40S 
Asystasia  bella. 
From  Mr.  J.  Justice,  Alvastoni  Hall  Gardens,  Nantnich, 
C'heshire,  we  received  a  well  flowered  shoot  of  this  old-fashioned 
yet  comparatively  little  known  pla.nt  on  Saturday  last.  The 
flowers  are  home  on  terminal  racemes ;  they  ai;e  shaped  ve^ 
much  like  a  Salpiglossis,  but  with  flattened  tube;  the  colour,  pali 
lilac-lavender  with  purple  veins.  The  foliage  is  dark  green, 
shiny,  smooth,  and  nearly  oval,  with,,  sinuous  edges.  It  is  a 
splendid  show  shrub. 
Foxgloves  and  Mulleins. 
A  place  for  these  can  always  be  found  in  gardens,  for  their 
best  position  is  among  the  unkept  shrubberies  or  fringes  to  the 
outskirts  of  the  borders  and  lawns.  At  Syon  House,  Mr.  Wythes 
has  this  year  planted  a  lai’ge  strip  of  half-shaded  ground  lying 
back  from  the  kept  lawns  and  among  tlie  trees,  with  a  selection 
of  Foxgloves,  Mulleins,  and,  I  believe,  some  Campanulas,  and 
so  much  will  such  planting  assist  an  otherwise  uninteresting  spot, 
that  the  suggestion  is  here  conveyed  that  many  other  similar 
spots  may  be  embellished  in  a  like  manner.  The  cost  and  trouble 
is  as  nothing  compared  until  the  returns  in  this  case. 
Fruit  Production. 
At  a  recent  Nova  Scotia  Fruit  Growers’  meeting.  Professor 
L.  H.  Bailey,  of  Cornell  University,  said  that  the  fifteen  years  last 
past  were  marked  by  three  distinct  improvements  in  the  methods 
of  caring  for  orchards.  The  firrt  was  the  introduction  of  spray¬ 
ing,  which  had  now  become  so  universal  a  practice  that  it  was  not 
thought  necessarj'  to  advocate  it  at  the  meetings.  The  second 
was  the  tillage  of  orchards,  and  that  was  so  well  settled  now  that 
the  farmers  do  not  ask,  “  Shall  we  cultivate  ?  ”  but  “  What  are 
best  methods  for  clay  or  sandy  soil  ?  ”  whichever  the  orchard  was 
on.  Now  the  prime  question  seems  to  be  upon  the  use  of  a  cover 
crop  for  the  orchard,  and  he  believed  that  within  five  years  they 
would  be  discussing  the  merits  of  special  cover  crops  for  special 
soils.  Where  the  soil  is  not  in  condition  to  grow  better  crops  he 
would  use  Rye  as  a  starter,  and  gradually  work  the  soil  up  until 
it  was  rich  enough  to  grow  Crimson  Clover,  which  he  thought  the 
best  cover  crop. 
Carnation  Mrs.  Hemsley. 
Among  the  tree  or  perpetual  section  of  these  favourite 
flowers,  Mrs.  Hemsley  certainly  claims  a  word  of  praise,  not  so 
much  because  of  its  desirable  habit,  but  rather  because  of  its 
freedom  of  growth,  and  the  regular  and  continuous  trait  in 
flowering.  No  other  variety  I  have  grown  continues  so  long  to 
give  flowers,  which  are  large,  richly  coloured,  and  sweetly  scented. 
The  colour  and  character  of  the  blooms  remind  one  of  a  good 
type  of  Uriah  Pike,  a  favourite  with  so  many,  because  so  sugges¬ 
tive  of  the  good  old  garden  Clove.  The  fault  of  Mrs.  Hemsley, 
if  fault  it  can  be  claimed  to  be,  is  that  ordinary  pot  culture  is 
not  suited  to  its  trailing  character  of  growth.  Our  plants,  which 
occupy  pots,  and  are  allowed  to  root  through  the  bottoms  unto 
a  gravel-covered  stage,  occupy  the  end  of  a  small  span-roofed 
greenhouse,  strained  wires  being  used  for  tying  them  to  as  their 
advance  needs  it.  From  this  position  the  weight  of  the  buds 
causes  them  to  depend,  the  shoots  not  being  rigidly  tied  up. 
Hanging  in  this  way,  the  growths  shade  the  open  flowers  from 
sun,  although  occupying  the  sunny  end  of  the  house.  Whether 
there  would  be  a  greater  capacity  for  flower  production  under 
more  liberal  root  treatment  I  have  not  iDroved,  it  being  sufficient 
for  my  pui’pose  to  grow  them  thus  restrained.  There  are  but 
few  weeks  of  the  year  when  buds  and  open  flowers  are  not 
available  for  buttonhole,  or  other  purposes ;  and,  as  Carnations 
play  so  important  a  part  in  this  phase  of  floral  work,  the  mention 
of  so  x>erpetual  a  variety  may  be  useful  to  some  of  the  Journal 
readers. — W.  S.  [From  a  liberal  posy  of  s^Dlendid  blooms  of  the 
above,  sent  to  us  by  Mr.  Strugnell,  we  were  able  to  judge  of  its 
merits,  which  are  satisfying  in  every  respect. — Ed.] 
AXD  COTTAGE  GARDEXER,  May  8,  1902. 
Violets. 
