June 1, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
C25 
the narrow-leaved kind was in personal decoration, 
are called Horse May. Thus we have the Horse Daisy 
as a common name for the Ox-eye (Chrysanthemum 
leucanthemum) ; and Horse Violet is the local name 
in Somersetshire for the Pansy or Heartsease. Then 
there is the Horse Mushroom, Horse Radish, Horse 
Mint, Horse Parsley and others more or less familiar. 
In Devonshire, the large heads of the Knapweed 
(Centaurea nigra) are called Horse Hardheads, to 
distinguish them from the common Hardheads, or 
Soldiers, as many children call them, which grow by 
the roadside and on waste land everywhere, and belong 
to the Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata).” I have 
extracted this from the Rev. H. Friend’s Flower Lore. 
It will be seen that many of these plants bearing the 
name of Horse, are not so called on account of any 
particular liking that creature has for the flowers and 
fruit, for in many cases the animal will not touch the 
plants, even when it finds them in the green grass or 
well-dried and fragrant hay. Sir Thomas Brown long 
since remarked in his “Vulgar Errors” : “And so are 
they deceived in the name of Horse-radish, Horse-mint, 
Bull-rush, and many more ; conceiving therein some 
prenominal consideration ; whereas the expression is 
hut a Grecism, that is, Horse and Bull intending no 
more than great. ” 
The Horse Chestnut is by no means a picturesque 
tree, being too regularly rounded in its outlines, and 
too compact and close in its surface to produce a 
spirited effect in light and shade ; still the regular 
rounded pyramidal shape is something so different 
from that of most of our large trees as to strike the 
spectator with an air of novelty and distinctness. But 
the great beauty of the Horse Chestnut is in the 
splendour of its inflorescence, surpassing that of all 
our forest trees ; the huge spikes of gay blossoms, 
which every spring are distributed with such luxuriance 
and profusion over the surface of the foliage, and at 
the extremity of the branches, give the -whole tree the 
aspect rather of some monstrous flowering shrub than 
of an ordinary tree of the largest size. 
The scarlet Horse Chestnut is iEsculus rubicunda 
rosea, a tree of slow and irregular growth, differing 
greatly from our ordinary Horse Chestnuts. But it 
has its ornamental uses, and produces its deep red 
flowers in May and June, but later than its congener. 
It is said to be a good tree for planting in smoky 
districts. 
The growth of the Horse Chestnut is slow for a 
soft-wooded tree when the trees are young ; after five 
or six years, however, it advances with more rapidity, 
and in twenty years or so forms a beautiful and massivo 
tree. It prefers a strong, rich, loamy soil, and is 
easily raised from the large nuts, which are produced 
in great abundance ; and seedlings show variations, 
some being much earlier in leaf than others.— B. D. 
-- 
THE STRAWSONISER. 
Me. G. W. Stkawson’s invention of a pneumatic drill 
for distributing either liquid or solid insecticides, or 
for broadcasting evenly and expeditiously corn, grass 
seeds, or manures, received a public trial on Saturday, 
May 18th, in "Windsor Great Park. The patent rights 
in this most ingenious and efficient invention have now 
been transferred to a company, whose chairman is Mr. 
Jacob "Wilson; and several of his colleagues on the R.A.S. 
council are among the directors. Mr. W. S. Forster, 
Gore Court, Maidstone, has also joined the board ; his 
crops having been sometimes nearly ruined, like those 
of his neighbours, by parasitic pests, of which in future 
he hopes, by means of the new power, to be able to 
accomplish the destruction. 
A party of thirty persons assembled by invitation at 
the Queen’s Flemish Farm, near the show-yard of the 
R.A.S., for the purpose of witnessing a thorough trial 
of its powers. Passing by permission through the 
homestead, a level, fallow field, newly harrowed and 
rolled, was reached. In this, for the sake of saving 
time, two machines were provided ; and although the 
drills were newly made, with the paint upon them hardly 
dry, and though they had been turned out by un¬ 
practised hands, not a hitch occurred, the machines 
being of such simple construction that they are not 
liable to get out of order. 
