156 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[August 11. 1888. 



of May and June. Late crops in fields and gardens 

 have a promisinrr look, and if the disease should not 

 appear there will be a full crop. J. Loudon, The 

 Quinta Chirk. 



IRELAND. 



Armagh. — The Potato crop is looking remarkably 

 well about here, with no disease apparent at present. 

 Wet weather. T. Sheasby, Castle Dillon. 



Kilkenny. — Early varieties are turning out a good 

 crop, but owing to the incessant rains and want of 

 sunshine, they are rather deficient in quality. Later 

 sorts in fields are looking well, but want fine weather 

 to mature the tubers. No signs of disease in the 

 crop in this district up to the present. W. Gray, 

 Woodstock, Inistioge. 



Down. — Early Potatos are turning out a good 

 crop of fair quality; late varieties are now in full 

 growth, and are looking well. No disease up to the 

 present time. J. Taylor, Mount Stewart. 



CHANNEL ISLANDS. 



Scilly. — The early Potato crops were very late this 

 season ; digging in the open did not begin till the 

 middle of May, by reason of the long prevalence of 

 bitter cold east winds. Large quantities are grown 

 on the island for the early markets, mostly Myatt's 

 Ashleaf. The crop was, however, fairly good, and 

 average prices realised. The crop of late kinds for 

 winter use so far has looked very promising, but 

 this week the disease is spreading fast. G. J). 

 Vattance, Tresco Abbey, Scilly. 



Jersey. — Potatos, as all know, are largely grown 

 in these islands for the English markets. Last year 

 it was a very paying business ; the present season has 

 quite reversed the order of things, and we question 

 whether the crop will leave any balance at all. Two 

 or three facts explain the whole position : — 1st, 

 unusual lateness of spring and early summer ; 2nd, 

 large quantities of old Potatos being still held in 

 England ; 3rd, increased number of sources from 

 which early supplies are now put on the English 

 markets. In a general way it may be said the palmy 

 days for Potato culture are past for these islands. 

 Early crops have been good yields, and the late 

 varieties are promising very well indeed. Chas. 

 Smith § Son, Caledonia Nursery, St. Heliers. 



■ There is an abundant crop of Potatos this 



season ; the haulm, owing to the continuous rain, 

 is strong, and the tubers large ; the prices are low 

 and unremunerative. W. B. Saunders, St. Saviours. 



where it was found by Roezl, and first made known 

 in the Gartevflora for 1863, then edited by our 

 eminent friend, Dr. von Kegel. The plant attains a 

 height of 12—14 feet, and bears panicles of drooping, 

 bell-shaped flowers, of a white or pale lilac colour. 

 One of Mr. Bateman's sparkling " lecturettes " at the 

 Eoyal Horticultural Society in 1870 was devoted 

 to this plant, and to this zealous horticulturist and 

 fluent exponent we are indebted for the introduction 

 of this plant into this country. Mr. Bateman procured 

 some tubers in the South of France, and bestowed 

 them on the Royal Horticultural Society, so that 

 Chiswick had the honour of being the first establish- 

 ment (as we believe) in which this fine plant 

 expanded its blooms in this country. 



THE SUPPLEMENT. 



Our supplementary illustrations this week repre- 

 sent two very dissimilar plants, but equally worthy 

 the attention of the amateur who has the means of 

 growing them 



Rhododendron argenteum 



(for a photograph of which we are indebted to Mr. R. 

 T. Newall, of Perndene, Gateshead) is one of the 

 many noble trees for which our gardens are indebted 

 to Sir Joseph Hooker's memorable journey in Sikkim. 

 The leaves are often a foot long, with their under 

 surface of a silvery-white hue, so that even when out 

 of flower the tree is very attractive. The flowers are 

 white with a rich purple spot at the base. 



Dahlia imperialis 

 is one of those impracticable subjects which requires 

 a house as big as the Palm stove at Kew to do 

 justice to its merits. We remember on one occasion 

 to have seen the difficulty as to space got over by laying 

 the plant down when in bloom nearly parallel with 

 the floor of the house ; Consul Crawford of 

 Oporto, being a resident in a warm-temperate, or 

 almost subtropical climate, is able to adopt a better 

 way, and the illustration we give (and for the oppor- 

 tunity of preparing which we are indebted to him) 

 shows the success of his procedure. 



Dahlia imperialis grows naturally in Mexico, 



The Apiary. 



The season may practically be said to be at end 

 generally, and a disastrous end it is. A late, cold 

 spring, followed by a wet and cold summer, is dis- 

 heartening to the last degree, and though accustomed, 

 as a rule, to look on the bright side of things, we can- 

 not do so this year. Most hives, if not all, will most 

 likely have to be fed up to weight for winter. About 

 here hives are pretty full of bees, but of honey there 

 is none. Many hives have already killed their drones, 

 and some are even now casting out worker brood. 

 Every bee-keeper knows what that means, and many 

 have already begun to feed. 



The only thing that remains is to hope that 1889 

 will be better than 1888. It is not too late to make 

 artificial swarms while drones are about, but it had 

 better be done very soon. As hives are mostly 

 pretty well off for bees this can easily be done, but 

 feeding must then be the order of the day to build 

 the stocks up for another year. 



Bees from Port Mahon, Minorca, have at last been 

 successfully introduced into the apiary of Mr. Abbott, 

 at Southall. Attempts have been made before, but 

 have failed sometimes from postal regulations and 

 sometimes from other causes. Sometimes the boxes 

 have been opened by the postal authorities to see the 

 contents, and when found to contain live bees have 

 been hastily closed and the queen jammed to death. 

