346 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 444. 



ing, the tendency lately having been to set up a bookish 

 knowledge of horticulture as preferable to that obtained by 

 actual practice, on the assumption that the man who could 

 talk or write about work was more likely to be a compe- 

 tent performer than the man who can work but cannot 

 deliver orations or write essays about it. 



Royal Gardens, Kew. — The following paragraph has 

 been published in The Times and other papers. It may be 

 said to indicate unusual interest on the part of the general 

 public in the work and development of Kew : " Some 

 important alterations are now being carried out at Kew. 

 The temperate house, projected by the late Prince Consort, 

 was originally designed to comprise a central structure, 

 two octagons and two wings. The wings were not added ; 

 but the Government has now granted the necessary funds, 

 and already such progress has been made that the south 

 wing is nearly completed, and the north wing will be con- 

 structed at the earliest possible date. When finished, the 

 temperate house will be one of the most striking and prob- 

 ably the largest of the kind in existence. Its central ave- 

 nue will be six hundred feet long, and there will be a clear 

 view from end to end. This, it may be added, will be just 

 double the length of the present largest house — the Palm 

 house — in the gardens. The south wing will be used espe- 

 cially for the accommodation of succulent plants, Agaves, 

 the taller Cacti, and the like, from such subtropical countries 

 as the Cape, the highlands of Mexico, and the Canary 

 Islands. Limited in the area of their growths, the plants 

 have hitherto been necessarily confined in tubs, but in their 

 new quarters they will be out in beds, where they may be 

 expected to flower and add a new attraction to the Royal 

 Gardens." 



Cooperation among Gardeners and Farmers. — The British 

 Produce Supply Association has been formed to encourage 

 the cultivation of fruit, vegetables, etc., in the United King- 

 dom and assist in its distribution among consumers. Lord 

 Winchilsea is the principal mover in the scheme, which 

 already has made considerable progress toward organiza- 

 tion. The scheme now includes not merely the existence 

 of a central body in London for the collection and distri- 

 bution of British produce, but the formation of a network 

 of local associations throughout the United Kingdom, 

 working in complete harmony with the central body in 

 accordance with the general principles laid down, yet each 

 having its own administration, and arranging, in turn, for 

 the thorough organization of its own district. The first of 

 these local bodies is now being formed in south Lincoln- 

 shire, with Sleaford as the centre, the idea being that, in the 

 initial stage, operations shall be commenced in that county 

 under the personal supervision of Lord Winchilsea, and a 

 more or less perfect model secured, which can be copied in 

 other counties afterward. Some little anxiety had been 

 felt as to the actual extent to which the farmers and market 

 growers themselves would support the movement, for while 

 the ,£50,000 required to begin with by the central body in 

 London has been readily subscribed by six hundred and 

 fifty leading landowners in the country, it was felt that the 

 success of the movement as a whole would largely depend 

 upon the help given by the producers in the formation and 

 carrying on of the local associations. The result shows 

 that the scheme has been received with great favor in south 

 Lincolnshire, where, indeed, there is hardly a cultivator of 

 any standing at all who has not taken shares in the Slea- 

 ford association, and thus secured a personal interest in its 

 future welfare. 



The Royal Horticultural Society is this year endeavor- 

 ing to extend its influence to the provinces of England 

 by means of deputations of representative horticulturists 

 which attend plant exhibitions, where, by giving lectures, 

 awarding prizes and in other ways showing an interest in 

 the exhibits, they add to the importance of the occasion and 

 give valuable assistance. Exhibitions at York and at Chester 

 have already received this attention from what is now 

 known as the " parent " society of horticulture. At Chester 

 last week the President, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Dean Hole 



and Mr. F. W. Burbidge were the principal representatives 

 of the society, taking part in the conference by reading 

 papers. That by Sir Trevor was on the History of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society ; Dean Hole discoursed hu- 

 morously on Garden Craft, and Mr. Burbidge dealt with 

 the Literature of Horticulture. The Dean was particularly 

 happy in his gibes at the people who pretend to love hor- 

 ticulture, but neither know nor care anything about it. He 

 also struck the right note when he warned gardeners 

 against too great an anxiety to improve nature, such efforts 

 too often ending in disfigurement or worse. Statues, mud- 

 banks, stagnant pools and brickbats were also ridiculed as 

 abominations in the garden. 



Iron versus Wood for Greenhouses. — Some horticultur- 

 ists, whom I think I may term old-fashioned, are preju- 

 diced against the use of iron instead of wood in the 

 construction of plant-houses because of the supposed 

 coldness of the iron and its excessive contractility in cold 

 weather. From actual experience, I should say there is 

 practically nothing in this objection, and looking at the 

 enormous difference between the amount of light possible 

 in an iron structure compared with one of wood I should 

 say that, bar expense, the argument is all in favor of iron. 

 I have lately seen several large new conservatories which 

 support this contention, those built of iron, or, better still, 

 of cast-steel, being lighter, more elegant and horticulturally 

 far superior to the wooden ones, although these latter are, 

 according to the architect, as light as they can be with 

 safety. An architect does not understand that every inch 

 of opaque roof-surface is a loss to the plants, and that the 

 most perfect roof for a plant-house, were it possible, would 

 be one of entire transparency. Where wood is used on 

 account of cheapness it should be reduced to the lowest 

 possible minimum, the panes of glass being as wide and 

 strong as possible. It should not be forgotten that stout 

 glass is in itself a great stiffener in structure. The expe- 

 rience of horticulturists in your country ought to be of 

 value, the extremes of temperature with you being a greater 

 test than what we experience here. 



Bulb-farming in Scilly. — The small group of islands off 

 the extreme point of Cornwall have lately become impor- 

 tant horticulturally as sources of the best samples of Nar- 

 cissi bulbs. Originally started with the object of growing 

 forced Daffodils for the English market, the farmers soon 

 found themselves overstocked with bulbs, but on market- 

 ing the bulbs the prices realized were so satisfactory that 

 the bulbs are now looked upon as of greater importance 

 than the flowers. The growers grade the bulbs annually, 

 sending the largest and best to the bulb dealers, planting 

 the second size for flowers and to grow on, while the small 

 ones are put into the nursery-beds. English dealers prefer 

 Daffodils from Scilly before those from Holland. Other 

 bulbous plants besides Narcissi are being tried on the same 

 lines. The development of this lucrative industry is due 

 to the enterprise of T. A. Dorien-Smith, Esq., of Tresco 

 Abbey, who devotes a considerable portion of land to 

 experimental bulb-culture and invites his neighbors to copy 

 his most successful efforts. 



Solanum cernuum. — The August number of The Botanical 

 Magazine contains a figure of this species, which, for some 

 years, has been a conspicuous plant in the temperate house 

 at Kew, under the synonymous name of Solanum jubatum. 

 It has an erect, unbranched woody stem ten feet high, 

 bearing a head of large spreading oblong leaves two feet 

 by one and a half feet, dark green, leathery, silvery on the 

 under side, and, when young, clothed on both sides with 

 long brown scurf-like hairs, the petiole and stem being 

 permanently clothed with similar hairs. The flowers, 

 which are borne in short cernuous cymes about the bases 

 of the leaf-stalks, are white, with yellow anthers, and on 

 strong plants they are produced in sufficient abundance to 

 make a good show. The principal value of the species, 

 however, is as a striking foliage-plant for a cool green- 

 house, its large, bold foliage and tree-like habit adapting it 

 for large conservatories. It may be propagated from cut- 



