103 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  29,  1903. 
obtained  a  First  Class  Certificate  of  Merit  in  18o2,  and  became 
highly  popular  on  the  show  boards. 
The  development  of  London  in  the  direction  of  Betlnial 
Green;  the  creation  of  new  streets,  and  the  erection  of  vmrious 
works,  gradually  took  possession  of  the  available  land  for  gar¬ 
dening  purposes,  dri\nng  Mr.  Rawlings  further  out  to  seek  a 
j)urer  atmosphere,  and  he  located  himself  at  Romford  as  a 
Dahlia  specialist,  and  carried  on  with  vigour  the  work  of  raising 
new  varieties,  and  was  highly  successful.  Some  of  the  foremost 
of  the  exhibition  blooms  of  the  present  day  were  raised  by  him, 
.such  as  Arthur  Ocock,  Clara,  George  Gordon,  George  Rawlings, 
Harrison  Weir,  Harry  Turner,  John  Bennett,  J.  T.  West,  Mr. 
Geo.  Harris,  Mr.  Glasscock,  Mrs.  Glasscock,  Mrs.  Shirley 
Hibberd,  Queen  of  the  Belgians,  R.  T.  Rawlings  (probably  the 
most  useful  yellow  self  in  cultivation),  Shirley  Hibberd,  T.  J. 
Saltmarsh,  Thos.  S.  Ware,  William  Dodds,  and  William  Raw-  1 
lings.  All  these-  show  fine  character,  perfect  form,  petal,  and 
centre,  when  at  their  best,  and  a  reference  to  Mr.  E.  Mawley’s 
last  audit  of  Dahlias  given  in  the  columns  of  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  shows  that  several  of  the  foregoing  occupy  leading 
positions  among  exhibition  blooms. 
In  his  day  Mr.  Rawlings  must  have  raised  a  large  number 
of  seedlings,  and  he  also  won  many  prizes  as  an  exhibitor.  He 
was  also  a  keen  and  conscientious  judge,  with  a  remarkable 
quickness  of  perception  for  qualities  or  for  defects. 
Some  years  ago  Mr.  RawUngs  relinquished  his  Romford  busi- 
ne.ss  in  favour  of  his  sons,  and  went  to  reside  at  Whitebrook, 
Monmouth,  where  he  died.  The  deep  interest  in  the  Dahlia  re- 
Jiiained  to  the  last,  for  he  was  a  subscriber  to  the  funds  of  the 
National  Dahlia  Society  up  to  his  death.  By  his  demise  I  lose 
an  old  and  honoured  floricultural  friend.  Alas!  how  very  few 
indeed  of  my  floricultural  contemporaries  of  the  fifties  remain ! 
— R.  Dean. 
- - - 
SOME  NATIONAL  FLOWERS. 
This  was  the  title  of  an  interesting  lecture  given  on  Saturdaj^ 
evening  before  the  members  of  the  Chester  Paxton  Society,  in 
the  Grosvenor  Museum,  by  Captain  McGillycudy,  Bache  Hall, 
the  newly  elected  President  of  the  Society.  Mr.  J.  D.  Siddall 
presided  over  a  large  and  appreciative  audience. 
The  lecturer,  having  pointed  out  that  from  very  early  times 
flowers  had  been  adopted  as  national  emblems,  alluded  to  the 
country  of  Japan  and  its  sacred  flower,  the  Chrysanthemum, 
which  was  so  called  from  its  being  the  golden  flower.  The 
Fmperor  of  Japan  (he  said)  had  the  Chrysanthemum  as  his 
oarticular  flower,  and  once  a  year  at  his  palace  at  Yokohama 
had  a  Chrysanthemum  fete.  He  (Captain  McGillycuddy)  re¬ 
cently  read  a  description  of  one  of  these  fetes,  and  he  hoped 
the  Chester  Paxton  Society’s  exhibitors  would  not  be  discour¬ 
aged  when  he  told  them  that  one  of  these  Japanese  Chrysaii- 
themums  was  10ft  high  and  15ft  long  (laughter).  It  had  grown 
from  year  to  year,  until  it  had  attained  the  propoidions  of  a 
forest  tree,  was  trained  to  represent  a  Chinese  junk,  and  had 
four  thousand  individual  blooms  on  it,  with  no  two  alike. 
