660 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



ArGusT 31, 1912 



in this material, as in a skilfully prepared 

 <x>mpost, but those so grown may be placeil 

 ill tlu* various apartments ivithout any risk 

 of water drainiuf^ trom the rweptacles as in 

 the ca.v i)t oiMliiiarv pets, and damaging 

 carpets er tiiriuiute. In some of the larger 

 gardens it would be an advantage to make 

 a rather larger selection of kinds than is 

 usually th(^ <"ase, and attention might we'l 

 be tlirK'UHl to e4'i t:iin of th'e anemones, sui li 

 as A. apennina and A. l)landa, the chiono- 

 <loxas, tlie s<'illas, spring sno'wflak<xs, bulb- 

 ous iris, tnu^earis^ mid tritelias, th(^ ma- 



joMiy oi ulii: li ar*' ni ^reat value l>oth for 

 bonler.s and tor planting in the gra^ss. Fully 

 appreciating the great value of buJibous 

 plants that bloom in spring, we advis-e our 

 readers to plant them fre<^ly, and as early 

 in tbe.s»':iM)n as it ean 1m* <^on venient ! v <lon(\ 



Mr. E. F. HazeltOn, wbo early in 

 tlu^ eurrnii yrar sueeeede<l Mr. If. 

 Fielder, V.M.il.. in tlie ehargo ot tlir l^eau- 

 tifvil gardens ot Nortli Mynnns Park, the 

 resident e ol \h >. Hurn.s, is a gardener of 

 wi<le and varied ex[>erieneej and shows in 

 a nunk*Ml manner, by the high position fie 

 (Mciijurs ;i> ;i praetieal hortieiilturist, tli;n 

 lir ha^ taki'ii lull advantage of tlu* o|)|n>r- 

 tunities ll4^ li i-- ti;"l tlu- acquisitittn <tt 

 knowledge ? rhi t m;^ Id tlir uar<leriing ;irt . 

 Conunencing his gardening cimT in tfn' 

 nurseries of Messrs. Saltniarsli ;ind Siin. ;ii 

 C'helnisturd. urnler the \i\tv Mi . M. H . 

 llangrr, hr p:i.ssrd throiiL^h the gardens of 



Hrooinlielil, C'lielnisford, tbe resilience of the 

 hite l{ . Warner, Esq. , and tlu»n famous 

 for orebids; Truig Park, the r<\siden€e of 



asters, chrysanthemums, daffodils, dahlias, 

 lilies of the valley, narcissi, nasturtiums, 

 pansies, roses, swtM't peas, violas, violets, 

 and wallflowers, 'l lie total area devoted 

 to the cultivation of flowers and shrubs 

 appears to be slightly more than 4,000 

 acres, and the gross value of the production 

 Is put at £121,000. 



Bulbous Plants for Indoor 



Culture. The cultivation of bulbous 

 plants in mo.^s fibre for beautifying indoor 

 apaitnu^nts in the earlier months of the 

 year is 'becoming increasingly popular, and 

 Avith a vi'ew to render further assistance to 

 thost^ of our readers who are specially in- 

 teresttHl in tbe indoor culture of plants, we 

 arranged for an illustrated article on the 

 subjtH't to appear in this isvsue. The pres- 

 )-ure on our space previMits our publisliing 

 tlu'^ article in this if>sue with tbe whole of 

 its illustrations, and we are therefore com- 

 P'»^II*mI to hold it over until out next issue. 



St. 



Petersburg^h 



Interna 



tional Horticultural Exhibition. 



I ; H o r ticu It ura 1 So- 



Tbe Russian Fmperiil 

 <M'ety will hold a great 'exhibition next year 

 on tbe occasion of the tercentenary of the 

 lin[>erial ffou.se. The exhibition will open 

 ;'t ttif end of April, and include decorative 

 ;ntd oi lirr plants, flowvrs. f re- li and pre- 

 >fr\<M| Iruit.^, scientific exhibits. pr<iducts 



(it ^(-liool ^■ar<le!]s, <'t:'. 



Manchester Chrysanthemum 



Show. - We are info-rnied that an exhibi- 

 tion of chrvsantheinums will tbe held bv the 

 Koyai Botanical and Hortioidtnral Society 

 of ^fanchester in tbe 'rcond week of Nn- 



Ix>r<l Kotlis. bil<l ; and The Dell, Eghani,the vember n*ext. Th<> lio\v will held in ;l 



r<\sideiH'o of Hnrtni Schr oder. fillin>^ \ ;u inns 

 j>4>sition.s nt nint r or 1**-^^ rr^puM>dnlit v . 

