March 16, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



173 



base gradually decays, allowing water to 

 penetrate into the crotch. The imperfect joint is 

 constantly forced open by the wind and pre- 

 vented from uniting by the eld stump, until 

 finally, weakened by decay, the tree splits. 

 Many of the finest trees are ruined every year by 

 the splitting of these defective crotches. These 



land Agricultural College, experiments were made 

 with the Soya Bean under field conditions in 

 1J1U, the district chosen being Nairnshire. That 

 season was wet, cold, and rather anaettled, still 

 the plants developed plenty of foliage, and at- 

 tained to the flowering stage, but they failed to 

 produce pods. 





cases are often exceedingly difficult to treat. The -ROYAL CALEDONIAN HORTICULTURAL 



/The schedules for this Society's two exhibi- 

 tions, on April 10 and 11 and September 11 

 and 12 respectively, bear evidence of careful 

 revision and adaptation to the changing tastes 

 of the times, and show that reasonable re- 

 quirements have been met so far as funds 

 allow. The classes are well arranged, and pro- 

 vide for all the most important produce of the 

 respective seasons. Both shows will be held in 

 the Waverley Market, Edinburgh. New and im- 

 proved arrangements have been made with th; 

 railway companies, which are issuing return 

 tickets from all stations in Scotland at single fare 

 and a third for the double journey available to 

 return up to the day after. Special excursion 

 fares will also be issued from the border districts. 



EDINBURGH BOTANIC GARDENS AND 



THE CORPORATION. 



In the Outer House of the Court of Session 

 decision was given on March 7 in the action by 

 the Corporation of Edinburgh against the Lord 

 Advocate, as representing the Commissioners of 

 His Majesty's Works and Public Buildings. It 

 will be remembered that the dispute, as was stated 

 in our columns some time ago, arose in connec- 

 tion with the proposed erection of additional 

 buildings at the Royal Botanic Gardens, which 

 would have projected beyond the building line 

 of the street at Inverleith Row. The Corpora- 

 tion applied for declarator that the Commis- 

 sioners of Works were not entitled to do this, 

 and Lord Ormidale has now decided in favour of 

 the applicants. Correspondent. 



decayed matter must first be removed with great 

 care and thoroughness. The opening is then 

 packed tightly with cement. A perfect water- 

 shed is required, as the water running down the 

 limbs and trunk would otherwise find lodgment 

 behind the filling. In case of a large tree the 

 additional precaution is taken of putting a bolt 

 directly through the crotch, while a chain is 

 placed some 12 or 15 feet up. 



Publications Received. — Official Guide, 



Royal Botanic Gardens, Peiadeniya, by H. P. 



MacMillan. (Colombo : Plate & Co.) Price 2s.— 

 The Study cf Timber and Forest Products in 

 America : A Report presented to the Forestiy 

 Committee of the University of Cambridge, by 

 E. R. Burdon, M.S. (Cambridge : University 

 Press.) Price 6d. net.—Aorth of England Horti- 

 cultural Society's Magazine rcr March. — Pro- 

 titable Poultry Keeping. (London : C. Arthur 

 Pearson, Ltd.) Price Is. net. — Bulletin of 

 Miscellaneous Info, motion, Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Kew. No. 2, 1912. (London: Wyman 

 & Sons, Ltd.) Price 3d — Proceedings of the 

 Thirteenth Annual Convention of the American 

 Associatizn of Park Superintendents:, held at 

 Kansas City. Secretary-treasurer, F. L. Mulford, 

 Landscape Gardener, Department of Agriculture, 



Washington, U.S.A. 



Botanic Gardens and 



Government Domains, Aew South Wales. 



Report for the year 1910, by J. H. Maiden, 

 Duector. (Sydney: W. A. Gullick, Government 

 Fruiter.)— Ihe Garaener ar.dthe Cook, by Lucy 

 H. Yates. (London: Constab.e & Co., Ltd) 

 Price 3s. Gd.—Meteoiohgi.al Instruments and 

 Weather Foreca.ts, by H. T. Davidge. (London : 

 Percival Marshall & Co ) Price 6d. 



SGOTLANO. 



WAGES OF JOBBING GARDENERS IN 



ABERDEEN. 



