February 20, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
387 
POISONOUS WEED 
KILLERS. 
Important to Seedsmen. 
At the Barnstaple County Court on the Sth inst., his 
Honour Judge Paterson delivered reserved judgment 
in an important action which was tried at the pre¬ 
vious court, in which the Pharmaceutical Society 
of England were the plaintiffs, and Mr. E. J. Butt, 
seedsman and florist, of Barnstaple, was the defen¬ 
dant. The cause of action was that the defendant 
sold in his business a certain compound, known as 
“ weed killer,” which contained poison in such quan¬ 
tities that only a registered chemist was entitled to 
sell.—Mr. E'lux, of London, represented the Society, 
and Mr. A. Seldon defended. It was understood at 
the last Court that the Society’s minute book should 
be produced before judgment was given. Mr. Brem- 
ridge, the plaintiff in the action, as representing the 
Pharmaceutical Society, now deposed to receiving 
authority from the Society to prosecute in this case, 
and he produced the minute book showing an entry 
to this effect made in October last. His Honour then 
delivered judgment. He said this was an action 
brought by the Society under section 15 of the 
Pharmacy Act, 1868, for selling poison contrary to 
that enactment. It was proved before him at the 
last Court that the defendant was not a registered 
pharmaceutical chemist, or a chemist or druggist 
within the meaning of the Pharmacy Act, and that 
on Tuesday, the 26th of October last, he sold in his 
shop a gallon drum of weed killer. The drum, which 
was made of iron, was labelled "'poison,” also, it was 
labelled, " weed killer,” with directions for its use, 
and " with care.” It was admitted on the part of 
the defendant that the drum contained arsenic in 
large proportions. The first section of the Phar¬ 
macy Act made it unlawful for any person to, inter 
alia, sell poisons unless such person shall be a phar¬ 
maceutical chemist, or a chemist or druggist within 
the meaning of the Act. The second section de¬ 
clared that the articles named in schedule A-to the 
Act should be deemed to be poisonous within the 
meaning of the Act, and amongst the articles named 
in the schedule was “ arsenic and its preparations.” 
By the 15th Section it was enacted that " any person 
who shall, inter alia, sell or keep an open shop for the 
retailing, dispensing, or compounding of poisons, not 
being a duly registered pharmaceutical chemist, or 
chemist, or druggist, shall for every such offence be 
liable to pay a penalty or sum of five pounds.” Mr. 
Seldon, for the defendant, contended that the Act 
applied only to poisons pure and simple, and not to 
a compound which might contain any of the poisons 
mentioned in the Act. There was no express deci¬ 
sion as to whether the Act does or does not apply to 
any such compound, but the poison might be fatally 
dangerous though sold in a compound, and the Act 
would lose much of its effect if the poisons mentioned 
in it were to be limited to such as were pure and 
simple. It was true that the poison sold in the pre¬ 
sent case was in a compound to be used for an inno¬ 
cent purpose, namely, the destruction of weeds. But 
it was not to the purpose for which it was to be used, 
but the sale without the requirements of the statute 
which was illegal. Here the drum which the defendan t 
sold contained arsenic in large proportions, and 
arsenic was one of the poisons decribed in Schedule 
A, and so within the meaning of the Pharmacy Act, 
1868, and therefore the defendant, not being duly 
registered as required by that statute, committed an 
offence which made him liable to the penalty of £5 
under section 15. Consequently, he must give judg¬ 
ment for the plaintiff for £5 and costs, the costs to 
be on the higher scale, but plaintiffs were not to have 
costs of the adjournment. As this matter was one of 
general importance he gave the defendant leave to 
appeal. 
SMALL FRUITS. 
(Concluded from p. 370.J 
Currants. 
