292 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 29, 1881. 
Plowright, Esq. ; “ Frotococcus,” by the Rev. John E. Vize, M.A. ; 
“Monstrosities in’Fungi,” by W. Phillips, Esq., F.L.S., and a 
curious and abnormal cellar Polypus will be shown by Mr. Phillips ; 
“ Two Tomato Diseases,” by C. B. Plowright, Esq. Gentlemen 
intending to be present are requested to send their names to the 
Secretary, Mr. Theophilus Lane, Broomy Hill, Hereford, on or 
before Monday. October 3rd, that all proper arrangements may 
be made for their comfort. The Pomona Committee of the Club 
have decided to hold an exhibition of Apples and Pears on Wed¬ 
nesday and Thursday, October 26th and 27th, and request the 
favour of the personal interest of the Members in support of it. 
Donations in aid of the prize fund are much needed. 
- A lady correspondent writing to us from the neighbour¬ 
hood of Lago Maggiore, Italy, observes—“ One of the most attrac¬ 
tive and fragrant shrubs here is Olea fragrans. The perfume 
makes itself felt in the gardens : and if the plant grows freely 
in the open air here, where snow falls during winter, it might 
succeed in England, and prove attractive in a cool conservatory 
on account of the remarkably powerful perfume of its flowers.” 
Most English gardeners know this plant very well, for it has 
now been in cultivation here for more than a century, and is a 
welcome addition to any greenhouse or conservatory. 
- “Within a day’s march of Meshed,” writes the corre¬ 
spondent of a daily contemporary, “ the cornfields begin to give 
place to vast expanses of Melon and Cucumber cultivation, of 
which enormous quantities are consumed during the hot weather. 
Here and there the tendrils of the plants are trained over slight 
frameworks, so that the great broad leaves form arbours to pro¬ 
tect the watchmen from the sun. Nothing could be prettier than 
the appearance’of these fresh green bowers with their great broad 
stariDg yellow flowers, after the dusty plain and scorched stubble- 
fields. At intervals, too, are orchards. Peaches, Plums, Apri¬ 
cots, and Grapes, all of delicious quality, are brought to market 
in great quantities. The dark purple Plums are very remarkable, 
some being as large as good-sized Peaches. The ground is every¬ 
where inundated with pools of water, and irrigation trenches 
cross and recross each other in a complex maze. This surface 
water is, I should think, mostly derived from the Iveshef Rood, 
the river which formerly watered Toos, the ancient capital. Be¬ 
sides this surface water there is also a large subterranean amount 
beiDg conveyed in underground channels to more distant fields 
situated at a lower level.” 
-A German paper, referring to the taxation of .Tobacco, 
relates an example of remarkably sharp practice which has given 
rise to much comment. It appears that two revenue officers in 
the execution of their duties visited the Konigsberg Botanical 
Gardens, and having ascertained that a number of Tobacco plants 
was grown there for scientific purposes, they considered it neces¬ 
sary these should be taxed. The Director refused to pay the tax, 
and in consequence the plants were uprooted. 
- Professor Dawson, of the Dominion Geological Survey, 
reports that the forests of British Columbia are of vast 
importance. Many first-class mills have been established in 
various parts of the country, and the total annual product is 
stated to be about two hundred million feet, of which twenty-five 
million feet is exported to other countries, twenty-five million 
feet used at home, and one hundred and fifty million feet sent to 
California. Professor Dawson estimates that one hundred and 
ten million acres (or two-thirds of the whole province) are covered 
with timber. The Douglas Fir or Oregon Pine is the most valuable 
commercial tree. It frequently exceeds 8 feet in diameter, and 
rises to a height of from 200 to 300 feet, forming great and dark 
forests. The Western Hemlock and the Red Cedar are the other 
important trees of the province, both of which, the latter especi¬ 
ally, grow to a great size. When the great plains of Canada 
become populous the mines and forests of British Columbia are 
likely to be of great importance. 
