March 2, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



Ill 



Children and Gardening.— Two hundred 

 pupils at the Southfield Road Council Schools, 

 Bedford Park, London, are at present growing 

 bulbs, which will be exhibited at the flower 

 show to be arranged by the head-master of the 

 school. 



Nitrogen in Rain Water. —Careful esti- 

 mates of the amount of nitrogen compounds (am- 

 monia and nitrates) in rain made by J. Hudig at 

 the Experiment Station, Groningen, Netherlands, 

 and published in the Journal of Agricultural 

 Science (iv., January 3, 1912), show that, with 

 an average rainfall of 23 inches, only about 

 50 lbs. of nitrogen, per acre are deposited by 

 rain during the year. 



where wind and heavy snow prevail. Evidently, 

 therefore, planters must take these facts into 

 consideration when selecting seed or planting 

 seedlings in any given locality. 



W 



The Bulletin 



of Agricultural Statistics for February, which 

 has just been published by the International 

 Institute of Agriculture, contains preliminary 

 returns of the Wheat and Oats harvests in the 

 Southern Hemisphere. The crop of Wheat is esti- 



■ ■ ■ ■ 



000 cwts. ; Australia, 



oou 



000 cwts. ; 



New Zealand, 3,475,000 cwts.; or, exprossed in 

 percentages of last year's production in the in- 

 dividual countries, these figures work out at 



_ m 125.1, 106.9, 79.2, and 78.4 respectively. If to 



-The Scottish Botanical Review. -*-We these figures be added the Wheat production of 



extend a hearty welcome to this new quarterly the Northern Hemisphere in 1911, as published 



magazine, the first number of which was pub- in last month's Bulletin for the following coun- 

 lished recently. We are pleased to observe that, 

 whilst the interests of " pure " botany are not 



neglected, space is found for a contribution on 

 applied botany, a subject which, in this 

 country, has no special journal. The article to 



tries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, 

 Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain and 

 Ireland, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Norway, 

 Netherlands, Roumania, Rtu an Empire, 

 Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, United States, 



Fig, 57 — eucharis grandiflora as cultivated at kelsey park. 



which we refer consists of the presidential ad- 

 dress delivered by Dr. A. W. Borthwtpk hpfnra 



So 



India, Japan, Algeria, Egypt, Tunis, and a total 

 Wheat production of 1,845,203,000 cwts. is ob- 

 tained, which is 99.5 per cent, of the production 

 in 1910. The production of Maize in Argentina 

 is estimated at 137,750,000 cwts. as against 

 13,775,000 cwts. last year, when an abnormally 

 low yield was obtained owing to the drought. 

 The area sown to Wheat during the autumn of 



of last year. Dr. Borthwick points out in the 

 course of his paper many of the various direc- 

 tions in which botanical science may be made of 

 service to horticulture and agriculture. Thus, 



the study of the plant in relation to its surround- AM ««. .*,-„ w wwmw . HViraav we mmwam oi 

 ings, now known as ecology, has led to dis- 1911 in Belgium, France, Great Britain, Hun- 

 coveries of practical importance to foresters, and gary, Roumania, and Japan is greater than that 

 may be expected to be of yet greater value in the sown during the corresponding period of 1910, 

 near future. In illustration of the practical but that sown in Spain, Canada, United States, 

 value of applied ecology, Dr. Borthwick men- and India is less than in the autumn of 1910.' 

 tions Kienitz's investigations into the shapes The condition of the winter cereal crops in the 

 and types of the Scots Pine. This observer has 

 demonstrated that two well-marked types of 

 Scots Pine exist and that each breeds true. The 

 one, a strong-branched, strong-crowned tree, is 

 the typical Scotch form. The other, slender and 

 pyramidal, occurs generally in the Baltic pro- 

 vinces. Each of the two types is specially fitted 

 for certain localities. The Scottish type holds its 

 own best in milder regions; the Baltic tvpe is 

 thej Ktter adapte d to more rigorou s conditions, 



* No. 1, January, 1912. (Edinburgh : Neill £ Co.) 2s. Gd. 



Northern Hemisphere is good. 



Publications Received.— A Guide to the 



National Insurance Act, 1911, by H. Wippell 



Gadd. (London : Effingham Wilson.) Price 

 Is. net. — The Complete Gardener, by H. H. 



