December 13, 1883. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
509 
t e insect having got in considerable numbers into the soil of the pots.” 
n .,. r . es P onse V1 gorous efforts to exterminate this plague about six 
xni ions of the grubs were collected and destroyed by the garden 
a ourers. In Mr. Duthie’s report it is satisfactory to find that economic 
p ants, as at Calcutta, are largely cared for, and that the cultivation of 
■medicinal plants and the preparation of drugs from them is being pro¬ 
ceeded with. Amongst them may be mentioned Alexandrian SenDa 
( assia acutifolia), Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), and Belladonna 
•(Atropa belladonna). 
“ ^ HE forty-fifth ordinary meeting of the Essex Field Club 
will be held at the head-quarters, 3, St.John’s Terrace, Buckhurst Hill 
(opposite the church), on Saturday, December 15th, 1883, at 7 o’clock p.m. 
The following papers will be read 1, “Fungi and their Spores,” by 
Arthur Lister, J.P., F.L.S. 2, “On a Specimen of a Whale, Rudolphi’s 
Horqual (Balmnoptera borealis, Lesson.) lately taken in the River Crouch, 
Essex,” by Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., F.L.S., Pres. Zool. Soc., &c. 
3, “Some Additional Notes on Essex Watersheds,” by Prof. Boulger, 
E.L.S., F.G.S., &c. 4, “Natural History Notes,” by R. M. Christy. 
In accordance with rule 4, the Council and officers for 1884 will be 
nominated, preparatory to the annual meeting to be held in January. 
Members are requested to bring or send “Exhibits” for the meeting. 
The rooms will be open at six o’clock as usual. It is intended to form a 
V or -ing Committee for the purpose of arranging details of field 
meetings, &c., during the ensuing summer. Members willing to take 
qiart in the work are requested to send in their names. The Librarian 
wi 1 be glad to give 1*. 6d. for clean copies of Part 4 of the “ Transac¬ 
tions.”— William Cole, Ron. Sec. 
The fortnightly meeting of the Manchester Horticultural 
Mutual Improvement Society was held on Thursday evening in the 
•old Town Hall, King Street. There was a very large attendance. 
Mr. R. Tait, who occupied the chair, said the Society, which has 
■only been in existence about eight weeks, has already attracted much 
attention. Letters had been received from gentlemen in Shrewsbury 
and Birmingham asking for information respecting the formation and 
the methods of procedure, as similar societies were about being formed 
in their respective localities. Mr. R. MacKellar read a paper on Vines 
and Vine culture. He said that all that seemed necessary to make 
■Grape-growing profitable in England out of doors was a summer of 
a month’s longer duration. In Bedfordshire he had noticed that the 
Vines grew very well, showed abundance of fruit, and brought it 
partially to maturity; but just as the first berries began to ripen 
the cold weather begins, and the early frosts put a stop to all 
further progress. A good result, therefore, need not be expected from 
Grape-growing outside, but by artificial aid the matter is much 
simplified. Mr. MacKellar dwelt upon the form of structure necessary, 
whether span-roof or lean-to, inclining in the majority of cases to 
the latter, and he showed how indispensable it is that it should be 
•erected in the most sunny position. Ventilation should be amply 
provided, and at all times used with care and caution. The formation 
of the borders was then treated of, showing the need of good drainage, 
and gradual additions as the Vines increase in size and vigour; com¬ 
position of the soil; sorts to be planted, mentioning particularly the 
old Black Hamburgh and Muscat of Alexandria as two of the best; 
pruning, disbudding, setting of the fruit, thinning of the berries, and 
perfect ripening of the fruit, particular stress being laid upon the 
proper thinning of the berries and keeping the Vines clear from 
insects. Considerable discussion took place, Mr. Neild (Wythenshawe), 
Mr. Upjohn (Worsley), Mr. EUis, Mr. C. Jones, Mr. H. Driver, 
Mr. Butterworth, and others adding to the information. Mr. W. 
■Swan, the Hon. Secretary, announced that at the next meeting Mr. W. 
JBirkenhead would read a paper on the Cultivation of Ferns. 
LEAF SOIL v. FUNGUS. 
Seeing on pages 292 and 436 notes on the subject of fungus on 
CBeech leaves, I send you my experience. Close by the gardens here 
there is a Beech wood, and it used to be the practice to collect a large 
■quantity of the leaves and put them in a heap to decay, and use them in 
potting ; but I found they created much fungus. I afterwar-'s tried 
■them mixed with manure from the stable to make hotbeds. I then did 
mot notice any fungus, and plants and cuttings grew fairly well in a 
portion of the decayed matter mixed with the soil in which they were 
potted. I afterwards went to a place in the wood where the leaves had 
■drifted in some places to the depth of 18 inches. I removed tfce top 
8 inches or a foot, and the bottom 6 inches of thoroughly decayed leaves 
I took for potting and mixed a fair quantity with the soil for cuttiDgs. 
