HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 10

HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

By J. Gebbie. THE CARNATION. Of. all the flowers that adorn the garden, whether they charm the eye by their beauty or regale the sense of smell by their fragrance, the carnation justly holds its own in the f ront rank, and wherever grown never fails to attract our regard _ and admiration. The native country of the carnation is unknown. It is supposed to have been introduced into England from Germany or Italy, and it has been a favourite flower in Europe for an indefinite length of time. Though long in cultivation it was not established as one of the leading flowers until the beginning of the twentieth century, and the position it now holds is on© that will be maintained. A few of the leading raisers of carnations in England are Messrs Martin Smith, J. Douglas, H. W. Weguelin, Philips, and Taylor, all of whom have given to the horticultural world some splendid varieties, many of which have been imported into the Dominion. Mr S. Cousins, of St. Olair, Dunedin, who has made a specialty of carnations, imports annually the newest and best varieties. _ As good, if not better, results may be obtained) by the skilled hybridist in our favoured Dominion. Mr Cousins, who devotes a considerable amount of time to this branch of the business, and has been at it f or years, raised 12,000 seedlings of his own hybridising a few years ago. As these came into bloom those of sterling merit were selected, until finally 43 were saved out of the 12,000. These have been cultivated during the last two years alongside the best English varieties, and have proved superior in every way to the imported varieties. Space forbids giving descriptive notes of these novelties, but carnation-lovers would do well to secur© a copy of Mr Cousin's catalogue, which is well worthy of perusal, and is obtainable en application. During the past season Mr Cousins crossed a number of the American tree carnations with some of the Australian perpetuals, and was successful in saving a few thousand seeds of these crosses. The effect of this venture will be watched with interest. Time will tell whether the result of these cresses will be an improvement on existing strains or not. ERYTHRONIUMS.

The erythroniums —dog's-teeth violets —are spring-flowering bulbous plants, producing delicately-tinted flowers and beautiful foliage. They are quite hardy and easily cultivated when given the requisite conditions. They are natui'ally woodland, and require a certain amount of shade, such as | is found in the shady parts of a rock garden; or they may be grown in the .margins of shrubberies. There are many varieties, having flowers of white and purple and many intermediate shades of colour. The Erythronium succeeds best in a deep. rich soil that is composed of leaf-mouldi and loam. They may, however, be grown with success on comparatively dry shady banks. The bulbs should be planted deepl.v and left undisturbed. The best-known, variety is Erythronium dens-canis, a native of Siberia. The others are natives of various parts of North America. The genus contains many beautiful and distinct species, of which the following are a few ni the best for garden purposes: —Eryj thronium gr&indiflorum is found growing

' wild over the greatei portion of Northwestern America. It has light green .leaves, and bears richly-coloured yellow flowers. i Erythronium. gigantcuiin : The leaves of this | species are mottled with white .and brown, j the flowers Using light yellow, with a darker I centre. Erythronium Hartwegii: Flowers : light yellow, with an orange centre, and the leaves beautifully mottled. Erythronium revoiutum : Flowers purple, and broad mottled leaves; one of the most elegant of the whole family. Besides these are several other species worthy of a place in the garden, but they are not yet obtainable in the Dominion. They are difficult bulbs to import, but success may yet crown some importer's effort. , LILY OF THE VALLEY. When an old plantation of lily' of the valley has to be taken up, owing to the soil becoming exhausted and the crowns too crowded, the grower has to select crowns for the formation of a fresh bed. A crown of lily of the valley flowers when it is three years old, and does not flower again, although it will continue alive. It, however, forms a rhizome or underground stem, which develops a bud annually, and these appear at, a small distance from each other, and push forth leaves. If a plantation is formed solely of three-year-old crowns these should produce crowns the following year, but the buds that form on the rhizomes will not flower until they are three years old. In order to have blooms in successive years a bed should be planted with a mixture of one, two, and three-year-old crowns. The ground for the bed? should be light and loamy, and be trenched 2ft deep. Ap>ply a good dressing of welldecayed manure. When a lily bed has been laid down two years a top-dressing ot rotted stable manure should be applied several times during the summer. If the plants seem to need extra assistance weak liquid manure may be given. Too often the plants are neglected, and the flower spikes are, therefore, short and weak.