July 36, 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
81 
- According to “ Nature,” one of the last acts of the late 
President Carnot, a few hours before his assassination, was to 
confer on the well-known botanist, Dr. Saint-Lager, the dignity of 
Officer of Public Instruction. 
- Ripened Wood.—I s not the above subject, upon which a 
correspondent addressed you Cpage 50) from the Emerald Isle, one of 
the fads and fallacies of this present age 1 Never during the century 
has all wood been so perfectly and thoroughly ripened as last year, and 
never in living memory has every crop, whether fruit or flowers, been so 
completely disappointing as this.— A Sceptic. 
- Rainfall in Cambridgeshire. —Mr. Arthur Bull sends 
from Cottenham his returns of the rainfall for the first six months of 
this year. January, 1'54 ; February, 1-44 ; March, 0‘89 ; April, 1'55 ; 
May, 1'64 ; June, 174; total, 8‘80 inches. The greatest falls on one 
day were :—0’38 on January 15th ; 0 56 on February 18th ; 0 41 on 
March 9th, 0 34 on April 18th, 0-70 on May 27th, 0 50 June 16th. 
- Fuchsia Ballet Girl. — This is a variety with a great 
future before it, for it is unquestionably one of the best double white 
varieties in commerce. There are now in bloom at the Chelsea Nursery 
of Messrs. Jas. Veitch & Sons a number of plants in 48-pots, and 
very fine they look. They have been raised from cuttings rooted this 
spring, and are dwarf, sturdy, and literally laden with charming pendent 
blossoms. The stock is not yet extensive, but in the course of time 
when plants are more plentiful there can be little doubt that it will be 
much sought for, as it is a Fuchsia worthy of cultivation in the most 
exclusive collections.— Nomad. 
- Shirley and Surrounding Districts Gardeners’ and 
Amateurs’ Mutual Improvement Association, —At the last meet¬ 
ing of the above Society, Mr. B, Ladhams, F.R.H.S., presiding, an in¬ 
teresting and instructive paper on the “ Cultivation of the Carnation 
and Picotee ” was read by Mr. F, Nutt of Southampton, who is well 
known amongst Carnation fanciers as a most successful grower and 
exhibitor. Mr. Nutt staged a charming group of plants and cut blooms 
to illustrate his paper, and the Committee awarded him a certificate of 
merit for grand flowers of Squire Potts, S.B. ; Martin Rowan, P.F.; 
Eminice, pink self; and Niphetos, white. His Martin Rowan was 4 inches 
in diameter. Mr, J. Rebbeck, amateur, staged twelve good blooms, and 
was awarded a certificate for one of Miss Clements, L.E.P. Picotee. Mr 
Green, amateur, Freemantle, was highly commended for six blooms of 
Malmaison. Mr, B. Ladhams showed a very fine collection of Carna¬ 
tions and Picotees, and was awarded a certificate, and a similar honour 
was accorded him for Eryngium alpinum. His hardy perennials were 
also very line. The subject for next month will be “ The Vine,” a 
paper by Mr. W. Mitchell of Chilworth Manor Gardens.—H. G. H. 
- New Table Oils in Germany. —Mr. A. C. Johnson writes 
in the “ Kew Bulletin:”—“On account of the great expense and 
difficulty in procuring pure Olive oil for table purposes, there have been 
many attempts made in Germany to produce from other substances than 
the Olive an oil which, having all the qualities that recommend the 
Olive oil, could be sold at a lower price. In southern Germany for 
someyeais past oil has been produced from the Beech Nut. It has 
given great satisfaction, but has not come into general use because the 
production has been small and the oil has never been pushed on the 
market. One reason why more has not been done in the production of 
this Beech Nut oil has been the great scarcity of the nut in certain 
years. The Beech Nut contains but 22 77 per cent, of oil, but when 
the nuts are plentiful the ease with which they can be gathered, the 
fact that there is absolutely no other expense except the pressing, and 
the good prices that have been received for the oil have made the 
production of the oil very profitable. It is only of late that the seeds 
of the Linden tree have been used for the production of oil. 
According to the report of Dr. C. Muller to the German Botanical 
Society, this oil has a number of excellent qualities, which would 
appear to make it certain that the Linden seed will hereafter be con¬ 
sidered one of the principal sources for obtaining table oil. The 
Linden tree is a regular bearer, so that a large quantity of seed may 
be counted upon each autumn. The percentage of oil in the Linden 
seed is given at 58. It is maintained that the oil has a peculiarly fine 
flavour, free from all bitter or aromatic taste, and that it has the 
appearance of Olive oil. It belongs also to the oils which do not 
evaporate. Oil made from Linden seed will never become rancid. It 
has no tendency to oxygenate. It will stand a great degree of cold 
without freezing. Dr. Muller has exposed it to 3° F, below zero without 
being able to notice any change.” 
