August 30,1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
199 
Events of the Week. — Apart from local exhibitions but few 
events of special interest to horticulturists will take place during the 
ensuing week. A show of early flowering Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, 
and Gladioli will be held at the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, on 
September 4th, 5th, and 6th, The annual exhibition of the National 
Dahlia Society will open at Crystal Palace on September 6th, continuing 
’the following day. 
- Weather in London. —Much rain has fallen in the metro¬ 
polis since publishing our last issue, the weather at the end of the week 
being particularly wet. Sunday, however, was fine and very warm ; 
Monday growing dull, but close ; Tuesday was favourable, and at the 
time of going to press the weather appears more settled. 
- Begonia Erfordia, —This is one of the semperflorens 
strain, and makes one of the most effective masses of colour. 
It grows to about 10 to 12 inches in height, the flowers being of a 
■bright rosy carmine. I saw it the other day bedded out in Mr. Cannell’s 
garden at Swanley, and was much pleased with it. If doing as well 
everywhere it will become a popular bedder.—D. 
- Ranunculus Lyalli. —While going through the garden of 
the late Mr. Charles Jenner at Easter Duddingston, near Edinburgh, in 
the end of June, my attention was called to a fine plant of this fine 
New Zealand Ranunculus which had flowered in the rock garden and 
w’as in seed. I should be glad to hear from anyone who has tried and 
succeeded with this rare plant. So far as I can learn most people have 
lost it, and I should be glad to know under what conditions it has been 
found to do well.— S. Arnott. 
- Kent Raspberries. —Down in the alluvial bottom of Mr. 
Cannell’s Eynsford Farm Raspberries Superlative, Norwich Wonder, 
and Le Quatre Saisons Rouge do well. The two latter were fruiting 
heavily a few days since, and women were busily engaged gathering the 
fruit. The latter is essentially an autumn fruiter, but the two others 
are practically summer fruiters. Norwich Wonder is one of the oldest 
Raspberries in cultivation apparently, as it has been grown in Kent for 
over sixty years, and it is one of the hardiest, most enduring, and heavy 
cropping.—A. 
- Recreation Grounds in London. —Negotiations for the 
purchase of the 17 acres of land for the purpose of providing a 
recreation ground for Deptford are now, says a daily contemporary, on 
the point of completion. The purchase money is £36,000. Another of 
the proposed new parks is situated in the Isle of Dogs, facing Greenwich 
Hospital, It is 3 acres in extent, and the purchase price of £8700 will 
be contributed partly by the Council and partly by the Poplar District 
Board. Hilly Fields, Brockley, purchased some time ago, consists of 
between 40 and 50 acres of beautifully undulating land, and the Council 
propose to expend about £5000 in fitting it out as a recreation ground. 
Bostal Heath, at Woolwich, will also be greatly improved by the 
proposed inclusion of 16 acres of private land which at present extend 
into the centre of the heath and somewhat mar its usefulness as a public 
resort. 
- Flower and Fruit Show at West Norwood,—T he 
Norwood co'tage gardeners and allotment holders held their ninth 
annual fruit and flower show on Saturday last at the Institute, Knight’s 
Hill, West Norwood, which was opened by Mr. C. E. Tritton, M.P. 
Mr, Tritton in opening the show said he had much pleasure in being 
able to state that their enterprise was not only a thorough success, 
but was superior to any of their antecedent ones, and would, he was 
quite certain, inspire new competitors for the coming year. The 
collections of flowers, fruit, and vegetables staged were beautiful, and 
reflected much credit on the careful hands which cultivated them. 
The competition was open to anyone within a radius of two miles of 
the Institute, with the exception of the open classes, in which case 
it was extended to three miles. The following are among the chief 
exhibits :—A beautiful collection of foliage plants from Mr. James, 
West Norwood ; a group of cut flowers from Mr. Salmon, and some 
fruit, not for competition, from Mr. Longley, Croxted House, West 
Dulwich. 
- Seedling Pansies.—M r, J. G. Hawley, Brookfield House, 
Swinton, Rotherham, sends us a box of his new seedling Pansies. The 
blooms are large, and richly coloured, the various shades being clearly 
defined. 
