September 17 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



t for the preservation of open spaces. That movement, he writes, may be 

 ^vT^ave first assumed a definite direction at Wimbledon in connexion with the 

 t0 1 of Lord Spencer to convert the common into a park. Sir Henry Peek, 

 ^'principal resident and the owner of Wimbledon House, put himself at the 

 h d of the committee formed for the protection of the common and the public, 

 S it°is unnecessary to say, contributed largely to the fundsirequired tojfinance the 

 Parliamentary proceedings and the litigation which became inevitable. When 

 Lord Spencer subsequently offered to transfer his rights in the common to a body 

 f conservators, representing both local and general interests, Sir Henry Peek 

 became chairman of that body, and his hospitable house was for many years the 

 dace of meeting of the board. Sir Henry's interest, however, extended beyond 

 the common at his doors. He stimulated a movement, attended with like happy 

 results, for the preservation of Wandsworth Common. He was one of the 

 founders of the Commons Preservation Society, and in days when both legal and 

 general opinion was still wavering he offered prizes for essays on the best means of 

 preserving open spaces, and subsequently published six essays on the subject, which 

 undoubtedly played their part in emphasizing and guiding public feeling. He was 

 a warm sympathizer in the early efforts to preserve Epping Forest, and threw 

 the weight of his position in the City on the side of the Corporation of London 

 when they espoused the cause of the public. Some years later Burnham Beeches 

 were offered for sale, together with a considerable acreage |of enclosed plantation, 

 and inquiry showed that this most picturesque common and its magnificent pollards 

 ran great danger at the hands of the speculative builder. The Corporation 

 were able and willing to buy the Beeches, but they had no power to purchase the 

 plantations. On being informed of the difficulty Sir Henry Peek at once agreed 

 to acquire the whole property and to resell the open woods (and common to the 

 Corporation at a proportionate price. He thus made the preservation of the 

 Beeches possible. 



High Temperature in September. — The high temperature which pre- 

 vailed during the first half of the current month will not be quickly forgotten. 

 The 8th inst. was not only the hottest day we have had this year, or as a matter 

 of fact since August, 1893, but the hottest September day experienced for just 

 thirty years past. At eight o'clock in the morning the thermometer in the shade 

 in London stood at 69 degrees, and by 10 a.m. it had risen to 83 degrees, while at 

 about midday it reached a maximum of 92 degrees, the reading being no fewer 

 than 25 degrees above the average for the month of September. At Kew the 

 eading was somewhat higher. To find an equally hot September day we must go 

 bide to the year 1868, when the thermometer at Greenwich rose on the 7th of the 

 month to 92 degrees. In no other September of the past fifty-seven years did the 

 thermometer get within 4 degrees of the reading on the 8th, or within 4 degrees 

 of the 1868 value, the nearnest approach to it being Wednesday, 7th inst., and 

 on the 4th of the month in 1880, when it reached 87 degrees. In only seven of 

 the past fifty-eight Septembers has the thermometer in London even touched 85 

 degrees, and in no fewer than forty-three years out of the fifty-eight it failed to 

 reach 80 degrees. 



Fruit Growing in Suburban Gardens is the subject for discussion at 



tw meeting of the Royal' Horticultural Society on Tuesday nekt. The discussion 



™ be opened by Mr. W. Roupell, who has devoted much attention to this aspect 

 °f fruit culture. 



