D ,.;,EMBER 3i l8 9 8 ' 



THE 



GARDENERS' 



MA GA ZINE. 



781 



tr»aa\e on here and there. There is evidence that cochineal insects were used onlv in elaborate umrW ^ 1 • • 1 ■• 



^ed to struggle w _ * U3CU uul J 111 eiaoorate works on pomology, m scientihc publications, or in some 

 A ced five times between 1795 and 1883, with a view to the establishment of ' to/ r 



iDl hineal industry in the country. In 1807 Government offered a reward of 



°° for its successful introduction, but it never became thoroughly established. 



wild 



the scheme were prac- 



0* 



^ 2, °°° however, possible that, although a fine variety of the insect best for in 

 Il *^al purposes would not flourish, a wilder variety might become more or less 

 (iUSUl Ved. This has occurred to a small extent, and the idea of utilising this to 

 BaWra pirckly pear has been from time to time put forward. Dr. Bourne's inves- 



destroy P howevel>j s j 10W that it is impracticable to destroy prickly pear by the so- 

 tjgatioDS; 



11 J ci ^ 



*f . ^ e doubts the advisability of encouraging the development of an insect 

 "hich might eventually become an infinitely greater pest than the prickly pear. 



Craterostigma pumilum (Hochst) is a very rare plant collected in Somali- 

 , ^ JSt L or t Phillips and brought home by her. It flowered and seeded at 

 h Cambridge Botanic Gardens during the past summer, and its peculiarities 

 T d the subject of a pap:r, jointly prepared by Professor Marshall Ward, 

 n an d Miss Dale, read at a recent meeting of the Linnean Society. 



The Golden-rayed Lily [Ittium attratum) is at once one of the most ^ ia J c «y «e yueen, a 



* . . j ^ M ™nintincT nf the nlants Prown in the flower warden, the disan- Drovers productions. 



cases where they are necessary for clear discrimination of synonyms. (3) No two 

 varieties in the same group shall have the same name ; and the name first pub- 

 lished for a variety must always be used to designate it. All names subsequently 

 published must stand as synonyms. The term " group » as here used shall be 

 held to designate the large general groups specified by words in common language, 

 such as raspberry, plum, apricot. (4) Publication consists in the public distri* 

 bution of printed name and description, the latter giving distinguishing characters 

 of fruit, tree, &c, or in the publication of a new name for a variety properly 

 described elsewhere. Such a publication may be made in any book, bulletin, 

 report, trade catalogue, or periodical, providing the issue bears the date of its pub- 

 lication, and is generally distributed among nurserymen, fruit growers, and horti- 

 culturists. (5) No one is authorised to change a name for any reason except when 

 it conflicts with these rules. 



Chrysanthemums for Her Majesty.— Messrs. W. and G. Drover, the 



well-known chrysanthemum growers of Trinity Street, Fareham, recently had the 

 honour of submitting four dozen handsome cut blooms of chrysanthemums to Her 



Castle. Her Majesty greatly admired the Messrs. 



beautiful and disappointing of the plants grown in the flower garden, the disap- 

 i tment being in a large measure due to the rapidity with which imported bulbs 

 T enerate when committed to British soil. Trustworthy information with regard 

 Jthe cause of the degeneration and its prevention is therefore welcome, and the 

 ob'ervations made by Mr. Wallace in the course of a lecture given before the 

 ational Amateur Gardeners' Association are deserving of the fullest publicity. 

 \ccording to the report in the society's quarterly journal Mr. Wallace described 

 is lily as the finest in existence, and one that, if it does well, is magnificent, 

 and when it fails does so absolutely. There are various forms, such as pictum, ciently strong solution of gas is used to have a caustic effect on plants of various 

 mbro-pictum, 



is unspotted. Mr. Wallace said he could speak of auratum the whole evening, 

 but he would sum up its requirements in a few words. Growers cannot give it 

 . muc h shade or coolness. It grows well in Scotland. With regard to auratums 



t 



Hydrocyanic Acid Gas as an Insecticide.— On more than one 



occasion this powerful gas has been suggested— almost advocated— as an insecticide, 

 especially for collections of orchids. We, however, thoroughly endorse the 

 remarks of Dr. Kitchen, in American Gardening, who, while admitting that the 

 gas will destroy every form of life, animal as well as vegetable, if used of sufficient 

 strength and for a long enough time, warns growers against its use, on two grounds. 

