12G 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
February  16,  1898. 
-  “Physiogbaphy.” — I  am  pleased  to  note  that  “Erica,”  of 
“The  Young  Gardeners’  Domain”  (page  114),  has  had  the  good  fortune 
to  study  the  above  grand  work  hy  the  eminent  Professor  Huxley.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  scientific  works  I  have  yet  read,  setting  out 
as  it  does  in  understandable  language  the  marvellous  forces  at  work  in 
the  whole  universe,  and  especially  in  our  own  land.  That  portion  which 
treats  of  geology  is  perhaps  tlm  most  interesting  and  useful  to  gardeners, 
as  it  teems  with  information  which  one  may  daily  turn  to  practical 
account.  “  Physiography  ”  is  a  book  to  read  once  and  study  ever  after. 
— H.  D. 
-  A  Common  Error — “Observer.”  page  86,  does  well  to  draw 
the  attention  of  readers  to  the  subject  of  fixing  the  wires  for  the  training 
of  Vines,  Roses,  and  other  plants  too  closely  to  the  glass.  No  crop 
will  exhibit  the  effect  of  this  practice  more  quickly  than  Melons  and 
Cucumbers  growing  in  a  house  where  the  leaves  are  nearly  touching  the 
glass.  Seldom,  indeed,  can  either  pass  through  a  season  of  growth 
without  loss  of  many  of  the  leaves  by  scorching,  owing  to  lack  of  air  in 
sufficient  quantity  to  dissipate  the  condensed  moisture  that  collects  on 
the  upper  surface  of  the  leaves.  The  wires  in  the  Cucumber  and  Melon 
houses  here  were  fixed  17  inches  from  the  glass.  In  practice,  however, 
even  this  distance  is  too  near  for  vigorous-growing  varieties.  Foliage 
of  any  kind,  whether  that  of  fruit  trees  or  plants,  is  more  liable  to  a  loss 
of  colouring  matter — chlorophyll — when  growing  near  to  the  glass. — E.  M. 
Sicanmore. 
-  A  Stag  in  a  Garden. — The  proverbial  bull  in  a  china  shop  is 
the  metaphorical  creator  of  the  proverbial  smash.  A  visitor  of  a  some¬ 
what  similar  nature  was  that  unfortunate  stag  which,  driven  by  the 
Royal  buckhounds  recently  to  seek  a  harbour  of  refuge  from  the  baying 
dogs,  looked  to  find  it  in  the  gardens  of  the  Countess  de  Morelia,  Virginia 
Water,  and  getting  into  the  walled  garden  with  the  pack  at  its  heels 
and  the  huntsmen  a  long  way  behind.  The  local  papers  tell  of  there 
being  in  the  garden  two  long  parallel  forcing  pits,  about  a  yard  apart, 
covered  with  glass  lights.  As  the"  stag  was  driven  about  it  leaped  one 
range  of  lights  and  went  crash  into  the  other,  smashing  the  glass  and 
cutting  itself  tearfully.  Getting  out,  it  again  repeated  the  exploit,  with 
again  shocking  results.  Could  the  poor  mangled  animal  have  spoken 
as  freely  as  doubtless  the  gardener  did,  we  might  have  well  imagined 
what  it  would  have  said.  Alas  !  that  so  shocking  a  sight  should  be 
tolerated  in  our  country. — A  Surrey  Gardener. 
-  Gardeners  and  Specialists — Dear  Cabbages. — At  the 
annual  dinner  of  the  Lincoln  Gardeners’  Association  held  last  week. 
Dr.  G.  M.  Lowe  presided  over  a  company  of  about  seventy  members. 
The  Rev.  C.  C.  Ellison,  in  proposing  success  to  the  Association,  seems 
to  have  pleased  the  gardeners  by  allusions  to  what  he  described  ns 
“  unfair  ”  claims  on  them,  and  recounting  his  experience  with  Cabbages. 