I may add that the leaf soil was nearly dry. The result was that I lost 
nearly the whole of the cuttings ; it was nearly one mass of fungus. I 
almost decided to use no more Beech leaves, but shortly afterwards when 
going through the wood I found a large hole full of leaf soil where the 
leaves had been drifted. There were two or three cartloads. I decided 
to give it a trial as manure for Potatoes, the ground being a rather stiff 
loam. The trial gave me every satisfaction, the crop was far superior in 
quality and quantity to that on which I had used stable manure. I then 
tried the same leaf soil for potting, and it excelled all other I had 
previously tried. I have since cut a place about 5 feet square and 2 feet 
deep and always keep it full of Beech leaves. It is near where we keep 
the manure for the garden, and it sometimes gets nearly full of liquid 
manure, and the enriched leaf soil I do not hesitate to use for whatever I 
think needs decayed vegetable matter.—J. C. 
MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT IN GARDENING. 
The subject broached by “ E. B.,” at page 485, is one deserving of 
notice from all connected with gardening, but perhaps more so from 
those resident in large private establishments. It is true “ improvement 
societies ” are too few and far between, but there is another way by 
which young gardeners would be greatly benefited—namely, as “ E. B.” 
suggests, in “ home-improvement classes.” I am now in charge of a 
garden, but was formerly foreman in a garden in Kent, where such a 
class was carried on under the guidance of the head gardener. There 
were three of us in the bothy, and every Wednesday evening, from 
October to May, was set apart for the class to be held. We each in turn 
read a paper upon a certain subject selected by the head gardener, upon 
which afterwards would follow a discussion and explanations, our chief 
giving us the value of his experience upon any question we liked to ask. 
He also took his turn in reading a paper, dealing with the more difficult 
subjects, and I am sure we all derived great pleasure and benefit from 
listening to them. 
Most young men who aim at becoming gardeners take some interest 
in their work, but I feel sure they would take much more were they 
encouraged by the holding of such classes as I have tried to give an 
outline. I ought perhaps to say we were not allowed to copy from 
books. We were expected to write upon the subject allotted us from the 
study of books and our own experience. Being four of us we each had 
a month to prepare our paper, so that there was nothing amounting to 
tediousness or restraint about the matter. I felt gratelul to our chief 
then, but I feel more so now the test has come, and the value of such 
classes made apparent to me.—J. C., Loivn Ampncy. 
THE WHITE ELEPHANT POTATO. 
I AM exceedingly glad to see the account of this Potato on page 465 
1 beg to endorse every word Mr. Muir has written. I grew one peck of 
it, had from the firm who advertised it as a disease-resisting sort. It 
had exceptional facilities—viz., was put on fresh ground, green sod, 
having been dug in one spit deep six months previously, no farmyard dung 
or manure being applied at the time of planting, which was done on the 
17th of last March. I put in the drills a coating of fine sifted ashes, 
on the top of that nothing but Mr. With’s carbon manure, as made and 
supplied by him, then the sets ; and when the Potatoes were well up 
and bad been once earthed with the draw hoe, 1 gave a thin top-dressing 
of the manure on a showery day. Five other sorts of early, medium, and 
late Potatoes were grown under exactly the same conditions. Here this 
was an exceptionally fine Potato season. Four of my six varieties have 
entirely escaped disease when growing, and since beiDg housed. The 
fifth sort, Mona’s Pride, badly diseased with me last season, has 
been a splendid crop this season, not one-fourth diseased, and the 
remainder still sound and superior table Potatoes. Next to them were 
these White Elephants. They showed disease on the leaf on the 
22nd August ; it went on rapidly till I cut off the stalks. When these 
were dead I dug the crop the first week in October. The result was what 
ought to have been, according to the seedsman, a splendid crop of 
disease-resisting Potatoes, badly diseased ; all the tubers were enormous, 
on an average 16 to 18 ozs. in weight each, many as large as quoted by 
Mr. Muir, but nearly all these went very rapidly. None of them are 
eatable for a connoisseur in Potatoes. All that remained sound, not half 
taken out of ground, are being used baked, only fit for pigs if boiled. 
I consider all of us are bound to give our experiences of the new varieties 
of Potatoes as we find them, and for the good of the nation, and give all 
particulars as to the growing and cultivation and soil. 
I beg pardon for writing at such length about an article “ not worth 
its salt;” one has to use an extra quantity of in eating it, and which 
would make “ a poor man ” drink more after it than might be good for 
him.— Saxoking, Hereford. 
Gas Stoves. —It is to be hoped that some of your correspondents 
who have had these in continuous use in their conservatories will reply 
to “ F. W. C.” The makers of the stove in question publish extensively 
a testimonial from Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons, given some time ago, but 
several persons who have inquired on the premises in Chelsea have found 
that Ritchie’s stove has been replaced by an improved make known as 
Clark’s “ Syphon ” stove, because of its durability and more effectual 
