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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 22, 1893 
- The Eoyal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. — The Committee 
of this Fund held a meeting recently, when the Hon. Secretary an¬ 
nounced the following special receipts From Mr. F. M. Mould, 
Birmingham, life subscription of 5 guineas, in place of an annual sub¬ 
scription ; Mr. John Wills, Onslow Crescent, annual birthday gift, 
£10 lOs.; Messrs. W. Thomson & Sons, Clovenfords, Galashiels, dona¬ 
tion, £1 lOs.; Mr. H. J. Jones, Eyecroft Nursery, Lewisham, donation, 
£1 ; young men at the Gardens, Euxley Lodge, Surrey, per Mr. J. Miller, 
lOs. ; and Mr. J. Perry, Crystal Palace Park, donation, £1. 
- Exhibiting Easpberries. —A point which has often struck 
me when visiting exhibitions is the manner in which Easpberries are 
staged. Some are found with the stalks adhering to the fruit, others 
pulled out. I cannot help thinking that the former is much the best 
way to exhibit them. It is very seldom that we see a dish of Straw¬ 
berries shown without the stalks, nor would they look so well, and why 
should the case be altered with regard to Easpberries? It is just to 
raise a little discussion that I have penned these few lines, and I am 
certain there will be many more besides myself who will be glad to hear 
the opinion of some of your readers on this subject.—E. P. E. 
- Wakefield Paxton Society. —There was a large gathering 
of the members of this Society at the usual meeting last week. Mr. 
J. W. Macpherson, B.A., of Wakefield Grammar School, delivered a most 
interesting and instructive discourse on “ Plant Adaptation for Fer¬ 
tilisation,” illustrated with many fine lantern views, shown by Mr. 
Gregory. It is evident that Mr. Macpherson is an able and ardent 
botanist. In a chatty and humorous style he clearly explained how 
the seed vessels of various flowers are fertilised through the agency of 
insects in search of food, or by the wind, or currents of water in the 
case of aquatic plants. The mysteries of cross-fertilisation and self¬ 
fertilisation and the principles of development and degradation of 
various organs were lucidly set forth. 
- Can Plants See ?—I do not suppose that “ Scepticus,” in 
inditing the note on page 478 recording what doubtless seemed to him 
to be a curious natural phenomenon, really imagines that plants are 
endowed with sight. What very probably happened in the case of this 
one particular Bean plant was that in staking the row it was 
irritated or its nerves influenced by a specially close contact with the 
stake, and that such irritation caused the points of the plant to circle 
round in search of the object which thus produced the irritation. It 
would be just as reasonable to assume that root spongioles in their search 
in the soil after food were capable of seeing as that the points of 
climbing plants should be so endowed. Nature has in each case pro¬ 
vided facilities for searching but not for seeing. That is, at least, my 
theory.—A. D. 
The Onion Maggot. —Looking over some 20 acres of admir¬ 
ably kept and cropped allotments (their first year as such) the other 
day, I could but remark upon the ravages created by the Onion maggot 
in every oirection. There were considerably over 100 heads of Onions 
in diverse plots, and not one but was more or less affected. The best 
plot I saw was one sown thickly, and when I remonstrated with the 
grower for such apparent neglect in thinning, he said that he meant to let 
the plants stand just as they were, and if the bulbs were no larger 
than pickling onions he would be better off than most of his neighbours. 
The land had previously been under market cultivation, especially with 
Lettuces and similar crops, also heavily manured, and the allotment 
holders attribute this outbreak of the maggot largely to that. Of course 
such estimate is purely problematical. When asked for a remedy I had 
to admit that, so far as spring-sown Onions were concerned, it was 
difficult to specify one. When the best private gardeners were practi. 
cally helpless in face of the maggot, what remedy could be recom¬ 
mended ? It is obvious that once the fly has deposited its eggs, there is 
little chance of killing the pest. The best course seems to be to fork 
over the lop few inches of the soil, on which Onions have been grown 
several times during the winter, so as to expose the fly chrysalids to 
the birds ; to top-dress early in February, not only old Onion beds but 
soil to be sown that year, with a dressing of gas lime, allowing it to lie 
six weeks, then forking it in ; also not to sow more seed until from the 
middle to the end of April, so that when growth follows it may be 
quick ; to frequently sprinkle the young plants with a solution of 
quassia chips and softsoap, and then dust with soot to render them 
obnoxious to the fly ; and to have the soil as firm as possible. Probably 
one of the best remedies may be found in sowing Onion seed in the 
autuinn, and then dibbling out plants into fresh soil at the end of 
March.—A. D. 