There are three distinct sorts of Currants : the red, 
the white, and the black. The treatment required 
by the two former is identical, but that of the latter 
differs widely. Currants are extensively grown for 
culinary purposes, especially the red which is used 
for pies, tarts, and jellies; the black is mostly used 
for preserving, and the white as dessert. Red 
Currants are generally in great demand all through 
the season for making tarts, as, with a few Rasp¬ 
berries, they form one of the most delicious dishes 
obtainable. The season can be considerably pro¬ 
longed by planting in different aspects, and by 
netting and matting. A few bushes with a south 
aspect will produce the earliest supplies, followed by 
those in the open quarters, and later still those in a. 
north border. The latest supplies can be had from 
a north wall that has been protected by Archangel 
mats. It is surprising the length of time the berries 
of the red kind will hang on the bushes in good con¬ 
dition when protected from birds and rough weather. 
I have repeatedly gathered Red Currants in the 
latter days of November in good condition. There 
is no material difference between the propagation of 
Currants and Gooseberries (except Black Currants 
which will be referred to later), therefore my re¬ 
marks on Gooseberries (p. 370) apply equally here, 
and the same may be said of planting. 
Pruning and Training Red and White 
Currants 
When the young bushes have been raised as advised 
for Gooseberries they must be treated very differently 
in regard to pruning. The fruit is borne on the 
spurs formed on the old wood, therefore the 
branches must be thinly disposed to allow the buds 
and, later on, the fruit to ripen. In forming bushes 
do not leave too much wood for extension ; from 6 in. 
to 8 in. is sufficient. If too much is left on, spurs 
will not form along the whole length. The branches 
should not be forked if a sufficient number can be 
obtained to fbrm the bush without. In shortening 
the shoots they should always be cut to a bud 
pointing in the direction that the branch is wanted 
to go. Red and White Currants are greatly benefited 
by summer pruning or stopping ; the bushes should 
begone over in the summer (about June), and all the 
young shoots not required for extension shortened 
to four or five leaves. These at the winter pruning 
must be cut back close to the fruit buds at the base. 
A bush that has been treated in the manner 
described should have when established nine or ten 
branches clothed with fruit buds their entire length. 
Red and White Currants are extensively grown on 
walls, and they can be trained with any number of 
stems, but double cordons are the most serviceable. 
Whatever form’ is adopted the branches should be 
1 ft. apart on the wall, and if a little more space can 
be given so much the better. All the shoots, except 
the leader, should be stopped the same as advised 
for the bush form, and cut back in the winter. The 
leader should not be left more than 1 ft. long in a 
season or spurs will not form along the whole 
length. 
Black Currants. 
As these differ so widely from the other sorts, they 
must be treated separately. The strongest shoots 
should be selected for cuttings, and the lower buds 
should not be removed as in the other sorts. But 
the terminal one should be removed to encourage 
the production of young shoots, and if suckers can 
be obtained they will form stronger bushes. In form¬ 
ing young bushes the leading shoots must be shortened 
annually, until the bush has attained a fair size. 
They should then be left their full length, as it is 
from the previous year’s growth that the finest fruit 
is obtained. As in the case of Red and White 
Currants the branches must not be allowed to crowd 
each other; there should be a clear space of 9 in. 
between each. The annual pruning of established 
bushes is very simple ; all that is required is to cut 
out the old and weak wood, replacing it with strong 
young shoots from the bottom. The suckers that 
spring from the ground should be encouraged ; of 
course if they are crowded the weakest must be 
thinned out. The most favourable soil and situation 
for Black Currants is a good stiff loam and rather 
damp. 
Varieties of Black Currants. 
In private gardens it is not desirable to grow a large 
collection of Currants. The most useful variety 
amongst the Red kinds is the old Red Butch. If 
more variety is wanted or a few large showy fruits, 
some of the following should be grown, namely; 
Victoria, Knight’s Large Red, Cherry, Houghton 
Castle or Raby Castle. And amongst the White 
sorts, White Dutch, Wilmot’s Large White, and 
Grosse White or White Champagne are good. The 
best Black variety is Black Naples, but if more are 
required Black Champion or Black Prince should be 
grown. 
Enemies. 