 Subseq Uen 1 1 V Mr. 1 1 ;i /fl t on i ; : 1 1 1 hci 1 the 

 position of toreninn in tbe L;.irdt ij> nl Arle 

 Court, CheitfMdnuu. ;ind Trt^!» t Ini rri , Stoke- 

 on-Trent, tluMi thr if^idt'ih e ol the Dnke 



of Sutherland. II is lu st api>ointment as 

 bea<| gardener u;iv \\\ Hrocklesbury Park, 

 tfie Karl of V;n bm nnirb's st^at. thence be 

 went .-tN itr;id 1^;] rd^nei- at Longford 

 Castle, t he W'lhstiu ^ ^»>;i t of the Karl 

 of Ra<lnor. ;utd sidi-t^* jiu'ftt ly lit- \v;)s ap- 

 pointed head gnr«le?ier to the Kiirl of Derbv 

 at Knowsley. In the several positions of 

 rosponsibility thnt >fi-. Hn/.elton has occu- 

 pied he h;is ;itFnrded ;inipl»^ evidence of his 

 romarkablt^ adniini>t rati\e ability and his 

 thorough acquaintanee with all tlmt relates 

 to tfie garden an<l its management. Mr. 

 Hazelton does not s|>e{ inlise. as that term 

 is usnally umlerstood. iind rluMefore there 

 is no fx-easinn fo?- n> to enter int(» particu- 

 lars of Ills ai i nniplishnienis as a ^aidrner. 



but we cannot retrain f?(>ni nu'ntioning that 

 we fiave l)een nnwb i?npre>sod hv tb<» suc- 

 cf\ss li;,s a(hi»'\od in ibi^ eu!tivati4)n of 

 fruits and \ c.ut^t a liies. 



Flower Culture in 



Maru hrster T< WM llall^ and about £1G0 will 



Our readers 



Britain.— 'Idle *^xtensi\ e cultivation of 

 flowers f<u- market is one of tlie develop- 

 ments of nuxlern farming of which avS yet 

 there has })oe?i n(» record, although in many 

 parts of England its importance as a means 

 of exploiting land which would be less pro- 

 fitably devoted to ordinary farm crops is 

 well recognised. Information which was 

 obtained by the Board of Agriculture in 

 connection with the inquiry under the 

 Census of Production Act, 1906, showed 

 that the counties in which flower-growing 

 is most widely practised are Lincoln, Cam- 

 bridge, Middlesex, Norfolk, Devon, Somer- 

 set, Cornwall Cheshire, Lancashire, West 

 Riding, Sussex, Kent, Hampshire, and 

 Surrey, but tliere are very few English 

 counties in which the cultivation of flowers 

 for market is not carried on, while in 

 Wales and Scotland the industry has es- 

 tablished itself in a few localities. Among 

 the flowers most extensively cultivated are 



August Weather. — 



will not n<HHl to be told that during the 

 prrsriit HLonih tln^ rainfall has been largely 

 in excess ot the a\('rage^ and that both 

 temperature and sunshine are I'onsiderablv 

 beh»w. These uiifavourabb^ rlinnitic condi- 

 tions are oniv tru) evident; but it mav be 

 <»t niicroi to ronipare tin* weather of this 

 month uitli that experienced in the cor- 

 responding month of some previous years 

 in wliicb it was of an abnormal character. 

 In tbe Augusts of 1885 and 1891 the 

 weather w as so cold a n d w et a s t o 

 he the worst rt", (!rded for August in tlie 

 memory of the present generation. At 

 the time of writing it is not pos- 

 sible to do more than compare the 

 official weaihtM- records for tlhe first 

 tw(wity-four days of the present month 

 with those for the whole of August in 1885 

 ami 1891, but these are sufficient to 

 show that the weather in the current month 

 will not l>e far from tho worst, if it does 

 not establish a record. The total rainfall 

 for tbe first twenry-fonr <hivs of this month 

 was ;?.2fb'n.. as cninpa r .-d ' witli 0.93in. in 

 Aniinst. ISs.l. and d.-loin. in Auu;nst, 1891, 

 nnd lite numl)er of rainy days iu tin' ^ame 

 ]HM i<M[s of the three years were 21, 10. and 

 22 resi)ectively. The mean temperature 

 for the first twenty-four days of this month 

 was 58.5 deg,, and for Atigust. 1885, 59.1 

 deg., and August, 1891, 59.8 deg. The 

 highest temperature recorded this month 

 has so far been 70 deg., and for August, 

 1885 and 1891, 80 deg. and 76 respectively! 

