THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1898. 



HORTICULTURAL SHOW ADVERTISEMENTS are inserted in this 

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

 ment Office, 148 and 149* Alderssate Street, London, E.C. 



THE 



NOTES OF THE WEEK. 



IONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



On the day with which the current month will be brought to a close 

 the National Chrysanthemum Society will hold its annual meeting, and 

 in view of recent events it appears to us desirable that those who are 

 interested in the society should in the interval carefully consider its 

 present position and any method which occurs to them as likely to 

 improve it, for the purpose of submitting their views to the members. 

 There are several rumours in the air with regard to propositions that will 

 be brought forward on the occasion in question, and it is, therefore, 



which serve the purpose of oars, and with the aid of these they make thei 

 way to the archegonium and fertilise the egg-cell situated at its base 

 Clearly, given an organism gifted with means of locomotion, which implies 

 a certain amount of volition, it is not going very far to consider it endowed 

 with some perception of odour or flavour sufficient to determine its move- 

 ments towards the source, precisely as we know that certain insects are 

 attracted to their mates from long distances over which magnetism 

 would be very unlikely to act. Besides, considering the extremely 

 limited area of the prothallus, if magnetic force were the determining 

 cause locomotory cilia would hardly be necessary, especially since 

 both the antheridia and archegonia are immersed in water and an 

 extremely weak attractive force would therefore determine the eventual 

 connection. It has long been recognised by botanists as a biological 

 fact that the pollen grain has been evolved from the antherozoid, and 

 some Japanese botanists have recently found the missing link, as it were, 



desirable that the members who are able to do so should make a point of in the fertilising bodies of the Gingko> or Maidenhair Tree {Salisburia 



attending, and take such course with regard to the matters that 

 arise as may appear likely to prove beneficial to the society. It would 

 be well were the members from beyond the metropolitan boundary to 



adiantifolid) whose foliage of adiantum-like leaves shows the close 

 affinity it has otherwise retained to its ancient progenitors. This being 

 so, it would be interesting to know whether the bursting of the coat of 



assemble in larger numbers than is usually th? case, for the purpose of the po „ en grain and the subsequent dire ction of the tube it emits, could 



t iking part in the election of the members of the executive, and there can be 



also be affected by malic acid independently of the stigmatic surface ; 



no doubt that it would be an immense advantage were the members of that is tQ say> whet her-leaving the idea of magnetism out of the 



committee to be drawn from a wider area. There is a great ques tion-the pollen grain has inherited the instinct of its ciliated 



difficulty in selecting for election on the committee members who reside ances tors, and direc t s the course of its tube towards the far-distant 



a considerable distance from London, for few so placed can afford the ovary for similar reaS ons. If this were so, it is not beyond the bounds of 



time and expense involved by a regular attendance at the meetings, possibility that malic acid imght come in as an aid to fertilisation where 



and it has been found that when members resident in distant parts of cross i ng or hybridising were found to be hindered by the lack of a needed 



stimulus. Clearly, in such cases as these, we come closely into touch 

 with those extremely subtle influences which lie altogether outside our 

 human range of sense-perception ; but there is no doubt that a careful 



the country have been elected they have attended so seldom as to have 



rendered but little service. 



We should be glad also to see on 



the committee a larger number of amateurs who combine with a love 



for the chrysanthemum business experience which is so essential in the study of th ° effects will often "enable us to infer the cause, and that being 

 management of floncultural societies as of other bodies, and this point done t0 utilise our knowledge in fresh and profitable directions, 

 should be borne in mind at the annual meetings and on other occasions 

 when vacancies have to be filled. The election of the executive should 

 be a sufficient reason for the attendance of members, and if any further 

 inducement is required, it will this year be found in the fact that 

 at the forthcoming meeting a new code of rules will be submitted to the 

 members. As the preparation of the code has occupied a specially- 



PLANTINQ FRUIT TREES. 



