Mat 11, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS* MAGAZINE 



387 



this the National Auricula Society 

 (Midland Section) offered prizes in a class 

 for three show auriculas, and one for three 

 alpine auriculas. In the first of the two 

 Masses. 3Ir. G. J. Savory, Rotton Park, 

 Birniiuffham, was first with Mrs. Henwood, 

 Richard Headley, and George Lighthody ; 

 Mr J. Freeman second, and Mr. T. M. 

 Effiington, Handsworth, third. The com- 

 netition in the second class was excr-ption- 

 ally strong, and the first prize was awarded 

 to Mr. J. Fre-eman for splendid plants of 

 PhvUis Douglas, Unexpected, and Thetis; 

 Mr. H. W. Miller was second; and Mr. G.J. 

 Savorv was third. The premier auricula in 

 the open classes was Richard Headley, shown 

 by Mr. G. J. Savory; and the premier in 

 the members' classes was Majestic, exhibited 

 bv Mr. H. W. Miller. The society's medal 

 for the member obtaining most points in 

 the diaffodil cla^^es wajs awarded to Mr. 

 E. J. Ke-eling; and the medal for the most 

 points in the auricula classes to Mr. H. W. 



Miller. 



At a meeting held 

 Chairman announced 

 members had joined 



after the show the 

 that over 150 ne"w 

 the Society durin<j 

 April, a good augury for the future of this 

 flourishing society. 



General Bulb Growers' 

 Society of Haarlem. 



The following awards were made at the 

 recent meetings of the Narcissus and Floral 

 Committees of this society : 



FIRST-CLASS CERTIFICATES. 



Narcifit^us Vuleano. — Double flowers, sul- 

 phur-yellow, in the centre orange-red, a cress 

 of Poeticus oruatus and Double van Sion. 



X. South Pole. — Perianth white,very large ; 



trumpet clear sulphur-yellow and whit?, 



finely recurved at the mouth, raised from 

 seed. 



X. Bedouin.— Perianth cream-white, cup 

 yellow, with an orange-red border. 



X. Campernel ruguiosus niaximus. — Peri- 

 anth and trumpet pure golden-yellow. 



X^. Sunrise. — Perianth white, cup golden- 

 yellow, margined orange-red. 



X. Great Warley. — Perianth white, trum- 

 pet of a clear citron-yellow; flowers of large 

 size. 



AWARDS OF MERIT. 



X". Solo. — Perianth and trumpet pure yel- 

 low; raised from seed of Golden Spur. 



Thackeray. — Flower very large, 2>eri- 

 auth and trumpet golden-vellow, trumpet 

 loug finely recurved; raised from seed. 



-V March Glory. — Flower verv large, clear 

 yellow, perianth flat, trumpet finelv re- 

 curved ; raised from seed. ' . 



Plenipo.— Double, fliower sulphur-yol- 

 low a cress between Poeticus oruatus and 

 iJoiible van Sion; raised from seed bv Rev 

 ^. il. hngleheart. 



or^' ^"^^1'- ~ ^^'^^P^ Englehearti, perianth 

 creaniy-white, cup broad and flat, citron- 

 y^mu, niargined orange-red; raised from 



X. Holbein.— Perianth creamv-white 

 citron-yellow; raised from seed ^ 

 Colossus. 



cup 



w J 1 Perianth clear yellow, trum- 



I^t aark yehov;; raised from Kino- Alfred 



wlii^p Laurens Koster.-lperianth 



piticus!'^' ^ ' obtained from seed of X. 



win; f <^laeier.— Double, citron-vellow, 

 St Bav 



TO. 



raised from rAl^ ^Jonble, creamy-yellow 



irom (jolden Spur. 



Golden Sp^,r. 

 Golden Lion. 



i J** J" —J XilJ- *Y J 



a hybrid of Emperor 



golden TT.r ^eriantii a 



in f'.^ ^\^'""l.^' rocnrved; raise. 



