June  4,  1S9C. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
511 
in  our  British  isles  to  have  acquired  an  English  name.  The 
Lancastrian  Geranium  is  covered  with  its  flesh  coloured  purple 
veined  flowers,  while  near  the  splendid  Catchfly  rears  its  double 
crimson  blooms. 
Saxifrages  and  Thrifts,  Sun  Roses  ana  Rock  Roses,  Storiecrops 
and  Pinks,  with  many  other  flowers,  uphold  the  claims  of  the  rock 
garden  to  notice  when  the  borders  are  aglow  with  Poppies  and 
bright  with  Irises,  Pyrethrums  and  Pseonies.  The  old-fashioned 
Columbines  have  not  yet  departed  either,  and  there  are  Mule  Pinks 
and  Border  Pinks,  Geraniums,  Cornflowers,  Violas,  Trolliuses, 
Veronicas,  Lychnises,  and  other  perennials,  while  self-sown  annuals 
seek  to  hold  their  own  among  their  longer  lived  rivals.  Among 
all  is  the  beauty  of  the  Rose,  whose  queenly  charms  yield  not 
to  the  Lily’s  loveliness  now  beginning  to  attract  our  rejoicing 
eyes. — S.  Arnott. 
IRISH  NOTES. 
“Very  fine  weather,”  has  been  so  common  a  greeting  that  it 
is  becoming  monotonous,  I  think,  to  all,  and  with  the  gardening 
and  farming  fraternity  the  anxiety  increases  daily  for  a  change. 
Lavishly  has  the  hand  of  Flora  decked  the  landscape  around 
Dublin,  and  although  we  may  not  claim  exceptional  sights  or  scenes 
in  this  respect,  the  Thorn  is  undoubtedly  a  feature  of  the  locality 
from  the  legion  of  brave  old  trees  arrayed  in  the  Phoenix  Park  to 
the  miles  of  hedgerows  radiating  through  the  surrounding  country. 
The  theme  is  too  common  to  dwell  upon,  yet  the  feeling  obtains 
that  we  have  this  year  seen  the  Hawthorn  in  perfection,  undis¬ 
turbed  by  atmospheric  influences,  from  the  gradual  laying  on  of 
pearly  white  ere  April  went  out  to  the  heavy  wreaths,  red  tinted, 
and  fast  dying  off  with  the  latter  days  of  May. 
In  spite  of  a  grievance  pertaining  to  the  cutting  off  of  our  rain 
supplies,  we,  in  this  neighbourhood,  should  have  some  grateful 
recollections  of  the  departed  month,  for  although  several  nights 
went  perilously  near  to  freezing  point,  and  two  at  least  descended 
to  the  danger  side,  no  tender  tops  were  nipped  or  embryo  fruits 
damaged.  Potatoes  and  even  French  Beans  under  field  culture 
showed  no  ill  effects,  and  no  better  criterion  than  these  could 
demarcate  the  line  of  safety.  Farther  from  the  sea  less  favourable 
accounts  were  to  hand.  From  Straffan,  eo.  Kildare,  came  the 
report  4°  of  frost  on  the  20th,  and  the  question  was  broached, 
“Why  is  the  20th  of  May  so  iil-behaved  ?”  It  is  unanswerable, 
but  there  may  be  some  small  consolation  that  the  4°  was  not  10°, 
which  has  more  than  once  been  a  cruel  blow  to  the  high-class 
gardening  as  practised  there. 
Temporary  duties  called  me  to  make  daily  journeyings  of  a 
dozen  miles,  and  afforded  facility  for  comparing  the  effects  of  the 
spring  drought  over  that  area.  Limited  as  it.  is  the  effects  are 
varied  and  distinctly  noticeable.  Here,  on  the  limestone,  there  is 
a  freshness  and  verdure  one  misses  on  approaching  the  city.  Havoc 
is  being  wrought  amongst  newly  planted  shrubs  on  the  sloping  banks 
bounding  the  People’s  Gardens  in  the  Phoenix  Park.  Apart  from 
this  some  recent  alterations,  whereby  peeps  through  the  shrubbery 
bounding  these  charming  gardens  are  afforded,  is  a  happy  thought. 
Even  in  the  College  gardens  the  beggar’s  petition  for  a  small  floral 
contribution  to  a  charitable  object  elicited  the  remark  “  We  were 
never  so  short  of  flowers  at  this  season,”  but  the  beggar  was  not 
sent  empty  away. 
