February 1,1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
89 
- “ The Kew Bulletin.” —We have to acknowledge the receipt 
of the ” Kew Bulletin ” for December, 1893, with appendix iii., the 
latter containing lists of staffs in botanical departments at home, in 
India, and the colonies. Among other interesting and useful informa¬ 
tion in the “Bulletin” are articles on “ Boot Disease of Sugar Cane,” 
"“Peruvian Colonisation,” “Horticulture in Cornwall,” “Botanical 
Station, Dominica,” “ St. Vincent Arrowroot,” “ Coffee-leaf Disease in 
Central Africa (Preventive Measures),” “ West African Botanic Stations,” 
and some Miscellaneous Notes, from which we extract the following five 
paragraphs that follow. An index to the volume for 1893 is also 
included. 
-- Colonial Gardening Appointments.— Mr. Henry James 
Davies, a member of the gardening staff of the Eoyal Gardens, Kew, has 
been appointed a gardener for service in the Royal Botanic Gardens, 
Calcutta and Darjeeling. Mr, John Robert Ward, a member of the 
gardening staff of the Royal Gardens, has been appointed Superin¬ 
tendent of the Public Gardens at Nagpur, Central Provinces, India, 
Mr. William Lunt, a member of the gardening staff of the Royal 
G-ardens, has been appointed, with the approval of the First Com¬ 
missioner of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings, Botanical 
Collector for Kew to Mr. Theodore Bent’s expedition to the Hadramaut 
Valley in South Arabia. The flora is only conjecturally known, and no 
botanical collections appear even to have been made in it. The expedi¬ 
tion left London on November 24th, and is expected to return about 
April of next year. 
- Botany in Queensland. —It is with great regret that intelli¬ 
gence has been received at Kew of the abolition by the Government of 
Queensland, amongst numerous other posts, of that of Colonial Botanist, 
held by Mr. Frederick Manson Bailey, F.L.S. Mr. Bailey is held in 
high esteem in the colony, and “ strong efforts were made to induce the 
Government to reconsider their decision so far as the colonial botanist 
was concerned.” Mr. Bailey was one of the recent explorers of the 
Bellenden-Ker range, and has contributed to Kew type specimens of 
the numerous additions that he has made to the flora of Queensland, 
and indeed of Australia (“ Kew Bulletin,” 1891, page 275). The colony 
is so largely dependent on its botanical resources that it cannot dispense 
with the services of a botanical expert more than temporarily. It is to be 
hoped that in the meantime the organisation of the colonial botanist’s 
oflSce will be maintained, and the valuable Government Herbarium 
properly cared for. 
-- Ilex paraguensis. —In the “ Kew Bulletin ” for 1892, p. 132^ 
will be found some notes on certain plants yielding Paraguay Tea. or 
Yerba de Mate, one of the most important economic products of South 
America. Until recently, the plant generally grown in gardens for 
Ilex paraguensis was Elaeodendron quadrangulatum ; this has large 
shining green Laurel-like leaves, and is totally unlike the plant from 
which Paraguay Tea is obtained. In September last Kew received, 
through the kindness of Senor Glaziou, Director do Passeio publico, 
Rio de Janeiro, seeds of the true I. paraguensis, some of which were 
sown, and the remainder distributed to the following botanical gardens : 
Antigua, Calcutta, Ceylon, Demerara, Edinburgh, Jamaica, Natal, Paris, 
Singapore, and Trinidad; 
- Strawberries in India. —According to Mr. M. A. Lawson, 
Government Botanist, Madras, Strawberries grown in the Nilgiris revert 
to a feral form (“Kew Bulletin,” 1892, p. 106). It is not easy to see 
why this should be the case if they are propagated from runners. A 
collection of seeds of the best kinds was procured and sent out to 
Madras, and Mr. Lawson records the results, which are so far 
satisfactory in the following extract from the Annual Administration 
Report of the Government Botanical Gardens and Parks, Nilgiris, 
1892-93. The following varieties raised from seed obtained from Kew 
have produced fine fruit, and promise to do well on these hills :—Sir 
Charles Napier, Waterloo, Crescent Seedling, Due de Malakoff. 
