August 18, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



189 



6. The uses of the thermometer and the hygro- 

 meter in plant-houses? Answered by Charles P. 

 Anderson, Flushing, N.Y. 



7. What is the best way to use natural gas in 

 flues and under steam and hot-water boilers? 

 Answered by J. B. Ferguson, Pittsburg, Pa. 



8. Insuring Greenhouses: what companies assume 

 risks of this kind on stock and houses ? Answered 

 by J. N. May, Summit, X.J. 



N.B. The Question Box, as heretofore, will form 

 an important part of the proceedings. Most florists 

 have questions to ask. Don't be afraid to write them 

 on your business card and drop them in the box. 

 The President will appoint competent members to 

 answer them at the first convenient opportunity. 



Friday, August 24. — The New York Florist Club 

 will tender an excursion to the Society, and hope 

 that every member will so arrange his plans as to 

 accept of their hospitality. 



Home Correspondence. 



(gj^™ Correspondents will greatly oblige by sending early 

 intelligence, of local events likely to be of interest to 

 our readers, or of any matters which it is desirable to 

 bring under the notice of horticulturists. 



Photographs or drawings of gardens, or of remarkable 

 plants, trees, Sec, are aho solicited. 



LIFTING DAFFODILS. — From the opinons and ex- 

 periences which have been advanced on the above 

 subject, it is obvious that most growers are adopting 

 Mr. Burbidge's suggestion of following out in practice 

 what seems to suit individual circumstances, and 

 seeing the difference of soil and climate, it would 

 not be prudent to work otherwise. Deep and 

 shallow plantings are indulged in, as are also annual 

 and triennial lifting, with equally good results on all 

 sides. Growing them with and without manures 

 has also received attention, and successes scored by r 

 both. What a very accomodating plant, then, is the 

 Daffodil ! Were I planting them upon a naturally 

 rich fertile loam, I would certainly avoid the use of 

 crude manures, or may be manure of any kind ; but 

 on the contrary, had I to plant on a very sandy, or 

 light stony or gravelly soil, I most certainly would 

 employ raw cow manure — and plenty of it — till my 

 land bore evidence of being able to grow a crop 

 without it. The soil with which I have to deal was 

 formerly a meadow to which manure of any kind had 

 been a foreigner for many yeais. It is of fair depth, 

 varying from 18 to 20 inches of good soil, followed 

 by a thin stratum of sandy marl, and below this a 

 deep bed of fine gravel. In times of drought the 

 surface will become dust dry several inches deep, 

 while an impervious crust forms on the surface when 

 heavy rains are succeeded by hot sun. A year or 

 two back it was as poor as it well could be, but 

 repeated heavy dressings of cow manure have put it, 

 to use a gardener's phrase, " in good heart." Such, 

 then, is the soil upon which our Daffodils are grown, 

 and the results which I have obtained amply justify 

 the treatment accorded them. Last week I lifted a 

 batch of the Tenby Daffodil, planted in September, 

 1886, being the refuse of a collected lot, the bulbs 

 weighing on the average less than three-sixteenths of 

 an ounce : the single bulbs now weigh on an 

 average 1J ounce, while those which have become 

 breeders, and have from two to four good -sized offsets, 

 would weigh much more. Emperors are simply 

 marvellous, some of the stock bulbs of which 

 contain five and six fine offsets and weigh upwards of 

 12 ounces. Many other sorts are equally fine, and 

 among these Horsfieldi deserves mention. These 

 were all planted in the autumn of 1886, but were 

 examined last year and I decided that theyshould re- 

 main, for the reason that the offsets were" small, and 

 it was considered that these latter would make 

 greater progress attached to the parent bulb than 

 if separated from it, and which is now proved to 

 my satisfaction. To have left these a third 

 season would be committing a serious error, for by 

 that time all the best offsets will make grand flower- 

 ing bulbs for sale, therefore the advantage of an annual 

 examination to see the progress made and then be 

 guided according to individual circumstances and re- 

 quirements. I do not at present see the use of an- 

 nual lifting or the benefit accruing from it, but am 

 of opinion it is most likely to benefit the breeders if 

 any, and only such of these which make good offsets 

 in one season, and of sufficient size for detaching 

 from the parent bulb. I cannot see that merely lift- 



ing, cleaning and transplanting is likely to produce 

 any marked improvement, for the bulb of a Daffodil 

 is not so gross feeding as to impoverish the soil about 

 it in one or even two seasons. To give the matter a fair 

 trial, however, I have selected a variety of sorts, and 

 intend treating them as Mr. Walker recommends 

 and carefully note the results. A word of warning in 

 conclusion : any of your readers who contemplate 

 lifting their Daffodils this season and have not done 

 so, should see to it at once, as some varieties — the 

 earliest flowered ones in particular — have commenced 

 fresh roots without losing the current year's foliage ; 

 a state of things evidently brought about by the suc- 

 cessive and continuous rains of the present season. 