- Messrs. J. Cheal & Sons’ Employes. —The annual outing 
of the employes of the firm of Messrs. J. Cheal & Sons took place on 
Monday, the 19th inst.; Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight being visited. 
The Dockyard being first inspected, the company, numbering ninety- 
six, then adjourned to the Speedwell Hotel for luncheon, after which 
the party visited Osborne, Eyde, Sea View, and other places, returning, 
to Crawley by the last train, all having spent a most enjoyable day. 
- Floral Fete at Eegent’s Park.—A Floral Fete for 
children was held in the Eoyal Botanic Society’s Gardens, Eegent’s- 
Park, yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. Tbe idea of these fStes, which 
are now held annually at the Gardens, is to encourage the use of floral 
decoration, such as may sometimes be seen at public ceremonies on the 
Continent. Awards were given for children’s flower-dressed mail carts,, 
sedan chairs, and ponies. A few special prizes were also offered for 
groups of plants, cut flowers, window boxes, and miscellaneous exhibits, 
to which a further reference will be made in our next issue. 
- A Eecord for Early Peaches.—W e commenced gathering 
ripe Peaches in the open on June 18th, or fully a month earlier than 
last year, and I am disposed to believe this is the earliest date yet 
recorded. The variety is the Early Alexander, the trees being trained 
against a wall with a south-east aspect. At times this wall has been 
so hot soon after mid-day as to be almost capable of roasting the 
fruit, a south-east being the hottest of all aspects. The tree, when in 
flower, and for a few weeks after, was protected with doubled fish 
netting, and is carrying a full crop of fairly large, well-coloured 
fruit, those gathered being of better flavour than anticipated.— 
W. Iggulden, Somerset. 
- Sheffield Chrysanthemum Society. —The usual monthly 
meeting was held at Webster’s Museum, Orchard Street, on June 14th, 
when some very fine British and Exotic Ferns were exhibited in competi¬ 
tion by amateurs, and Pelargoniums by professionals. A very distinct 
and select collection of Gloxinia blooms, including some good spotted 
varieties, were staged by an amateur who was awarded a special prize. 
Mr. John Haigh presided over the meeting, and introduced Mr. 
Thos. Gartery of Eotherham, who gave an excellent practical essay on 
“ Growing Eoses in Pots.” He dealt with hie subject from almost every 
point of view. For pot culture he preferred Eoses on their own roots. 
The advantages of growing Eoses in pots were demonstrated, after which 
the chief points in culture were touched upon, including choice of 
varieties, habit of growth, contrast of colour, blooming qualities, form 
and outline of flowers, their keeping qualities and sweetness. He then 
gave a select list of Hybrid Perpetual, Tea, and Noisette varieties. 
Methods of propagation were clearly detailed, and the best compost 
for Eoses given, followed by interesting remarks on potting, pruning, 
and training, and the prevention and destruction of insects and 
mildew. 
- Transpiration of Tropical Plants.—D uring a recent stay 
at Buitenzorg, in Java, Herr Haberlandt made some experiments in the 
Botanical Gardens on the transpiration of tropical plants. In general 
this was found considerably less than that of plants in Central Europe. 
Thus of seventeen tropical species, some with coarse, leather-like, others 
with tender leaves, nine species transpired per day and per'square 
decimeter surface less than 1 gramme ; in six the amount was between 
1 and 2 gr .; and in two only it reached 2'6 and 3’25 gr. Now, with 
European vegetables and woody plants it varies commonly between 
2 and 6 gr., and sometimes reaehes 6 or 7 gr. or more. According to 
Nature this result the author considers a strong argument against the 
view that the transpiration current is of first importance in nutrition of 
land plants. These tropical plants, with their small transpiration, 
show extremely luxuriant vegetation, and are able through osmotic 
forces, doubtless, to convey nutritive salts to their highest parts. It is 
eurious that, despite the great humidity of the air and the large amount 
of water in the ground, these plants often possess guards against too 
great transpiration, such as thick, cuticularised epidermis, deeply sunk 
stomata, and especially tissues adapted for storage of water. And the 
reason eannot lie, as sometimes at the coast, in the presence of salt in 
the ground. Herr Haberlandt finds an explanation in the fact that 
while the total transpiration is comparatively small, the hot sunny 
forenoons may occasion large evaporation. The transpiration in a fore¬ 
noon hour was, in general, four to twelve times that in an afternoon 
hour; sometimes as much as twenty or thirty times. The forenoon 
hours are by far the most favourable to assimilation, and it is most 
important to the plant that its turgescence be not then too much 
depressed, an end accomplished through those water reservoirs. 