 Mr. Andrew has sent these bees to many bee-keepers 

 as a present. He promised us one, and no doubt we 

 shall receive it in due course. These bees are said 

 to be hardy, gentle, and prolific— good qualities, as 

 every one will allow. To show how bee-keeping 

 seems to be taking possession of the mind of the 

 whole world, Spain (which cannot be called fore- 

 most in modern science) has issued a monthly 

 periodical on bees called Eevista Apicola, and Mr. 

 Cowan's book has also been translated into the 

 Spanish language. This work has been translated 

 into nearly every European language, and the inter- 

 change of ideas thus circulated must soon make bee- 

 keeping a prodigious industry. Bee. 



dents on the rivers who use it in house building 

 and for other purposes, and who are well acquainted 

 with its qualities and merits, say that for use in 

 building one of the principal of its recommendations 

 is that it is never attacked by wood ants. If this be 

 really so, it is a very great merit indeed, in a 

 country like this where termites so much abound, 

 and are so destructive to wood. The leaves are 

 simple, about a span long, the flowers white, of the 

 size and form of the Bignonia so common on 

 fences and trees about Georgetown, and they are 

 succeeded by finger-shaped pods that are densely 

 full of flaky membrane-winged seeds. Prom speci- 

 mens gathered by the writer a few months ago at 

 Hooroobea it has been figured in Hooker's Icones 

 Plantarum, vol. viii., part 2, pi. 1738, and named 

 by Mr. Baker Tabebuia longipes, proving another 

 of the many instances of very common plants 

 that have awaited this late day to be scientifically 

 made known. There are several species of Tabebuia 

 in Guiana. Schomburgk, in the list in his " Reise in 

 British Guiana," gives six : — T. fluviatilis, DC. ; T. 

 latifolia, DC. ; T. macrophylla, Kl. ; T. ovata, Kl. ; T. 

 rufinervis, DC. ; and T. triphylla, DC, all of which 

 are represented by specimens in the Kew Herbarium, 

 where also is another under the name of T. toxophora. 

 Among the plants gathered by Mr. Im Thurn at 

 Roraima was a new species, with three-foliate leaves 

 and large white flowers, apparently of shrubby habit. 

 This is named T. roraima;. Oliv., and is figured in 

 the Transactions of the Linnean Society, series 2, 

 Bot., vol. ii., pi. 45. A plant that I gathered on the 

 Kaieteur savannah (Nos. 830 and 10f>4) has obtuse- 

 rounded leaves and fewer flowers than the White 

 Cedar — features probably thus modified from the 

 normal state of the latter by the poverty of the bare 

 sandy savannah where it grows. T. fluviatilis, DC, 

 is a five-foliate species, with clusters of white flowers, 

 which grows in the form of a spreading bush, with 

 its branches floating ; it is very common on the banks 

 of the rivers. This and the white Cedar 1 have 

 introduced to Georgetown, where both are easily 

 cultivated. Bemerara Argosy. 



FORESTRY IN QUIANA. 



White Cedar. — Those who have been much on the 

 savannah aback of sugar estates are acquainted with 

 the tree locally called White Cedar, belonging to the 

 botanical order Bignoniacea; and the genus Tabebuia. 

 It is found scattered here and there over the less 

 wet parts of the savannah, and wherever a copse of 

 woodland is found on drier ground it is more or less 

 prevalent ; and in the forests on the banks of the 

 ri-qers that intersect the same region it is plentiful. 

 The largest trees attain a height of 50 to 70 feet, and 

 the trunk measures from 15 to 18 or 21 inches. The 

 wood is more easily worked than is deal, and is ser- 

 viceable for all kinds of indoor work in building. It 

 is also useful as a furniture wood, and where light- 

 ness of material is required might be largely used. 

 The grain is free, and it takes an excellent polish. 

 Inquiries have been made for the timber for export, 

 to be employed as match wood, for which purpose its 

 lightness and free grain particularly adapt it. Resi- 



Plants and Their Culture. 



South African and other Bulbous Plants. — ■- 

 Considering the large number of this section of 

 beautiful subjects, it is surprising how few are to be 

 found in gardens, and, what is more, these are usually 

 anything but representative of the genera. Probably 

 the lack of success in growing the plants arises from 

 treating them with other plants in a mixed collec- 

 tion. Most of the species possess but a small spread 

 of foliage, and are therefore easily robbed of their 

 proper share of light and air by their stronger grow- 

 ing neighbours ; and unless special care be taken to 

 guard against this evil, immature growths result, 

 with the natural concomitant, lesser sized roots. 

 It will, therefore, be seen that these bulbous plants 

 should have either a special house or place to them- 

 selves. Select a position which affords abundance of 

 light and air, both being conditions of first import- 

 ance ; indeed, even when in a resting state they are 

 benefited by having a moderate supply, but in the 

 growing season it is indispensable to the proper 

 perfecting of their growth. Unripened growths not 

 only fail in flowering well, but are more susceptible 

 to disease, but sometimes the latter condition is 

 brought about by attempting to get two seasons' 

 growth in one year — or, rather, by keeping them 

 more or less excited all the year through; this 

 practice, unless great care is exercised, soon results 

 in a debilitated condition, from which it is difficult 

 to restore them. They have a period of growth, 

 during which they should receive every encourage- 

 ment until it is completed, and avoiding that kind 

 of ripening which is brought about by suddenly 

 withholding water ; as, although the required 

 quantity will gradually become less, yet the 

 supply should always be sufficient to prevent flagging 

 and ripening prematurely, which would prevent much 

 of the elaborated matter of the leaves from being 

 transferred to the storage cells of the roots. 

 Although many of these South African and Aus- 

 tralian bulbs have been for years in this country 

 yet they do not readily adapt themselves to our 

 seasons of growth ; indeed, it is a matter of common 

 knowledge that our autumn is concurrent with the 

 spring-time of their native homes, and it is surprising 