 E. Jenkins. 



I did not take part in a recent discussion on 



this subject, because I was at the time engaged in 

 making observations about it. I had a fine bed of 

 hybrid Daffodils called Bernardi, which flowered well 

 and seemed in every respect healthy. When the 

 leaves began to turn at the beginning of July I dug 

 up part of the bulbs, and I stored them in open well- 

 ventilated wooden trays, such as Mr. James Walker 

 uses, the pattern of mine being taken from his, and 

 put them in an airy dry shed. The greater part of 

 these lifted bulbs are now soft, and either partly- 

 rotten or likely to rot when planted again. Those 

 left in the ground are perfectly sound, and firmly 

 rooted with growing roots. My inference is this ; — 

 as long as the soil is wet, the root-action remains 

 active, even after the leaves are quite dead, and 

 enables the bulb to get rid of its superfluous 

 moisture into the soil. But if the bulb is dug up 

 and the root dried off, it is unable to get rid of its 

 superfluous moisture by evaporation, and it rots. It 

 is a question therefore whether in a wet season it is 

 not better to leave all Daffodil bulbs in the soil. I 

 send specimens, and should be glad if the Editor 

 would briefly report on them. C. WvUey Bod. [The 

 specimens sent amplv confirm the above statement. 

 Ed.] 



THE POTATO CROP REPORTS.— I fear many a 

 gardener, whose report as to the earlier appearance 

 of the Potato crop appeared in a recent issue, will 

 feel that there is now a wide difference between 

 the anticipation and the realisation — that, in fact, 

 the freshness and vigour of the Potato breadths have 

 given place- to disease and decay. I would venture 

 to suggest that in future the reports upon the Potato 

 crop should be furnished fully a fortnight later than 

 usual, indeed should be as nearly as possible all 

 written during the first week in August, or even 

 a little later. The disease in its virulent form 

 usually appears suddenly and spreads rapidly, so 

 that breadths apparently healthy in one week may 

 be blackened the next week. This year I found that 

 the tops stood wonderfully well through the heavy 

 rains, in spite of the terribly sodden condition of the 

 soil, but when one or two warmer days were suc- 

 ceeded by dense mists at night, the Peronospora 

 then spread with marvellous rapidity. The inference 

 is that, assuming the atmosphere at certain sea- 

 sons to be rife with the fungoid spores, heavy rains 

 wash them from off' the foliage, whilst mists and 

 a quiet atmosphere induces not only the settling of 

 the spores on the foliage, but also rapid fertili- 

 sation. Generally, all through this district now 

 (August 11) Beauty of Hebron, Early Rose, and 

 some other first earlies have lost every leaf; 

 second earlies are fast losing their leafage, and 

 late ones are still fresh, just in proportion to 

 their being late planted and immature. Thus 

 a day or two since I saw a huge breadth of Early 

 Rose, or Beauty of Hebron, without a green top, 

 whilst close by was another big breadth of a later 

 kind, green and fresh, as though the Peronospora 

 was a fiction. The proportion of diseased tubers so 

 far, I learn, is not large, but it is comparatively early 

 for the tuber development of the disease in any con- 

 siderable way ; still, should it turn out that, in 

 spite of the considerable fungoid destruction of leaf- 

 age, the tubers are not materially affected I shall 

 ascribe the result to the heavy beating by rain which 

 the soil has received, which has rendered the surface 

 almost impervious to even the minute spores ; that, 

 however, has to be proved. I would urge all gar- 

 deners when lifting their crops first to let the tops 

 die away, if not cut off or pulled. There seems to 

 be no doubt but that disease-spores are present in 

 the air until the tops are quite dead, and the tubers 

 cast out upon the surface of the soil, especially 

 when, as now, the skins are thin and tender, are apt 

 to become affected quickly. Of special interest would 

 be the results of general observation as to which 

 tubers were found on lifting to be most diseased — 



whether those nearest the surface, or those portions 

 of such tubers nearest the surface, or those nearest 

 the main stems. The result may help to throw some 

 more light upon the point as to how far disease in 

 the tubers is generated through the plant stalks, or 

 through spores washed into contact with the tubers 

 through the soil. One thing the season so far has 

 made specially obvious is, that certain conditions of 

 maturity stem to favour the spread of the disease in 

 the Potato plants, and why that should be so is well 

 worth inquiry. That such is the case is evident 

 when late Potatos, yet fresh and full of vigour, are 

 seen side by side with rows of early kinds, which 

 have hardly a green leaf left on them. A. B. 



