224 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 6,1894, 
- Tndigofera decora. —Thia plant, which bears spikes of 
snow-white flowers 3 or 4 inches long, is, says the “Garden and 
Forest,” a most desirable plant for the rockery in midsummer, as it is 
dwarf and low, the foliage a clear light green, and it keeps flowering 
for at least a month. It would also be an admirable plant for the front 
of a shrub border or any other position where a low compact growth is 
wanted. 
- Wasps.—P revious to the 26th ult. I had thought we were not 
going to be troubled much with wasps this year, but on the above 
mentioned date the sun broke forth after an absence of several days, 
and with it came multitudes of these insects. These attacked the fruit 
trees. Plums in particular, with such violence that by midday several 
people in the neighbourhood with only a limited number of fruit, 
thought it advisable to gather the crop. With me Green Gages and 
Apricots on the walls seemed to attract the wasps most, and to-day 
(the 28th ult.) I find they are very busy at the Grapes in the vineries.— 
R. M., Somerset. 
- Axchdsa italica. — Has not “E. K.” (page 127) made a 
mistake in saying that Paxton’s Botanical Dictionary gives this as pale 
yellow 1 My copy gives A. ochroleuca italica as pale yellow. 
Nicholson’s Dictionary of Gardening says A. italica and A. paniculata 
are synonymous, but Paxton says A. paniculata is “ red,” and does not 
give A. azurea, which Mr. Nicholson gives as another synonym. I do 
not think there can be any doubt that the blue plant is correctly named 
A. italica, and it seems to be universally grown under that name. I 
have seen a finer one (apparently only a variety) grown as A. italica 
amcena. Can this be Paxton’s A. amoena, which he says is “ blue ? ”— 
S. Arnott. 
- The Japanese Quince as a Hedge Plant. —A Pennsyl¬ 
vania correspondent of the “ Rural New Yorker ” mentions among the 
merits of the Japanese Quince as a hedge plant, that it does not 
naturally grow much taller than the proper height for a hedge, and that 
it quickly reaches that height. Cattle will not browse it or break it; it 
does not sucker much ; its foliage has a rich colour, which is held all the 
season through. It blooms every year, and when in flower it is beautiful; 
it is readily propagated by roots cut into inch lengths from any old 
plant in the autumn and kept in damp sand until the spring. It has 
great endurance and longevity ; its stems are continually renewed from 
the collar, and it is easily trimmed and kept into tidy shape. 
- Carnation The Spy. —As a pure white, free, and long con¬ 
tinuous flowering Carnation in the open I can thoroughly recommend 
The Spy. It has been in flower longer than any other kind out of doors 
in my garden in strong soil, and appears likely to last a long time 
yet. The plants make but little “grass,” which is unfortunate; 
what little is produced comes from parts of the flowering stems. 
Propagation will have to be carried on under such circumstances 
by the aid of cuttings. The growth is quite erect, the flowers 
standing up boldly, which is just the habit required in border varieties. 
The flowers are very shapely, with fringed petals and but the slightest 
suspicion of calyx bursting, but unfortunately the blooms are almost 
scentless.—E. M. 
- Flax Growing. —Whether Earl Winchilsea will ultimately 
succeed in his efforts to promote unity of action with the agricultural 
classes remains to be seen, but whether he does or not his endeavours in 
that direction and to promote the prosperity of agriculture are com¬ 
mendable. According to a midland contemporary he has been advising 
the growth of Flax, and has on the “ Cable Farm ” this year grown 
10 acres. The crop has been valued by an expert at £8 lOs. per acre 
for the linseed and £6 lOs. for the straw after the seed has been 
removed, making a total estimated return of £1.5 an acre. In a leader 
on the subject he says that at this stage it is sufficient to say that it is 
of good average quality, not deficient in bulk, and it is being harvested 
under favourable conditions. “ We are, however, aware,” he goes on to 
say, “ from letters which frequently reach us that a considerable number 
of our readers, acting upon our advice, have grown from 6 to 10 acres 
of Flax, and in some cases more. We feel, therefore, that they follow 
us with peculiar interest when we enter, as we are now doing, upon the 
next stage—and a very important one it is—of our experiment. Yet 
the interest, so far from being confined to them, will, we believe, be 
shared by British agrieulturists ; for what we have set ourselves to prove 
is, that although Flax under the old conditions might not pay to 
grow, Flax under modern conditions will pay very well, and will turn 
out to be a valuable substitute for the Wheat crop, which has ceased in 
many cases to pay its expenses.” 
- Messrs. Cdtbush & Son. — We are informed that the- 
employes of Messrs. Cutbush & Son held their annual outing on 
Saturday last (September Ist), on which occasion they went to Margate.. 
