144 
rOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 14,'1896. 
again flooded the glandular hairs at once disappear, being of no longer 
use to the plant, and by alternate floodings and drying up the two 
conditions of stem and leaves may be reproduced in turn over and over 
again on the same plant. 
This mode of protection is especially frequent, and is an excellent 
defence to the nectar ; the viscid matter being secreted either from the 
ordinary cells of the stem or from glandular hairs. Conspicuous 
examples are afforded by the extensive order Caryophyllacem— e.g., 
Silene muscipula, Silene viscosa, and Holosteum glutinosum, the 
inflorescence of Lychnis viscaria being especially provided with viscous 
matter, thereby affording a most efficient death trap. In Pinguicula 
(Butternut), and in some Primulacefe there are radical rosettes 
of leaves spread out on the ground, coated over with tenacious viscid 
slime, secreted by small glandular hairs, of which 2500 are crowded into 
each square inch in some species. No small animal which ever came 
into contact with this ever escapes alive, but its body is dissolved by 
the secretions, and the dissolved nitrogenous constituents digested by 
the plants. 
Many plants which secrete a milky juice are protected by this 
secretion— r.g., several species of Lactuca for ants and other small 
animals having their feet terminating in sharp hooks lacerate the tissue, 
producing a flow of juice, and in their efforts to extricate them¬ 
selves they struggle and bite, their position becomes worse every 
moment, and as the viscous secretion is more and more effectually 
exposed to the air, so it hardens the more rapidly, until their movements 
become weaker and weaker, and they speedily die. Regarding flowers 
which possess hairs or prickles in their interior, and which act as 
barriers to the ingress of some insects, and especially to such as bees and 
larger flies, they act as path-finders, as in some of the Labiates ; and in 
the genus Cypripedium there is a special contrivance, the mode of access 
and escape of the insect being humorously described by the lecturer, 
and who also remarked that this arrangement seems to have escaped the 
notice of Dr. Kerner. 
Having adverted at considerable length to the conformation of 
certain flowers and their nectary organisation, and especially that 
remarkably long caudate nectar-containing appendage of the beautiful 
Orchid Angirecum sesquipedale, and which can be reached only by the 
correspondingly long proboscis of certain moths, natives of this Orchid’s 
habitat, Madagascar. Reference was made to day-closing and night¬ 
closing flowers, in association with day-flying and night-flying insects ; 
also to the odours and colours of flowers, which serve as attractions to 
invited guests. The lecture was listened to with rapt attention, and it 
was rendered further instructive by tbe display of a series of large 
pencil diagrams, beautifully executed for the occasion by Mr. Wills 
himself. 
Mr. W. Gardiner afterwards alluded to the processes of fertilisation 
effected by insects in such flowers as those of the Ivy and Aucuba, as 
the sexual differences of such organised plants render insects or other 
artificial agency necessary for their fecundation. 
THE TOMATO SUPPLY. 
Mr. Iggtjlden’s able communication (page 88) on this subject has 
been read with great interest by many practical growers, and also by 
many who were under the impression that Tomato growing was very 
profitable. Many men have embarked on this enterprise through the 
fact that they have grown good crops in their small greenhouses, and 
consequently think they can do the same in large houses. I fully agree 
with Mr. Iggulden that there is “ money in it ” if properly sought after ; 
but to suppose a person can invest a few hundred pounds without a 
knowledge of market growing and reap a flue income is sheer folly. 
Throughout the Lea Valley hundreds of glass houses are annually erected 
solely for market growing, the principal crops being Cucumbers and 
Tomatoes, and many of the growers appear to be flourishing, but there 
is a “ large seamy side ” also to be found. 
