352 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  16,  1902. 
discontinued  entirely,  as  the  roots  are  usually  dead  by  this  time. 
This  refers,  of  course,  to  C.  vestita  and  G.  Veitchi  and  their 
hybrids  and  varieties,  not  to  such  as  C.  Turneri  and  C.  oculata 
gigantea. 
Thunias  should  by  now  be  entirely  at  rest,  and  may,  if  room  is 
scarce,  be  shaken  clear  of  the  compost,  labelled,  and  hung  up  in 
small  bundles  in  a  warm  house.  Although  this  treatment  may 
seem  rather  rough,. it  is  much  more  to  the  taste  of  the  plants  than 
being  shifted  about  from  pillar  to  post  in  cool  draughty  houses. 
The  stems  themselves  contain  all  the  stored-up  energy ;  the 
roots  are  dead,  having  finished  their  work,  and  a  new  set  will 
be  evolved  next  season.- — H.  R.  R. 
- <•••> - 
Mostly  Irish. 
“  Season  of  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf.”  What  a  power¬ 
fully  poor  description  of  autumnal  glory !  Surely  that 
writer  was  colour  blind  to  an  embarras  cles  riches  the  grand 
old  artist  flings  off  the  palette  in  bold  smudges,  from  pale 
chrome  to  intense  crimson.  Yet  fair,  but  fickle,  mistress, 
all  thy  inimitable  blarney  cannot  atone  for  a  season’s  mis¬ 
deeds  and  shortcomings.  From  such  time  as  “  rough  winds 
shook  the  darling  buds  of  May  ”  low  mutterings  arose  till 
now,  at  Corn  reaping  and  fruit  gathering,  including  the 
noble  tuber,  they  have  swelled  into  growls  both  loud  and 
deep.  Still  we  escaped  that  hailstorm  of  which  our  papers 
told  us  as  occurring  in  Kent,  leaving  hail  on  somebody’s 
lawn  a  foot  deep.  We  wondered  what  sort  of  a  foot  the 
measurement  was  taken  with ;  whether  it  was  a  lady’s 
number  three  shoe  or  a  good,  honest,  perpendicular  twelve 
inches.  Yerily,  hail  a  foot  thick  is  hard  to  gulp  down.  Are 
there,  ahem ! — are  there  any  lineal  descendants  of  Ananias 
over  there  in  the  reporting  line  ?  Anyway,  we  cannot  com¬ 
pete  with  that  in  Ireland,  although  cold  nights  and  stormy 
days  prevailed  till  mid-September. 
One  of  the  Gunnersbury  boys  called  in — all  smiles.  “A 
fortnight’s  holiday.”  “How’s  all  at  home  1”, (That  charm¬ 
ing  home  at  Straffan,  in  Kildare.)  “  Oh !  six  degrees  of 
frost  this  ^  morning”  (September  13).  Condolences,  of 
course.  “  Yes,  but  everything  was  blackened  previously, 
and  all  starting  into  growth  again.”  More  condolences, 
cheapened  by  the  fact  that,  as  yet,  frost  of  no  degree  has 
reached  the  seaboard  of  Dublin.  We  do  not  dispute  the 
Straffan  record,  for  there  everything,  even  the  commonest 
thermometer,  must  be,  like  Caesar’s  wife,  above  suspicion. 
Experience,  too,  has  proved  the  Kildare  climate  to  be  a 
trying  one  ;  moreover,  we  know  the  Straffan  recorder  of 
old,  having  been  there  more  than  once  when  there  was 
“nothing  to  see,”  and  found  ample  to  make  one  say,  “Oh! 
Straffan  in  Kildare  with  all  they  faults  I  love  thee  still.” 
If  there  is  one  thing  more  than  another  that  Straffan  is 
famous  for,  and  it  is  just  a  question  whether  there  is,  then 
that  one  thing  is  Daffodils,  and  though  miles  away,  and 
months  out  of  season,  the  bulb  number  of  “Our  Journal” 
brings  the  last  view  of  them  back  in  a  flash.  There  they 
are — here,  there,  and  everywhere  ;  all  over  the  place  ;  beds 
borders,  and  lawns.  Such  blooms  !  Such  foliage  !  Such 
patches  of  seedlings  springing  up  in  the  damp,  mossy  grass ! 