A meeting of jobbing gardeners in Aber- 

 deen was held a week or so ago, and was 

 largely attended by both employers and em- 

 ployees. Mr. Fraser, who presided, stated that 

 me object of the meeting was to consider what 

 could be done to improve the working conditions 

 01 the jobbing gardeners. The discussion was of 

 a sympathetic nature, but several of the em- 

 ployers complained of the competition caused 

 oy men who went from door to door and offered 

 k> perform gardening work. The emplo V ers, 



fr°7 eV /. e I' 4 ° ff f; ed to raise the wa g es of the men 

 irorn 4a. to 6d. per hour, and made a suggestion 



that the men should form a union, agreeing that 

 Jd an hour was too little. After the employers 



r<w!i eUr ! d th6 men a PP° int ed a committee to 

 consider the question, and it was suggested by 

 one of those present that they should endeavour 



hour * h ° UrS Week at a rate of 6d " P er 



ABERDEEN FLORISTS' GRIEVANCES. 

 The florists in Aberdeen are taking exception 



DotnLff 1Ce ° f lendin 8 free nowers and 

 frmJ 1 S f f om the P ublic P arks for private 



JSnS?V? d t° indi ? iduals - The matte ' c *™ 

 oft! J y T n the ¥ nks and Parks Committee 

 that L rj 1 C ? Uncd ' and the conv ener stated 



this ooni- ref r* d a ? reat man ^ "quests in 

 out £° nnectlo, \ but at the same time, in givim- 



Se pra'tW Md P !f ntS ' t had been fo11 ™^ 

 *e practjee carried out by previous conveners" 



THE SOYA BEAN IN SCOTLAND. 



JoW n Sn ! Urdie '/ jlginshire ' kst summer > Colonel 

 6* ^ Beans ;P,i a "£ °L ^ '^-"atured 

 Johnston^in il : cine 1 bls P lda )- It is Colonel 

 a nlnt „? • mtention this year to sow alongside 



*2d in' "STf S6ed the beans he himselTpro: 

 cCti4 n ti ° n d « r a to '^certain if any de § re * of ac- 



the au*ptS "of fw^T 11 "^ by them ' Under 



s Piees of the Aberdeen and North of Scot- 



this 



IRELAND. 



IRISH FORESTRY SOCIETY. 



The general meeting of this society was held 

 on the 20th ult. It was agreed, on the 

 motion of Mr. R. J. Kelly, that ' 

 society calls on the county councils to exercise 

 their power under the Land Act, 1909, to levy 

 a rate for the purpose of acquiring waste lands 

 and to have such lands planted under the advice 

 and with the financial assistance of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture." The resolution also ex- 

 pressed the society's appreciation of the work 

 carried out under the various departments of 

 the Irish Forestry Societies. As timber is be- 

 coming scarce, it is to be hoped that the Council 

 will use its influence to have waste land in 

 Ireland planted with trees. W. A. M. 



HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 



(The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for 

 the opinions expressed by correspondents.) 



Crocuses at Hampton Court. — The effect 

 produced at Hampton Court by Crocuses planted 

 in grass and beneath lofty, overhanging trees 

 has been delightful during the past few 

 weeks. The area planted with these bulbous 

 plants in these delightful gardens must be 

 several acres, and the Crocuses number 

 hundreds of thousands. As seen on the last days 

 of February the spectacle was charming, 

 the masses of yellow here and there standing out 

 with great effect. Batches of pure white, 

 striped, yellow, purple, mauve and various other 

 hued flowers all combined to make a wondrously 

 beautiful display. It was interesting to note the 

 little harm that had been done to the flowers by 

 birds, and then not to the yellow varieties, which 

 they generally affect, but rather the white sorts. 

 Still, the damage seemed to be infinitesimal. As 

 the grass will not need mowing until late in the 

 spring, there will be ample time for the Crocuses 

 to develop strong leafage and for the corms to 

 mature. Visitor. 



Solanum jasminoides (see pp. 142, 158).— I 

 have this species planted in a sheltered southern 

 position here for the past 20 years, and it 

 flowers profusely in the summer and autumn 

 months. I may say that the thermometer has 

 recorded 20° of frost repeatedly a few yards 

 away, and only the young growths have been 



slightly injured. A. Tomalin, Oahwood Gar- 

 th ns> A ent. 



