October  15,  1903.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
357 
Ariel,  delicate  mauve,  is  very  joleasing,  and  it  makes  a  de¬ 
lightful  bedder ;  Tom  Wilson  is  a  deep  coloured  William 
Niel  ;  Sir  John  is  a  rather  large  lilac-tinted  variety.  The 
old  Blue  Bell  is  also  grown  in  quantity  and  much  appre¬ 
ciated  ;  and  Mrs.  C.  Turner,  of  many  years’  standing,  one 
of  the  best  clarets. 
At  the  Bedbraes  Nursery  the  Viola  plants  are  put  out 
in  cold  frames  in  autumn,  but  there  is  no  glass  covering  to 
them  ;  all  the  protection  they  receive  is  a  few  faggots 
placed  over  the  frames  in  stormy  weather.  Grown  under 
such  conditions  the  plants  are  of  the  hardiest  character, 
and  are  moved  from  the  frames  with  good  balls  of  roots. 
Pansies,  both  Show'  and  Fancy,  are  largely  grown  ;  so 
are  Phloxes  and  Pentstemons,  and  many  other  subjects  in 
which  the  Scotch  florists  take  delight.  large  quantity  of 
a  scarlet  Dianthus  belonging  to  the  Mule  type  is  to  be  seen 
which  makes  an  excellent  summer  bedding  plant.  Soft- 
wooded  florists’  flowers  and  bedding  stulf  in  enormous 
quantities  are  grown.  A  visit  in  July  and  August  to  the 
Bedbraes  Nursery  should  be  one  of  an  interesting  and 
instructive  character. — B.  Dean. 
Faels  for  the  Garden, 
The  following  are  the  conclusions  given  at  the  end  of  a 
long  paper  read  recently  before  the  American  Florists’  Con¬ 
vention  at  -Milwaukee  : 
That  coal  is  the 
cheapest  and  best  fuel 
that  the  market  affords, 
lib  under  ordinary  con¬ 
ditions  evaporating  about 
7pb  of  water  at  212deg 
F.  That  the  provision 
for  a  liberal  reserve 
.supply  of  coal  is,  under 
most  circumstances,  the 
safest  method  of  pro¬ 
viding  for  an  emergencj'. 
This  supplj'  need  not  be 
stored  near  the  boilers, 
and  should  only  bo  used 
when  coal  cannot  be  se¬ 
cured  from  the  regular 
sources.  The  interest  on 
the  money  invested  in 
such  reserve  supply  of 
coal  will  be  wisely  ex¬ 
pended.  That  11b  of  dry 
wood  will  evaporate  about 
41bs  to  71bs  of  water  at 
212deg  F.  That  wood 
is  in  many  eases  the  most 
efficient  .substitute  for 
coal  during  a  short  period. 
That  where  crude  oil  can 
be  secured  at  a  reason¬ 
able  price  it  is  the  best 
and  most  reliable  substi¬ 
tute  for  coal,  and  uhere 
it  can  bo  purchased  as  low  as  4s.  2d.  per  barrel  it  is  pi'cferable 
to  coal  at  S.oOdol*  and  upward  per  ton.  That  lib  of  crude  oil 
vill  evaporate  13.31b  of  water  at  212deg  F.,  and  that  lib  of  oil 
has  a  heating  efficiency  equal  tO'  that  of  about  1.61b  of  coal. 
Also  that  the  use  of  oil  is  clean  and  economical  so-  far  as  the 
fire-room  work  is  concerned,  and  if  properly  burned  no  smoke  is 
produced. 
That  the  mechanical  part  of  oil  burning  has  passed  the 
first  experimental  stage  and  has  nroved  successful.  That  there 
are  a  number  of  good  burners  upon  the  market,  especially  of 
the  sprayer  class,  using  compressed  air  or  steam  for  volatilising 
the  oil.  That  a  cheap  and  efficient  burner  can  be  made  from 
comparatively  inexpensive  materials.  That  oil  can  be  burnecl 
in  an  even  and  effective  manner,  especially  under  steam  boilers 
of  the  water-tube  class.  That  petroleum  will  probably  never 
replace  coal  for  general  use.  In  the  discussion,  it  was  stated 
that  garbage  was  being  used  by  some  cities  as  fuel.  The 
efficiency  and  adaptability  of  natural  gas  as  a  fuel  for  green¬ 
houses  was  emphasised  by  various  speakers. 
Haspberiues  at  Blairgowrie. — Baspberry  growers  near 
Blairgowrie,  N.B.,  have  sent  away  1,400  tons  of  fruit  this  year, 
realising,  according  to  the  “Sun,”  £50,000. 
Bath  Botanic  Garden. 
Peaches  as  grown  at  Chilworth  Manor. 
The  Bath  Botanic  Garden  is  situated  within  the  public  park — - 
the  Victoria  Public  Garden.s.  It  is  purely  an  open-air  garden, 
for. the  culture  of  the  hs.sor-known  hardy  shrubs  and  plants;  an;l 
is  superintended  by  Mr.  Milburn,  who,  indeed,  made  the  place. 
