728 



GA RDENERS' MA GA ZINE. 



November 



*** '898 



to the enthusiastic botanist or collector, who is doubtless regarded Commercial Mushroom Culture in Scotland has 



by the savages or semi-civilised natives as a mild and harmless maniac, development of late years, and at the present time it has become i„ l?t Utu| 



y 1 in^frv. Thete is an old, disused railway tunned / dlnbur gh 



laptability for the production of mulZT ^ the <%, 



an important industry 

 and, perceiving its adapt 



V 4 



It 



red tons of ; 



and the 14 Cui bono " consequently finds itself translated into their local 



tongues, and expressed with much the same unction as by civilised ones. Reiving us ^™"Y™ production of mushrooms, a cTasZ? 



Bi, by bU ho^er, these ..p^rers ba e b ht h h galaxi ^^^J^^^ 



of floral charm as we see at Kew and elsewhere, and with the material J J d manure were deposited in „ the ^ ^^""J h ^ 

 so supplied another set of pokers and pryers go to work, and, seizing due course duced a crop of SQ M h a e spawned, and in 

 upon an oddity here and a feature there, start every now and again a tunne , is for the growth G f this toothsome esculent The ' ^ thc 

 new strain or combination of such a character that, although a thousand rapidly increa sed in numbers, and at the present time there "* . C ° nsequence 

 ^" : ~~' :C - A M * and Mrs - Cui Rono for * «™ Aifi onft mushroom beds in various stages. In fact, the whole of the flooMs^ 



them except the space occupied by the single line of rails used for th??** * hh 

 -j • - _ UiUl lue conveyance 



brilliant success eventually enriches the floral world with a gem which 



amply makes up for the loss and trouble, and answers the question 0 f the manure and soil to various parts of the tunnel. 



conclusively. So with mechanics. A thoughtful lad sits apparently idly 



watching the oscillations of the kettle lid, agitated by the escaping monthly output is about five thousand pounds. 



ot me manure ana Mm tu vanuu b pares ot tne tunnel. About one thousand 



of manure and one thousand baskets of spawn are used annually, and the^ighest 



steam. " Cui bono ?" is the question; but that seeming waste of time 

 over a trivial everyday occurrence is the fertilizing moment of the world's 



The Sc °ttish Mushroom Cn 

 pany, by whom the Edinburgh tunnel is leased, being so well satisfied with th 

 results obtained, are^ negotiating for a lease of the disused railway tunnel under 



greatest industries, all based on steam power. In the olden days the the La* Hill > ^ undee » for the purposing of devoting it to mushroom culture' 

 research into the tiny unseen world of the microscope was ever met by this tunne1 ' M in the case of that at Edinburgh, affording a large area of floor 

 the same query. Man was a special creation, far and away above such s P ac w e 



Judging New Chrysanthemums in America,-The Chrysanthemum 



Society of America has a committee to adjudicate upon new seedling chrysanthe 

 mums, but the methods of procedure differ from those of the N.C.S. Exhibitor 

 have to pay a fee of two dollars for every variety entered, but this entry fee entitles 

 the exhibitor to submit the variety before as many committees as he may desire. Six 

 blooms are required of each variety shown, and to be eligible each variety must have 

 been tested at least two years. No member of a committee shall show his bloom 

 outset if they be foes, or to second their efforts if they be friends, with before the committee of which he is a member. Varieties scoring 85 points 

 absolute certainty of results. We are indeed surrounded by, and made are entitled to the society's fiist-class certificate. Foreign varieties may also be 

 up of, innumerable facts and factors, each one of which is a link in a entered and certificated under the same conditions. All numbered seedlings 

 chain of natural causes. Hence, whenever the investigator finds himself entered must also be provided with a name. In case the variety does not score 



enough to secure a certificate, and the exhibitor desires to apply this name to 

 some other variety in the future, it will appear in all reports under number if the 



insignificant matters as germs and animalcule ; but now the poker and 

 pryer has his day, when, through the knowledge gained little by little and 

 atom by atom, he demonstrates that man is absolutely dependent for his 

 existence upon these unseen friends and foes, and once again the scornful 

 questioner is vanquished when, by the minute study of the life histories 

 of these tiny organisms, we are enabled to baffle their attacks at the 



baffled in following up this chain, regardless of " Cui bono ? " he is never 

 satisfied until the seeming anomaly is explained, and not seldom finds that 



explanation to open up a new set of hitherto unexpected facts of endless secretary be so requested. The scale of points adopted by the Chrysanthemum 



— A — . A A « • • ■ ■ M a - • 



utility and value inestimable. 



IMPORTS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. 



The returns issued by the Board of Trade for the past month are less Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Chicago. 



Society of America for exhibition blooms is : Colour, 25 ; form, 25 ; fulness, 15; 

 stem, 10 ; petallage, 10 ; and size, 15— total, ico. The committees meet four 

 times in October, and the same in November ; and sit at New York, Boston, 



satisfactory than were those for September, the increase in the exports 



Baldwin s and Champion Black Currants.— Mr. A. H. Pearson. Chil 



being small, while in the imports there was a decrease ; but in no case well, writes: I note the remarks of " Lux " in your issue of November 5 respecting 



was the change sufficient to justify a feeling of anxiety with regard to the supposed similarity of Baldwin's and Black Champion black currants, and I must 



the course of trade. The majority of the products in which our readers say Iwas surprised to find them entered in the Royal Horticultural Society's pamphlet 



are specially interested show an increase, and again indicate the depen- on "Fruits for Cottagers'" as identical. We procured our stock of Baldwins some 



dence of this country upon foreign and colonial cultivators for fruit and years ago from Mr. Bunyard, and believe the stock is true, but it is certainly 



vegetables. The imports of apples amounted to 694,027 bushels, of the distinct from Black Champion. The most important difference between the two 



value of ,£80,179. Of plums also there was a large increase, the imports 

 being 93>3°7 bushels, against 29,289 bushels in the corresponding month 



seems to be that Champion frequently dies back after pruning, especially when the 

 pruning is done early in the season,a weakness which I have never seen in Baldwin's. 

