Decembtr 15, 1892, ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
527 
- Horticulture in France. —The ninth Congress, organised 
Toy the National Horticultural Society of France, will be held at Paris 
•concurrently with the General Horticultural Exhibition in the month 
■of May, 1893. The sittings of the Congress will be in the rooms of the 
■ Society at two o’clock p.h. 
- The “ Kew Bulletin.” —This monthly publication appears 
'to increase in interest and usefulness. The December issue contains 
valuable articles on the “ Disappearance of Desert Plants in Egypt,” 
“ Taj Gardens, Agra,” “ Indian Gutta-Percha,” “ Gold Coast Botanical 
"Station,” “ Ramie Machine Trials at New Orleans,” “ Earl of Bute’s 
Botanical Tables,” and half a dozen pages of “ Miscellaneous Notes.” 
The four which follow are samples. We may state that on and after 
1st January next the price of the Bulletin will be 4d. per copy. 
- Kew Appointments. —Mr. John Masters Hillier, lately an 
attendant in the Museums of Economic Botany, has been appointed, 
on the results of an examination before the Civil Service Commissioners, 
-■an assistant in the Royal Gardens to date from September 6th last. 
Mr. William Watson, lately senior foreman and acting Assistant Curator 
of the Royal Gardens, has been granted a certificate by the Civil Service 
'Commissioners as Assistant Curator under clause vii. of the Order in 
Council of 4th June, 1870. 
- Under the title of “ Hardy Species of Eucalyptus ” 
mention was lately made in the Kew Bulletin (1889, page 61) of seeds 
of Eucalyptus globulus, received from Mr. Abbott, of the Botanic 
^Gardens, Tasmania, and collected from trees growing at high altitudes 
and accustomed to be exposed to severe frosts. It was hoped that 
•plants raised from these seeds would be likely to bear with impunity 
the rigours of an English winter. The seeds germinated very freely at 
Kew, and when the plants were strong enough they were put out in a 
sheltered bay in the Arboretum nursery in the middle of the summer, in 
order that they might become established before the approach of the 
■winter. The result of the experiment in this particular instance was 
disappointing. The first hard frosts in 1889 so severely injured them 
that, notwithstanding the protection they afterwards received from a 
•canvas screen, they all succumbed before the winter was over. At Kew 
these seedlings from Blue Gum Trees, accustomed to severe frosts in 
Tasmania, were, if anything, not so hardy as those of the ordinary forms 
of Eucalyptus globulus. A similar result has to be recorded with 
plants raised from seeds of Eucalyptus coccifera, received at the same 
time from Tasmania “ from trees which were coated with icicles a foot 
long.” 
- Bermuda Lilies. —It is pleasurable to record that the services 
Tendered by Kew to the Colonies is recognised by private persons as well 
as through official channels. It will be remembered that in 1887 an 
exhaustive inquiry was made under the auspices of Kew into the Onion 
disease at Bermuda ( Kew Bulletin , October, 1887). The cultivation of 
Onions is one of the principal industries of the colony, and the threatened 
destruction of the Onion crop was regarded by the people as a matter of 
-grave concern. The inquiry made by Mr. Arthur Shipley, F.L.S., 
-established the fact that the disease was caused by a parasitic fungus 
•(Peronospora schleideniana) allied to the well known Potato blight. 
The remedial measures suggested by Mr. Shipley were practical, and it 
is hoped the disease is now well within the control of the cultivators. 
Besides Onions, Bermuda is also noted for the cultivation of Lilies 
(Lilium longiflorum, var. Harrisi), and from Mr. W. T. James, one of 
the largest growers of these beautiful plants, Kew has received in 
recognition of its services, a yearly present of bulbs for the decoration 
of its conservatories. These plants have proved of striking interest to 
visitors, and have been greatly admired. 
- Acanthorhiza aculeata, Wendl.— The large specimen of 
this Palm in the Palm House, probably the largest in Europe, is row 
flowering for the first time. It has a stem 26 feet high, 23 inches in 
circumference near the base, which is clothed to a height of a foot 
above the ground with the curious spinous roots peculiar to the genus. 
The head is about 10 feet high, and is composed of about fifty leaves, 
which are orbicular palmate, 5 feet in diameter, dark green above, 
ailvery below, split nearly to the base into about sixty segments. The 
petioles are 3 feet long, unarmed, the margins clothed with white 
thread-like fibres 9 inches or more long. The inflorescence is a branched 
drooping dense panicle of white flowers, which are hermaphrodite. 
A figure of the plant has been prepared for the Botanical Magazine. 
