428 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 31,1894, 
-MeSEMBEYANTHEMUM CORDIFOLIUM VAEIEOATUM.—“ E. K.” 
observes :—“ What’s in a name 1 Surely in this a stumblingblock over 
which many persons trip. ‘ Miss who ? Please say it again,’ a visitor asked 
when looking at the carpet beds. Unfortunate plant, thou canst not 
be mentioned without thy whole character being exposed in that Latin 
conglomeration. We cannot call thee miss, nor mess, nor shalt thou 
usurp the title of mum. Unhappy child of Nature ; better for us 
hadst thou never been born.” 
- Nemesia Strumosa Suttoni. —An interesting fact in relation 
to the hardiness of this most beautiful annual was mentioned to me at 
the Temple Show. Speaking of what harm had been done in his locality 
by the frosts, Mr. Mortimer, Farnham, said, “ Singularly a big breadth 
of the Nemesia which I had just previously planted out is absolutely 
uninjured.” That is so much the more interesting, because this annual 
comes to us from the Cape, though possibly from elevated regions.—D. 
- Frosted Eunner Beans.— I do not know what may be the 
fortune generally of all who sowed their Runner Beans rather too early, 
but I observed at the Richmond allotments few that were above ground 
before the frost but had their cotyledons destroyed, whilst the lower 
portions of the stems remained unharmed. A plant carefully lifted 
showed the base buds on each side had already begun to push growth. 
Thus there is good reason to hope that in a few days the harm done 
by the frost may be dissipated by the strong growths now taking 
place.—D. 
-Shirley and District Gardeners’ and Amateurs’ 
Association. —The monthly meeting of above Society was held on 
Monday, the 21st inst., Mr. B. Ladhams, F.R.H.S., presiding. An 
interesting and instructive discussion on “ Insects Injurious to Garden 
Crops” was opened by Mr. E. J. Wilcox, gardener to Col. W. S. Sinkins, 
Aldermoor. Mr. Wilcox illustrated his remarks with a large collection 
of insects, and the best methods of minimising their ravages were freely 
discussed. Mr. Wilcox stated that he had a most promising crop of 
Gooseberries ruined by ants, which swarmed up the bushes and destroyed 
the organs of the flowers, causing the fruit to shrivel and fall off. A 
hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the lecturer. Several new 
members were elected, and it was announced that the subject for June 
would be a lecture by Mr, W, F, Perkins, Portswood, on “ The Composition 
of Chemical Manures, and the Limit to Their Economical Use in the 
Garden.” 
- Forestry. — Mr. W. R. Fisher writes to “The Times” 
deploring the condition of forestry in this country. He says ;—“We 
have scarcely any professional foresters in the British Isles capable of 
managing a forest of 5000 acres, while numbers of amateurs, whose 
opinions are devoid of authority, are always ready with advice about 
forest management. Things are managed differently abroad. In France 
the men charged with the control of the State and Communal forests, 
after receiving a good general education, spend two years at the 
Agricultural Institute of France, and are then selected from the first 
dozen men out of about 200, who qualify annually for certificates. 
They then study for two years at the State Forest School of Nancy, 
and in the State forests of the North of France and in the Vosges 
and Jura mountains, before they obtain charge of any forests in France 
or its colonies. There are at least a dozen forest schools in Germany 
and Austria, and the Esterhazy family actually maintain a forest school 
of their own, where they train the numerous foresters required for their 
vast forest property. Italy, Russia, Spain, and Holland also maintain 
national forest schools. This consensus of opinion in Europe in favour 
of professional forest training should convince us as to its necessity, and 
the more so that foreign forest officers who have seen English forests 
can only wonder at their extraordinary condition and treatment. 
Worse than this, if our colonies wish to secure foresters, they must 
perforce go to France or Germany, as they have done for the Cape of 
Good Hope, Natal, and Cyprus. The Indian Government, which gets a 
large revenue from its forests and appreciates their climatic value, and 
the great material assistance they afford to agriculture, has for the last 
twenty-five years arranged for the suitable training of its foresters^ 
both in England and in India. The candidates for the Indian Forest 
Service who are selected at home spend about six months of their two 
and three-quarter years’ training in Continental forests, as there are no 
suitable forests in the United Kingdom where they could learn their 
professional duties, nor are sufficient steps being taken to secure such 
areas of instructive forests for the future, although no country is more 
favourably situated than our own for vigorous forest growth. I am just 
now obliged to send a young Englishman, selected for the forest service 
in Mysore, to Switzerland to learn practic.al forestry.” 