That  although  Rush  produces  such  Tulips  as  cannot  be 
excelled,  if  equalled,  and  that  is  doubtful,  in  the  British 
Isles,  or  anywhere  else,  the  Straffan  Daffodils  seem  to  beat 
the  Rushians  by  points. 
Never  did  the  Botanic  Gardens  of  Old  Trinity  (Trinity 
College,  Dublin)  look  fresher  and  brighter  than  when  seen 
in  the  evening  of  an  August  day.  Plenty  of  rain  suits  this 
side  of  Dublin  city.  As  a  special  favour  the  Water  Lilies 
were  wide  awake,  hadn’t  closed  an  eye,  and  one  hardly 
knew  which  to  admire  most.  The  rich,  bright  red  N. 
Ellisiana,  however,  is  probably  the  most  striking,  but  huge 
golden  eyed  Chromatellas,  laying  over  sideways  to  display 
their  charms  Avere  very  captivating.  Yucca  gloriosa  plicata 
bore  dense  spikes  of  copper  tinted  buds  opening  out  into 
solid,  waxy-looking  blooms  ;  and  nice  were  the  large  flowers 
of  Lilium  Browni  with  purple  banded  backs.  It  is  the  home 
of  curios  in  plant  life,  amongst  which  Helleborus  lividus, 
sent  or  brought  to  Mr.  Burbidge  by  a  lady  from  Majorca, 
was  pointed  out ;  also  Haloagis  alatus,  first  cousin  to  a 
Gunnera ;  Coronilla  securigera,  the  Hatchet  Plant  with 
yellow  blooms  which  goes  to  sleep  ;  Hyoscyamus  perennis, 
the  Perennial  Henbane,  very  pretty  and  very  singular ; 
Hypoxis  hemerocalloides,  a  woolly  budded  South  African 
with  yellow  blooms,  Crinum-like  foliage,  and  tAvisted, 
triangular  stems  ;  and  a  host  of  things  Avhich  would  be 
passed  over  by  the  man  in  the  street  failing  those  patient 
and  interesting  explanations  the  kind  host  is  eA^er  ready  to 
give.  Thicker  and  thicker  do  the  plants  stand  in  the 
houses  ;  houses  made  elegant  and  attractive  by  nearly  every 
creeping  and  climbing  thing  that  groAvs.  In  spite  of  asking, 
one  does  not  quite  know  how  Mr.  Bentley,  the  foreman  of 
this  department,  smart  as  he  is,  manages  to  keep  all  in 
such  order  ;  but,  as  the  Gunnersbury  boy  said,  there  are 
not  many  chaps  like  Bentley. 
A  very  interesting  marriage  in  the  gardening  world  came 
off  on  the  rocky  coast  near  Dalkey.  The  wedding  was  quiet, 
but  not  the  less  worth  noting.  Taking  place  without  Avit- 
nesses,  which  Avas  very  irregular,  of  course,  nothing 
probably  would  have  been  heard  of  it  had  not  Mr.  Burbidge 
in  his  rock  rambling  have  discovered  the  contracting  parties 
and  their  progeny.  Some  dozen  of  the  children  he  ran 
down  in  the  grounds  of  Sir  Francis  Brady ;  killed  ’em  by 
drying,  and  the  mummified  remains  are  noAv  decently 
interred  (?)  in  his  Hortus  Siccus.  It  appears,  on  evidence, 
that  years  ago  Cineraria  maritima  escaped  from  the  con¬ 
finement  of  some  garden  and  made  herself  (or  himself)  quite 
at  home  on  the  Dalkey  rocks,  fell  in  love  Avith  Mr.  (or  Miss) 
Ragweed,  Senecio  Jacobea,  and  so  faithful  have  they  been  in 
wedlock  that  their  offspring  have  arisen  here,  there,  and 
everywhere  in  the  locality.  The  resemblance  to  both  father 
and  mother  is  too  striking  to  admit  doubts  as  to  their 
parentage. 
