September 21), 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



361 



•distinguished by its broader leaves, larger, and more 

 substantial flowers. The colour variations of each sec- 

 tion run parallel ; thus in both the common andin the 

 platvphyllum types there are red-striped forms, golden- 

 banded forms, warted forms, and forms with smooth 

 segments. It thus becomes necessary to recognise 

 Two forms of virginale — one belonging to the ordinary 

 type ; and in which the segments are warted, and one 

 to the platvphyllum type, in which the segments are 

 destitute of warts and spots. L. auratum rubro- 

 vittatum is a favourite bv reason of its deep crimson 

 band. In the speciosum type there is every variety, 

 from the clearest white of the form known as 

 Kraetzeri to the rich carmine segments of Melpomene, 

 and the form of the flower and the direction of its 

 constituent segments are also subject to as great 

 diversities. Of L. tigrinum, mention must be made 

 ■of L. tigrinum jucundum, with linear leaves and red- 

 spotted flowers ; and L. tigrinum Leopoldi, with 

 ■ovate-lanceolate leaves and broader segments to the 

 tlowers. The display will be kept up for some time lon- 

 ger.asmany of the speciosum ty pe, especially Kraetzeri, 

 have not yet unfolded their blooms. It was curious to 

 see the profusion of bloom that had been formed on L. 

 candidum, the common white Lily, perhaps the love- 

 liest of all. and which under some circumstances fails to 

 flower. Here in this nursery a large number were 

 lifted for sale, and those that were not disposed of 

 were simply laid in. These have flowered in profu- 

 sion — an argument, some will say, for shallow plant- 

 ing, but what the effect on the bulb may be we can- 

 not say. Of course, no one would visit this estab- 

 lishment without at least a glance at the Orchids. 

 It is not a season when much bloom may be expected, 

 but some of the Odontoglossums, such as 0. Harry- 

 anum, the white-lipped form of Bictonense ; Mil- 

 tonias, Masdevallias, may still be found in bloom, 

 while among Lxlias, Turned, Dayanana, bicolor, 

 Harrisoni, and others, are in flower, and there is a 

 rich promise of future bloom from the remarkably 

 sturdy and healthy inhabitants of the large Lslia 

 house. 



Cucumber Bibbvs Seedling.— This is an 

 excellent summer Cucumber, a great bearer, and 

 handsome, in many points resembling Kollisson's 

 Telegraph, when true to name. It was, we believe, 

 raised by Mr. Bieby, nurseryman, Colchester, and is 

 much in repute in the Eastern Counties. 



The English Apple and Fruit Growing 

 COMPANY, Limited.— Under this title a company 

 is to be formed, with Messrs. Heald, A. F. Barron, 

 J. Cheal, and J. Roberts as directors, and Mr. K. 

 Dean as temporary Secretary. The company pro- 

 poses to purchase a suitable farm of 300 acres, in 

 Kent, and there carry on the cultivation and preser- 

 vation of hardy fruits. A capital of £50,000 is 

 required, to be raised in shares of the value of 

 £1 each. Mr. Ollard, of 1, Clifford's Inn, Fleet 

 Street, is the solicitor, and the bankers are the 

 London and County Banking Company. 



The British Association.— At one of the 

 recent meetings at Bath, the Rev. R. Barron read a 

 paper on the flora of Madagascar, basing his state- 

 ments on his own research and the investigations of 

 Mr. Baker. He referred to the ruthless manner in 

 which the forests are being destroyed by the natives. 

 Representatives of 143 orders and 980 genera have 

 been found ; three regions — eastern, central, and 

 western — are recognised, only comparatively few 

 forms being common to all three. The Composite 

 and Leguminous plants and the Ferns are the best 

 represented. One Violet has been found also at 

 a great elevation. Fernando Po, the Cameroons, 

 and Abyssinia, and some other instances of equally 

 curious distribution, point to an earlier temperate 

 period. Four-fifths of the species and one-seventh 

 of the genera are peculiar to the island, thus indicat- 

 ing its great antiquity — a fact to which its zoology 

 also bears witness. 



27k Weather. — Mr. E. J. Lowe stated, at the British 

 Association, that the effect of the weather of 

 1888 had been to destroy large numbers of birds, 



to such an extent that it had been unnecessary to 

 protect the fruit. Slugs and snails had been ex- 

 tremely abundant. All seedling plants, vegetables, 

 leaves, and flowers, had been destroyed wholesale, 

 and great damage had been done to Wheat, grass, 

 and other agricultural crops ; but what had been 

 most noticeable was the destruction by cater- 

 pillars of all the leaves of the ( )ak. Thousands 

 of Oaks had been without leaf, bare like winter, and 

 now thev were only just coming into leaf again, but 

 unfortunately a second crop of caterpillars was 

 noticed recently resuming the attack on the new 

 leaves. There had been a great increase among 

 the destructive slugs of various kinds, and earwigs, 

 woodlice, ants, butterflies, and beetles, had also 

 been unusually abundant, but there had been an 

 absence of wasps, and only a very few moles. Snakes 

 and adders had been very numerous. Early sown 

 Peas were twenty-one weeks before they were fit for 

 the table, and all fruit had been very late, many 

 Gooseberries being not yet ripe, and Currants still 

 abundant. Pears were scarcely swelling, and of Mush- 

 rooms there were none. There was an enormous 

 crop of Oats. The hay crop had been the latest ever 

 known, much remaining unharvested at the begin- 

 ning of the month. It was worthy of remark that 

 many delicate plants were urinjured by the cold of 

 last winter. The author explained, in concluding, 



w 



Fig. 49.— black caxkek of bulbs. 



that his reason for contributing the paper was in order 

 that it might be a record for future comparison. 