Mr. H= J. Cutbush and Mr. W. H. Cutbush were in attendance, and an 
enjoyable day was spent. 
- Weather in Sussex.—T he total rainfall at Abbot’s Leigh, 
Hayward’s Heath, Sussex, for the past month was 2’37 inches, being 
0 07 above the average. The heaviest fall was 0 87 inch on 23rd- 
Rain fell on twenty-one days. The maximum temperature in the shade 
was 74° on the 31st, the minimum 42° on the 2l8t and 22nd. Mean 
maximum, 68 11°; mean minimum, 52 13®. Mean temperature, 60 12°, 
slightly below the average. First three weeks of the month unsettled 
showery weather prevailed. The last week all that could be desired, 
bright, warm, and dry.—R. I. 
- The Weather in Hertfordshire. — Mr. E. Wallis, The 
Gardens, Hamels Park, Buntingford, Herts, writes: — “The weather 
during the most of the past month has been of a very unfavourable 
character for the well doing of most garden crops. There has, on the 
whole, been little sunshine, and for three consecutive days the sun 
was not visible, a most unusual event for this time of the year. A 
most desirable change set in at the close of the month, which it is 
hoped will continue. Rain has fallen during twenty days of past 
month ; maximum in any twenty-four hours being 0'67 on the 23rd. 
Total during the whole month 2’36, against 1-64 of 1893.” 
- Summary of Meteorological Observations at Hodsock 
Priory, Worksop, Notts, for August. —Mean temperature of month, 
57 8°. Maximum on the Ist, 7D3° ; minimum on the 2l8t, 41 •1°. 
Maximum in sun on the 5th, 129 4°; minimum on the grass on the 2l8t, 
28*5°. Mean temperature of air, 9 a.m., 59 3° ; mean temperature of 
soil 1 foot deep, 59 1° ; one night below 32° on grass. Total duration 
of sunshine in month 104 hours, or 23 per cent, of possible ; we had one 
sunless day. Total rainfall, 2 03 inches; rain fell on seventeen days. 
Average velocity of wind, 8’4 miles per hour; velocity exceeded 
400 miles on one day, fell short of 100 miles on six days. Approximate 
averages for August:—Mean temperature, 59 7° ; sunshine, 149 hours ; 
rainfall, 2'36 inches. A cool and dull month,—J. Mallender. 
- The Weather in Wales,—M r. W. Mabbott, The Gardens 
Gwernllwyn House, Dowlais, S. Wales, writes :—“The following is a 
summary of the weather here for the last month. Rain fell on twenty- 
three days, total amount, 5 14 inches; maximum, 0‘96 inch on the 
25th ; minimum, 0 01 on the 10th. A very heavy thunderstorm on the 
27th. 0 78 falling in thirty-five minutes. With the exception of the 3rd, 
11th, and 16th rain fell every day until the 26th, The last few days of 
the month were fine and milder. Number of hours of sunshine, ; 
maximum, 9:j^ hours on the 30th ; minimum, quarter on the 7th. The 
wind was in the north-west and west until the 22nd, since which time 
it has been east and south-east. Very cold winds have prevailed 
throughout the month, leaving vegetation of all kinds in a very back¬ 
ward condition.” 
- The Importation of Bananas.—O f the numerous southern 
and tropical fruits which have of late years been finding their way into 
the northern markets on both sides of the Atlantic, the Banana is the 
one which seems to have gained most favour in the eyes, and also in the 
taste, of the general public. The English supplies are drawn almost 
exclusively from Madeira and the Canary Islands, being the nearest 
places in which the fruit thrives. In Canada and the United States the 
trade in West Indian Bananas has increased by leaps and bounds. 
According to the “ Western Press ” it is a quarter of a century since a 
New York dealer made an attempt to introduce the fruit there, the 
venture being limited to the importation from Baracoa of 4000 bunches, 
but as it took ten days to dispose of them it does not seem to have been 
considered a successful operation. Ten years later another attempt was 
made, 10.000 bunches being brought from Jamaica. The dealer’s 
acquaintances declared him to be crazy, but within four days he had 
disposed of the whole shipment. The business then developed rapidly, 
and five years ago New York bad as many as fourteen steamers 
unloading cargoes of Bananas within a week, each landing from 
10,000 to 16,000 bunches, and there was no difficulty in disposing of 
1,000,000 bunches a month. These statements are supported by figures 
relating to the exportation of fruit from the West Indian Islands and 
neighbouring districts, which show that in 1893 as many as 13,000,000 
bunches, valued at £4,000,000, were landed at United States ports. In 
1880 British Honduras shipped 8958 bunches of Bananas, valued £700; 
next year the figures rose to 22,229 bunches and £1469; now the annual 
