January 25, 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
71 
- COKGEESS OF HoETicuLTUBAL SOCIETIES. —We are informed 
that it is proposed to hold, under the auspices of the Royal Horticultural 
Society of Aberdeen, a Congress in Aberdeen of Horticultural Societies 
in March or April, 1894, at which representatives from the leading 
societies in Great Britain have been invited to attend, for the discussion 
of matters relating to the advancement of horticulture and kindred 
subjects. 
- Sweet Peas Travelling.—S weet Peas (“ Subscriber,” 
page 28) travel perfectly well. The way I do with these, and indeed 
many flowers, is to tie them in bunches and place the stems in water 
for a few hours previous to packing and sending them on their journey. 
Our flowers are without exception despatched in the afternoon, and 
being gathered in the morning they have time to get well prepared. In 
bunching place the flowers so as to face one way, and six dozen or fewer 
will be a sufficient number to bunch together. The only packing 
material I use is paper. The best Sweet Peas for growing for the 
market appear to be Princess Beatrice and Mrs. Gladstone. Her 
Majesty also brings a good price ; moreover the bunches take a less 
number, as the flowers are so large. Mrs. Sankey is the best white in 
the market.—B. 
- Cardiff Horticultural Society. — The fifth annual 
meeting of this Society was held on Monday last, when there was a good 
attendance, Mr. J. D. Morgan being in the chair. The balance-sheet for 
last year showed a deficit of about £30. It was resolved to hold the next 
Show about the middle of August. The officers for the year are as 
follows:—President, the Mayor; Chairman of Committee, Mr. W. C. 
Peace ; Vice-Chairman, Mr. Crouch ; Secretary, Mr. H. Gillett. An old 
and valued Committeeman, Mr. A. Pettigrew, of the Castle Gardens, 
resigned in consequence of “ an ungrateful public,” who do not patronise 
the Society’s efforts as they deserve. It is to be regretted his services as 
a Committeeman are lost to the Society, but he promised to do all in his 
power to further their interest. Some new features will be introduced 
at the next Show in the shape of additional attractions. Mr, H. Gillett^ 
66, Woodville Road, Cardiff, is the Secretary. 
- Fruit Products in the United States.— An American 
paper says :—“ Within a few years the foreign markets have taken from 
this country (America) in one season betweep 1 and 2 million barrels of 
Apples and 3000 tons of evaporated fruit. The horticultural produc¬ 
tions of the Mississippi Valley, consisting mainly of fruit, have been 
estimated at an annual value of 100,000 dollars, while more limited 
regions gave corresponding returns. The Illinois Central Railway 
carried over 4000 tons of Apples into the City of Chicago, besides 
2000 tons of Strawberries, the product of a single season. The Michigan 
Central conveyed 15,000 packages of Peaches in a day. The City of 
Boston received from Norfolk, Va., during one year, 16,000 bushels of 
Strawberries, and from plantations nearer home 10,000 bushels more. 
A single county in Western New York (Orleans), furnished the market 
269,000 dollars’ worth of fruit, besides the amount consumed at home, 
in one year, and other counties have occasionally exceeded this sum. 
Two hundred thousand bushels of Peaches were canned at San Francisco 
in one year, and the dried fruits of that State sold for over 2 million 
dollars, of which the Raisin crop amounted to half a million.” 
- Feeding Value of Tree Leaves. —Experiments on the 
feeding value of the leaves of trees, made by M. C. H. Girard, point 
to them as an available source of nutriment for cattle, particularly 
at times when hay and grain are scarce. The author has determined 
the content of nitrogenous matters in a considerable number of species. 
It ranges from 8 per cent, in the Willow^fud Alder to from 3 to 
4 per cent, in the Plane, Birch, and Pine. Out of twenty kinds of 
leaves studied, nineteen possessed more nitrogenous matter than meadow 
hay, and more than half of them were superior to the hay of the best 
leguminous plants. Some are of extraordinary richness—the common 
Acacia for example. M. Girard was able, says the “ International 
Journal of Microscopy and Natural Science,” from his analyses and 
from direct experience in feeding sheep, to draw the conclusion that the 
leaves have a feeding value comparable to that of Lucern. They are 
also superior in the proportion of fat matters and other carbohydrate 
principles to that of water. Leaves taken from various heights of the 
trees and from trees of various ages show but little variation in com¬ 
position ; and, putting aside the periods of youth and of extreme old 
age, the richness of the leaf in nutritive value remains almost stationary. 
Consequently, crops can be gathered during the three summer months, 
and in September the wood production of the trees would not be 
prejudiced. 
A NEW Impatiens which is likely to prove a val uable acquisition 
to our warm greenhouses has just been introduced into cultivation from 
the Comorres Islands by mere chance. It has been named by the French 
botanists (who first described it from dried specimens) Impatiens duri- 
coma, a golden yellow-flowered, free blooming Balsam. A few seeds of 
it germinated on the stem of a Tree Fern sent to a Paris nurseryman 
which reached him dead, but was fortunately not at once thrown away. 
