150 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



February 24, 1912. 



saprophyte, feeding on the humus present 

 in the soil, is of great practical importance. 

 With a full knowledge of this fact it is 

 not difficult to understand that when large 

 quantities of animal manure are buried in 

 the soilj in layers or otherwise, the fungus 

 rapidly spreads through the rich material, 

 and soon makes its way into the tissues of 

 the plants. The ent.rance of tlie raycelia is 

 greatly facilitated when the roots have the 

 run of a rich medium, because of the 

 greater softness of theii 



outer cover- 

 Humus is, of course, essential 

 to"the healthy growth of the plants, but 

 there can hardly be any doubt that a reduc- 

 tion in the quantity of animal manure that 

 is sometimes employed might with advan- 

 tage be effected. It should be remembered 

 that sweet peas, in common with other legu- 

 minous plants, can, with the aid of nitrify- 

 ing organisms, obtain the greater part of 

 the nitrogen they require from the atmo- 

 sphere, and also that when this is 



it encourages a soft sappy 



given in 



growth and coarseness both in tlie flowers 

 and flower stems. It is of import- 

 ance also to avoid, where practicable, 

 growing sweet peas on the same ground 

 for several conse<-utive yeai-s, and to 

 utilise as far as possible the aid soil 

 sterilisation is able to give. To sterilise 

 be<ls and borders may not be prac- 

 ticable, but there should be no great 

 difficulty iu providing a sufficient quantity 

 of sterilised soil for raising stocks under 

 glass, and thus enable the plants to pass 

 through a vulnerable stage with at least 

 some deorree of immunity. 



of spring in its relation to the garden will 

 be published on March 2, and will not be 

 less interesting and useful than correspond- 

 ing issues of previous years. The sub- 

 jects that will be dealt with have lieen 

 selected with special reference to the re- 

 quirements of the season, and the needs 

 of readers. Chief among the contents 

 will l>e articles on the finely-flavoured peas, 

 mainci'op potatoes, summer lettuces, a 

 valuable dry weather A-egetable, melons 

 and melon ^ culture, tul>erous begonias, 

 greenhouse flowers from seeds, annuals for 

 »>eds and borders, the usefulness of asters, 

 fine foliage plants from seed, and seasonable 

 notes on sweet peas. The number will be 

 profusely illustrated. 



The Botanical Mafirazine for 



Magazine 



■the current month contains illustrations of 

 several remarkable plants. The first of 

 these is Stanhopea peruviana^ a yellow- 

 flowered species allied to S. AVardi. Then 

 come Stranveesia undulata, a Chinese tree, 

 found by Mr. E. H. Wilson; this is an 

 evergreen species that bears a profusion of 

 orange-coloured fruits, after the fashion 

 of the popular Crataegus Lelandi; Lepto- 

 spermum scoparium Nicholli, a New Zea- 

 land plant, and an elegant greenhouse sub- 

 ject, with deep carmine-coloured flowers; 

 Olearia Chathaniica, a rare half-hardy spe- 

 cies . bearing white, violet-tinted flower 

 heads two inches broad, the disc beino; 



r. James Vert is well known to 



our readers because of his great success as 

 a cultivator of perpetual carnations and 

 plums— widely <lift'ering subjects. Mr. 

 Vert has charge of a famous garden, that 

 of Audley End, Saffron Walden, but ere 

 he reached his present positicm there were 

 many years of working and waiting. In 

 1871 he left his father, who wus then 

 head gardener and land steward to the 

 Hon. Arthur Lascelles, to serve an appren- 

 ticeship of four years under the late Mr. 

 James Fowler, head gardener to the Earl 

 of Harewood, Harewootl Hall, near Leeds. 

