THE 



GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE. 



SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 1898. 



RAND 



Apply for Schedules to 



FLORAL FETE, 



Juke, 15. 16, and 17, 1898. 



Frizes, ^750. 



ft 



YORK 



CHAS. r iW. "Simmons, Secretary, Harker's Hotel, York. 



HORTICULTURAL SHOW ADVERTISEMENTS are inserted in this 

 column at One Shilling per line, the minimum charge being Five Shillings, Advertise- 

 ment Office, 148 and 14Q. Alderseate Street. London. E.C. 



Notes of the Week. 



exhibitions of considerable note. But it has its disadvantages. It entails 

 a great amount of work on the secretarial department on the day of the 

 show ; considerable delay occurs in compiling a complete list of the prize 

 winners ; the representatives of the local newspapers, who are naturally 

 desirous of giving a list of awards in full, are sadly inconvenienced ; and 

 there is the further disadvantage, alluded to above, that only a small 

 proportion of the exhibitors— those taking awards— have their names 

 placed on their exhibits, such publicity being their due, and one much 

 sought after in local circles. It is, however, quite certain that the system 

 of withholding names does not answer the end sought by its adoption. 

 In several collections of orchids that have come under our notice If there is a desire on the part of a judge to favour a certain individual 

 within a comparatively recent period considerable damage had been there need ibe no difficulty in [arranging some method by which the 

 done by an insect pest which has hitherto not been regarded by identity of the exhibitor may be made ^known, for wrongdoers 



fertile in device and resource r as they who will be just and straight- 

 to reckon in following their fascinating pursuit. A considerable num- forward. There was a time when, probably, favouritism was shown, and 

 ber of species had been injured by the attacks of the pest, but the when judges were suspected, and the secret system did not prevent it. 



In these days judges are not only selected because of the possession of 



A DESTRUCTIVE ORCHID PEST. 



are as 



the general body of orchidists as an enemy with which they have 



greatest sufferer 



phalcniopsis) 



bably to the more delicate texture of the cuticle of its leaves than that* of known abilities, but also because men of position and acknowledged 

 other occupants of the orchid house. The presence of some enemy of the rectitude ; their names! are "sometimes ' openly published in many sche- 

 plants was first indicated by the leaves becoming marked by yellowish dules of prizes, and they have reputations at stake. The choice of 

 blotches, and it was observed that - as the blotches increased in number qualified censors is much larger than it was a quarter of a century ago, 

 the plants became unhealthy, made but little progress, and in the case of and a judge who |is known cannot now afford to be other than honour- 

 severe attacks succumbed to the injury they had received. In one or a ble. He may make mistakes, ibut they are errors of judgment and not 

 t vvo instances it was assumed by those in charge of the collections that tlie results of a determination to do wrong. It has been stated— no doubt 

 the blotches bad been caused by a fungus, but further investigation re- more as an outcome of genial sarcasm than as an actual occurrence— that 

 vealed the fact that, as in other cases, the mischief had been wrought by tlie old florists of two generations ago, in their feasting and talk after one 

 some form of animate life. By subjecting the plants to careful examina- o{ tlieir shows, would always drink to the toast " May we never be fun' 

 tion at night with the aid of a lamp, a diminutive insect was discovered out"— a sort of humorous confession that they did play little tricks on 

 busily engaged in feeding upon the juices of the plant. To discover the each otlier > and especially on the judges. If there was ever a semblance 



better one. 



esting place of the pest was the next step, and in searching the material of truth in the statement the old order has now changed to a new and 

 in which the plants were potted near the base, of the pseudo-bulbs 

 both the perfect and nymphal forms of the insect were found in compa- 

 ratively large numbers. The last-named of the two forms was met with 



NITRAGIN. 



The new material introduced two years since under the somewhat 



Westwood 



in various stages of development, these being chiefly represented by the 

 difference in the 



size of the rudimentary wings. With a plentiful supply unfortunate appellation of nitragin, for the purpose of inoculating the 

 of material there has been no difficulty in identifying the pest as Phyto- soil with nitrifying bacteria specially suitable for the several leguminous 



