680 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



September 7, 1912. 



activities at liovvdham are well known, not finite races 



only in the Tnite<l Kingdom, but far be- 

 yond its boundaries. As in the case of 

 his two brothers, he combines a keen in- 

 terest in horticnltxire with business apti- 

 tude of a ]uii}\ orderj but while Mr. A. H. 

 Pearson and Mr. C. E. Pearson have con- 

 centrat^nl ihcir t-nergies on fruit trees, 

 roses, ;u)d othtM' (•his.st's of nursery stock 

 ot :i similar cl.aiactf'r , Mr. Duncan Pear- 

 son lias d(' \ ot <'( ! his a 1 1 tMit ion to bulbous 

 flo\\*M-.^, and olitainrd liinisclt a promi- 

 nent position annm^ ilw lea^lin^j, authori- 

 ties on this valual)h' chivs ol phmts. He 



has lM*on s]>f'cially iih'ntitird with tlie de- 

 velopment <>t th*' (Ldioilil dunn*^ the past 



twenty-five or nioit- y< ;ns. ind during that 

 peri'Ml ha> donr i \ t llt ni wnrk. Mr. Dun- 

 can Pcarsiui ln'i/ iM ill*' laisiipr ot new daf- 

 fodils early in iln- i>i llir 'ast <'entury, 



anil lia-s rnntinunl ihi,> interesting work 

 nniil tile [ocv.'iii tut!*-. His first seedling 

 ot iiKM 1 1 w ri a sih i'r nuKlal at Birming- 

 ham. uiit It lailcd to realise its early pro- 

 iiu>r. an*l constMUh.nt ly u jks not introduced 

 + o ( iilti\atn ri. .\lrrt. which is still a very 

 ^nod (InvviT of tlie Ti'nhy type^ was one of 

 )n> carlirst ♦■(iorts. The greatest success 

 Mr. Duncur* Pearson has a( hi(^\<H| has been 

 in tlie great ficetlsi s*M'ti(ui. a <'ross efFtH^te<l 

 bt'tu rrn Minn if H nuio and Madame de 

 ( iraail |)rodnMnL; a ri-rna rkable break in 

 this <'hiss of th)urr ; liowdhani lieauty 

 Capella. N'orah l^oarxm, Mrs. Franklin, and 

 Vegn t^eiriL^ soni,' of the best. ThiMc wore 



hundr<v|> n\ otlu r rtallv irond se<*dliiurs 

 tltat \v*M *' Mot naniod or dist l i lnito<i . Ijuter 

 on ;i ( h*'tu>M-n Minnie Hnnie auil Wear- 

 <i;<l' IN ri'-' iinn |)r(n I iict'<| xunr more giant 



1)1 l.n-t' >i/.o jjihI gfunl form, and 



<'i tli. -»- lift) id I Pearson and Mavourneen 

 J'M Mm Imsi. Another variety of special 



inoiit is !• lororice Pearson, a huge white 

 tiurM|i* f (hdfodd. uhicli is now wvW known 

 to exhi 111 tors. l"his was raised from a 

 cross hotwoon luiiptMor and Mjuhinu^ de 

 (M:);iTt Ordy plant> rosidte<l from the 



;ind tins was ori*^ of them. Mr. 

 Diuicaii Prarson has noi nit^'red into the 



raising of daHodils from s.-rd on a large 

 scale, hur has mado a few cr(Kss(\s between 

 varirtu's win h it was tliouglit likely to o-ive 

 *ro(.d i . ^iih.,. and lia> achiovod a remarkable 

 siir . ha\ in^ re^ard to tho iuunher of 

 set'dlnii:> raiscfl. 



Palm 



The 



Agent-i;reneral for Aew South Wales has 

 received a telegram from the State Govern- 

 nu'nt advising Inm that the Department of 

 Agriculture in Sydney desires to advise pos- 

 sible purchasers of seeds of Kentia palms 

 in England, on the Continent, and in the 

 T'nited States of America, that the second 

 Royal Commission has been appointed to 

 inquire further into the control of the 

 trade and |)rires. and that it is undesir- 

 able to Ixiok hiuilitig orders for any length 

 of time with ar)v persons iintU the result 

 of the C ^)m[(nssion is known. 



