August 13, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
133 
Trafford, on Saturday. The weather was not favourable for visitors, 
but there was a considerable number present in the afternoon and 
evening. The exhibitors were numerous, and represented a wide area, 
and the Show was excellent, especially in the class for Picotees. There 
was also a display of G-ooseberries, for which the Carnation Society 
offered prizes. Some of the berries were of enormous size, one weighing 
24 pennyweights 14 grains. The principal prizewinners were Mr. J. 
Harvey of Stone, and Mr. J. Threlfall. Not the least attractive part of 
the Exhibition was a beautiful collection of Begonias from the nurseries 
of Messrs. Ryder «fc Son, Sale, to whom the Council of the Botanical 
Society awarded a gold medal. Great advances have been made in recent 
years in the cultivation of Tuberous Begonias, and Messrs. Ryder have 
shown what can be attained by careful and scientific hybridisation. The 
doubles were exceedingly fine, one of the most remarkable specimens 
being a large scarlet flower called Brightness of Sale. Another immense 
crimson variety was Samuel Ryder, forming a pretty contrast to 
Charming Bride, a pure white flower. Messrs. Ryder hold that it is a 
mistake to suppose the Begonia is simply a greenhouse plant, and in 
proof of this they exhibited a large collection taken from the open 
ground at Sale. 
- Dr. Hogg Pea.—I was fortunate in procuring seeds of the 
true Dr. Hogg Pea in the spring. I sowed them along with Carter’s 
Lightning on the same day; they flowered the same day, and were ready 
to pull on the same day. The difference between them lay in the Dr. 
being the more robust, heavier cropper, and by far the best flavoured. 
After the long drought in June we had continued heavy rains, which 
caused a second growth in the early Peas. On looking at them one day 
I was surprised to find that all the blooms on the Dr. were double. I 
have sent you a box of the blooms by this post. N o one about here has 
seen such a thing before. Please let me know if it is a common 
occurrence.—C. W. [We have seen the so-called Dr. Hogg Pea, differ¬ 
ing materially from the true variety as raised by Mr. Laxton. It is a 
first early Pea, and still one of the best in cultivation. We have seen 
similar examples of flowers in which most, but not all, the stamens 
are converted into petals, but such changes are not common, and 
the few that have come under our notice have occurred late in the 
season.] 
- Effect of Camphor ox Seeds. —Certain curious and all but 
forgotten experiences of much interest to agriculture and gardening 
have lately been revived by a German savant. Very many years ago it 
was discovered and recorded that water saturated with camphor had a 
remarkable influence on the germination of seeds. As of many other 
useful hints, the world took no notice of this intimation ; but a Berlin 
professor, having seen the record of it, appears to have established the 
fact that a solution of camphor stimulates vegetables as alcohol does 
animals. He took seeds of various sorts, some being three or four years 
old, and possessing a slight degree of vitality, and placed them between 
sheets of blotting paper. Some of these he wetted with pure water, and 
others with camphorated water. In many cases the seeds did not swell 
at all under the influence of the simple moisture, but in every case they 
germinated where they were subjected to the camphor solution. The 
experiment was extended to different kinds of garden seeds, old and 
new, and always with the result of showing a singular awakening of 
dormant vitalism and a wonderful quickening of growth. It also appears 
from the professor’s researches that the young plants thus stimulated 
continued to increase with a vigour and vivacity much beyond that of 
those which were not so treated. On the other hand, when pounded 
camphor was mixed with the soil, it appeared to exercise a rather bad 
effect upon the seeds. The dose in this latter case was possibly too 
strong. At all events, this action of camphor is worthy of an examina¬ 
tion by seedsmen and gardeners, aud even farmers might determine how 
far Wheat and Barley may be profited by the strange power this drug 
appears to possess over the latent life of vegetable germs.—( American 
Horticultural Art Journal.') 
BERBERIS ANGULOS A. 
The Botanical Magazine for the present month gives a coloured 
figure of the above named Barberry, and the plant is interesting, as apart 
from its attractive yellow flowers and richly coloured foliage in autumn 
the deep red good sized fruits are eatable and less acid than those of 
the common Barberry. 
“ Berberls angulosa is a rare Himalayan species, and one of the largest 
flowered and fruited of the thirteen found in that mountain range ; it 
is also one of the most distinct, though referred by Lindley to the race¬ 
mose B. aristata, which he has by error published as B. umbellata, Wall. 
(Bot. Reg. 1844, t. 44). It was discovered early in the century by 
Mr. Blinkworth in Kumaon, and gathered later by Wallich in Nepal, 
and by myself in the adjacent province of Sikkim, at elevations of 
11,000 to 13,000 feet. The only evidence of its occurring elsewhere in 
the Himalaya is the specimen figured, which was sent in flower to Kew 
by Thomas Acton, Esq., of Kilmacurragh, Rathdrum, Ireland, in May 
1888, and the fruit in October of the same year, with the information 
that it was raised from seed obtained from Cashmir by his brother, 
Colonel Ball Acton. In the Kew Herbarium there are specimens raised 
from seed sent to the Edinburgh Botanical Garden by Mr. Gumbleton 
in 1885, and others sent to Kew by Mr. Gumbleton himself in 
1887. 
