January  28th  (page  76)  from  the  pen  of 
“R.  P.  B.”  The  “ash-coloured  or  argentrive ”  variety  the  writer 
also  would  like  to  know  more  about.  “  Ash-coloured  ”  would 
hardly  answer  the  description  of  either  of  the  varieties  of 
H.  angulosa,  which,  by  the  way,  yonr  correspondent  is  to  be 
congratulated  on  flowering  so  successfully.  The  double  white  one 
has  been  in  cultivation  in  this  century,  as,  in  addition  to  two 
acquaintances  of  my  own  who  have  seen  it,  a  flower  was  sent  from 
Germany  to  the  office  of  one  of  the  gardening  papers  (“  The 
Chronicle”)  in  1895  or  1894,  and  mentioned  by  the  editor  in  its 
columns.  Is  not  “  H.  trifolia  aureum  ”  one  of  the  Anemones,  a* 
distinguished  from  the  Hepaticas,  really  Anemones  also  ?  The 
writer  read  in  a  series  of  articles  on  Canadian  wild  flowers,  which 
appeared  in  a  Montreal  newspaper,  the  following,  applied  to  the 
Hepatica  : — “  The  colours  of  the  flowers  are  white,  many  a  shade 
of  blue,  and  rarely  a  pale  yellow."  The  italics  are  mine. 
Upon  particular  inquiry  of  competent  authorities  in  Canada  no 
confirmation  of  a  pale  yellow  Hepatica  can  be  received.  There 
are  many  seedlings  in  my  garden,  some  of  which  have  flowered, 
and  others  are  in  bud  now.  There  are  several  interesting  shades 
among  them.  “  R.  P.  B.”  will  likely  find  that  his  one  with 
deep  pink  flowers  (if  not  the  single  of  the  double  red)  is  that 
named  splendens. 
When  the  snow  clears  away  again  we  shall  have  more  to  tell  of,, 
and  may  return  again  to  the  Hepaticas,  unless  other  flowers  take 
up  more  space  to  their  exclusion.  There  are  some  Crocuses  under 
the  snowy  pall,  and  one  or  two  clumps  of  Daffodils  far  advanced, 
besides  Hyacinthus  azureus,  and  a  few  other  things.  We  wait 
eagerly  and  expectantly  for  their  re-appearance. — S.  Arnott. 
LOOKING  ROUND. 
“How  are  you?  Glad  to  see  you!  Come  and  have  a  look 
round,”  says  the  gardener  when  he  meets  a  fellow  craftsman.  The 
invitation  seems  to  fall  from  the  lips  in  a  matter  of  course  kind 
of  way,  as  if  it  were  the  most  natural  thing  he  could  do.  Perhaps 
it  is  brought  about  by  force  of  habit,  at  any  rate  it  is  one  of 
the  characteristics  peculiar  to  gardeners,  the  why  and  where¬ 
fore  of  which  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  explain. 
In  every  occupation  there  are  habits  and  customs  which  seem  to 
pervade  the  whole  fraternity,  and  by  an  unwritten  law  they  appear 
to  be  confined  to  the  limits  of  the  calling.  In  the  world  of  horti¬ 
culture  these  peculiarities  are  numerous,  and  perhaps  no  one  would 
be  more  surprised  than  gardeners  themselves  if  some  adept  in  the 
art  of  character  study  were  to  portray  them  and  give  us  an 
opportunity  of  “seeing  ourselves  as  others  see  us.”  Let  u& 
just  take  one  of  these  characteristics — the  gardener’s  idea  of 
relaxation.  Change  is  necessary  for  the  well-being  of  all  men,  for 
without  it  the  round  of  everyday  life  would  become  monotonous 
and  irksome.  Ic  is,  however,  the  gardener’s  way  of  spending 
these  little  breaks  in  the  daily  round  that  calls  for  comment. 