- The Kew Bulletin. —We have received a copy of “ The 
Kew Bulletin ” for May, which as usual contains much useful informa¬ 
tion. There are articles on the “ Flora of Aldabra Islands,” “ Cultiva¬ 
tion of Coca in India,” “ Sugar-cane Disease,” “New Orchids,” “Agri¬ 
cultural Progress in Jamaica,” “ Coffee Cultivation in Angola,” and 
some miscellaneous notes, from which we extract the following four 
paragraphs. 
- Lathyrus tubeeosus tubers. —The Museum of the Royal 
Gardens, Kew, is indebted to Messrs. Veitch & Sons of the Royal Exotic 
Nursery, Chelsea, for a good sample of the tuberous roots of Lathyrus 
tuberosus, L., a leguminous plant found in cornfields in several parts of 
Europe, and in this country in the county of Essex. The sample was 
accompanied by a memorandum from Mr. C. J. Barenburg of Arnheim, 
Holland, from which the following particulars are derived. The plant 
thrives well in Austria, Switzerland, and the greater part of France, 
In Holland it is found chiefly in the provinces of Guelder, Utrecht, 
Overysel, and Zealand, in the first three of which it grows wild, and the 
farmers do their utmost to extirpate it in consequence of its being very 
injurious to Wheat and Rye crops, exhausting the soil and clinging in 
its growth to the haulms. It is often so abundant as to make the corn¬ 
fields quite bright with its flowers. In Zealand the plant is cultivated 
for the sake of the tuberous roots, either by leaving the smaller ones in 
the ground, when the larger ones are being dug up in the autumn, or by 
sowing the seeds saved in March. The fresh tubers are outwardly of a 
blackish colour, and inwardly of a whitish fleshy texture. When cooked 
they are said to be very wholesome food, and to have a flavour similar 
to a Chestnut. To prepare them for food they should be first put into a 
bucket filled with water and rubbed with a piece of wood to remove the 
clay or soil and loosen the skin. They are then ready for boiling with 
the skin on in water ; a handful of salt should be added to a quantity 
contained in an average sized pot. They require boiling for two hours 
or more, and when ready they are peeled and eaten with a little butter. 
In France, children of the lower class eat the raw tubers, simply re¬ 
moving the skin before doing so. 
- Plants in Tropical Africa. —The Germans are very active 
in collecting plants in tropical Africa, and the Herbarium has received 
considerable additions from these sources. Among them a set of about 
1000 species collected by Mr. C. Holst, in the Usambra country, in East 
Africa, situated in about the same latitude as Pemba Island. This 
collection was acquired by purchase, and contains a large tiumber of 
new species, especially of trees and shrubs. Noteworthy among the new 
herbaceous plants are some new species of Streptocarpus. From the 
Cameroons we have a collection, also rich in novelties, collected by 
Dr. Preuss, and presented by Dr. A. Engler, the Director of the Royal 
Botanic Garden, Berlin. There are several new genera, including a 
remarkable one belonging to the Aurantiaceae. 
- Presentation to the Library at Kew.—M iss Catherine 
Sharpe of the Grove, Hampstead, has presented a copy of the thirteenth 
edition of Linnaeus’s “ Systema Naturae.” This is not the genuine 
corrected thirteenth edition, edited by Gmelin, but one printed at Vienna 
in 1770, and a mere copy of the twelfth. It is on the same footing as 
the so-called third edition of Linnaeus’s “ Species Plantarum,” also 
printed at Vienna. 
- Artificial Production of Mushroom Spawn. —In an 
interesting pamphlet, entit’ed “ Sur un noveau proc6d6 de culture do 
Champignon de couche,” MM. J. Costantin and L. Matruchot describe a 
method, first published by them in the “ Comptes rendus,” for July 3rd, 
1893, by which the spawn of the edible Mushroom can be produced in a 
state of purity wholesale. The pure spores are collected and sown in a 
special sterilised nutrient solution, where they germinate and form a 
pure white mycelium arranged in strands. This mycelium is placed on 
sterilised manure, where it grows abundantly for gome weeks. At this 
stage it has the appearance and odour characteristic of natural spawn, 
and when placed in a Mushroom bed grows and produces Mushrooms 
normally. I. The Production of a Pure Spawn or Mycelium.—At 
present cultivated Mushrooms are subject to several diseases, the germs 
of which are introduced along with the spawn. II. Choice of Varieties. 
—Certain varieties, especially the one having the cap entirely white, 
are most esteemed in the market. By the method described, it is 
practicable to perpetuate any desired variety in a pure state, a condition 
not possible by any other means. III. Permanent Production of Spawn. 
—At present the production of spawn is intermittent; by the culture 
process spawn can be produced throughout the year, which is an 
obvious advantage. The authorities hope to apply the same method 
to the cultivation of other edible species, as the Boletus and Morel. 
