September 3» l8 9 8 ' 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



569 



presented prizes 



The 



•MM 



consisting 



r sports was du^vj ._, - 



of useful articles, to the successful competitors 



the 



c nit Harvest in Cambridgeshire is not by any means so fine as 



I,"* a soring promised. Especially is the falling off of quantity seen in 

 ?™VL and other plum orchards, for where, in good years, ten tons of 

 Green ^ -« ^ ^ scarcely one ton can be obtained. The higher 



Potato Crop.— According to the official returns the area under- 

 potatos in Great Britain is this year 524,591 acres. This is a material increase 

 upon last year's area, but considerably less than the area under potatos in 1896 

 and 1895, and in fact of the whole of the years in the past decade with the excep- 

 tion of 1897 and 1894. The increase this year as compared with 1897 is 19,677 



increase 



Gained does'not compensate for the loss of those advantages a plentiful 

 D variable crop in the county, but bush fruits were good. 



ember of our moor- 



fmit were ga 



^brings. Apples are a 



Tho Crowberry {Empetrttm nigrum) is an interesting 

 JZL and, as pJinted out by Professor L. C. Miall, F.R.S., in his lecture at 

 £ linden Institution, may be said to mimic the heaths as a euphorbia mimics 

 ^cms or sarracenia a nepenthes. Similarity of habit has brought about simi- 

 \X ofstructure. The crowberry, which is so like a true heath in its foliage and 

 «Lner of growth, that even the botanists, who did not fail to remark that the 

 lowers are altogether different, long tried to bring the crowberry and the heaths as 

 *ar together in their systems as they could. The crowberry has the long, dry, wiry 

 tons the small, narrow, rolled, clustered, evergreen leaves of a true heath. The 

 Wf.margins are turned back till they almost meet, and the narrow cleft between 



obstructed by close-set hairs, so that the transpiring surface is effectually 

 ieltered. The ciowberry is a peat-loving shrub, and is often found with ling and 

 other heaths in the heart of the moor. The berries are a favourite food of birds, 

 which help to disseminate the species. The crowberry has a wide distribution in the 

 Arctic and Alpine regions of both the Old and the New World, and in Greenland 

 the Eskimo use the berries as food and extract a spirit from them. The crow- 

 berry, in common with some other peat-loving shrubs or trees, has a peculiar root 

 structure. The usual root hairs are wanting, and in their place we find a peculiar 



them is 



imports of potatos since last harvest and the high prices that ruled until the 

 lifting of this year's crop commenced. The largest area of potatos in Great 

 Britain within the last thirty years was 627,691 acres in 1871, and the smallest, 

 502,719 acres, in 1876, the difference being 124,972 acres. 



Florida Velvet Bean.— Under this name a leguminous plant has been pro- 

 minently recommended in American journals as a forage plant and as admirably 

 adapted for green crop manuring. Recently the beans have been offered for sale 

 in this country ; and, as frequent references have been made to Kew, it has been 

 considered desirable to record in the current issue of the Kew Bulletin what is 

 known of the plant and its capabilities. From the first it was conjectured that the 

 seeds belonged to a plant very near the common purple-flowered Cowhage or 

 Cow-itch plant of the tropics, Mucuna pruriens. The difficulty, in the absence of 

 adequate specimens, in identifying it with this was the fact that in the Cow-itch 

 plant the pods are densely covered with stinging hairs of a brownish colour. A 



formidably armed, it was thought, could not safely 



general cultivation. 



