October  12,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
309 
that  the  floral  portion  of  the  dessert  tables  was  not  so  good  as  usual, 
being  heavy  and  monotonous. 
To  one  of  the  tables,  however,  this  criticism  did  not  apply,  as  it 
was  universally  admired — viz.,  the  decoration  on  the  second  prize 
table,  consisting  as  it  did  chiefly  of  sprays  of  the  elegant  Heuchera 
sanguinea,  with  a  slight  intermixture  of  the  elegant  pale  yellow- 
flowered  racemes  of  an  Acacia  and  light  greenery,  and  respecting 
■which  latter  element  it  may  be  said  the  Montbretias  or  Tritonias 
never  appear  to  better  advantage  than  when  supplemented  with  their 
own  foliage,  particularly  that  of  the  narrower- leaved  varieties,  but 
which,  if  I  mistake  not,  were  non  est  at  the  Shrewsbury  Show. 
Montbretias  elegans  and  Golden  Sheaf  are  admirably  suited  for  the 
purpose  indicated. — W.  G. 
SEASONABLE  HINTS  ON  FLORIST  FLOWERS. 
Auriculas. 
The  very  extraordinary  and  disappointing  season  of  1899  is  now 
•drawing  to  a  close,  and  while  its  effects  have  been  most  injuriously  felt 
by  all  florist  flowers,  I  think,  perhaps,  the  Auricula  has  suffered  most. 
We  well  remember  how  disappointiug  the  blooming  season  was  ;  how 
at  our  great  Southern  Show  some  of  our  best  exhibitors  were  absent, 
and  none  of  our  northern  growers  put  in  an  appearance ;  and  an 
Auricula  Show  without  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner,  Ben  Simonite,  and 
others  of  that  ilk,  left  very  much  to  be  desired.  No  new  varieties 
were  brought  forward,  and  a  sort  of  paralysis  seemed  to  have  seized 
the  whole  subject  ;  at  the  same  time  some  of  our  most  experienced 
growers  thought  that  this  was  not  merely  a  temporary  but  a  permanent 
state  of  things.  As  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  of  course, 
advanced  years  make  it  necessary  for  me  to  grow  fewer  plants,  and, 
as  I  look  upon  my  small  collection  now,  I  heave  a  sigh  when  I  think 
of  what  it  once  was,  but  I  must  submit  to  the  inevitable.  I  have 
given  away  many  of  my  plants,  but  those  that  remain  still  require 
careful  attention. 
The  excessively  dry  summer  has  not  been  favourable  to  them  ;  they 
required  constant  watering,  and  this  is  not  good  for  Diants  in  pots, 
•especially  as,  having  had  no  rain  of  any  consequence  for  some  months, 
one  was  obliged  to  use  spring  water,  which  is  strongly  impregnated  / 
with  lime,  and  is  therefore  not  very  good  for  plants  in  pots.  But  on 
the  whole  I  think  my  collection  looks  fairly  well,  for  although  the 
summer  has  been  very  dry  it  has  in  one  respect  been  good  for  them ; 
they  have  not  suffered  from  that  which  Auriculas  very  much  dislike, 
“drip”;  they  may  be  shifted  into  their  winter  quarters,  that  is,  into 
a  pit  or  frame  facing  south.  I  think  it  iB  well  to  give  them  a  slight 
fumigation.  Water  ought  to  be  very  sparingly  given  for  some  time, 
•but  the  soil  must  not  be  allowed  to  become  dust  dry. 
Carnations  and  Picotees. 
It  will  now  be  time  to  take  off  the  layers  and  pot  them  in  small 
pots  in  sandy  loam,  for  I  do  not  believe  in  the  plan  of  leaving  them 
in  the  ground,  and  making  up  the  beds  in  the  autumn  ;  whether  they 
are  grown  in  named  varieties  or  seedlings  I  should  pot  all.  There  has 
no  doubt  been  a  great  change  in  the  character  of  collections  of  these 
flowers,  and  one  must  regret  the  loss  of  many  old  and  beautiful  striped 
Carnations  and  delicately  edged  Picotees  ;  the  modern  race  of  border 
varieties  is  showier  and  more  attractive,  and  this  is  what  is  really 
sought  after  in  these  days — in  a  very  short  time  there  will  be  nobody 
left  who  can  dress  a  Carnation.  Of  course  the  stands  of  flowers 
exhibited  by  Mr.  Turner,  Mr.  Douglas,  and  others  were  very  beautiful, 
but  at  the  same  time  deceptive  ;  persons  who  saw  these  regular  and 
beautifully  marked  flowers  ordered  them,  and  they  were  much  dis¬ 
appointed  when  their  gardeners  could  not  produce  flowers  like  them, 
being  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  they  required  so  much  manipulation 
and  careful  handling. 
Chrysanthemums. 
