April 20, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



313 



niaintaiued by public funds, as is the case 

 with Hanipstead Heath and Epping Forest. 

 It is also stated that the contributions 

 have come rather from residents of 

 modest incomes than from those who are 



in a position to give large sums. 



1 1 



Horticulture at Sandring^- 



ham.— The King has given permission for 

 t he Sa nd r i n gha m Est ate H o r t icn \Ui r a 1 

 Show to be held in Sandringham Park 

 on Wednesday, July 24. His Majesty and 

 the Queen are offering prizes for the best- 

 kept cottages and the best-ciiltiired gar- 

 dens. 



Gloucestershire Orchards. 



AVith reference to the present appearance 

 of the Gloucestershii'e orchards, Mr. H. C. 

 Prinsep writes: ''I have never seen the 

 bloom of pears and plums so fine as it is 

 this year. I have within the past few 

 weeks driven through miles of orchards, 

 and find it the same everywhere. When 

 jow ascend one of the hills and look 'across 

 the valleys, the great masses of snowy 

 blossom present an appearance that is 

 ceedingly beautiful. We had a sharp 

 frost the other night, but I do not think 

 much harm has been done 



Birmingfham Daffodil Show.^ 



The extreme earliness of the daffodil sea- 

 son suggests that the Birmingham Show^ 

 to be held at the Edgbaston Botanic Gar- 

 dens oil Ajiril 25 and 26, may not be so 

 extensive as usual, but we feel sure that 

 if everyone who has daffodils, and appre- 

 ciates the efforts made over so many years 

 by Mr. Pobert Sydenham and his friends 

 on behalf of daffodils and daffodil lovers, 

 will take the best of their remaining 

 blooms to the Midland show, then the ex- 

 tent of the exhibition will not suffer, and 

 probaljly the quality will be finer than 

 most expect. C)ur friends in the North of 

 England ought to turn up in large num- 

 bers, so that T'ncle Robert'' may not be 

 disappointed. 



Old Garden Furniture.— ' La Vie 



a la Campagne,'' the fortnightly French 

 publication, has a department, so to speak, 

 that deals with horticulture. ScA'eral spe- 

 cial issues have been of great interest to 

 tlie gardener. The last issue to hand 

 (Mareb lo) is devoted entirely to the sub- 

 ject of old garden decorations, and with 

 such authorities as ^lAf. Maumene, 



Gibault, and Lambert, oui* leaders may 

 well imaeiue tlie vrav in which such an 



The illus 



vray 



interesting subject is treated, 

 trations to the text are profuse, and com- 

 prise views of old gardens, and all kinds 

 of garden ornaments and accessories, such 

 as suiidialsj terraces, fountains, seats, 

 balustrades steps, and staircases, vases, 

 and the like. ()f these there are close on 

 200, a varied and iiitei'esting collection 

 made from maiiv sonii-es. 



Loss of 



Graysiiiark 

 (] ens. 



a Fine Pine. 



Hill Gar 



writers from I?ury 

 Dorking: I am v(m-v s(U'rv to tell 

 .von that \vi^ lost onr iinc Piiuis ccinhra dur- 

 ing the great gale on Maix-h 4. It was 

 sixty-oiio feet high, and clothed to the 

 ground, and between six and seven feet in 

 circumference at the base. Do any of vfiur 

 readers know of any specimen larger than 

 thisin Eticrlaiul P It is a'great loss to us. and 

 there is now a great opening in our flower 

 garden where it used to stand.'' 



Potash Manure — It is well known 



to cultivators that both garden and farm 

 t^rnps have to be supplied w-ith manures in 

 soine form that contain nitrogen or am- 

 »»i^nua. i>]iosphate, and potash ; and that, if 

 «".v one of these is deficient, the lesults Avill 

 '^<^ nioro or less unsatisfactory. It is also 

 generally known that there ' are various 

 sources of nitrogen and phos])hate, but that 



in the case of potash the only soiirces of 

 importance are the deposits at Stassfurt. in 

 Germany. Notwithstanding the last-named 

 fact, potash is a common and widely-dis- 

 tributed substance, and it has l)een esti- 

 mated that it forms about 2.8 per cent, of 

 the crust of the earth. The whole of the 

 potash can be traced back to the original 

 rocks — granite and others of a similar com- 



dition for the plant t-o utilise it^ a dressing 

 of soluble potash manure may be necessary 

 to ensure a satisfactory crop. Potassic 

 manures usually employed are kainit, sul- 

 phate, and muriate of potash, and the«e are 

 so readih^ soluble in water that the plants 

 ciin make use of them at once. It is of 

 some practical importance to know that, 

 notwithstanding their solubility, there is, 



position — and to the more recent rocks of owing to the absorbent properties of the 

 volcanic origin. I'sually the minerals con- soil, very little risk of Joss through drain- 

 taining potash are associated with such 

 large proportions of quartz that the per- 

 centage of potash is very small. There are, on 



Lime-Sulphur Wash 



Scale Insects.- -In the investitia- 



C 1 I fc' 



liowever, in various parts of the world lai ge tions comlucted at the Mi<*higan Agricul- 



h 



NKW TUTMPl-T DAFFODIL3 MRS. EENST H. KE1:LA(;i:. 

 Flowers cream-white. A.M., JMI.S., April 16. Messrs. Krolago and Son, Haarlem. 



deposits of rocks and minerals cnnininiiig tural Collrg,' with a view lo a^tvrlain the 

 - - - ' ' ' tftrcts of iiiiie-^iilpliMr \va>h (in s<ale ni- 



>ect>. ni) )ii()(»f <-onld b<' olitaiiird that the 

 wash ha^l jx-iit't lated into tho \\s>ui's of the 

 insects. It ajipear(Ml to have my little 

 otfoft f)n liiV'^p \n^('i-ls ]\-Av\nix lu^avy chiti- 

 nons walls. Vnrioiis ilu'orics wcic trst^nl. 



much higher i>ercentages. It is es.sential. 

 in forming an estimate of the value ot a 

 material as a pot 'ssic manure, to know 

 not onlv the percentage of potash, hut the 

 condition in wb'ch it exists. The import- 

 ance of this wil! l)e un(K'rsto<id when it is 

 .stated that potash in a soil or manure m-iv 

 be in an available state in which the i)hint 

 can take it un at '^"^-'^ 'i^* ^^^^'^^ 



iis lu suggest 



conilition 



up 



that s(nne 



necessai'N 

 state 



veal's cxjMJsiirr is 

 to conv<Mt it into an a\ailable 



the availability of iho ]K>tasli is an 



imi>ortant factor, as sliown by the fact that 

 a clav soil may contain "2 ])cr < ent. of potash, 

 and^that^ owing to it not being in a con- 



:uid till' ic^uhs wei'c sucn 

 that its aj'lion on scale ii^scct.s was <hie 

 ])artly to tin- ta-1 iliat it takis Uj> oxygen 

 jji <*(Uii)>arativrly large quantil vs. tlins in- 

 <!irectly snHocat in^ tlie inM < t bicli it 

 c(i\-<M-s. and ]>artly to llic ctfe<>t on the uax 

 at the margin oi' the scale, wbicli resjilts 



^ ills, :1s heiiu: ah^oldtelv scaled in 



tlu 



under the s< ale covering. 



