THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 2, 1892. 
482 
Whe Potato Disease.— Our attention has 
been drawn to a short resume of a 
report respecting the Potato disease in 
France, and the application for the preven¬ 
tion or cure of the same on the Potato 
breadths of the sulphate of copper mixture, 
furnished to our foreign office by Consul 
Paunceforte. In this report the consul de¬ 
clares that wheresoever the mixture was 
tried, all over France, not one case of 
failure has been reported. That is a re¬ 
markable statement, and may •well induce 
Potato growers at home to give this mix¬ 
ture a renewed trial. 
Here at home, as we have previously 
mentioned, there have been some failures 
and some successes. Doubtless good 
reason could be shown why these different 
results have occurred, and it may be that 
some would be found in the different 
strengths of the mixture. In the consul’s 
report the strength is thus given:—Two 
pounds of sulphate of copper, four pounds 
of lime, and twenty-five gallons of water. 
It would have been specially interesting to 
have learnt more respecting the dates or 
periods of applications, the sorts experi¬ 
mented upon, and the number of applica¬ 
tions. Also something as to the general 
condition of the weather in France last 
summer as compared with that of Great 
Britain, which, as we too well remember, 
was cold and exceedingly wet. 
We confess to a very anxious desire to 
have this sulphate of copper mixture fully 
and widely tested here during the present 
year, but there are so many side issues that 
too much care cannot be taken to insure 
a perfectly impartial testing. We note 
that our French friends have raised a new 
Potato called the Eiffel. It is hoped that it 
is not quite so tall a grower as its name im¬ 
plies, but when we are told that the 
“ shoots come up with a rush,” recollec¬ 
tions of the famous Beanstalk of fairy 
stor)' naturally occur. After all, only in 
other language, what is said about it has 
been said about a score of varieties at 
home from time to time. 
Late Spring. —We are practically in 
the month of April, and although at 
this moment everj^ description of vegeta¬ 
tion shows but indifferent signs of activity, 
yet ere che month is out wonderful may be 
the change found, and entirely maj' the 
face of Nature be altered. Already we 
hear grumblings as to the spring being un¬ 
usually laggard. That idea we cannot 
adopt at present. The average character 
of the spring has j-et to be evidenced, for 
we are hardly yet into the vernal season, 
indeed can now be said only to reach the 
conclusion of winter with the end of 
March. Ordinaril}^ the winter has been 
a very prosaic one, though it has been 
quite severe enough to let us know that 
fact. Frost is still a potent force in 
Nature, yet has the winter been so far 
lenient that we have heard exceedingly 
little of privation caused by the hard 
weather of which undoubtedly we had 
enough. That is very satisfactory. 
Gardeners have found very little cause 
to complain of the winter, for if at times 
severe, on the whole it has been fairly dry 
and has not materially interfered with 
work. March has been an exceptionally 
dry month, the latter part being open and 
acceptable. Still nothing is forward or 
precocious. Those who now grumble 
somewhat for that reason doubtless rather 
think that if life is short our too-fleeting 
summers are much shorter, and that if a 
fairty early start be not made, then the 
end comes all too soon. If April should 
come at all up to its ancient traditional 
character, and by aid of its genial showers 
bring forth luxuriant flowers, we shall for¬ 
get the sluggishness of March and realize 
that for once we have a sweet, enjoyable, 
old-fashioned spring. 
Of late we have rarely found our 
summers to begin until July comes in. 
That is a somewhat severe reflection upon 
the midsummer of tradition, which is said 
to come at the end of June, but then there 
have been years, if not recently at least, 
in days gone by when the spring seemed 
to be but the beginning of summer. 
Would that we could see such a meteoro¬ 
logical phenomenon this season, then, 
indeed, should we have cause to rejoice. 
The Clay Cross Horticultural Society will hold its 
thirty-fifth annual exhibition on Tuesday, August 
16 th. 
