August 11, 1888. 
THE GAKDENING WORLD. 
791 
The peculiar form of the flowers, which are beautifully 
netted and veined, gives them an appearance somewhat 
resembling Pitcher plants. Possibly the cause of their 
not being so extensively cultivated may arise from the 
peculiar odour that the flowers in most of the species 
yield, and which cannot be described as at all pleasant. 
They root freely from cuttings made from the stem 
being divided into lengths and plunged in a good 
bottom-heat, and thrive best in a mixture of loam and 
peat in the form of a rough compost. In the spring 
months they should be pruned back sharp, to keep 
them within reasonable bounds, or else they would 
soon take up more space than what is allotted to them. 
Bignonias. 
Although all the members of this genus may not 
require stove treatment, still the majority like the 
genial warmth of such a structure until they are well 
established plants, when they may be cultivated in 
a warm conservatory or greenhouse to perfection, 
generally flourishing best when planted out in borders 
or large tubs, where their roots can have free scope. 
They like plenty of head room, and consequently do 
better when trained to a pillar or roof, where their 
shoots can ramble at their own free will. These plants 
are rarely seen, but when doing well they may e 
described as regal. The flowers of B. Cherere are 
generally produced in abundance, and being a beautiful 
orange-scarlet, are very attractive. B. Chamberlaynii 
produces fine cymes of yellow flowers, that are 
extremely beautiful, and should be grown in all 
collections of plants where room can be found for it. 
They generally require hard pruning back in the early 
spring, when they will make a fresh supply of new 
shoots, yielding masses of their large trumpet-shaped 
flowers in abundance, when planted out and in good 
health. — W. G. 
-- 
WASPS AND BEES. 
"Whatever may be the experience of gardeners and 
fruit growers generally throughout the country this 
season, there seems an entire absence of wasps in the 
suburban gardens of London. The extraordinary 
nature of the season will, no doubt, be held responsible 
for this state of matters, especially considering that 
queen wasps were plentiful enough as usual in spring. 
But surely there must be something else to account 
for the absence of wasps than rain and want of sun¬ 
shine, seeing that in some districts, even in tolerably 
wet seasons, a great amount of destruction has been 
done to various outdoor fruit crops, such as Plums, 
Gooseberries and Pears, particularly the two former. 
The wasps are even assisted in their depredatory 
work in wet seasons by the splitting of the fruit, 
although in the absence of such assistance they are 
able to pierce the skin and so help themselves. The 
continued and heavy rains that occurred during the 
month of July have caused a considerable amount of 
splitting amongst Gooseberries, which are not particu¬ 
larly liable to this evil, yet we hear no complaint 
with regard to the splitting of Grapes, even in the 
case of those that are proverbially liable to it in 
ordinary seasons. 
Notwithstanding the cold and sunless condition of 
the early part of the season, and the wetness of the 
latter part, insects of various kinds have been unusually 
plentiful and exceedingly destructive, not only to the 
fruit trees of various kinds, but also to forest or timber 
trees, particularly in the eastern counties and to the 
north of London, where complaints have been rife and 
discussions on the cause have at times been the common 
topics amongst horticulturists generally. Ravages to 
Apple trees especially have been unusually common 
even in the western suburbs while the trees were 
foliating and immediately afterwards. Since the larva 
of the depredators, however, have changed to the 
chrysalis, or, mayhap, to the perfect state, the trees 
have recovered, or rather surmounted the injury at 
first done to them by producing fresh growth. This 
applies also to Peaches and Nectarines on open walls, 
and which were sorely crippled with aphides during 
their earlier stages of growth, and to Roses, as well as 
other garden plants, not even excepting such things as 
CEnothera biennis, which was also badly attacked with 
various insects, but has now greatly recovered. 
The question may well be asked, although not so 
easily answered, how it has fared so badly with wasps 
while other insects generally have prospered. Food is 
as plentiful for wasps as for the latter. Neither, 
apparently, can it be urged that the smoky atmosphere 
has anything to do with the matter, considering thatr 
hive bees in the suburbs, or even in busy and crowded 
localities, have prospered fairly well. No special raids 
seem to have been made upon them by human agency, 
either by nest collecting or otherwise. In fact, they 
do not seem to have done much or any nest building 
in this neighbourhood this season. May we not infer 
that, locally at least, there has been an increase of birds 
or other of their natural enemies, and that they have 
been severely kept under in this way ? 