The Pomological Congress to be held at Mans under the auspices of the 



Web Pomological Society from October 6 to October 9 will be chiefly devoted 

 ^questions relating to the production of cider and perry. The programme is as 

 ows: (1) Diseases of the apples and pears; selection of varieties for cider ; 

 ^neties that have been successfully introduced into the Sarthe district ; (3) 

 pern- 1 T SCnpt,0n of varieties of apples and pears grown in Sarthe for cider and 

 Jj; (4) new apples and pears for vintage purposes ; (5) foreign varieties recom- 



(?) aii- ° Perry 5 (6) Culture of a PP les in arable and S rass o^hards ; 



fewtm 8 ^* V // ietieS ° f aPpkS ; (8) the USC ° f manures in a PPk c^ure ; (9) 

 p« paration of fruit for cider and perry; (10) the sale and exportation of cider 



**r>- The congress should be of interest to those engaged in the cider 



A Morn 



vinstry. 



rrident that ^ mtlon -~ Notwithsta nding our much vaunted civilisation, it is 

 ^ from M membefS ° f the En g lish community might with advantage take 



uW ° ne ° f the P rim5tive races of the world. M. Louis de Rouge- 

 *nose account of his ~i ~r «. 5 



Wacks in the Camb 



text* 



much interest, 



the t *Kp • **-s* v " ^ i ^uotiana uas urcaLeu mucn interest 



noes with which he was associated had.a great veneration for trees 

 ar e userl for r^ii: • « . - 



ln J- The f 1 " a P° l °g i es are offered t 

 wetoL^ t * used is d T dead wood that has 



fcUed 



p| Lin,ler an y circumstance. 



J?** J^W^ln^ S ^ interestin g case of symbiosis is described by Mr. A. 



The latter enter into very close relationship 



A » ■ ■ — — - — — % a . 



iety jn r 1 ^"k— wuuiumcu uy mem to me Koyai 



*" t ^ ia th «y stat tV, thdr investi S ations of Corallorhiza innata and its 

 ^^•jo^which tufu c'^-* he < :° ra!1 2!? rhizome »* covered with numerous 



JJj^ace in |fe jJjJIw ~2, 3 J "» iU ""uig ■ mycnorniza. Owing to changes 



?!* *« o«ter layer? , , . . ° f hyphx paSS doWn m the insid « of the hairs 



ra ycelium S ^ cortex » m the outer lavers of whirh thev 



M fcefcaS * lhC P rol °P !a5m of ^ cells. " The evidence 



-. the n^Jl aCtS carni vorously towards the hypke. The hyphce 



»fcndih„i;^ ! Z * m th,s <** were t«ced to one of the hitrher funei. 



of 



M 



saluberrimum 



— our %c/c sulu uerrj mum est. 



£T*wL?°l ° ften that , the sens ations of what is euphemistically, and not 



Tanr^rv " the S reat world" penetrates to the minor 



sanctuary of horticulture, but there is a striking exception in the 

 astounding and perplexing mystery which is now agitating law courts and 

 public. I read some scraps of the highly-flavoured reports of the Druce 

 case with the casual and perfunctory interest which is all I can muster, 

 as a rule, when the subject is that of the average novel, until there 

 cropped up the name of Ormson, and then I began to arouse my sluggish 

 iacumes. Ormson is not an everyday name ; on the contrary, it is a 

 distinctly uncommon one. Could this be the same Ormson that I knew 

 many years ago ? The reference to him as a horticultural builder settled 

 trie matter. It was the same, and straightway I plunged in to .the mystery. 



I have been trying to think how long it is since I saw Ormson. It 

 must be nearly twenty years. He was ill at the time, and complained, if 

 my memory serves me, of severe rheumatism. Anyway, he was troubled 

 with a painful complaint, and I believe he afterwards died of it. Many 

 readers of this paragraph will remember his place as well as I do. It 

 was situated on the left-hand side of King's Road, Chelsea, a quarter of 

 a mile past Veitch's Nursery, and close to the bridge over the railway. 

 He had an excellent business connection, not, perhaps, as large as some, 

 but embracing many of the best families. That, of course, is how it is 

 that he was m the position to make the singular statement concerning 

 the former Duke of Portland, which has recently seen the light in the 

 daily Press. Whether it will have* any influence on the fortunes of the- 

 great legal duel which seems to be impending remains to be proved. 

 But I for one shall follow the case with a new interest as a result of 

 this curious interposition of a dead hand. 