Boy 



kinii), was clearly wrong. In these circumstances we are glad to find that the 

 plant has flowered and fruited in Queensland, andithat Mr. F. M. Bailey, F.L.S., 

 the Colonial Botanist, has identified it as Mucuna pruriens, var. utilis. In this 

 variety of the Cow-itch plant the pods are apparently devoid of stinging hairs. It 

 is probably M. utilis of Wall., described in the " Flora of British India " (vol. ii., 



wis erowth, which invades the living tissues of the root, sometimes penetrating piu^uiy »x. »u«u ui «~ tu ~ ZL . u • ^ - a ' J 



^' :„ ^ « a— ™„*u .fint™^ filam.nu. whirh P- *«7), as "a cultivated variety » with velvety, not hairy, pods. This is figured 



mc cells. There is often a dense mycelial mantle of interwoven filaments, which 

 covers all the finer roots. This looks like parisitism, but the fungus is apparently 

 not a mere parasite, for the tree or shrub shows no sign of injury, but thrives all 

 the better when the fungus is plentiful, and may refuse to grow at all if the fungus is 

 removed. Rhododendron, ling, most heaths, bilberry, crowberry, broom, spurge- 

 horel, beech, and birch are among the plants which have a mycelial mantle. If 

 the native soil which clings to the roots of any of these is completely removed, if 

 the fine roots with the mycelial mantle are torn off in transplanting, or if peaty 

 matter is witheld, the plant dies, or struggles on with great difficulty until the 



Wight 



Dictionary 



pod 



black 



• > 



ycelial mantle is renewed. 



pagated 



r* 



Bp, unless special precautions are taken. Frank maintains that the mycelial 

 untie is the chief means of absorption from the peaty soil, and that the tree or 

 ub has come to depend upon it. The known facts render this interpretation 

 fobable, but thorough investigation is still required. In some cases at least, the 



a vegetable." , What may also prove to be the same plant, with jet 

 is cultivated as a rotation crop on sugar estates in Mauritius, under the name of 

 " Pois Mascate." The accounts given by interested parties in America respecting 

 the agricultural value of the Florida velvet bean must be received with caution. It 

 is undoubtedly a rapid grower, and affords a large yield of nutritious forage. It 

 bears an abundant crop of seed, and is, therefore, readily propagated. It may 

 also, in common with many other;ieguminous plants, possess the power of obtaining 

 its nitrogen from the atmosphere, and thus be admirably adapted for green crop 

 manuring. How far it may be found superior in these respects to other plants it 

 is impossible to say. As it is now being carefully tested in various parts of the 

 tropics, it would be well to await reports which will, no doubt, be shortly issued 



ant an be gradually inured to the absence of a mycelial mantle. Professor on ^ e su ^ject. 



if 



tall states that he has repeatedly planted the crowberry in a soil devoid of peat. 



Carthagena Oranges, with a very small proportion of lemons, were 



It generally succumbs, but when it survives the first year, it maintains itself and exported from Carthagena in 1897 to the extent of 6,083 tons, or 75,962 full-sued 



boxes ; of this quantity, 5.9*3 tons came to Great Britain and 170 tons to France. 

 This trade is largely on the increase, and Carthagena prom ises to become an 

 important shipping port for this class of fruit from inland districts, unless the 

 oroducers again find cheap transport to the Paris market. Carthag ena also shipped 



it 



<o»Iy spreads. Microscopic examination shows that the roots of crowberry grown 

 *«k»ut peat contain no mycelial filaments, or very few. The special function of 

 ■e fungus may be to reduce the peat to a form capable of absorption as food by 

 green plants, and there can be no doubt that the fungus gains protection or some 

 fltber distinct advantage from the partnership. 



A Good Crop of Grapes.— From Mr. H. Godden, gardener to Mrs. 

 "alker, Hillside House, Hythe, Kent, we have received a photograph of the in- 

 terior of the Black Hamburgh house in the gardens under his charge. The photo 

 ~*p° is considerably above the average of those of vineries submitted to us, and 

 »wjr shows that the vines are in the best possible condition and bearing a 

 «»y crop of fruit, and also that the crop consists of finely-formed bunches re- 

 - irkable for the large size of the berries. 



The Hitchin Lavender Harvest of 1S9S has been the best, both in 

 and quality, experienced for many seasons. In the winter of 1S94-5 

 V .V ■ '• ma S e was done to the plantations, but, with the assistance of more kindly 

 ers of lale » the damage was made good, and now the area under lavender is 

 Hit h' , em ' Durin g the period of harvesting and distillation the town of 

 c ,m is dehciously scented with the p'easing odour produced by and from 

 ^ • tr^ula vera. 



