290 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 28, 1893. 
- Sugar cane Disease in Barbadoes. — The steamship 
" Atrato,” which arrived at Plymouth a few days ago, brings informa¬ 
tion of a destructive cane disease that has developed itself at Barbadoes 
during this season, and is causing considerable alarm among the sugar 
planters. Nearly every estate in the island is losing its sugar crop. 
The plants are attacked at their roots, which rot and the plants perish. 
- Copperas in Plant Manures. —“Suburban” sends us the 
following extract for publication. “ Since the successful application of 
copperas or ferrous sulphate in the treatment of plant disease has become 
known, manure manufacturers have been in the habit of mixing this 
salt with the other ingredients of a manure, more especially in the case 
of phosphates. The advisability of this practice has recently been 
investigated by authorities. From a number of experiments they have 
drawn the conclusion that the addition of copperas has a deleterious 
effect upon superphosphates, that is to say, on mono-calcium and 
bi-calcium phosphates ; but when tri-calcium phosphate is treated with 
eopperas, a considerable portion of the phosphoric acid is rendered 
soluble in ammonium citrate, hence the action is beneficial.” 
- Bedding Begonias. —Some of the prettiest effects I have seen 
with bedding Begonias were at Yeovil, where Mr. B. K. Davis has 
collected a remarkably beautiful selection of plants, doubles chiefly, for the 
doubles seem in respect of massing effects to be productive of more 
pleasing effects than do the large-flowered singles. The plants put out 
in large numbers range from 7 inches to 13 inches in height, the tallest, 
Clemence Demeart, of a deep rose colour, giving a most charming effect, 
and the dwarfest. Dandy, a rich deep red, about 7 inches. Cactus is a 
biautiful reddish cerise, 8 inches high ; Postboy, salmon carmine, 
10 inches, are but a few of many that constitute a splendid strain. 
Whilst some are of continental origin, not a few are of Mr. Davis’s own 
raising, the general collection of double and single large-flowered 
varieties is of the best grown, the new bedding forms may well rank as 
unique of their kind.—D. 
-Wonders of the Cotton Plant. —The Cotton plant, which 
has for so many centuries furnished a large part of the population of 
the globe with clothing, seems to be almost without limit in its useful¬ 
ness. From the seed a valuable oil is expressed, while the husks form 
an article of food for cattle in the shape of cakes. From the lint 
which clings to the seed after it has passed through the “ gin ” felt is 
made, while the oil extracted from the seed is applied to quite a large 
number of purposes. But, according to the British Consul, Mr. Portal 
of Zanzibar, Cotton seed is also capable of yielding sugar. A process, 
‘ Public Opinion ” remarked recently, has been discovered for extracting 
sugar from Cotton seed meal, and though the details of this process have 
not been disclosed, it is said that the product obtained is of very superior 
grade, being fifteen times sweeter than cane sugar and twenty times 
more so than sugar made from Beet. This indicates that sweetness is 
not due to cane sugar, but to some chemical. 
- Snowstorms. —On Saturday morning a severe snowstorm was 
experienced over a great portion of the north of England. Snow fell so 
thickly that in a few minutes everything was covered to a depth of 
3 or 4 inches. The weather in the district up to the present week had 
been unusually fine, but bitterly cold during the last day or two. The 
fall of snow lasted several hours. There has been a snowstorm in north 
Westmoreland, and the Pennine Hills are covered with snow. Snow 
fell in Annan early on Sunday morning. The flakes were unusually 
large, and the ground was covered with snow 1 inch deep. On Saturday 
soft snow fell heavily in Newcastle, and at night the weather was very 
cold. There has been no rain in the neighbourhood for many weeks, 
and the danger of a water famine has compelled the water company to 
cut off the supply to households for about fourteen hours a day, and 
pump water from the river for the use of manufactories. Dense hail¬ 
storms swept over parts of North Wales on Saturday, and the first snow 
of the season was to be seen on Snowdon. The districts of Hitchin, 
Luton, and St. Albans experienced a decided change in the weather on 
Saturday morning, when a strong north-easterly gale swept across the 
country. Several hailstorms prevailed at intervals, while between 
Ilitchin and Luton there were occasional slight falls of snow. 
VINE PROBLEMS. 