Speaking generally, the season has been anything 
but a propitious one for bees and honey collecting ; yet 
there are local instances where a good honey harvest 
has been stored away. This would seem strange in a 
thickly populated neighbourhood, especially when 
coupled with a wet season, and in no way can the 
source of honey be accounted for than that it has been 
obtained from flowering trees, such as Maple, Lime, 
Horse Chestnut, and Sweet Chestnut, together with a 
great number of minor importance. But there can be 
no doubt that a rich harvest has been collected from 
these alone, a natural succession of bloom having been 
kept up by the trees mentioned for a period extending 
over three months or thereabout. The Lime trees, 
which have long been known for the quantity of honey 
that can be obtained from them, have flowered excep¬ 
tionally well this year, and the weather being cool, 
they lasted in bloom a long time. The trees also being 
in the immediate vicinity, advantage was taken by the 
bees during the short intervals between the heavy 
downpours of rain to secure their precious spoils ; nor 
have their labours been unattended with a certain 
amount of risk, for in some instances they have sud¬ 
denly and without warning, as it were, been caught out 
by thunderstorms and heavy showers of hail, which 
bore them to the ground, destroying them in great 
numbers before they could reach shelter. Thus even 
in populous London, and in a season that has been 
anything but a propitious one for these busy insect 
toilers, a honey harvest is by no means a myth—at 
least, where the above-mentioned trees are plentiful. 
NEW BOOKS. 
The Trees of Commerce.* 
This is the second of a series of hand-books that are in 
the course of preparation for the benefit of those 
engaged in the timber trade ; and it might also prove 
serviceable to the forester or those engaged in the 
planting and cultivation of timber. One of the diffi¬ 
culties attached to the production of such a book is 
the labour entailed in finding the botanical or real 
name of many woods that are known in the trade by 
certain popular names, which are, as in many other 
instances of the kind, very misleading when one 
desires to trace the natural affinities of the trees pro¬ 
ducing the wood designated by such a name. As an 
instance of this, the Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) 
might be cited, the wood of which has long been 
known in the trade under the names of Poplar, 
Virginian Poplar, white Poplar, yellow Poplar, white- 
wood, canary-white-wood, canary-wool, or canoe-wood. 
A more recent name is bass-wood. It has no affinities 
with the Poplar at all, and white-wood and canary-wood 
refer to the colour of the wood, which varies according 
to the soil and. other circumstances. The uses to 
which it is put are numerous, and we have recently 
ascertained that it is largely used for the manufacture 
of sections and bar frames for bee-hives. It is inter¬ 
esting to note the value of the common white Birch to 
the natives of the highlands of this country, as well as 
those of northern and Arctic Continental countries. 
Its extreme hardiness is denoted by the fact that it 
extends as far north as vegetation itself, and is found 
at much greater elevations even than the Scotch Fir. 
The nomenclature, geography, history, and descrip¬ 
tion of the tree are all treated in an exhaustive yet 
interesting way, giving much valuable information in a 
small compass. It seems strange that Birch wood should 
still be used in many Continental countries for the 
purpose of smelting iron. The more important and 
commoner only of the trees extensively used for com¬ 
mercial purposes are noticed, while valuable kinds,, 
such as mahogany, teak, &e., that belong more to the 
finer branches of the trade, are ignored, chiefly for the 
prevention of unduly swelling the volume, and to- 
bring it within the reach of those having but a moderate 
income. To those who desire information given in a 
popular way concerning timber trees of everyday com¬ 
merce, and with which their avocation continually 
brings them in contact, we recommend the book as one 
thatmay please, instruct, or profit the reader according 
to circumstances. 
* The Trees of Commerce. By W. Stevenson. London : 
William Rider & Son, Timber Trades' Journal Office, 14, Bar¬ 
tholomew Close, E.C. 
OTES FROM SCOTLAND. 
-- 
Scottish Arboricultural Society: Pre¬ 
sentation to Dr. Cleghorn. —On Tuesday last, 
the thirty-fifth annual general meeting of the Royal 
Scottish Arboricultural Society was held in the class¬ 
room, at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Mr. 
