cember 19, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
531 
estates. The Association begins well and is a proof of the increasing 
interest in horticulture throughout the kingdom.— S. A. 
- Iron Edging for Beds.—A correspondent, “ T. F.,” will he 
glad to be informed where the iron edging that is used in the Paris 
parks and gardens, instead of tiles, can be obtained in this country. 
- We are desired to state that Mr. Robert Sydenham of 
Birmingham has added a seed department to the great business he 
has established in bulbs. 
- Gardening Afpointment. —Mr. C. Roberts, for the past 
seventeen years head gardener and general manager at Highfield Hall, 
Leek, has been appointed head gardener to the Right Hon. Lord Hill 
Trevor, Brynkinalt, Chirk, Ruabon. 
- The Sacked Lily of China. —Just as we are preparing for 
press we receive from Messrs. Barr & Son bulbs of the floriferous Nar¬ 
cissus that is grown under the ahove and other fanciful names in China 
and Japan. Instructions for growing and flowering the plants in bowls 
accompany the bulbs distributed, which will probably be tried in many 
British homes. 
- The “Weeks” Pocket Book. —Annually the great Chelsea 
firm of Messrs. J. Weeks & Co. distribute pocket books to gardeners and 
friends. We have been favoured with a sample of one of these handy 
pocket companions,'and reciprocate the good wishes with which it is 
accompanied. Compact and substantial, these books will be found 
serviceable by the recipients of them throughout the coming year. 
- Outdoor Tomatoes. —On page 43G “ J. H. W.” gives a very 
interesting article on the above, and I fully coincide with all he says 
especially in respect to restriction of roots. We had some plants placed 
in exactly the same position—namely, in front of a Melon house, the 
only difference being that ours were in 10-inch pots, nailed up to the 
wall in the second week of May. When the fruit was set we top- 
dressed with a mixture of loam and cow manure, and also gave plenty 
of liquid manure, and they finished a fine crop of fruit off.—R. Kirby, 
Oulton Hall. 
- Poinsettias Flagging.—A s bearing on your reply to one of 
your correspondents in last week’s Journal please permit me to say that 
searing the cut ends of the stems with a hot iron is an excellent preser¬ 
vative of the freshness of the bracts. This should be done as soon as 
they are cut. By inserting a poker in the bothy or other fire a man 
can do a lot in a short time. We have practised this method for some 
years with our large supplies, and have kept the bracts fresh for a fort¬ 
night sometimes. The freely exuded milky juice if not prevented 
exhausts the life out of them shortly. We used to dip the cut end in a 
small pot of dry silver sand. This will check it, but not so well as 
searing them.—H. J. C., Grimston, Tadcaster. 
- Potatoes in America. —It would appear from the following 
that the Potato supply of America is inadequate for consumptive 
demands, and that exports from Europe are considerable :—“According 
to the estimates of Mr. J. Dodge, statistician of the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, the total area in Potatoes this year was 2,500,000 acres. The 
crop of 1888 was large, and prices ruled low. The average yield per 
acre for 1889 is only about 76 bushels. The imports of Potatoes for the 
year ending June 30th, 1888, were 8,260,000 bushels ; 141,000 from Ger¬ 
many, 1,453,000 from England, 2,895,000 from Scotland, 617,000 from 
Ireland, 2,899,000 from British North America, 135,000 bushels from all 
other sources.—( American Cultivator.') 
- Tomatoes in America. —The Cornell University of New 
York, through its Agricultural Experiment Station, has recently issued 
a bulletin giving the results of many important experiments in Tomato 
culture. The following is a summary of points established :—The tests 
indicate that poor soil may tend to render fruits more angular. 
Varieties of Tomatoes run out, and ten years may perhaps be considered 
the average life of a variety. The particular points at present in demand 
in Tomatoes are these : Regularity in shape, solidity, large size, produc¬ 
tiveness of the plant. The ideal Tomato would probably conform 
closely to the following scale of points : Vigour of plant, 5 ; earliness, 
10 ; colourof fruit, 5 ; solidity of fruit, 20 ; shape of fruit, 20 ; size, 10 ; 
flavour, 5 ; cooking qualities, 5 ; productiveness, 20. The following 
recent introductions appear to possess merits for market : Bay State, 
Atlantic, Brandywine, Jubilee, Matchless, and perhaps Lorillard, Pre¬ 
lude, and Salzer. Particularly valuable for amateur cultivation : Dwarf 
Champion, Lorillard, Peach, Prelude. 
