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August 17, 1912. 



rHE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



625 



tons the previous year. Prices for the 

 same week last year fell from £42 to be- 

 tween £34 and £40 per ton^; in the pre- 

 vious year the price was £16 to £20 per 

 ton ; in 1909 no price was quoted, the mar- 

 ket being so bad ; and in 1908 it was only 

 £12 per ton. 



Instruction in Intensive Cul- 

 ture.— We are informed that the Educa- 

 tion Committee of the Surrey County 

 Council have apix)inted a sub-committee to 

 consider the question of the adoption of 

 intensive horticulture as a subject of in- 

 strtiction in the various schools under their 

 control. 



Proposed Bureau of Plant 



Industry.— In the course of his presi- 

 dential address at the Britisli Pharma- 

 ceutical Conference in Edinburgh^ Sir 

 Edward Evans said he had been very much 

 impressed by the fact that the Government 

 of the Vnited States^ in addition to being 

 very particukir as to the purity of all drugs 

 sold in that country, had a bureau of plant 

 industry in connection with the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. From this depart- 

 ment important buHetins were issued, and, 

 as the result of its investigations, the use 

 of barks, roots, etc., of American origin 

 had to some extent taken the place of the 

 older drugs so familiar to the public 3'earvS 



He mentioned this matter as possibly 

 the British Pharmaceutical Conference 



think it worthy of consideration 

 that the British Government should form 

 in the Board of Agriculture a department 

 such as existed in the Vnited States to 

 further the growth in this country of roots 

 and herbs, which the small hoklings and 

 allotments might be the channels of carry- 

 ing into effect. The soil of this country 

 seemed adaptable for this purpose, as its 

 produce was superior to any produced else- 

 where ; for instance, belladonna, pepper- 

 mint, lavender, A^alerian, henbane, etc. 

 They could not help noticing that what at 

 first seemed a small industry often came to 

 be one of considerable value, such as the 

 trade in cascara sagrada, which was one of 

 the most popular of drugs. It was esti- 

 mated that the crop of this A'aluable bark 

 now reached about 1,000 tons. It was col- 

 lected almost entirely in the forests of 

 ^'^orthern California, Oregon, and part of 

 British Columbia, heing obtained from a 

 scrub bush, and some one hundred thou- 

 sand or more trees were destroyed annually 

 for the production. The consumption of 



cascara was now almost ahead of the 

 supply. 



ago . 



might 



ew Work on American Nym- 



Phaeas. — A memoir on the species of 

 nymph^ea indigenous to North America has 

 been published by the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tut ion, and is an important contribution 

 to the literature on ornamental aquatic 

 plants. The authors of the memoir are 

 Messrs. Miller and Standlev, who direct 

 attention to the fact that there are some 

 gi'oups of plants of which the taxonomy 

 cannot be properly understoo<l from her- 

 barium specimens of an ordinary charac- 

 ter, and among these are the aquatics. 

 The memoir is of much interest as lepre- 

 ^enting a successful endeavour to revise 

 the knowledge of the American water lilies 

 ^vith the aid of fresh material obtained 

 from all parts of the country, 

 hitherto unknown species are described, 

 and these raise the number of American 

 species to nineteen. The descriptions are 

 in all cases accomi>anied by illustrations 

 of the leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. 

 The attractiveness of the memoir is greatly 

 ^^nlianced by a number of finely executed 

 pb^tes showing the plants growing under 

 natural conditions. 



A few 



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G LADIOLT S (tOLDITNDER. 



A distinct and beautiful A-^ariety. the flowers *oft yellow, with red markings on the two 

 lower segments. Exhibited by Mr. W. PHtzer. Stuttgart, at the National (Iladioluv 



the Horticultural Hall on the 13th iust., and awarded tiio Si]v«r 



Society's show at 



Cup for two spik-es of the best uew seedling not yet in commerce. 



See page G;ii>. 