Talking of mysteries, it would appear that we have one of our own 

 on a small scale. It also deals with a burial and resuscitation and with 

 a changing of names. I need not say that I refer to Acalypha Sanderi. 

 I find that there is a good deal of talk about this in gardening circles, 

 and I should be more than human, journalisticallv speaking, if I did not, 

 as a consequence, lay hold of the subject. Assertion and denial appear 

 to follow swiftly in each other's footsteps, but surely there is very little room 

 for doubt. Those who contend that the plant is an old one give chapter 

 and verse for their assertions, and it would seem that the matter can be 

 simply and speedily resolved by testing their references. As far as the 

 public are concerned, I don't think it likely that much will happen. I 

 believe they will buy the plant whether it is an old one rediscovered or a 

 genuine new one never before brought to or described in this country. 

 The point is an academic rather than a commercial one. 



A kind friend in the South of England, who tells me, with every 

 symptom of disgust, that he is sometimes charged by sapient critics with 

 the heinous offence of writing these notes, sends me a cutting from a 

 local paper bearing reference to a show of animals by the gardeners of 

 Canterbury. Not so many years ago I resided near that ancient city, 

 and although the gardeners of the neighbourhood were great with 

 flowers (including annuals), I was not aware that they went in for live 

 stock. Perhaps the printer has been at it again. He made me say 

 "hands" a week or two ago in reference to Mr. Druery, when I wrote 

 "ferns "as plainly as — well, for want of a better simile, I will say as 

 plainly as I ever write anything. I refuse to believe that the Canterbury 

 gardeners exhibited their collection of " animals " in the form of insects 

 on their plants, because they are good cultivators and regular readers 



many of them) of the Gardeners' Magazine. 



Mention of this paper reminds me of a wonder which I have some- 

 times indulged in as to whether our editor resents or appreciates the 

 familiar abbreviation which is employed in alluding to it. With one con- 

 sent the people refer to this great and glorious journal as " the Mag." I 

 fear it is not elegant. Moreover, the expression opens up harrowing 

 visions of an abbreviation of something else. But I expect he rather 

 likes it for all that, because, as he must assuredly have reflected, when a 

 popular, or nickname is adopted, it is usually a token of intimate friend- 

 ship, even of affection. And it is just that spirit of personal interest, of 

 brotherly feeling, which we like to foster. Those who get into the way of 

 looking on the paper as a friend, and of referring to it familiarly, are the 

 sort to do it good. You may " Mag.," therefore, as much as you like, 

 ladies and gentlemen all. Better do that than nag, any day. 



I am much obliged to "South Bucks" for his, "simple" answer. It 

 seems conclusive on the face of it, but unfortunately it is not. There are, 

 of course, wet and dry zones. I suppose he is in one, I in another. I 

 am not alone, though. I have at my elbow a number of records, from 

 which I select that of Mr. W. H. Divers. I do so because it is the only 

 one that gives the averages. The March rainfall is given as o*io below 

 the average, the April fall as 0*09 above, and the May fall as 0-35 above. 

 "The average of the three months mentioned by " South Bucks" is, there- 

 fore, shown by a careful observer to be o*u above the e< 



v 



general average. 



Mr. George Harris's article on Apples in Northumberland may be 

 commended to the attention of people who live in the other thirty-nine 

 counties. I am particularly impressed with his selection of sorts, which 

 comes as near to a model one as any I have seen. I wonder if Mr. 

 Harris has had any experience with Lord Derby, and if so, what the re- 

 sult is. The market people seem to be regarding it with growing favour, 

 and it is a sort which swells out rapidly to a great size. I think the pick 

 of our new sorts here is the one exhibited at the Drill Hall as Rivers's 

 Codlin but which I hear has been given a new name. If this rumour 

 is correct I hope some kind friend will tell me what the name is. It is 

 a beautiful apple, and our young trees are pictures. Lux. 



