December  5,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
509 
Autumn  and  Winter  Crocuses. 
How  seldom  one  finds  these  charming  flowers  (especially 
-Colchicums)  in  private  gardens.  Why  this  should  be  so  is  difficult 
to  understand.  It  cannot  be  because  they  are  difficult  to  manage ; 
they  are  amongst  the  simplest  of  plants  in  this  respect.  There 
is,  however,  one  important  point  about  the  time  they  should  be 
lifted.  I  am  often  asked  this  question :  “  Should  autumn 
■Crocuses  and  Colchicums  be  lifted  after  they  cease  to  flower  in 
ithe  autumn?  ”  The  reply  is,  “  Certainly  not.”  The  proper  time 
to  lift  is  after  they  have  completed  their  growth,  which  will  be, 
in  the  case  of  the  Colchicums,  the  end  of  July.  These  flower  from 
August  till  the  end  of  October,  and  in  some  cases,  according  to  the 
Tains,  far  into  the  winter,  and  do  not  commence  leaf -growth  until 
spring.  Therefore  they  are  in  the  worst  possible  condition  for 
removal  from  the  soil  just  after  flowering,  as  they  are  in  an 
exhausted  condition.  The  best  time  to  lift  and  ripen  the  bulbs  is 
when  the  foliage  begins  to  turn  yellow.  No  time  should  be  lost, 
as  they  soon  begin  to  form  new  roots. 
I  do  not  think  it  is  good  practice  to  be  constantly  lifting  these 
bulbs  or  corms.  I  think  every  three  years  is  often  enough,  by 
which  time  they  form  good  masses,  and  they  certainly  never  look 
so  well  as  in  this  way.  With  regard  to  the  Crocus,  these  will 
require  somewhat  different  treatment,  because  they  produce 
flowers  and  foliage  simultaneously,  and  therefore  should  be  lifted 
in  spring,  or  when  the  leaves  show  signs  of  decay.  Some  of  the 
varieties  of  Crocus,  as  well  as  the  Colchicums,  do  well  planted  in 
the  grass,  viz.,  zonatus  and  longifolius.  Both  are  fine  for  this 
purpose.  The  first-named  was,  until  lately,  in  flower  in  the  grass 
here,  and  closely  succeeded  Colchicum  pulcherrimum,  a  charming 
variety.  Of  course  the  ordinary  Colchicum  autumnalis  was  the 
first  to  flower.  This  was  quickly  followed  by  speciosum,  and 
the  best  of  them  all — persicum.  These  will  be  succeeded  by  the 
following  species  and  varieties:  Crocus  Fleischeri,  C.  Ivorol- 
kowri,  C.  clirysanthus,  C.  Olivieri,  C.  Susianus,  C.  Weldeni,  C. 
versicolor,  and  C.  Etruscus. 
Then  come  the  Dutch  sorts  to  cany  us  along  to  May.  Another 
point  in  favour  of  these  winter  flowering  Crocus  is  their  extreme 
hardiness.  Coming,  as  many  of  them  do,  from  the  northern 
parts  of  the  world,  they  smile  at  our  frost.  After  the  16deg 
frost  experienced  here  on  the  17th,  the  flowers  of  zonatus  and 
longifolius  were  unhurt,  and  perfectly  fresh,  and  have  continued  to 
push  up  fresh  flowers  every  day  since. — T.  Arnold,  Cirencester. 
[Our  correspondent  kindly  sent  a  sketch  of  two  varieties  of 
Colchicum — C.  speciosum  and  C.  zonatus,  but  these  we  must 
omit,  with  our  thanks  all  the  same.] 
A  New  Race  of  Irises. 
I  enclose  you  a  circular  (writes  our  correspondent)  from  my 
friend  Mr.  Caparne,  who  has  for  many  years,  but  only  recently 
in  Guernsey,  been  engaged  in  raising  a  new  race  of  Irises.  He 
will  shortly  have  some  blooms  of  the  new  hybrids  ready,  and  has 
promised  to  let  me  have  some  to  send  you  for  inspection  by  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Floral  Committee.  I  wish  you 
