U  •  '  ,  r  ' 
August  17,  1899.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
141 
mg  into  growth  before  the  spring.  The  covering  in  winter  is  to  keep 
off  heavy  rains  and  discourage  a  premature  growth.  If  this  fails  it 
will  be  a  good  plan  to  lift  the  bulbs  immediately  they  have  done 
flowering,  and  keep  them  on  a  dry  shelf  or  in  perfectly  dry  sand  till 
time  of  planting.”  Mr.  Barr  adds,  “  The  great  beauty  of  these  Irises, 
especially  when  grown  in  masses,  will  fully  repay  the  special  treat¬ 
ment  they  require.” 
The  most  beautiful  variety  is  undoubtedly  Gatesi,  thus  described 
by  Mr.  Barr  : — “  A  hardy  robust  species  of  the  Susiana  type,  but  with 
larger  flowers,  of  a  beautiful  satiny  creamy  white,  tinged  rose, 
delicately  veined  and  minutely  spotted  silvery  grey.  It  flowers  iu 
J une,  and  the  flower  is  about  2\  feet  high.” 
We  come  now  to  a  large  and  interesting  section  called  the  Juno 
group,  of  which  the  well-known  I.  persica,  or  the  Persian  Iris,  may  be 
said  to  be  the  type.  The  peculiarity  of  these  is  that  the  bulb  has  several 
fleshy  coats,  and  the  ripe  bulb  possesses  a  number  of  thick  store  roots. 
The  leaves  are  broader  and  more  numerous  than  in  the  Xiphion  group, 
and  the  flower  has  a  special  form.  Iris  persica  came  from  South  Persia, 
and  is  a  striking  and  beautiful  flower  with  a  deep  violet,  almost  black, 
patch  on  the  fall,  forming  a  pleasing  contrast  to  the  white  or  bluish 
open,  in  prepared  beds,  and  left  there  for  three  or  four  years,  when 
the  seedlings  should  be  moved.  The  seed  of  I.  alata  and  persica 
must  be  sown  under  protection. 
As  to  general  rules  of  cultivation.  What  a  bulbous  Iris  wants 
above  all  things  is  a  sunny  situation  in  a  soil  not  over-light,  and  yet 
not  heavy,  free  from  roots  of  Conifers  or  shrubs.  The  bearded,  or  Iris 
gerrnanica,  varieties,  will  do  in  half  shade  better  than  in  the  open. 
#  And  now  1  have  nearly  brought  this  paper  to  a  conclusion.  That 
it  is  imperfect  I  know ;  that  it  only  touches  the  fringe  of  a  beautiful 
flower,  that  it  leaves  very  many  important  subjects  connected  with 
the  flower  untreated,  of  this  I  am  fully  aware.  Still,  it  is  an  honest 
attempt  at  dealing  with  a  beautiful  gift  of  God,  and  I  can  assure  you 
it  has  entailed  upon  me  great  labour.  I  have  bought  every  book  that 
I  can  hear  of  that  treats  of  the  Iris.  I  have  not  only  bought  it,  but 
have  carefully  read  and  marked  every  passage  in  it  that  I  thought 
would  be  useful  to  me,  and  I  have  devoted  many  hours  to  the  task  of 
comparing  the  various  authorities.  I  have  written  to  leading  growers 
of  the  Iris,  and  have  asked  for  their  advice  and  their  help.  I  have, 
in  a  word,  taken  every  step  I  could  think  of  to  make  my  paper 
interesting,  if  not  valuable.  If  I  have  in  any  way  succeeded  in 
Fig.  31.— AN  ORCHID  HOUSE  AT  WALTON  GRANGE. 
green  of  the  rest  of  the  flower.  It  flowers  in  March,  and  generally 
has  only  one  bloom  on  the  stem,  though  occasionally  it  has  two  or 
even  three.  This  bulb,  which  is  considered  by  some  not  quite  hardy, 
will  stand  a  much  severer  frost  than  any  we  have,  but  it  is  a  little 
difficult  to  grow  on  account  of  its  requiring  to  be  ripened  by  heat 
and  drought  when  it  has  done  growing.  Sandy  peat  is  recommended 
as  the  best  soil,  although  Professor  Foster’s  experience  tends  to 
employing  loam.  In  Palestine  is  found  I.  palestina,  which  bulb  is, 
however,  next  to  useless  in  our  gardens. 
Another  most  beautiful  Iris,  which  comes  from  Bokhara,  is 
I.  Rosenbachiana,  which  belongs  to  the  Juno  group,  though  slightly 
different  from  it.  The  plant  sends  up  its  bloom  whilst  the  leaves  are 
very  short,  or,  indeed,  before  they  appear,  partaking  in  this  way  much 
after  the  growth  of  the  autumn  Colchicum.  The  dominant  colour  is 
a  combination  of  purple,  yellow,  and  white ;  in  some  the  purple  is  a 
red  purple,  passing  into  a  rich  crimson ;  in  others  the  purple  is  a  blue 
purple,  passing  into  a  dull  lavender.  The  cultivation  is  much  the 
same  as  that  of  Iris  caucasica  major,  but  the  bulb  is  not  quite  so 
robust,  and  prefers  a  rather  lighter  soil.  Next  comes  a  beautiiul  Iris, 
still  belonging  to  the  Juno  group,  I.  alata,  one  of  the  earliest  to  bloom. 
The  prevailing  colour  is  lilac  or  blue,  the  edges  being  laciniated  or 
fringed. 
Juno  Irises  produce  seeds  very  freely  ;  which  may  be  sown  in  the 
interesting  or  instructing  you  with  regard  to  this  flower,  I  hope  that 
you  will  repay  me  by  cultivating  it  more  largely  and  carefully  than 
before.  That  is  the  reward  that  an  essayist  alone  looks  for  when  he 
writes  upon  a  flower  that  he  loves. 
Once  again  then  is  Iris,  the  messenger,  sent  upon  a  journey,  but 
this  time  she  is  no  longer  a  heathen  messenger  employed  in  taking 
cruel  orders  to  those  who  have  earned  the  envy  or  antipathy  of  a 
mythological  goddess.  It  is  no  longer  to  the  Greeks  fighting  before 
the  historical  and  mythical  walls  of  Troy  that  she  comes.  It  is  to  the 
simple  and  the  industrious  cultivators  of  the  garden,  the  honest 
horticulturist.  It  is  no  longer  a  message  of  hate  or  of  enmity  that 
she  brings.  It  is  one  of  love  and  peace.  It  is  no  longer  as  a  messenger 
that  she  presents  herself  to  us,  but  as  a  lovely  flower. 
“  Behold  me,”  she  seems  to  address  each  one  of  us.  “  Behold  me  ; 
look  at  me.  Am  I  not  lovely  ?  What  element  that  a  flower  can 
have  do  not  I  possess  ?  Fragrance,  beauty  and  diversity  of  colour, 
endless  variety  of  form,  and  good  health  and  a  fine  constitution. 
I  come  to  you  from  all  lands.  From  the  sunny  Mediterranean;  from 
England,  your  home;  across  the  Channel  in  France,  Italy,  and  Spain; 
in  Algeria,  in  Tunis,  in  Morocco,  right  across  the  Sahara  of  Africa ;  in 
Asia,  in  the  Punjaub,  in  the  Caucasus,  in  Japan,  and  China.  Wher¬ 
ever  missionaries  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  there  too  may  I  be 
found.  From  all  these  lands  explorers  and  botanists  have  collected 