Gtr^ ranj f B,0ssoms cannot, according to Mr. U. Dammer, be obtained in 

 «d to i if W ' nter nionths in sufficient quantities for wedding decorations, 

 *«*4tocT( t- demand Sta P h y lea colchica is forced as a substitute, providing 



Ii fcr'ine 1 T which in a Pl' earance and fragrance so closely resemble 



also \hTu that thC general P ubIic do not rec °gnize the difference. It is 

 ' 1 ^ flowers of Prunus chinensis are made to do duty for those 

 Nto mL btaph >' lea C( ''chica thrives very well in the open air, and blooms 



**« % of A u" 16 brf ° rc S ' pinnata ' the fl0Wers of which are much Uke those 



about 200,000 kilos, ot almonas, pnuei H <iuy i« * « , 7/ • 



The Flower of the Gods.— Disa grandiflora has of late been flowering 

 freely and vigorously in the cool orchid house at the Royal Gardens, Kew It is 

 beautiful orchid from the Table Mountains, but one that is not always cultivated 

 with success. On many occasions we have published in these columns ^descnp- 

 tions of the methods of cultivation that have proved successful in Edinburgh, in 

 Kent and elsewhere, and also interesting matter supplied by our Cape correspon- 

 dent Mr W Matthews, anent its habitat, together with laccounts of several 

 other beautiful members of the genus. On Tuesday next a paper is to be read 

 other wura Birkinshaw, before the Royal Horticultural 



upon the genus Din by M Westminster. The lecture 



Society, at the Drill 

 commences at three p. 



The English Hop Crop 



f 



The area devoted to the cultivation of hops in 

 decrease, and this year 4 9,73S a «es are devoted to hop 

 j ,k en e« acres in 1894. This is the fourth consecutive 

 cultivation, as co»P^r^haXn reded, though the diminution to 



acres last year, or of 



**^*£2J*£S losses include decreases of 720 acres in Kent, 

 4,723 acres m 1896. The co y ^ ^ 



345 acres in S-^^^ £* t0 place d gains of ,09 acres in 

 and three acres in Salop agai ^ for ^ ^ year u 



Hereford and one acre in ^ since ^ when thc yicld was 7-21 cwt 

 8-o8 cwt. per acre, this being the lowest wiU ^ ^ 



per acre 



estimate 



AtUr 



been 



The production of atcar of roses in Bulgaria during the Horticulture at the French Exhibition, 1900. 



ioo.ooo m!*1r»l mmm^ m a i~ \tt Paris in 1900 will include a 



year x production ot atcar ot roses in Buk 



*d 800 r^ amC T S t0 S 00 ' 000 miskaI > as compared with 600,000 



buildings 



difficulty 



The ~ y,J ,uur sniuings per miskal. 

 ** > ttfs cro! P ° tat0 Cr °P ■to**" a material diminution as compared with 



Monsi CaSe iD thC Mea I2,m acres * 



Oficer^ ih^O If 6 Fren ° h C ° nSUl &t Hambur 8' has received the decoration 

 J " r '-^: V;rr .' ^ rder M'-ntc Agricole in recognition of thc services rendered 



5*** ■> 'ecordinp th f Iambur S Exhibition in 1897. We have exceptional 



2°* 1ed P«« theki 7 n ° Ur conferred u P° n M - C °r. if only for the purpose of 

 inhering CSS rece »ved from him at the opening ceremony of that 



great exniniuon « - clevatioQ( from des igns 



large proportions and » const ruction. 

 Gauthier, who will also have cnarj, 



remar 



Lilium auratum, tne jgg^ Ellcsmere Lod g 



has 'sent us a photograph of a specimen that has 



each vear. This year tl 



naged 



years and has impro\ 

 hs. and an aggregate 



Mr. Jones states that, after Bowering, the specn 



gradually — - - November and to the compost 



removed previous to repotung » 

 remove p ^ niea , lg adde<J< 



mou d, peat, and sand, a inu 



stage 



