April 28,1895. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
359 
- SoLDANELLA ALPINA. —We have at the present time this rare 
alpine plant in flower in the rockery here. It is an event, I believe, 
that seldom occurs in this country, its native home bein» that of the 
summit of the Alps on the snow level. To grow the plant well it 
requires to be planted in peat at the foot of a large stone with a north 
aspect.— Geo. Burrows, Wancich School. 
- Cephalaxthus occidentalis. — This plant is commonly 
known as the Dwarf Button-ball. It is usually found in swamps and 
other damp places ; but like swamp plants of every kind, with almost 
no exception, it thrives much better in dry ground than in its native 
place. There is quite a demand for it, says “ Meehan’s Monthly,” by 
ornamental planters, many thousands having been sold by leading 
nurserymen during the past ten or twenty years. They grow much 
larger in cultivation than in nature, and plants may frequently be seen 
7 or 8 feet in height, covered with many hundreds of its sweet-scented 
white heads of flowers. It is quite a favourite with insects ; but for all 
their visits, it is adapted to self-fertilisation. 
- Tasmanian Apples. —Tasmanian Apples are arriving in 
excellent condition this year, and a portion of the cargo of the 
8 .8. “ Cuzco,” which brought 12,000 cases, was recently sold by auction 
at Covent Garden Market, realising prices which are said to be re¬ 
munerative to the Colonial growers, whilst they are decidedly satis¬ 
factory to the London consumers. The excellent quality of the 
Tasmanian, Eibston, Cox’s Orange, New York and Sturmer Pippins, 
and of the Scarlet Pearmain, Alfriston, and Prince Alfred are widely 
recognised. They fetched from Os. to 16s. per case, coming into com¬ 
petition with the last of the Nova Scotia and Canadian Apples, which 
are selling at from IGs. to 203. per case. 
- Seeds without Fertilisation. — Some years ago Mr. J. 
Smith of Kew had a plant of the Euphorbia family which was wholly 
pistillate ; not another plant was known in Europe, and yet it produced 
perfect seeds. On this account, the plant being of a new genus, he 
named it Cceleiogyne, a Greek term representing this curious behaviour. 
Peculiarities of this kind seem incomprehensible, and yet they are 
generally believed in by scientifle men. Mr. David H. Day of Buffalo 
writes that he is quite sure a pistillate plant he has of Thalictrum 
Fendleri produces seeds without being pollenised, and the writer of this 
paragraph one year cut off all the pollen-bearing flowers of the Castor 
Oil plant, BO that not a particle of pollen perfected, and yet the plant 
produced its complement of seeds. The whole experiment, however, 
can be so easily repeated that it is much better to consider this result 
as only a possibility until further experiments have been made.— 
Meehans’ Monthly.”) 
- The World's Great Forests. —At a recent meeting of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science reports were read 
by several members giving the results of their investigations as to where 
the greatest forests in the world are situated. The object of these inves¬ 
tigations was principally to ascertain the exact influence of forests for 
equalising the climate and the rainfall of the globe. In the provinces of 
Quebec and Ontario, north of the St. Lawrence river, there is one great 
continuous tract of forest, which extends northwards to Hudson and 
Labrador, and which measures altogether about 1700 miles in length, and 
1000 miles in width. There is also another large area of timber lands in 
South America, which occupies the valley of the Amazon, embracing 
large portions of Northern Brazil and Eastern Peru. This forest is 
estimated to measure about 2100 miles in length by 1300 in width. 
Recent explorations have shown that Central Africa possesses a 
tremendous forest. This forest is situated in the valley of the Congo, 
bounded on the north-east by the waters of the Nile, and by the Zambesi 
on the south. Its width has not yet been surveyed, but its length is 
estimated to measure at least 3000 miles from north to south. Again, 
there is another in Siberia, ranging from the plain of the Obi River, on 
the west, to the valley of the Indighinka, on the east, and embracing 
the great river valleys of the rivers Olenek, Lena, and Jana. The 
average breadth of this great forest region is 1700 miles, and the 
average breadth from east to west about 3000 miles. The principal 
trees in that vast and extensive taigas and urmans are the Conifers, 
comprising Pines of several varieties. Firs, and Larches. The central 
parts contain thousands of square miles, which have never been explored, 
and to which not even the most experienced trappers have ventured to 
enter. It is stated that the beautiful semblance of the lofty Conifers, 
which exclude the'pale Arctic sunshine, is extremely bewildering to the 
eye—so bewildering that all sense of direction is lost. Their height 
averages about 150 feet, and they stand so closely together that walking 
among them is difficult. 
