October 12, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
91 
headed back and grafted again. These, of course, 
may be passed over now and operated on presently. 
In some cases, however, the true cause of unfruitful¬ 
ness lies in the soil in which the trees are growing, 
and a change to more congenial quarters may be 
productive of the best results. Others, perhaps, 
which have been growing too rampantly, and have 
forgotten their duties as fruit bearers on that account, 
often are induced to bear by a judicious and carefully 
executed change of quarters. 
Peaches on Walls. —Very late fruit, which has 
been allowed to hang on the walls as long as possible 
in order to get it ripened, may be taken in at once, 
as it will ripen just as quickly in a warm room, and 
besides freeing the trees of their burden it will be out 
of the reach of the vicissitudes of the weather and 
the vagaries of birds and other pests. The same 
remarks will apply with equal pertinency to late 
Plums. These, if wrapped in tissue paper and laid 
carefully in shallow boxes in the bottom of which a 
layer of cotton wool has been placed, will keep for 
some little time in first-class condition. 
Nuts. —Filberts and nuts of all kinds are ready 
for gathering now. In the case of Walnuts the trees 
are usually threshed with rods, and the nuts thus 
obtained laid in heaps to heat, after which the outer 
shell is more easily removed. This is, at best, an 
unpleasant operation, and a great deal of cleaning is 
necessary before the nuts are ready for the dessert 
table. In the case of the larger trees which it is 
unsafe to climb the nuts may be allowed to fall of 
their own accord, when they readily come out of 
their shell, and, indeed, furnish the best material for 
dessert purposes. 
—— 
TIE FLOWER GARDEN. 
October, with all its gorgeous tints of russety 
brown, of gold and scarlet, is once more with us, and 
after the fierce burst of bright sunshine, that has 
established for the latter half of September a record 
that will not soon be broken, we appear to have 
settled down into something a little more like 
ordinary autumn weather. Yes! we are landed in 
the midst of autumn at last. September’s days pass 
along so quietly, the summer evidently relaxing her 
hold so very gradually and reluctantly that it is 
almost impossible to define the border line that 
divides the two. We drift on and on until the 
wondrous hues and tints of the fading leaves force 
themselves upon our notice ; then we awake with a 
start, and almost involuntarily exclaim, why ! sum¬ 
mer is gone and autumn is here. 
Aye it is here, there is no doubt of it; the falling 
leaves proclaim it as they eddy down in thousands 
from the branches and twigs whereon they have 
rustled so joyously all the summer ; yes, it is here ! 
say the storms of wind and rain as they howl around 
and beat down the plants in the flower garden, and 
leave them bedraggled with mire, and their beauty 
besmirched and mutilated ; whilst the wicked sparkle 
of the stars o'erhead in the clear skies that we 
sometimes see in this month seem to supplement the 
assertion by declaring, and wintei is not very far off 
too. 
An indefinable charm always clings around a well- 
kept garden in these autumn days ; perhaps it may 
be that the thought that we cannot much longer 
retain a grasp of its bright glories teaches us to value 
them the more and makes us reluctant to lose them. 
But to keep a garden well kept now all hands must 
be busy. The broom and the rake must be in con¬ 
stant requisition to wrestle with the leaves that 
strew the ground in all directions, and that cling so 
lovingly to the wet gravel paths if allowed to stay on 
them too long. 
Herbaceous Border. —The principal part of the 
work to be done here will be clearing out annuals 
that have gone out of flower, tying up the heavier 
subjects where such support is necessary, and keep¬ 
ing weeds down as far as possible. In the south of 
England we have as yet had no frosts sufficiently 
severe to cut things up to any extent, but we cannot 
expect immunity for very much longer, and then a 
pretty general clear out will be necessary. Till 
then, however, things need not be disturbed much. 
