t)ctober 25,1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
391 
H. G. Schultz, Esq., late of Mossley House, having removed to Child- 
wall Hall, Mr, Heany, the well known grower and exhibitor, has been 
somewhat handicapped by having to move his plants about, consequently 
they are not so good collectively as in former years. Still, he will have 
some good blooms of Duke of York, Mrs. C. H. Payne, Edith Row- 
■bottom. Princess May, Waban, La Verseau, Vice-President Calvat, 
Primrose League, Le Prince du Bois, and other standard sorts. Incurved 
varieties are promising, but a trifle late ; Golden Wedding has done 
badly. Growers will be pleased to hear that Mr. Heany has almost 
recovered the serious illness which prostrated him for many weeks at 
the beginning of the year. 
Mr. Forbes, Crofton, Aigburth, an old Edinburgh and Liverpool 
champion, has a stock of 300 older sorts and twenty new ones, his 
Japanese being strong, healthy, and certain to give the highest possible 
results. The most promising of the newer sorts are G. C. Schwabe, 
President Borel, Louise, Mdlle. Th4r^3e Rey, The Tribune. Rose Wynne, 
and Madame Charles Molin, all grand. W. H, Atkinson, M. Panckoucke, 
Charles Shrimpton, Miss Dorothea Shea, Viscountess Hambledon, Lizzie 
Dartledge, Mons. Giroud, and other standard varieties are in fine form. 
Golden Wedding is here a success, all the five plants being in perfect 
health. Mr. Forbes cannot account for the shoots dying. All the 
Queens are on the terminal buds, but will make good flowers. Lord 
Rosebery is promising amongst new varieties. Medium ripened wood 
he considers best for producing good flowers. Mr. Forbes will show 
well, although having 100 plants less than last year. 
A hurried visit paid to Mr, Tunnington at Calderstones, Aigburth, 
found him with 200 plants. He does not exhibit, and has not covered 
them with tiffany, or he firmly believes that all the damping which they 
at present are suffering from would be quite prevented. The best of 
his Japanese are President Borel, Mrs. C. H. Payne, Robert Owen, 
Viscountess Hambledon, Rose Wynne, Viviand Morel, and Wilfred 
Marshall, a great acquisition midway between W. H. Lincoln and 
Golden Dragon, but better than either. All the Queen types are 
coming fine and clean, as are other incurved. Wood too well ripened 
he finds produces hard scaly buds, and what he terms the ripening 
process commences when the buds are taken. Golden Wedding, he 
thinks, is constitutionally bad. 
The collection of 800 plants grown this year by Mr. Jellicoe, Camp 
Hill, Woolton, is in grand condition. He is not behind in Japanese, 
and those of the Queen family are certainly an advance on former 
seasons. To see thirty plants each of Baron Hirsch and Mons. R. Bahuant 
leaves a lasting impression. The best new Japanese are Madame Amy 
Chantler, Louise, President Borel, handsome ; Eda Brass, Mrs. P. Blair, 
Duke of York, but Col. Chase is not thought a great deal of at present; 
Mdlle, Th4rem Rey and all good older sorts are in the best possible 
condition. The Princesses and Tecks are rightly timed, and reflexed 
and Anemones very promising. I predict a successful run for Mr. 
Jellicoe. The roof of every house is closely veiled with tiffany, and I 
defy anyone to find a decayed petal. Eve and Wm. Seward, so subject 
to scorching and damping, are perfect under shade.—R. P, R. 
NUTRITION OF ROOTS. 
In reply to Mr. Gilmour (page 360) it appears that nothing will 
satisfy him but an open admission that everything previously 
stated by me is wrong, and that his arguments are the only correct 
ones. I am unable to concur with the proposition. 
All through the controversy I have maintained that “ the roots 
of plants absorb water in the process of evaporation ”—namely, by 
condensing it. 
I can assure Mr. Gilmour that I do not believe that condensa¬ 
tion and evaporation mean one and the same thing. 
If Mr. Gilmour is not satisfied with the authorities I have 
already quoted please let him read “Johnston and Cameron,” 
pages 229 and 230 ; “ Warrington’s Chemistry of the Farm,” 
pages 8 and 22 ; Edmond’s “ Botany,” page 38 ; Johnson’s “ How 
Crops Grow,” pages 26, 366, 7, 8. 
Mr. Gilmour states “ that roots only absorb actual water.” 
