November 25, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
473 
aiarks :—“ I am sure there are many readers of the Journal besides my¬ 
self would feel grateful to Mr. Murphy, Mr. Molyneux, Mr. Davis, or any 
•other experts if they would give a select list of good dark October-bloom¬ 
ing Chrysanthemums which would be as useful as Madame Desgrange, 
Lady Selborne, Elaine, and other early white-flowering varieties. We have 
a good selection of white varieties, but have no dark ones to be compared 
to those named. Will the new Japanese William Holmes be a suitable 
variety f" 
- The second edition of Mr. L. Castle’s treatise on Orchids 
having been exhausted, a third issue is being prepared and will be pub¬ 
lished in a few days. 
- Referring to High and Deep Planting, “ W.” observes :— 
The majority of gardeners will agree with Mr. Iggulden that shallow 
planting for fruit trees is to be preferred to deep planting, but I do not 
think that merely covering the roots of old forest trees is the principal 
reason of their not thriving afterwards, but to the decaying of the bark 
when buried beneath the soil. We had occasion lately to remove a Beech 
tree which had been buried to the depth of 2 feet about the stem, and 
which was almost decayed, and probably if it had been allowed to remain 
another season it would have died. I know of cases where of necessity 
soil had to be levelled about old forest trees, but immediately about the 
stem it was bricked round and the trees continued in health.” 
- A correspondent informs us of the death ot Mr. D. McFar- 
IAne, who for some years was gardener at Knowsley Cottage, and lately in 
business for himself at Olive Mount, Wavertree. Deceased left his house 
in good health and spirits on Saturday last at 1 o’clock P.M., November 
20th inst, and was shortly afterwards found dead in the stokehole 
adjoining his dwelling. He was interred at Knowsley churchyard on 
the 23rd inst. He leaves a wife and five children to mourn his los°. 
Mr. McFarlane was an excellent gardener, and a man that was highly 
respected amongst the gardeners in the vicinity of Liverpool. 
- Mr. G. Colville, Linethwaite, St. Bees, replying to a corre¬ 
spondent’s question in last week’s Journal observes :—“ Musa Caven- 
DISHI is the most valuable Banana for fruiting in a small size in an 
ordinary plant house. Musa sapientum, I think, is the one he refers to. 
It requires a much higher temperature than M. Cavendishi—namely, 70° 
to 90° in summer and 60° to 70° in winter. The soil must be exceedingly 
rich and by no means adhesive, rather of a light character, and well 
drained, in order that copious supplies of water may be given. Suckers 
will fruit within the year if shifted from pot to pot and thence into 
tubs. The produce of one plant, if well grown, will weigh from 15 to 
30 lbs.” 
11 Hortus ” writes :—“ At page 447 Mr. Bardney speaks of the 
superiority of Parisian Blinds, and also says that they do not obstruct 
the light like other blinds. I should like some who have used these 
blinds to give their opinions, as from experience I cannot speak favourably 
of them, for they certainly obstruct the light to a greater extent than 
ordinary scrim. The working is anything but easy unless the roof is very 
steep. The waste of time in rolling them up and down as compared to 
the ordinary blinds with rollers and pulleys is a very serious matter 
especially where labour is short and two or three houses want attending 
to at the same time. We have over £100 worth in use, so I think I can 
speak from experience.” 
- At the recent Exhibition of Chrysanthemums and Fruit 
held at Bath Messrs. R. Smith & Co., the well-known Worcester 
nurserymen, staged a very fine collection of Apples and Pears, and these, 
though not for competition, were rightly deemed worthy of high commen¬ 
dation by the Judges. Nearly all the best sorts in cultivation were repre¬ 
sented, and very correctly labelled, while a great number of both Apples 
and Pears exhibited by private growers in the various classes provided for 
them were wrongly named. Particularly fine were Pears Glou Morqeau, 
Easter BeunA, BauriA Diel, DoyemA du Comice, General Todleben, Pit- 
maston Duchess, and Marie Louise ; while the best Apples were Nelson’s 
Glory, Cox’s Pomona, Welford Park Nonesuch, Peasgood’s Nonesuch, 
Alfriston, Ecldinville, Wellington, Golden Noble, Waltham Abbey Seed¬ 
ling, Prince Albert, Tower of Glamis, Worcester Pearmain, Lord Derby, 
and Warner’s King, 
. Mr - e - r - Cutler informs us that at a meeting of the Com¬ 
mittee of the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution, held on 
the 18th inst., Harry J. Veitch, Esq., of Chelsea, was unanimously elected 
Treasurer of this Institution in the room of Edward Tidswell, Esq., who 
has resigned that office on account of serious ill health; and at the same 
meeting it was determined to make an addition of ten pensioners to the 
list in January next, six of whom will be admitted without election under 
Rule 6, they or their husbands having been subscribers for fifteen clear 
years. An election will take place for four pensioners out of a body of 
seventeen selected and approved candidates. The voting papers will be 
issued on or about the 16th December. 
