472 



JOURNAL 01' HORTICULTOKB AMD dOTTAQB QAP.DEI^EE. 



[ Novemljer 26, 1871. 



however, some have borne weU, and the trees seem healthy. 

 I cannot help thinking that the fruit is later in ripening than 

 the same would be on a free or a Quince stock ; the fruit seems 

 harder, and altogether not so good. These observations espe- 

 cially relate to Brown Beurre Pears grafted on the above stock. 

 I should add that this locality has a poor gravelly soil, and 

 that the Blountain Ash is indigenous here. The situationis 

 450 feet above the sea, from which it is some three miles dis- 

 tant, and in a mountainous region. — C. E. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



Messes. Dick Eadclyffe & Co. have brought to our notice 

 a EuEPiNG Knife upon a plan which is quite new, and 

 which it is surprising has not been thought of before. It is 

 ■well known that in using the ordiuary budding knife, after 

 making the cut for the reception of the bud, the knife has to 

 be turned in the hand to open the bark with the point of the 

 handle. In the " Improved Budding Knife," the back of the 

 blade is used for this purpose, and there is, therefore, no need 

 for turning the opposite end of the knife to effect this. It 

 might be an improvement if the handle of this new knife were 

 made a little lighter. 



OxE of the grandest objects, says the ,S'(«( Francisco 



BuUclhi, which meets the eye of the traveller in our mountains 

 is the exquisite plant, the Snow Plant of the Sierras- the 

 S.iRcoiiEs SANGUINE.! of Johu ToiTBy the botanist. It is an 

 inhabitant only of the higher Sierras, being rarely found below 

 au altitude of 4000 feet, and its glorious crimson spike of 

 flowers may be seen early in May forcing itself tlnough the 

 snow which at that period clings about the sides of our Pine 

 forestc. The portion of the plant which is visible above the 

 soil is a bright rosy crimson in colour, and presents the very 

 strongest contrast to the dark green of the Pines and the 

 shimmer of the snow. Its root is succulent, thick, and 

 abundantly free of moisture, attaching itself to the roots of 

 other plants, principally to the species of the Pine family. 

 Hence it is among those curious members of the vegetable 

 world which are known to botanists as parasites, and is con- 

 sequently entirely incapable of cultivation. The deer are ex- 

 tremely fond of it, and it is not an uncommon circumstance 

 to liud a number of the plants uprooted and robbed of the 

 flefhy part of their underground growth by these animals. It 

 belongs to the natural order Orobauchace.T, and is met with 

 through the whole of the Sierra region, becoming rarer as we 

 approach the south. 



One of the pastimes provided for the British soldier in 



India is that of gardening, and Lord Napier has just issued a 

 resolution on the HonTicvLTunAL Eesclts of the Past Year 

 IN THE Benoal Aemy. His lordship is pleased to notice that 

 there has been a considerable increase in the number of 

 soldiers who have taken to gardening duiing the year, and ho 

 is also glad to observe that the regimental gardens iu many 

 cases BO satisfactorily answer the purpose for which they were 

 instituted, and that they not only supply very considerable 

 quantities of vegetables to the commissariat for issue to the 

 troops, but also servo as a pleasant lounge for the men and their 

 families. The largely increased number of men who now 

 occupy themselves in gardening affords satisfactory evidence 

 of the great interest which has been taken in company gar- 

 dens during the past year. The only drawback to the success 

 of the gardens has been the (juantity of bad seed supplied, but 

 that is to be looked to more carefully in future. 



A Committee has been formed to obtain funds for a 



TESTIMONIAL TO Mr. E. E. CuTLEr., Secretary to the Gar- 

 deners' Benevolent Institution, and during whose connection 

 with it a great advance has occurred in the Hociety's usefulness. 



At the Eoyal Agricultural Society the .Judges appointed 



to inspect tlae growth of the six varieties of Potatoes which were 

 entered for competition as disease-proof, and planted in trial 

 plots in twenty different places iu England, Scotland, and 

 Ireland, have reported that none of the varieties have resisted 

 the Potato disease. During the period of vigorous growth ia 

 all the varieties, in five out of the twenty localities the disease 

 was virulent, and by the end of the season it was found that 

 in almost all these places more or less disease was apparent; 

 so that the question of disease-proof Potatoes, as far as these 

 trials are concerned, has been practically decided in the first 

 year. The note-books ot the growers and the reports of the 

 Judges contain much valuable information as to the influence 

 of s'oil, clitnate, and variou,? methods of cultivation upon the 



action and progress of the Potato disease. The Committee, 

 therefore, recommend that Mr. Carruthers, who has carefully 

 inspected every trial plot, be requested to collate those experi- 

 ences for publication in the next Journal of the Society. The 

 Potatoes which were grown upon the trial plots, after having 

 been carefully examined by the .Judges, and the per-ceutages of 

 diseased tubers ascirtained, have been sent to the Agricultural 

 Hall. It is proposed that the competitors shall have the first 

 ofier to purchase the produce of their own entries, and that if 

 they, or any of them, decline, the Potatoes shall be sold by 

 auction or by salesmen, as the Committee may determine. 

