SEPTEMBER 24, I 8 9 8 ' 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



617 



Rothesay ' R- B. Laird and Sons, and T. Methven and Sons. Certi- 

 f were awarded to Mr. W. Angus, Aberdeen, for a double sweet 

 t Diamond Jubilee Black grape, from Messrs. D. and W. Buchanan ; and 

 M Campbell, for a yellow carnation named Miss Alley. The takings at 

 Wavedey Market were above the average, but not quite so large as at the 

 TV mond Tubilee Show of 1897. On the 16th inst. the fruit exhibited by Mr. 

 O^en Thomas was by command of the Queen distributed by the council among 

 certain of the Edinburgh hospitals, and thus was a very pleasant finish made to 

 Jbe work in connexion with the Caledonian Society. 



The Belladonna Lily {Amaryllis belladonna) is now contributing liberally 



* n rr' com P ar e<i with 47,000 in the previous year. The grants were made 

 as follows : Urnversity College of North Wales, Bangor, ^800-College farm, 

 £200; Durham College of Science, Newcastle-on-Tyne, ^8oo -College farm, 

 £200; University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, £800; Reading College, 

 £800 ; Yorkshire College, Leeds, £600 ; University College, Nottingham, £600 ; 

 bouth-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, £600 ; Cambridge and Counties Agri- 

 cultural Education Committee, ^500; Eastern Counties Dairy Institute, 

 Ipswich (dairy instruction), ^300 ; British Dairy Institute, Reading (dairy 

 instruction), £300 ; Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (class for foresters and 

 gardeners), £150 ; Bath and West and Southern Counties Society (field experi 



the attractions of gardens in which it is successfully cultivated, and in many me ° ts ^SO J cider experiments, ^50 ; Cheddar cheese research, ^200); High- 

 nces the crowds of delicate pink flowers are a veritable surprise even to some land and # Agricultural Society (field experiments), ^"ioo ; Agricultural Research 

 "ho have been engaged in gardening a sufficient length of time to justify their Association, Aberdeen (field experiments), £100; Stewartry of Kircudbright 

 being regarded as veterans. There is, of course, nothing remarkable in the fact D * lr y Association (cheese discoloration inquiry), £50. The grants to the 

 that the plant is now flowering, for this is its season to do so, ;and if we call collegiate centres in England and Wales are of a general character, intended to 

 attention to the fact it is not for the purpose of saying that it is flowering at its 

 usual season, but to remind cultivators of the existence of one of the most beau- 

 tiful hardy plants that have a place in the floral procession. There should be no 

 occasion for this reminder, but there are many thousands of gardens in which it 

 would make a vigorous growth, and produce a wealth of flowers that do not con- 

 Why a plant so beautiful, inexpensive, and easily cultivated 



assist and improve the local provision made for instruction in the higher forms of 

 agricultural education. The thirty- two separate counties are thus provided with 

 an efficient and economical means of systematising their local instruction, and of 

 supervising demonstration plots and agricultural experiments by securing scientific 

 advice and the assistance of qualified lecturers drawn from the collegiate edu- 

 cational staffs. The Durham College of Science and the University College of 



that a want of appreciation of the importance] of the essential cultural details has 

 been a hindrance. Like other bulbous plants from the Cape a thorough 



tain a single bulD. wny a piant so ueauuiui, inexpensive, auu taauy ^"'v^w — ^*^ 5 v- ^ «*"~ — ~ wus r* w 



has not been more generally>lanted is not easily determined, but it"is probable North WaIes have be en granted special assistance in consideration of their having 



taken farms for practical work and field experiments. 



