September 22, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



331 



orders, with indications of the number of species 

 and their geographical distribution, and in large 

 genera of the sections into which they are sub- 

 divided. The appendix of genera of doubtful posi- 

 tion occupies five pages — a small proportion as com- 

 pared with other works. Lastly, a full alphabetical 

 index is given, occupying no fewer than 213 pages — 

 double column, small type. If this is creditable to 

 the industry of the compiler, what must we say of 

 the labours of the original authors, whose task 

 occupied some quarter of a century ? That a few 

 errors should have crept into so vast a publication 

 is, of course, inevitable. One such we may point 

 out: — Scaphespermum, Mart., has no connection 

 wbateverwith Scaphopetalum, Mast. (seep. 086), but 

 it would take a very large number of similar errors to 

 detract from the feeling of obligation which M. 

 Durand has laid upon all working botanists. The 

 tabular summary works out thus : — Orders, 210 ; 

 genera, 8417; species, (estimate) 100,220. It will 

 be remembered that Bentham and Hooker represent 

 the synthetic school. If the orders and genera were 

 computed by the analytical or "splitter" school, 

 orders and genera would be considerably increased, 

 while the number of species would probably be 

 doubled. 



Horticultural Excursions.— The projected 



excursion of Belgian horticulturists to the Channel 

 Islands has been postponed till next year, on account 

 of the bad weather. For similar reasons the excur- 

 sion of the Horticultural Club had to be abandoned. 



VICTORIA PARK. — Nothwithstanding the un- 

 favourableness of the weather, this park is still look- 

 ing bright with summer flowers. Pelargoniums, 

 Violas, Verbenas, have been very fine, but care is 

 taken to plant only such varieties as are least affected 

 by bad weather. Amongst the first-named may be 

 mentioned Henry Jacoby and Bonfire. Viola Blue 

 Boy is sometimes employed in combination with 

 Flower of the Day Pelargonium, and whether the 

 latter flowers or not, the effect is very nice. Mr. 

 Gibson affects much simplicity in planting his beds 

 of flowering plants, and with very good results. Sel- 

 dom has a bed more than four different kinds of 

 plants, and the majority have fewer than that. Golden 

 Feather, Echeveria secunda glauca, Mesembryanthe- 

 mum cordifolium variegatum, Robert Fishl'elargonium 

 retain their place as edging plants. A charming bed 

 was composed of Fuchsia Golden Treasure, autumn- 

 struck, and Coleus Verschaffeltii ; but generally the 

 plants of the latter species have grown badly. As 

 pink-coloured zonal Pelargoniums Cleopatra and 

 Mrs. Gibbons are the best this year. The carpet- 

 bee's in the scroll garden, which are prettily designed, 

 look clean and bright, the wet weather apparently 

 not having caused the plants to suffer much, but there 

 is a suspicion of dulness of colour in the Alternan- 

 theras. It may interest our readers to know that 

 of Echeveria secunda glauca 45,000 are bedded out ; 

 and of the pretty grey-leaved plant, Brachyphytum 

 bracteosum, more than 2000. Sub-tropical plants 

 of most kinds have made good growth, and are quite 

 sightly. Lilium auratum is largely employed, mostly 

 to give brightness to masses of dark shrubs, or to 

 fill the prominent angles of beds, or to stand at the 

 junctions of walks. The Hollies — a prominent 

 feature in this park — bristle with robust shoots and 

 foliage, but some of them sadly stand in need of 

 more space to develope themselves ; and the turf is 

 generally in capital trim. From what has been said 

 it will appear that the inhabitants of the much 

 decried Bethnal Green and Hackney districts have 

 a beautiful and well decorated park in which to 

 disport themselves every day of the week. 



