511 
June  10,  1807, 
JOURNAL  OF 
A 
HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
BAPTISIA  EXALTATA. 
Such  is  tbe  name  of  the  plant  of  which  “Devonian”  sends  us  a 
specimen  for  identification.  It  is  a  North  American  plant,  whence 
it  was  introduced  (o  this  country  in  1812,  but  it  is  now  seldom 
seen  in  gardens.  Occasionally  in  old  borders  of  herbaceous  plants 
specimens  are  seen  of  this  and  other  Baptistias,  though  in  good  soil 
and  with  ordinary  attention  they  are  much  more  effective  than  many 
occupants  of  our  gardens.  Clumps,  with  stems  3  or  4  feet  high,  and 
bearing  large  racemes  of  bright  blue  flowers  (fig.  98)  produce  a  fine 
display,  and  are  very  useful  as  a  background  to  dwarfer  plants. 
FLOWERS  IN  THE  HOUSE. 
Two  great  principles  underlie  the  arrangement  of  flowers  in  vases 
or1  glasses,  just  as  they  do  the  arrangement  of  plants  for  effect.  We 
sometimes  see  what  are  described  as  light,  graceful,  and  elegant  arrange¬ 
ments  of  flowers,  which  instead  are  a  conglomerated  mixture  of  flowers, 
Ferns,  and  graceful  sprays  of  foliage.  The  filling  of  flower  glasses  for 
room  decoration,  if  considered  as  a  work  of  art,  should  be  done  according 
to  the  rules  of  art  and  beauty  ;  and  as  the  virtue  of  art  consists  in  pro¬ 
ducing  the  greatest  effect  with  the  least  amount  of  work,  the  simpler 
our  floral  arrangements  are  the  more  pleasing  and  interesting  they 
will  be. 
Cut  flowers,  like  plants,  should  he  classified  as  either  characterised 
by  beauty  of  form  or  beauty  of  colour.  Those  possessing  the  former 
should  be  arranged  so  as  to  show  individual  beauty,  not  crowded  or 
massed.  If  any  greenery  is  used  it  should  be  of  the  lightest  description,  and 
not  in  over-abundance.  Flowers  only  distinguished  for  purity,  delicacy, 
or  brilliancy  of  colours  must  be  massed,  and  are  better  without  greenery. 
If  any  foliage  is  used  it  should  not  in  any  case  tower  above  the  flowers, 
as  by  so  doing  it  detracts  from  their  distinguishing  qualities. 
It  is  imperative  that  only  one  kind  of  flower  be  ased  in  the 
same  glass  or  vase,  and  in  some  instances  only  one  colour.  Avoid  the 
mixing  of  different  tints  or  hues  of  one  colour.  If  contrasts  in  the  same 
vase  are  desirable  they  are  almost  better  to  be  carried  out  by  the  addition 
of  coloured  foliage,  as  Allamandas,  with  sprays  of  Cissus  discolor. 
Bougainvillea  glabra,  with  sprigs  of  Copper  Beech  or  Prunus  Pissardi, 
red  Cactus  Dahlias  and  sprays  of  Acer  Negundo  variegata.  The  rich 
crimson  Cactus  Dahlia  Juarezi,  and  the  silvery  foliage  of  either 
Centaurea  candidissima  or  Cineraria  maritima,  Mignonette,  and  purple 
Sweet  Peas. 
The  selection  of  receptacles  suitable  in  shape  and  form  is  one  of  the 
great  points  in  the  proper  arranging  of  flowers,  the  flowers  possessing 
beauty  of  form,  characterised  by  dignity,  grace,  slenderness,  and  chaste¬ 
ness  of  outline  or  substance.  In  this  category  may  be  included  almost 
all  bulbous  and  rhizomatous-rooted  plants,  and  we  observe  that  Nature 
places  them  on  erect  stems,  advancing  well  above  the  leaves.  The 
receptacles  for  them  should  be  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  flower  or 
length  of  stem,  whether  of  glass,  enamelled  earthenware,  or  porcelain, 
the  neck  being  narrow,  cylindrical,  or  bottle-Bbaped.  The  trumpet 
glasses,  so  often  used,  are  altogether  unsuitable,  and  with  heavy  flowers 
are  liable  to  be  upset.  All  Orchids  are  to  be  included  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  category,  besides  Pancratiums,  Eucharis,  Liliums,  Amaryllis, 
Irises,  Freesias,  Gladioli,  and  Clivias. 
Almost  all  herbaceous  flowers  should  be  cut  with  a  full  length  of 
stem,  and  be  massed  in  tall  earthenware  vases,  removing  all  leaves  from 
the  stem  that  will  be  in  the  water.  Peeonies,  Phloxes,  Pentstemons, 
Sunflowers,  annual  and  perennial  Delphiniums,  are  included  in  the 
above.  Annuals  may  be  massed  in  trumpet  glasses — blue  Cornflowers, 
Corn  Marigolds,  Shirley  Poppies,  Clarkias,  Sweet  Sultan,  and  Godetias. 
Sweet  Peas  are  best  massed  in  bowls,  with'streamers  if  put  on  pedestals, 
and  they  are  very  pretty  so  placed  near  fireplaces  or  couches. 