I planted two specimens of this species 

 against a wall having a south aspect in May, 

 1910. The sites were prepared, and uood soil com- 

 posed of top-spit and other materials added. The 

 plants were about 4 feet high, and were nicely 

 rooted in 6-inch pots. They reached the top of 

 the wall— about 20 feet— the first season, and 

 passed through the winter of 1910-11 unprotected 

 and unharmed. They did not flower quite so 

 freely last summer as might have been expected, 

 but they have again come through the winter 

 safely (with the exception of a few injured tips), 

 and withstood 19° of frost registered in Steven- 

 son's screen with a Kew-tested thermometer. I 

 am hoping for better results this summer as re- 

 gards flowers. Plants in a south-west aspect 

 have not fared so well. These gardens are about 



18 miles from the south coast, W. E. y UckfUld, 

 Sussex. 



Currant Bud Mite.— After carefully reading 

 the latter portion of .Mr. Pearson's remarks on 

 p. 153, one must infer that he regards but lightly 

 the practice, so widely advised, of picking 

 off the affected buds from the bushes and de- 

 stroying them. Admittedly the procedure may 

 be comparatively useless when bushes are so 

 badly infested with the mite that the majority of 

 the buds are attacked, but the plants certainly 

 were not in that condition at the outset, and only 

 grave neglect to take ordinary precautions could 

 account for such a state of things. It is in its 

 initial stage of development that " big bud " 

 should be sought for and removed. In such work 

 a person with an active hand and a quick eye 

 could gather many thousands of affected buds 

 during a single day. If such buds be gathered 

 during the winter when the mites in them are 

 dormant — and such gatherings might be made two 

 or three times during the resting season — how 

 many of the insects w T ould thus be destroyed in- 

 stead of being left alive and active, to be'killed, ' 

 when migrating in the spring, by spraying. It 

 would be interesting to learn from Mr. Pearson 

 whether spraying in one season, though perhaps 

 repeated six times, suffices to exterminate the mite 

 absolutely on a breadth of bushes, or is it needful 

 to repeat the sprayings year after year ? If big- 

 bud can thus be eradicated in a single season it is 

 indeed a valuable remedy, but if the spraying 

 is needed year^ after year, then it is far from 

 being as efficacious as is assumed. A. D. 



Aphyllanthes monspeliensis L. — Mr. 



Reginald Farrer's suggestion (Gard. Chron., 

 March 1), that this interesting Mediterranean 

 plant should be more grown in gardens 

 is an excellent one. It was hardly necessary, 

 however, for that gentleman to have imperilled 

 his life in procuring specimens, for the plant is 

 not so limited in distribution as he supposes. 

 He " believes it is peculiar to the Western 

 Riviera and to the most northerly points of 

 Africa." As a matter of fact, it also grows in 

 Spain and Portugal, the Pyrenees, the two 

 French Departments of Gers and Aveyron, con- 

 siderably north of the Pyrenees, and in northern 

 Italy. Its northern limit seems to be the Dg- 

 partnient of Ain, ^hich is west of Geneva and 

 Haute Savoie, and there are specimens in the 

 Cambridge University herbarium from near 

 Lyons and Chamberv in Savov. Prof. Penzig 

 sent out specimens from Liguria, where it is a 

 frequent plant in healthy Pine woods of the 

 coast, though absent from the Bordighera and 

 San Remo district, according to Mr. Bicknell. 

 Moggridge said it extended " eastward to near 

 Genoa " (Flora of Mentone, 1874). Albert and 

 Jahandiez* say it is common on the littoral of 

 the Department of the Var and it ascends the 

 forest of the Dom. I have always found Aphyl- 

 lanthes on arid limestone, on banks or woodland 

 ridges, as your correspondent say*, but I have 

 wseen the plant in only three places, viz., on the 

 outskirts of limestone woods, full of Hepatica. 

 above Toulon; on Mt. Coudon, that great 



Catalogue des Plantes Vase du Dept. du Var. (1908) 