•could  see  his  collection  of  these  all  faithfully  portrayed  by  his 
own  hand  in  water  colours.  I  spent  one  day  last  week,  a  most 
delightful  hour  in  looking  over  them.  I  take  it  that  when  these 
flowers  get  fairly  into  commerce  they  will  be  found  very  useful, 
many  of  them  blooming  at  a  time  when  flowers  are  scarce. — 
W.  Holmes. 
We  consider  the  matter  printed  in  Mr.  W.  J.  Capame’s 
(Rohais,  Guernsey)  circular,  of  sufficient  value  to  print  it  in  the 
Journal,  and  the  full  text  is  given  accordingly  as  follows  : — 
“  The  first  step  towards  the  production  of  this  new  race  ef  Iris, 
which  I  have  called  ‘  Early  Alpine  Hybrid,’  was  the  collection  of 
every  known  or  obtainable  species  of  early  flowering  Bearded  Iris, 
which  were  then  crossed  with  a  view  to  improvement  in  colour, 
habit,  size  of  bloom,  earliness,  or  increase  in  number  of  flowers 
upon  one  stem.  The  results  of  which  being  obtained  after  from 
five  to  eight  years,  proved  but  a  partial  success,  the  tendency  to 
reversion  being  always  very  strong.  These  first  hybrids  were  then 
crossed  both  with  original  plants  and  each  other.  The  results 
brought  many  greatly  improved  flowers,  several  of  which  exhibited 
new  tendencies,  such  as  lying  flat  open,  &c.,  instead  of  the  simple 
upright  standards  and  pendent  falls;  but  it  is  from  the  third 
generation  that  the  finest  and  best  flowers  are  presented.  These 
(the  best  named  varieties  in  my  list)  are  still  appearing,  many 
more  coming  up  from  the  seed  pans  each  year,  for  the  seed  is 
frequently  from  three  to  four  years  in  germinating,  and  each 
season  shows  an  addition  to  new  varieties. 
“  The  early  attempts  were  very  much  hindered  by  spring  frosts, 
which,  in  some  seasons,  did  a  year’s  damage  in  one  night,  but 
this  has  been  overcome  by  bringing  the  plants  over  to  Guernsey, 
where  such  is  their  hardihood  that  flowers  are  to  be  picked  from 
them  during  October,  November,  December,  January,  February, 
and  March,  out-of-doors  without  protection  or  shelter  of  any 
kind.  Thus,  alter  twenty  years  of  effort,  was  inaugurated  this 
new  race  of  Iris,  which  should  be  a  good  substantial  addition  to 
our  early  spring  flowers.  They  will  bloom  in  England  with  slight 
forcing  in  January  and  February,  in  a  cold  house  in  February  and 
March,  and  out-of-doors  in  March,  April,  May.  For  market  pur¬ 
poses  they  travel  perfectly  if  cut  in  bud  and  tightly  packed,  are 
very  sure  to  fully  expand  in  water  to  the  last  bud,  and  after 
opening  can  be  worn  or  used  without  Avater  for  any  kind  of 
decorations.  Their  florvers  last  each  from  three  to  six  days  in 
perfection  ;  if  opened  in  heat  they  should  be  afterwards  kept  in  a 
cool  place,  as  is  the  case  AA’ith  all  other  flowers.  They  are 
fragrant,  even  the  rhizomes  of  many  have  a  delicious  scent  of 
Violets.”- -W.  J.  C.  ^ 
Outdoor  Chrysanthemums. 
Thanks  to  “  W.  M.  J.”  for  his  timely  reminder  on  page  492. 
The  Watsonian  stand  of  these  early  bloomers  Avas  certainly  one 
of  the  redeeming  features  of  the  late  show  in  Dublin ;  a  “  power¬ 
fully  weak”  show  so  far  as  “Mums”  were  concerned.  Some¬ 
how,  the  small  and  early  varieties  of  the  incomparable  autumn 
flower  never  appealed  to  me  as  a  grower.  “  Prejudice,”  will  be 
said.  Exactly  so;  for  “ ’tis  rare  to  find,  that  rich  rare  diamond, 
an  unbiassed  mind,”  especially  amongst  gardeners.  HoAvever, 
this  particular  season,  and  at  this  particular  show,  which  took 
place  betAveen  the  penning  and  printing  of  the  paper  eliciting 
your  correspondent’s  refresher,  the  small  and  early  ones  spoke 
better  for  themselves  than  anything  which  could  be  said  by — - 
K.,  ^ ublin . 
Mutual  Improvement  Societies. 