HYBRID PITCAIRNEA.— In the spring of 1887 I 

 crossed Pitcairnea punicea with the pollen of I', 

 staminea. The plants — about forty — raised from 

 these seeds, are all flowering just now for the 

 second time. Some of the seedlings resemble 

 the parents. As every one kuows, Pitcairnea 

 punicea is a real pygmy in the family of the 

 Pitcairneas. The flowers of my seedlings do not 

 resemble the flowers of the parents. The plant 

 is a very robust growing one and as a green foliage 

 plant I think that they are equal to three-year seed- 

 lings of Dracama indivisa. My Pitcairneas grow 

 very well in rooms and consequently are very suitable 

 for "furnishing purposes, but the prettiest state of the 

 plant is when it is in flower. The flower-spike is of 

 a greenish-red colour at the base, which became red- 

 dish-crimson at the top of the spike. The flower- 

 spike itself, from the fresh flower branchlets to the 

 top of the spike, is between 42 and 45 centimetres 

 long; the whole flower- spike, from the leaves to 

 the top of the spike, being between 65 and 70 

 centimetres ; the whole plant, from the pot to 

 the top of the flower-spike, being between 110 

 and 125 centimetres. The flowers are of a 

 very bright crimson ; the leaves of the plant 

 vary in "length between 60 and 115 centimetres : 

 they are dark green, the under part of the leaves, 

 as well as the whole flower-spike, being covered 

 by a cottony substance, as in well-known Pourrettia 

 niaidifolia. I call my plant Pitcairnea BardetianaX, 

 and I am sure that it will very soon be a favourite. 

 I enclose photograph of the plant and of a single 

 flower. F. Bardet. [There are thirty or forty species 

 of Pitcairnea of this style, which are closely allied 

 to another. So far as the photograph, the plant 

 might be P. angustifolia, Sw., or a near ally. J. G. B.] 



THE HEDGEHOG'S CRY.— Recently, for two 

 nights in succession, a shrill cry was heard in 

 proximity to my residence, which was variously 

 attributed to "some bird," or to the son of a neigh- 

 bour, supposed to be amusing himself by whistling 

 into the barrel of a key. Greatly as the sound 

 resembled the latter source of melody its fre- 

 quent repetition during the late hours of the 

 night at length necessitated the abandonment of 

 that hypothesis. In the strict spirit of science 

 hypothesis was now exchanged for practical experi- 

 ment, in the hopes of revealing the " why '.' 

 A lantern was procured, and guided by the 

 apparent source of the sound, the investigator was 

 speedily directed to a brick area surrounding the 

 basement of the house. The bottom of the area is 

 about 4 feet below the surface of the garden and 

 cemented at the bottom. There, crouching, in one 

 corner, the musician was captured, the lamp was turned 

 on him and thus was revealed a hedgehog. The first 

 proceeding of the captors was to give the poor captive 

 some food, of which judging from his eagerness to 

 partake, he stood in need, and, then to search avail- 

 able books to see what was said therein of the vocal 

 powers of the animal. Neither White of Selbourne, 

 nor Bell (also of Selbourne) says one word about 

 this subject, and hence my note of inquiry to your 

 readers to know their experience. For my own part 

 it is the first time that I have heard 



"The voice of the hedgehog; 

 I heard him complain." 



Since a bed of hay has replaced the cold stone, and a 

 supply of food has been provided, he has been as mute 

 as a turtle. It is interesting to note that Bell in his 

 British Quadruped^B.\\\xAes to the power of the hedgehog 

 to fall down areas without injury to himself. Hysttix. 



CATALPAS. — During a recent visit to the Botanic 

 Gardens in Brussels, I noticed a Catalpa tree loaded 

 with thousands of blossoms, and, judging from its 

 size and height, it must, one would think, have been 

 planted shortly after the introduction of the in •■ 

 into Europe, "viz. (as authors say), in the year 