The Value of Trade Exhibitions was discussed at some length at the 

 Omaha Convention of the Society of American Florists, and in the opening paper 

 Mr. E. Cushman spoke strongly in favour of them. He said trade exhibitions 

 are of vital importance to every one who has anything to sell. They furnish 

 a good opportunity for every plantsman and dealer who would make a business 

 success. They are a gathering of the same lines of business under one roof, for 



season 



when the bulbs have the advantage of a little additional warmth from an adjoin- 

 ing wall, and are kept comparatively] dry during the winter. These essential 

 conditions can be obtained by planting at the foot of a wall with a south or west 

 aspect, previously placing in the bottom of the border six or eight inches of crocks 



or broken bricks, and covering the layer with half-rotten manure. There are but the purpose of showing what growers have to sell, and giving an opportunity for co 

 few gardens in which a suitable position could not be found for a few dozen bulbs parison and the extension of business acquaintance not otherwise possible. These 

 and to show its suitability for widely separated districts it will be of interest to gatherings of commercial men with samples of their goods, in conjunction with a 

 mention that it is equally at home at St/ Fagan's Castle, South Wales, and at large gathering of consumers, is one of the very best advertisemencs possible. 



one of the coldest parts of Yorkshire, At Kew The wideawake and practical men soon have the rough corners worn off at 

 it blooms profusely, and extremely beautiful displays are annually produced in these shows, and usually the conceit taken out of them, if they have any. There 

 •everal narrow borders alongside the plant houses. Amaryllis belladonna is 



Leeds 



gured in the comparatively rare folio by Philip Miller, published in 1760 under 

 the title of 11 Figures of the most Beautiful, Useful, and Uncommon Plants," 

 and according to the accompanying letterpress there was then considerable doubt 

 as to the native country of the plant, and this doubt does not appear to have been 

 •tfifactorily cleared up until quite recently. It was said, to have been collected 

 by Sir Hans Sloane in Barbadoes, but Miller states that he was unable to obtain 

 bulbs from the island. It seems to be quite clear that it was introduced into 

 this country in 1812 from Portugal, by, writes Miller, " a gentleman who had 

 long resided in that country who informed me that the roots were brought from 

 India into that country, and were propagated by some curious persons in their 

 gardens." Miller also states that he had received from Holland, whence it had 

 been brought from the Cape in 1754, a species with paler flowers, and blooming 

 in the spring. Forty-five years after the publication of Miller's work, the Bella- 

 donna Lily was figured in the Botanical Magazine (t 733), but Curtis evidently 

 knew nothing definite as to its native country, for he considers it 11 more than 

 probable that it is a Brazil vegetable." At that 

 imported in large quantities from Portugal. 



Retention of Odours.— The power of a smell to cling to a substance seems, 



m 1 rofessor Ayrton's opinion, to depend neither on the intensity of the smell nor 

 on the ease with which it travels through a closed space. Musk has but a faint 

 «U f but the recollection of the greeting of a rich Oriental survives many wash- 

 gs 0 the hands. The smell of rose leaves, again, is but faint, and it travels 



the 7 1 thr ° U * h air in a tube » and y et the experiments on its propagation in 

 exj ^ V ^ CUUm a PP aratus were rendered extremely troublesome, by the difficulty 

 penenced in removing the traces of the smell from the glass between the succes- 



C l eSt5. Kllhhinrr ifc- «^ _ • _ rr. _ i -. _ 



occasionally 



aworp 

 distingu 



three 

 were 



°f dosing 

 Professor 



welopes 



gatherings 



said he was sure it must be a poor man who does not get value received for exhibiting 

 or attending our conventions. With reference to the display of plants and flowers 

 at home, Mr. Cushman observed— " Trade requires you to show the newest and 

 best you have. You must fulfil this requirement, or lose custom. Show your 

 goods, is a law of trade as essential to us as to any other line. Business men fully 

 realised this, hence the great combination spending millions of dollars and resulting 

 in our great expositions. Go into our cities and see the quantities of valuable 

 goods placed attractively in large show windows, placed with all the skill and art 

 that trained help and costly fittings can command, and you can form some idea of 

 the value placed on trade displays in other lines of business. Our retail flower 

 stores are not behind in this grand effort at display, for they, too, are abreast of the 

 times in showing their beauties, with all the accessories of glass, gilt, and electric 

 lighting. It is not possible for me to approximate the value of these displays to 

 the business itself. I know a prominent florist who estimates the actual value of 