The  sooner  these  are  placed  out  of  harm’s  way,  so  far  as  weather 
is  concerned,  the  better  ;  they  ought  now  to  be  under  shelter.  I 
have  found  a  glass-covered  shed  open  at  the  side  very  useful  for  this 
, purpose,  but  then  I  am  not  an  exhibitor,  and  do  not  care  for  the 
immense  mops  which  are  now  so  much  in  vogue.  I  prefer  plants 
more  naturally  grown,  that  carry  a  number  of  blooms  suitable  for 
■decorative  purposes.  A  moderate  amount  of  staking  is  all  that  is 
required,  and  if  wished  they  may  be  disbudded,  and  only  one  flower 
left  on  the  shoot.  I  need  hardly  say  that  for  this  decorative  purpose 
the  Japanese  are  best  suited  ;  the  incurved  varieties  are  too  formal. 
Water  must  be  continually  given,  as  if  once  allowed  to  flag  the  beauty 
of  the  plant  is  destroyed.  One  great  object  is  to  keep  the  foliage  green 
down  to  the  pot. 
Gladiolus. 
Many  years  ago  when  I  was  complaining  to  a  grower  of  these 
•beautiful  autumn  plants  that  I  had  so  many  losses  amongst  them,  he 
said  “  You  ought  to  grow  seedlings,  and  then  you  would  not  have  the 
vexation  of  losing  stock  which  cost  you  5s.  or  10s.  each.’’  I  tried 
some,  but  they  were  so  inferior  that  I  did  not  repeat  the  experiment. 
Since,  those  days  more  care  has  been  taken,  and  instead  of  saving  the 
seed  indiscriminately,  the  flowers  have  been  cross-fertilised.  I  have, 
therefore,  after  forty  years’  cultivation,  nearly  abandoned  named 
varieties  of  the  gandavensis  section,  and  rely  chiefly  on  the  seedlings. 
The  season  has,  I  think,  been  a  favourable  one  for  maturing 
the  corms,  and  unless  we  get  very  heavy  rains  this  month,  they  ought 
Fig.  G2. — Lyelio- Cattle ya  elegans  Harold  Measures. 
to  lift  in  good  condition.  They  should  now  be  dried  off  as  soon  as  the 
foliage  becomes  yellow,  and  laid  out  singly  on  shelves  in  some  place 
where  frost  cannot  reach  them. 
The  Lemoinei  and  Nancianus  groups  have  been  considerably 
improved,  and  although  they  are  not  absolutely  hardy,  yet  they  will, 
I  think,  survive  our  winters  if  the  bulbs  are  covered  with  either  ashes 
or  cocoa-nut  fibre  refuse  ;  of  course,  not  disturbing  them.  I  have  not 
tried  the  Childsi  group,  which  are  of  American  origin  ;  nor,  indeed, 
have  I  seen  them,  but  I  am  told  that  they  are  large  and  bright  in 
colour.  Where  it  is  desired  to  save  the  spawn  of  the  Gladioli  it  should 
be  rubbed  off  the  old  corms  and  put  away  in  bags  with  dry  sand. 
Roses.  ^ 
October  will,  of  course,  be  a  busy  month  to  all  growers  of  the 
Rose,  taking  away  the  varieties  which  are  discarded  for  one  cause  or 
another  and  planting  new  ones.  There  is  a  preliminary  step  which  I 
strongly  recommend — that  is,  the  cutting  away  of  all  old  wood  which 
has  flowered  this  year,  and  all  spindly  shoots  which  do  not  produce 
flowers  of  any  value.  When  this  is  done  the  plants  will  be  more  open 
to  the  influence  of  sun  and  air  than  if  they  were  crowded  with  shoots. 
It  would  be  well  to  put  stakes  to  all  very  long  shoots  of  this  year,  so 
as  to  prevent  their  being  blown  about  by  the  wind.  Every  year, 
perhaps,  shows  that  there  are  some  which  we  formerly  cherished  must 
be  cast  out,  and  although  there  are  not  very  many  new  ones,  yet  there 
are  some  which  growers  would  do  well  to  introduce.  The  sooner  the 
plants  are  obtained  from  the  nursery  the  better. 
Tulips. 
The  day  of  these  gorgeous  and  stately  flowers,  so  far  as  the 
rectified  forms  are  concerned,  has,  I  fear,  vanished  ;  even  in  the  north 
of  England,  where  they  held  their  own  for  a  much  longer  time  than 
in  the  south,  the  same  story  has  to  be  told.  It  is  a  great  pity,  for  one 
of  the  charms  of  the  gardens  where  they  were  grown  was  beds  of  these 
beautiful  flowers.  I  remerpber  numerous  collections  of  them  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  London,  and  now  I  cannot  put  my  hand  upon  one. 
I  know  there  is  one  nurseryman  who  has  striven  to  resuscitate  them, 
but  I  question  much  whether  he  will  succeed  ;  but  should  anyone 
desire  to  commence  their  growth  now  is  the  best  time  to  obtain  roots. — 
D.,  Deal. 