 His apprenticeship .served, Mr. Vert went 

 to Knowsley, under Mr. Harrison, to take 

 charge of the fruit houses, and from Knows- 

 lev he entered service with Messrs. Fisher, 

 Son, and Sibray, of Sheffield, where he 

 had charge of the stove and greenhouse 

 plants. Wishing to extend his experience, 

 he then served under Mr. Hudson, gar- 

 dener to Godfrey AVent worth, Esq., at 

 Woollev Park. His next move was to the 

 celebrated gardens at Burghley, the Mar- 

 quis of Exeter's seat, where, under the 

 famous Mr. Richard Gilbert, he stayt-d four 

 years, and rose to be general foreman. In 

 1880 'Mr. Vert was appointe<l ]i*^a<l gar- 

 dener to Lord Braybrooke, at Audley End, 

 and occupied that position for twenty-four 

 years. On the death of Lord Braybrooke, 

 in 1904, Audley End was taken by Lord 

 Howard de Walden, whose marriage this 

 week was one of the great events in 

 societv. Lord Howard de Walden is a 

 great'lover of gardens and gardening, and 

 is president of the Perpetual Carnation 

 Society ; so that, with the encouragement 



he gives and the great interest he takes 

 in them, the gardens at Andley End are 

 now occupying a higher position than ever 

 under the skilful management of Mr. 

 James Vert, who, we might add. has for 

 manv vears been a member of the R.H.S. 

 P>nit Committee. 



The 

 Spring 



Gardeners' 

 Number. — Our 



a 



J- 



violet-piu-ple ; and Crassula Barklejn, 

 curious little succulent plant with imbricat- 

 ing leaves clustering round the two-inch 

 high stem so as to form a little column ; 

 the small wliite flowers are producetl in a 

 little chister at the apex of growth. 



Botanical Researcli at South 



agaaeine 



annual is^sue 



spec 



Ke n s 1 ngto n. — The building of the 



Botanical Institute in Prince Consort 

 Road, Soutli Kensington, has been com- 

 menced, and has the promise of being an 

 important addition t-o the Imperial College 

 of Science and Technology. The architect 

 is Sir Aston Webb, R.A., and the four- 

 storey building ha.s a length of 120 feet 

 and a depth of 50 feet. The two lower 

 floors will be devoted to the general bota- 

 nical work of the college, which is now car- 

 l ied on at the Royal College of Science in 

 Exhibition Road. On the two upper floors 

 will be located the new Department of 

 Plant Physiology and Pathology, and these, 

 it need hardly be said, have been designed 

 with special reference to the work that 

 will be carrie<l on by those engaged in bota- 

 nical research. The greenhouse-laboratory 

 on the top floor will be a distinct feature ; 

 it will have a length of 25 feet and a width 

 of 20 feet, and is the first of its kind that 

 ha,s been erected in the Tnitecl Kingdom. 

 With a cement floor and a glass roof, it will 

 combine the advantages of a greenhouse 

 aiul a hiboratory. A physiological labora- 

 tory and a research laboratory for the pro- 

 fe.ssor will l>e located on the samo floor, and 

 also a professor's room. In addition there 

 will be a research lal>oratory for his assis- 

 tant, and five research rooms. A bio-chemi- 

 cal laboratory, a pathological laboratory, a 

 bacteriological laboratory, a constant-tem- 

 perature room^ and two more researcli 

 rooms will occupy the third floor. The esti- 

 mated cost of the building is £14,000. As 

 our readers have been ^informed, the Pro- 

 fessorship of Plant Physiology and Patho- 

 losv was established last year, and Piv>- 



H. Blackman, of the Leeds 

 University, wms appointe<l. There are at 

 the present time seven stu<lents at work, 

 namely, a graduate of Alterdeen. a graduate 

 of Edinburgh, a student who has been a 

 chemist and bacteriologist in Jamaica for 

 three years, two students of the Imperial 

 College in their fourth year, two students 

 working under the John Innes Trust at 



fessor \ . 



