134 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Ammonium sulphate ... . 200 parts 



Sulphate of iron 50 „ 



Sulphate of lime 50 „ 



Two plots of ground were manured : one according to the ordinary 

 method with dried blood, &c, the other by the rational method as above. 

 The latter in August was full of flourishing and well-conditioned carnations, 

 the former were very poorly developed and backward. The importance 

 of this latter fact is that if the plants have not set flower-buds by 

 September, the flowering remains backward until March and April, hence 

 the flowers are dear in December, January, and February. 



The mineral manure can be directly utilised by the plants, whilst the 

 organic manures require the aid of micro-organisms -to render them 

 assimilable, and this process is a slow one during winter. — W. C. W. 



Catalpas, The. By W. (Garden, No. 1832, p. 315 ; December 29, 

 1906). — Those who know anything at all of hardy exotic trees do not 

 need to be told that the Catalpa is one of the finest ornamental trees we 

 have, but there must be many to whom even such an old tree as this is 

 unknown, seeing how seldom one finds it planted, especially in gardens 

 of modern make. Those who know the American Catalpa will recognise 

 in C. bignonioides one of our most handsome trees for garden planting, 

 even when not in flower. There is, in fact, no finer object on an 

 English garden lawn than an old Catalpa, as it is beautiful in leaf and 

 highly attractive throughout harvest time, when, as a rule, it is covered 

 with a profusion of loose white flower clusters, which in warm climates 

 are succeeded by a crop of long seed-pods, which look like attenuated 

 French beans ; hence the name Indian bean tree. Apart from its peculiar 

 growth, its large foliage, and showy flowers, the Catalpa is an important 

 tree in garden landscapes on account of its colour, it being one of the 

 lightest greens we have among big trees ; and therefore a fine Catalpa 

 always stands out prominently among others, both in colour and 

 outline.— E. T. C. 



Catasetum galeritum, var. pachyglossum. By R. A. Rolfe 



(Bot. Mag. tab. 8093). — Brazil. Nat. ord. Orchidaceae ; tribe Vandeae. 

 Epiphyte H foot high; sepals and petals lapceolate, green blotched with 

 purple ; lip three-lobed ; inch long, deep red-brown at margin, 



green spotted, with brown below. — G. II. 



Celery. By W. R. Beattie (U.S.A. DejJ. Agr., Farm. Bull. 282; 

 16 figs. ; April 1907). — An account of the cultivation of celery intended to 

 replace that in Bulletin 148, of which it is a revision and extension. 

 Celery can be grown in the summer months in the north United States ; 

 but not in the middle region, as the summer weather is too warm, the 

 atmosphere too moist, and the winter too cold ; while in the south it 

 may be grown in the winter. The ideal conditions for its growth are 

 bright sunshine, pure air, cool nights, and a well-distributed rainfall of 

 about 8 inches during the growing season. The best soil is said to be a 

 sandy loam, and it is stated that there is no manure equal to farmyard 

 manure at about 10 to 20 tons per acre for this crop. — F. J. C. 