Your correspondent seems to be under the impression there might be 
a glut of fruit during August and September if all the crops were a 
success. As a matter of fact such a glut does take place often during 
these months, but not in such seasons as last year. And again, it should 
be remembered that the Tomatoes that usually come into the markets 
at that date are not considered main crops. In reality they form a kind 
of catch crop, and generally speaking are from houses that have been 
filled with plants, such as Ferns, pot or bedding plants, which are 
usually cleared out in May, and the Tomatoes taken from S-inch pots 
to plant in their places. Last season my Tomato crops were the most 
profitable I have ever obtained, prices being very satisfactory, I never 
remember seeing the plants so heavily laden near the ground ; I did 
not experience the difficulty mentioned by your correspondent, viz., bad 
setting of the later trusses. In cases of a similar character I should 
undoubtedly conclude the scarcity of pollen was due to impoverished 
plants. Once we can secure a good set of the lower trusses there should 
be no difficulty with those following later. I fear in cold seasons, such 
as last, growers are afraid to ventilate, under the impression that the 
crops will be late, but it is better to have a good crop, if a few weeks 
later, than half a crop which produces 2d. or 3d, per lb.*more. 
The disease which Mr. Iggulden so ably describes as “ black stripe ” 
was the only one that gave me any trouble last season. In a light 
buoyant atmosphere it develops very slowly, but under a warm moist 
condition it grows rapidly. There can be no doubt whatever this 
disease is traceable directly to the roots. If a stem so affected is cut 
across the brown lines can be seen quite clearly. Directly it was 
discovered the plant was pulled out and burnt, while the gap was 
refilled by plants growing in No. 16 pots, so the house was always kept 
full. In cases where cultivators hesitated to remove the plants because 
they had a few good bunches of fruit on them it appeared to lead to a 
further spread of the pest. I have also resolved to adopt the sulphate 
of iron remedy, or rather preventive, so strongly recommended by Dr. 
Griffiths, his figures showing clearly it was beneficial. A great number 
of market growers are now largely adopting chemical manures for 
Tomatoes, and numbers have already worked in their potash in the form 
of kainit ready for next season ; but in some soils decayed farmyard 
manure is preferable, because it renders it more porous, and consequently 
warmer. 
I am surprised to find Mr. Iggulden makes no mention whatever 
of the most popular market Tomato, Chemin Rouge, as quite 75 per 
cent, grow no other variety. Challenger I have found to be a good 
one, and rhe Duke of York is likely to prove very valuable in this 
respect, as where well grown last year it turned out splendidly. 
Many growers who have seen Frogmore Selected in the flesh will be 
giving it a trial, for it was always good whenever Mr, Owen Thomas 
staged it. My own packet will be sown by the time these notes 
appear.— Jas. B. Riding, 
HYACINTHS CASTING FLOWER SPIKES. 
These popular bulbs frequently, during the throwing up of 
their flower spikes, cause much disappointment. In several cases 
FIG. 26.— HYACINTH CASTING ITS FLOWER SPIKE. 
20 per cent, of them cast their spikes just when they appeared from 
the apex of their respective bulbs. 
The cause of the flower spike being cast is the forcing forward of 
the embryonic flower spike (fig. 26, A) by the growth of foliage from 
the base B, the flower spike appearing before the leaf growth, and 
it manages to push its way through the bulb scales, which are drawn 
together for protection at the apex. The growths from the leaf bud 
are equally anxious to reach dayhght and strive to push through the 
apical orifice, and being below the flower-spike pips and the thicker 
part of its stem the neck of the bulb becomes choked. Something 
must give way, and the matter is soon settled by the part containing 
the most vigour—the leaf growth. If the bulb scales give way, well 
and good for the flower spike ; if not the leaf growth pushes its way 
through the aperture, throttling the stem of the flower spike and 
forces it out of its way, snapping its connection with the bulb at the 
point C. Presently, the lower part of the stem (D) shrivels and the 
leaf growths are the better able to push the flower spike forward in 
their growth, and almost, if not, clean out of the bulb as shown in the 
spike at E. 
Thus Nature maintains the “survival of the fittest’’ in the struggle 
for existence by mastery, and is not by any means a new thing, nor 
confined to cultivated plants, yet it is far less common in natural grown. 
It may be seen in the wild Hyacinth (Scilla nutans), the flower spikes 
shrivelling in their sockets, and it is a strange thing that it occurs more 
seldom in shady and damp places than in those that are open, sunny, 
and dry. But this really is the key to the situation, and we are bound 
to take cognisance of the fact that bulbs are ripened much too quickly 
and kept out of the ground far too long, for the predisposition is over- 
