328 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  14,  1898. 
GARDENERS’  ROYAL  BENEVOLENT 
INSTITUTION.— “VICTORIAN  ERA  FUND.” 
Readers  will  doubtless  remember  that  this  fund  was  established 
last  year  to  commemorate  the  completion  of  the  sixtieth  year  of  her 
Majesty’s  beneficent  reign.  They  will  also  recollect  that  its  object  is  to 
temporarily  assist  unsuccessful  candidates  whilst  awaiting  election,  who 
have  been  (or  their  husbands)  subscribers  to,  or  life  members  of,  the 
Institution.  The  total  amount  received  up  to  December  31st  last  has 
been  invested,  and  the  Committee  are  glad  to  be  able  to  announce  that  the 
income  derivable  therefrom  this  year  enables  them  to  distribute  the  sum 
of  £106  10s.,  the  first  half  of  which ‘was  sent  on  April  1st  last  to  eighteen 
unsuccessful  candidates  as  follows,  and  has  been  divided  at  the  rate  of 
15s.  for  each  j  ear  they  (or  their  husbands)  had  subscribed. 
Years  Self  or  Husband  Amount  sent 
subscribed.  April  1st,  1898. 
Bryan,  Andrew  . 
13 
...  £4 
17 
6 
Nixon,  Fi-rincis 
13 
4 
17 
6 
Plevy,  James 
12 
4 
10 
0 
Staples,  George  . 
11 
4 
2 
6 
Wood,  Caroline  . 
11 
4 
2 
0 
Gibbons,  John  . 
10 
3 
15 
0 
Watt,  James  . 
10 
...  o 
15 
p 
Hackwell.  Elizabeth 
9 
3 
7 
6 
Wills,  George 
9 
3 
6 
Baintield,  Alfred  ... 
8 
3 
0 
0 
Hatch,  Annie  . 
8 
3 
0 
0 
Mitchell,  Lucy 
7 
2 
12 
6 
Shearn,  Joseph 
7 
.!!  2 
12 
G 
Lee,  Ale.xander 
5 
1 
17 
6 
Evans,  Thomas 
Gould,  William  .. 
4 
1 
10 
0 
2 
0 
15 
0 
Thomas,  William  ... 
2 
0 
15 
0 
Woodward,  Emma 
1 
0 
7 
6 
From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  aggregate  number  if  years  of 
subscription  is  142,  which,  at  ISs.  each  year,  gives  a  total  of  £106  10s., 
the  first  instalment  of  which,  as  already  stated,  was  sent  on  April  1st 
last,  and  the  remainder  will  be  sent  on  October  1st  next.  The  Committee 
are  very  anxious  to  bring  up  the  total  amount  of  this  fund  to  £5000,  to 
do  which  they  require  a  sum  of  £925,  and  I  should  like  to  draw  attention 
to  the  generous  offer  made  by  N.  N.  Sherwood,  Esq.  (Trustee),  to  con¬ 
tribute  £50,  provided  the  amount  required  be  raised,  in  response  to 
which  the  following  gentlemen  have  each  kindly  promised  a  similar  sum. 
Arthur  W.  Sutton,  Esq.,  Reading  ;  Leonard  Sutton,  Esip,  Reading  ; 
Harry  J.  Veitch,  Esq.,  Treasurer,  and  several  smaller  contributions  have 
been  already  received.  The  Committee  sincerely  hopes  before  the  close 
of  the  year  to  be  able  to  announce  that  the  balance  necessary  to  make  up 
the  £5000  has  been  received.  It  is  trusted  therefore  that  every  well- 
wisher  of  the  Institution  will  note  that  the  “Victorian  Era  Fund”  is 
still  open,  and  that  donations  to  it  will  be  most  gratefully  received. 
The  Committee  also  desire  again  to  emphasise  the  notice  which  has 
already  appeared  in  your  columns,  and  elsewhere,  that  this  fund  is 
intended  for  the  benefit  of  those  only  who  have  subscribed  to  the  Institu¬ 
tion. — G.  J.  Ingram,  Secretary. 
FRENCH  AND  AFRICAN  MARIGOLDS. 
These  may  be  accepted  as  illustrating  the  aphorism  of  Longfellow — 
“  Things  are  not  what  they  seem  ” — because  they  are  neither  French  nor 
African,  nor  are  they  yet  Marigolds.  An  account  of  both  plants  is  to 
be  found  in  “  Stirpium  Historic”  (1582),  and  from  this  we  are  able, 
with  a  little  help  from  other  quarters,  to  arrive  at  a  definite  conclusion 
as  to  why  these  inappropriate  designations  came  to  be  applied  to  them. 