Hi.s  first  work  there  was  enough  to  test  the  courage  of  any  gar¬ 
dener,  much  less  a  recruit  fresh  from  Boyal  Kew,  tor  the  ground 
had  been  the  town  toom,  and  all  sorts  of  foreign  material,  quite 
iiiq>o.ssible  to  use  for  good  gardening,  was  found.  But  the  garden 
is  now  grown  up,  and  orderly.  The  late  Mr.  D.  T.  Fish,  on  his 
first  visit  to  Victoria  Park,  was  very  greatly  charmed  with  its 
beautiful  aspects,  and  did  not  .stint  his  piean  of  iiraise  when  he 
came  to  write  its  description  for  his  paper. 
At  the  north  side  of  the  Botanic  Garden  there  is  a  small  bog 
area.  Here  are  such  handsome  plants  as  the  purple  variety  of 
New  Zealand  Flax,  also  Gytisus  purpureus  or  purple  Broom. 
Bodgersia  podophylla  is  always  noble  by  the  side  of  water,  just  as 
the  Gunneras  are;  and  the  Spiral  Rush  (Juncus  effusus  .spiralis)  is 
quaint,  and  helps  the  general  effect.  Amongst  dwarfer  plaitts  one 
cannot  omit  the  double  flowering  Gardamine  pratensis,  which 
equals  the  double  white  Arabis.  The  Wood  Lilies  or  Trilliums 
come  under  this  head,  and  the  Tiarella  furnishes  showy  masses  of 
its  spiky  flowers.  Behind  this  place  of  bog  plants  the  curator  has 
planted  a  fringe  of  the  hardier  Bamboos,  including  the  bold¬ 
leaved  Eambusa  palmata,  the  graceful,  black-, stemmed  Phyllo- 
stachys  nigra,  the  moderately  dwarf  growing  P.  Fortune!  varie- 
gata,  and  P.  violescens.  Others  are  there,  of  course,  but  these 
were  specially  noted,  as  also  the  Arundo.s  and  the  graceful  Reeds. 
•  Here  and  there  one 
could  see  the  plump,  fat 
growths  of  the  King  of 
Lilies,  Lilium  giganteum, 
v-hich  gives  such  a  gar- 
denesque  touch  to  any 
plantation  of  shrubs  and 
flowers.  Eremuri,  with 
their  rigid,  stately  spikes, 
severe,  dignified,  impos¬ 
ing;  they,  too,  were 
here  ;  and  then  we  wan¬ 
der  to  the  rock  garden, 
where  that  gem  of  tiny 
foliage  plants  shows  its 
chocolate-toned,  bur¬ 
nished  leaves — the  Shortia 
galacifolia.  It  grows  high 
up  amidst  Alpine  snows, 
yet  it  also  thrives  in  the 
placid  air  of  beautiful 
Bath. 
But  ere  we  pass  to  the 
alpine,  collection  a  notice 
board  catches  the  eye,  and 
here  we  see  a  list  of  the 
rarer  or  most  interesting 
plants  that  at  the  moment 
are  to  be  found  in  flower  ; 
and'we  learn  that  this  list 
is  supplied  constantly  for 
the  sub.scribers’  benefit, 
by  the  curator.  It  is  use¬ 
ful,  and  might  be  followed 
with  advantage  elsewhere. 
In  the  rockery  itself,  the  bold  spreading  masses  of  Phlox  subu- 
lata  recall  their  charms  even  now,  and  I  am  writing  six  months 
after  my  visit  to  Bath.  That  is  the  way  to  grow  the  alpine 
Phloxes,  whose  spreading  growths  are  healthiest  when  they  are 
free  to  wander.  And  observe  at  the  distant  effect,  as  well  as  the' 
charm  at  closene.ss ;  and  as  with  Phloxes,  so  with  a  hundred  other 
things  that  are  the  delight  of  flower  lovers  in  every  land. 
The  sweetly  odorous  Daphne  Gneorum,  not  always  success¬ 
fully  cultivated,  however,  v  as  flourishing  here  in  rude  luxuriance, 
and  made  a  feast  of  pale  pink  beauty.  Given  a  few  special  needs, 
this  lowly,  beautiful  plant  well  repays  its  owner,  and  it  is  the 
gardener’s  part  to  master  his  craft ;  to  be  able  to  nurse,  doctor, 
and  understand  his  patientvS  ;  j’ct  many  act  as  though  the  objects 
under  their  care  could  metamorphose  themselves  into  other  and 
totally  diffei’ent  characters,  adapting  their  constitution.s  to  condi¬ 
tions  wholly  antagonistic  to  those  that  Nature  endows  them  with  ; 
yet  all  this  for  want  of  a  little  thought  and  study  on  the  gardener’s 
part. 
As  in  all  .o'ood  rock  gardens  (and  the  Bath  Botanic  ('urden,  in 
this  respect,  is  a  fine  model,  as  is  Kew,  and  Birmingham,  but  not 
Edinburgh),  there  is  a  fairly  liberal  furnishment  of  suitable  dwarf 
.shrubs,  like  the  mountain  Picea,  the  nanus  Birch,  Olearia  Gun- 
niana,  Gistus  ladaniferus,  Fabiana  imbricata,  Gotoneastm’ 
horizontalis,  Gytisus  albus,  and  many  more.  These  break  up  the 
evenness,  if  that,  unfortunately,  through  bail  construction,  exi.'-ts  ; 
and  in  any  case  they  give  height  and  breadth,  act  as  foils  and  a 
♦  ,Say,  Its.  6cl.— Ee, 