 The lowest temperature recorded in the re- 

 spective periods was 46 deg., 41 deg., and 

 43 deg. No temperature exceeding 80 de"^. 

 was recorded in the three periods. From 

 tbe commencement of this month tintil the 

 24th inst. 79 h ours of bright sunshine wei'e 

 recorded or a daily a\erage of 3.3 hours. 

 In August. 1SS5. there were 110 hours of 

 brigiit sur)sbiTu\ or a <lailv average of 3.7 

 hours, and in August, 1891, there were 134 

 hours of J)riu;}it sunshine, or a tlaily average 

 of 4.3 hours. The following figures show 



how great is the difference l>etween the 

 rainfall, temperature, and sunshine of the 

 first twenty-tour days of this month, and 

 that of August, 1911. In the last-named 

 month the mean temperature 



dec. 



was 68.8 



highest temperature 96 deg. ; lowest 

 temperature, 51 deg.; there were 11 days 

 on ^^/ialch the t-emperature exceeded 80 

 deg. \ 243 hours of bright sunshine, or a 

 daily average of 7.8 hours, and the total 

 rainfall of l.lSin. These figures are taken 

 from the records of observations made at 

 Brixton and Westminster. Diiring the 

 past week the rainfall, if it has not estab- 

 lished any records, has been sufficient to 

 deluge the country and do enormous 



a recent 

 Salaman 



damage. 



Potato Breeding.— At 



conference at Cambridge, Dr. 

 spoke on his researches on potato breed- 

 ing. He has succeeded in establishing 

 that the inheritance of many characters in 

 the potato is governed by the Mendelian 

 law. Practically all domestic varieties are 

 hvbrid in the Mendelian sense — that is, if 

 the flowers are selfed and plants are raised 

 from the true seed (as distinct from the 

 tuber), a large number of types differing 

 from the parent are produced. Dr. Sala- 

 man showed that in regard to shape of 

 tuber (long or round), habit of growth 

 (erect or prociimbent), colour of tuber (red, 

 purple, or white), the inheritance follows 

 the Mendelian law of segregation. Inter- 

 esting results have been obtained from a 

 study of the wild species, Solanum etube- 

 rosum, which, thoiigh growaa in this coun- 

 try for many years previously, set seed for 

 the first time in 1906. The interest of this 

 variety lies in the fact that it- is believed 

 to be immune to phytoplithora disease, and 

 there is conseqirently a possibility that by 

 working on Mendelian lines it may be prac- 

 ticable to produce a variety of the domestic 

 potato imnuuie to this disease. 



Functions of Kew.— In the new 



Roval 



Popular 

 Botanic Gardens 



Official Guide 



to the 

 attention 



IS 



Kew,'' 



directed to the fact that, besides numerous 

 other duties and functions of a minor 



character, these gardens have four leading 

 national and Imperial functions to per- 

 form. These are: (1) The advancement of 



and 



botany; (2) the introduction of new 

 valuable plants to the Colonies; (3) as a 

 place of public res-ort ; and (4) as a school 

 of horticulture. As a national establisli- 

 ment, it stands in relation to hotanical 

 science much as Greenwdch does to astro- 

 nomy. The botanical survey of the Em- 

 pire has been carried out with the aid of 

 the herbarium, w^ith its 2,000,000 specimens, 

 and the librarv. which contains some 



Floras of ten Colonies 



library, 

 volumes. 



24,000 _ _ 



and dependencies have been published, and 

 others are well advanced. At Kew, also, 

 w^as compiled Index Kewensis," an alph^" 

 betical list of every plant name published. 

 In connection with the introduction flf 

 various new and valuable plants to the 

 Colonies, one of the chief cluties in 

 was the introduction of plants of economic 

 value to the Dependencies of England- 

 These include fruits such as bananas and 

 pine apples; foods like tea, coffee, and 

 cocoa ; medicines and drugs, such as qumine 

 and coca ; rubbers, dyes, timbers, and fibres. 

 Two of the greatest successes in connect:on 

 Avith the second of the functions of tne 

 Gardens were the introduction of qumine 

 to India and the introduction of Para rut>. 

 her to the Malay P^m'nsnln.. When, i» 

 1866, the 



Peninsula. , 

 of introducing tne 



ex|3eriment 

 quin-'ne plant (Cinchona) from South Ame- 

 rica te India was undertaken, the Govern- 



cxpending 



a dos^ 



ment of Bengal alone w^as 

 £40.000 annually on quinine. Now 

 of five grains can be bought at any po^^' 

 office for 



a farthing. 