The species is a native of Central America. It has also been called 
.Chamasrops stauracantha and Thrinax aculeata. The other species of 
•this genus—viz., Acanthorhiza arborea—is also in cultivation at Kew. 
- Blue Tit and Fruit Buds. — While pruning Gooseberries 
a short time ago I observed a couple of blue tits working very eagerly 
on the bushes I had pruned. They had found out that they could more 
easily get at the scale on the main branches after pruning. There is 
no doubt they are one of our best friends in this respect. Though a 
bee-keeper in a small way I have not seen them killing bees nor eating 
flower buds.—R. I. 
- Mild Weather in Devonshire.—As an evidence of the 
mildness of the climate at Teignmouth, a correspondent writes 
“ I could send you a boxful of flowers from my garden—Roses, Dahlias, 
Fuchsias, and many others ; and I expect other people could do the 
same. To-day, December 3rd, the air is warm and balmy like a May 
day. Invalids could not easily find a more suitable place to winter in 
than this pretty watering place.” 
- Insect-Eating Birds. —It is claimed that any of the insect¬ 
feeding birds will catch about 200 insects a day, and a pair of old birds 
with a nest of five young ones require about 700 insects per day. This 
gives an idea of what they are worth in an orchard or garden. I wonder 
whether this includes the titmice, about which we have heard so much 
in the Journal of Horticulture recently . If so, surely they are worth 
protecting.—0. 
- Education in Gardening in Belgium.—T he Belgians are 
advancing in the matter of providing a technical knowledge of horticul¬ 
ture. According to the Illustration Horticole there are two Government 
'establishments in Belgium—one at Ghent, with an average of forty-four 
pupils, and one at Vilvorde, with an average of thirty-eight. In 
addition, the Government subsidises six other establishments, in which 
tuition and experiments are carried on—at Liege, Tournai, Mons, 
Carlsbourg, Yirton, and Tirlemont. 
- The Castor Oil Plant. —“ Good Health ” says :—“ No sort 
of bird, beast, or creeping thing will touch a Castor Oil Plant. It seems 
to be a rank poison to all the animal world. Even a goat will starve 
before biting off a leaf, and a horse will sniff at it and turn up his upper 
lip as though it had been the most detestable odour on the face of the 
earth. There is hardly another instance in natural history of a plant 
being so universally detested by the animal world as the Castor Oil 
Plant.” 
- Poinsettias. —It may not be known, perhaps, to readers of 
the “ Journal ” that there are two distinct varieties of Poinsettia pul- 
cherrima. I have been asked how it is that ours are so early, having pro¬ 
duced bracts in November. It is this. One variety is much earlier than 
the other, and can be distinguished by the red midrib in the leaf, also by 
the colour of the bract, which is paler ; the leaves are not serrated as in 
the ordinary variety. This is a most useful plant, coming into flower 
with the Chrysanthemums. The plants can be used with telling effect 
by dotting them amongst Chrysanthemums in the conservatory. Good 
bracts can be obtained from plants grown in 7-inch pots, and they do 
not grow so high as the variety that comes into use in December though 
struck at the same time. I find it will do with less heat than the 
ordinary variety, which, of course, makes it still more valuable. I advise 
those who have not grown it to do so, as it is so useful in the dull month 
of November,—T. P., The Knoll Gardens , Wivibornc, 
- Brighton and Hove Horticultural Society. —The 
monthly meeting of the Brighton and Hove Horticultural Mutual 
Improvement Society was held on Thursday evening, December 8th. 
The subject for consideration was the cultivation and growth of 
Potatoes, of which vegetable some very fine specimens were displayed. 
Mr. A. Netley introduced the subject by reading a paper on “ Potatoes 
and Their Cultivation.” Having briefly introduced the history of the 
tuber since its introduction by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1586, to its present 
universal popularity, he spoke of the soil in which the Potato should 
be grown, and remarked upon the comparative freedom from disease 
and the greater cleanliness of skin of those grown in artificial manure. 
A great mistake made by many gardeners was the planting of their 
tubers too close together. The lecturer then gave a few hints as to the 
planting of the different varieties, and touched briefly on the parasites 
with which they were liable to be attacked, mentioning especially the 
“ wireworm.” He also alluded to the deadly growth of the fungus, which 
was so prejudicial to their healthy existence. The various specimens 
upon the table were then handed round, while the lecturer briefly gave 
the characteristics of each, mentioning in laudatory terms two varieties 
in particular—the Snowdrop, which he said was an excellent Potato 
for the Brighton soil ; and the Beauty of Hebron, than which he did 
not think a better all-round variety could be found. 