 It will bi3 remembered that the Council reserved a power to 

 enforce a penalty of .£20 iu case of the failure of the entries of 

 any competitor to resist the disease, but the Committee recom- 

 mend that this penalty be not enforced in any instance. Most 

 important communications have been received from Professor 

 De Bary, who has ascertained by recent experiments that the 

 Potato disease is not propagated by infected tubers ; that al- 

 though the mycelium of the fungus (Peronospora infestans) 

 was distinctly apparent in the stalks of plants raised directly 

 from diseased tubers, no gonidia or germs were evolved. The 

 Professor remarks upon this curious circumstance that he is 

 struck by this result of seeing the fungus with the naked eye 

 during two or three months in his little field, and all the 

 plants and leaves intact. Professor De Bary, ia a later com- 

 munication, expresses sanguine hopes that he has at last 

 discovered the certain nidi, or resting places, of the oospores, 

 or active primary germs of the fungus, which, as he says, would 

 essentially accomplish its life history ; and the great practical 

 results of these discoveries, if perfected, will obviously be that 

 measures may bo taken by Potato-growers to avoid planting 

 Potatoes after, or in the immediate vicinity of plants known to 

 be suitable to the development of the oospores of the fungus, 

 or that steps may bo taken to destroy them in situ. This re- 

 port was adopted. 



CANKER AND SHANKING. 



I SEE it suggested in the Journal that canker in Apples and 

 Peai'S arises from poverty of soil. Mr. Eivers, on the other 

 hand, recommends lifting — that is, diminishing luxuriance. 

 My idea is that canker arises from the action of frost upon 

 unripened wood, some varieties being more tender than others ; 

 if so, Mr. Eivers is right. I had a plant of his Winter Beurre, 

 which cankered, but having heard that it was much valued at 

 Bordeaux, I placed it against a wall, and it now grows well. 

 But, of course, one experiment is not proof. 



I wish some of your correspondents who have grown Fron- 

 tignan Grapes in the open air, would state whether there ia 

 truth in the assertion that under such circumstances shanking 

 is unknown. If it be a truth it shows the fallacy of the re- 

 ceived opinion that shanking arises either from bad roots or 

 from overcropping, since Vines under glass, if not planted 

 outside, soon find their way there when they can, and there 

 is no reason to suppose that outdoor Vinos are less cropped 

 than indoor plants. — G. S. 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 

 As a rule amateurs are very foud of their gardens, and I well 

 remember once hearing one of them say, that if there was one 

 thing more than another that ho had striven to gain a know- 

 ledge of, it wao that oi forciiuj Sca-kidc, Asparafjus, and Biin- 

 harh ; there was so much gratiiication at the result of his efforts, 

 not only because ho was successful to a degree which surprised 

 him, but because ho was able to enjoy a dish of these delicious 

 vegetables from his own garden fresh and good. Now bis garden, 

 to my knowledge, had no walls, but was encircled by hedges, and 

 close to a large town; it had an aspect facing south, aud being 

 in the shape of a parallelogram running east aud west, there 

 ■was an advantage taken of its position to shape out a border 

 under the hedge of the northern boundary, and upon this border, 

 among other things, grew the above-mentioned vegetables in 

 patches suitable in size to the requirements of his family. The 

 ground was deeply trenched aud manured, spaces for each 

 sort were allotted, aud iu the autuum the planting was carried 

 out. The Sea-kale aud Khubarb, as well as the Asparagus, 

 were purchased of a respectable luu^seryman. The first was 

 plautc'd iu rows 18 inches apart, and inches from plant to 

 plant. This to many may appear vcrj' close, but the roots were 

 intended for forcing, nud, tbereforc, not to be long where tbey 

 were growing. Tlio Khubarb was also planted iu rows, but 

 :! feet apart, and 2 feet from plant to plant ; the Asparagus 1 foot 

 from plant to plant, but in rows IS inches .apart. Tbey were all 



