May 14 



1898. 



GARDENERS' 



MAGAZINE. 



A Mr Alexander Milne, were then asked by the President to give their im- 

 Ghent, ana xyir. ^ ^ mnsr insfnirriw anrl interesting to the members. 



f their visit, which proved most instructive and interesting 

 pressions orin ^ ^ the fuU reports in the hort i cu ltural press, and then 



Mr. Laird a Q J f the great exhibition, its size, and its general interest to all 

 &™ a V fnrn the King downwards. There were five hundred nurserymen in 

 classes, u r^ exhihition consisted of some twelve thousand plants and covered three 

 ^ hCnt h t of this twelve thousand there were some one thousand five hundred 

 acres, but ^ ^ plants eight feet in diameter. There were nine lots of 



jrf thirty varieties. Mr. Laird was also much impressed with the New 

 if ilSd olants 'he Messrs. Linden's memorial groups, the new plants, M. Louis 

 \ Houtte's establishment, and the energy and zeal of royalty in behalf of 

 ht' ulture. Mr. Alexander Milne was deeply impressed with the number and 

 Hence of the nurseries of Ghent and Bruges. Selection rather than collection 

 s the chief secret of their success. One large nursery was chiefly devoted to 

 rtTee things— palms, Araucaria excelsa, and sweet bays. The Messrs. Sander, of 

 St* Albans have also an enormous acreage of glass at their nurseries at Bruges. He 

 dso found a nursery with ten acres of glass managed by twenty-two men. Slow 

 and sure seemed the characteristic of these workmen, and their hours of labour 

 were twelve and a-half hours a days, from six a.m. to eight p.m., and all for 

 fifteen francs (about 12s. 6d. a week) with only a quarter of an hour for breakfast, 

 rod another for dinner. Ghent is indeed an object lesson, said Mr. Milne, in 

 more ways than one, for British horticulture and British horticulturists. — D. T. F. 



Average Life of the Potato. 



In answer to Mr. J. C. Tallack I planted on March i, 1897, side by side, ten 

 pounds of the Duke of York and ten pounds of the Ashleaf Kidney. I gave both 

 the same treatment and both sets were well sprouted. I found on May 10 the 

 Ashleaf had a very promising crop under the shaws, and this was ready for use 

 by May 20. The Duke of York was not ready before May 31. I decided to 

 leave the two drills to see the result, and found the Ashleaf Kidney to have the 

 heaviest crop and a better-shaped potato, but one is a kidney and the other an oval 

 potato. Take any potato in cultivation at the present time, and give it and the 

 Ashleaf Kidney, sent out about sixty years ago, the same treatment, and the old 

 variety will come out the victor in quality and quantity. 



Mr. Tallack says there is no comparison between the Magnum Bonum and the 

 Syon House Prolific for weight of produce when grown under the same conditions. 

 Up to the present time I have not found any potato to beat the Magnum Bonum. 

 Planted beside Imperator, Up-to-Date, Champion, Lydia, Stourbridge Glory, 

 and Reading Giant I have always found the Magnum Bonum to turn out the 

 heaviest crop, best in quality, and free from disease. It is a variety that will grow 

 and do well in any soil, situation, or climate, and that is a point to be considered. 

 Potatos that will only succeed in a few places are not of the same value as those 

 that will do well in all soils and situations. I found the Ashleaf, Gloster Kidney, 

 and Magnum Bonum to succeed as well with me in Surrey on the chalk soil as 

 they do here on the red soil, which is rather heavy. 



Potatos will not succeed under the rough-and-ready treatment accorded in a 

 great many places on lighter soils, such as dibbling them in. The ground should 

 be thoroughly dug and manured during winter, and in the spring forked over ; 

 then the drills should be opened about six inches deep and two feet six inches 

 apart, the sets being placed one foot apart ; cover in with the fork, leaving 

 a small ridge ; in case of frost the ridge can, with very little trouble, be put on 

 the potatos by means of a rake, and they will be safe for two or three weeks 

 longer. Good potatos are often injured by bad practice. 



In 1827 Mr. James Wright, gardener at Westfield, Aberdeen, planted the 

 « 1? y - e P otato which is referred to in the Gardeners' Magazine of 



i»34- The Pink-eye is as good now as it was then, for the weight per acre 

 averaged then from six to eight and ten tons per acre and averaged about the same 

 with me ast year ; this variety has thus been in cultivation seventy-one years. 

 IWe shall be glad if Mr. Davies will tell us the number of the page of the 

 Gardeners Magazine for 1834 to which he refers. So far as we can find, Mr. 



