September  12, 1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
235 
ESTABLISHED  1832. 
No  connection  -with  any  other  Firm  of  a  similar  Name. 
CELEBRATED 
HYACINTHS, 
TULIPS, 
AND  ALL  OTHER 
DUTCH,  CAPE,  AND  EXOTIC 
BULBS  AND  PLANTS 
Our  Descriptive  CATALOGUE  of  the  above,  containing 
Full  Cultural  Directions  and  particulars  as  to 
Free  Delivery,  will  be  sent  post  free  on  application 
to  our  Offices  at  Overveen,  Haarlem,  Holland, 
or  to  our  General  Agents — 
Messrs.  MERTENS  &  CO., 
I  3,  CROSS  LANE,  LONDON,  E.C. 
Strawberry  Plants. 
ALL  THE  LEADING  VARIETIES 
FROM 
the  Open  Ground,  and  in  Pots. 
PRICED  DESCRIPTIVE  CIRCULAR  POST  FREE. 
DICKS0NS>Hurseriee>  CHESTER 
RIVERS’ 
FRUIT  TRESS, 
Roses,  Vines, 
FIGS,  ORANGES, 
AND 
Orchard-House  Trees. 
A  LARGE  AND  SELECT  STOCK 
ALWAYS  ON  VIEW. 
ILLUSTRATED  AND  DESCRIPTIVE  CATALOGUE,. 
Post  Free,  3d. 
thomasWer^&  son, 
SAWBRIDGEWORTH,  HERTS. 
HARLOW  STATION,  G.E.R. 
VEITCHS'  BULBS 
OF  SUPERIOR  QUALITY. 
VEITCHS’  BULBS 
FOR 
EARLY  FORCING. 
VEITCHS’  BULBS 
FOR 
POT  CULTURE. 
VEITCHS’  BULBS 
FOR 
OUTDOOR  PLANTING. 
AT  LOWEST  PRICES 
For  details  see  CATALOGUE,  forwarded  gratis 
and  post  free  on  application. 
IdtsrrUff 
Vs  (BJeffecu. 
SCHIZANTHUS  WISETUNENSIS,"‘w 
Award  of  Merit,  R.H.S.,  1900. 
First  Class  Certificate,  Manchester,  1901. 
Silver  Medal,  Paris,  1901. 
Highest  Possible  Award.  Ghent,  1901. 
HUGH  LOW  «SC  Co. 
Are  now  boobing  orders  for  this  charming  novelty. 
BUSH  HILL  PARK  NURSERY,  MIDDLESEX. 
CUTBUSH’S  CELEBRATED 
MILLTRACK  MUSHROOM  SPAWN 
THE  FINEST  PROCURABLE. 
ONCE  USED,  ALWAYS  USED. 
Many  fiundrt ds  of  Testimonials. 
Per  Bushel,  6/-,  packing  included. 
WM.  CDTBDSH  &  SON, 
Highgate  Nurseries,  LONDON,  N., 
and  BARNET,  HERTS. 
CARNATIONS. 
The  under  noted  are  Two  Exceptionally  Fine  New 
Varieties,  suitable  either  for  pots  or  outside. 
DUCHESS  OF  ROXBURGHE. 
Primrose  ground,  striped  with  a  lovely  shade  of  terra 
cotta  and  heliotrope.  (See  illustration  in  Journal 
of  Horticulture ,  July  26th,  1901.)  Per  dozen,  21/*. 
SIR  R.  WALD  I  E-GRIFFITH. 
A  grand  novelty  of  a  perfectly  unique  shade  of  colour, 
being  a  rich  orans  e-scarlet  with  a  sheen  of  amber  ; 
Clove-scented.  Per  dozen,  40/-. 
IVI ALMAISONS  AND  MANY  OTHER  VARIETIES. 
Descriptive  Cultural  Catalogue  on  application. 
LAING  St,  MATHER, 
KELSO  -  ON  -  TWEED. 
Jominat  of  $nrticutt«ijt 
THURSDAY,  SEPTEMBER  12,  1901. 
Vegetable  Carnivora. 
- 
OT^tARVELLOUS  !  said  a  gentleman 
•imldni  ^PlVl  deeply  interested  in  plant  life  on 
first  seeing  the  wonderful  mecha¬ 
nism  of  Dionrna  muscipula  in 
action.  By  a  little  forcible  per¬ 
suasion  a  beetle  had  been  induced  to 
enter  those  fatal  jaws  for  his  (the 
gentleman’s)  especial  benefit.  “  No  getting 
back?”  he  interrogatively  remarked.  No! 
no  freedom  from  that  embrace — the  embrace  of 
death,  for  the  more  the  animal  struggles  the  more 
the  vegetable  won’t  let  go.  The  only  chance 
would  be  in  perfect  quiet,  when,  as  happens 
occasionally,  the  spring  lashes  unlace,  and  the 
hapless  one  walks  out  to  life  and  liberty. 
Memory  well  serves  to  recall  the  conversation 
which  followed  in  that  particular  garden,  then 
noted  for  its  comprehensive  collection  of  carni¬ 
vorous  plants.  At  that  particular  time,  too,  men’s 
minds  were  exercised  by  the  doctrine  of  evolution, 
and  the  incident  recounted  led  to  speculating  as 
to  whether  these  plants,  although  so  wonderful 
now,  were,  possibly,  the  mere  regenerate  descen¬ 
dants  of  a  race  endowed  with  terror  to  primeval 
man.  Who  shall  say  ?  Or  what  mental  vision 
shall  penetrate  the  mist  between  us  and  “the 
Beginning,”  “  when  yonder  spheres  sublime,  pealed 
their  first  notes  to  sound  the  march  of  Time.” 
We  do  know  tbit  there  were  giants  in  those  days, 
and  although  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  imagination 
to  cor  jure  up  fiom  the  lapse  of  ages  the  shriek  of 
some  Simian  ancestor  when  snapped  up  by  a  huge 
Dionaea,  it  is  not  difficult  to  surmise  that  forms 
as  strange  and  monstrous  then  existed  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom  as  they  did  in  the  animal 
world.  The  discussion  resolve!  itself  into  such 
conclusions,  but  the  farther  from  the  practical  the 
nearer  dangerous  ground.  One  should  only  reason 
from  what  they  know,  and,  alas !  we  know  so 
little.  Even  Science  when  unravelling  the  web 
finds  at  last  the  threads  hopelessly  interwoven — 
finds  the  dividing  line  gradually  attenuated  to 
READERS  are  requested  to  send  Notices  of  Gardening 
Appointments  or  Notes  of  Horticultural  Interest, 
Intimations  of  Meetings,  Queries,  and  all  Articles  for 
Publication,  officially  to  “  THE  EDITOR,”  at 
12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
London,  E.C.,  and  to  no  other  person  and  to  no  other 
address. 
No.  1107. — You.  XLIIL,  Third  Series. 
