JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
March  1J,  1897. 
91  9 
bJ  JL/O 
bespangled  with  crystals  of  gold,  or  the  sculptured  snow  of  the 
Lily  of  the  Yalley,  or  the  ultramarine  in  the  throat  of  the  Gentian, 
was  it  only  for  bee  and  butterfly  that  these  were  thus  “clothed  ?” 
What  a  boon  for  the  London  poor  is  the  presence  oi  Co’vent 
Garden  in  their  midst  !  Not  merely  for  the  employment  it  pro¬ 
vides,  but  the  comfort  and  cheer  of  the  crowded  streets.  Those 
masse#  of  many  golden  tones  that  decorate  onr  streets,  the  Daffodil 
— what  a  treat  it  is  to  rest  the  eye  on  them,  and  pause  for  a 
moment  to  inhale  the  refreshing  fragrance  !  Morning  after 
morning  fair  Flora’s  fountain  overflows,  and  even  the  grimiest 
thoroughfare  is  enlivened  and  sweetened  by  the  breath  of  flowers. 
To  the  poor  labourer,  forced  through  lack  of  employment  on  the 
soil  to  seek  the  means  of  sustenance  in  crowded  London,  what 
happy  reminiscences  do  the  flowers  bring  of  his  village  home  with 
his  little  cottage  garden — the  Yiolets,  Stocks,  and  Gillivers,  the 
Roses,  Pinks,  and  Sweet  Peas,  the  Lad’s  Love,  Rosemary,  and 
Lavender  !  How  seldom  is  it  that  a  bunch  of  flowers  or  a  plant  is 
to  be  seen  in  our  great  London  Board  schools !  and  yet  what  a  treat 
it  must  be  for  weary  teachers  and  the  serried  ranks  of  wearier 
children  to  rest  the  eyes  for  a  few  moments  on  a  flower  ! — the  one 
link  between  the  dismal,  noisy  streets  and  the  beautiful  world 
beyond  them. 
The  vast  improvement  in  our  London  parks  and  gardens  is 
another  boon  to  the  poor,  another  message  from  the  flowers,  and 
how  greatly  the  delight  would  be  enhanced  by  some  knowledge  of 
the  flowers  admired.  There  are  at  least  three  farm  lads  who  were 
lovers  of  flowers,  and  wrote  of  them  in  unforgotten  verse. 
Imagine  Robert  Burns  stopping  his  plough  ir  mid-furrow  to 
apostrophise  the  “  wee  crimson  tipped  flower,”  that  “  bonnie  gem  !  ” 
Bloomfield  and  Clare,  too.  What  a  fund  of  unalloyed  delight  ihis 
love  of  flowers  and  Nature  must  have  been  to  them.  “  I  thank 
God,”  said  an  old  friend,  “  for  giving  me  this  love  of  Nature.  From 
the  time  I  was  a  chubby  ‘four-year-old,’  when  I  used  to  prowl 
round  my  father’s  cottage  garden  and  into  the  adjoining  meadows 
to  gather  wild  flowers,  or  peer  into  the  nest  of  the  thrush  and 
blackbird  until  now.  It  is  a  pleasure  that  ne’er  grows  old.  The 
picture  may  tone  with  age,  but  it  never  loses  its  freshness  and 
charm .” 
I  remember  giving  a  wee  lassie  a  few  Roses  to  take  to  her 
father  in  the  hospital,  and  begged  the  Secretary’s  permission  to 
glance  through  his  window  into  the  ward,  where  the  poor  fellow 
lay.  It  was  a  comfort  and  delight  to  him — a  flower,  a  Rose.  But 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  a  poor  pale-faced  lad  was  watching 
with  longing  eyes.  At  last  he  must  speak  perforce.  “  Do  give 
me  one  bud,  little  lass  !  Our  folks  know  how  fond  I  am  of 
flowers,  and  yet  they  never  send  me  one.  They  won’t  come 
to-day  !  ”  The  father  culls  an  opening  bud  from  the  little  bunch, 
and  gives  it  to  his  daughter.  “  Tek  it  to  him,  Sue.”  Then  Sue, 
with  a  deeper  blush  on  her  already  rosy  cheek  than  that  of  the 
Rose,  hurries  across  and  gives  him  the  flower.  “  Thank  you, 
my  dear,”  said  he,  looking  across  at  his  co-patient — the  father. 
How  the  poor  lad  gazed  into  its  deep  recesses,  and  drank  of  the 
fragrance  in  eager  draughts  until  gentle  sleep  fell  on  his  weary 
eyelids,  after  giving  one  grateful  glance  at  the  child  and  her  father. 