\f, w 8 - J P "u 437) Wr0te ' " With the Scotch pi nk-eye I am not at all acquainted." 

 W. Wright, however, took the same view that Mr. Davies does, that potatos do 



mLST^ ! f we " cared for.-ED.] If properly treated I do not think 

 C Ztl.T Ju e a Y era S e wei S ht P er acre of Magnum Bonum, taking one 



T ' w i U be about twelve tons with ordinary cultivation, but with 

 P re Paration and heavy manuring they may give a return of from 



«re of SJS e ° ty i° nS ; 1 Th , e avera S e >' ie,d of Ashleaf is eight to nine tons per 

 acre ot good sound potatos for eating. p 



The Gardens, Castle Hall. T. Davies. 



Obituary. 



M Simton U lfl' a w f elI : k T vn Ci i izen of York ' died on the 4 th inst. Mr. 



Series and ° f nl^ -° f MeSSrS ' A ' Sim P Son and S ° ns « Ha ™rth 

 amon J st III ° m Sma11 be ginnmgs he made for himself a prominent position 



Society of Vr,ri, U vi rym , en ° f the C0 ? nty - He was ^"ated with the Ancient 

 he was verv SJw StS ' a T n £st whom ( as als <> a wide circle of acquaintances) 

 the vSr 1ZI i g I J es P ected 5 hls connection with the society extending from 



fi'ledThe offirV^ ? T * ? r r at P . art ° f that time he served on the committee ; he 

 chairman of XL J T* d u' three yearS ' and in 1894 occ «Ped the position of 

 annals Mr c- VC ' the mOSt successful year, financially, in the society's 



»hows ' since t£? ipS ° n WaS a , Pr° mi nent figure at the York chrysanthemum 

 vegetable evbi £ comraenced t ? having had charge of the arrangement ot the 

 vegetables u«,Lli,f ' u° VCry , i' ght duty ' 33 those who know tl »e quantity of 

 «nder the 3 7 °° U }? teStlfy ' 1 Ie WaS of roDust Physique and seldom 

 "^expected hf n7 , m . edlcal treatment, so that his death was somewhat 

 immediate cam* LrT* beiDg ° f short dura tion. A paralytic seizure was the 

 on the 7th in? a cectase - The interment took place at York Cemetery 

 °f his colleapu" 1 WaS P rec eded by a service at St. Thomas's Church. Many 

 t0 °k part in the T er - ^t^' a ° d the cha P lainof the society (Rev. H. Vyvyan) 

 * widow, threec™ 06 *., • , Sim P son was in his sixty-eighth year, and leaves 



w » tnree sons, and two daughters.— J. L. 



Suiters by \Wrf S ,a P ton — T n consequence of the transfer of their head- 

 furseries, Enfield 7k 8 m *. Low and Ca ' fr0m Cla P t0I > to Bush Hill Park 

 fcnn « establishment *h 5* & Sale ° f a considerable portion of their stock at the 



■uimer estahli v» ^ w 1 



neit . inclusive iff? 1 ' h J Mes srs. Protheroe and Morris/from Tuesday to Thursday 

 P^ts at the Cliinf t.? 19 '- °rchidists, knowing the valuable character of the 

 Resent f 0r «ecurinf Wur senes, are not likely to miss an opportunity like the 



urmg some of the good things that will be offered. 



NSWERS.T 



CORRESPONDENTS 



wh?ch thty ^to^lTf • ^ S6nding r^P™ C ° ntainin S matter t0 

 malk attentwm » correspondents are requested g distinctly 



Spedmens of plants, flowers, and fruits for naming or opinion should be sent to 

 the Editor of the Gardeners' Magazine, « Endsle^h," Prio^PaVk Kew 



StCX ^L°i Si cultural societies are invited to send early notification of forth 



SrfSS™ 8 meedIlgs, ^ axe requested to advise us C0nce ^ 



™^ lneSt r^' i H * Taunton : Do not give any more manures, or the vines will 



^^h<^M ' J " lblC ' . and endeavour b y aM the usual means to 



TZ ? ? g Y n F ned gr0Wths 50 that fruit ma y be secured next season. Write 

 us again later as to the progress made. 



Rusty Pear Foliage, 



^ K. s Ramsey : The foliage has evidently 



™*^&j^*im wind while moist and tender, with the result that 

 most of the life has been taken out of the leaves and they have turned brown. 

 Sbftdd any leaves on other branches show rusty patches when they reach a more 

 advanced stage send them along, if there is an appearance of attack, as this 

 prove another matter. 



lay 



Saving Leaves in Autumn.— W. 



