

ss 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



[February 10, 1912. 



EDITORIAL NOTICE. 



the average of the past 10 years; for dur- numbers of plants were dried, but it is 



ADVERTISEMKNTS should be sent to the PUB- 

 LISHER, 4*. Wellington Street, Covent Garden, 

 W.C 



-Letters lor Publication, as well as specimens of plants 

 for naming, should be addressed to the El>l TORS, 

 41, Wellington Street, Covent Garden, London. 



Communications should be WRITTEN on onk side only of 

 THE paper, sent as early in the week as possible and duly 

 signed by t)ie writer. If desired ', the signature will not be 

 printed, but kept as a guarantee 0/ good faith. 



••Special Notice to Correspondents.— The Editors do not 



undertake to pay for any contributions or illustrations, or 

 to return unused communications or illustrations, unless by 

 special arrangement. The Editors do not hold themselves 

 responsible for any opinions expressed by their correspon- 

 dents. 



•Local News. — Correspondents will greatly oblige by sending to 

 the Editors early intelligence of local events likely to be < f 

 interest to our readers, or of any matters which it is desirnb.e 

 to bring under the notice of horticulturists. 



ing this period the cultivated area has 

 been reduced by 323,000, and the rough 

 grazing area by 55,000. Thus the average 



what the author says of the living plants 

 that is of more importance. It is some- 

 thing to be read and something that can- 



for the 10 years amounts to 37,800 acres. not be given in brief — word pictures of 

 The report holds that the present shrink- plant-life and plant-associations. New- 

 foundland is about four-fifths of the 

 size of England, and its mountains 

 rise to a height of 2,000 feet. Lakes 

 are numerous and extensive, 

 rivers abound. Although situated nearly 

 wholly in a lower latitude than England, 

 its climate is more rigorous. Im- 



age is attributed not to the abandonment 

 of land, but to the encroachment of towns 

 upon the cultivated area. 



Another noteworthy fact is that, though 

 the decrease of the farming area during 

 the past 10 years amounted to only 

 0.8 per cent, of the total, the reduction 

 of area of arable land reached the high 

 figure of 6 per cent. During the years 

 1901-1911 the areas of land withdrawn 



and 



APPOINTMENTS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. f r0 m the plough amounted "to: in Eng- 



MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12- 



United Hort. Benefit and Prov. Soc. Com. meet. 



TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13- 



Roy. Hort. Soc. Ann. Meet, (no exhibition.) 



THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15- 



Linnean Soc. meet. Croydon and District Hort. Mutual 

 Improvement Soc. Ann. Dinner. 



rigorous. 



mense areas of the interior are still in a 

 state of nature, thus affording good 

 botanising grounds. We cannot follow the 

 author on any of his interesting trips, 

 but a few extracts may be made from his 

 chapter on "The Geographic Origin of 

 the Flora of Newfoundland/' So far as 



Average Mean Temperature for the ensuing week 

 deduced from observations during the last Fifty Years 

 at Greenwich-39'2°. 



Actual Temperatures: — 



London. — Wednesday % February 7 (6 p.m.) : Max. 50°; 



Min. 40 J . 



Gardeners' Chronicle Office, 41, Wellington Street, 

 Covent Garden, London — Thursday, February 8 

 (10 a.m.) : Bar. 29*0°; Temp. 49' ; Weather— 

 Dull. 



Provinces. — Wednesday, February 7 : Max 51° Corn- 

 wall; Min. 39° Lincolnshire. 



land, 601,000 acres; in Wales, 158,000 

 acres; and in Scotland, 123,000 acres. 

 It is satisfactory to observe that this re- 

 duction wa*a less during 1911 than in any known, the indigenous species and recog- 

 year since 1902. 



The number of holdings of from one to 

 five acres increased during the past 

 year by 2,085 in England and Wales 

 and the holdings of from five to 50 

 acres also show an increase of 1,601. 

 Thus the total increase in the number of 



nised varieties of flowering plants and 

 Ferns on the island number 783, while 

 there are about 200 species evidently intro- 

 duced by man. The indigenous plants are 

 divided into four classes, namely, (i.) 

 boreal, (ii.) western or Canadian types not 

 included in i., (iii.) south-western types, 



SALES FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 



"MONDAY and WEDNESDAY— 



Rose Trees, Fruit Trees, Perennials, &c, at 12.S0, 

 at Stevens's Auction Rooms, 38, King Street, Covent 

 Garden. 



MONDAY and FRIDAY— 



Herbaceous and other Plants, Hardy Bulbs, &c, at 12 ; 

 Roses and Fruit Trees, at 1.30 ; at 67 & 6S, Cheap^ide, 

 EX., by Protheroe & Morris. 



WEDNESDAY— 



Perennials and Border Plants, Lilies and Hardy Bulbs, 

 at IS; Roses and Fruit Trees, at 1.30; Palms and 

 Plants, at 5 ; at 67 & 68, Cheapside, E.C., by Protheroe 



& Morris. 