SOUND POTATOES AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 
My Potatoes have again turned out a fine crop. Myatt’s Pro¬ 
lific and Rivers’ Royal Ashleaf were dug up in July quite sound, 
the former by far the heavier crop. The late variety, Suttons’ 
Magnum Bonum, was harvested at the beginning of this month 
perfectly sound and free from disease, the yield averaging over 
five sacks to each bushel of seed planted. My gardener called 
my attention to the first three roots he had lifted, and we counted 
their produce to be sixty-four good-sized tubers. He is always 
careful to select ground for Potatoes on which ordinary green 
crops have been grown the previous year. The soil is well 
trenched during the winter, and in early spring liberally dressed 
with leaf soil only. He plants as early in March as the season 
will permit, and is thereby enabled to secure the crop before the 
autumn rains commence. Last year’s Magnum Bonuros remained 
in good condition to the middle of the following July.—W. G., 
Elnulalc, Sutton, Surrey. 
DIMORPHOUS FLOWERS. 
That portion of Sir John Lubbock’s presidential address before 
the British Association which points out that pollen from long- 
stamened flowers of Primroses, if applied to the stigmas of long- 
styled forms and vice versa , produces a much greater per-centage 
of seeds than when the flowers are fertilised with their own or 
even other pollen from a similar flower, may, we fear, be read in 
many instances without the reader learning the lesson which it 
contains. This fact induces us to say a few words on the ferti¬ 
lisation of Primrose flowers. The way usual among gardeners, 
and we fear among those which grow seed for sale, is to pull the 
corolla of pin-eyed (long-styled) flowers with the stamens, which 
are halfway down the tube, out of its socket and over the pistil. 
This operation causes a few grains of pollen to settle on the 
stigma, and the formation of, in comparatively rare instances, a 
few seeds. The cross-fertilisation of different foims, if done under 
favourable conditions, will, on the other hand, result in every 
flower setting and every seed-pod filling with a full complement 
of good seed. This is not all. It has again and again been proved, 
and now no longer admits of any doubt, that in-and-in bred seed 
becomes more or less rapidly weak in vitality, and the resulting 
plants are in proportion weak ; indeed, eventually the race be¬ 
comes weak. It is quite different when different strains are 
crossed, and it is quite necessary that the different forms of 
dimorphous and trimorphous plants be crossed. The crossing of 
species does not invariably produce greater vigour in the offspring, 
but the crossing of different races of the same species almost 
invariably produces that result. 
This much by the way, although what we have said is worth 
remembering. What we want to consider just now is Sir John 
Lubbock’s reference to dimorphous flowers repeated in another 
form. Instead of leaving Chinese Primulas (for to these we 
more particularly refer) to set themselves, or even to fertilise 
either of the two forms with pollen from another plant belong¬ 
ing to the same form, we advise all who wish to save their own 
Primula seed to choose pin-eyed flowers for seed-bearers, and 
thrum-eyed forms to furnish the pollen. The fertilisation of 
thrum-eyed flowers by pollen from pin-eyed flowers will have pre¬ 
cisely the same effect, but it is much easier to perform the 
operation on pin-eyed flowers. Of course we expect everyone 
will be alive to the advantages to be derived from selecting the 
best and most vigorous examples from which to raise seed. Ad¬ 
vantage, also, will arise from the crossing of strains ; and as a 
few flowers will afford pollen sufficient to fertilise a large number 
if the pollen is used economically, flowers may be procured, if 
thought desirable, even by post from friends. 
It is of little use applying pollen to stigmas in November, 
December, or January. Sunny weather is necessary to secure 
the best results ; therefore it is soon enough to begin by February. 
The selected plants should be stood on a sunny shelf and fed with 
weak liquid manure rich in phosphates and potash, such as is 
furnished by any good guano water or weak sewage. If this 
precaution is taken, more seeds, and seeds of a better quality, 
will follow. We have experimented and proved if. The pollen 
should be applied with a camel-hair pencil, and the best time to 
do it is about mid-day. If your aim be to secure the strongest 
plumpest seed for your own use, do not be greedy, but be content 
with from one to two dozen pods from each plant according to its 
size and strength. Ripen the 6eeds in a sunny position under 