It  was  a  bud  half  open  of  the  dear  old  Provence,  the  Cabbage 
Roie  of  cottage  gardens,  the  most  fragrant  of  all  the  tribe.  One 
doesn’t  hear  so  much  of  the  so-called  “  flower  missions  ”  as  years 
ago.  I  fear  ic  is  because  the  recipients  are  so  much  lectured  and 
pestered  with  good  advice  that  tho  gift  is  less  welcome.  The 
flower  can  tell  its  own  tale  perhaps  ;  a  flower  worth  the  giving,  a 
kindly  look,  a  gentle  pressure  of  hand,  and  then  a  word  in’  answer 
to  the  “  Do  come  again,  friend.”  “  Yes,  certainly,  and  I’ll  bring 
you  another  Rose.”  I  have  known  such — there  are  more  of  them 
than  some  good  folk  believe. 
John  Burroughs,  the  delightful  American  writer,  twice  at  least 
paid  us  a  visit,  once  to  see  our  wild  flowers  at  home  and  again  to 
hear  our  nightingale.  He  urges  the  beauty  of  American  wild 
flowers,  but  is  compelled  to  admit  the  splendour  and  vast  profusion 
of  our  common  wildings  ;  acres  of  Primroses  carpeting  our  wood¬ 
lands  with  their  green  and  gold,  and  acre#,  too,  of  wild  Hyacinth 
stretching  away  down  through  the  vista#  of  the  woodland,  bluer 
than  Italian  skies  ;  miles  of  stately  Foxglove,  which  seemed  to 
delight  him  even  more  ;  long  lines  of  foamy  Meadow  Sweet,  huge  rafts 
of  Lilies,  and  the  infinite  variety  and  tones  of  the  spring  verdure. 
Now  in  London  there  is  not,  perhaps,  one  room  in  a  hundred 
in  which  even  a  green  leaf  may  be  seen,  much  less  a  flower.  And 
what  is  worse,  there  seems  to  be  no  desire  for  it.  And  yet  there 
is  not  a  window  sill  in  the  gloomiest  of  London  courts  that  might 
not  bear  its  burden  of  a  box  or  pot  of  flowers,  in  spring  and  summer 
at  least.  Now  this  love  of  flowers  might  be  begotten  and  cherished 
in  the  schoolroom.  But  pause  a  moment.  What  would  the 
stingy  folk  say  whose  only  object  in  securing  a  seat  on  the  School 
Board  or  management  is  to  consider  the  ratepayers  ?  What  would 
such  folk  say  were  someone  to  suggest  window-boxes  for  schools  ? 
One  may  almost  imagine  the  indignant  scorn  of  those  who  begrudged 
a  piano  to  accompany  the  singing.  Music  and  drawing  and  flowers  ! 
W  hat  are  we  coming  to  ? 
There  is  no  more  delightful  and  instructive  recreation  than  the 
cultivation  of  flowers,  and  the  greater  the  difficulties  encountered 
and  overcome,  the  greater  the  satisfaction  and  delight.  One  thinks 
of  the  naked  dingy  walls  of  our  London  Board  school  play¬ 
grounds,  and  the  few  pence  in  a  hundred  pounds  properly  expended 
that  would  invest  them  with  interest  and  significance.  Why 
should  not  these  be  utilised  as  wall  gardens  ?  Ivy,  Virginian 
Creeper,  and  Euonymus  would  grow  on  walls  with  any  aspect, 
and,  for  at  least  four  months  of  the  year  those  pretty  annuals 
Nasturtium,  Canary  Creeper,  and  Convolvulus,  would  serve  to  chaer 
and  lighten  the  grimy  and  repulsive  surroundings. 
Another  circumstance  suggest#  itself.  There  are  thousands  of 
country  house#  unoccupied  for  a  portion  of  the  year — the  London 
season — when  acres  of  flower  beds  are  left  to  waste  their  sweetness 
on  the  “  summer  air.”  There  is  a  society  in  London — or  was — 
whose  function  it  was  to  embellish  the  school-room  walls  with 
works  of  art,  to  put  before  the  eyes  of  children  “  things  of  beauty  ” 
in  the  way  of  pictures.  Now,  what  picture  could  be  compared  for 
a  moment  to  a  healthy  plant  in  a  pot,  or  a  vase  of  flowers  ?  Such 
a  society  might  be  the  means  of  suggesting  to  the  owners  of  country 
houses  the  delight  they  could  provide  at  a  mere  trifle  of  expense  to 
poor  town  children. 
