January 21, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
45 
to “ gum-veins Tee trees, Tristanias, and Syncarpias, better known as 
Turpentine trees, but all members of the Myrtle family, and all growing 
in the open forest, and very rarely in the bush or the scrub.” 
PEAS FOR PROFIT AND EXHIBITION. 
As we have entered upon the new year, which I hope will be a happy 
and prosperous one for all, especially for all gardeners, and being an 
amateur gardener myself, I thought as the season is fast approaching for 
sowing seeds a few remarks upon Peas for profit and exhibition would be 
useful to some young gardeners. 
The first thing I would recommend is giving your seed orders at once 
to facilitate the seedman’s work. I advise obtaining sufficient seeds for 
a small sowing of the following varieties:—William the First, Laxton’s 
Earliest of all, Laxton’s Evolution, Paxton's Charmer (a new one this 
year, I think the best Mr. Laxton ever sent out), Carter’s Telephone, 
Carter’s Stratagem, Carter’s Pride of the Market (three very good Peas), 
Webb’s Wordsley Wonder, and Culverwell’s Telegraph. I think the 
above-named varieties would be very hard to be surpassed either for profit 
or exhibition. 
The next work is to prepare the trenches, as I have found from 
practice that it is almost impossible to grow first-class Peas either for ex¬ 
hibition or culinary use unless a trench is made, say 12 inches wide and 
about the same depth, place the soil that comes out of the trenches upon 
the east or north side of the trench, and it will then shade the Peas from 
cold cutting winds that frequently otherwise destroy good crops of Peas. 
Afterwards fill the trench with rich manure ; either old or new will do, 
as I have tried both and have sometimes thought I have grown the best 
Peas from the new manure, but the latter comes from the piggeries, and 
therefore is very good. Let the manure be trodden down in the trenches 
until it is reduced to about 9 inches in depth ; then place in the trench 
about 1| inch of soil, a good dusting of unslacked lime that will keep the 
worms and slugs from destroying the seed. Sow the seed at this time of 
the year, cover the seed with about 1 inch of soil as fine as it can be made, 
adding to that if possible about half an inch deep of coarse ashes or small 
cinders. This I find is a great protection to the plants from slugs and 
other enemies. I always keep some fine unpacked lime by me, and if 
slugs attack the plants I dust them very freely with the lime ; in fact, I 
find Peas are very much better if dusted with lime about every fourteen 
days until they have reached about half their growth.—Hr. Makbiott. 
[Our correspondent, who is well known as one of the most successful 
cultivators of Peas, obligingly offers to send further notes on growing 
them to perfection and staging pods for exhibition. We shall readily 
publish a communication on this subject.] 
ROSE MILDEW—NOTES ON GYPSUM. 
In reply to Mr. Kruse, we gave nearly all our Roses a dressing o^ 
gypsum on March 4th, 1885 ; but as we had so little rain during the 
summer I do not think it was sufficiently washed into the ground to 
reach the roots to give it a fair trial, but we certainly had less mildew on 
our Roses last year than usual. It would have been better put on in the 
autumn, so that the winter rains could have washed it well in and dis¬ 
solved it, as I think it requires a quantity of water to dissolve it, so that 
I expect to see a greater improvement from it next summer than the last ; 
more especially as I think it is what our soil requires, for it is rather 
light and it has been heavily manured for several years. 
I also tried it on Onions, Peas, Broad Beans, Shallots, and Straw¬ 
berries without perceiving any improvement, although a piece was marked 
off in the centre of each plot and carefully preserved. I also sowed 
some in the drills with the late Peas, hoping it might prevent mildew on 
them ; but it seemed to make no difference whatever, although the Peas 
were kept well watered. The only improvement in vegetables was on a 
piece of Cauliflower (autumn-sown), half the piece being sown with 
gypsum, the leaves of the plants on which grew much larger than the 
others, and most of the heads came in before the others, but as they 
were wanted in the house when quite small no fair comparison could be 
made. 
Now if gypsum will prevent mildew on Roses, why should it not on 
Teas P And if gypsum contains 30 per cent, of lime and 40 per cent, of 
sulphuric acid, and the rest water, which of the two will prevent mildew, 
or is it both? Either of these separate we could get at much less cost 
than we could gypsum, as ours had to travel about 150 miles.—J. L. B., 
Leicester. 
THE PAMPAS GRASS. 
Thebe is no more pretty or useful plant in our gardens than the 
Pampas Grass, but unfortunately, as a rule, it is confined to large gardens 
and parks, few amateurs and villa gardeners ever thinking of introducing 
it. Why this should be so it is difficult to understand. That it looks 
well, and is highly suited for the embellishment of large gardens, no one 
can deny ; but that it ornaments small gardens to an equal extent is as 
certain, and I am greatly in favour of its being more generally planted. 
Isolated specimens are very effective, and when upon green turf they 
are more graceful than any bush or tree. Thty are also attractive in 
corners, or amongst shrubs in groups, or as boundary bands. The foliage 
is sweeping and graceful, and in early autumn, when the magnificent 
feathery plumes appear, they become more and more conspicuous These 
heads are highly ornamental on the plants, and when cut and dried they 
are extremely useful for house and church decoration in the winter time. 
