8 



HE GARDENERS 1 CHRONICLE 



[January 27, 1912. 



Mr. Harman Payne. - Our old correspondent 

 Mr. Harmah Pvyne has just been the recipient 



of an unusual honour for an English horticul- 

 turist. Among the French New Year's honours 

 hi3 name is included with those upon whom the 

 Government has bestowed the " Palmes acade- 

 miques." This decoration carries with it the title 

 of " Officier de Instruction publique," and is an 

 acknowledgement of his services as a writer in 

 the French horticultural Press. 



Pinguicula gypsicola.— A new species of 



Lectures on Genetics.— The first of a 

 course of seven lectures on genetics was de- 

 livered by Dr. Keeble, in the Imperial College 

 of Science, South Kensington, on Thursday, 

 January 18, at 5 o'clock. The subsequent lec- 

 tures will be given on Thursdays as follow : — 

 January 25, February 1, 8, 15, 23 and 29. Dr. 

 Keeble commenced his course by urging on 

 biologists the importance of the study of 

 genetics. He then proceeded to deal with con- 

 crete cases of variation, as exhibited by the be- 

 haviour of a pure species, Primula sinensis. The 



days, from May 26 to June 15. At Waltham 

 Hall Gardens, Lincolnshire, Mr. C. Frankish 

 states the total rainfall for 1911 was 25.41 inches, 

 as compared with 28.16 inches in 1910. The 

 driest month was July, when only .56 inch was 



Pinguicula was discovered by Mr. C. A. Purpus variations of this species were described and 

 in 1910 during a plant-collecting expedition in illustrated by a beautiful series of lantern slides, 



representing the plants in their natural colours. 



The slides, which had been prepared by the 



Mexico. The species in question, P. gypsicola, 

 recognised as, new and named by Brandegee, is 

 the subject of an interesting article by Mr. A. 



Purpus in Moller's Deutsche Gdrtner-Zeltung 



(January 6, 1912). The plant was discovered in 

 the Mexican highlands, growing on gypsum 

 rocks and hills in company with species of Cac- 

 tus, Hechtia, Agave and other dry-climate plants. 

 Mr. A. Purpus, who has grown the plant in con- 

 siderable numbers in the Botanical Gardens at 

 Darmstadt, recommends cultivating P. gypsicola 

 in pans containing layers of crocks, coarse sand, 

 sifted turfy loam and chopped Sphagnum. 

 Water must be provided sparingly during the 

 growing period, and not at all, except for an oc- 

 casional syringing, during the season of rest 

 (from the end of November to the middle of May). 

 During the resting period the plant presents the 

 aspect of a Sempervivum. The old leaves die 

 down and the young, short, spathulate leaves, 

 covered with white, bristle-like hairs, form a 



close rosette, 

 leaves become long and lanceolate, assume a 

 yellow-green colour, except toward the lip, 

 which is reddish ; the upper surface of the leaf is 

 covered with glandular hairs, which secrete a 

 thin, slimy fluid, capable of entrapping and 

 digesting small insects. The flowers are violet- 



registered. The heaviest rainfall was registered 

 in June, when 3.30 inches fell in three days. 

 September, October, November, and December 

 were very wet months, rain falling on 92 days 

 out of a possible 122 days. 



Agricultural Education and the Board 

 of Agriculture (see leading article in issue for 

 November 4, vol. 1.). — The Board of Education 

 has issued the following Memorandum :— We 

 have had under consideration the arrangements 

 for the promotion of agricultural education made 

 Lumiere process of colour-photography, were put by our predecessors as Presidents of the Board 

 at the disposal of the lecturer by Messrs. Sutton of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Board of 



& Sons. 

 The Drought and Tree-Growth.— The 



Royal English Arboricultural Society is conduct- 

 ing an enquiry into the effects of the abnormal 

 drought of last summer on trees. It was 

 noticed amongst other injuries that many trees 

 had the foliage and shoots affected or killed, in 

 others vertical cracks formed in the bark or 

 stem, whilst on some the bark died in patches on 

 one or more sides of the stem. Those willing 



Education, and published in the Memorandum 

 [Cd. 4,886] of September 22, 1909; and have 

 come to the conclusion that, in view of the large 

 additional sums which have become available 

 since 1909 for the purposes of agricultural edu- 

 cation and research under the Development and 1 

 Road Improvement Funds Act, 1909, those 

 arrangements now require some modification. It 

 no longer appears possible to delimit the spheres- 

 of work of our two Boards by assigning to the 



one or more siues ui tiie atem. ^ "^dc «"^»& . . , , n „„ An -uu,, f™. iha 



. , . , . . .. ,v I.* w iwv.^ Board of Agriculture the responsibility lor tne 



to furnish information on the subject, whether TT __._ :x * , n ^%— ;« -iaa o^n^l 



When growth is resumed the 



members of the society or not, are invited to 

 write to the secretary, Mr. Edward Davidson, 

 Haydon Bridge-on-Tyne, Northumberland, for a 

 form. The following data should be furnished: 

 The year of planting, the season — whether 

 autumn, winter, spring — should be stated, if 

 known; the method of planting, notching, pit- 

 ting, &c. ; the character of the soil, and the slope 

 and exposure of the land. 



Small Holdings. — We learn from the Journal 

 of the Royal Society of Arts that the President 

 of the Board of Agriculture has been visiting 



like, about an inch in diameter, of a dark to t h e €S tate purchased by the Northumberland 



light red- violet colour, and are borne throughout 

 the summer. 