That clouds, mists, and steam are all actual water, therefore they 
contain all the elements of plant food, such as potash, calcium, 
iron, phosphorus, and others which make up the plant. 
Fogs, clouds, mists are water (but in the intermediate con¬ 
dition), as is even steam itself ; but in using the word water all 
along I have meant actual liquid water, as anyone who has read 
the correspondence would comprehend. 
I am able scientifically and practically to test and prove every 
argument before I submit it for print, and can not only see the 
film of water (condensed) on every particle of soil, but can 
estimate the quantity, and the amount of plant food in vapour and 
in liquid water. 
In respect to Mr. Gilmour’s statement that “ one gas cannot 
dissolve another, and a gas cannot hold anything in solution,” my 
reply is that simple gases cannot dissolve, they can only diffuse and 
combine ; but it is different with compound gases, such as watery ' 
vapour, ammonium, and carbonic dioxide. Let Mr. Gilmour pro¬ 
duce free ammonia and watery vapour in two flasks, connect them, 
and test the result ; he will then prove that vapours can dissolve 
and hold in solution inorganic compounds.—G. A. Bishop. 
HANDY SPRAY DISTRIBUTORS. 
Messrs. W. F. Charles & Co., Loughborough, have sent us 
samples of their spray and powder distributors (figs. 60 and 61), also of 
what they describe as their deadly (to insects) but non-poisonous pre¬ 
parations for use. The majority of spray distributors, however 
excellent, though meeting the requirements of many, and still many more 
might advantageously use them, do not of necessity meet the wants 
of the million, either as amateurs with very small gardens and a little 
greenhouse in the suburbs of towns and cities, or cottage gardeners and 
allotment holders in rural districts. By the timely use of insecticides 
in the form of spray or of powder many pests, such as red spider 
attacking Gooseberry bushes, aphides attacking Roses, mildew infesting 
Vines or Chrysanthemums, and flies, with their issue of maggots, ruining 
Onion crops, might either be prevented or injury from them greatly 
minimised. The small aids (figured) to small but earnest cultivators 
are within the means of the greatest number, and are capable of con¬ 
quering garden pests innumerable by early and systematic use. We 
have been happy in neither having insects nor mildew to combat for 
some time, but we do not hesitate saying that, as a rule, scientifically 
compounded and properly made insecticides and fungicides, advertised 
from time to time by firms of repute, are safer and better than the 
many roughly home-made concoctions ,which have often done more 
FIG. 61. 
harm than good as used with a syringe ; and they are more costly than 
insecticides applied in the medium of mist-like spray. Mr. S. T. 
Wright, of Glewston Court, who is an admitted authority, speaks 
highly of the preparations in question. 
A POINT WORTH CONSIDERING. 
The season of the year has arrived at which the watering of pot 
plants requires to be conducted with great care, and sound advice in the 
matter is, err rather on the side of dryness than in the opposite direction. 
The point, however, to which I want to draw especial attention relates 
to the temperature at which the water should be used. This is a matter 
which has not been very fully discussed in the Journal during recent 
years, though I remember in years gone by it formed a matter for 
w'ordy warfare. The advice usually given frequently runs in this way, 
“ Use water at about the same temperature as that of the house in which 
the plants are growing, or apply water at a slightly higher temperature 
than the plants are growing in.” This is no doubt safe advice, but I 
have come to the conclusion that better results are obtained by using 
water at a temperature of at least 10° warmer than that in which the 
plants are located. 
Take for instance an ordinary greenhouse kept at a night tempera¬ 
ture of from 40° to 45°, and a few degrees higher by fire heat during the 
daytime ; water at a temperature of 50° would in such a house feel 
comparatively cold to the hand, and I find that when the object is to 
kaep the inmates of the house steadily growing water given at a 
temperature of 60° is more generally satisfactory. Of course, in the 
case of plants such as Azaleas, Camellias, Hydrangeas, and Acacias, 
which remain almost dormant during the midwinter months, it would 
not be desirable to apply water at so high a temperature, unless the 
object be to induce them to flower somewhat early. In the case of quickly 
growing plants (which are cultivated for winter and spring flowering, 
and yet must perforce be kept in cool houses), such as Dallas, Primulas, 
Cyclamens, and Cinerarias, the practice of giving water at this 
relatively high temperature has much to commend it, as the plants 
80 treated grow much more rapidly, and are generally maintained in a 
healthier condition than are others growing under similar conditions in 
other respects, but which in the matter of watering are treated in the 
ordinary way.—H. D. 