The  idea  of  most  men  at  holiday  times  is  to  get  as  far  away 
from  the  associations  of  business  as  possible.  The  Stock  Exchange 
man  when  he  takes  his  annual  vacation  abjures  even  his  daily 
paper,  lest  his  eye,  through  force  of  habit,  should  wander  to  the 
columns  relating  to  the  money  market  ;  the  hard-worked  barrister 
throws  aside  wig  and  gown,  and  for  the  time  being  forgets  parch¬ 
ment  and  red  tape  ;  while  the  city  clerk  and  shopman  forswear 
even  a  mention  of  the  daily  grind  during  the  period  that  holidays 
last.  In  this  respect  the  gardener  differs  ;  holiday  would  to  him 
be  no  holiday  if  he  were  deprived  from  talking  “  shop,”  and  bis 
idea  of  spending  days  of  relaxation  is  “  looking  round  ”  the 
establishments  under  the  care  of  brother  craftsmen,  hie  own  in 
turn  being  subject  to  a  similar  inspection.  Accounts  of  these 
visits  often  find  their  way  into  the  columns  of  the  Journal,  by 
which  the  army  of  readers  may  note  what  is  going  on  in  other 
establishments. 
Well,  everyone  to  his  taste,  and  a  gardener  experiences  no 
greater  pleasure  than  inspecting  the  handiwork  of,  and  having  a 
chat  with  a  brother-in-arms.  Not  long  ago  a  gentleman  sent  his 
gardener  on  a  visit  to  London,  paying  his  expenses,  and  telling  him 
to  be  sure  and  see  all  the  sights.  On  his  return  the  generous 
employer  naturally  made  inquiries  as  to  what  our  friend  had  seen. 
Had  he  been  to  Westminster  Abbey  ?  Oh,  yes.  And  on  question¬ 
ing  the  gardener  a*  to  wbat  attracted  him  most  there,  he  wai 
surprised  to  hear  that  it  was  the  fine  show  of  bedding  in  Parliament 
Square.  Another  gardener,  on  visiting  the  Crystal  Palace,  thought 
it  was  a  pity  that  so  much  glass  should  have  been  wasted  in  its 
construction,  “  as  it  would  have  built  some  grand  ranges  of  green¬ 
houses.”  These  are  only  small  matters,  but  show  how  keen  is  the 
interest  of  horticulturists  centred  in  their  occupation. 
Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the  average  gardener  at  home. 
Could  anything  be  more  enthusiastic  and  real  than  the  heartiness 
with  which  he  welcomes  a  friend  in  the  craft  who  has  called 
to  have  “  a  look  round  ?  ”  He  takes  the  whole  situation  in  at  a 
glance,  and  after  the  friendly  “  How  d’ye  do  ?  ”  follows  the  genial 
“  Come  on  ”  as  he  leads  the  way  through  the  houses.  Then  there 
is  an  interesting  dialogue,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  which 
is  the  more  engrossed,  guide  or  visitor — the  former  telling  how  he 
has  raised  this,  or  the  trouble  he  has  experienced  over  the  growth 
of  that,  and  so  forth  ;  while  the  former  makes  eager  inquiries 
as  to  methods  of  cultivation  adopted  with  anything  that  particu¬ 
larly  strikes  his  fancy.  Argument,  of  course,  has  its  place,  for 
in  nothing  does  opinion  differ  so  much  as  in  gardening.  One  man 
grows  a  plant  or  crop  in  his  own  way  ;  his  method  is  successful, 
and  he  is  prepared  to  swear  by  it.  Another  follows  a  different 
system,  though  the  principle  of  the  two  may  be  alike  ;  he  also  is 
prepared  to  stand  by  his  opinion.  Hence  the  argument. 
To  the  casual  observer  there  does  not  appear  to  be  much 
consistency  in  many  of  our  methods,  and  to  the  probationer  this 
must  often  be  puzzling.  Here  is  a  gardener  who  makes  a  speciality 
of  Malmaison  Carnations — does  them  really  well,  and  follows  the 
practice  of  syringing  the  plants  with  success.  He,  of  course}. 