Of the three questions propounded by “ Experimentalist ” on 
page 268 last week. No. 2 is the most interesting to me personally from 
having had considerable experience in raising Vines from seed, and I 
will, therefore, deal with it first and principally. It is, unfortunately. 
not stated whether the seedling in question (taking it for granted the 
case is fact, and not merely theoretical) resembles in wood and foliage 
the male or female parent, as in the latter case I should be inclined 
to draw the conclusion that no actual cross had been made, and that 
the difference in fruit was merely the result of seminal variation. The 
crossing of Grapes is a delicate operation requiring very great care and 
a certain amount of manual dexterity, or the flower is self-fertilised 
before the foreign pollen is applied, and in the majority of cases which 
I have investigated where crosses were supposed to have been effected 
the rough and ready methods employed made it absolutely impossible 
to say whether any real cross-fertilisation had been accomplished 
or not. 
Seedlings from self-fertilised flowers generally follow the parent 
pretty closely in habit, though the fruit may differ considerably in 
flavour and colour; but seedlings from a genuine cross will differ 
immensely, especially when the parents are not nearly related, in 
support of which it may be mentioned that a number of seedlings 
raised by my father from the American Strawberry Grape crossed with 
the Black Hamburgh had foliage varying from less than the size of 
one’s hand to one which overlapped a sheet of the “ Times.” 
I have at the present time an interesting study in heredity in the 
shape of seedlings from Gros Colman and Black Hamburgh crossed with 
the Strawberry Grape, the offspring in both cases resembling the male 
parent closely in foliage, peculiar perfume, intense flavour, and diminutive 
bunch and berry, the last two points of course rendering them com¬ 
mercially valueless. I ascribe the prepotency of the Strawberry Grape, 
even when used as a pollen parent, to the fact of its having been but 
recently reclaimed from the wild state, while our older Eastern varieties 
have been constitutionally weakened by long generations of cutting 
propagation. 
Questions 1 and 3 are matters of history, and therefore better dealt 
with by older writers ; but it seems probable that if an instance of a 
genuine sport could be produced it would be found to agree with the 
description in Question 1, just as in the case of plants grown for their 
flowers (notably Chrysanthemums) ; the sport, while differing widely 
from the parent in colour of bloom cannot be distinguished from it in 
habit and foliage.— Chas. E. Pearson, CMlwell Nurseries, Notts, 
National Chrysanthemum Society, 
The next meeting of the General Committee will take place at 
Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street, E.C., on Monday evening, October 9th, 
at seven o’clock. On the termination of the ordinary business of the 
Committee Mr. Charles E. Pearson, of the Chilwell Nurseries, Notts, 
will read a paper on “ How to Improve our Chrysanthemum Shows,” 
and discussion will be invited. 
Kingston Chrysanthemum Society. 
More than usual interest attaches to the annual Exhibition of this 
Society on November 7th, as there will be two champion vases competed 
for, the first being restricted to three previous winners only, the second one 
of course being open to all comers. Chrysanthemums seem to be grown 
in the locality more largely than ever, and in spite of the season they 
never looked better. A severe competition in all classes is expected. 
Big Bloom Culture in France. 
This is a subject that seems to have agitated the minds of French 
growers not a little. While many appear to affect a sort of contempt 
for the method we adopt to secure exhibition blooms there are others 
who are undoubtedly desirous of giving it a practical test. Most of the 
pamphlets and articles published on Chrysanthemums in France have 
contained allusions to the big bloom method, and one or two cultivators 
like Mr. Phatzer and Mr. Calvat have successfully put it into practice. 
A Mr. Thibault of Nantes has, however, recently published a small 
treatise on the subject, borrowed principally from Mr. Edwin Molyneux’s 
well-known book on “ Chrysanthemums and their Culture.” It is 
illustrated with several reproductions from Mr. Molyneux’s excellent 
little volume, which appears to have formed the basis of more than one 
continental work on the popular autumn flower. 
Chrysanthemum Bud Mite. 
Although the Chrysanthemum sprays dispatched by your corre¬ 
spondent, “ G. B. A.,” from Scotland on September 8th did not reach 
me until the evening of the 11th, they were quite fresh, clean, and un¬ 
damaged by the post office punches. This condition is absolutely 