We use them freely in large flower vases, and the other day we put some 
scores of them into the church. They were effective in the extreme. 
The plan of cutting the heads required for purposes of this kind before 
they quite expand from the sheath which envelopes them at first is a good 
one to a certain extent, as the heads turn out white, but they also come 
smaller than when allowed to develope fully. For this reason we do not 
cut all we require in the young state, but allow many to grow to the 
fullest extent, then they are cut before beginning to wither in any way, 
and they are blanched to become almost as white as milk by confining 
them in an air-tight place and burning sulphur with them. It is 
astonishing how confinement with sulphur fumes whitens them, and if 
they are held before a strong fire afterwards, or at any time when they 
are damp, they will expand like a damp feather when exposed to the 
influence of a quick dying fire. The foreign Pampas heads, which are 
chiefly sold in shops, are fine specimens as a rule, and their size and 
colour surpass those generally grown in this country ; but good culti¬ 
vation will produce heads as fine as any which it is possible to buy, and 
anyone who puts the plants into rich deep soil need never have to buy 
plumes. The present is the best of all times to plant. They are very 
hardy, and may be introduced in all quarters. They thrive well inland 
or near the sea, in exposure or shelter, in smoke or the purest atmo¬ 
sphere, and I never knew them to fail and miss a season in producing 
their showy plumes. Some are inclined to cut away some of the leaves 
from the plants during the winter and allow new growths to appear in 
spring, but this is a great mistake, indeed I once knew a fine plant ruined 
by this, and the best of all ways of treating established plants in winter 
and at all times is to leave them alone.—J. M. 
FORESTRY. 
Me. John R. .Jackson contributes a paper to Nature upon this 
subject with some interesting notes worthy of reproduction. 
The report of tho proceedings of the Select Committee on Forestry 
which sat during the past summer does not, perhaps, throw any more 
light on the condition of forestry in this country than was possessed 
before the appointment of the Committee, for the substance of the 
evidence given is for the most part to be found in the various works and 
reports on forestry that have appeared from time to time during the past 
few years ; nevertheless the evidence of such men so well versed in forest 
conservancy, especially with regard to India, as Dr. Cleghoin, Col. 
Michael, Col. Pearson, and Mr. W. G. Pedder is of much value, as it 
brings together in a collected form information that has hitherto been 
much scattered. 
The subject of forest produce is one that is but little understood or 
even thought of by people in general. It is supposed by most people to 
relate only to the supply of timber, which indeed of itself is of very 
great importance ; but when we consider the other products_such as 
gums, resins, oils, fibres, and such like—the enormous money value 
becomes more apparent, as well as the great importance of the forests as 
sources of many absolute necessities of life. The evidence of Col. Michael 
fully illustrates this, and is especially valuable from this point of view. 
Taking the subject of Indian timbers alone, the value of teak was fully 
set forth when it was shown to be unequalled for the backing of ironclads 
and for ship-building generally, as offering the greatest resistance of any 
known woods. Questioned as to whether teak was capable of being 
brought into this country as a commercial article at a remunerative profit, 
Col. Michael replied that, judging from the price realised for some logs 
sold at the Forestry Exhibition at Edinburgh and from other information 
obtained, no doubt existed that the trade in teak might become a very 
remunerative one. It was shown further that in 1883 £647,000 worth of 
teak was imported into England ; but Col, Michael also touched upon 
what, if put upon a proper footing, might equally, or perhaps more so, 
become a source of revenue to India and a boon to this country—namely, 
the introduction of the more ornamental woods for cabinet purposes! 
There is, of course, always a steady demand for British-grown timbers 
such as oak, elm, ash, maple, &c., but these have to be supplemented bv 
foreign woods of a more ornamental character, and of these, mahogany, 
rosewood, ebony, satinwood, and such like are the best known. From 
amongst Indian timber trees a long list might be made of woods which 
are now almost unknown out of their native country—such, for instance 
as the East Indian Cedar (Cedrela toona), which is a reddish-colourel 
wood with a splendid wavy or feathery figure ; the tree is also found in 
Australia, where the wood is highly valued; the Padouk (Pferocarpus 
indicus), the deep-red-coloured wood of which attracted so much attention 
at the Edinburgh Exhibition last year; the Malabar Kino Tree (Ptero- 
carpus marsupium), also a finely marked deep-red wood, several species of 
Terminalia, durable woods of a brown colour with darker brown markings. 
Many others might be mentioned, but the most beautiful of ail the 
Indian woods for its ornamental character is the Chittagong wood (Chick- 
rassia tabularis). This is of a brown colour, with transverse lighter 
silvery-brown wavy markings, which impart to it a varying depth of light 
and shade, which, when polished, imparts a peculiar and charming lustre. 
All these woods take a high polish, and would be invaluable for cabinet 
work. Fine specimens of these and many others are in the collection of 
Indian timbers exhibited in the No. 3 Museum at Kew. 
On the questioi as to the durability of tho Scotch Fir (Pinus sylves- 
tris) Col. Pearson gave an opinion which is worth quoting. He says :_ 
“ I think myself r.at as the value of the foreign imported timber increases 
as it must do as 'he quantity diminishes, people will come to appreciate 
more the Scotch Fir, because I know many barns which have been 