 Again, the wood of Baldwin's is not so thick as Champion and darker in colour ; 



of last year. The values of these fruits received in the two months are the f 5 uit of Champion is larger, but we think Baldwin's the better cropper. I am 



returned as ,£29,229 and ^9,514 respectively, and these figures should be 

 sufficient to convince the sceptical that we have not as yet planted plum 

 orchards in excess of the requirements of the community. Grapes were 



speaking of young trees grown side by side in the nurseries. I do not write 

 this for the sake of argument, but simply with a view to obtain more light on the 

 subject. 



The Uses of Leaf cups.— When 



th« vain* *f £i 73 426, against 360,151 bushels, of the value of £* — ^ s v r 



and places this in the middle of a flat dish containing water, where it stands, as it 



* & & 1 ~i 



last year, but there was a material difference in the values. Last month 



in October, 1897. There was no great change in the quantities of were , on an island inaccessible to the ants, many of which perish in their ineffec 

 pears imported during the past month and the corresponding month of tual attempts to reach it. Similarly, says Knowledge, the water in the leaf-cupi of 



the teasle surrounds and isolates the stem ; the leaves and flowers are protected as 

 by a moat from the attacks of creeping insects. Although such protection is perhaps 

 their original use, leaf-cups in many instances appear to have assumed an addi- 

 tional function. Mr. F. Darwin has observed that certain hairs in the leaf-cups 

 of the teasle emit protoplasmic threads into the water ; this also occurs in the case 



/49,ooo 



^39 



There was thus a drop of 4,308 bushels, and an increase in value of 



j£9>4°5> a change which the producers can hardly lail to regard as other- . „_ r r 



wise than satisfactory. Unenumerated fruits continue to be received in °/ Silphium. As fi lameits exactly similar are emitted from certain cells m the 

 increased quantities, and last month we imported 83,361 bushels in excess 



of the imports in the corresponding month of last year, and the value is 

 returned as exceeding by ,£24,327 the amount paid for the imports in that 

 period We have an indication of the satisfactory crop of potatos that 

 has this year been harvested in the fact that last month the imports of 

 tubers were 105,112 cwt., against 325,253 cwt. in October, 1897, the 

 values for the two months being given as £ 18,601 and .£54,902 respec- 

 tively. Notwithstanding a saving of ^36,301 in the month, our bill for 

 pDtatos will be a heavy one this year, for it already amounts to 

 ^£1,876,618, or nearly ;£ 1,000,000 more than was paid in the correspond- 

 ing period of each of the two previous years. France and Germany 

 have benefited to the largest extent from the unsatisfactory character of 

 the potato crop lifted in 1897; but no one will grumble at this. On the 

 contrary, considering the shortness of our crop last year, the community 

 have cause to be grateful to these countries for the aid they rendered in 



this direction. 



little doubt that leaf cups serve to some extent like the pitchers of Nepenthes and 

 Sarracenia for capturing injects, and that they conseq uently furnish the plant with an 

 important smrce of nitrogen. This view is confirmed by the frequent presence of 

 putrefactive bacteria in the water of leaf-cups. It has been found that when a 

 drop of water containing carbonate of ammonia in solution is placed on a lea , 

 after a time bath water and salt disappear. Leaves as well as roots therefore ta e 

 up ammonia, and this explains why plants which have no true power of digestion 

 are ye; benefited by capturing insects ; from the decomposing bodies of their 

 victims products are evolved which the plants are able to assimilate. 



R.H S. Meetings for i8oo.-The fortnightly exhibitions of the Royal 



Horticultural Society, together with the meetings of the various committees, w 

 be held at the Drill Hall, St. James' Street, Westminster, on the following dates 

 1899 : January 10 and 31 ; February 14 and 28 ; March 14 and 28 ; Apri I 

 May 2 and 16 ; June 13 and 27 ; July U and 25 ; August 15 and 29 ; S *P tem d 

 12 and 26 ; October 10 and 24 ; November 7 and 21 ; and December 3 



Gardening 



19. As the R. H .S. year 



900 



de for 



aoes noi enu in uacmuci n.^.^. — inner 



. . , — 9 and 23. The Great May Exhibition at the 1 



.. ~, r Temple Gardens will be held on May 31 and June I and 2, while tne 



Z I™*' ?7 m r ntCr5 ' haDds ' and the Editor wiU ^ 8 reatI * obli B ed b y infor - Exhibition of British Grown Fruit is fixed for September 28, 29, and p, to take 

 mation relating to changes in the public parks and gardens of the United King- * 



J?? terog sent to him at once. The communications should be addressed, The 

 tditor, « Gardening Year B JO k," 148 and 149, Aldersgate Street, E.C. 



place at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, as usual. 



Lonicera Hildebrandiana, a very large flowered honeysuckle, 

 covered in Upper Burma in 1878 by General Sir Henry Collett, K.C.B. 



was dis- 

 F.L.S., 