Merton, one of whom holds the Cambridge 

 Diploma in Agriculture, and is a Develop- 

 ment Commission scholar in plant physio- 

 logy, and a lady who has taken the London 

 B.Sc. degree. The aim is to make the 

 department a centre for research of scien- 

 tific and economic importance in relation 

 to plant life as well as to qualify students 

 for appointments throughout the British 

 Empire. 



Horticultural and Agricul- 

 tural Research.^ — In reply to a ques- 

 tion in the House of Commons on Tuesday 

 Mr. Runciman, the President of the Board 

 of Agricxdture, stated that a grant of 

 £30,000 per annum will be made from the 

 Development Fund for work at research in- 

 stitutes in the following subjects, viz. : 

 Plant physiology, plant pathology (Mycolo- 

 gical side), plant breeding, fruit growing, 

 phmt nutrition, and soil problems, animal 

 nutrition, animal breeding, animal patho- 

 logy, dairy investigation, agricultural zoo- 

 log}', and the economics of agriculture. 

 Negotiations are proceeding as to the places 

 at which the work will be carried on. It is 

 proposed to allocate an additional sum of 

 £5,000 for investigations of a special char- 

 acter during the ensuing financial year, and 

 Mr. Runciman hopes shortly to be in a 

 position to announce the purposes for 

 which this sum will be expended. 



Gardeners' Royal Benevolent 



I n s t i t u t i O n . — The committee of the 

 liiverpool Auxiliary, in notifying their 

 eleventh annual concert and social gather- 

 ing, have the pleasure of announcing that 

 the Right Hon. the Earl of Derby, 

 G.C.V.O., C.B., etc., Lord Mayor of Liver- 

 pool, has kindly consented to preside. This 

 function takes place at the Bear's Paw, on 

 Tuesday, the 27th inst., and the committee 

 is straining every effort so that the high 

 chMiacter of these re-unions may be fully 

 sustained. It is hoped that the meeting 

 will be a record one, aud that increased 

 patronage may indicate appreciation of his 

 Lordship's valued assistance. Mr. R. G. 

 Waterman, Woolton, is the hon. secretary, 

 and. he will be glad to answer any in- 

 quiries and acknowledge donations. 



The Journal of the Kew Guild. 



—The nineteenth issue of the ever popular 

 and interesting Journal " of the Kew 

 Guild is a double number, and serves for 

 the year 1911 and 1912. It is edited by the 

 new secretary-editor, Mr. H. Cowley, who 

 has provided material that cannot fail to 

 find favour with Kewites the world over. 

 Even to a man who is not a Kewite the 

 contents are so interesting that the issue 

 will not be placed on one side until read 

 right through. Mr. R. Allen Rolfe, the 

 orchid expert, figures on the frontisp:ece, 

 and the accompanying appreciation shows 

 that Mr. Rolfe commenced his working hie 

 as a young gardener at Welbeck Abbey, 

 thirty-two yeai^ ago. Mr. A. S. Gait tells 

 some amusing expteriences in connection 

 with county lecturing; Mr. E. J. Thomas 

 discourses on the pronunciation of plant 

 names, and Mr. J. R. Jackson, formerly 

 curator of the museums, gives his recollec- 

 tions of forty-three years' service at 

 The notes from Old Kewites are always ol 

 special interest, and in these Mr. "W - 

 Paine s description of a hunt after alpine 

 plants in the Pyrenees; Mr. W. H. Ett^- 

 ley's account of life in Shanghai ; Mr. J. 1^- 

 Snowden*s impressions of T^ganda ; M^- 

 C. E. F. Allen's experiences ^^'1^1.. 

 coloured men in Portuguese East -^y'^^^" 

 and Mr. A. E. P. Griesson's «tory of 

 Delhi Durbar and its gardens, with tlie 

 latter of which he had a great deal to do. 

 are all excellent reading. Kindly reter- 

 ences to Kewites who have died during tn^ 

 year, a list of appointments and retire- 



hi.^ 