Certainly  never  was  a  richer  display  of  foliage  in  evidence  from 
stately  Ferulas  dotted  on  the  lawn  to  the  grateful  umbrageous  heads 
of  common  and  uncommon  trees.  Very  handsome  i*  a  large  weep¬ 
ing  Beech,  and  a  finely  cut-leaved  variety  is  so  unlike  the  type  in 
its  general  character  a*  to  be  difficult  of  recognition  until  the  chief 
points  to  one  branch  reverted  to  the  original,  “original  sin”  he 
calls  it.  Later  on  in  the  day  I  was  pleased  to  see  and  admire 
“  Barr’s  ”  handsome  “  Daffodil  cup,”  perhaps,  there  was  some  remote 
connection  with  the  present  drought  in  noting  that  it  bore  the 
stains  of  its  christening  libation. 
A9  with  the  more  showy  things  that  have  adorned  the  landscapes 
this  departing  spring,  so  with  a  multitude  of  trees  that  in  flowering 
may  in  average  seasons  pass  unnoticed.  Not  so  this  year.  Oak, 
Ash,  Beech,  Elm,  everything  in  fact,  conspicuously  laden  with 
bloom.  However,  the  legendary  rhyme  concerning  the  leafage  of 
the  Oak  and  the  Ash  may  be  affected  by  subsequent  events,  the 
Oak  distinctly  took  precedence  this  year.  My  triend,  who  is  not 
oblivious  to  the  luxuriance  of  the  scenery  around  us  (what 
gardener  could  be  ?)  takes  a  more  practical  view,  and  likes  things 
that  pay.  He  has  them,  too,  in  a  heavy  crop  of  ripening  Tomatoes, 
returning  to  him  the  present  market  value  of  Is.  4d.  per  lb.  One 
penny  per  ounce  is  not  a  bad  return  for  even  such  luscious, 
smooth,  round  fruit  as  he  now  sends  to  the  city.  The  Tomato 
here,  as  elsewhere,  is  duly  appreciated,  and  is  one  of  those  things 
which  “pay”  at  all  seasons.  Not  so,  unfortunately,  with  many 
things.  A  thousand  imported  Spiraeas,  potted,  forced,  and 
grown  into  handsome,  well-flowered  plants,  do  not  pay  at  5?.  per 
dozen.  Too  cheap,  when  the  bulk  of  them  are  S.  astilboides  and 
S.  multiflora  compacta.  These  two  varieties  bid  fair  to  displace 
the  commoner  S.  japonica.  S.  astilboides,  as  a  forced  plant,  cannot 
he  over-praised,  though  naturally  grown  in  the  borders  it  is,  in 
comparison  with  its  elongation  under  glass,  but  a  poor  thing. 
Forced  Strawberries  up  to  the  middle  of  May  were  appreciated 
in  Dublin  to  the  extent  of  10s.  per  pound,  but  the  mild  open  winter 
placed  all  vegetables  for  sale  at  a  discount,  although  the  glut  is 
likely  to  be  followed  by  immediate  scarcity,  even  a  famine,  should 
the  drought  continue.  Field  Strawberries  in  the  neighbourhood 
only  lack  moisture  to  yield  abundance  ;  failing  that  they,  with  other 
small  fruits,  will  show  but  poor  returns.  A  grower  in  the  vicinity 
picked  his  first  basket  on  the  28th  inst. 
One  perhaps  hardly  realises  what  an  early  season  this  is,  so 
imperceptibly  yet  persistently  have  the  solar  rays  daily  increased  in 
power,  culminating  now  in  real  July  heat -  July  as  it  should  be, 
not  as  we  often  experience  it.  The  heat  has  been  irresistible  to 
Roses  on  the  walls  ;  Dijons  have  blown  out  as  flat  as  saucers  and 
nearly  as  large.  How  will  other  Roses  respect  the  scheduled  time 
for  exhibiting  when  such  time  is  fix'  d  well  into  July  ?  Present 
appearances  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  bulk  of  them  will  be 
“  faded  and  gone.”  Herds  of  aphides  feed  and  fatten  on  all  sorts 
of  juicy  sapling  growth.  It  is  a  record  season  for  the  tribe.  Even 
through  the  woods,  where  acres  of  Meadowsweet  (Spiraea)  have 
sprung  through  a  faded  carpet  of  the  Wood  Anemones,  one  notices 
how  the  tender  tops  are  roped  with  the  pests. 