And  then,  wheo  the  woodlands,  and  fields,  and  hedgerows  are 
spattered  over  with  wild  flowers  in  April,  May,  and  June — acres 
of  Primroses  and  Hyacinths,  and  miles  of  fragrant  Hawthorn  to 
be  had  for  the  gathering,  what  a  pleasure  it  would  be  to  the 
teachers  to  distribute  these,  and  thus  help  forward  the  mission  of 
the  flowers  !  Some  day  it  is  to  be  hoped  every  school  in  town  as 
well  as  country  will  have  its  garden,  if  it  be  but  a  strip  of  the 
playground,  where  something  green  may  live  and  grow  ;  then,  at 
least,  something  more  may  be  hoped  from  the  mission  of  flowers. 
— Herga. 
ROYAL  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY’S  COMMITTEES’ 
AWARDS. 
Really  I  cannot  for  one  moment  admit  the  correctness  of  the 
deductions  of  “  F.  R.  H.  S.”in  relation  to  my  comparisons  of  the  liberal 
awards  made  by  the  Council  at  Fork  and  Chester,  and  those  of  the 
Committees  at  home.  He  places  for  comparison  the  awards  at  the 
Temple  Show  of  last  May  (sixty),  a#  against  those  of  the  Council  at 
York  and  Chester  (seventy-two)  at  two  shows.  But  then,  how  diverse 
the  conditions  at  the  Temple  Show  ;  not  a  single  money  prize  is  given, 
and  the  awards  (sixty)  include  almost  everything  exhibited.  To  have 
made  the  comparison  even,  “F.R.  H.  S.”  should  have  included  the 
prizes  awarded  at  the  two  provincial  shows. 
That  is  enough  on  that  point.  As  to  the  proposition  that  every 
member  should  be  compelled  to  vote  on  a  proposed  award  one  way  or 
another,  I  see  no  objection,  but  I  do  not  think  the  present  too  free 
making  of  awards  would  be  restricted  in  the  least.  On  the  Orchid  and 
Fruit  Committees  members  are  supposed  to  be  such  because  they 
have  some  knowledge  of  all  the  subjects  which  come  before  them.  On 
the  Floral  Committee,  where  many  members  are  specialists  only,  the 
case  is  different,  and  might  lead  to  difficulties.  It  is  no  fault  of  mine 
that  awards  are  so  freely  made.  I  still  hold  that  the  Council  in  com¬ 
plaining  should  have  gone  farther  and  told  the  Committees  how  to 
avoid  this  liberality. — A.  D. 
[That  is  what  “  F.  R.  H.  S.”  seems  tot  think,  and  we  are  disposed  to 
agree  on  the  point.  It  is  not  the  first  time  the  Council  has  complained 
ineffectually  without  suggesting  a  practical  remedy.  “  A.  D.  ”  omits 
reference  to  the  two-thirds  majority  proposition,  perhaps  accidentally.] 
GOLDEN  FOLIAGED  PINES. 
It  is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule  to  find  species  or  varieties  of 
the  genus  Pinus  with  foliage  of  any  other  colour  than  green ;  a  few, 
however,  exist,  and  it  is  my  wish  to  draw  attention  to  two  of  the  better 
of  these  as  ornamental  garden  plants.  The  better  known  of  the  two  is  the 
golden  form  of  our  British  Pine,  Pinus  sylvestris  aurea.  In  exceptional 
instances  plants  of  this  variety  are  found  growing  freely,  and  having 
every  appearance  of  making  small  trees  ;  more  often,  however,  the 
plant#  are  stunted  in  growth,  and  make  bushes  a  few  feet  high. 
A  plant  of  recent  introduction,  and  one  which  appears  to  be  of  a 
more  free  growing  disposition  than  the  former,  is  the  golden  variety  of 
the  Japanese  Finns  Thunbergi.  The  leaves  of  this  are  from  4  to  5  inches 
in  length,  quite  2  inches  longer  than  those  of  P.  sylvestris,  and  altogether 
the  plant  has  a  more  elegant  appearance  than  the  first  mentioned. 
Whether  grown  singly  or  in  masses  these  golden  Pines  have  a  most 
striking  appearance,  and  are  well  worth  growing. 
A  variety  of  Pinus  Thunbergi  called  variegata  has  recently  been 
introduced,  which  has  the  leaves  alternately  banded  with  half-inch 
bands  of  green  and  yellow  ;  it  is  not  likely  to  become  popular,  however, 
as  the  yellow  portions  have  a  tendency  to  revert  to  green.  Either  of 
these  varieties  may  be  increased  in  spring  by  grafting  on  stocks  of  their 
respective  species.— W.  D. 