In the distribution of the substances—such as seeds, 
soot, lime, manures, paraffin, or other liquids charged 
with chemicals—a fast-moving horse should be used ; 
and the driver should be seated on the machine. The 
materials, liquid or solid, are fed out of a hopper or 
tank ; and as they quit the machine they are sub¬ 
jected to a strong blast of air, which is obtained from a 
fan, whose rapid revolutions are caused by the ordinary 
action of the wheels. The nozzles by which the delivery 
of liquids takes place can be so adjusted as to give the 
spray a horizontal or a vertical direction. The latter 
is necessary in order to reach the tops of Hop poles or 
orchard trees. Nothing can exceed the perfection of 
the delivery. As little as a gallon per acre of paraffin 
can be distributed—a quantity so small that it could 
only cover that large space in the form of minute 
spray. The first trial, last Saturday, consisted in the 
distribution of paraffin, which fell in a cloud of mist on 
the vegetation of a green lane, where every leaf was 
covered and tainted by it; whilst every insect—in the 
case of infected crops of Hops, Vines, fruit trees, or 
others—would have received its quota, and probably 
its quietus. Some Barley was then put into a hopper 
and sown over the ground at the rate of 3 bushels per 
acre, in breadths of about 25 ft., in an admirable 
manner. Top-dressings were next tried in the form of 
nitrate of soda. This was distributed over the surface 
with perfect regularity. But the most remarkable of 
all the trials—at least from a pictorial point of view— 
consisted in the distribution over the fallow of powdered 
quicklime. This issued from the machine like a cloud 
of dense white smoke, that drifted down the wind, and 
would have covered every leaf of Turnip—if there had 
been any, and the body of each Turnip-fly—with a thin 
caustic film, too minute to injure the crop, but quite 
sufficient to disturb, and to a great extent to destroy 
the insects. Last year some Turnips, badly attacked 
by fly, were dressed with quicklime across the middle 
of the field ; and the belt thus dressed yielded a good 
crop, while the rest of the field was entirely spoilt. 
Double Proxies. 
“The more wind the better,” remarked one of the 
spectators, who had experienced the benefits of the 
process. It was a light breeze( on Saturday and 
the cloud of lime only drifted a moderate distance ; still, 
it was estimated from the breadth covered in a single 
bout, that at least 25 acres per hour might readily have 
been dressed. It is scarcely necessary to remind the 
practical agriculturist of the importance of dressing a 
large breadth of stricken Turnips rapidly, while the 
dew is still on the leaf. Such work as a rule, to be 
serviceable, should be completed by four o’clock a.m. 
The quantity of dry artificial manure which the 
machine is made to distribute is from J cwt. to 7 cwt. 
or 8 cwt. per acre ; and six or eight acres may be 
covered in an hour. From a gallon to six bushels of 
corn may be sown per acre. We did not, of course, 
witness the actual dressing of Hops or fruit trees, but 
we saw the vertical delivery of the spray of liquid by 
which such work can surely be accomplished. For 
Hops, a narrow machine has been constructed, which 
is able to pass between the rows ; and we believe that 
for the first time Hop growers now really have within 
their reach a practical method of battling successfully 
with the pests, which have hitherto so often destroyed 
their crops. English agriculture has, by this new 
invention, acquired a machine simple in construction 
and easy to use, which will insure it against some of 
its heaviest risks ; besides sowing corn and manures 
better and more expeditiously than they were ever sown 
before. The wine-growers of France, Spain, and 
Germany will gain the means of safe-guarding their 
valuable crops ; while sanitary and local authorities 
have acquired a power of flinging upon streets, market¬ 
places, or show-yards deodorisers or disinfectants. It is 
anticipated that hand-power machines, as well as those 
of greater size, will be called for. The cost of these 
has not yet been fixed. The present price of the larger 
horse-power machines is £30.— II. E., in the Field. 
PiEONIA OFFICINALIS FLORE 
PLENO. 