- London Trees. —In passing through Southwark Park, London, 
recently I was much struck with the Weeping Willows, Planes, and 
Black Italian Poplars. No lovers of trees should miss seeing them at 
once while they are in full beauty.— William Paul, Walthavi Cross, N, 
- Akchusa italica.— “E. K., DuUin," page 127, asks why 
this plant is blue. In Malta, where I saw it repeatedly last April and 
May, it is always of a deep blue colour (ultramarine). It occasionally, 
but very rarely, fades to reddish tinge, like so many of the Boragineae, 
but is certainly never yellow, as far as I know.— George Henslow. 
- A Fine Begonia, —I have sent you a double Begonia bloom* 
The variety was raised by a friend of mine four years ago, and was 
named Mrs, A. Ross. It is a very free bloomer ; plants of a fairly large 
size, carrying over 150 blooms, equal to the one enclosed.—J. S, A. 
[The variety is apparently a good one, the blooms being large, very 
double, and a rich yellow colour.] 
- A Curious Tree. —One of the most curious trees in Germany 
stands on the left bank of the River Oder, in Ratibor, Silesia. A 
reliable contemporary says it is a Maple, at least 100 years old, which 
has been twisted and cut into a sort of circular two-storied house. A 
flight of steps leads up to the first level, where the branches have been 
gradually woven together so that they make a firm leafy floor ; above 
this is a second floor of smaller diameter formed in the same way, and 
the ends of the branches have been woven into solid walls, and cut so 
that eight windows light each of the apartments. Below the first floor, 
at the level of the second and at the top of the tree the boughs have 
been allowed to grow out naturally, while the intermediate walls and 
the edges of the window-like openings are kept closely clipped. 
- Shirley Gardeners’ and Amateurs’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Association. —The monthly meeting of the above Society was 
held on Monday, the 20Lh inst.; Mr. B. Ladhams, F.R.H.S., presiding. 
Vine Culture formed the subject of a very interesting paper read by Mr. 
W. Mitchell of Chilworth Manor Gardens. The essayist, who is a suc¬ 
cessful exhibitor of Grapes, based his remarks on an experience of 
twenty-three years, dealing very fully with the methods of planting, and 
touching briefly on borders, manures, and the various diseases to which 
the Vine is subject, expressing a decided opinion that a large number of 
Vines, in inside borders particularly, are ruined from insufficient root 
watering. The subject for the next meeting will be “ Hardy Flowers for 
Garden and House,” by Mr. A. Dean, F.R.H.S,, Lecturer on Horticul¬ 
ture to the Surrey County Council. 
- Population and Gardening. —In your report of the jam 
factory celebration at Histon (page 173) Mr. Hugh Hoare, M.P., is 
stated to have said that Histon is one of the few villages in Cambridge¬ 
shire in which the population had increased. That is so far true of all 
other villages, parishes, or districts where market gardening, and 
especially fruit culture, is carried on. With agriculture comes decay 
and reduction of the population ; with gardening comes wealth and 
increase of the people. For one person employed on an agricultural 
farm the fruit or vegetable farm employs three or four at least, if not 
more. Then the people have regular work, better pay, and have more 
comforts ; in addition, women find much employment, and good wages 
also. This is a fact that should attract the attention more than it does 
of philanthropists and politicians.—A. D. 
- Kaffrarian Plants. —Mr. Thomas R. Sim, curator of the 
Botanic Garden, King William’s Town, South Africa, has done good 
service by collecting and systematically arranging the records of 
Kaffrarian plants in a pamphlet recently published at Cape Town. As 
a botanical district Kaffraria is described as an oblong tract of country 
200 miles long by about 100 miles wide, bounded at one end by the Karoo 
and at the other end by Natal. According to “ Nature,” Mr. Sim finds 
that the flora includes 2449 species, of which 1690 are dicotyledons, 
656 monocotyledons, and 103 vascular cryptogams. The richness in 
species is shown by a comparison with Great Britain—an area much 
greater than that of Kaffraria, but containing only about 1700 species. 
The opinion is expressed that were the Kaffrarian plants as well known 
ae our own they would number more than 3000 species. Though Mr. 
Sim’s list is incomplete, it is an excellent groundwork upon which a 
detailed description of the flora of the district surveyed may be built. 