Plant Propagration.— During the 



past month Professor Bayiey Balfour, 

 V.M.H., gav<^ a course* of Saturday evening 

 lectures to the workirui classes of Edin- 



burgh. The lecturt\s were given in the 

 lecture hall of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 and among the several subjects dealt with 

 was that of plant propagation. In 

 this lecture Professor Bayley Balfour dealt 

 with the propagation of flowering plants 

 from the side that is of most interest to 

 the gardener. At the outeet the difference 

 in result from propagation by seed, involv- 

 ing the inheritance of mixed characters 



contrasted 



\ll plants could be propa- 

 gated vegetatively, although statements 

 in a contrary sense were often made. The 

 gardener must learn from Nature the es- 

 sentials for his artificial propagation of 

 plants, and the two dominant factors in 

 the process were adequate water supply 

 and adequate food supply. Nature's 

 method of propagation by layering, as in 

 the strawberry, and by separable buds and 

 shoots, as in bulbous plants and plants 

 like the potato, was shown to be the pro- 

 totype of ordinary gardening operations. 

 The formation of callus, primarily as a 

 healing tissue consequent on wound stimu- 

 lus, but with the capacity to produce roots 

 and shoots, was the foundation of the 

 whole practice of propagation by cuttings. 

 The problem the gardener prepared for 

 himself when making a shoot cutting was 

 to preserve the vitality of a part which 

 he separated from its source of water sup- 

 ply until such time as callus formation on 

 the cut surface provides an absorptive 

 mechanism of new roots. The effect of 

 the wound stimulus in promoting callus 

 formation Avas often excessive, and exube- 

 rant callus might mean no rooting of the 

 cutting. This might be corrected by 

 further application of Hie wound stimulus 

 by paring the callus, which induced root 

 formation. Some plants rooted as cuttings 

 ri'adily if the cutting was made at the 

 iiodo of the shoot; others must be cut 

 through the internode. The ease with 

 which soft-wooded plants could be propa- 

 gated by cuttings, as compared with hard- 

 wooded plants, was a consequence of the 

 greater water content of the former. The 

 lecture was freely illustrated by lantern 

 slides, and proved of much interest. 



Shrewsbury Floral Fete.-^Con- 



sidering the uncertaint}' as regards the 

 weather durinii the week in which the 



scribed by Mr. Adams. It need hardly 

 be said that the collection contains many 

 rare species, but it should -be mentioned 

 that the colours of the more attractive 

 species are very bright. 



Exclusion of Plant 

 from America.— The Secretary for 



Agriculture in the Tnited States has inti- 

 mated his intention of prohibiting the ijn- 

 portation, from the ICth iuvst., of four spe- 

 cies of pine from Great Britain and other 

 of the leading countries in Europe. The 

 object is to prevent the introduction of the 

 white pine blister mite into the United 

 States. He has also announced that the 

 importation of potatoes from Great Britain, 

 Australia^ and several other countries will 

 be jorohibited as from the 20th inst., with 

 a view to prevent the introduction of the 

 wart disease into America. 



Forestry in Waies.^With a view 



to the improvement of forestry in AVales a 

 scheme has been issued by the Board of 

 Agriculture under which the North Wales 

 University College will undertake advisory 

 work in forestry for the whole of the Prin- 

 cipality. The appointment has been sanc- 

 tioned by the Board of Professor Fraser 

 Storey, of the University College, Bangor, 

 to the position of Advisory Officer under 

 the scheme. Professor Storey will retain 

 his professorship at Bangor, and Mr. T. 

 Thomson, B.Sc, has been appointed assis- 

 tant lecturer under him. 



National Rose Society. 



This 



society will hold its autumn show in the 

 Horticultural Hall, Vincent Square, West- 

 minster, on Thursday next, the 12th inst. 

