November  25,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
497 
In  judging  plants  there  are  fewer  points  to  observe.  The  schedule 
of  prizes  generally  stipulates  for  a  given  number — say,  six  or  nine. 
The  point  to  determine  is  the  plants  which  have  the  best  blooms, 
accompanied  with  a  due  share  of  leaves.  There  are  two  classes  of 
specimen  trained  plants.  Some  cultivators  grow  the  plants  to  a  large 
size — say,  5  feet  in  diameter,  with  200  blooms  or  more  upon  each 
plant,  and  such  plants  as  these  may,  from  a  training  point  of  view,  he 
meritorious  examples;  but  they  are  not  useful  in  a  decorative  sense, 
as  they  occupy  so  much  space.  Plants- that  are  limited  in  size  to, 
say,  3  feet  in  diameter,  each  carrying  from  thirty  to  fifty  blooms  of 
high-class  merit,  are  much  more  desirable  than  those  grown  for  5iize 
alone.  Those  having  a  large  number  of  blooms,  but  of  small  size, 
cannot  compete  witli  those  of  less  dimensions,  but  carrying  finer 
blooms  and  good  foliage.  Of  course,  bush  plants  ought  to  be  well 
clothed  with  leaves  and  be  freely  flowered.  The  quantity  of  blossom 
produced,  along  with  perfect  foliage,  is  the  main  point  of  consideration. 
— E.  Molyneux. 
BROAD  VIEWS  OF  OARDENING. 
How  beautiful  at  all  seasons  are  those  demesnes  where  the  spirit 
of  gardening  has  been  permitted  to  roam  untrammelled  through  their 
length  and  breadth  !  Possibly  it  is  only  given  to  the  higher  and 
keener  criticism,  forming  its  judgment  by  analysis,  to  appreciate  the 
true  value  of  that  taste,  energy,  and  forethought  which  provides 
unqualified  and  unlimited  gratification  to  the  cultivated  eye.  The 
development  of  natural  beauty  is  an  art,  and  at  comparatively  small 
expense  some  of  the  happiest  and  most  pleasing  effects  have  been 
obtained. 
I  have  lately  visited  a  noble  family,  on  whose  estate  so  much  quiet 
work  is  being  done,  that  it  seems  strange  so  little  is  done  in  others 
offering  as  fine  a  field,  and  possibly  even  greater  facilities  for  it. 
With  the  happy  example  in  my  mind  it  is  easy  to  state  a  case 
illustrative  of  the  question.  We  have  here  an  example  of  the  British 
gardener  in  the  higher  ranks  of  his  calling,  who  has  certainly  ample 
to  do,  to  think  of,  and  to  think  for,  in  the  general  economy  of  garden 
management,  the  plots  of  his  garden  being  measured  by  acres,  the 
walks  by  miles,  and  the  glas's  by  thousands  of  feet ;  who,  never¬ 
theless,  is  steadily,  in  some  instances  perhaps  stealthily,  insinuating 
the  higher  doctrine  of  picturesque  gardening  beyond  his  immediate 
sphere. 
In  more  than  one  quiet  corner  of  the  garden  is  to  be  found 
unobtrusive  preparation  of  various  plants  destined  to  ornament  some 
particular^  place  or  create  particular  features  as  opportunity  occurs. 
On  sunny  bank  or  in  shady  nook  bold  patches  of  appropriate  plants, 
as  are  perfectly  in  keeping  with  their  surroundings,  give  to  them 
additional  interest  and  charm,  and  if  one  were  unaware  of  the  quiet 
work  always  in  progress  the  superficial  conclusion  might  be  arrived  at 
that  here  Nature  was  bountiful  in  her  gifts  and  happy  in  her  methods 
of  distribution.  Who  could  not  enjoy  that  mossy  dell  in  which 
hundreds  of  Osmunda  regalis  are  luxuriating  aw  naturel?  Yet  is  there 
just  the  possibility  remaining  that  the  ministering  hand  which  trans¬ 
ferred  them  from  a  distinct  part  of  the  estate  to  their  present  happy 
home  would  not  be  recognised  ?  Then,  again,  in  a  ravine,  where  damp 
rocks  on  the  shady  side  are  clothed  far  up  with  the  burnished  fi’onds 
of  the  common  Hartstongue,  what  secret  is  there  in  a  sense  so 
natural  ?  That  this  was  not  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  local  flora  is 
obvious  to  those  who  can  bring  past  observation  in  context  with  the 
present,  and  what  secret  there  is  is  vested  in  a  visit  when  a  newspaper¬ 
ful  of  fertile  fronds  was  gathered  at  the  right  time,  brought  home,  and 
lightly  dried,  to  be  afterwards  as  lightly  shaken  over  the  face  of  the 
moist  rocks. 
