January 30, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
837 
The National Chrysanthemum Society. —With a 
view to providing a means of bringing the members 
together for pleasant social intercourse, the executive 
officers of this society recently organised a Smoking 
Concert, which came off with great eclat at Anderton's 
Hotel on the 23rd inst. There was a capital atten¬ 
dance, and over thirty “ turns " were set down on 
the programme. Both the vocal and musical contrib¬ 
utions were of a high order of merit, and the songs 
of Mr. G. S. Addison, the concertina solos of Mr. 
Harry Turner, and the musical melange entitled 
“ Exiphinisolosity ” rendered by Mr. Sam Payne 
were especially received with vociferous applause. 
“ Nature's Greatest Curiosity.”—A correspondent, 
“Perthshire,” sends us a circular bearing an 
illustration of an extraordinary character, with the 
above heading. The circular states that the curio¬ 
sity in question is the “ Chinese Lily Bulb or Water 
Plant,” the only plant in the known world that grows 
into a long Vine and produces beautiful flowers out 
of a glass of water. In the directions for growing the 
bulbs, it is stated that they float for several days, 
and take twelve to fifteen days before they commence 
to grow. The rudimentary illustration has evidently 
been drawn from imagination, and shows a climbing 
plant bearing a flower somewhat resembling a 
Nelumbium. Our correspondent had two seeds 
given him, and which were stated to be the Lily in 
question ; but he evidently considers, as we do, that 
the whole thing is a fraud. The Chinese Sacred 
Lily, so called, is now pretty well known to be a 
variety of the ordinary Polyanthus Narcissus, viz. 
Narcissus Tazetta chinensis, and does not differ very 
greatly from some varieties which have already been 
cultivated in British gardens and elsewhere for many 
years. The importer hails from Old Street, St. 
Luke’s, E.C., and naively requests that all applica¬ 
tions should be made by post. 
Railway Station Garders.—The Bristol Mercury 
states that travellers over the South Wales section 
of the Great Western Railway will be pleased to 
learn that Mr. Baker, the station-master at the 
Ashley Hill station, has been awarded by the G.W.R. 
directors a special prize of £5 for his floral exhibit 
tion at the station last season. The competition for 
the premium was very keen, and Mr. Baker has re¬ 
ceived a congratulatory letter from Mr. T. W. 
Walton, the divisional superintendent. It is interest¬ 
ing to note that the number of competing stations 
was 457, being an increase of four over last year and 
it has been decided by the directors to appropriate 
the sum of £250 for the prizes, dividing £5 each to 
12 stations, and ordinary prizes varying from ^3 to 
10s. to 150 stations. 
The Cost of Melting Snow with Gas.—Mr. Thomas 
Fletcher, of Warrington (to whom all householders 
who use gas for heating or cooking are under such 
great obligations for his admirable mechanical appli¬ 
ances appertaining thereto), points out in a forcible 
manner the absurdity of melting snow by gas heat 
considering the cost of the operation. Mr. Fletcher 
says:—“Six inches deep of average snow, when 
melted, becomes half-an-inch depth of water, 24 
squarefeet of which will weigh 62|lbs., or 234 lbs per 
square yard. At this rate the snow on one mile (or 
1,760 yards) of a street 20 yards wide would, if 6 in. 
deep, weigh 823,680 lbs., or 363-J tons. The heating 
power of London gas is 660 units per cubit foot, i.e., 
one cubic foot of coal gas will heat 660 lbs. of water 
1° Fahrenheit, and of this we may take it as a 
maximum that 500 units could be utilized. It has 
been proved repeatedly and beyond question that 
1 lb. of snow at freezing point requires 150 units of 
heat to melt it and raise the temperature of the water 
obtained to 40 s Fahrenheit, and this effect would be 
produced on 3J lbs. of snow by the consumption of 
one cubic foot of coal gas. From the above data it 
will be found that to melt the snow in the assumed 
mile of street would require the consumption of two 
hundred and forty-seven thousand cubic feet of gas 
costing, at 3s. per 1,000 cubic feet, a little over /37, 
or at the rate of £3,256 per square mile." 