Mr. E. Dumper, formerly gardener at Summerville, 
Limerick, has been engaged as gardener to the Hon. 
H. D. Ryder, High Ashhurst, Dorking. 
A Free International Exhibition of Orchids will again 
be held in Brussels in May next from the 14th to the 
20th, under the auspices of the Societe d’Amateurs 
d'Orchidces of that city. The society will not this 
year issue a special schedule, but invite amateurs 
to show as much or as little as they please, and 
objects of art or medals will be awarded according 
to special merit. 
The Spear-Lily of New South Wales, Doryanthes 
excelsa, a plant very rarely seen in bloom in this 
country, is now flowering in the Trinity College 
Botanic Garden, Dublin. It belongs to the natural 
order Amaryllidaceae, though in appearance is as 
unlike an ordinary Amaryllis as well can be, the 
crimson Lily-like flowers being congested, in the case 
of the Dublin plant, on a scape 10 ft. high and 2 in. 
in diameter. 
Plants Certificated in Ghent — At the last meeting 
of the Belgian Chamber of Horticulture Certificates 
of Merit were awarded Mr. B. Fortie for Clivia 
miniata Madame Romain De Smet; to Mr. Jules 
Hye for Odontoglossum Hadweni; to Mr. Edward 
Pynaert for Cvpripedium superbiens villosum fl. 
striatum; Mr. Louis van Houtte for Hsemanthus 
Kalbreyeri; to Messrs. Bcelens Brothers for Odonto¬ 
glossum crispum var., and for a seedling Clivia 
miniata; to Mr. Ed. Pynaert for Cypripedium 
Godseffianum, and Adiantum Birkenheadi. 
Camellia alba plena.—A Dundee correspondent, 
“ D. S.," writes Some fine examples of this grand 
old plant are to be seen at Tayside, Perth, the 
residence of Robert Pullar, Esq. They are planted 
out in the centre bed of a large conservatory, and 
at the time of my visit (last Monday) presented a 
marvellous wealth of bloom. One plant measured 
12 ft. through and about 13 ft. high, and carried from 
2,000 to 2,500 fully-developed blocms. Two other 
plants of somewhat smaller dimensions carried 
between them something like an additional 4,000 
blooms. Alternating with these are other large 
specimens of coloured varieties also well flowered, 
but certainly far behind the whites. Altogether I 
should say there were not less than 10,000 fully- 
developed Camellia blooms in the conservatory—a 
display which Mr. McDonald, the gardener, may 
well be proud of. 
Sevenoaks Gardeners’ and Amateurs' Mutual Im¬ 
provement Society —This society held its fortnightly 
meeting on Tuesday, the 15th ult., when Mr. 
F. Watnough occupied the chair. Hyacinths were 
well shown by Messrs. Buckland, Farmer, and Fox, 
who were awarded prizes given by the society in the 
order named. The subject for discussion was 
“ The Culture of Primulas and Cyclamen for con¬ 
servatory decoration,” and Mr. J. Westcott, who 
lead off with a short but excellent paper, detailed the 
way he successfully grew these useful winter and 
spring flowering plants. Mr. Westcott regretted 
that the Cyclamen was not more largely met with in 
private gardens, and, as some inducement for 
members of the society to take up their culture, he 
offered to contribute to a prize to be offered for the 
Dest six plants. After some discussion it was 
decided to let the matter stand over until the com¬ 
mittee met. Subsequently a very hearty vote of 
thanks was passed to Mr. Westcott for his paper, 
and to the chairman for presiding. 
