October 29, 1898. 



ther through the medium of some central body, such as the Royal Horti- 

 1 Society, to ensure carefully planned and systematic investigations and 

 CUltUra e cords. In contrast with the means available for the investigation of 

 eX2Ct ^ of horticultural interest in Great Britain, the liberal provisions made in 

 matters con< jucting experiments were briefly alluded to. While we have a 

 limited number only of experimental stations, there are fifty-four stations in 

 T\jnited States, with a staff of about five hundred persons and an annual 

 ' e of ,£678,000. The scops of the investigations at the American stations 

 inC ° m Jf erre d to/ and it was stated that much of the information available in this 

 ^ trv on insect infestations and fungoid diseases had been obtained as the result 

 °f theactivity on the other side of the Atlantic. Mr. Gordon urged the import- 

 ° British cultivators of a thorough investigation of the conditions under which 

 h several fertilisers can be most successfully employed, under varying condi- 

 l - C of soil and climate, in the cultivation of the several fruit and vegetable crops ; 

 U f °1' nt diseases and methods of prevention, and of insect infestation and the most 

 °ffectual remedies. The desirability of comprehensive trials of fruits and vege- 

 tables was suggested, and the opinion was expressed that to render such trials of 

 the highest possible degree of utility the records must be more exact than has 

 hitherto been the case, and that in the case of novelties a careful comparison should 

 be made between them and standard varieties allied to them and grown under 

 precisely the same conditions. The great need the Royal Horticultural Society has 

 for a large experimental garden in the country, as supplementary to or in the 

 place of the Chiswick Garden, was pointed out, as also was the necessity for 

 co operation of experimentalists, that investigations, which to be successful must be 

 conducted under varying conditions, might be carried out. Suggestions for the 

 improvement of existing varieties of plants were made, and asparagus and the black- 

 berry were mentioned as possessing great possibilities. Sir John T. D. Lewellyn, 

 Bart M.P., said he was so deeply interested in experimental horticulture that one 

 of his chief objects in coming to London on that occasion was to hear the lecture, 

 which had given him much pleasure. The importance of experimental horticulture 

 could not be overestimated, and as one proof of this he pointed to the great improve- 

 ments that had been made in the potato. Several points in the lecture having 

 been commented upon by Mr. A. Dean, Dr. Masters made some interesting 

 references to the experiments that had been made at Chiswick, and pointed out 

 that to carry out experiments on the lines suggested in the lecture the services 

 of a director of experiments would be required. 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



697 



prize distribution. If everybody would unite in the matter the Horticultural 

 •Society would go ahead with a swing, and a dahlia society could be formed when 

 the necessity arose. There is more need at present for assistance to the existing 

 society than there is for the establishment of another association." 



Junip ers from the West Indies.— Dr. Masters recently exhibited some 



specimens of a juniper, native to Jamaica, which he had received through the 



kindness of Mr. W. Fawcett, the Government botanist of the island. This species 



had been referred to the J. burmudiana of Linnoeas, with which J. barbadensis of 



the same author is taken to be synonymous. On comparison the Jamaica juniper 



is seen to agree very closely with J. virginiana, the so-called Red Cedar of the 



mainland of North America from Canada to Florida. This species furnishes the 



best "cedar" wood for pencils, and many forms of it are cultivated in English 



gardens. The resemblance of the Jamaica plant to the American is so close that 



Dr. Masters does not hesitate to include them both under the same name of J. 

 virginiana. 



Lee and Blackheath {Horticultural Society.— This society has in 



accordance with its usual custom arranged a series of meetings for the 'reading of 

 papers and discussion duriDg the autumn months. The programme is as follows : 



October 28, " Garden Roses," Mr. George Gordon ; November 25, " Mistakes in 

 Gardening," Mr. T. W. Sanders ; December 23, #< Chrysanthemums," Mr. E. 

 Dove ; January 27, "Artificial Manuring," Mr. E. O. Greening; February 24, 

 4< Herbaceous Calceolarias," Mr. James Martin ; March 24, members' night for 

 discussion. 