. , a ac * , - K '' Warwick: If the leaves are 



intended for use with manure for heating and forcing they should lie gathered 

 when dry or moderately so. If gathered when very wet they pack closely 

 together and soon rot ; wet leaves also heat quickly, and that is exactly what is 

 not wanted for hotbeds, but rather a steady heat prolonged as long as possible. 

 Leaves gathered for hotbeds should be protected from heavy rains by being 

 placed under an open-sided shed or by covering with a few sheets of galvanised iron. 



Twin spathed Richardia.-T. W., Milford Haven: Though not of fre- 

 quent occurrence it is still not uncommon to find amid a very large batch of 

 Richardias one or more inflorescences having two or more spathes. We have seen 

 specimens with three highly developed spathes on one stem, but such freaks are 

 anything but pretty. The example you sent has two large spathes, but it is 

 scarcely so handsome as the single form Such freaks as this usually occur where 

 Richardias are well and strongly grown, and seem in some measure to be an 

 outlet for superabundant energy. 



Yellow Pear leaves.— T. W. N., Chelmsford : The yellow blistering is 

 no doubt due to a severe chill acting upon and disorganising the tissues of the 

 leaf after a spell of mild moist weather, and probably acting in conjunction with a 

 poorly-drained soil. Too heavy a mulching that would prevent the sun from 

 warming the soil might have a good deal to do with the damage. See that the 

 drainage is improved as far as possible at this date, and later on when the fruits 

 are swelling give the tree an occasional supply of liquid manure if the weather is 

 not continually wet. 



Climbing Rose in Greenhouse — A., Ashford i There is a local cause 



with which we are not conversant acting to prevent the rose from flowering. It 

 may be excess of moisture due to poorly drained border, lack of air on favourable 

 occasions, and absence of sufficient sunshine, owing to shading, to properly ripen 

 growth. The shoots indicated by the red lines should have afforded abundance of 

 blooms but it would not be good policy to cut them back now. Leave them until 

 the autumn or winter and then cut them back two or three eyes. Allow the 

 strong growths to do their best and if they ripen well they need only be shortened 

 after the fall of the leaf ; let them go up and do not stiffly train them horizontally. 

 We shall be glad to assist you further if necessary. 



Celery on Level Ground. — B. F., Horsham : Celery can be grown, and 

 grown well, both on the level ground, and even on raised beds; but it is usual to 

 cultivate it in trenches, because here the roots can be kept cool and moist better 

 than under the other conditions. For level beds the soil should be of the best, 

 thoroughly worked and mixed with crumbling decayed manure, and also a goodly 

 quantity of the ashes resulting from burning or charring garden refuse. Though 

 such beds should have been made up ere now, it is not too late if suitable materials 

 are at hand. Blanching can easily be effected by the use of stout brown paper 

 and by earthing, using boards to keep the soil in position. Much fine celery is 

 arown thus, but trench culture is generally the safest and certainly the easiest, 

 especially where large quantities of this and other vegetables have to be 



provided, 



Mertensia siberica.-L. 0. F.,Andover: This handsome early-flowering 

 herbaceous plant presents such a charming appearance when it is in good condi- 

 tion and crowned with drooping racemes of mauve-blue flowers, that it is very 

 reasonable you should desire to know any of its peculiarities. Almost any soli 

 will suit it but it thrives as well in a light, but not dry soil, as anywhere, 

 especially if a little mulch is given during winter. It needs to be planted where 

 it is sheltered from the prevailing cold winds, otherwise its beauty will be 

 spoiled Then, also, to keep it in condition for as long as possible it should be 

 protected from the early morning sun during the time it is flowering, otherwise it 

 soon loses its charm if after a few degrees of frost the sun's rays act upon it 

 directly ; if a cupressus or other dense tree shades the plant until frost has disap- 

 peared, the mertensia lasts in flower a long time. 



Tea and H P. Rosea.— Amateur, Ashford : Two dozen of the best H.P. 

 roses for your purpose are Alfred Colomb, A. K. Williams, Beauty of Waltham, 

 Captain Hay ward, Ulrich Brunner, Abel Carriere, Charles Lefebvre, Horace 

 Vernet Prince Camille de Rohan, Francoise Michelon, Heinrich Schultheis, 

 Victor Verdier, Her Majesty, Jeannie Dickson, Mrs. J. Laing, Suzanne, Marie 

 Rodocanachi, Baroness Rothschild, Merveille de Lyon, Madame Hippolyte 

 Tamain Pride of Waltham, Margaret Dickson, Duke of Edinburgh, General 

 Jacqueminot, and Boule de Neige. Two dozen good tea and noisette roses are 