Black Knot Fungus in Plum Trees.—At the last 
meeting of the Scientific Committee Dr. Masters 
showed specimens of this disease received from the 
United States. The disease occurs in Plum trees, 
principally the Greengage, and is due to a fungus, 
Plowrightia morbosa, which produces a black nodu¬ 
lated outgrov/th—spongy within on the surface of the 
branch. The tissues affected seem to be the inner 
layers of the bark and the cambium layer, the cells 
of which are disintegrated and broken up into a 
spongy mass. The disease has been described by 
Professor Farlow, and is very common in America, 
but happily, it is scarcely, if at all, known here. 
Destruction by fire of the affected branches is the 
only remedy that can be suggested, though probably 
spraying with sulphate of copper in an early stage 
would be effective. 
♦ , 
THE LATE 
DR. W. R. WOODMAN. 
We are indebted to the kindness of Mrs. Woodman 
and Mr. Napper for the opportunity of publishing 
to-day a portrait of the late Dr. William Robert 
Woodman, of Exeter, whose lamented death was re¬ 
corded in our issue for January 2nd. Of Dr. Woodman 
it may truly be said that we could have better spared 
a better man, for he represented a type of English 
character all too few in number in these degenerate 
days—a man of high cultural attainments, whose 
exceeding gentleness of disposition and unbounded 
generosity in the cause of true charity endeared him 
to all who knew him. To what has already been said 
of him in these columns we may now fittingly add, 
with the concurrence of Mrs. Woodman, the follow¬ 
ing short paper on “ Autumn Leaves,” written by 
her late husband, which was found after his death. 
“There is a placid beauty and rotundity about 
the very word October, redolent with the brewing of 
famous ale which bears its name, and luscious with 
its purple vintage. Of all the months of the year, 
October is the most enjoyable. It is true the days 
are short, but then the evenings are long, and the sun 
The Late Dr. Woodman. 
does not intrude into your bedroom in the middle of 
the night and bake you as you lie restless on your 
bed. You can have a fire or not of an evening just 
as you like; and if you do have one you can enjoy a 
long evening assisted by its cheerful glow. The glare 
of summer is over, the burning sky, the dusty hedge¬ 
row ; you can walk or ride without fatigue, and we 
get many pleasant sunshiny days, many happy skies 
with soft roving clouds which, whilst they keep the 
earth cool, seem busy and active, flying hither and 
thither, gently impelled by breezes which exhilarate 
nature, exhausted by the potency of the all-powerful 
sun. The earth wants rest, and so do we, for light 
and heat are the great agents of life, and not only 
draw out of the earth its products, but seem also to 
stimulate man himself to his greatest efforts. How¬ 
ever relaxing the weather, there is much work done 
in the summer, and nature now needs rest. 
«The golden grain has been garner’d, the grateful gift 
of mother earth, 
Brought from her choicest stores, and mellowed 
well by golden sunshine.' 
“ We all know how pleasant is the evening hour, 
when the book is closed, and work put away, and the 
business which has engrossed us is set aside, and we 
linger over the fireside enjoying the time after our 
several fashions, either in quiet conversation or calm 
contemplation, as it were preparing ourselves for that 
rest which is to recruit our wasted energy, and give 
us strength to enter on the busy scenes of the mor¬ 
row. Such a respite is October. Nature seems 
hushed, everything is toned down, quite calm is the 
order of the day, and the sun itself seems afraid to 
come forth in its wonted splendour. There is a rich 
balminess in the air, with light clouds floating lazily 
in the higher atmosphere ; nature is, in fact, prepar¬ 
ing for its winter rest. The nights, though some¬ 
what clouded over at times, are now often fine and 
clear, with the moon and stars yielding their pale 
light to help the benighted traveller, surprised by the 
rapidly shortening days, that give us a gentle hint of 
the approach of winter which, with all its dreariness 
and terror for the old and feeble, exercises a bracing 
and invigorating influence on the young and 
active, and more than anything else tends to render 
us the long enduring hardy toiling race we are, and 
has much to do with the development of English 
pluck. The landscape painter knows the value of 
the month, and his most favourite pictures glow with 
autumn tints : the heather-clothed hillside with its 
varied hues, and the wooded glade, the leaf ripe 
enough to be golden, not old enough to fall." 
