XoVEMBER 16, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS^ MAGAZINE 



S73 



crrain in the fields with trees on which the 

 rich tints of autumn were just beginning 

 to appear. 



Proposed Tree -planting 

 scheme for Worcester Park.— 



Worcester Park lies between Wiml)ledon 

 aiitl Epsom, and is a pretty, well-woodtxl 

 Surrey village, not far from Kingston. It 

 has an Amateur Gardeners So<'iety, and 

 this society possesses a modest cash balance 

 of £13 &. 3d. Assuming that the summer 

 flower show of 1913 proves successful, the 

 society projwses to increase the amenities 

 of Worcester Park by plantirig trees and 

 erecting seats in suitable positions. This 

 proposal would have delighted the lat^- Mr. 

 Alex. Dean, who took a keen interest in the 

 society's doings. 



October Weather. . As was the 



case in August and SeptenilxM-, tlu^ t(Mn- 

 peraturo in October w^as below ilir avtM-a;:it'. 

 At Greenwich the mean temperature for the 

 month was 48 deg., or 2 deg. below the 

 average. The mean maximum temperature 

 was 57 deg., and the mean minimum tem- 

 perature 39 deg., or 1 deg. and 4 dogs, 

 respectively below the average. The highesi: 

 day temperature was 66 deg., whi-ch is the 

 lowest October maximum during the past 

 seven years. During the month 123 hours 

 of bright sunshine were recorded, which has 

 only been exceeded twice in October during 

 the past thirty years. Rain fell at Green- 

 wich on fourteen days, and the aggregate 

 rainfall was 1.86in. or 0.99in. below the 

 average. 



Success in School Gardening. 



-The liathurst Shield, which is oflFered for 



m V 



It is feared, however, that the chief horti- 

 cultural societv alreadv has its hands full 

 as regards its growing magnitude and re- 

 sponsil>ilities. and will not want to multi])ly 

 its labours. It there is strength in amal- 

 gamation, why not go further and have a 

 <listrict amalt>;amation of horticultural so- 

 cieties ? 



of Plants. -At the 



Movements 



first of the series of popidar Itn-tures that 

 is being given at the SheftieUl Tniversitv, 

 Mr. A. W. Bartlett, M.A., B.Sc, dealt with 



— — -y_ ________ 1 



the best-arranged school garden in Wilt- 

 shire, has been Avon by the school of the 

 small village of Corsloy. The competition 

 for the shield is open to all the schools in 

 the county where instrtiction in gardening 

 is given, and Mr. A. E. Leatham, the bead 

 master, may be heartily congratulated on 

 the success the school under his charge has 

 achievetl. 



The Larch Saw-fly.— Owing to the 



failure of the efforts that have been made 

 to chec^k the ravages of this pest, an im- 

 mense amount of damage is being done in 

 the plantations of larch in the Lake Dis- 

 trict. ITiousands of larch trees that are 

 infested with the larch saw-fly are being 

 felled, the number of injured trees that 

 have been cut down during the past three 

 years exceeding 30,000. Need it be said 

 that the felling of so large a number of 

 trees represents a serious loss to the 

 owners ? 



A Multiplicity of Societies.— 



On several occasions we have directed at- 



f r" 



the various types of i)lant movement. With 

 the aid of lantern slides, he described the 

 manner in which ])lants seem to indicate 

 the possession of some rudimentary forms 

 of sensitiveness and almost intelligen<*e, in 

 their search for the essentials of their life 

 and growth rlight an<l foo<l. Mr. Bartlett 

 pointed out that movement was eviden<v of 

 li\ing as distinguished from <lea<I inatt*'r, 

 and the only reason that the movenu'nts of 

 plants were not generally rtH'Ognisinl was 

 their slowness. After referring to the 

 movements of bacteria and nncroscoj)i<r 



aquatic plants, which are i 

 progress through the water, the lecturer 

 showed that while trees and i)lants firmly 

 rooted in the soil are not able to change 

 their location in this way, they move their 

 limbs towards the roquirtxl food and light. 