Of these the most destructive are small birds, which 
eat the buds just as they are opening. If the bushes 
are dusted with a mixture of soot and lime in damp 
weather, it will help to protect them, as then the 
buds have a disagreeable taste. Currants are also 
attacked by caterpillars, which play such havoc with 
Gooseberries; the same remedies as advised for 
Gooseberries should be applied to Currants.— T. W, 
NEW § imil PIiflNT?. 
The undermentioned plants were exhibited at the 
Drill Hall, Westminster, on the 9th inst., at the last 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, and 
were awarded certificates according to their merits 
and value. 
Bertolonia argyroneura. —The leaves of this 
beautiful variety are of large size even for a Bertolo¬ 
nia, and of great substance and hardiness, of which 
there was occular demonstration at the Drill Hall. 
The plants had been grown without the aid of a bell 
glass or other protection, so that when placed on the 
exhibition table there was no necessity for covering 
them at all; and after being on the table all day, the 
leaves were as fresh as in the morning. They are 
elliptic, and deep green with seven white longitu¬ 
dinal nerves, more or less joined or connected with 
short lateral ones of the same hue, and closely 
mottled all over with white spots. 
Bertolonia Comte de Iverchove. —The leaves in 
this case are as large as those of the last named, and 
ovate-oval with a cordate base, of a deep olive green 
with seven rosy nerves, connected together with 
numerous transverse veins of the same hue, giving 
the leaves a netted appearance, the meshes being 
large. There are a few spots of a rosy hue, but they 
are not nearly so numerous as on the leaves of B. 
argyroneura ; and like the last named this variety is 
also very vigorous and requires no protection from a 
bell glass. Both were exhibited by Mr. C. F. Bause, 
Morland Nursery, South Norwood, London, and 
in each case a First-class Certificate was awarded. 
Elaeis melanococca.— In this we have a species 
of Oil Palm, but the palm oil of commerce is chiefly 
if not wholly, obtained from E. guineensis. The 
plant under notice was exhibited by Messrs. 
B. S. Williams & Son, Upper Holloway, who were 
accorded a First-class Certificate for it. The speci¬ 
men was about 2 ft. high or a little over, and 
furnished with numerous dark green, finely pinnate, 
spreading leaves. A rough comparison may be 
made between this Palm and a Phoenix, but of 
course the leaves are not furnished with the spines 
so characteristic of that well-known group of Palms. 
E. melanococca is smaller in all its parts than 
E. guineensis and more procumbent, so that it is 
better adapted for culture under glass and for general 
decorative purposes. It comes from tropical 
America. 
Iris Histrioides. —The penduncle, with the 
flower itself, of this Iris only reaches a height of 
3 in. to 4 in. The leaves are longer, slender, and of 
a glaucous green. The falls are of large size, 
spreading nearly horizontally, and are of a rich 
dark blue, variegated with spots of the same colour 
on a white ground along the centre. The erect 
standards are narrow, and, together with the petaloid 
stigmas, are of a bright blue. The rootstock is 
bulbous as in the case of I. Histrio. An Award of 
Merit was accorded it when shown by Messrs. 
J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. 
Clivia Hon. Mrs. P. C. Glyn.— The habit of this 
Clivia so far appears to be dwarf, yet the plant is 
sturdy and vigorous with trusses of large, richly 
coloured orange flowers. The segments are broad, 
especially the inner three, and spread widely at the 
mouth. A plant was exhibited by Mr. J. Friend, 
gardener to the Hon. P. C. Glyn, Rook's Nest, 
Godstone, Surrey, when an Award of Merit was 
accorded if. 
Lilac President Grevy. —The flowers of this- 
variety of Lilac are double and borne in large 
panicles or bunches. When forced and flowered at this 
season of the year they are nearly white with a pale 
lilac tube, and in general terms might be described 
as porcelain while. They are also agreeably fragrant. 
Being a variety of the Common Lilac (Syringa vul¬ 
garis) the leaves are of the ordinary heart-shaped form. 
Some trusses of bloom were exhibited by Messrs. 
Paul& Son, when an Award of Merit was accorded it, 