“ In Sikkim B. angulosa forms a shrub 4 feet high and more, often 
accompanying the beautiful little B. concinna. It grows at a greater 
elevation than any other of the larger shrubby species except B. 
macrosepala, and forms a striking object in autumn from the rich golden 
yellow and red colouring of the foliage. 
“ An erect bush, 4 feet high and upwards, with stout angled and 
grooved erect puberulous branches; spines three to five-branched, 
slender. Leaves deciduous, fascicled, 1 to 1£ inch long, sessile or 
narrowed into a short petiole, obovate or oblanceolate, quite entire or 
with a few spinous teeth on the thickened margin ; tip rounded, apicu- 
late or aristate, thinly coriaceous, often puberulous beneath, opaque 
above, rather shining beneath, scarlet and yellow in decay. Peduncles 
solitary or fascicled, very rarely two-fid., decurved, about two-thirds of 
an inch long. Flower one-half to two-thirds of an inch in diameter, 
pale golden yellow. Outer sepals narrowly oblong, inner as long but 
nearly twice as broad ; petals obovate, tip rounded, pale yellow. Berry 
two-thirds of an inch long, globosely obovoid, scarlet, five to six seeded ; 
style very short or 0, stigma pulvinate.” 
SAFFRON. 
“Medicus” asks us if we can tell him “something about Saffron 
whether it is a native plant or not, and if cultivated to any extent in 
this country.” We do not know to what extent it is grown, but 
evidently more importance was attached to its culture in past times 
than now. Mr. J. Clark, in his “Notes on the Name of the Town of 
Saffron Walden,” has the following statements :— 
“ Crocus sativus, Saffron Crocus, or Saffron is an autumnal Crocus> 
the corolla of which is divided into six equal segments. The petals 
are of a purple blue colour. It has three linear-oblong golden stigmas, 
which are the Saffron. It flowers in October, and the leaves continue 
to grow all the winter. 
“ In October the flowers were gathered early in the morning, and 
conveyed home in baskets. Then commenced the process of picking 
out the stigmas (or chives as they were called). These were then 
pressed into cakes, and dried on kilns constructed for that purpose. 
“ Saffron was at that time thought a most valuable medicine for 
many diseases. The produce appears to have varied from 8 lbs. to, 
20 lbs. per acre. . 
“ The price of Saffron at different periods may be estimated 
from the presents made by the Corporation to the Sovereigns who 
visited Walden. . 
“ The quantity of Saffron varied, but it was usually presented in a, 
silver cup or salver. 
“ Queen Elizabeth received a cup in 1571, but no mention is made of 
the quantity. 
“ 1614. James was presented with a cup and 1 lb. of Saffron, which 
cost £3 3s. 4d., a considerable sum in those days. 
“ 1631. 5,i ozs. of Saffron given to Charles I. are charged at 18s. per 
ounce. 
“ 1665. 20 ozs. of Saffron for Charles II. are charged £5 los. 
“ 1689. 14 ozs. for William III. cost £3 11s. 3d. 
“ 1717. The Saffron to put in the salver given to King George, cost 
£i 6s. 6d. ^ _ 
“ The first introduction of the plant into Walden is attributed to 
Sir Thomas Smith, born here in 1512 (the house he was born in is in the 
Market Place). He was Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth and 
Edward IV. But although our illustrious townsman was an extensive 
grower of Saffron, he certainly was not the individual who first introduced 
it, for it is evident from the writings of Fleming, a clergyman who resided 
in the neighbourhood in 1584, that it was extensively grown here in 
1540, when Sir Thomas was but young. That the town was celebrated 
for its culture in 1549, in the time of Edward VI., may be inferred 
from the circumstances that on its charter being granted by that 
monarch, the Corporation bore three Saffron plants in their arms. The 
town must then at that period have been famous for its cultivation. 
“Holinshed, who wrote early in the time of Elizabeth, states that 
the Saffron grown about Saffron Walden (sometimes called Waldenbury) 
was first planted there in the time of Edward III., and Lord Bray- 
brooke, in his history of Audley End, states that the town took the 
name of Saffron in the reign of Edward III. 
“ It was a tytheable commodity by the Abbot and Vicir of vV alden 
in 1444, which was sixty-eight years before Sir Thomas was torn ; and 
at a court held for the manor in 1518 the owners of certain hogs found 
trespassing in the Saffron beds were prosecuted. These facts sufficiently 
prove that Sir Thomas was not the introducer, but that it was cultivated 
long before his time. The popular opinion might have originated in ms 