The  Empress  of  Japan,  not  to  be  outdone  by  her  husband, 
liad  a  flower  of  her  own,  viz.,  the  Double  Cherry,  and  enter¬ 
tained  her  friends  at  the  Cherry  Blossom  Palace,  when  the 
Cherry  tree  eras  in  blossom.  The  lecturer  said  the  last  German 
Emperor  but  one  had  a  favourite  flower,  viz.,  the  blue  Corn¬ 
flower,  and  that  had  been  adopted  in  Germany  as  the  national 
flower,  as  far  as  a  national  flower  could  be  adopted  there. 
The  French  national  flower  was  the  Fleur  de  Lis,  and  as  the 
Lily  denoted  in  the  language  of  flowers  sweetness,  gaiety,  and 
coquetry,  it  was  an  extremely  appropriate  emblem  for  the 
French  people.  The  Swiss  national  flower  was  the  Edehveiss. 
There  were  several  nations  which  had  no  national  flower,  but 
were  not  without  botanical  representatives.  He  might  men¬ 
tion  the  Spanish  Onion,  Turkey  Rhubai'b,  Brussels  Sprouts, 
•  Jerusalem  Artichokes,  French  Marigolds,  and  such  like  (laughter 
and  applause). 
The  Ignited  States  had  chosen  the  Golden  Rod  as  its  national 
flower;  Egypt  had  the  sacred  Lotus;  India  the  Palm;  and 
Canada  the  Maple  leaf ;  but  Australia  had  not  yet  selected  a 
national  flower.  The  lecturer,  in  conclusion,  referred  to  the 
Leek  of  Wales,  the  Shamrock  of  Ireland,  the  Thistle  of  Scot¬ 
land,  and  the  Rose^  of  England.  He  had  never  been  able  to 
discover  why  the  Welsh  had  chosen  such  a  thing, as  the  Leek 
for  their  national  emblem.  The  connection  between  England 
and  the  Rose  was  very  .simple.  The  Rose  was  the  greatest  of 
all  flowers,  and  England  was  the  greatest  of  all  nations  (ap¬ 
plause).  Mr.  N.  F.  Barnes  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
lecturer,  and  threw  out  the  suggestion  that  an  appropriate 
national  flower  for  South  Africa  would  be  an  Orcliid  [Disa  grandi- 
flora? — Ed.  J  of  H.].  Mr.  Wakefield  seconded,  and  the  motion 
was  carried  amid  hearty  applau.se,  and  briefly  acknowledged. 
An  entertaining  discu.ssion  Avas  afterwards  taken  part  in  by  the 
chairnian,  the  lecturer,  and  Mr.  G.  'P.  Miln  (hon.  sec.),  the  point 
at  issue  being  the  botanical  classification  of  the  Shamrock. 
The  Seven-spotted  Lady-bird. 
The  different  species  or  varieties  of  aphis  are  a  constant 
source  of  annoyance,  or  something  more,  to  gardeners  and 
farmers,  and  every  little  helper  who  can  destroy  these  pests, 
familiarly  called  greenfly  and  blackfly,  should  be  greatly  wel¬ 
comed.  Yet  even  in  these  days  there  are 
many  people  who  do  not  recognise  the 
little  lady-birds — the  Coccinellidae — as 
their  friends,  but  crush  their  beautifully 
coloured  wing-cases  and  bodies  as  they 
would  a  foe.  We  figure  to-day  the  seven- 
spotted  lady-bird,  natural  size  and  en¬ 
larged.  This  is  Coccinella  septem-punc- 
tata,  and  though  it  is  one  of  the  largest, 
it  is  not  the  only  useful  lady-bird  we  have. 
G.  bipunctata  and  C.  dispar  may  also  be 
named.  These  delightfully  interesting 
little  beetles  feed  (especially  in  the  larval 
stage)  voraciously  on  the  aphides.  The 
sEVE^■-spo'lTEr)  L.\DV-i!iiu)  gj-g  full  growii  in  about  a  fortnight 
or  three  weeks^  when  they  hang  them¬ 
selves  up  by  the  tail,  and  turn  to  a  shiny  black  pupa  or  chrysalis, 
spotted  down  the  back  with  orange,  from  which  the  beetle 
(known  as  the  “  lady-bird  ”)  comes  out  in  about  another  fortnight 
or  three  weeks.  These  tiny  creatures  may  be  found  at  this  time 
of  year  by  those  who  ai'e  crashing  and  cleansing  plant  houses, 
hidden  aAvay  in  chinks  and  corners.  They  should  all  be  pro¬ 
tected,  “  especially,”  as  Miss  Ormerod  remarked,  “  when  they 
appear  in  vast  swarms,  in  which  they  frequently  follow  on  a 
special  outbreak  of  aphides,  and  in  which,  to  our  great  injury, 
they  are  liable  to  be  swept  up  and  destroyed,  as  in  the  instance 
of  their  great  appearance  in  1869.” 