 This was illustrate<l by means of a slide 

 showing a plant in a pot, the position of 

 w-hich during growth Mas change<l from \ v\ - 

 tical to horizontal, with the result that the 

 stem and root resi)e<'tiv(dy changed then- 

 direction upwards and downwards. The 

 plant's search for liglit was also shown by 

 means of a photograph of a fungi throwing 

 off its spores in the<lirect path of a narrow 

 beam of light, such spon^s being gathered on 

 a sheet of glass through whicli this beam <»i 

 light passed. In one of the pictures tlirowji 

 on the screen plants were seen growing up- 

 side dow^n— showing that the stimulus of 

 light was greater than that of gravitation. 

 The tip of the root was also s<>nsitive to 

 touch, thus avoiding stones an<l other hard 

 substances in its growth through the sod, 

 the movements of plants not bemg hap- 

 hazard, but always with the purpose of 

 assisting growth. The movements of ni- 

 sect-devouring plants and the sleep move- 

 ments of those that open and close their 

 flowei's with each recurring day and night 

 were also fully dealt with. 



^^v^r%f%\ nArdens in Wiltshire. 



—The report of the Education C'ommitte*^ 

 of the Wilts County Council on the school 

 gardens in the comity, contains much in- 

 teresting information relating to the pro- 

 gress that has been made in the teaching 



of P-ardenint'' in elementarv schools. The 

 ^^u several occasions we iia\e f or gaiut niiit-, - ort er.hi^nU 



tontion to tlie desirability of a conr.nt.a- i-eport statos that th^re are n^^^ ^^^j;^^}^ 

 tion of effort in the eiKloav<.ur to Fnrtlu-r where -ar<lenin- is l:.n-ht as a s]h< ..| Mih- 

 the advance of horticulture, and in connoc - 

 tion with this question the follo^ving cutting 

 from the *^Sussex Daily News" is of mu-h 

 interest : " Horticultural affairs in Mi<l- 



NOTES FROM KEW 



Sussex afford an interesting study. At 

 Cuckfield there are no fcw(M' than tbico 

 separate organisations at work, one society 

 operating th*^ chrysanthemum interest, 

 another i rscs and sweet peas, and the Cot- 

 tagers' Horticultural Society providing the 

 -chief exhil)ition of the year. At Burgess 

 Hill, one society runs the sevei*al liorticul- 

 tural ev(Mits, and Hay wards Heatli's rliief 

 horticultural institution is its summer 

 show, w hich is now about a quarter of a cen. 

 tury old, and the same society organises the 

 chrysanthemum or autumn interest. For 



I' 



several years a Gardeners' Mutual Improv(^- 

 ment Society has existed as an independent 

 organisation, yet in full sympathy with th*' 

 greater soi ictv. A suggestion has been 

 niade that the two societies sbould amalga- 

 niate, and organise inontldy <*om])ctitions to 

 stimulate general int^'rest in liorticulturc. 



iect, liist vt^ar tbeii' wvxv i^. and in 1902 

 only fiveTlO were at town s<'hools and the 

 rest in villages. There are still 27 village 

 ^rhools wlitM-e no school gar<l(Mis exist. In 

 the northern Parliamentary division there 

 are eight; north-western area. 12; eas- 

 tern. 27; wrsK in. 23; .M)Uth(M-n. 2(i. Tht* 

 total area is 12 acres 3 roods, so that the 

 average garden is 21 perches. The num- 

 ber of ehildren under instruction for th(^ 



full course was 1.211. of wlinh nnndu'r 

 1 146 are liovs and (io girls. the Mj)..rt 

 <avs it is a> vet imjiossible to coiulu* i 

 elasses in *'verV rnral school, for in wvaws 

 of them the hi^d teachers know nothing 

 of thesul)je-t. and the employment of the 

 practical garden*M' as ti-ulier ts <*immi t.> 

 many objections. The vai-ati m ((.uim's t..r 

 womVn teachers arranged i)y tin' Agricul- 

 tural Education Committee should, it is 

 considcnnl. <lo nuuli to ()v<M<'<>nir tlii> diffi- 

 culty. It is en< (»ui aging m mite tbat th(^ 

 work of two women teaclieis is so good as 

 to merit the awards as scheduled. 



Calceolaria Forgreti. 



Quite a bat<h of this com]>aratively new 

 species is now in Hower in the greiMihouse. 