Violet  culture,  as  a  trade,  is  becoming  a  pet  hobby  among  the 
aristocracy.  One  of  the  latest  to  take  up  this  method  of  money¬ 
making  is  Lady  Aileen  Wyndham-Quin,  and,  like  her  sister.  Lady 
Rachel  FitzGerald,  who  died  last  year,  she  is  a  famous  Violet 
farmer,  and  has  acres  of  almost  every  known  variety  in  cultivation 
at  Adare  Manor,  co.  Limerick.  She  sells  rooted  plants  at  very 
low  figures,  and  carries  out  her  ideas  in  a  verj^  business-like 
inamier.  Mrs.  Coghill  (a  daughter-in-law  of  Sir  J.  Joscelyn 
Coghill,  of  Glen  Barrahane),  is  another  noted  “  farmer,”  and  the 
first  to  start  this  industry  in  the  Emerald  Isle. 
Humus  and  Soil  Moisture. 
The  following  figures,  taken  from  a  report  of  the  Minnesota 
Experiment  Station,  upon  the  effect  of  vegetable  matter  upon 
the  water  holding  capacity  of  the  soil,  will  show  the  importance 
of  humus;  “  A  new  soil  cultivated  two  years,  and  containing 
3.35  per  cent,  of  vegetable  matter,  showed  96.48  per  cent,  of 
water.  A  similar  soil,  which  had  been  in  tillage  crops  until  its 
content  of  vegetable  matter  had  been  reduced  to  2.5  per  cent., 
contained  at  the  same  time  only  12.14  per  cent,  of  water,  a 
difference  of  1.15  quarts  per  cubic  foot  of  soil.  Other  cases  are 
reported  in  which  soils  with  a  normal  amount  of  vegetable  matter 
contained  fully  one-quarter  more  moisture  than  those  in  which 
this  material  had  been  allowed  to  burn  out  by  constant  tillage. 
Not  only  do  the  soils  containing  large  quantities  of  vegetable 
matter  contain  more  water,  but  they  give  off  their  water  by 
evaporation  more  slowly  than  do  those  soils  whose  humus  has 
been  burned  out.  Air  experiment  with  the  two  soils  above 
described,  in  which  they  have  been  exposed  to  the  sun  for  ten 
hours  after  having  been  wet  to  the  same  degree,  showed  that  the 
new  soil,  rich  in  vegetable  matter,  retained  6.12  per  cent,  of 
water,  while  the  soil  with  its  vegetable  matter  depleted,  retained 
but  3.94  per  cent.,  a  difference  of  nearly  a  quart  of  water  irer 
cubic  foot.” 
Nether  Liberton  Daffodil  Nurseries. 
In  the  latter  end  of  Ajiril  the  members  of  the  Scottish  Horti¬ 
cultural  Association,  Edinburgh,  by  invitation,  paid  a  visit  to 
these  grounds,  and  spent  a  .very  interesting  afternoon  in  doing 
so.  We  call  these  DaffodiT  Nurseries,  for,  although  the  Messrs. 
Glass  have  to  spare  a  sufficient  space  for  the  requirements  of 
the  carrying  on  of  a  large  florist’s  business,  the  greater  part  of 
the  eight  acres  or  thereby  are  taken  up  by  these  delightful  spring 
flowers.  To  visitors  the  above  nurseries  are  of  easy  access  from 
the  General  Post  Office  by  a  delightful  twopenny  car  ride  to 
Nether  Liberton,  one  of  the  finest  “  runs  ”  on  our  cable  system. 
By  this  means  one  can  step  off  at  the  terminus,  which  is  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  the  nursery  gate.  The  grounds  occupy  a 
splendid  position.  Running  east  and  west,  they  lie  like  a  half¬ 
open  book,  and  are  intersected  as  nearly  as  may  be  in  two  by 
the  Braid  bum,  which  runs  right  through  them,  and  as  the 
main  road  runs  parallel  vvith  the  nurseries,  and  is  very  much 
higher,  the  effect,  as  seen  from  the  road,  is  magnificent.  When 
one  observes  what  a  luxuriant  state  of  health,  and  what  a  gorgeous 
display  can  be  got  in  a  position  such  as  this,  fully  ex^msed  to 
all  the  winds  that  blow,  no  doubt  need  be  entertained  as  to 
their  hardiness ;  and,  although  the  love  for  the  Daffodils  is 
certainly  on  the  increase,  one  wonders  why  it  does  not  grow 
more  rapidly.  Imagine,  for  instance,  what  a  grand  sight  it  is 
to  see  a  break  of  70,000  of  that  fine  variety,  Barri  conspicuus,  in 
full  bloom,  and  that  is  what  we  saw  the  other  day.  Mr.  J.  Glass, 
who  is  in  charge,  grows  of  such  varieties  as  Horsfieldi  anything 
fi'om  150,000  upwards,  of  Grandis  over  100,000,  Sir  Watkin 
150,000,  Emperor  120,000  and  so  on.  We  cannot  take  up  space 
by  going  into  detail  on  the  description  and  merits  of  individual 
kinds ;  suffice  it  to  enumerate  besides  the  above-named  such 
fine  varieties  as  Albicans,  Bicolor  Empress,  J.  B.  M.  Camm, 
Golden  Spur,,  Michael  Foster,  Maximus,  Victoria,  &c.,  all  of 
which  are  grown  in  large  quantities.  The  earliest  varieties  are 
now  nearly  out  of  bloom,  but  the  above-named  are  but  a  few 
out  of  many  which  we  greatly  admired ;  and  anyone  desirous  of 
a  collection  would  find  these  all  pleasing.  Amongst  the  newer 
and  rarer  kinds  our  attention  was  ch'awn  to  the  following: 
Cony  Plemp,  Fred  Moore,  Madame  de  Graaff,  Madame  Pleinp, 
Apricot,  Shakespeare,  Gloria  Mundi,  John  Davidson,  &c.,  all  of 
which  were  splendid. — W.  D. 
