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under my direction. Thus in raspberry-growing, strawberry - 
growing, and peach-growing districts the diseases belonging to 
each are being treated with different re-agents to find out the 
cheapest and most effective remedy. _ : : 
There is also a plot here in which various remedies will be tried 
for the treatment of rust in wheat. This may seem at first sight 
as having little bearing on horticulture, but when I tell you that 
rust in wheat, peach and plum leaf rust, and celery rust are all 
due to fungi belonging to the same genus (Puccinia), but of 
different species, you will see that remedies found effectual for the 
one may also be useful for the other. 
The museum is another educational agency which has not been 
overlooked, and, although as yet in its infancy, it will be gradually 
extended. I hope before long to have displayed, in an attractive 
form, specimens of the various diseases to which our fruit trees, 
fruit, and vegetables are most liable, with the most reliable infor- 
mation as to remedies accompanying them so that growers may 
recognise the disease, when it appears, and apply the remedy 
accordingly. 
New implements and inventions of interest to the horticulturist 
will also find a place here, and I would just call your attention to 
the latest addition—the Strawsonizer, which, as a distributor of 
liquids or powders for the destruction of insect and fungus pests, as 
a broadcaster of the various chemical fertilizers, and even as a sower 
of seeds of various kinds with great regularity, is recognised to be 
the most efficient combination machine we possess at the present 
time. 
There is another instrument—a patent seed germinator—which 
is found to be very useful in testing the germinating power and 
vitality of the different kinds of seeds. This is a subject in which 
the students here will be exercised. Mr. Ellery has likewise pro- 
mised a complete set of meteorological instruments, and the 
students, under Mr. Neilson’s direction, will watch and record the 
varying phases of the weather and its effects on vegetation. The 
desire on the part of the board of advice to make the benefits of 
the school as largely available as possible is seen in the fact that 
the lectures are free to all interested in horticultural pursuits, and 
even the ladies are invited. 
WomEN STUDENTS. 
; It is not to be imagined, however, that Victoria takes the lead 
in this respect, for at the Swanley Horticultural College, Kent, 
a ladies’ branch has been opened. We learn from a recent issue of 
the Queen newspaper that although this college is still in its 
infancy, having only been two years in existence, already the ex- 
periment of providing for women students is being tried. A 
maodern villa near the college has been neatly furnished, and 