- Viticulture in Uruguay. — Mr. Vice-Consul Greenfell 
reports from Monte Video During the last three or four years an 
increased interest has been shown in the cultivation of the Vine, 
and it has assumed considerable proportions in the districts of Salto, 
Paysandii, and in the vicinity of Monte Video. The country generally 
is well adapted for the growth of the Grape, but the wine manufactured 
as yet is not of a high-class character, and principally of the red 
description. Want of experience and knowledge of treatment may be 
the cause of this, but every effort is being made to improve the quality 
and extend the industry, for, on account of the high tariff on all 
imported wines, there is a ready demand for as much as can be pro¬ 
duced. The appearance of the phylloxera (Phylloxera vastatrix) has 
caused a certain alarm amongst the Vine growers, but stringent measures 
have been taken by the Rural Association to prevent the propagation 
of this justly dreaded scourge of the Vine. The spread of this pest 
would be a serious calamity for this country just at a moment when the 
wine industry is assuming important proportions, with every prospect 
of a wide development. Hitherto the phylloxera has been unknown in 
Uruguay, and it has doubtless been introduced by plants or cuttings 
brought from countries where the plague existed. These are now 
strictly prohibited from being imported from Europe in either shape, 
with the hope of preventing, if possible, the further multiplication of 
the blight into the country. 
- Visitors to Kew during the Year 1893.— The number of 
persons who visited the Royal Gardens iduring the year 1893 shows, 
according to the “ Kew Bulletin,” an increase of 379,229 on the 
attendance for the preceding year, and is the largest as yet recorded, 
except for 1890, when it reached 1,839,966. The total number of 
visitors for the past year was 1,733,386, as compared with 1,354,157 in 
1892. The detailed numbers for 1893 are : January, 16,405 ; February, 
33,899 ; March, 135,821; April, 284,811 ; May, 284,586 ; June, 184,244; 
July, 197,944 ; August, 329,410; September, 145,593; October, 73,650; 
November, 27,595 ; December, 19,428 ; Total, 1,733,386. The total 
attendance on Sundays was 676,894 ; on week days 1,056,492. The two 
totals used formerly almost to balance ; the present disparity is in part 
accounted for by bank holidays. The greatest monthly attendance 
(August) was 329,410 ; the smallest monthly attendance (January) was 
16,405. The greatest Sunday attendance (on June 18th) was 29,891 ; 
the smallest (on December 10th) was 318. The greatest week day 
attendance (on May 22nd) was 100,737 ; the smallest (on January 17th) 
was 110. 
- Is THE Yew Poisonous? —In answer to this question 
(page 30), the Yew is described in Loudon’s “Trees and Shrubs” 
as follows : “ Derivation from toxon, a bow, being formerly used in 
making them, or from taxis, arrangement, from the leaves being 
arranged on the branches like the teeth of a comb ; or from toxicum, 
poison ; though Pliny says that poison (toxicuni) was so named from 
this tree which was considered poisonous.” In another portion of the 
description of this tree it is said in a wild state the Yew affords food to 
birds by its berries. In Richard Smith’s work on the “ Fir Tribe,” it is 
again described as “ toxicuvi ” poison, the common Yew being esteemed 
poisonous. These trees are not troubled with insects. The question 
arises, Do birds eat the seeds or only the sweet pulp that surrounds 
the seed ? Laurel seeds are pronounced poison, though the pulp I have 
partaken of myself, having lived in a part of the country where they 
fruited abundantly. The seed of the Yew 1 would consider rank poison, 
as I happen to know a man well who had a son poisoned with eating 
Yew berries. The tree which these berries were obtained from is one of 
the finest in existence. I also know a case where a horse died from 
eating branches of the Yew tree. Parents ought to warn children from 
eating these and other similar kinds of berries.—J. S. 
- Death of Mr. E. George. —It is with much regret that we 
are informed of the death on the 18th ult. of Mr. Edward George, head 
gardener to the Earl of Abingdon, Wytham Abbey, near Oxford. Mr. 
George enjoyed uniformly good health until he was quite recently 
attacked with influenza, and this did not prevent him attending to 
his usual duties. He had, he thought, sufficiently recovered to admit 
of his visiting a friend who was recovering from an illness, and he 
walked some few miles to do so. Subsequently he suffered a relapse, 
pneumonia supervened, and he sank rapidly. His widow and family 
of nine children in their suddenly sad bereavement have our sincere 
sympathy. Mr. George’s first appointment as head gardener was in 1864 
to the Marquis of Clanricarde, Portumna Castle. Two years afterwards 
he succeeded his father, who had for many years occupied a similar 
position to the Earl of Clancarty, Garbally. Leaving Garbally to settle 
in New Zealand, where he acquired a farm, he remained there but for 
about two years, and on his return to this country became head gardener 
to T. W. Boord, Esq., M.P., Ockenden, Sussex, remaining there six 
years, and finally for a like period being at Wytham Abbey, the 
gardens of which he had transformed from a comparatively indifferent 
state to one of fruitfulness and growing interest. To young gardeners 
Mr. George was at all times considerate and helpful, and there are many 
of them who, with his personal friends, will retain many kindly 
memories of him. 