-Hollyhock Disease and Permanganate of Potash.— 
Regarding my note on the Hollyhock disease on page 57, kindly inform 
your readers that it is permanganate of potash (the mistake was mine) I 
use, and am glad to say my plants are now thoroughly clean. I have 
tried it for red spider, but has no effect on them so far as I have seen.— 
John Clark, Wemyss Castle Gardens. 
- The Flora of Formosa. — We learn from the “Kew 
Bulletin ” that Dr. A. Henry has added to his rich collections of dried 
plants from eastern Asia by the gift of a further collection from Formosa, 
embracing about 1750 numbers. Dr. Henry has not succeeded in reach¬ 
ing the mountains of the interior, which doubtless, judging from the 
Flora of Japan, support a rich endemic element ; yet, from a cursory 
glance at a portion of this valuable addition to the herbarium at Kew, 
there is evidently a considerable percentage of novelties. 
- Bournemouth Gardeners’ Association. —The sixth annual 
excursion of the members took place on Tuesday, the 17th, to Fonthill 
House, Tisbury. Mr. W. Goodall (bead gardener) extended a hearty 
welcome on behalf of Mr. Morrison, the owner of the estate. A splendid 
luncheon was provided in a large marquee, erected on the lawn near the 
mansion, a pleasing feature of the gathering being the meeting of a 
number of gardeners who, through the kindness of Mr. Morrison, were 
invited to be present, amongst them being Mr. J. Macey, Fonthill 
Abbey ; Mr. J. W. Harrison, Wardour Castle ; Mr. C. Solman, Pyt 
House, Tisbury ; Mr. T. Wilkins, Inwood House, Blandford ; Mr. 
A. Cramond, Knoyle House ; and Mr. H. Brown, Clouds, Salisbury. 
The beautiful grounds and gardens were much enjoyed, and hearty 
thanks accorded for the handsome reception and generous hospitality 
of Fonthill. 
- Dianthus C^iESIUS. —This is one of our rare British plants, 
and is only found growing wild on the Cheddar Rocks in Somersetshire. 
Its natural habitat is old walls or in calcareous soil on rockwork, 
and is said not to grow very well in an ordinary flower border. In 
the gardens here it grows freely, and this year has flowered profusely. 
It is growing in an ordinary border with other plants, the soil of which 
is a light loam in a sandy subsoil. Several clumps were planted two 
or three years ago, but until this season only two or three flowers 
have been produced, which seems to prove that it will not flower 
freely until well established. In its natural state the flowers are 
produced singly, but in the border two or more are found on each stem, 
the individual flowers being about the size of a shilling. The colour 
is a rosy pink and sweetly scented, which makes it a desirable plant 
to grow where sweet-scented flowers are in demand for cutting, for 
it will be found very useful for filling small vases. A near ally to 
D. caesius is D. deltoides, the maiden Pink, which has very small leaves 
and small scentless flowers, but looks well in clumps along front row of 
herbaceous borders. This, too, is a British plant, and grows wild on dry 
banks in this neighbourhood.—J. S. Upex, Wigganthorpe. 
- Violas. —The Rev. David R. Williamson writes to us as 
follows:—“ I have read with much interest Mr. Wm. Dean’s latest 
contribution to the Journal of Horticulture (page 57) upon the subject 
of Violas, of which I have for some years been an extensive cultivator. 
I coincide with his selestion of the best six Violas, provided that 
extreme hardiness of nature and immense productiveness are to be 
regarded as the predominating characteristics. But if perfect beauty 
and exquisite fragrance were to determine our choice, then we should 
be compelled to include among the very finest of those beautiful and 
highly decorative flowers the following varieties, which have never been 
surpassed—viz.. Countess of Kintore, Countess of Wharncliffe, and 
Duchess of Fife. These, however, are easily annihilated, as I know 
from experience, by a tropical season like that of 1893. This, I doubt 
not, is the reason why they have not been included in Mr. Dean’s 
selection, which, as I have indicated, is from many points of view an 
admirable one. In a normal season the Duchess of Fife, the loveliest of 
all Violas, and perhaps the most fragrant, grows and blooms (as it is 
doing here at present) remarkably well. So also do the Countesses of 
Wharncliffe and Kintore. Violetta and Sylvia, the most valuable of 
Dr. Stuart’s beautiful miniature ray less Violas, whose charming aspect 
Mr. Dean has gracefully recognised in his article, came into bloom very 
late this year, probably owing, to some extent, to the comparative 
coldness of the early summer; but for this very reason they are all the 
more appreciated when they appear. I have not heard much recently 
of the White Duchess, which Mr. William Cuthbertson and other 
specialists anticipated would supersede in popularity the Duchess of 
Fife. This distinction, as I predicted, has not been achieved.” 