The  recent  able  articles  by  “H.  K.”  and  “E.”  on  the  subject 
of  “  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Associations”  are,  I  think, 
singularly  well-timed,  and  calculated  to  draw  attention  to  the 
importance  of  these  organisations.  May  I  venture  to  add  just  a 
word  or  two  on  some  phases  of  the  same  question?  First,  I  do 
not  think  that  employers  have  yet  fully  realised  the  adATantage 
(I  had  almost  said  necessity)  of  the  work  done  by  these  societies, 
and,  to  give  quite  a  low  level  reason,  Iioav  much  employes  have  to 
gain  by  the  carrying  on  of  this  Avork.  If  the  periodical  meetings 
for  discussion  of  matters  connected  with  the  “  science  of  horticul¬ 
ture  ”  are  a  success  at  all,  it  must  mean  that  the  members  are 
better  equipped  for  the  great  calling  in  which  they  are  engaged, 
and  if  this  is  so,  surely  it  is  obvious  that  they  must  be  more 
valuable  servants.  Consequently,  if  the  primary  advantage  is  to 
the  man,  the  secondary  must  be  to  the  master. 
What  I  AA'ant  to  suggest  is  the  importance  of  securing  all  the 
possible  help  from  the  gentry  who  are  at  once  lovers  of  horticul¬ 
ture  and  employers  of  labour,  both  for  their  own  and  the  societies’ 
,  sakes.  Some  societies  are  AA-ell  favoured  in  this  respect,  but  I 
know  that  the  matter  is  often  altogether  overlooked  by  those  aaTlo, 
!  after  all,  reap  in  the  end  much  of  the  benefit.  I  admit  that 
here,  as  in  other  directions,  the  “  evil  is  Avrought  from  want  of 
thought  as  well  as  Avant  of  heart.”  Perhaps  your  widely  reaxl 
journal  will  remind  some  of  those  we  ought  to  reach  of  their 
privilege  in  the  direction  I  have  indicated.  The  other  matter  is 
,  the  importance  of  each  society  securing,  if  possible,  the  valuable 
addition  of  a  small  library.  By  common  consent  the  incomes  of 
even  our  head  gardeners  are  not  often  large  enough  to  allow  them 
to  devote  much  to  the  buying  of  books.  Here,  surely,  there  is  a 
field  for  well  directed  efforts  on  the  part  of  those  who  care  for  the 
educational  side  of  the  craft.  I  do  not  suggest  the  establishment 
of  libraries  of  purely  technical  works,  though  sometimes  that  may 
be  helpful,  but  what  I  would  rather  see  is  the  putting  Avithin  the 
reach  of  young  gardeners,  more  especially  some  of  the  comprehen¬ 
sive,  yet  readable,  works  which  are  so  plentiful  to-day.  I  will 
not  try  to  draw  invidious  comparisons,  but  personally  I  would 
rather  have  twenty  manuals  than  one  bulky  treatise,  and  the 
choice  is  so  unlimited,  and  the  range  so  wide,  that  there  should  be 
no  difficulty  in  making  this  one  of  the  most  valuable  adjuncts  to 
j  the  societies. 
However  original  Ave  may  try  to  be  in  the  preparation  of  our 
essays,  some  reading  is  necessary,  and  I  sometimes  fear  that  Aye 
knoAv  not  what  we  lose,  because  the  young  gardener  of  to-day  is 
not  more  taught  the  importance  of  reading,  and  not  more  easily 
helped  to  the  accomplishment  by  having  readable  matter  easily 
accessible  to  him.  And  if  the  young  men  in  our  establishments 
do  not  at  first  catch  the  spirit  of  our  endeavours,  surely  it  is 
worth  while  making  a  big  effort  on  their  behalf.  Their  life  is  not 
all  honey,  wages  generally  pretty  low,  knowing,  for  some  years  at 
!  least,  little  of  the  beauty  of  home  life,  the  bothy  often  as  com- 
j  fortless  as  the  parish  workhouse ;  these  seem  to  me  to  call  for  all 
the  sympathy  and  the  brotherliness  that  can  be  given,  and  if  by 
the  societies,  which  we  are  glad  to  know  are  multiplying,  some- 
I  thing  of  this  is  accomplished,  they  will  have  to  the  very  highest 
I  extent  fulfilled  the  purpose  for  which  it  seems  to  me  they  are 
eminently  fitted. — W.  Ellis  Groves,  Bristol. 
