38 



HORTICULTURE 



January 8, 1910 



fond of partial shade and of cow-dung. It is readily 

 raised from seeds but requires several years to develop 

 strong flowering crowns. The colloquial name for this 

 plant is Ma-Huang — Horse rhubarb. 



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British Horticulture 



AMERICAN APPLES 



The varied array of imported fi-uit seen on the Lon- 

 don markets has been augmented this season by a fine 

 assortment of apples from tlie Wenatchee valley in the 

 State of Washington. The fruit is first-class as regards 

 flavor and appearance. The three principal varieties 

 particularly admired on this side are the Spitzenburg, 

 Winter Banana, and Rome Beauty. The first-named is 

 notable for its excellent coloring — one of the chief es- 

 sentials for an apple for commercial purposes. Winter 

 Banana is likely to become very popular on this side. 

 Rome Beauty is well known to British consumers, owing 

 to its inclusion amongst the varieties which are exten- 

 sively shipped here in the season from Australia. The 

 recent consignments of these apples have been quickly 

 bought up at prices ranging from 13s to 25s a case. 



BRITISH AND COLONIAL FRUIT 



At the annual sliow of British and Colonial fruit, 

 organized early in Dec. by the Royal Horticultural So- 

 ciety, a special feature was the magnificent display of 

 apples shown by the British Columbian Government. 

 About 650 cases were exhibited, and the meritorious 

 character of the exhibits richly deserved the gold medal 

 awarded. New Zealand also made a creditable show of 

 apples, whilst bananas w^ere exhibited by the Permanent 

 Exhibition Committee of Trinidad. British orchard 

 fruit was represented by the capital displays of J. Veitch 

 & Sons, and 6. Bunyard & Co. Great interest was 

 evinced in an exhibit of 400 bottles of home grown fruit, 

 shown by Tr. Poupant, a well-known grower for market. 



ITEMS OF INTEREST 



The membership of the British Gardeners' Society 

 now totals 1594. — A movement is on foot to provide a 

 fitting memorial to the late Peter Barr, the "Daffodil 

 King." It is suggested that this should take the form 

 of a special pension to be provided from a fund raised in 

 connection with the Royal Gardeners' Orphan Society, 

 and a memorial medal to be awarded for narcissi. — The 

 degree of Master of Arts has been conferred on Mr. F. 

 W. Moore, the curator of the Glasnevin Botanic Gar- 

 dens, Dublin. 



Mossed Walls 



Walls in greenhouses and conservatories when taste- 

 fully mossed and planted are always much admired, and 

 the wonder is that the practice is not more common. 

 An ideal wall for this purpose is the brick, stone, or 

 concrete wall often seen in a greenhouse joining a pot- 

 ting shed or some other building or on the back wall of 

 a lean-to or house in which plants of the same class as 

 those used in the wall are grown. Many conservatories 

 also provide suitable places for this purpose. There is 

 considerable work, however, in building the moss wall 

 at first, but when properly done it will last for several 

 years >\-ith very little repairs or care. 



The system of preparing this has, of course, to be 

 varied to suit the individual case, but the general rule 

 is to begin by forming a net work of 4-inch squares 

 with stout copper wire all over the part of wall which 

 is to be mossed. This should be about an equal distance 

 of about 31/2 inches from the wall so that the moss 

 when packed in between will be an equal thickness of 

 about 5 inches all over, and as the tight packing of the 

 moss puts a great strain on the wires it is necessary that 

 they should be well supported from the ends by connect- 

 ing to a strong but neat iron or wooden edging. It is 

 also necessary to support them at different places on the 

 wall so as to prevent bulging out. A good plan to do 

 this is to drill holes into the wall about 2 feet apart 

 each way and screw into them 6-ineh galvanized iron 

 screw eyes and pass the wires through them as put up. 

 It is generally most convenient to put tlie cross wires on 

 as the bank of moss is built up and the plants put in at 

 the same time. Sometimes leaf-soil or charcoal is used 

 through the moss, but good, clean, live sphagnum moss 

 only will suit almost any kind of plant \ised for this 

 purpose. A large mirror when set neatly into the moss 

 in a position that it will reflect a quantity of plants, 

 brings out a charming land and water-like effect. 



In selecting the plants for the wall, the planter has, 

 of course, to be guided by the needs or tastes of the 

 owner, the temperature the house is expected to be kept 

 at, and other circumstances ; but, in any case, when a 

 green effect is desired ferns are undoubtedly the most 

 suitable, and Adiantum cuneatum is probably the best 

 all-round variety. A. Farleyense is good where a tem- 

 perature from 70 to 75 degrees can be maintained. 

 Other suitable subjects are A. Croweanum, A. caudatum 

 and Nephrolepis cordata compacta, also the following 

 ■ — mostly of variegated foliage — Alocasia Sanderje, Dra- 

 CEena Godsefiiana, D. Lord Wolseley, Begonia Rex in va- 

 riety, crotons, Carex Japonica variegata, Pandanus Veit- 

 chii, Fittonia argyroneura, F. Verschaffeltii, Peperomia 

 maculata, P. metallica, Ophiopogon Jaburan variegatus, 

 Strobilanthes Dyerianus, marantas, Selaginella Kraus- 

 siana, anthuriums and Begonia Gloire de Lorraine. 

 These should all be planted from the smaller sized pots, 

 and when in the condition that plants are generally in 

 when a shift to larger pots is given, bearing in mind to 

 allow space for the development of the plants and to 

 accommodate each variety as far as possible with the 

 light or shade it may require. 



London. 



J^r/, C(M»XV. 



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