"Chambre Syndicale" of Ghent.— At the 



meeting held on the 10th inst. awards were made as 

 follows : — 



First-class Certificates. — To Cypripedium spfcies 

 (niveum and Stonei), and to C. Harrisianum super- 

 bum, from MM. J. Vervaet & Co.; to Odonto- 

 glossum grande superbum, from M. James Bray ; 



to Dracama Norwoodiensis, from M. Desmet- 

 Duvivier; to Maranta inconifera, from M. Alexis 

 Dalliere ; to Trichopilia species, from MM. Ver- 

 vaet & Co. ; and to new Coleus (seedlings of 1S88) 

 M. Paul Dutrie, Madame C. van Geert, Mdlle. 

 Rosa Rooses, Comte de Griinne, Etoile de Gand, 

 Souvenir de Jersey, and Souvenir de Guernsey, from 

 M. Edouard Pynaert. 



Commendations. — To Cypripedium javanico-super- 

 biens ; and to Lilium auratum superbum, from M. 

 Bernard Spae. And a Cultural Certificate to Adian- 

 tum Weigandi, from M. Lievin Spae. 



IRIS RETICULATA. — Growers have been sadly 

 plagued with a disease in the bulbs of this lovely 

 spring-flowering Iris. At first fungi were supposed to 

 be the culprits, but the bulbs have been repeatedly ex- 

 examined at our request by the most competent myco- 

 logists of all schools without definite result. A letter 

 from Mr. Thomson, of Ipswich, put us on the track 

 of mites, such as those so injurious to Eucharis and 

 other bulbs. Mr. Thomson detected some of these 

 creatures, and this induced us to consult the highest 

 authority in this department of zoology, Mr. A. D. 

 Michael, a member of the Scientific Committee. 

 That gentleman, whose skill and knowledge of his 

 subject is only rivalled by his willingness to oblige, 

 sends us the following communication, which puts 

 an end to the doubt as to the cause of the disease in 

 question : — 



" I took an early opportunity of examining the 

 bulbs, they had, however, become so dry that all life 

 was extinct in them, except the Acari ; they had sur- 

 vived in the deeper parts of the bulbs, and were 

 numerous, and in all stages of development. They 

 are our old friend, or rather enemy, the Rhizoglyphus, 

 but not the same species as I found on the Eucharis 

 bulbs, &c. — that was R. Robini, this is R. Dujardini. 

 I cannot of course say whether any of the other 

 creatures mentioned by Mr. Thomson may be re- 

 sponsible for part of the damage, but I think I may 

 say pretty confidently that the Rhizoglyphus is suffi- 

 cient to account for it without assistance. The 

 typical species of that genus (of which this is one) 

 are true bulb and tuber eating creatures, and in my 

 opinion are the causers, not followers, of decay. They 

 attack sound healthy bulbs and destroy them, some- 

 times, when they are in sufficient numbers, by 

 simply eating them up ; at other times, when they 

 are less numerous, either by eating essential parts of 

 the bulb, or by making large wounds, and thus ad- 

 mitting water, fungus, &e. I should think the best 

 way of preventing this evil would be, where possible, 

 to dust the bulbs well with powdered sulphur before 

 planting them, supposing that this would not injure 

 the bulb, and I imagine it would not ; sulphur mixed 

 with soap and washed on is very good, but I do not 

 know whether this might be injurious to the bulb — 

 [probably not, used with care]. I fear that, for some 

 years past, these Acari have been imported with 

 foreign bulbs in great numbers, and that the injury 

 caused by them is likely to increase instead of 

 diminishing. I think it probable that either the 

 Acari or their eggs are on the bulbs in most cases 

 before they are planted. If one of your corre- 

 spondents liked to send me a few bulbs before plant- 

 ing, I would look them over and see if I could trace 

 any Rhizoglyphus ; if I could not they might be 

 planted separately in some place where no other 

 bulbs had been grown ; it would be interesting and 

 probably useful to see whether they were attacked 

 by the disease. It is clear that infected bulbs would 

 be likely to communicate the Acarus to sound bulbs, 

 whether of the same kind or not, and the Acari 

 would be likely to remain for some little time in the 

 soil the bulbs had been grown in. Albert Michael" 



The Cold Storage of Fruit.— Mr. J. 