 With reference to the prospects of the ex- 

 hibition, Mr. E. Mawley, V.M.H., writes 

 under date of August 30: "Should fine 

 weather set in before the show, there ought 

 to be at the exhibition a magnificent dis- 



n ' , , ; . . '^^ at tne exnibition a magnmcent ais- 



ilowor show at Shrewsbury was held it is pi^y of autumn-flowering roses; and, after 



gratifying to record the fact that during 

 the two days the sum of £2.548 13s. was 

 taken at the gates. Of this sum £931 18s. 

 Id. were taken on the first day and 

 £1,616 14s. lld. on the second day. ' The 

 total considerably exceeds that of last year, 

 when the takings were seriously affected 

 by the railway strike then in progress, but 

 it is less than the total of 1910, when the 

 takings at the gate amounted on the first 

 day to £1,070 16s., and on the second to 

 £2.034 19s. Id., making a total of £3,105 

 15s. Id. These amounts are exclusive of 



all^ these are by far the best and most satis- 

 factory roses to grow, and those that have 

 made the greatest advances in recent 

 years." * 



British Gardeners' Associa- 

 tion.— A meeting of this association will 

 be held at the Goold Hall, St. Andrew 

 Square, Edinburgh, on Wednesday next, 

 September 11. The chair will be taken at 

 seven p.m., and the speakers will include 

 Mr. James Harris^ of Liberton ; Mr. W. B. 

 Little, of Carlisle; a;id Mr. Cyril Harding, 



the receipts from the sale of tickets at a secretary of the association. 



cheap rate. 



Bulb Culture in Moss Fibre.— 



Se7eral classes ior bulbs grown in moss fibre 

 will, as usual, be provided in the schedule 

 of the bulb show that will be held, under 

 the auspices of the Roval Horticultural 

 Society, at the Horticultural Hall, in 

 March next. The classes will be for six 

 single hyacinths, grown in separate vases, 

 six vases of tulii)s, and six vases of nar- 

 cissi. The dates of the bulb show are 

 March 4 and 5. 



The IVIagrnificent Collection 



of Butterflies which was formed by 

 the late Mr. H. J. Adams, of Enfield, has 

 been removed to the Natural History 

 Museum, and is regarded as one of the 

 most valuable gifts of its kind that has 

 yet been received. Mr. H. J. Adams, 

 who died in April last, left his collection 

 of butterflies and moths upon trust, with 

 the consent of the residuary legatees for 

 the use of the nation. It is believed that 

 Mr. Adams spent upwards of £40,000 in 



from vegetative propagation, by which pure the acquisition of the collection, which con- lor tn* 



transmission from one parent is secured, sists of about 150,000 specimens arranged mercial 



Vegetative propagation alone was, he said, in 68 handsome mahogany cabinets and 



to be trusted for the perpetuation of de- includes specimens of about 200 species de- 



A Novel Use for a Vegretable 



Marrow.— St. John s Hospital, Twicken- 

 ham, adopted this summer a new method 

 of adding to its fund. A large vegetable 

 marrow was displayed in the window of a 

 shop in Twickenham, and passers-by were 

 invited to pay a penny and to guess its 

 weight. In the result the marrow went to 

 the most successful guesser, and the money 

 to the hospital. 



Tobacco Culture in England" 



—The experimental culture of tobacco for 

 commercial purposes is being carried on, 

 with the permission of the Government, m 

 Norfolk and Hampshire. The largest ot 

 the farms on which the tobacco plant is 

 grown is at Church Crookham, Hampshire, 

 and is situated on the estate of Mr. J- 



Some fifteen acres are under 

 tobacco, and, notwithstanding the un- 

 favourable weather conditions, the crop 

 presents a promising appearance. ^^f^' 

 Brandon considers that part of HanipsiiJ 

 in which the farm is situated as suitam 

 for the cultivation of tobacco on ooni' 



lines, and also that where 

 hops will grow tobacco will thrive, 

 principal part of the crop consists ot v 



Brandon. 



ire 



The 