Young  Gardeners’  Domain. 
Ventilating  Plant  Houses. 
This  is  a  very  important  matter,  and  must  be  given  great 
attention  in  order  to  succes.sfully  cultivate  plants.  Much  de¬ 
pends  on  the  season  of  the  year,  as  plants  recjiuire  very 
dissimilar  treatment  at  different  times.  In  early  spring 
very  great  care  and  discretion  must  be  exercised,  as  plants 
are  then  beginning  to  be  active,  and  the  young  growth  is  very 
tender,  and  easily  injured  by  cold  draughts.  It  is  very  important 
that  a  change  of  air  should  take  place  once  a  day  Avhenever  pos¬ 
sible,  iJi’ovided  that  the  house  is  Avell  glazed  and  in  good  condi¬ 
tion.  It  is  be.st  to  ventilate  in  the  morning,  as  the  temperature, 
rises  very  quickly  with  the  influence  of  the  sun,  and  thi.s  causes 
what  is  called  .scalding,  and  makes  the  plants  very  un.sightly. 
By  opening  the  ventilators  a  little,  the  inner  air  becomes 
purified,  and  the  condensed  moisture  is  dried  up.  Carefully 
.study  the  requirements  of  the  plants,  and  the  temperatures  in¬ 
side  and  outside,  and  air  accordingly.  Ahvays  avoid  a  co-id 
draught,  and  err  on  the  safe  side  until  the  weather  gets  Avarmer. 
When  too  much  air  is  admitted  it  causes  a  depre.ssion,  and  a  too 
sudden  evaporation,  causing  the  foliage  to  droop,  AA’hich  loAvers 
the  Autality  in  the  plants,  and  subjects  them  to  di.sease  and 
insect  pests. 
It  is  not  advisable  to  mse  the  side  Amntilators  at  this  season 
of  the  year,  unless  the  occupants  of  the  plant  house  are  tho¬ 
roughly  hardy,  and  are  not  liable  to  injury  ;  Avhich  is  not  often 
the  case.  It  is  the-  best  practice  to  Amntilate  at  the  top,  .starting 
Avith  a  veiy  small  niche,  and  increasing  gradually  as  the  tem¬ 
perature  rises,  until  sufficient  is  applied  for  the  occasion.  Then 
gently  decrea.se,  closing  in  time  to  confine  a  little  .sun  heat  Avhen- 
ever  i>ossible.  In  summer  and  autumn  a  greater  volume  of  air 
may  be  safely  admitted  ,  Avhich  tends  toAvards  a  sturdy  and 
healthy  groAvth.  In  the  Avinter  months  not  so  much  air  aauII  be 
required,  as  plants  are,  as  a  rule,  inactive,  and  cold  air  mu.st  be 
excluded  ;  but  air  on  faAmurable  occasdons. — A  Journeyman,  C.  V. 
Wlnter-floAwering  Carnations. 
These  Avill  noAv  be  going  “  out  of  floAver,”  and  cuttings  should 
be  taken  for  the  blooming  plants  of  next  Avinter.  Mix  some  nice 
light  loam  Avith  equal  parts  of  leaf  mould  and  about  half  of  sand. 
Insert  the  cuttings,  and  place  them  in  a  steady  temperature 
of  oOdeg  to  oodeg.  They  Avill  not  strike-  very  fast,  but  Avhen 
they  do  nice  stocliy  plants  Avill  be  the-  result.  Should  you  require 
a  good  batch  for  floAvering  during  the  summer,  a  good  plan  Avill 
be  to  top-dress  the  old  plants,  Avhich  have  done  floAvering  noAv, 
AAuth  some  approved  fertiliser.  I  Avould  recommerd  Clay’.-^ 
fertiliser  mixed  AA'ith  some  good  loam  and  I'oad  grit.  Place 
them  in  a  Peach  house  just  started,  and  groAv  them  on  until  you 
can  safely  stand  them  out  of  doors  in  a  sheltered  )>lace,  and 
you  will  find  this  Avill  give  abundance  of  floAvers  tliroughout 
the  summer  months.  Carnation  Mrs.  Leopold  de  Rothschild  is 
a  splendid  variety  for  this  purpose,  being  free  floAvering  and  not 
inclined  to  split  in  the  calyx. — A.  G.  M. 
