September 2.S, J 307 



HORTICUUTURi: 



411 



British Horticulture 



noXOliS l-OU TlOliTUULTLKlSTS 



The Roval Horticultural Sdcioty, a few years ago, 

 established a coiniiicmlable method of recognizing horti- 

 culttirists who have distinguished themselves in any 

 special branch. Eacli recipient is presented with a Vic- 

 toria Medal of Honor, and the number who are the 

 bearers of this distinguishing mark is limited to 63. The 

 Council of the Society have lately filled these vacancies 

 caused by death amongst this distingiiished group by 

 the appointment of Sir John T. D. Llewelyn, Bart.. 

 Henry Ballantine and Alexander Dickson. Sir John 

 Llewelyn lias for many years taken a keen and active 

 interest in horticultural matters, and he is one of the 

 vice-presidents of the Royal Horticultural Society. He 

 is also President of the Xational Potato Society. One 

 of the most pojndar potatoes in commerce bears his 

 name. 'Sir. Ballantine is orchid grower to Baron Sir 

 Henry Schroder, whose l)rilliant orchid displays are the 

 delight of visitors to the ]irincipal shows of the Eoyal 

 Horticultural Society. Alexander Dickson is a mem- 

 l)er of the firm of ilessrs. A. Dickson & Sons, Ne^i;own- 

 ard, Ireland, who have gained wide-spread renown as 

 successful rosarians. Mr. Dickson is a member of the 

 National Tiose Society's Committee. The firm's new 

 roses are always the cynosure of adn\iring eyes at the 

 National =-how. 



TilE VALUE OF SPRAYING 



In the course of an interview on the spraying of fruit 

 trees, W. E. Collinge, ;i well known expert, of the Uni- 

 versity of Birmingham, stated that this practice dates 

 back to the early part of the IGth century, but it was 

 only within comparatively recent years that it has 

 been placed on a sound and scientific basis. As a 

 result of various equipments .Mr. Collinge has perfected 

 two fluids which he terms VI and \2. During the ap- 

 jiroaehing winter he hopes to see thousands of fruit 

 trees sprayed with "\'l. He intends to personally super- 

 intend some of these, and, if necessary, vnll find the 

 means to defray the cost. Mr. Collinge states that he 

 is perfectly certain of the results, and that they will 

 establish once and for all the practice of winter spray- 

 ing as an ordinary farm operation. Questioned as to 

 how we stand in tliis country as compared with the 

 United States, Mr. Collinge said we were very much 

 behind the American fruit growers, who have a magnifi- 

 cent Department of AgTiculture at their back, in ad- 

 dition to the various State Experiment Stations. He 

 added. "We are certainly mcxing rapidly and I liojx" in 

 future to see the estaldishmcnt of experimental farms 

 with laboratories attar-hed, so that investigation can 

 be made, and conclusive evidence tabulated on the spot." 

 Mr. Collinge has certainly endeavored to make up for 

 the deficiences of the British Board of Agriculture. 



A FAM0T7S ESTATE 



The gardens at "Madresfield Court, ^ralvern, belong- 

 ing to Earl BeMucliani]>. are noted for their charming 

 features, many of which have been developed bv Mr. 

 Crump, who for the last 25 years has been in charge. 

 Great attention is paid to fruit culture. In a nursery 

 of about four acres, fruit trees are raised in quantity 

 and distributed gratuitously to Lord Beauchamp's farm 

 and cottage tenantry, in standard and bush form. About 

 two thousand trees per annum are dealt with in this 

 manner, and though apples predominate, pears, plums, 

 cherries, apricots, currant and gooseberry bushes are 

 also distributed. A trial ground has been set apart to 

 test the varieties suitable to the district before propa- 



gation. There are no less than ^250 varieties of apples, 

 80 varieties of pears, GO of plums on trial at the present 

 time. Any tree that fails to realise three marks in 

 nine years is at once discarded, and replaced by a new 

 one. Of the later introductions in strawberries, Mr. 

 Crump considers that Laxton's new Progress stands 

 out with superioritj', owing to its good constitution. 

 Gooseberries, and red and white currants are grown in 

 V-shaped cordons, each tree with four branches or cor- 

 dons, trained to iron wire and sticks verticallv. 



>t>v. ^^^ 



Eurya Latifolia Variegata 



This old greenhouse plant is one of the most useful 

 in cultivation, and the demand is greater than the sup- 

 pi}'. The difliculty experienced in propagating has 

 prevented its taking equal place with Araucaria excelsa 

 and Ficus elastica as a hard commercial plant worth 

 growing in quantity. The selection of variegated 

 ]ilants with a constitution is somewhat limited, as varie- 

 gated stove and greenhouse foliage plants are liable to 

 functional weakness when exposed to extremes of tem- 

 perature. Ficus elastica variegata is an example, un- 

 doulitedly a good plant to look at, but it is common 

 knowledge how inferior it is to the type on account of 

 tlio spotting of the variegation; heralded as an acqui- 

 sition and propagated in immense quantities it has 

 failed to fulfil expectations, the law of the survival of 

 the fittest working with urgency in commerce as in 

 nature has fixed its place as suited for the intermediate 

 house but not for rough decorative purposes. 



Eurya latifolia variegata is without these defects and 

 there are few plants that will emerge from rough treat- 

 ment with a more presentable appearance. Especially 

 is it suitable as a window plant for cold rooms, growing 

 into a nice specimen in a few years. Tiie secret of 

 success in propagating is to take only small cuttings 

 when growth is starting, putting them in pure river 

 sand in well drained pans; after two months when 

 callous has formed, pot into thumb pots in fine peat 

 and sand, filling the hole for cutting with sand and pot- 

 .ting firmly, afterwards plunging in case again in gentle 

 water with care but syringe daily; see to it that the 

 case does not get hot, by shading heavily, or cuttings 

 will shrivel beyond recovery. If the above method is 

 followed 4.3 per cent, should strike. There will always 

 lie a few which form a hard callous but which will 

 never root and after three months they may safely be 

 (brown away. The young plants may be grown oii in 

 a cool house, syringing frequently to keep down thrips. 

 Stake up the leader and prune side growth to form 

 shapelv plants and in 18 months they should be nice 

 -alable stock, but if grown on they are always useful and 

 make good prices as specimens for decorative work. In 

 every way it is a plant worth more attention and if it 

 be urged that its propagation is too slow and baffling 

 for the man in a hurry, do not attempt it, but if one 

 can wait awhile and attend to the trifling details so 

 necessary to good propagating, success is simple and 

 sure. "Trifles make perfection and perfection is no 

 trifle" is equally as true of raising plants as of building 

 monuments. 



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