Pine Ripening in the Open Air.— We desire 

 to call attention to an interesting experiment 

 recorded in another column, by that veteran and 

 venerated horticulturist, Colonel Trevor Clarke. 

 We need only add here, that the Pine was a well- 

 formed one, 14 ounces in weight, very juicy, and 

 fuller of flavour than many a hothouse Pine that 

 we have tasted. 



Preserving Potato Bags.— Mr. J. A. Hogg, 

 in the English Mechanic, says: — "Steep the sack- 

 ing for twentv-four hours in a decoction of 1 lb. of 

 Oak bark in 14 lb. of boiling water. Then pass it 

 through running water and hang up to dry. This 

 quantity does for S yards of material.'' 



tion whether the bulbs are free from taint or not. 

 In the course of a few weeks (or perhaps months) 

 the spawn or mycelium beneath the membrane 

 becomes condensed, and congregates in little knots 

 (like grains of gunpowder), which speedily become 

 black outside. These grains are sclerotia or little 

 nodules of hard fungus spawn. If the membrane of 

 the bulb is carefully laid open with a needle, and 

 one of the black grains exposed, it will be seen, it 

 enlarged ten diameters, as shown on the left of the 

 illustration. If a fragment of the sclerotium is 

 examined under the microscope and enlarged 300 

 diameters, it will be seen, as in the right-hand bottom 

 corner, one compact mass of very fine fungus threads. 

 If reference is made to the Gardeners' Chronicle lor 

 May 28 last year, p. 712, an illustration will be seen 

 of the threads of the well-known sclerotium of 

 Anemone beds, enlarged 150 diameters ; this latter 

 sclerotium has threads four times the diameter of the 

 sclerotium of Narcissus and Hyacinth bulbs. 



The black grains, or sclerotia, remain perfectly 

 quiescent whilst the bulb is quiescent, but as soon as 

 the bulb shows signs of renewed life the black grains 

 become active. When the bulb is planted the grains 

 also are obviously planted at the same time : the 

 warmth and moisture favourable to thebulb is exactly 

 what the grains require. The grains, after about nine 

 months' rest, produce a small fungus named Peziza — 

 possibly P. ciborioides, Fr.— a fungus which some- 

 times grows on Oak leaves and on Clover ; in the 

 latter position it is a cause of one form of (but not 

 the true) Clover sickness. This fungus produces 

 spores which germinate and produce a new crop of 

 sclerotia. The mycelium of a similar, but larger 

 sclerotium, is sometimes very destructive to the 

 Potato haulm: the Peziza of this sclerotium (P. 

 postuma), has been described and illustrated in the 

 Gardeners Chronicle. 



The life of the " black canker " of bulbs is carried on 

 in a passive state from year to year by the black grains, 

 termed sclerotia, beneath the membrane of the bulb. 

 As bulbs infected with the granules propagate the 

 disease, no bulbs exhibiting the granules of " black 

 canker " should be sold or planted. A very similar 

 sclerotium grows on Onions ; this on germination 

 produces a mould, or mucor. Worthington G. Smith, 

 Dunstable. 



BLACK CANKER OF BULBS. 



Or/R friends on the Continent recognise a certain 

 disease of bulbs under the name of " black canker " or 

 " black rot.'' In typical cases the bulbs are studded 

 with minute black projecting spots, as shown in the 

 upper part of our illustration (fig. 411) ; this is the 

 resting or hibernating state of the fungus which 

 causes the disease. Bulbs of Narcissus are imported 

 into this country in an apparently sound condition, 

 but really with the fine threads of a fungus mycelium 

 just beneath the outer membrane ; in this condition 

 it is impossible to tell without a microscopic examina- 



Notices of Books. 



The Producer and Consumer. By Samuel 



Rawson. (J. L. Allday, Birmingham.) 

 This is an essay in pamphlet form purporting to 

 contain "■ Practical Hints by a Practical Man." 

 From a perusal of its pages we feel convinced that 

 its author is animated by a desire to ameliorate the 

 condition of the peasantry, small farmers and others, 

 who are dependent on land cultivation for a liveli- 

 hood. The object in view is praiseworthy, and one 

 to which we are willing to subscribe at all times, but 

 whether it will be gained or furthered by the publi- 

 cation under notice, is quite a different matter ; we 

 rather incline to the opposite belief. In his intro- 

 ductory remarks the author informs his readers that 

 he has" had " upwards of thirty years' experience as 

 a fruiterer and salesman in the fruit and vegetable 

 trades in one of our largest provincial markets ; " and 

 further, " for many years I have persistently urged 

 upon farmers and others with whom I have been in 

 contact in the course of journeys made into all parts 

 of England, the absolute necessity, if they wished to 

 make the land pay, for attention to fruit and vege- 

 table growing ; and I have brought to their notice, 

 again and again, the certain inroads being made by 

 the foreign producer, insisting that, by a proper and 

 careful system of cultivation, success must attend 

 the enterprise.'' We also learn that our imports of 

 fruit and vegetables amount in the aggregate to a 

 value of nearly £6,000,000 a year." From chap- 

 ter xi., which treats on fruit, vegetables, and flowers. 

 we glean much information regarding wholesale 

 prices of the two first-named ; thus we learn that 

 - early forced Rhubarb will make about 2s. per 15 lb. 