Birch Bark —Sending to the Scientific Committee, 
last week, some fragments taken fresh from the 
trunks of Betula papyracea, reared in the Trinity 
College Botanic Gardens, Dublin, from seeds sent 
from the Royal Gardens, Kew, some ten or twelve 
years ago, Mr. F. W. Burbidge wrote :—” It can be 
written upon with ease with an ordinary pen and ink, 
as these examples will show. Its texture is very soft 
and fine,except here and there, where transverse corky 
lenticels occur. It would be interesting to know the 
part this exquisitely finely-textured bark plays in the 
economy of the tree, as contrasted with other barks 
of a more rough and corky texture, such as, say, 
Quercus suber, or ‘ Cork Oak.’ Both are, no doubt, 
identical in their being practically impervious to 
water, either from within outwards, or vice versa. As 
a contrast, I send a small piece of stemofArauja 
(Schubertia), or Physianthus grandiflorus, with net¬ 
ted rugose corky bark, arranged around a stem quite 
green, and doubtless rich in chlorophyll.” 
Gingko Seeds.—Mr. Burbridge also sent at the 
same time some seedlings of the Maidenhair or 
Gingko Tree of China, accompanied by the following 
note.—"Dr. E. P. Wright, M.D., F.L.S., Professor 
of Botany in the University of Dublin, saw the ripe 
fruits in one of the public gardens at Rome last 
autumn, a crop of golden Plum-like fruits amongst 
the Maidenhair-like leaves, and succeeded in obtain¬ 
ing a supply of the seeds through H.M. ambassador, 
the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. I am enabled by 
the courtesy of Dr. Wright to send a few of these 
fresh seeds for the inspection of the committee, as 
well as seedlings raised from the same, sown on 
December 8, 1891, in a mean temperature of 6o° 
Fahr. The fleshy covering of these seeds, analogous 
to that of our native Yewberry, is edible, and is used 
as dessert in China and Japan according to Siebold 
and other authors. It is well known that this tree 
rarely if ever fruits in Britain, a fact perhaps due to 
the dioecious character. These seeds also illustrate 
a very interesting physiological fact mentioned by 
Sachs (Text Book, p. 665). If the temperature is 
sufficiently high, the green colouring substance 
(chlorophyll) is found in the cotyledons of Conifers, 
and in the leaves of Ferns in complete darkness, as 
well as under the influence of light. I am by no 
means certain that Ferns and Conifer seeds alone 
possess this peculiarity, which is common to other 
seeds, and notably to those of Acer pseudo-platanus, 
the common Sycamore, the Sea-kale, Crambe 
maritima, and possibly others which I have not 
examined.” 
Reading and District Gardeners’ Mutual improve¬ 
ment Association.—The third annual report of this 
flourishing society has just been issued, the member¬ 
ship of which is steadily increasing and now- 
numbers 140. Fortnightly meetings are held, which 
is perhaps better than weekly ones, as it affords 
the members an opportunity to ponder over and 
dissect any information given by the reader of a 
paper. We think some gardening societies attempt 
too much, and especially so those who have papers 
read to them weekly. We think it would be much 
better to have papers read fortnightly, allowing the 
alternate evening to be devoted to a conversation or 
discussion on the paper previously read. Weekly 
papers appear to supply overmuch strong m?at, and 
time is required to digest and assimilate some of it. 
We think it would be well if the younger gardeners 
would do a little more note-taking at such meetings, 
and keep what may be appropriately termed a 
commonplace book in which could be set down, 
under appropriate headings, such scraps of useful 
information as they can gather at these meetings—it 
would be very helpful to them. The Reading report 
further states that the library (which we are pleased 
to see the Reading society have in operation) has 
been well used by the members during the past year, 
and has proved of great value to the association. 
The society also offers prizes for papers on given 
subjects open for competition by assistant gardeners 
only. These prizes are for subjects well within the 
knowledge of the competitors. Too often com¬ 
petitive essays are on subjects of an ambitious and 
lofty character beyond the ken of gardeners, and 
then they are practically valueless because they are 
only second-hand conclusions. Anything in the 
way of flights into authorship of this character is 
only of real value to the competitor when he can 
put into his paper what he really knows. In this 
respect the Reading society shows a good lead, and 
it is one we think some other societies may follow 
with advantage. 