Malcolm Dunn, Palace Gardens, Dalkeith, in the 
chair. After the transaction of the usual routine 
business, Mr. D. F. Mackenzie, Morton Hall, submitted 
the report of the judges on the competitive essays, the 
following being the awards “Report on the Giant 
Thuja,” bronze medal, A. D. "Webster, Hollydale, 
Holwood Park, Kent; “ Report on the Old and Remark¬ 
able Trees of Holwood,” silver medal, A. D. Webster ; 
“On the Comparative Value of Exotic Coniferee as 
Ornamental or Timber Trees in Britain,” No. 2 silver 
medal, A. D. Webster; “Landscape and Economic 
Planting,” bronze medal, Charles S. France, Ash 
Cottage, Bridge of Dee, Aberdeen; “Botany of 
Hampshire,” bronze medal, John Smith, surveyor, 
Romsey, Hampshire ; “Old and Remarkable Trees, 
with Photo Album,” No. 1 silver medal, James Barrie, 
forester, Stevenstone, Torrington, Devon ; “ Plans and 
Specifications for the Erection of Foresters’ Cottages,” 
No. 2 silver medal, R. B. Keay, forester, Redcastle, 
Ross-shire; “On the Comparative Value of Exotic 
Coniferee as Ornamental or Timber Trees in Britain,” 
No. 1 silver medal, Thomas Wilkie, Tyninghame, 
Prestonkirk ; “ Report on the Advantages of Forming 
Belts of Plantations on Hill Pasture-lands,” bronze 
medal, Thomas Wilkie ; “Report on the Rearing of 
Underwood for Game Coverts in High Forests,” bronze 
medal, Thomas Wilkie; “The Best Approved Collec¬ 
tion of Dried Specimens of Leaves of Hardy Trees,” 
George Dodds, Wentworth, Rotherham. 
The members subsequently visited the arboretum 
and the nurseries of Messrs. James Dickson & Sons, 
Messrs. T. Methven & Sons, and Messrs. Peter S. 
Robertson & Co. In the evening the annual dinner 
was held at the Waterloo Hotel, Professor Bayley 
Balfour presiding. During the after-dinner proceed¬ 
ings, Dr. Hugh Cleghorn, of Stravithie, was presented 
with his portrait, which Sir William Muir said had 
been subscribed for by peers, members of Parliament, 
principals and professors of universities, generals and 
colonels in the army, foresters, horticulturists and 
Indian judges. The testimonial also comprised £200, 
which is to be applied, with Dr. Cleghorn’s approval, 
to forming the nucleus of a library of suitable books, to 
be called the “ Hugh Cleghorn Forestry Library,” and to 
be placed in the Museum of Science and Art, Edin¬ 
burgh, 
Vegetable Notes. —Such seasons as the present 
teach us lessons which no amount of scribbling on 
gardening lore can convey. We had an excessively 
cold spring, with continuous easterly winds, and a 
showery May which encouraged growth of grass and 
weeds to an enormous extent, but was not really in 
favour of esculents generally in gardens. June was 
one of the coldest on record; few nights passed without 
frost, and bedding plants at the end of the month were 
worse in some respects than at the beginning, but 
many kinds of vegetables grew but little and became 
stunted. We know something of the difficulties of 
that enthusiastic class of amateurs, who excel in 
the production of fine vegetables, but have almost been 
baffled during the past summer months. Peas have 
filled badly, but have grown vigorously, and have (by 
us) had to be severely topped. The excessive cold 
winds and rains and absence of sun in July have shown 
us, in many cases, nothing but leaves. Strawberries 
have been an excellent crop, but have rotted to a great 
extent before they became ripe, and slugs have had a 
fine time of it. Raspberries and other small fruits (our 
crops are enormous of these) are very late, but with 
fine weather would yet do well. What we are driving 
at, however, is to make sure at this season of getting a 
good supply of Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Curled Kale 
and Savoys sown, to be pricked out to stand the winter 
in sheltered quarters. The difficulty in raising these 
has almost been unparalleled during the past season. 
The industrious northern cottagers teach us a lesson by 
the preparation they make with hardy crops, and the 
demand for the plants, as indicated last spring, was 
unusually great. Our Brussels Sprouts will not be 
ready for use till October this year. In former seasons 
the autumn - raised plants have come in during 
September, and the spring sowings kept up supplies till 
May. Cauliflower sown early in August will be strong 
for standing through the winter under glass protection. 
— Caledonian. 