Perianth and trumpet 



giilar, trum- 



form :>o"V'-' ^'t'ti ; raised from seed, 



^' poett 7'^?- ^^^'-y Haarlem. 



ofanJl - Periantli white, 



^■arietv rf p !■ ^ "^^^ss betw€?n"the 



^^taten p ^r,o^n as Kin^ Edward 



taten G.enera.l ; good for forcincr. 



N. Mount Erebus. — Type Leedsi; perianth 

 pure white, cup light citron-yellow, chang- 

 ing to ivory-white. 



N. polyanthus Xo. 67. — Perianth clear yel- 

 low, cup orange; raised from seed. 



Freesia Tubergeni Robinetta. — Flowers 

 dark carmine, spotted yellow; raised from 

 seed. 



F. Tuberereni Gem.— Flowers lavender- 



Tubergeni 

 blue, changing to 

 raised from «eed. 



white, spotted yellow ; 



THE USE OF LIME. 



At the recent meeting of the Midland 

 Farmers' Association, Mr. Walter E. CoUiuge 

 gave an instructive lecture on the use of lime 

 m the cultivation of farm and garden crops, 

 of which the following is a summary. 



Lime is a necessar}' constituent of plant 

 focd, but the greatest service it renders from 

 a manurial standpoint is that it unlocks the 

 insoluble reserves of nitrogenous and potassic 

 material in the soil, and renders them avail- 

 able as plant food. In liming experiments 

 made at Rothamsted^ where potash had been 

 previously applied, a great increase was 

 brought about in the proportion of legumin- 

 ous plants. A dressing of lime was found to 

 be necessary for grass land on most soils in 

 order to neutralise the acidity produced by 

 decaying vegetation, and to enable the 

 manures to exert their full effect. 



Cha.ng:es Caused by Lime. 



Lime changes many poisonous compounds 

 which are present in the soil and renders 

 them practically harmless to plant life. It is 

 now generally recognised that a fertile soil 

 must contain a rich, fresh humus; but if car- 

 bonate of lime and magnesia are deficient, 

 tile humus becomes sour, and the 'Soil unfer- 

 tile, and in a condition favourable to the 

 production of disease. The physical or me- 

 chanical effects of lime on -certain soils is 

 most marked, thus stiff soils, after being 

 limed, permit of a quick passage of water. 

 Such soils, unlimed, become waterlogged, 

 excluding the air, which is necessary lor the 

 proper and healthy development of plant 

 roots, whilst in times of drought they readily 

 cake, increasing the difficulties of tillage, 

 and are ill-adapted to plant growth. It may 

 be taken as generally conclusive that where 

 the following features obtain, liming may 

 be followed with advantage; (1) On soils re- 

 latively rich in iron, and requiring phos- 

 phatic manures; (2) where soils are acid; (8) 

 in soils deficient of lime or magnesia; (4) 

 where clover fails; (o) where finger-and- 

 toe disease is present ; and (6) when clayey 

 soils become too adhesive. 



When and How Often to Apply 



Lime. 



The frequency with which liming should 

 be practised depends upon a variety of con- 

 ditions — e.g., tile amount applied; whether 

 slaked or unslaked; the nature of the soil; 

 the crops grown, etc. Dr. Frcam, an emi- 

 nent authority, has pointed out that in- 

 light lands very light dressings, made more 

 frequentlv, give the best results, hut that 

 the dressing should be increased, the deeper 

 the surface soil. He further points out that 

 for correcting plasticity of a heavy clay, or 

 aciditv o. a soil, or in preparing new land, 

 rich in humus, the first dressing need not 

 exceed 1*H) bushels per acre, although as 

 mueh as o(HI bushels are <:fteii used. As to 

 the projun- season, this must depend to a 

 large extent u])on the crop. For " finger- 

 and-toe " d'sease the application is best 

 made in tlie winter or spring, twelve months 

 before the sowing of the crop. 



Biology of the Soil. 



Slowly, but surely, we are beginning to 

 realise in this country that the biological 

 study of soils and soil organisms is a most 

 important oiu^ We know that comi)licated 

 chemical i)roeess known as nitrilieation is 

 aided by th.' presence of lime in the soil: 

 that tlie decomposition of organic matter. 



and the production of carbonic acid, are also 

 greatly accelerated by the same material. 