- The Frost and Lavender. —So great are the depredations 
caused by the severe frost in the Lavender fields in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Wallington, that a great majority of the plants have been 
totally destroyed, and in large fields, comprising several acres, the 
whole have been pulled up and burnt. As Lavender is extensively 
grown in the district, the loss of this season’s crop will prove a serious 
item to the cultivators. 
- Vallisneria spiralis.— According to the “New Zealand 
Herald ” this aquatic plant has lately been found in Lake Takapuna, 
and some of the residents on the shores were apprehensive that it might 
become inconvenient by blocking the entrances to their boat-houses. 
The leaves of this plant are sometimes as much as 15 or 16 feet long. 
It is a well-known tropical and subtropical water plant, but has hitherto 
been unknown in New Zealand. The news of the presence of this 
terrible weed in New Zealand is a most serious item. In Canada it has 
choked many rivers, and stopped the traffic ondhem, until the way has 
been reopened at great cost. Fortunately the Vallisneria can exist only 
in water. When brought to land and partially rotted it makes a capital 
manure, and is often ploughed in. It is also used for top-dressing 
meadows. The plant is at present unknown in Australia. 
- The XL All Fumiuator —This aphis destructor is employed 
by Mr. James, of Farnham Royal, for fumigating both Cinerarias and 
Calceolarias. For the latter especially the strong nicotine fumes 
emitted by the vapour, with which the house is filled, are found to 
penetrate to the aphides, which infest the under sides of the leaves, 
much more effectually than smoke does, and even bloom is found, after 
repeated fumigatings, to be quite unharmed. The process is a very 
simple as well as a clean one. The spirit which is dissipated in the house 
is poured into small metal dishes, a very small amount being ample. 
These dishes stand on a perforated metal cone, that encloses a glass 
spirit lamp. It is therefore but needful to have some three or four of 
these things in an ordinary house, light the lamps, the house is soon 
full of the powerful vapour, and every aphis is destroyed.—D. 
- Tappinq Maples.—P rofessor Wood, while he was a member 
of the staff of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, 
made some tests with regard to the flow of Maple sap which are of 
interest. Maples are usually tapped to the depth of about an inch, 
and this practice is based on the belief that the sap comes chiefly from 
the wood of recent growth, so that any tapping deeper than the layers 
made during the last six or eight years is useless labour and an unneces¬ 
sary injury to the tree. Professor Wood’s experiment, however, seems 
to show clearly that the flow of the sap is largely dependent on the 
depth of the tap, and that sugar makers may with great profit tap their 
trees to a depth of 4 or 5 inches. The additional injury to the tree is 
slight, says the “ Garden and Forest,” especially if the hole is small, 
and when a three-eighths of an inch bit is used and the bark is left 
uninjured the holes will be grown over the first summer after tapping. 
It seems that twice the amount of sap can be obtained by tapping 
4 inches deep instead of 2, while the sap from deep boring is almost 
as rich as the other. The exposure of trees to the sun has much to 
do with the result from tapping on different sides, and there is little 
doubt as to the correctness of the popular view that the trees should 
be tapped on the south side wherever practicable. 
-- Preserving Specimens. —Since the best teachers of science 
in these times insist that their pupils shall study objects before they 
receive much instruction from books, instructors of botany find it 
difficult to procure at any given season of the year enough fresh 
material to fully illustrate different subjects. In following any text¬ 
book, for example, enough specimens to illustrate the different sections 
of the hook as they are taken up at different dates can rarely be found. 
To obviate this difficulty. Professor Beal writes to “ Science ” that he 
has collected quantities of stamens of different plants, say the Berberry, 
Lobelia, Cypripedium, and others, and preserved each kind by itself in 
a solution of 25 per cent, alcohol, or of 1 of formalin to 100 of water. 
These specimens are all ready when the subject of stamens comes to 
be studied, and the preserved objects can be placed in a small dish 
before the pupils when fresh specimens cannot be procured. If they 
are not allowed to dry they can be used for successive classes. In the 
same way Professor Beal has preserved forms of pistils, the torus and 
other parts of plants, including fruits of various kinds, such as half- 
grown Plums or Cherries, fruits of the Mandrake, Bloodroot, and 
Mulberry at different stages of growth, and in this way lessons in 
morphology can be made more impressive than they would be if one 
illustration was used at one time, and the others a week or a month 
later. 