Herr Ernst Virchow, a son lof Professor Rudolf ^Virchow, has been 

 appointed director of the Royal Gardens at Wilhelmshohe. 



Orchard and Small Fru its. — A new instalment of the agricultural returns 



for the current year includes the acreage of orchards and small fruits. From the 

 returns we learn that the area under orchards in England is 220,220 acres, against 

 218,261 for 1897 ; 3,690 acres in Wales, against 3,707; 2,149 acres in Scotland, 

 against 2,14s; and 226,059 ' in Great Britain, against 224,116. Of small fruits 

 there are 63,438 acres for England, compared with 63,535 in 1S97 ; 1,044 acres 

 in Wales, against 1,043 ; 5,271 acres for Scotland, against 5,214 ; and 69,753 acres 

 for Great Britain, against 69,792 in 1897. 



Forestry at the Cape.— Mr. D. E. Hutchins, conservator of forests at 



the Cape, has been showing how great a need there is for an extension of the area 



A Bad Year for Fungi.— It is many years since mycologists have had such at present under forests in the colony. While the colony has produced ,£100,000 



a disappointing season as that of 1898. Even the homely mushroom has been very worth of fruit during the past two years, it has, during the same period, imported 



this autumn, and many a farmer who usually adds to his income by not less than £269,349 worth of timber, and yet almost the whole of such an 



j , e 1 — A He shows 



marketing this unsown (by him) crop will have to make good a deficiency by other 

 means. Mr. G. NJassee informed us a few days since that the fungus forays of this 

 year in Yorkshire, Epping Forest, Burnham Beeches, and elsewhere, have proved 



agriculture 



wooded slopes of the lofty Amatolas, the similarly 



V t , V • « . . 4 , *j r. fV» beaut ful forest with ts gigantic yellow-wood trees in the barren Knysna country, 



singular y unproductive— and yet the chrysanthemum grower considers there never uc * ULIIUl i UICi>L W1LU ? * „* . . c n , nn ™ 



b J * J J and, perhaps most striking of all, the cedar trees of Clanwilham, growing on the 



absolutely bare rocks of the stupendous Cedarberg Range ; while at Genadendal 



Horticulture at Richmond, Surrey.-— The Mayor of Richmond recently an introduced tree, the Cluster Pine (Pinus pinaster), hardier than any of the 



such trouble with fungus as be has had thii year. 



sown 



invited the committee of the Horticultural Society of that town to dinner, and the 



function was altogether a great success. Success to the society was proposed by Q f fo eS- drought, hot winds, and climatic vicissitudes, that are too often the despair 



the Mayor, and responded to by Mr. Skewes-Cox, M.P., for sixteen years past of the agriculturist. By means of comparison Mr. Hutchins indicates clearly the 



chairman of the society, and Mr. Algernon Chancellor, hon. secretary, and son of position of Cape Colony in relation to other countries with respect to foreit area, 

 the Mayer. Mr. Chancellor stated that the society had never been in a more 



flourishing condition, both financially and otherwise. No less than fifty- five new forest" of the total area of each country. The figures are: European Russia, 



acreage 



guinea subscribers had added their names to the list last year. Sir Henry Irvirg's 

 three guinea subscription showed that people outside as well as in the borough 

 appreciated it. The last show had been the best and largest of the series. He 

 scrry that the cup given by his father and mother for roses had not been 

 retained in Surrey, but had gone to Colchester ; but he hoped that others might 

 he offered. Regretting deeply the death of the Duchess of Teck, he hoped that 

 the Duke of Teck might be able to be amongst them next year. He returned 



000 acres, or 42 per cent. ; Sweden, 42,366,000 acres, 



z Germanv. 3d.KO.OOO 



Austria, 46,856,000 acres, or 31 per cent 



cent. 