So far, the autumn and winter has been pre-eminently favourable to 

 planting, and there have been but few breaks in the continuity of the 

 process. Nurserymen admit that the season is one of the most favour- 



appointed committee for several months, and has been adopted by the able the V have experienced for years. It is not too late to plant, but it 



general committee, it may be assumed that the new rules will, if passed, 

 greatly impiove the methods of procedure. The burning question at the 

 present time is the place of holding the exhibitions, and it would be 

 greatly to their interest if the members would take advantage of the 

 annual meeting for expressing their opinions upon the question, so that 

 the views of the society as a whole may be ascertained. It would 

 certainly be an advantage to the society were members of the executive 

 who desire reforms to submit them to the committee, and, failing to gain 

 their point, appeal to the members assembled in general meeting, and, 



should be done quickly. In the case of some pears the flowering buds 

 are already showing the colour of the calyces ; and the sheath which 

 formed their protection during winter has parted obedient to the impulses of 

 the spring time. Early autumn is undoubtedly the best time to plant, but 

 there are times when circumstances delay the work, but if possible Feb- 

 ruary should see it accomplished, weather permitting. When an old 

 Lancashire gooseberry grower remarked that it was a good day's work 

 to plant five gooseberry trees, he had in his mind the perfect and com- 

 plete performance of the task. Despite all the teaching given in respect 



as a matter of course, present some scheme on which a business-like of this P ai ^ular work, there is much fruit-tree planting done in a very 



discussion could be based. This is the practice adopted in other societies, 

 and should be insisted upon by the members of the National Chrysan- 

 themum Society, for in no other way will it be possible to have the 

 assistance of horticulturists of position in the administration of affairs. 

 The society has accomplished much useful work and has great 

 possibilities ; but while we have no doubt that the committee will be 



perfunctory manner. A short time since we were invited to inspect some 

 standard apples planted two years ago, and found to our dismay that a 

 hole had been dug, the roots thrust into it, and filled in with soil of a 

 decidedly unsuitable character. But little growth had taken place since 

 the trees were planted, and the fruit one or two of them had produced was 

 small and cracked. These trees had been sent from a respectable 



able to show that much useful work has been accomplished during the nurser y> and were P lanted **™ -^wdual sent with them, who was 

 past year, and that they have prepared a liberal programme for the su PP° sed to be properly qualified for the task. And not only is bad 

 : y prepared a noerai programme tor the planting don ^ but where trees are intelligently placed in the ground, 



they are yet placed too deep in the soil. The roots are too 

 far away from the influence of the sun, and there is never such 

 a healthy root action as when they are nearer the surface. In the case 

 of heavy land imperfectly drained, it would be better to plant on the 

 surface, after it has been broken up, pulverised and properly prepared. 



coming season, we are strongly impressed with the necessity for care on the 

 part of those responsible for the management of the society, more 

 particularly , n the direction of maintaining its prestige. 



MAGNETISM IN FERN LIFE. , _ 



In the course of Professor Ray Lankester's second lecture on " The Such trees, and especially so if they are standards, should be staked at 

 condition of Life of the Simplest Living Things," a reference, as stated in once, because there is a lack of proper anchorage until the roots have 

 our last issue, was made to a recent discovery by a German professor that penetrated the soil and secured for the tree a firm foothold. Fruit trees 

 oAh n° Z ° ldS ° r fertilisin 8 bodies in ferns > whj ch form the homologues planted at this late period of the winter should be well mulched, for 

 ^ tne pollen grains in flowering plants, are attracted to the archegonium though February is regarded as a wet month, March is frequently a dry 

 b ee eg f " Ce I! by presence therein of malic acid, which had previously one, and then surface mulching is highly advantageous. The mulching 

 of tL°"? .-°_ att r aCt them when a PP lied t0 the Prothallus independently also serves the purpose of keeping frost from the roots ; and who knows 

 * C ' '"* 4 ' " what wintry weather may be in store lor us ere Lady Day is past, and 



in this relation it may be well to suggest that there are many fruit trees, 

 especially in old gardens, that do not bear fruit, or if they do, only 

 unsatisfactory produce, because the roots are starved. Gardeners who 

 highly manure their vegetable ground, do not appear in some cases to 

 realise the fact that their fruit crops fail for lack of root sustenance. A 

 little bone meal applied on the surface, after it has been carefully broken 



there is T ^ ° Vary ' U is ' however » extr emely doubtful whether 

 the phr g u akin to magnetic attraction in this phenomenon, and 



blanL raS M, USe £ " aS if by a ma £ net " Presumably only implies a resem- 

 . l ? e effects rat her than identity of cause. These antherozoids on 



freely i th™™ antHen 'dia or sperm-cells swim about actively and 

 thallL 1 ™ OISture necessarily present on the under side of the prc- 

 us , ana this they do by means of cilia or slender, hair-like proc sse^ 