Near  at  hand  is  an  old  Ash  tree  springing  into  twin  stems  some 
20  feet  up,  and  cradled  in  the  fork  is  a  flourishing  plant  of  the 
common  Polypody,  with  rhizomes  creeping  slowly  but  surely  up  the 
limbs  on  either  side.  This  is  one  of  those  little  freaks  that  Nature 
delights  in,  and  who  shall  gainsay  her  methods  of  adornment  ?  There 
are,  however,  so  many  felicitous  expositions  continually  cropping  up 
in  but  a  brief  tour  of  inspection  through  this  particular  estate,  that  he 
who  would  not  on  the  whole  be  gratified  by  the  good  work  done  is 
indeed  hard  to  please.  It  is  only  on  returning  to  the  garden  that 
the  missing  link  ’!wixt  Nature  and  Art  is  discoverable  in  the  large 
provision  of  Virginian  Creepers,  whose  crimson  flecked  streamers 
depend  from  many  an  old  tree  trunk  through  the  woods  on  an 
autumn  day.  There  is  no  training  of  our  hands  to  such  things.  It  is 
the  magic  spell  woven  by  the  spirit  of  Nature  around  the  disciples  of 
gardening,  whose  lives  are  softened  and  even  beautified  by  it. 
In  another  patriarchal  demesne  where  some  few  instances  occur  of 
certain  plants  being  naturalised  by  the  acre,  one  would  like  to  trace 
through  silent  generations  the  connection  between  cause  and  effect. 
Just  without  the  boundary  wall  is  an  ancient  graveyard,  and  there 
the  curious-minded  may  discover  among  the  quaintly  worded  memorial 
stones  one  massive  prostrate  slab  placed  by  a  certain  earl  150  years 
ago  to  the  memory  of  his  head  gardener  for  faithful  service  to  him 
and  his  father  before  him.  I  like  to  link,  rightly  or  wrongly,  this 
grand  old  gardener  with  those  picturesque  sheets  of  Omphalodes  verna, 
covering  an  acre  at  least,  and  other  things  which,  in  a  similar  manner, 
adorn  the  banks  and  braes  around  this  ancestral  home;  and  it  is 
pleasant  to  see  and  to  know  that  in  this  severely  practical  age  the 
mantle  has  descended  upon  men  who,  as  gardeners,  find  time,  and 
ways,  and  means  to  open  out  or  contribute  fresh  fields  of  delight  in  the 
unlimited  possibilities  of  picturesque  gardening. — The  Squibb. 
INTELLIGENCE  IN  PLANTS. 
{Continued  from  page  429.) 
The  spreading  Dogbane  is  also  a  fly-catcher.  It  has  five  traps 
inside  it,  all  capaUe  of  catching  and  holding  flies,  and  for  no  purpose, 
so  far  as  can  be  ascertained.  The  innocent-looking  little  “  Sundew,” 
Drosera  rotundifolia,  however,  captures  flies  on  business  principles. 
The  leaf  is  fitted  with  long  and  short  hairs,  and  round  the  base  of 
these  is  a  sticky  secretion  in  which  the  unhappy  fly  or  ant  is  detained 
till  the  short  hairs  can  bend  inwards  towards  it  and  hold  it  till  the 
long  hairs  can  do  the  same.  Then  to  make  sure  the  leaf  folds  itself 
back  till  the  point  of  it  touches  the  stem,  and  after  a  tiihe  opens  out, 
showing  the  dry  skeleton  of  its  victim,  and  with  the  usual  innocent 
look  asks  for  more.  Why  do  the  five  pollen-bearing  stamens  of  Saxi¬ 
frage  Parnassia  palustris  bend  back  over  the  stigma  of  its  own  flower 
so  as  to  cover  it  and  prevent  its  fertilisation  ?  and  why  do  not  the 
whole  five  ripen  together  as  usual,  instead  of  one  by  one  ?  The  method 
prevents  self-fertilisation  in  a  very  clever  and  pretty  way.  If  all  five 
were  ripe  at  once  it  could  not  be  prevented.  The  pods  of  the  Broom, 
Vetch,  and  Bird’s-foot  Trefoil  cease  to  grow  and  begin  to  dry  at  a 
certain  p'oint,  and  their  contents  do  not,  and  when  the  crisis  arrives  the 
pods  burst  and  send  the  seeds  out  pell-mell.  Each  half  of  the  pod 
twists  itself  into  a  sort  of  ringlet.  The  Dog  Violet  has  three  boat¬ 
shaped  valves,  each  with  two  rows  of  seed,  and  on  a  hot  day  the 
valves  dry  and  crowd  the  seeds  so  that  the  least  touch  explodes  the 
lot,  and  they  shoot  up  into  the  air.  The  capsules  of  the  Mesembryan- 
themum,  and  that  of  the  Veronica,  only  discharge  their  cargoes  of  seed 
in  wet  w^eather. 