-Gros Maroc Grape Grafted on Black Hamburgh :—Mr. 
G. Abbey writes, “ Mr. Tilbrook, the respected and able gardener to B. 
Brown, Esq., Houghton Hill, Huntingdon, is very successful with Gros 
Maroc Grape. A finer example of this really handsome fruit could not be 
wished than that shown at the recent St. Neots Chrysanthemum Show. 
The Grape was large in bunch, quite large enough for any purpose, 
though it may only be half that of Gros Colman, and the berries were not 
only laige, but of a very decided oval shape, almost as much so as ia the 
Muscat of Alexandria. The finish was perfect, the bloom so dense as to 
resemble hoar frost, through which the intense black or purple of the skin 
shone in a remarkable manner. There was not the slightest trace of a 
blemish, and it was deservedly much admired. Mr. Tilbrook attributes 
the whole of his success to the Gros Maroc being grafted on Black Ham¬ 
burgh. There is no comparison between the Gros Maroc on its own roots 
and the Gros Maroc on the Black Hamburgh ; the fruit on the latter is finer 
in every respect, not omitting quality. The Black Hamburgh as a stock 
enhances the value of all coarse Grapes, and so does Muscat of Alexandria 
at least such is my experience—the appearance is better and the quality 
improved ; but the Black Hamburgh and Muscat of Alexandria are de¬ 
teriorated in quality by being worked on coarse varieties.” 
CARNIVOROUS PLANTS. 
At the fortnightly meeting of the Birmingham Gardeners’ 
Society, November 3rd, Mr. W. B. Latham, Curator of the Bir¬ 
mingham Botanical Gardens, read a most interesting paper on 
“ Carnivorous Plants,” illustrating his subject with a large 
assortment of these plants, and the following is a slightly con¬ 
densed report of his remarks :— 
The subject itself is one of great interest to scientific men, 
and has attracted much attention at various times. A paper 
was read by Sir Joseph Hooker at the meeting of the British 
Association at Belfast in 1874, in which these plants were 
brought very prominently before the notice of naturalists. In 
consequence of the practical nature of Sir Joseph’s—then Dr. 
Hooker—remarks, and the interesting facts placed before his 
audience, many scientific men who had not hitherto devoted 
much attentiou to the subject began thinking and investigating. 
Much had been previously written on the subject, and 1 am not 
aware that anything new was to be found in Dr. Hooker’s paper 
if we except a description of the inner surface of some species 
of Sarracenias of peculiar interest, and which I shall hereafter 
refer to. But the Doctor's paper, although really the revival of 
an old subject, was evidently written for the purpose of suggest¬ 
ing a most interesting field for investigation to the botanist and 
others. 
We had at our Botanical Gardens just then many inquiries 
about these plants, and several expressed surprise that insect¬ 
eating plants existed. Many years ago that most zealous horti¬ 
culturist, Mr. Andrew Knight, experimented on some plants of 
Dionsea, and placed them in such a position that no insect could 
get at them, and some of these he supplied with bits of raw beef, 
and they flourished much better than others kept without animal 
or insect food, and he found it difficult to keep them alive. Mr. 
F. Darwin a few years since experimented on a plant of Drosera 
rotundifolia, and the results entirely substantiated the experiment 
made by Mr. Knight, and found that plants fed with animal matter 
were far more vigorous and flourishing than those which were 
not fed, and the seed from the fed plants showed a large increase 
in weight over the seed from the plants which were not fed. 
The Venus’s Flytrap (Dionsea muscipula) is the most remark¬ 
able of the insectivorous plants, and is, in fact, one of the most 
wonderful in its organisation in the vegetable kingdom. We 
are often told that “there is nothing new under the sun,” and 
the mechanical action of this plant is almost enough to make 
one wonder whether the inventor of our common rat or rabbit 
trap did not take a lesson from this vegetable wonder. One 
thing is certain, they both act on the same principle, closing 
with rapidity upon their prey. This plant is a native of the 
eastern part of North Carolina, and found growing in swamps, 
and it has therefore a limited geographical range. Specimens of 