Many years ago the double forms of the common 
Psony were the most common in cultivation, and were 
the glory of many a cottage garden. Since then, 
however, the Siberian P. albiflora has developed into 
a great number of varieties, both single and double, 
and the latter are finding their way into numerous 
market gardens, private establishments, and others. 
"We have no intention to gainsay their beauty and 
decorative value, but the old-fashioned P. officinalis 
with its double form is still very beautiful, and when 
well grown the latter develops flowers of immense 
size, perfectly double, as may be seen from our illustra¬ 
tion which is greatly reduced, and of a deep crimson- 
red. There is another variety passing under the name 
of P. o. Anemonseflora, with equally double flowers, but 
the supernumerary petals are very narrow, as seen in 
some double Anemones; whereas in the ordinary 
double form the petals are broad and rounded, giving 
the flowers a handsome appearance. 
-- 
THE TULIP, OTHER THAN SHOW 
VARIETIES.* 
The history of this family would, in itself, afford suffi¬ 
cient material for opening a discussion at a meeting 
such as ours. It is always interesting and instructive 
to know the history of any family, but I must own I 
am not well up in the history of the Tulip, and so will 
leave the treatment of that part to someone else. The 
lines I wish to follow are practical and commercial. 
The latter word prevents me from including the show 
varieties here. I believe they will never become 
popular as cut flowers. As proof of this, one has only 
to look at the leading florists’ windows to see that not 
broken, but solid or decided colours are used for effect. 
All efforts, I fear, will fail to revive the florists’ Tulips 
section as market plants. 
The three classes I wish to refer to are the Dutch or 
bedding, the Parrot, and the species of the genus 
Tulipa. Their culture is simple and well adapted to 
this country. The treatment of the varieties varies 
but little. The few species that are not quite hardy 
will be kept out of view. The first thing to be done is 
to select a sheltered situation. The land ought to be 
sandy, light up to medium loam. "Wet heavy land 
ought by all means to be avoided. Select a piece that 
has grown a crop without manure, then apply plenty 
of new stable manure. It may be put in with the 
plough just before planting, or by bastard trenching, 
so as to place it 6 ins. from the surface. When re¬ 
commending new manure I am aware I clash with 
many good cultivators, but I here give the finding as I 
have found it—that is, our results have always been 
better from new than from old manure. However, let 
it be new or old, it ought never to come in contact 
with the bulbs. 
Early in October is the best time to plant ; 3 ins. to 
4 ins. deep, 3 ins. between the bulbs, and 8 ins. 
between the rows represents my practice. Some re¬ 
commend planting 6 ins. deep, but when grown at this 
depth in large quantities the expense is largely in¬ 
creased in lifting. After planting there is little to do 
except keeping the bulbs clean. For ordinary seasons 
they will be ready for lifting early in June. The time 
varies a little according to the season, but it is always 
safe to lift whenever the foliage begins to get yellow. 
If they have been in good quarters the flowering bulbs 
in most instances will have produced a good second¬ 
sized and also a small bulb, and the small ones will 
have developed into flowering bulbs. I may here say 
that if they are allowed to remain in the ground after 
they are ripe the skin of the bulb will be dark, and not 
the bright colour a saleable bulb ought to be. When 
lifted they ought to be placed in trays, boxes, or laid 
out in lofts, with plenty of air. A dark shed or out¬ 
house is preferable, for if exposed to the sun or much 
light the skin will crack and come off. 
I have already said that the treatment is simple, but 
there can be no success if annual lifting is not practised, 
and the lifting and planting done at the proper time. 
I have also said that the culture is well adapted to this 
country. Now, how is it we do not grow our own 
bulbs ? Seeing that no nation in the world grants us 
the same privileges that we grant them, it becomes us 
to look round and see if we are not spending large sums 
of money on a plant we could grow, if not better, 
equally as well ourselves. For a number of years I 
have planted Dutch-grown bulbs by the side of home¬ 
grown ones, the latter producing larger flowers than 
* A paper read by Mr. James Walker, of Wliitton, at the last 
meeting of the Horticultural Club. 