000.000 



000 acres, or 16 per cent. : Portugal, 1,666,000 



000 



— — — j - x 



Cape Colony, 353,280 acres, or 0*29 per cent 



thanks to the many contributors to the prize list, and expressed his belief that the 

 Richmond society would soon pass the Royal Horticultural Society. 



The Fzmcus Thcrn Tree of Prestonpans suffered considerable damage 



during the storms of last week, a large limb being broken off about nine feet from 

 the ground. It was near the tree that Colonel Gardner received his fatal wound 

 *t the battle of Prestonpans in 1745. A few years ago a limb vas wrenched from 

 this old ihcrn by the fury of the elements, and so, to preserve it, Lord Wemyss 

 tad each limb girt with a strong iron band and the whole connected with steel 

 Wlr e ; the strain of the recent gale, however, proved too much for even such 

 ^pports, : nd r ow there is one more limb the less. 



Local Horticultural Societies.— The horticulturists resident in the 

 crnsey district are somewhat perturbed by the question as to whether or not it is 

 desirable to establish a dahlia society at Hornsey. We are much gratified to find 

 w*t 10 much interest is taken in the cultivation of dahlias in the north of London, 



having regard to [the fact that there is already a horticultural society in the 

 we are strongly of the opinion that some effort should be made to combine 

 * isplay of dahlias with the exhibitions of the existing society. The multiplica- 

 ljFl °^ small societies is undesirable because of the heavy outlay involved in 

 ^portion to the amount of work 



opportunity of contributing to the advancement of horticulture, but several small 

 kr^ub S ^ ^° t0 encoura S e cultivators, and the continuous canvassing 



altr ^ Cnpl ' ons h as > in many instances, the effect of inducing gentlemen to refrain 



g f her from contributing to the funds of horticultural associations. In com- 

 ob; U ^° n ^ uest ^ on at issue the North Middlesex Chronicle very properly 

 j t ^ es * Hornsey Horticultural Association covers very useful ground, and 



in* ° U we " a " interested in horticulture to confine their attention and 

 reor ^ • S0ciet y- It needs help in more than one respect, and almost entire 



garusation, in order to avoid a repetition of the recent regrettable result of the 



Messrs. J. Laing and Sons have been awarded a diploma and gold medal 



plants 



season 



The New Addition to Epping Forest.— Yardley Hill, recently added to 

 Epping Forest through the generosity of Mr. E. N. Buxton, is about twenty- 

 eight acres in extent ; it is a timbered ridge projecting into and commanding a 



Galley. Chingford station is the nearest point to Yardley 



Lea 



Hill by rail, but the road passing thro 

 estate on the east side. Davis Lane 



Lane 



Lord 



as 



accom plished. One strong society iin a district has 



Mayor in which Mr. Buxton makes the gift to the City Corporation is 

 follows : " I have for a long time past been impressed with the importance (if not 

 the~ne^essity) of securing the picturesque vantage ground known as Yardley Hill 

 as an addition to Epping Forest. It is a timbered ridge which projects into the 

 Lea Valley basin, from which river its highest point is distant about four hundred 

 yards. From its prominent position it com nan: s many miles of the valley, along 

 whxh a manufacturing population is steadily assembling, as well as such distant 

 points an Hampstead, Barnet, and the high ground near Broxbourne. A more 

 practical consideration is that it would cornect that chaimirg outlyicg portion 

 of the Forest called Gillwell Lane— at present, owing to its isolation, rarely 

 visited— with the main block near Hawkwood. My efforts, more than once 

 renewed, have at length been successful, and I have now the pleasure of offering 

 your Lordship, as Chief of the Conservators of Epping Forest, to accept twenty- 

 eight acres of this land for the public use. In making this offer may I once more 

 express to the Corporation over which you preside my abiding gratitude for their 

 spirited action in the past, and my confident hope that, in conjunction with 

 residents, upon whom a duty also lies, they will lose no reasonable opportunity in 

 r-i— «.« MMe ^iMoti>. extend, and complete the Drecious inheritance of which 



they are trustees 