_ his window display at not less than fifty dollars per day, what its direct value to 



time (1804) the bulbs were him is I cannot say, but that this one window has been of great indirect value to 



the balance of the city's flower trade, I have but little doubt. Through blistering 

 summer, and frosty winter, that grand, beautiful live flower picture is feeding the 

 hungry who cannot possess, and drawing the dollars from the rich who see only 

 to possess. In the language of the proprietor of this store, 1 they walk right in 

 and buy.' Truly I believe this display is richer than the eye can see, and he who 

 makes it is a benefactor of his race, be he the individual taken as an illustration, 

 or any one of the hundreds making the same efforts." 



Flax Culture.— It is evident from the recently issued returns that the culti- 

 vation of flax in Ireland is pursuing the same course as hop cultivation in England, 

 only at a more rapid rate. This year's area of the flax crop is only 34,489 acres, 

 or 24-3 per cent., practically one-fourth, less than that of 1897. I^ess than 

 twentv years ago, in 1880, flax crops in Ireland occupied an extent of 1 57,534 



The areas of flax since then have shown a decrease continuous. This 



This 



veaX are^ l?7*A*9 acVes barely exceeds one-third of that of four years ago, and 

 rLlsZn ontlaif of that of two years ago, so, that the recent 

 0* tapoHa* fib.e cop tm --non ^ p«W la. Wh«to 



detected 



blown 



with the nose. 



remains 



» effort may now be made to again 

 year's area comprises 34,215 acres i 



Leinster. The largest county 



^^7^7^-^^ MWf* " k° ndonilenry ' 5.840 acres 

 . m —4 5,572 acres in Down. » 



Horticultural Benefit and Provident Society 



4 bubW a c a giass ' 50 lDin inat ttle y exhibited colours like 



1 *£ ammon- Ta i Wh<m gCnUy toached > Iike ver v thin °"ed silk, and after 



•ask. oil nf J aled ,avender ' »n>yl nitrate, ethyl, sulphide, mercaptan, solution of m iyw-, — w „ ^ . - ... <nt . Mv Tn „ 



E* t ° f ^ ptrmmt > propylamine had been introduced into them respec United Horticultural Benefit and Provident Soc.ety.-The 



^7n:Z h ' Im " kMY SCa,ed ' and P,aCCd * annuauLr of this admirably managed and f^Z^^Z^ 



1 **>t odour coi r,' ° n rem ° Ving thC St ° Pper fr ° m a bottIe after ma °y «* the Holb ° m ***** " ?^±^!SSS: 

 ■Aching • th ? detected » but so » generally, could a minute flaw after much 



••Bofthe' air*t« * however » b «ng so slight that it did not allow sufficient pas- 



Mr. George Bunyard 

 friends is anticipated . 



atmospb 

 being 



pressure 



furtK T 6 una ,n ^e glas 



**% and the que: 

 A Kricultnt-«i e»^. 



- ^uiuauu^ucuuy urcaKing, presumably irom changes 

 In those cases where a smell was detected without any 



qitadrangul 



- ----- W ^lilC*14iO UU 



lanua l report"!? Educatlon and Research.- 



* alt 'wal education 1116 o{ A eP«oltutal on the distribution of grants for agri 



Major Craigie states in his 



■oring 



financial 



assistance 



n the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, where a specimen of this 

 Saguan plant is planted out, and its quaint four-angled growths trained up*e 



ra3 an intermediate house. The fruits, of considerable sue and egg-shaped, 

 raners 01 * ^ q{ them hanging) the 



depend from thejow^ t ^ ^ fc ^ 



fn thVtropics for the sake of the purplish and sweet pulp that forms the bulk of 

 a- ; n ^rin, nf the ereenish-yellow fruits. 