Both  were  termed  africanus  because  it  was  believed  they  grew  wild  in 
many  places  in  Africa,  and  it  was  current  they  had  been  brought  thence 
by  Chat  les  V.  of  Spain  on  his  return  from  Tunis  in  1535-36.  Another 
account  had  it  that  they  were  brought  by  Germans  from  Peru.  Some 
also  discovered  in  them  the  Petilius  Flos  of  Pliny,  and  the  French,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  accepted  Tagetes  patula  as  identical.  In  England  it  was 
called  French  Marigold  because,  as  an  old  writer  affirms,  “  the  French 
taught  us  how  to  cultivate  this  flower.”  From  the  “  Scots  Gardner  ’ 
(1683)  we  discover  from  its  absence  that  the  French  Marigold  was 
unknown  at  least  to  the  Scottish  horticultural  literature  of  that  period. 
Miller  mentions  eleven  varieties  of  the  African  Marigold  as  being  in 
cultivation  about  the  middle  of  last  century.  Of  these  the  varieties  which 
interest  us  most  are  the  “  double  ”  forms,  or  those  with  Hat  florets,  and 
the  “  fistulous,”  or  those  with  quilled  petals.  This  predilection  for  quilled 
Africans  has  continued  to  the  present  day,  with  the  result  that  a  flat- 
petalled  flower  shown  against  a  quilled  has,  with  not  a  few  judges,  only  a 
slight  chance  of  obtaining  a  prize.  An  essential  point  in  the  culture  of 
this  plant  for  exhibition,  after  securing  a  first-class  strain,  is  to  grow  one 
stem  only  to  each  plant,  and  rigorously  to  remove  all  side  growths,  in 
order  that  the  whole  strength  of  the  stem  may  be  directed  to  the  one 
flower  which  crowns  its  summit.  A  too  rich  soil  conduces  to  coarseness 
as  well  as  size,  and  it  is  better  to  depend  on  dressings  applied  as  required 
than  to  overload  the  soil  with  manure  previous  to  planting.  The  Orange 
and  the  Lemon  are  the  forms  now  esteemed  most  highly  for  exhibition. 
From  the  above  the  selection  and  treatment  of  the  French  Marigold 
widely  differs.  It  is,  moreover,  a  more  useful  plant,  the  very  dwarf  single 
and  double  varieties  being  of  much  service  for  a  certain  class  of  bedding. 
The  dwarf  forms,  however,  are  by  no  means  new,  for  we  find  them  named 
over  a  century  ago.  Hill  says,  “  Choose  the  best  striped  of  the  French 
Marigold,  and  the  largest  and  most  quilled  of  the  African,”  and  such 
flowers  secure  the  best  prizes  at  the  present  day. 
It  is  a  fact  not  without  interest  that  one  plant  of  French  Marigold, 
grown  in  well-worked  soil,  but  not  too  rich,  and  allowed  space  for  free 
development,  will  produce  continuously  blooms  single,  double  yellow, 
double  red,  and  striped  of  the  highest  quality.  For  this  reason  only  a 
few  plants  are  required  for  the  production  of  exhibition  blooms. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  sow  either  of  these  Marigolds  earlier  than  April  ; 
from  beginning  to  end,  according  to  locality,  being  a  suitable  time.  The 
aim  of  the  cultivator  should  be  to  grow  the  plants  without  check,  and  this 
is  effected  with  the  greatest  certainty  when  the  seedlings  appear  suffi¬ 
ciently  late  in  spring  to  secure  a  share  of  genial  weather  from  their 
earliest  appearing. — R.  F.  Brotherston. 
NOTES  ON  ALPINE  FLOWERS. 
{Continued  from  page  262.) 
Primula  marginata. 
Some  of  the  choicest  of  our  Alpine  flowers  are  to  be  found  among 
the  Primulacese,  and  in  that  beautiful  family  what  are  known  as  the 
Primula  species  hold  a  prominent  place.  Some  of  these  are  comparatively 
difficult  to  grow,  but  others  are  easily  cultivated  in  the  rock  garden. 
Included  among  the  plants  passing  under  the  name  of  “Primula  species  ” 
are  several  hybrids  and  varieties,  more  or  less  marked,  of  true  species. 
The  subject  of  this  note — Primula  marginata  of  Curtis — has  some 
variation  in  shade  of  colour  and  in  size  of  flower,  but  all  the  varieties 
resemble  each  other  in  every  material  point. 