-■°v*‘- 
PODOCARPUS. 
The genus Podocarpus is distributed over various 
parts of the world, including Africa, Australia, China 
.etc., and as may be supposed comprises both tender 
and hardy species. The number of known species is 
between 50 to 60, but some are now unknown in 
gardens, whilst others are very scarce. They are all 
evergreen Conifers, and in suitable positions add not 
a little to the embellishment of the garden. 
Of late years the greenhouse species have been 
very much neglected, as it is only in first-class col¬ 
lections of plants that they find a place ; their neat 
appearance, however, together with their easy cul¬ 
tural requirements, ought to make them more popular 
in our conservatories and plant houses. Potted in 
good rough loam and peat, with a little sharp silver 
sand to keep the whole porous, and the pots well 
drained—or better still planted out in good open 
beds—they will be found to thrive well. 
Practically, only three or four species are suitable 
for out-door cultivation, and thesejshould be protected 
from cold piercing winds. They delight in a moist 
soil, but under no circumstances should water be 
allowed to become stagnant about the roots, as if so 
the plants will soon look sickly and present an un¬ 
sightly appearance. The species most commonly 
met with in gardens are 
P. chilina, very pretty and distinct Conifer. It 
forms a loose free growing tree, and is admirably 
suited for planting as single specimens on the lawn. 
Its numerous branches are freely clothed with narrow 
leaves 2 to 4 in. long, of a rich shining green above 
and slightly glaucous beneath. Its hardiness is beyond 
suspicion, as it has stood the severe test of recent 
winters without protection. It is a native of Chili 
and Peru and was introduced to our gardens in 1853. 
P. alpixus, an extremely rare, small growing 
Conifer ; is hardly ever found outside botanic gar¬ 
dens, but it should not be confined to the limits of 
such places, as it is entitled to more extensive culti¬ 
vation. It is a capital subject for planting along the 
front row of the shrubbery border ; but perhaps the 
place in which it is seen to best advantage is on the 
rockery, where it seems to be quite at home, and 
always" looks well, especially in the depth of winter 
when most of its associates are devoid of leaves. Its 
long trailing or arching shoots, which sometimes 
measure from 18 in. to 2 ft. long, are well furnished 
with short linear leaves I in. long, the colour being 
of a dark on the upper surface and glaucous beneath, 
with a prominent midrib. If allowed to grow at 
will it forms a low, spreading bush, but when the 
leader is tied to a stake it takes the form of a small 
tree. Although hardy it should, if possible, be 
planted in a sheltered position, in a compost of peat 
loam and leaf soil, which should be pressed quite 
firmly round the roots. An occasional watering in 
dry weather will be beneficial. It is a native of 
Australia. 
P. koriana —or more correctly speaking Cepha- 
lotaxus pedunculaca fastigiata — is an old inhabitant 
of our gardens, having been introduced so far back 
as 1861. In general appearar.ee it very much resem¬ 
bles the Irish Yew, especially at first sight, but on 
closer examination it is readily seen the two are quite 
distinct. Its rate of grovUh is slow even in goed 
fibrous loam and leaf mould — a mixture in which it 
thrives best. Its thick, narrow leaves measure 2 in 
long, are of a deep shining green above and paler 
beneath. It will grow in almost all positions, pre¬ 
ference being given to open spots. Being of such a 
hardy constitution, and the foliage of such a distinct 
green renders it a \ery valuable garden plapt.— T, 