TltA -„ - Part 1 of the annual volume 



The Area of „ 



Lard under °* agricultural statistics 

 Cultivation issued by the Board of 

 in Great Agriculture is devoted to 

 Britain. acreage and live stock re- 

 turns, and is prefaced by a valuable and 

 interesting survey of the state of Great 

 Britain with respect to the extent of the 

 area under cultivation, the number of 

 small holdings, and the amount of land 

 under various crons. 



small holdings amounted during 1911 to and (iv.) endemic species or species un- 



3,686. The total number of holdings of known on the American Continent. The 



from one to 50 acres was 292,188 in 1911, striking feature of an analysis of the flora 



whereas in 1903 it was 290,671. The pre- is the fact that, of the indigenous plants 



sent number is still considerably less than of Newfoundland, 94.5 per cent, are iden- 



it was 20 years ago. For example, there tical either with species found to the north 



were in 1890, 309,290 holdings of from one of the Straits of Belle Isle or with plants 



to 50 acres. This number fell rapidly dur- which occur along the Atlantic seaboard 



ing the next few years, till, in 1895, it to the south-west, while only 3.5 per cent, 



was reduced to 299,378. The fall con- are most typically Canadian plants, 



tinued clown to 1908, when the number which on the Continent find their greatest 



was 287,176. Since that year, however, as development in latitudes and climatic 



the report points out, the tide has turned, zones parallel with those of central and 



and in the past three years there has southern Newfoundland. A large propor- 



been an increase of 5,312, or nearly 2 per tion — some 340 species — of the plants 



which abound on the Continent at the 



A table showing the extent of land western edge of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 



under fruit crops in 1911 demonstrates the which might be expected to occur in ap- 



fact that the area under small fruit and propriate habitats in Newfoundland, seem 



to be absent. In this connection the 



cent. 



orchards was almost identical in amount 

 with that of the previous year. The 

 figures are: for 1911, small fruit and 

 orchards combined, 334,995; and for 1910, 

 £34,982 acres. 



The 



oldest 



English 



author points out how little has been 

 effected by birds, winds and currents in 

 the potential conveyance of plants from 

 the mainland to the island Another in- 

 teresting fact is the presence in Newfound- 

 land of a number of Carolina plants which 



The most important point brought out Newfoundland.* colony still possessed no d ° not OCCUr in Eastern Canada, 

 in the report is the apparent reduction in 



book entitled to the de- 

 the amount of land which passed out of signation of "Flora," but Mr. Fernald, 

 cultivation during the present year as 

 •compared with the amount in recent 

 years. Thus at the present time the area 

 under cultivation in Great Britain 

 •amounts to 56,214,419 acres, of which 

 32,094,658 acres are under crops or perma- 

 nent pasture, and constitute the " culti- 

 vated area," whilst the remainder, 

 12,875,660 acres, are "mountain and 

 heath land used for grazing." 

 , The shrinkage of the cultivated area 

 has declined by 51,272 acres, whereas the 

 area returned as mountain and heath 

 land has — it is curious to record — in- 



an American, has given the world some- Royal International Horticultural 



thing much better than the ordinary Exhibition. -Particularsof the liberal reductions 

 "Flora" in the form of a narrative of a the^ International ^ Exhibition authorities allow 

 series of botanical excursions in New- 

 foundland. Rhodora, it may be men- 

 tioned, is the journal of the New England 

 Botanical Club, and it is mainly to the 

 activity of members of this club that we 

 are indebted for the recent scientific in- 

 vestigation of the vegetation of Newfound- 



land. 



Mr. Fernald opens his narrative 



with a condensed historical summary of 

 botanical discovery in the island, and 

 then proceeds to an interesting and in- 

 creased by 31,434 acres. Hence, the year structive account of the journeys accom- 

 1911 has seen a withdrawal from agricul- plished by himself and companions. Large 



tural or pastoral purposes of about \ „ . D 4 . , ^ " 



20,000 acres. " Lab.l*^ 



This amount compares favourably with ffiffiS^^^ 



in the case of professional gardeners who obtain 

 their tickets before the opening of the exhibi- 

 tion have already been published in our issue for 

 October 28, 1911. The hon. Press secretary 

 (Mr. R. Hooper Pearson) now desires to 

 state that application forms for these cheap 

 tickets have been sent to the county sec- 

 retaries. All who have the requisite qualifi- 

 cations should apply at once to the secretary 

 for the county in which they reside; the secre- 

 tary will then send a form, which the applicant 

 must fill up and return to him. Since the issue of 

 the last published list of presentation cups and 

 other special prizes, the directors have been in- 

 formed, through Mr. Jas. Whitton, one of the 

 secretaries for Scotland, that the City of Glas- 

 gow will offer a silver cup for the best exhibit 

 of hardy trees and shrubs suitable for planting 