In  Mr.  J.  G.  Baker’s  synopsis  of  the  European  species  of  Primula, 
read  at  the  Primula  Conference  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  in  1886, 
P.  marginata  was  included  in  Group  III. — Auriculastra.  It  comes  from 
the  Alps  of  Dauphine  and  Piedmont.  It  is  easily  recognised  by  the  white 
margins  round  the  toothed  silver-grey  leaves,  which  make  the  plant  very 
attractive,  even  after  the  flowering  period.  The  Margined  Primrose  grows 
from  2  to  6  inches  high,  and  thrives  best  in  a  partially  shaded  position  in 
a  light  soil  not  too  dry.  The  colour  is  called  by  Mr.  Baker  “lilac,”  and 
by  others  “  violet-rose.”  The  latter  is,  the  writer  thinks,  nearer  the 
colouring  as  grown  outdoors  and  without  covering.  This  colour,  as  has 
been  mentioned,  varies,  and  among  the  best  forms  are  Dr.  Stuart’s  variety 
and  major.  The  most  distinct  in  colour  is  known  as  P.  marginata  var. 
coerulea,  and  is  of  a  pretty  bluish  tint  not  frequently  met  with  in  the 
genus  except  among  the  new  blue  Primroses  now  attracting  so  much 
attention.  This  Primula  can  be  confidently  recommended,  and  requires 
less  care  than  many  others.  The  Margined  Primrose  is  increased  by 
means  of  division. 
Aubrietia  tauricola. 
One  might  devote  more  space  than  is  at  present  at  command  to 
expatiate  upon  the  beauties  of  the  Aubrietias,  and  their  uses  in  the  rock 
garden.  In  spring  their  purple,  violet,  or  rose  flowers  are  of  striking 
effect,  depending  from  the  ledges  of  the  rocks  or  draping  a  large  stone 
with  a  sheet  of  brilliant  flowers.  A.  tauricola  is  a  beautiful  little  variety 
of  more  compact  habit  than  many  of  the  varieties  of  A.  deltoidea,  to 
which  it  seems  to  belong.  This  renders  it  suitable  for  association 
with  the  more  select  alpines.  The  flowers  are  also  of  a  good  colour  and 
size,  so  that  the  plant  which  passes  under  the  name  of  A.  tauricola  is 
one  deserving  of  attention  from  Alpine  growers.  It  may  be  that  it  is  the 
same  as  the  Aubrietia  grown  at  Kew  as  A.  deltoidea  var.  taurica,  but  the 
writer  has  not  at  present  an  opportunity  of  comparing  the  plants. 
Alyssum  montanum. 
Mountain  Madwort  is  the  alliterative  English  name  of  this  very  pleasing 
little  Alyssum.  It  comes  from  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees,  and  has  been  in 
cultivation  for  many  years.  Like  a  large  number  of  the  perennial  Mad- 
worts  it  has  yellow  flowers.  These  are  in  simple  racemes,  and  are  only 
a  little  above  the  spreading  tuft  formed  by  the  stems  and  leaves.  The 
leaves  are  rough  and  of  a  dull  greyish  green.  Some  growers  appear  to 
have  a  difficulty  in  keeping  Alyssum  montanum  for  any  great  length  of 
time.  After  some  winters  it  has  looked  a  little  unhealthy  in  this  garden, 
but  has  always  recovered.  It  is  grown  in  light  soil  in  the  upper  pockets 
of  a  low  rockery,  but  is  kept  well  supplied  with  water  in  continued  dry 
weather.  The  Mountain  Madwort  is  easily  raised  from  seeds,  and  may 
also  be  increased  by  means  of  cuttings. 
Pentstemon  coneertus. 
This  is  Douglas’s  name  for  a  very  dwarf  and  hardy  little  “blue” 
Pentstemon,  grown  also  under  the  names  of  confertiflorus  and  procerus. 
Under  the  name  of  P.  confertiflorus  seeds  are  offered,  and  plants  may 
also  be  seen  catalogued  as  P.  procerus.  Its  English  name  is  the  Whorled 
Pentstemon.  A  very  pretty  little  plant  it  is,  of  dwarf  habit,  only  growing 
from  7  or  8  to  14  inches  high,  and  producing  many  racemes  of  blue 
purple-veined  flowers.  The  leaves  are  lance  shaped,  and  this  Pentstemon 
is  a  very  desirable  alpine,  and  is  quite  hardy  in  the  rock  garden  or  border 
in  almost  any  soil.  It  is  increased  by  division  as  well  as  by  seeds. — 
Alpinus. 
(To  be  continued.) 
