August 23, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
17 ! 
-“W. D., Solihull," remarks :—“Your correspondents, “Expe- 
rientia Docet,” and “J. H. E.,’’ write of the Viola with an evident 
admiration of the plant. Mine are in grand form stiil, a long border 
of elegans, pale lavender, with a front row of Countess of Hopetown, 
white, is a sight worth seeing. Some of the yellows are blooming 
grandly, especially Bullion and Golden Prince Improved, and Ardwell 
Gem, pale yellow. These are three “everybody’s” varieties. Dean’s 
True Blue is far away the best blue, of compact habit, and very flori- 
ferous, and is not a mass of flowers here. Purples do not stand so 
much rain, as the flower buds damp off, and the best of all with me for 
standing moist weather is Unique, rich purple, with slight marking of 
white in the top petal. Two of Mr. Baxter’s newer Violas, Ethel 
Baxter, shaded rose and plum colour, is truly a gem, so distinct and 
profuse, and stands bad weather well. Spotted Gem, another of 
Mr. Baxter’s seedlings, is very lovely. Other varieties now in perfection 
here are Duchess of Albany, Queen of Lilacs, Bronze Queen, and a new 
dwarf rich black purple, Sir Joseph Terry. Many others, such as Mrs 
Gray, are very showy, but those I have named will suit all growers. It 
has taken some time to make the Viola popular, but the good time has 
come at last, and no garden in the kingdom should be without them, 
hut once more the timely warning should be given. Plant at the 
proper time to be successful, but unfortunately late spring planting is 
often resorted to.” 
- The National Co-operative Show held at the Crystal 
Palace on August 18th, was an interesting gathering, the variety of the 
exhibits, the good quality distinguishing the majority, and their sui" 
prising numbers, constituting the Show one quite out of the common. 
The schedule itself was a wonderful production, some fifty pages being 
devoted to particulars of 327 classes, and the numerous money and special 
prizes offered, the latter including a large proportion of books contri¬ 
buted by different firms and authors. The whole of the classes were not 
for horticultural productions. There was a section for honey, and 
several others for specimens of workmen’s skill in various trades, medals 
as well as prizes being offered in these classes, and the exhibits occupied 
considerable space. The horticultural portion was, however, extensively 
represented, the greater part of both naves being filled, four rows of 
tables stretching for some hundreds of feet. Vegetables formed the 
great feature of the Show, and the competition in most of these classes 
was extraordinary. This was especially noticeable in section 1, for 
members of industrial co-operative societies, in twenty-five of which 
five prizes were offered in eaeh class. Thus, for a collection 
of six varieties of vegetables there were thirty-five competitors ; with 
thirty-six pods of Peas no less than seventy-six entered and showed, the 
classes for Beans, Carrots, Onions, Turnips, Vegetable Marrows, Celery, 
Potatoes, and Cabbages including from sixty to thirty exhibitors each. 
It was very satisfactory to observe the prevailing good quality of these 
exhibits, and it was only in a few cases, like Leeks and Radishes, where 
they were really poor, though rough coarse samples were noted in the 
Turnip and a few other classes. Potatoes looked well, not large, but 
mostly clean, even, and sound. Cut flowers were not so largely shown, 
and generally were not of such good quality. Plants, also, were scarcely 
of average cottagers’ merit. Fruit was not exhibited in large quantities ; 
a few respectable collections were shown, Apples, Currants, and Goose¬ 
berries being the chief features in other classes. 
- It has been thought desirable that the Fauna and Flora of 
the Lesser Antilles, the smaller islands of the West Indian group, 
should be more thoroughly investigated, and the British Association 
having granted .£100 to initiate a research in the islands, a Committee 
has been formed, Nature states, to carry out the project, comprising 
Prof. Flower, Mr. Carruthers, Mr. Thiselton Dyer, Dr. Gunther, Prof- 
Newton, Mr. Sclater, Dr. Sharpe, Lieut-Col. Feilden, and Mr. D. Morris. 
Prof. Flower has been elected Chairman of the Committee ; Mr. Thisel¬ 
ton Dyer, Secretary ; and Mr. Sclater, Treasurer. Lieut.-Col. Feilden 
having accepted a Colonial appointment in Barbadoes will be in future 
resident at Bridge Town, where he will act as Local Secretary of the 
Committee, while Dr. H. A. Alford Nichols, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S., has agreed 
to assist in the same capacity in Dominica. In order to commence their 
investigations without delay, the Committee have secured the services of 
Mr. George A. ltamage, who was lately associated with Mr. Ridley in 
his expedition to the island of Fernando Noronha, and has since been 
collecting in Pernambuco. Mr. Ramage arrived in Dominica in March 
last, and has proceeded to his work with great zeal. In May, after pass¬ 
ing five weeks at Laudat, on the right bank of the Roseau River, about 
2000 feet above the sea level, he moved to St. Aroment, an estate belong¬ 
ing to Dr. Nieholls, just above Roseau, which he found to be a better 
locality for getting his plants dried. At Laudat he met with great dif¬ 
ficulty in this matter on account of the extreme wetness of the climate. 