 One is that there are some insect forms that will not succumb to it unless a suffi- 



.. . . . . ciently strong solution of gas is used to have a caustic effect on plants of various 



rubro-vittatum, cruentum, and the best form of all, Wittei, which kinds, and one trouble of the long immersion of plants in even a dilute solution of 



the gas is that too much is absorbed by the plants and more or less injury to 

 them is effected. Furthermore, the gas sometimes " banks " up in certain parts 

 of the house. Quite apart from these considerations, however, is the one that the 



"going off," his idea was that when the species first came from Japan the bulbs 

 were small, being then collected from their wild homes. When thev arrived in 



use of hydrocyanic acid gas prepared for insecticidal purposes is too frightfully 

 dangerous to warrant it being handled by any but the most skilled hands. In the 



this country they were planted in soil richer than they had been previously used course of experimenting with the gas Dr. Kitchen has had several narrow escapes, 

 to and the result was all that could be desired. Now, in response to the large and he says he has been made very dizzy even by a quick walk of twenty-five feet 



to the ventilating apparatus in a house at nine a.m., in which the gas had been 

 generated at five o'clock the previous afternoon. One is liable to l>c burned by 

 the handling of the sulphuric acid alone, as well as suffer danger to clothing, 

 adjacent plants, and structures, during the generation of the gas, or the subsequent 

 clearing up after the process. The whole method is dangerous, inconvenient, and 

 entirely too costly for general use. Formalin gas is safer and a, effective both as 

 that year three flowers in one stem ; in 1866 it was shifted into a nine-inch pot an insecticide and as a disinfectant. It, too, is caustic in its effects on plants ; but 

 ind produced two stems and seventeen flowers. The following year shifted into is a splendid disinfectant for empty houses, and can be used without danger for 

 an eleven- inch pot, the bulb throwing three large and three smaller stems, pro- that purpose, 

 dnced in all fifty-three flowers. In 1868 the pot was increased to a sixteen-inch, 



demand for the lily, the bulbs are grown on for European markets in land very 

 highly manured. The result is enormous bulbs which, on arrival here, are put 

 into our gardens consisting of soil not so rich in manure, and the change is seen 

 in the disease from which this lily suffers, caused no doubt by the overfed bulbs. 

 Mr. Wallace then gave particulars of what had been done with a small bulb, two 

 inches in diameter, early in 1865. It was potted in a seven-inch pot and produced 



and that year there were five stems and seven smaller ones, bearing altogether one 

 hundred flowers. In 1869 the bulb was taken out of the pot and a small portion 

 of the old soil taken away. It was then put into a seven teen-inch pot and treated 

 as before. It responded to the treatment by throwing up thirty-nine flowering 

 Hems, ranging from two to nine feet in height, and produced a total of one 



The Condition of the New Forest*— In a Blue Book just issued Mr. 



E. Stafford Howard, Commissioner for the New Forest, gives much interesting 

 information concerning this and other forest lands that art- Crown property. 

 During the year ending March 31 last the sales of forest produce from the New 

 Forest realised ^8,624 16s. 7d., as compared with ^7*355 4*. in *&9t>'97> 



* " * ' OOO 



hundred and ninety-three flowers. In 1870 it was undisturbed, and threw up Jis ^ ^ ifyfryj. Of much more importance, however, is Mr. Howard's 

 fcrty-three stems with two hundred and eight flowers. In the autumn of 1870 



certain 



the mass was broken up, and there were found to be seventy bulbs, ranging in rf ^ qU wQods Jn di fr erent parts of the forest which are rapidly decaying, and 



ic from seven inches in circumference to bulblets scarcely formed— the product mus( . i nev j ta bl y perish and disappe ' * ' *" 



of one bulb in five years. The last we hear of this bulb was in 1873, when it prevent j t . The area of these woo< 