Boses,  Carnations,  double  Zonal  Pelargoniums,  Scabious,  and  German 
Asters  are  very  effective  massed  in  separate  colours  in  bowls,  low 
earthenware  pots,  or  two-handled  cups.  Violets  are  nice  in  tumblers. 
Flat  dishes  may  be  arranged  with  Stephanotis,  without  foliage,  like  a 
dish  of  wax.  The  same  with  single  flowers  of  red  and  white  Lapagerias ; 
also  in  this  way  Dipladenias,  Ixoras,  Rhododendron  Princess  Royal, 
Gardenias,  Jasmine,  Azalea  indica,  Allamandas,  Rondeletia,  Cactus 
Dahlias,  with  foliage  as  before  mentioned,  Plumbago  capensis,  and  Ivy¬ 
leaved  Pelargoniums  Madame  Crousse  (pink)  and  Souvenir  de*Chas. 
Turner  (rose)  are  telling  when  arranged  in  glass  sugar  basins. 
Vases  standing  high  on  cabinets,  mantelpieces,  or  pianos  should  have 
flowers  of  a  naturally  drooping  character,  as  Bougainvillea,  Clerodendron 
Balfouri,  Habrothamnus,  Deutzia  gracilis,  Clematis,  Begonias  insignis 
or  fuchsioides.  Flowers  with  hardwooded  stems  ought  to  have  a  strip  of 
bark  peeled  off  the  stem,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  suck  up  the  water, 
which  must  be  kept  perfectly  fresh  by  frequent  ^hanging.  It  will  be 
seen  that  by  the  above  remarks  that  it  is  intended  that  flowers  should  be 
arranged  according  to  the  true  length  of  their  flower  stem,  and  glasses  or 
vases  should  be  proportioned  accordingly. — F.  Street, 
Ellam’s  Dwarf  Early  Cabbage.  —  This  variety  was  sent  out 
by  Messrs.  Veitch  about  twenty  years  ago,  and  is  still  one  of  the 
best  early  Cabbages  grown.  From  a  quarter  containing  3000  plants 
not  one  has  bolted.  They  are  all  heart,  of  exquisite  flavour,  and  as  they 
are  grown  only  15  inches  apart,  a  few  acres  of  them  at  this  season  would 
be  valuable.— Geo.  Summers,  Sandbeok  Park. 
SCHOOL  GARDENS. 
“  Herga  s  note  on  this  subject,  at  page  435,  induces  me  to  say  a 
few  words  in  the  same  direction.  He  is,  however,  wrong  in  assuming 
that  district  councils  (rural)  have  power  to  provide  allotments  for  the 
working  class..  Urban  district  councils  have,  but  in  the  rural  districts 
that  power  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Parish  Councils.  They  have,  however, 
no  power  to  provide  ground  for  school  gardens.  That  can  be  done  in 
the  case  of  elementary  schools  only,  through  tbe  managers,  or  in  the  case 
of  County  Council  groups  through  the  County  Councils,  or  their  technical 
education  departments. 
It  is  hardly  satisfactory  to  learn  from  the  Education  Department 
report  of  the  year  ending  August  31st  of  last  year  that  only  forty-two 
schools  throughout  England  and  Wales  took  “  cottage  gardening  ”  as  a 
special  subject,  and  of  these  only  twenty-seven  earned  a  grant,  the 
FIG.  98.— BAPTISIA  EXALTATA. 
inference  being  that  tbe  subject  was  either  poorly  taught  or  taught  with¬ 
out  the  aid  of  school  gardens.  The  total  number  of  boys  attending 
were  475,  and  of  this  number  165  earned  the  lower  or  2s.  grant  only, 
having  attended  only  twenty  hours  during  the  year,  whilst  310  obtained 
the  4s.  grant,  having  attended  forty  hours.  It  must  not  be  overlooked, 
however,  that  the  subject  of  “  cottage  gardening  ”  was  introduced  into 
the  Education  Code  in  1895  only  ;  hence  last  year’s  results  were  those 
of  the  first  year’s  experiment. 
Whether  “  cottage  gardening  ”  as  a  special  subject,  taught  with  the 
aid  of  school  gardens,  either  under  or  by  a  capable  school  teacher  or  by 
some  local  gardener,  will  be  more  widely  taken  up  in  the  rural  districts 
depends  no  doubt  upon  the  action  of  school  managers.  But  in  their 
anxiety  to  make  money  through  grants  there  is  too  much  reason  to 
fear  that  other  subjects  less  practical  and  useful  may  be  preferred  to 
“  cottage  gardening” — especially  that  in  this  case  both  ground  and  tools 
have  to  be  provided.  It  sounds  strange  to  hear  that  even  for  such 
important  educational  purposes  it  ia  often  difficult  to  obtain  even  some 
10  or  12  rods  of  ground  in  the  rural  districts,  but  that  such  is  the  case  is 
likely  to  seriously  affect  the  wide  spreading  of  practising  school  gardens. 
Whilst  Parish  Councils  can  obtain  as  best  they  can  allotments  for  adults, 
as  I  have  said,  they  have  no  power  to  obtain  them  for  children,  but  if 