This new Impatiens will soon be distributed by Monsieur Godefroy- 
Lebeuf of Argenteuil near Paris, and a coloured plate of it will, at my 
request, be given of it in course of this year in the “ Revue Horticole” 
of Paris, as I first brought it under the notice of the editor, who is a 
personal friend of mine.— W. E. Gumbleton. 
- The Gipsy Moth. —For several years the State of Massachu¬ 
setts has been attempting to exterminate the gipsy moth, and a Bill 
has recently been introduced into the House of Representatives to 
appropriate 100,000 dollars to rid the State of that troublesome insect. 
The “ American Naturalist ” points out, however, that the desired end 
can never be attained by merely hunting the moths in trees, hedgerows, 
and garden patches. In its future work the Gipsy Moth Commission 
of Massachusetts should employ at its head a trained entomologist, who 
should devote his time to finding and introducing some natural enemy 
to the pest. Moths, eggs, larvm, and cocoons will escape the most 
careful of field agents, whereas insect parasites will keep the pest in 
continual check. 
- Culture of Ramondia pyrenaica. — The inquiry on 
page 19 regarding the slow growth of this plant is not surprising. For 
years I had a difficulty in getting the purple variety of R. pyrenaica 
to flourish at all well, in spite of repeated planting in various parts of 
the rockery. Peat is the chief constituent that its roots revel in. With 
me the ordinary chalky soil was unsuited to its growth, and the plants 
remained almost stationary for several years. At last I chose a position 
on the north side of the rockery, and just under the ledge of an over¬ 
hanging rock. Plenty of drainage was afforded, and the compost was 
half peat and turfy loam with lumps of sandstone and silver sand added. 
During the summer abundant supplies of water is provided. The semi- 
shaded position seems to suit the plant well. The last two seasons we 
have had many charming blossoms, which last a very long time in 
perfection. As yet I have seen no signs of seedlings appearing in the 
soil near the plants. In the sandy peaty soil in the neighbourhood of 
Christchurch this Ramondia flourishes amazingly.—E. M. 
-Birmingham and District Amateur Gardeners’ Asso¬ 
ciation. —The first annual meeting of the Birmingham and District 
Amateur Gardeners’ Association was held at their rooms, IIG, Colmore 
Row, on Wednesday last, Alderman Wm. White, J.P. (President) in 
the chair. There was a good attendance of members and friends. The 
Chairman in proposing the adoption of the report and balance sheet, 
congratulated the members on the progress the Association bad made 
since its inauguration, and expressed the opinion that there was no 
occupation more favourable to physical culture than the pursuit of 
gardening ; for his part he would like to see a garden by the side of 
every railway station. Councillor Martineau in seconding, observed 
that there were already 152 members, which showed that such an 
Association was wanted in Birmingham. The report having been 
adopted, a vote of thanks was passed to the President for his services 
during the past year, and in reply he expressed his wish to give a 
lecture on “ Travels among the Swiss Alps ” (illustrated by limelight 
views) at a suitable date in February. The following officers for the 
year 1894 were elected:—President, Alderman Wm. White; Vice- 
Presidents, The Rt. Hon. Jesse Collings, M.P., Councillors R. F. Marti¬ 
neau, Hy. Bisseker, John St. S. Wilders, J.P., Wm. Bown, Esq., Leonard 
Brierley, Esq., J.P., R. Cadbury, Esq., J.P., J. C. Holder, Esq., J.P.C.C., 
A. B. Holinsworth, Esq., and E. M. Sharp, Esq. Mr. R. F. Rees was re¬ 
elected Hon. Treasurer, and Mr. W. R. Griffin Hon. Secretary. 
Committee, Messrs. Geo. Prenly, W. H. Wilks, Arthur Roe, Charles 
Sbatton, Ernest D. Clark, Arthur Groves, W. H. Twist, C. F. Franklin, 
W. Wood, T. Gosling, T. P. Cope, and J. Downing. Councillor 
Martineau, in the absence of the President (who was compelled to leave 
early), then distributed the medals and certificates to the successful 
exhibitors during the past year. They were as follows:—Messrs. 
T. Gosling (silver medal), W. B. Griffin (bronze medal), E. D. Clark, 
R. F. Rees, W. H. Wilks, Herbert Smith, C. F. Franklin, and Miss 
Martineau (certificates). Mr. F. T. Poulson (Stafford) was awarded a 
special certificate for a splendid collection of alpine and show Auriculas 
exhibited in April last. Fourteen new members were elected.— 
Wm. B. Griffin, Hon, Seci'etary, 321, Moseley Road. 