The utilisation of atmospheric nitrogen by 

 certain plants is greatly facilitated, parti- 

 cularly ui)Ou sour soils, and in the case of 

 clovers. In the past we have spoken of the 

 soil .as a chemical laboratory, but it is 

 something more — it is a medium teeming 

 with bacteria, fungi, and minute animal life, 

 the inter-relations of wliich we, as yet, only 

 very imperfectly understand. 



The influence of Lime on 

 Cert£iin Piant Diseases. 



In the application of chemical manures, 

 and other so-called artificial dressings, far 

 too little attention has been given to the 

 action these substances have on plant 

 diseases, and the same remarks are equally 

 true when applied to lime, for,n on the one 

 hand, the presence of lime tends to lavour 

 the production of disease, and on the other 

 it is capable of materially lessening, if not 

 preventing, disease. 



It lias long been i-ecognised that the fungus 

 disease known as potato scab is favoured by 

 the presence of carbonate of lime in the soil. 

 The explanation that has been offered is that 

 the decom2>osed lime makes the soil alkaline, 

 or to some influence which it, with the com- 

 pound, carbonic acid, exerts upon the de- 

 A'elopment of the fungus. On the other 

 hand, it is equally generally recognised that 

 the di -ease known as " Finger-and-toe,'* 

 ''Club-root," *' Anbury," etc., is lessened by 

 the use of lime. Mr. Collinge then gave an 

 account of potato scab, " finger-and-toe," and 

 otlier disea^^es, and a review of the deservedly 

 well-known Cockle Park experiments. 



A Hint. 



In 1909, Mr. Collinge pointed out that a 

 combination of lime followed bv a dress'ng: 

 Of sulphur, might ])os>il)]y give much better 

 results than had liithei to been ol)taiiu'd. I"x- 

 periments he made showed that the action 

 of dressings oi' slaked lime only tended to 

 correct the acidity of the soil and improve 

 the physical condition, thus removing some 

 of the conditions favourable to the reproduc- 

 tion and spread of the fungus. 



In the autumn of 10(H). ground was treated 

 with a dressing <>f lo cwl . ef oroinid. ui:- 

 slaked lime. It wa> ])ut on with a numnre- 

 distr'buttu-. and jdoughed in. In the spring 

 the sanu* laud was given a dressing of flowers 

 of sul])hur. ■') ewt. to the acre. An excellent 

 crop of >we(U - was lifted the following 

 autumn, and the roots were practically free 

 from disease, as in only one corner of the 

 f'eld was anv disease noticeable, and this 



very small. 



On this >mall patch there was a consider- 

 alile amount of heavv clav, which was in a 

 very wet and sticky condition, and, quite 

 apart from the fungus disea>e, badly re- 

 quired liming. A ]iart of tlii>, about one- 

 sixth of an acre in extent, was again treated 

 with grouud, uiir^laked linu- at the rate of 

 12 cwt. to the acre in tiu^ autumn. iollo\v(H] i}i 

 the spring with suli)liur as previously, ^^'hen 

 tlie >wedes were liftt :I in tlie autumn of 

 19ln 11, > trace of tlie d'sea,-^- e;)iild hi' tonud. 

 and the ]»hysieal condition -of the ><ul had 

 wond e r full y i m pro v e d . 



■> » pr ins ^ 



Tbe question to-day is not " Shall we Spray," as e\ ery 

 gardener knows he must Spray, but " What machine 

 or syringe shall I spray with P " All the world answers. 



Use only the reliable tested i« pgy p QftKS ' ' 



which have w<^n 30 

 Gold & Silv<r Medals, 

 many in open competi- 

 tion with other makes. 

 The machine illustrated 

 is the Four Oaks Gold 

 Medal Knapsack J^pray- 

 er, No rubber 



valves- Complete Cata- 

 lot^ue of Spraying and 

 ].iriiewa'*hing Al nchines 

 an '■ S\nn e-^ of every description f-ee on ap]>liratir)n to 

 the Sole Manufacturers-THE FOUR OAKS SPRAYING 

 MACHINE CO., No. 3 C. SUTTON COLDFIELD. 