 Comi>are<l with many others the Hower? 

 are small an<l unassuming, but they are 

 very frwly lM)rne, ami that, too, at this 

 st^ason of the year. Ad<led t<> this it may 

 prove of consi<lerable value to the hyhri- 

 <list. Cakeolaria F<Mgeti forms a low, 

 dense, frwly-brani'luMl sub-shrub, clothed 

 with dark gre<'n heaves; while the flowers, 

 which anM)f a pale sul])hur tint, art* almost 

 round, being, in fact, quite bead-like in 

 a})p(*arance. 



Lycoris aurea. 



ll is now gi'lling on for twiMity years 

 sinct* this bulbous ])lant attraettHl a very 

 large share of attention, owing to the fact 

 that a consi<lerable numlx^r of imported 

 and well-ripem*d bulbs flowere<l with a 

 free<lom to whi<'h w<^ w(^»(* hitherto unac- 

 custouKMl. Taken altog<'ther, how<»ver, 

 this ]y<*oris has not prov<-Kl v<M'y amenable 

 to cultivation, though, planttnl out in a 

 border in the Succulent House, some 

 flourishing examjih^ are just now HoAV<'ring 

 freely. The conditions of plenty of light 

 and snnshiuo that tlnne prt^vail. together 

 with a g*'nial warmib. seem to suit it per- 

 fectly. 



Diospyros Kaki* 



This, the Japanese Date rium, which is 

 in its native <'ountry so much vahunl rs 

 a fruit, is also of a highly ornamental 

 chara: t<'r, as may be s<^en in th<» Succulent 

 House, where a s]>ecim<Mi planted out in 

 on*^ of the beds is beai ing about forty of 

 its large, showy. r*Hltlish-(Mange fi ii it ^. 

 Another <lesirable f**ature is Ihe \m\ 

 fa:-t that these retain th«Mi- fr<^sbness for a 

 considerable time. 



Senecio canalipes. 



This forms such a bright annual feature 

 in the Succulent House that it is sur])ris- 

 ing the species is not more generally met 

 with. Vnlike most of the senecios, it is a 



•climber, cl<»thed with 

 h)lied, rich green leaves; the flowers, Avhich 

 are freely borne at this season, beting dis- 

 ]K)S(m1 ill Idnvr I eT'iiiiiial <-orynd>'-. Indivi- 

 <luallv tb»'v are jusi ovit halt an inch in 

 diameter, and of a ri<*h deej) yellow <olour. 

 Fully ex]>osed to the sun, as in this house, 

 it forms a VtM-y desirable rafter plant. It 

 is in every way (piite distinct from another 

 climbing specit\s, namely, Sene<'io macro- 

 glossus, sometimes popularly referred to as 

 \\\v f German ivv. 



Begronia acuminata. 



TliisoM, \4t nnconuiHi!!. ^jieri^s fi-om 

 Jamaic-a i^ si-cn to <-on-~idera itlc a<l\anlage 

 as a l»:»<ket ])laiit in tlio T ranize. It is 

 not ])aiti<*ularly slmwy. Ion its lialnt of 

 11 row til and profusion of Mooni eniinentlv 

 tit it for such a jio^iiion. It is ore of tlu^ 

 librous-rotited ( la-^v. ;inii forms a f reely- 

 bran bed plant . with spreading or i>ar- 

 tiallv drooping shoots. Tlu^ leaves are from 

 two inches to three inches in length, and 

 ta])er towards the point, and the llowers, 

 wliich are not more t ban tui inch ac-ross. 

 ait* white. The male blossoms arc the 

 more attractiv<^ Though intr<Hlu< t>d a-^ 



ago as 170S it is rarely seen ontsi<le 

 of a botanic garden . 



vigorous growing 



Beloperone oblong:ata. 



Among iIh 



miu'e uncommon ai-anthads 

 that flow(M- at this season this beloperone 

 must he in< liHled. It is just now in bloom 

 in tlie intormediate ]>ortion of the T range. 

 Ir is of a fioi'ly-inancbing. bushy habit of 

 iirowth. and mav be I'eadilv accommo<Iated 

 in a pot live inches to six inches in diameter. 