- The Meteorological Report of the Straits Settle¬ 
ments has been published for the year 1888, being the fifth year in 
which meteorological observations in the colony have been made the 
subject of a general systematic report. The temperature of the air 
ranged between 67’2° and 96°, and solar radiation varied from 81° to 
179°; the lowest temperature on the grass was 61°. Rainfall observa¬ 
tions were received from forty-one stations. The annual amount differs 
considerably in the various provinces, the mean of the stations ranging 
from 65'6 inches in Singapore.— (Nature.) 
- Early Roman Hyacinths. —The value of these charming 
flowers can scarcely be over-estimated at this season of the year. For 
wreaths, bouquets, buttonholes, and vase decoration they are simply 
invaluable, and for arranging with other plants in pots for house 
embellishment we find no other white flower to compare with them 
from the present time till Christmas. For the latter purpose we pot 
five bulbs into a 5-inch pot, keep them plunged in ashes in the open air 
till they have an inch of growth above the soil, when they are placed 
under the stage in an intermediate house, and covered with inverted 
pots for a few days ; after the inverted pots are removed they are left 
in the same position for a couple of days longer, then removed to a 
shelf near the glass in a Cucumber house, where they remain, and 
receive plenty of water at the roots till the flowers are expanded.—H. D. 
—— Epiphyllum truncatum. —This plant in recent years has 
been much neglected, as the majority have the idea that it is a green¬ 
house plant, and treat it accordingly with unsatisfactory results. It 
should be placed in the stove until it has made its growth, and when 
completed it can with advantage be removed to the greenhouse, or any 
other place of a similar kind, to ripen, and thence again transferred to 
the stove as occasion may require. It succeeds far better grafted upon 
Pereskia aculeata as a stock, and makes more rapid growth than on 
its own roots. If the stocks are about 8 or 10 inches high when grafted 
attractive plants are soon obtained. In one of the stoves here a Pereskia 
was planted a few years ago, which has entirely covered the back wall, 
and upon this has been grafted two varieties—viz., coceineum and 
elegans, which have grown with marked success. They have been 
flowering, and looked very beautiful. The best compost is a mixture of 
loam, leaf mould, and broken bricks.—R. Kirby, Oulton Hall Gardens. 
- At The Brandries, Beddington, Surrey, the residence of 
W. Lindsay, Esq., there is a display of Gloxinias which at mid¬ 
summer would be worth recording, but in the month of December 
appears to me unusual. The group consists of about three dozen plants, 
which measure rather over than under 2 feet through, with from three 
to five dozen expanded flowers, and numberless buds to take their 
place. Both blooms and foliage are remarkable for substance and size, 
while the former are varied in colour. The plants are mostly in 7-inch 
pots, the compost loam and peat half-and-half, with a fair quantity of 
coarse silver sand. The gardener, Mr. C. Ritchings, however, attributes 
the fine development of the specimens not so much to the soil as to a 
concentrated manure he has himself mixed, and which is used for the 
growth of most plants under his care. In the same stove house there 
are very large Adiantums farleyense, gracillimum, and cuneatum, 
which are evidence of superior culture, and that there is a something 
which suits them admirably. Be this as it may, a market should be 
found for a plant stimulant alike beneficial to a hardy fruit tree or the 
most tender Fern.—H. Shoesmith. 
_ Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co.—To celebrate the great success 
obtained by the firm at the recent Paris Exhibition, where they were 
awarded three grand prizes, three gold, and one silver medal, Messrs. 
Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co. invited the whole of their employes to a 
banquet, which was held at the Salon des Families, Avenue de St. Mand<5, 
on the 15th inst., when 410 were present. Before the banquet a most 
interesting ceremony took place—viz., the presentation of a bronze 
statue, “ David and Goliath,” to M. Henry L. de Vilmorin (the head of 
the firm) on the occasion of his promotion to the grade of “ Officier de 
la Legion d’Honneur.” This objet d'art was accompanied by an address 
signed by 448 employes of the firm, congratulating him on the honour 
recently conferred upon him, also expressing the sincere respect and 
high esteem in which he was held by everyone. M. de \ ilmorin, in a 
very graceful and eloquent speech, acknowledged the compliment paid 
him, and expressed the pleasure that his partners and he had in having 
around them such a vast assemblage of their people. The arrangements 
were admirably carried out by Messrs. Schneider & Michel, and the 
gathering proved a complete success in every way. 