Thomas. (London : Cassell & Co., Ltd.) Price 



10s. 6d — Everybody's Gardening Book, by the 



Editor of Garden Life. (London : Garden Life 

 Press.) Price Is. — Monthly Reminders, by 

 Leslie Greening. (London : Agricultural and 

 Horticultural Association.) Price Id. — Royal 



Horticultural Society of Ireland. Eighty-second 

 Annual Beport, with Statement of Accounts for 



1911. (Dublin : G. F. Healy, 23, Lower Ormond 



Quay.)— The Hardy Plant Society's Year Book, 



1912. (Burnley : The Horticultural Printing Co.) 

 Price Is. 3d. post free. —Board of Agriculture 

 and Fisheries. Agricultural Statistics : Returns 

 of Produce of Crops in Great Britain. (London : 

 Wyman & Sons, Ltd.) Price ^.—Official Cata- 

 logue of Sweet Pea Names, 1912. (National 

 Sweet Pea Society. Secretary, Chas. H. Curtis, 

 Adelaide Koad, Brentford.) Price 6d. 



EUCHARIS GRANDIFLORA. 



Eucharis grandiflora is an old plant in 

 gardens, where it is commonly known as 1 

 ainazonica. It forms an excellent subject for 

 the stove, and the beautiful white blossoms 

 are produced at a season when flowers art- 

 scarce, making them specially valuable. AVe 



are indebted to Mr. Mark Webster, Kelsey Park 

 Gardens, Beckenham, for the opportunity of 

 illustrating the magnificent specimen shown in 

 fig. 57. Our correspondent contributes the fol 

 lowing particulars : 



"The plant is six feet in diameter and it 

 produced 36 spikes, with an average of five 

 blooms to each. It was grown from a small 

 specimen, and has been planted in loam mixed 

 with old mortar sif tings. Some years ago the 

 plant was badly attacked by Eucharis 

 mite, showing distinct red streaks above and 

 below the soil on the leaf -stalks ; but repeated 

 applications of lime water gave good results, 

 and further trouble was prevented by adopting 

 a different rooting medium, no leaf-mould or 

 manure being used in the compost. The plant 

 flowers tw T ice a year; it is placed in extra heat 

 some six weeks before the blooms are required. 

 During active growth the plant is provided 

 with an abundant supply of moisture, and weak 

 liquid manure is afforded throughout the flower- 

 ing and growing periods. When growth is corn- 

 complete rest. Perfect drainage is essential to 

 success." 



IRELAND. 



SWEET PEAS. 



I have been asked by a well-known English 

 contributor to the Gardeners 9 Chronicle what 

 I, as an Irish gardener and exhibitor of Sweet 

 Peas, believed to be the best 12 varieties. The 

 following is my selection : — Moneymaker, white ; 

 Clara Curtis, cream; Doris Usher, pink and 

 cream ; Stirling Stent, orange ; Helen Lewis, 

 salmon ; Flora Norton, blue ; Nubian, maroon ; 

 Mrs. W. J. Unwin, white and orange ; Earl 

 Spencer, orange-pink; Hon. Mrs. E. Kenyon, 

 primrose ; Countess Cadogan, deep blue ; "and 

 Paradise Ivory, ivory-pink. For Moneymaker 

 could be substituted Dorothy Eckford, as there 

 is not much to choose between these two white 

 varieties. 



RECLAIMING BOG LAND. 



The following letter is from Mr. G. B. 

 Thompson, formerly gardener for a great num- 

 ber of years at Calderwood Castle, Lanarkshire, 

 Scotland, and who has made bog-reclaiming one 

 of his chief studies for the past 12 years. " Ad- 

 joining my garden was a plot of bog land about 

 1 acre in extent. I had the whole drained, and 

 the Heather cut and burned, preparatory to 

 turning it into orchard land. Holes were then 

 dug in rows made 12 feet apart, and spaces of 

 10 feet were allowed between the holes in the 

 rows. They were made 4 feet deep, and 5 and 

 6 feet wide, being afterwards filled with road 

 scrapings mixed with old pasture. These 

 materials being placed firmly in the holes to 

 within 1 foot of the ground level. The trees 

 w r ere ready, and planting was commenced on 

 January 21, 1900, the orchard being wholly 

 planted by the following year. After planting 

 I mulched the trees with farmyard manure." 

 Mr. Thompson and myself tried this mefhod 

 of reclamation in a small way some time 

 before. I planted fruit trees in the same 

 way on the same sort of land, and this orchard 

 would be hard to surpass for abundant fruiting, 

 freedom from disease, and general good condition 

 of the trees. W. A. Maxwell, Cool fin, 

 Banagher, King's Co. 