,r . , ... ^ as been known to science, plants cultivated in garden and field, has failed in this country to realise 



although, happily, not familiar to orchidists until quite recently. The expectations. The material, prepared by one of the leading agricultural 

 insect, when it has attained its full development, is nearly a quarter of chemists in Germany, after lengthened investigation, was intended to pro- 

 an inch in length, deep sanguineous crimson, with black or dark mark- mote tlie growth of leguminous plants by promoting the formation of 

 ings. 1 he rostrum, or sucking apparatus is, relative to the size cf the nodules on their rootlets which are so closely associated with the 



assimilation of nitrogen from atmospheric sources. The preparation was 

 subjected to a careful trial by several experimentalists in Scotland, in- 

 cluding the authorities of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, but 

 the results were of a negative character. In one or two instances the 

 Royal Agricultural Society was rather sharply criticised because the 

 Council did exactly what it should have done, sent the society's con- 

 sulting chemist to Germany to make inquiries as to the method of pre- 

 paring the material, and its effects upon the crops, and then afforded 



insect, of great length, and consists of a tube working in a case, and 

 within the tube are sharp suckers, which penetrate the outer covering of 

 the leaves and extract their juices. In the nymphal stage, the insect is 

 yellowish, with black lines on the thorax, and black wing pads. It may 

 be assumed that the pest has been introduced to the orchid house by 

 means of imported plants, and it is therefore essential that these should be 

 subjected to a close examination before they are placed with the general 

 collection. The eggs are deposited on the pseudo-bulbs, but in conse- 



quence of their small size are not readily detected without the aid of a facilities to those who desired to experiment with it to obtain small 

 powerful pocket-magnifier. During the day the insect in its various supplies. As a matter of course, an extended series of experiments 

 stages takes refuge in the material in which the plants are potted, and 

 oeiore this fact was discovered those orchid growers who have had their 



were carried out with nitragin on the society's experimental farm at 

 Woburn, and chiefly in the hope that it might prove a solution of the 



plants attacked were greatly perplexed in discovering the cause of the un- clover-sickness difficulty. In his report upon these investigations Dr. 

 healthy appearance of their plants. 



With 



Voelcker states that though here and there have appeared some indi- 



an as yet be said, as those suggested have hardly passed through cations of success attending the employment of the preparation, nothing 



experimental stage. So far dusting with tobacco powder has not of a definite nature has been ascertained as the result of carefully con- 



rea lsed expectations, but spraying with quassia and soft soap in solu- ducted experi ments. In conducting the experiments with beans, it was 



ion, and of a moderate degree of strength, has given very good results. founcI that when the seed was inoculated with nitragin specially pre- 



t lough the phytocoris has been very destructive in several collections P a red for beans, the plants were in bloom eight days before the plants 



ao not regard .t as so formidable a foe as to justify widespread alarm, 



iht,5 • S c u ^ pr ° Ve very troublesome, where it is successful in 



ts a f °° tho,d ' if repressive measures are not adopted immediately 



is presence is discovered. 



Fiftv METHODS AT FLOWER SHOWS. 



tdvocati n r?n S ,>f g0 ! he latC m C J' Perf y' of Birmingham, was 



»f the old f a v c J oIumns of th e Gardeners' Magazine the abolition 



lower shows- u^*™ ° f number '"g stand s, collections, &c, at 

 eerecy the na * r ° d adopted b y our forefathers in the interests of 

 he awards w j the exhibit °rs in any form being withheld until after 

 ^ ~_ . ... c ma de, and then nlared nnlv on th#» winnmo- e»,n^ i# 



e awards we a exniDltor s «n any form being withheld until i 

 »*» and still f m 1 th6n placed on,y on the win ™ng stands, 

 eflection on the ^ " where the old method is yet adhered to, a 

 ndividuals could" if ^ SUggeslin S the y wouId be lia ble to favour certain 

 W method still ownershi P be made known to them. We find the 



in the other plots evinced signs of flowering. The next plants to come 

 into flower were those in the plot the soil of which had been inoculated, 

 and the latest to bloom were the plants growing in the untreated plot. 

 The acceleration of the period of flowering, however, was no advantage 

 to the crop, for the precocious plants became stunted later on, and pro- 

 duced a lighter yield. From the experiments made at Woburn and else- 

 where, it appears reasonable to assume that our ordinary garden and 

 agricultural leguminous plants have no difficulty in finding in the soils of 

 this country the organisms which they require for nodule development 

 and nitrogen assimilation, and that we must continue to regard good 

 tillage as the prime factor in the plentiful production of root nodules by 



j t cultivated legumes. 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLE IMPORTS. 



The Board of Trade returns for December last are somewhat unsatis 

 factory, for both imports and exports are below the totals of the corre 