Spraying for Big-Bud. — The efficacy of 

 various sprays in combating big-bud in Black 

 Currants has been tested by officers of the Board 

 of Agriculture at Harrington, Worcester, and 

 the conclusions to which the tests lead are pub- 

 lished in the Journal of the Board for January, 

 1912. The materials used were :— (1) Lime and 



County Council from Lord Ridley for the pur- 

 poses of the Act. The estate contains 871 acres of 

 arable land, and about 12 under wood, the aver- 

 age annual rental being about 34s. per acre. The 

 tenants speak very hopefully of their prospects, 

 and there are nearly 400 applicants still waiting 

 for land. The county council could absorb 

 20,000 acres if they could be obtained, and 

 many of the actual tenants are earning a liveli- 

 hood out of land which was practically derelict. 



Universities and Colleges in which advanced 

 work is being done, and to the Board of Educa- 

 tion the responsibility for farm schools and such 

 other provision for agricultural education as is- 

 on a lower plane than that of agricultural col- 

 leges. It has therefore been decided that, in 

 future, the responsibility for farm institutes, as 

 well as for the agricultural work of Universities 

 and Colleges, shall be transferred to the Board 

 of Agriculture, and that this Board shall be re- 

 garded as the Government Department concerned 

 with this branch of educational work for the 

 purposes of the Development Fund. The appli- 

 cation for an advance from the Development 

 Fund in aid of farm institutes, which has been 

 made by the Board of Education, will therefore 

 be withdrawn by them, and the Circular 778 

 on "Aid from the Development Fund for the 

 Provision and Maintenance of Farm Institutes 

 issued by them on July 14 last, is hereby can- 

 celled. A fresh application for an advance ii> 

 aid of farm institutes will, in due course, be 

 put forward by the Board of Agriculture. Fre- 



m . quent consultation and co-operation between the 



sulphur in dry form— one part lime (air-slaked) j n ano ther part of the county, an estate is in oc- two Boards and their respective officers will be 

 to four of sulphur. (2) Quassia and soft soap cupa tion of small holders, many of whom are s thT necessary under the redistribution of func- 

 (2 lbs. Quassia chips, 1 lb. soft soap and 10 gal- m i nars w ho work the regulation eight hours in tions, and the existing arrangements will be 

 Ions of water). The chips were boiled for two the p j ts an( j devote the remainder of the day to 

 hours, and then the soft soap was added. (3) ^ cultivation of land and the breeding of stock. 

 Soft soap at the rate of 1 lb. to 10 gallons of 



water. Three sprayings were tried: on April The Weather .n 1911.-Supplementing the Board of Education. 



20, May 4 and May 25. Microscopical examina- 

 tion of the buds in September showed that the 

 sprays had had a certain effect, though not 

 enough to eradicate the pest. Of the substances 



simplified and strengthened. Walter Runciman, 

 President of the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries. Josevk A. Pease, President of the 



records of the weather published in the last 

 issue, Mr. E. Matthews states ihat at 

 Ardtornish the mean temperature for the year 

 was 47.7°. August was the hottest month with 



used, a mixture of lime and sulphur was most a mean temperature of 59.9°. In this month also 

 effective. Thus the proportion of big-bud to occurred the highest temperature for the year, 



84° on the 12th. The coldest day was Febru- 

 ary 1, when the thermometer registered 20.5°, 

 and on the ground level only 19°. The mean re- 

 lative humidity for the year was 82 (100 = satu- 

 ration). June was the driest month as regards 

 atmospheric moisture, with a mean humidity of 

 75. Rain fell on 240 days. The total rainfall 

 for the year was 80.52 inches, this being in excess 

 of the average by 9.13 inches, and exceeding the 

 rainfall of 1910 by 6.61 inches. May was the 

 driest month with only 4.11 inches. In Decem- 

 ber, 16.56 inches of rain fell, or more than half 



normal (unaffected) buds which in unsprayed 

 bushes was 66.7 per cent, was reduced by lime 

 and sulphur to 45.5 per cent. 



South African Fruit Trade. — The 

 values of the fresh fruits exported from the 

 South African Colonies during the seven months 

 ended September 30, 1911, are as follow :— 

 Apples, £1,174; Pears, £4.104; Bananas. £263; 

 Pineapples, £600; Oranges, £4,972; Xaartjes, 

 £1,555; Lemons, £65; Grapes, £10,427; Nuts, 

 £82 ; miscellaneous, £2,409. The total value is 



£25,651, of which £21,532 represents shipments an inch each day. There were 12 days during 

 via Cape Town. Delagoa Bay sent fruit of the the year when the rainfall exceeded 1 inch, and 

 value of £1,409, whilst Durban came third with the wettest day was on December 23, when 2.57 



333 



inches were registered. The drought lasted 21 



SCOTLAND. 



FIRE AT A NURSERY. 



Messrs. Taylor Brothers, Cedar Grove Nur- 

 series, Dirleton, East Lothian, sustained a seri- 

 ous loss through a fire which broke out there o 

 the morning of January 17. The dwelling house, 

 a timber structure, was totally destroyed, to- 

 gether with several of the greenhouses, tn 

 stables with two horses, the cowhouse, office, 

 tores and workshop. The loss is estimated a 

 upwards of £1,500. 



FORESTRY IN EDINBURGH. 

 At the meeting of the Highland and Agricul- 

 tural Society of Scotland, held in Edinburgh o 

 the 10th inst., it was resolved, on the motion o 

 Mr. R. C. Munro-Ferguson, M.P., of ^J 1 ' . 

 make the usual annual grant of £50 toward ^ din . 

 salary of the lecturer on forestry at the & 

 burgh University, 