How  glorious  were  the  aforesaid  Anemones  over  a  long  period, 
stretching  far  away  in  broken  patches  under  the  trees.  In  damp 
spots  tufts  of  emerald  green  foliage  disclosed  the  modest  drooping 
blooms  of  Oxadis  acetose.lla.  Both  of  these  in  blossom,  white 
though  they  be,  have  a  warmer  greeting  to  the  eye  than  the 
severely  chaste  Snowdrop.  The  latter  tells  of  the  coming  spring, 
the  Anemone  of  its  arrival.  Growth  on  coniferous  trees  appears 
for  the  season  to  be  almost  phenomenal,  many  of  that  ilk  having 
apparently  all  but  made  their  annual  growth. 
Jackdaws  watch  the  earliest  Peas  under  field  culture  as  the 
pods  are  filling  ;  and  the  busy  man — armed— watches  the  Jackdaws, 
lest  they  should  do  a  little  filling  on  their  own  account,  for  that 
won’t  “  pay.”  To  sum  up  the  characteristics  of  the  passing  spring 
from  local  observation,  it  has  been  very  fine — too  fine  ;  and  one 
may  repeat  the  oft-quoted  saying,  that  “  it’s  a  pity  fine  weather 
should  do  harm.”  Home  at  least  are  consoled  by  the  reflection 
of  prospective  high  prices  for  the  hay  crop,  and  one  prophesies,  as 
we  daily  exchange  opinions  on  the  weather,  that  it  will  begin  to 
rain  when  he  commences  to  cut  his  meadows. — K  ,  Dublin. 
MR.  HORNER’S  GARDEN. 
( Concluded  from  page  495.) 
That  part  of  the  public  in  any  way  interested  in  florists’  flowers  may 
have  noticed  that  Mr.  Horner’s  success  at  the  Southern  show  was  mainly 
due  to  the  fact  that  ten  varieties  in  his  leading  stand  of  twelve  Auriculas 
were  his  own  seedlings.  No  higher  testimony  is  needed  of  his  success  as  a 
raiser  ;  but  few  realise  the  necessity  of  the  patience,  perseverance,  and 
sound  judgment,  added  to  that  knowledge  which  must  be  self-acquired 
from  experience  in  the  science — in  attaining  success  as  far-reaching  as 
Mr.  Horner’s  has  been.  The  florists’  standard  of  the  Auricula  is  an 
exceedingly  high  one,  involving  nearly  mathematical  precision  in  the 
proportions  of  tube,  paste,  ground  colour,  and  edge  :  yet  being  fortunate 
to  secure  these  properties,  to  them  must  be  added  perfect  roundness  of 
pip  and  smoothness  of  its  edge,  combined  with  flatness,  which  give 
reposefulness,  the  great  charm  of  the  flower,  but  if  wanting  destroys 
both  harmony  and  proportions.  Even  when  seed-hearing  parents  com¬ 
bining  the  greatest  number  of  good  points  are  selected,  and  having  due 
regard  to  thsir  class  colours,  the  natural  law  of  variation,  whilst  serving 
the  cross-breeder’s  purpose  in  the  evolution  of  a  more  perfect  type,  it 
also  'Takes  effect  with  extraordinary  force  in  degeneracy  or  reversion 
towards  the  original  type. 
Whilst  the  former  is  often  slow  and  tedious,  passing  through  gene¬ 
ration  after  generation  of  steady  improvement,  in  the  case  of  reversion 
we  find  that  by  a  single  bound  backwards  over  many  generations  indi¬ 
vidual  seedlings  appear  scarcely  differing  in  any  characteristic  from  the 
original  yellow  type  of  the  species,  whilst  all  degrees  and  conditions 
between  the  highest  and  lowest  types  put  in  an  appearance,  which  are 
year  after  year  consigned  to  the  rubbish  heap  as  being  of  themselves 
"worthless,  yet  to  the  cross-breeder  conveying  lessons  for  future  guidance 
which  could  not  otherwise  be  acquired.  Mr.  Horner  somehow  manages 
to  assimilate  the  soundest  knowledge ,  from  his  cultural  experiences,  and 
he  is  at  all  times  delighted  to  exchange  ideas  upon  any  matter  bearing 
upon  his  own  experience  and  practice.  In  reference  to  the  question  of 
raising  seedling  Auriculas,  he  has  found  that  those  seedlings  which  first 
appear  above  the  soil  are  the  least  to  be  relied  upon  in  the  production 
of  improved  forms,  which  goes  far  in  proving  that  constitutional  charac¬ 
teristic  embodying  that  state  approaching  the  greatest  natural  vigour 