Wkioht, of the Journal of Horticulture, reports as 

 follows :-—" At the last meeting of the committee, 

 held on the 13th inst., John Lee, Esq., presiding, 

 examples previously placed in the chill room were 

 examined. The temperature of this room ranges 

 about 35 3 . Figs, quite ripe when placed in store on 



August 30, had kept surprisingly well ; the dark 

 coloured fruits appeared quite unaltered, but two of 

 the lighter coloured were spoilt. Plums, stored at 

 the same time, were as good as ever. Of a dozen 

 outdoor Peaches, eight were in good condition, two 

 fair, and two spoiled. Peaches and Nectarines grown 

 under glass, from Messrs. Rivers & Sons, also Oullin's 

 Golden Gage, placed in store at the same time (the 

 30th ult.) were in fine condition. Peaches from 

 Messrs. Cheal & Sons, stored on August 31, were 

 in good conjition, but a Melon put in with them was 

 spoiled. Bradshaw Plums from Chiswiek, placed in 

 store at the same time, were unaltered, butTomatos, 

 except a few yellow fruits, were spoiled. This is 

 the second failure witii Tomatos, which do not appear 

 to be able to endure the cold. Many of the Cher- 

 ries — a bad sample, stored wet on August 8 — 

 were still sound, and it was thought that those which 

 failed were crushed or injured at the outset. It is 

 the opinion of the committee that for keeping pur- 

 poses the fruit must be sound. Some of the Cherries 

 (red) in the freezing-room (temperature 21°) were 

 quite hard, others (black) were yielding to the touch 

 but frozen inside. Some Cherries taken from the chill 

 room a fortnight ago and steadily thawed were good 

 and well flavoured the following day after a cool 

 sojourn of twenty-three days, and there are doubt- 

 less others that have now been in the chamber forty 

 days equally good. Can any northern friends oblige 

 by posting a few Gooseberries and Currants to Mr, 

 D. Tallerman, Cold Storage Co., Leadenhall Market, 

 79.V, Gracechurch Street, London? They will be 

 gladly accepted and fairly tried. The fruit should 

 not be over-ripe, and care should be taken to pack 

 them so as to arrive without being bruised. Peaches 

 are best enclosed in tissue paper before being packed 

 in boxes with wadding. All fruit is best stored in 

 closed boxes as if for transit, as when exposed Cherries 

 at least lose their bright fresh colour, and it would 

 probably be the same with other fruits. 



Ixoras at Gunnersbury Park.— a house of 



these is just now a remarkably attractive feature at 

 Gunnersbury Park. The centre stage of a large 

 house is filled with fine young bushy plants of 

 Ixoras, mainly of coccinea, with a few of Morsei, 

 Westii, and Williamsii. The plants are from two to 

 five years old, and are blooming with great freedom. 

 From these plants Mr. Roberts has been cutting 

 freely since April, and the plants break into growth 

 at various points below where the flowers were cut- 

 away. 



The Rothesay Climate.— While the country 

 generally, says the Scotsman, of September 18, " has 

 been complaining of the lack of sunshine, Rothesay, 

 ' the Brighton of Scotland,' would almost appear to- 

 have had more than its share. A few day since Mr. 

 Philp, of the Glenburn Hydropathic, showed in Edin- 

 burgh two beautifully ripe Figs— one weighing 2 J oz.— 

 which had grown in the open air on a standard tree 

 with a southern exposure at the Hydropathic. The 

 Passion flower is just bursting into bloom, also in the 

 open air." 



MUTINUS BAMBUSINUS.— Under this name Dr. 

 M. C. Cooke describes and figures, in the last 

 number of Grevillea a fungus of striking appearance 

 but filthy odour, allied to our common Stinkhorn 

 (Phallus impudicus). The singular thing about the 

 Mutinus is that it is a tropical species, native of 

 Java, where it grows at the base of Bamboo clumps, 

 and yet that it made its appearance in Mr. Noble's 

 nursery at Sunningdale amongst some young Plum 

 trees. 



BRAMBLES.— Mr. Vertegans sends us flowers of 

 the double rose-coloured Bramble, evidently a variety 

 of 11. discolor, and which is very beautiful and 

 effective in wilderness walks and similar situations. 

 The double white is even more floriferous, and looks 

 like a form of R. corylifolius. Some years since we 

 gave illustrations of these hardy and beautiful 

 shrubs, which we were glad to find attracted as 

 much attention at the time as the representations 