The  capsule  of  the  Dead  Nettle,  as  if  to  show  a  new  idea,  divides 
itself  into  four  compartments.  In  the  Prunella  these  small  prisons  and 
the  seeds  inside  stay  on  the  calyx  or  outside  wrapping  of  the  flowers 
till  the  sepals,  opening  up  with  the  rain,  push  them  overboard.  The 
Cranesbill  has  five  seeds  each  in  its  shell,  and  these  when  ready  all 
split  at  the  same  moment,  and  take  a  flying  leap  of  some  feet.  The 
Erodium  seed,  wrapped  in  a  modified  leaf  called  a  carpel,  springs 
away  from  its  parent,  and  has  in  some  way  possessed  itself  of  a  long 
thread-like  filament,  which  curls  into  a  sort  of  vegetable  corkscrew. 
When  it  begins  to  rain  this  corkscrew  commences  to  straighten  itself 
out  until  it  gets  the  loose  end  of  the  corkscrew  against  something 
firm,  and  thus  in  straightening  itself  out  forces  the  seed  down  towards 
or  into  the  soil ;  then  it  dries,  winds  itself  up  into  a  spiral  again,  and 
by  the  next  shower  comes  has  found  some  other  firm  object  against 
which  to  place  its  free  end,  and  down  goes  the  seed  a  bit  fm'ther. 
Several  of  the  seeds  of  the  Anemone  and  Clematis  tribe  and  the  Feather 
Grass  (Stipa  pennata)  screw  themselves  into  the  ground  in  this  way. 
The  grains  of  the  Barren  Oat  and  other  Grasses  have  these  corkscrew 
arrangements,  and  in  damp  weather  a  heap  of  them  will  begin  moving 
off  hither  and  thither,  as  if  alive. 
The  Common  Wood  Sorrel  has  an  elastic  outer  coat,  which  when 
touched  fires  the  seed  off  quite  a  distance.  So  does  the  Hairy  Cress 
and  the  “  Touch-me-not.”  The  Anastatica  hierochuntica  has  an 
entirely  different  method.  It  does  not  cast  its  seed  off  to  seek  its  own 
living,  but  just  takes  it  about  till  it  finds  a  proper  place  for  it.  It  then 
dries  into  a  ball,  keeping  the  seed  in  the  centre,  steps  down  from  its 
pedestal  and  lets  itself  be  blown  about  the  desert  till  it  finds  a  moist 
place,  when  it  opens  out  and  lets  the  seed  go.  An  Australian  Grass 
and  a  Brazilian  Club  Moss  have  similar  haHts.  So  has  the  Bupthal- 
mum  maritimum.  Mesembryanthemum  trifolium  of  the  Cape,  when 
closed  up,  might  be  mistaken  for  a  coat  button,  but  put  into  water  it 
suddenly  bursts  into  something  like  a  star-fish  with  a  dozen  rays. 
Then  we  have  the  Sand  Box  Tree,  the  fruit  of  which,  like  a  flat  large 
Orange,  is  divided  into  a  dozen  lobes  or  more,  each  containing  a  seed. 
When  ready  these  lobes  go  off  like  a  gun  and  send  the  seed  out  an 
immense  distance,  and  to  make  fully  sure  that  the  seed  cannot  be 
retained  the  pod  or  lobe  divides  into  two.  But  Nature  has  ten  thousand 
ways  of  achieving  her  ends,  and  makes  use  of  all  sorts  of  media. 
The  seeds  of  the  Mangrove  germinate  on  the  tree,  and  drop  with 
ready-made  roots  into  the  swamp  below.  Here  let  us  think  a  bit. 
The  Mangrove  tree  grows  in  a  deep  horrible  swamp,  and  if  the  seeds 
dropped  in  the  usual  way  they  would  sink  too  deeply  and  be  smothered, 
or  be  liable  to  frequent  disturbance,  but  dropping  with  a  ready-made 
root,  and  already  germinating,  there  is  something  to  keep  them  afloat 
and  prevent  their  entire  submersion.  When  we  take  into  considera¬ 
tion  the  further  fact  that  plants  change  their  habit  with  changing 