He  is  reported  to  have  said  : — “Alt  the  delicious  fruits  and  vegetables 
we  possessed,  and  the  other  knick-knacks  a  cook  required  were  provided 
by  the  gardeners  ;  it  was  they  who  provided  the  flowers  that  decked 
the  bridal  procession  ;  it  was  they  who  provided  the  flowers  which  were 
one’s  last  tribute  to  the  dead,  and  yet  they  were  a  most  ill-used  body  ; 
and  for  this  reason — people  were  tpo  exacting.  Take  the  members  of  his 
own  family  for  example.  One  girl  would  come  back  from  a  visit  some¬ 
where  and  say,  ‘  I  have  seen  such  splendid  Tulips ;  why  can’t  we  have 
Tulips?  ’  Well,  she  would  go  and  worry  the  gardener,  and  it  would  end 
in  £4  having  to  be  spent  in  Tulips.  Then  another  would  come  home  and 
say,  ‘I  have  seen  such  lovely  Petunias,  why  can’t  we  have  Petunias?’ 
and  so  the  thing  went  on.  They  went  to  specialists  in  one  flower,  and 
then  came  home  and  wanted  to  find  in  their  garden  50,000  specialists 
rolled  into  one.  That  was  exceedingly  unfair,  and  he  thought  himself  if 
a  gardener  made  the  best  use  of  the  facilities  he  had  it  did  him  the 
greatest  credit.  It  was  always  a  great  delight  to  him  to  find  a  man  with 
limited  means  produce  anything  exception.ally  perfect,  and  one  day  when 
looking  round  a  small  garden  in  Derbyshire  he  highly  praised  the  owner 
on  his  success  in  growing  tremendous  Red  Cabbages,  and  told  him  he  had 
not  anything  nearly  so  large  even  in  his  own  garden.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
he  had  not  any  at  all.  The  man  promised  to  send  him  one  or  two  after 
a  time,  and  he  (Mr.  Ellison)  one  day  had  actually  to  pay  3s.  fid.  carriage 
for  two  Red  Cabbages.  And  that  was  not  all,  for  the  cook  pickled  the 
monstrous  things,  and  hjs  meat  bill  went  up  35  per  cent.,  the  family' 
having  to  eat  so  much  more  meat  to  get  the  pickles  put  out  of  sight.” 
There  seems  also  to  be  a-  “  Dahlia  and  Aster  Society  ”  in  the  ancient 
city,  which  has  been  celebrated  by  a  largely  attended  dinner.  The 
object  of  the  Society  is  to  “  increase  the  interest  in  the  cultivation  of 
Dahlias,  Asters,  Stocks,  and  a  few  other  flowers  such  as  adorn  the 
gardens  of  the  working  classes.”  The  annual  shows  are  said  to  have 
been  very  successful  over  a  period  of  five  years. 
-  Correction.— “  W.  G.”  writes  : — “  Kindly  make  the  following 
correction  in  your  next  issue — viz.,  that  in  my  remarks  on  John  Cox  and 
Napoleon’s  Willow  on  page  105  I  inadvertently  used  the  name  John 
instead  of  David,  thus  implying  there  may  have  been  two  famous 
Birmingham  painters  of  the  name  Cox.” 
-  Seedling  Coleus. — Large  as  are  the  number  of  varieties  of 
named  Coleus  at  present  in  cultivation,  many  of  them  are  superseded  by: 
the  beautiful  forms  appearing  from  the  purchase  of  a  packet  of  seed.  I 
am  now  referring  more  especially  to  the  large  leaved  varieties,  which  are 
splendid  in  habit  and  of  great  importance  for  decoration.  When  in 
Ireland  last  summer  I  almost  marvelled  at  the  glowing  shades  of  leaf 
colouring  and  tneir  charming  formation.  On  making  inquiries,  I  was 
told  that  the  plants  were  from  seed,  the  strain  being  The  Sunset,  which 
I  believe  is  of  American  origin.  To  anyone  purchasing  a  packet  of  this 
particular  strain  and  sowing  at  th®  present  time  in  sandy  soil,  in  warmth, 
I  can  assure  them  that  they  will  be  amply  repaid  for  their  trouble. — 
R.  P.  R. 
-  Forcing  Narcissi, — I  notice  from  the  report  of  the  meeting  of 
the  R.H.S.  at  the  Drill  Hall  on  January  31st,  not  the  least  interesting 
exhibitwas  that  offorced  Daffodils  and  Poet’s  Narcissus.  The  display  would 
doubtless  impress  still  farther  on  those  who  saw  it  the  usefulness  of  this 
class  of  flowers  for  forcing  purposes.  We  have  got  so  used  to  depending 
on  Holland  for  our  supply  of  spring  bulbs  that  the  possibilities  of  pro¬ 
viding  for  ourselves  with  English  grown  bulbs  has  perhaps  been  over¬ 
looked.  It  is  questionable,  however,  whether  this  will  be  so  in  the 
future.  The  taste  for  Daffodils  and  other  spring-blooming  bulbs  has 
taken  a  firm  hold  on  the  flower-loving  public,  and  it  is  surprising  that 
the  adaptability  of  our  soil  for  their  growth  has  not  been  found  out 
before.  It  has  been  proved  that  home-grown  Narcissi  lend  themselves 
readily  for  forcing,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  their  chaste  and  elegant 
forms  will  supplant  the  stiff  and  formal  Dutch  Hyacinth. — H.  G. 