After  twenty  years  friend  Hardy,  of  Dunardagh,  is 
“knocked  about.”  Death  has  taken  the  master,  George 
Orr  Wilson,  Esq.,  and  the  auctioneer’s  hammer  has  dis 
persed  the  plants  it  has  been  his  (Mr.  Hardy’s)  labour  of 
love  to  collect  and  grow.  All  credit  to  him  that  he  should 
work  as  energetically  to  the  last  as  he  did  from  the  first, 
for  there  are  few  plant  auctions  so  well  arranged  and  pre¬ 
pared  for  as  was  the  Dunardagh  sale.  Taken  all  round,  he 
is  probably  satisfied  with  the  prices  realised,  although  Avhen 
he  and  the  auctioneer  mounted  the  rostrum — stage — in  the 
Palm  house  he  growled  and  looked  real  Avicked  as  a  superb 
specimen  Areca  was  knocked  doAvn  at  less  value  than  the 
teak  tub  containing  it.  So  does  a  good  man  take  the 
keenest  interest  in  his  care  to  the  last.  May  the  fates  be 
propitious  in  resettling  him  as  well  as  he  deserves. 
The  People’s  Gardens  in  the  Phoenix  Park  never  looked, 
folk  say,  better  or  brighter  than  they  have  this  season. 
That  praise  is  emphatically  endorsed,  and  can  also  be 
accorded  to  Mr.  Kearney’s  work  in  Stephen’s  Green.  One 
massive  bed  in  the  People’s  Gardens,  composed  of  the 
silvery  Centaurea  Avith  a  fine  dark  Heliotrope  interspersed, 
is  particularly  striking,  and  some  huge  clumps  of  Tritomas, 
standing  out  boldly  against  a  background  of  evergreens,  are 
simply  grand.  In  our  own  someAvhat  limited  field  of  labour 
a  couple  of  sunny  days  have  brightened  up  things  consider¬ 
ably,  and  brought  out  a  host  of  cheery  blossoms  to  liven 
us  up.  Perennial  Sunflowers,  Cactus  Dahlias,  Golden  Rod, 
Michaelmas  Daisies,  scarlet  Lobelia,  the  last  Rose  of 
summer  finely  represented  by  Ulrich  Brunner,  La  France, 
and  red  and  white  Rugosas,  with  “lashins  ”  of  Sweet  Peas 
contribute  the  lion’s  share  ;  Avhilst  the  Italian  garden  is  at 
its  best.  In  a  warm  corner  Eucomis  punctata,  the  Pine¬ 
apple  Lily,  has  just  thrown  up  a  strong  spike  of  sober 
looking  blossoms  from  its  crown  of  broad,  handsome  foliage. 
So  much  for  the  lighter  side  of  gardening  life  in  Ireland  ; 
there  are,  of  course,  more  grievances  one  could  give,  but. 
they  need  not  detain,  being,  as  they  are,  mostly  Irish. — 
K.,  Dublin. 
A  Famous  Chilian  Pine. 
All  those  who  have  visited  Dropmore  Park,  near  Cliveden, 
Bucks,  will  hear  with  regret  of  the  decay  and  death  of  the 
magnificent  Chilian  Pine,  said  to  be  the  finest  specimen  in  Europe, 
and  which  was  presented  to  Lady  Louisa  Fortescue  by  George  IV. 
in  1830,  other  trees  of  a  similar  kind  being  planted  at  the  same 
time  in  IveAv  Gardens.  The  groAvth  of  the  one  at  Dropmore 
proved  wonderfully  symmetrical,  the  branches,  from  the  ground 
upAvard,  being  in  every  Avay  perfect.  Signs  of  decay  in  this 
famous  “  Monkey  Puzzle  ”  were  observed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
present  year,  and  everything  possible  was  done  to  save  it,  but 
without  success.  It  is  now  quite  lifeless.  The  roots  are  supposed 
to  have  been  attacked  by  some  malady  the  nature  of  which  has  not 
yet  been  determined. 
