In the Garden
I spent a pleasant hour this week in a garden which pro- duced a succession of prize-winning irises at the latest show of the R.H.S. They looked very lovely, especially as seen through a green arch. The variety, of course, was wide. One prize was won for spikes of twelve different sorts. There were browns and purples of the tints of Alcazar and Spica; whites, blues, dark and light, such as Blue Danube and John Walker, yellows of which the best was the rather new Daffodil. Variety, of course, is interesting in itself ; and the dates of the varieties as well as the species differ so that a long succession is possible ; but when all is said, a solid group of such a standard sort as Dalmatica Pallida is, to my eyes, a far lovelier sight in itself than all the mixtures. Here is a little moral from another garden of the art of cultivating the Iris. Some spare Rhizomes were carelessly planted on a heap of yellow clay and chalk dug from a depth of about twelve feet. These irises flowered in greater perfection than any in the garden. The extra chalk
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