-  Bullfinch  Slaughter. — Thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  bull¬ 
finches  and  goldfinches  were  not  at  all  uncommon  amongst  the  orchards 
of  North  Kent ;  now,  in  this  district,  they  seem  to  be  extinct.  The  gold¬ 
finches  have  been  ruthlessly  captured  by  London  dealers,  some  also  of 
the  bullfinches,  but  that  species  has  suffered  more  from  the  guns  of 
gardeners  and  fruit  growers,  having  long  had  a  worse  character  than  it 
deserves.  All  its  friends  must  admit  that  a  bullfinch  will  make  free  with 
a  ripe  Cherry  or  Plum,  and  it  will  attack  buds,  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
is  certainly  a  feeder  upon  insects.  No  one  who  has  seen  the  eagerness 
with  which  one  will  devour  the  aphides  held  to  it  on  the  tip  of  a  moist 
finger  can  doubt  that  these  pests  form  part  of  its  natural  food.  Very 
likely,  too,  its  visits  to  buds  are  prompted  by  an  appetite  for  the  cater¬ 
pillars  and  grubs  lodged  in  many  of  them.  As  with  others  of  the  finches, 
the  diet  is  mixed,  but  the  bird  is  so  docile,  affectionate,  and  sagacious  in 
confinement  that  it  may  well  appeal  to  our  kindly  feelings  towards  the 
race,  even  if  it  does  some  harm. — J.  C.,  Gravesend. 
'  t  ‘ 
-  Rock  Plants  at  Abinger  Hall.— At  Lord  Farrer’s  seat 
near  Dorking  an  extensive  rockwork,  one  of  the  home-made  description, 
and  therefore,  as  a  rule,  far  more  suitable  for  all  sorts  of  hardy  plants 
than  very  elaborate  ones  are,  had  when  I  looked  over  it  on  the  9th  some 
early  and  very  interesting  things  in  bloom.  Crocuses  Imperati  and 
Siebcii,  both  of  blue  shades,  were  charmingly  flowering  ;  so  also  was 
^  Cyclamen  coum.  The  pretty  lonopsidium  acaule  was  flowering  also,  and 
had  been  in  bloom  nearly  all  the  winter.  Of  Snowdrops,  Galantbus 
Elwesi  was  blooming  here  and  all  about  the  grounds,  so  also  was  the 
yellow  Aconite,  which  was  occasionally  seen  in  large  quantities.  Strange 
was  it  to  see  Sarracenia  purpurea  doing  well  outdoors,  and  whilst  bearing 
numerous  good  pitchers,  also  exhibited  rich  colouration.  Iris  stylosa 
with  stylosa  alba,  and  I.  histrio  were  flowering  charmingly,  the  former 
having  been  so  for  some  few  weeks  previously.  It  is  a  most  valuable 
plant  to  produce  very  early  flowers.  A  pretty  Primrose  is  named  Primula 
olympica,  the  flowers  being  of  a  pale  purple  colour.  Very  early  in  bloom, 
to?,  were  Saxifragas  Boydi,  white,  very  small  enshion-like  plants  ;  also 
Frederica  angustifolia,  yellow,  V^ry  strange,  and  evidently  unusual,  was 
it  to  see  Primula  rosea  growing  in  great  quantities  round  the  margin  of 
a  pond,  the  roots  quite  in  the  water,  and  apparently  liking  it.  P.  japonica 
also  was  doing  wonderfully  well  under  the  same  cold  water  treatment.  The 
rockwork  includes  a  remarkable  variety  of  alpines.  Numerous  Dianthuses, 
Aubrietias,  Tiarella  cordifolia,  Alpine  Phloxes,  Lithospermums,  white 
Primroses,  Hellebores,  Gypsophila  prostrata,  Omphalades  verna,  ,and 
many  others.  Mr.  Payne,  who  made  and  planted  the  rockery,  has  every 
reason  to  be  proud  of  his  construction  now  that  it  is  so  well  furnished. 
—A.  Kingston.  . -- 