 wis showing seventy stems and still doing well. w 1— j -1 * ~ - 



taken 

 Under 



Wallace 



cannot 



as to the sufficiency of which opinions may perhaps reasonably differ ; but there 

 are some whole woods and portions of others as to which there cannot be two 

 opinions, and unless means be adopted to encourage and protect a young growth 

 of trees these woods must in course of time disappear. He proposes dealing 



ofthis wonderful specimen taken in three different years, which were shown to the a view tQ their re g enera tion. In a few of them, owing to favourable circum* 



feting, and attracted much attention. stances natural regeneration is taking place to a large extent, and little fear need 



National Amateur Gardeners' Association. -This admirably managed be entertained for their future. As regards others there is a partial regeneration, 

 «wety continues, we are pleased to learn,'to grow in strength and usefulness. In June 

 ■t there were 676 members on the books, and since that month 43 have joined, 

 ■tong a total of 719, which is eminently satisfactory. The association will hold its 

 •wal dinner at the Holborn Restaurant on Thursday, December 15, the houi fixed 



* the function being half-past seven p.m., the reception taking place half an hour 

 earlier. 



Chrysanthemum Exhibitions, 1899.— The committees of the leading 



*isanthemum societies are now busily engaged in arranging their fixtures for 

 y^r» and we have already received notification of the fact that the Hull 

 ^^athemum Society will hold its exhibition on November 15 and 16, and the 

 *kof the Birmingham Chrysanthemum Society are November 7, 8, and 9. 



attention 



those interested in the preservation of these ancient woods 



brought 



engaging 



erican pomologists, and the Horticultural Club of the Cornell University 

 Prepared a code for naming fruits, of which the following is a brief summary. 

 WJte name of a variety of fruit shall consist of one word, or at most of two 



!n selecting names simplicity, distinctiveness, and convenience are of 

 ^° unt importance. The use of such general terms as seedling, hybrid, 

 beurre, damson, &c, is not admissible. Nouns must not be used in the 

 J* e ^veform. Mcintosh's Red, Crawford's Early, Bubach's No. 5, must be 

 2*McInto&h Red, Crawford Early, and Bubach. Numbers are to be con- 

 jjj^ as temporary expedients to be used while a variety is under trial. The 

 of no H v i n g horticulturist should be applied to a variety without his full 

 told ; : rd the name of BO deceased horticulturist should be used without the 

 'gfecment of living horticulturists. An author publishing a new variety 



^todfr 6 name given by the ori 8 inator ' or by the introducer * ( 2 ) In the 

 it °i! mal ritation of a variety name the name of the author who first pub- 

 shall also be given. It is expected that such citations of names will be 



may realise that the question is serious and urgent. 



The Retailer's Profit on Apples.-At the hearing of a 

 before his Honour fudge Addison, Q.C., at the Southwark County Court, a few 

 ty llo it 2 shoJ that a widow, Mrs. Fitrgerald, who distributes apple, by 

 tZyZ'l from a basket in Change Alley, earned as a rule from 7 * 6d. to I as. 

 per day by the sale of the fruit. 



Two New Eucalypti.- At a recent meetiog of the New Sooth Wale* 



r. c Mr R T Baker described two new ipecietof lucalyptus from 

 Linnean Society Mr. R. T£ * spccie|f remMUble for the 



u • Tlnoiments of their oils, l>elonging to the group Renanther*. and known 

 chemical <£^"^ string^* and Measmate respectively. For the first 

 vernacularly as S J*« ' ^ > * >B l)Ccause the M ol)Uined from the 



of the which istvo-rotatory ; and the name K. dex.ro- 



P 7, . thjs case is dextro- rotatory. In both the specific rotation u 

 £££ ttam in -he well-known pinenes obtained from the Oomta*. although 



chemically identical. . 



r..« Potato Crop - According to official reports, the potato crop in 



Amer , t ^T?thiM-r counted to *> 3 ,*S4.orx> budkl, 

 the United States has tnis >c» ^ 



bushels more than in 1897. * 4 2 ' 216 ' 000 l <" thaD h ,8 * 



pinene 