After exploring Dominica, Mr. Ramage will probably receive instructions 
to proceed to the other islands of the Leeward group, some of which are 
almost entirely unworked as regards their animal and vegetable life.. 
Now that this important investigation has been so fairly started, it is 
hoped that little difficulty will be experienced in obtaining further 
assistance from the British Association and the Royal Society. Complete 
sets of all the specimens obtained will be placed in the British Museum 
and Kew Herbarium. 
- A meeting of the members of the Council of the English 
Arboricultural Society was held recently at the Farmers’ Club 
Rooms, Corn Exchange, Newcastle. Mr. Cadwallader J. Bates, Pre¬ 
sident of the Society, occupied the chair. Mr. J. F. Robinson, Burnop- 
field, read a paper entitled “ Remarks on the Royal Commission on 
Forestry, with Some Statistical Information on the Possible Future of 
Timber-growing in England.” He said, a Select Committee having been 
appointed for the purpose of considering whether, by the establishment 
of a school of forestry or otherwise, our woodlands could be made more 
remunerative, the idea had occurred to him that a few remarks on the 
proceedings of the Commission might not be altogether without interest.. 
If that man were a benefactor who caused two blades of grass to grow 
where one grew before, so a man who caused two trees to grow where 
one grew, or a large tree where a small one existed, was also a benefactor. 
The question of the growth of timber at home in place of the quantities 
imported from abroad, though not so important as the question of food 
supply, was of some importance. The danger of relying almost solely 
on the importation of timber from abroad was in the first place the 
denudation of countries of timber to provide for the growth of cereals, 
and in the second place, as the amount of supply decreased the demand 
would increase with the growth of the population. The speaker went 
on to recite the main points on the evidence given before the Commis¬ 
sion. The inquiry, “If our forests are not well managed could they be 
improved by a more practical and scientific knowledge on the part of 
our foresters ?” was generally answered by the witnesses in the affirma¬ 
tive. The evidence showed that there was much room for improvement 
in draining and planting, and especially in the management of small 
plantations. As to how the knowledge could be best obtained he agreed 
with the witnesses who insisted on young men receiving instructions 
in forests which were managed by capable men. Young men, in his 
view, should serve an apprenticeship of seven years, so that they might 
learn the habits and characteristics of their patients, and what their 
conditions were under different seasons. The utmost they could hope 
for was that, with the waste of forests elsewhere, a brighter future was 
in store for home forests, and that a considerable portion of the timber 
imported, to the amount of £16,000,000, might be raised at home. It 
was to be hoped that the Board of Forestry would be the means of 
diffusing scientific and useful information and instruction with regard 
to the management of woodland belonging to the State and private 
individuals, and that there might be no more reason for saying that 
we were not doing our best in utilising the productive capabilities of 
our possessions. __ 
THE ROMANCE OF SEED-SOWING. 
(Continued from page 153.) 
One curious set of cases deserves a passing word while speaking of 
hairs. Several seeds, and also some fruits ( 'e.g ., some Sages and Ground¬ 
sels). are coated with short hairs containing spiral threads coiled up- 
inside them. The hairs are usually pressed close to the seed or fruit, 
and kept down securely by a fibre of mucilage. The wind carries these 
seeds to some favourable soil, the dampness loosens the mucilage, the 
hairs spread out are ruptured and discharge the contained threads.- 
These are highly elastic, and on protrusion fix the seed in the soil quite 
securely. Here, then, hairs serve to arrest the seeds or fruits after dis¬ 
persion. The mucilage present on the seeds of Flax and Cress probably 
does similar duty when moistened by the damp soil. 
III.— Animals. —Just as animals play a large and important part in 
the fertilisation of flowers, so we find them taking their share in the 
dispersion of seeds and fruits. I cannot here give a tithe of the in¬ 
stances in which this is seen. A few must suffice. They perform their 
mission in different ways—some voluntarily, some unconsciously. While 
insects chiefly assist in fertilisation, birds and mammals are the prin¬ 
cipal agents in the work of dispersion. Fleshy fruits are attractive to 