As soon as frost makes its appearance, and thus 
puts a stop to the further blooming of tender plants, 
preparations must be made for the planting of Wall* 
flowers, Erysimums, and other hardy plants, like¬ 
wise Tulips, Hyacinths, Crocuses, etc., that are 
necessary for the ornamentation of the gardens in 
spring. It does not pay to delay too long, the trans¬ 
ference of these spring blooming plants, as the Wall¬ 
flowers are thus enabled to get a hold of the soil 
before winter sets in in earnest. 
Palms. —In most places the custom of plunging 
Palms, and other tender plants in suitable spots on 
the lawns or in the beds of the sub-tropical gardens 
is followed to some extent. It is now high time that 
such should be removed to the shelter of the glass¬ 
houses, for if left too long out-doors without some 
protection they are almost sure to sustain some 
injury. Where these are removed from ornamental 
vases that are to remain in their places all the win¬ 
ter, neat little specimens of one of the numerous 
hardy and ornamental Conifers that may now be had 
may be dropped in their places. A great deal might 
be done in this way to prevent our gardens from 
assuming too bare and cheerless an aspect during 
winter. True the employment of too many Conifers 
may give a somewhat funereal appearance, unless 
conducted judiciously when the effects obtained are 
decidedly pleasing. 
Alterations. —Any flower-beds that require to 
be made larger or to be altered in anyway, as well as 
any new ones that are to be made may be seen to at 
once. The season is getting somewhat advanced for 
the laying of turf, but still there is sufficient time for 
it to lay hold of the soil if done now. Where new 
beds are made they should be given a good dressing 
of manure, and this dug well in, unless, of course, 
they have been filled up with a specially-prepared 
compost in readiness for the reception of special 
subjects.— A. S. G. 
-- 
Leaves,— There is no question but that leaves are 
most valuable factors in the successful culture of 
Orchids. When beds can be made up immediately 
underneath the stages, the gentle moisture which 
arises therefrom is just what the plants appreciate, 
to say nothing of the benefits accruing from the 
ammonia that is given off from the decaying mass. 
There is one drawback, however, in their use, and 
that is, unless collected when perfectly dry you are 
almost sure to get a good crop of slugs. We were 
greatly troubled last year, so much so that we had to 
get some salt and sprinkle all over the bed. We are 
this year mixing the salt with the leaves as they are 
put into the heap. When a sufficient quantity is got 
together the whole mass will be turned over once or 
twice before being put into the houses. By taking 
these precautions we hope to kill the majority of 
them. 
Pleiones. —What grand weather during the past 
month for ripening up the growths of these pretty, 
dwarf-growing Orchids. The first to shed its leaves 
is the early-flowering P. maculata, which should be 
removed to a more light and airy place for a time, 
where it should receive but little water, just enough 
to keep the pseudo-bulbs from shrivelling. Keep 
them in this position until the flower spikes appear, 
when they may be again returned to the Cattleya 
house. 
Syringing. —Discontinue spraying the plants over¬ 
head in all divisions except the Odontoglossum 
house. The plants of O. crispum we water overhead 
with a rosed water-pot about twice a week, and on 
other days a gentle sprinkle overhead with the 
syringe keeps the moss growing without making the 
compost too wet, a state of things prejudicial even to 
Odontoglossums. 
General Work. —We all know how essential it is 
to plant life that all the light possible should be 
given during the dull winter months. Therefore it 
becomes us at the earliest possible moment to free 
the glass from the artificial shading, whether it be 
blinds or whitening that may be in use. We com¬ 
mence by thoroughly cleaning the glass outside and 
on the north side first, and by the time that is done 
all round the shading with few exceptions may be 
dispensed with on the sout h side ; for it is easy to 
shade a few of the most tender plants from the inside 
by placing sheets of paper over them. We shall 
hardly want to do this, though, after the middle of 
this month, except it is to shade the Phalaenopsis 
for a few hours during the middle of bright days. 
Temperatures. —We are getting rather cold 
nights, following rather fyarm days* necessitating the 
use of fire heat in the cool houses as well as the 
warmer divisions ; but only just enough to warm the 
pipes without creating a dry atmosphere should be 
afforded.—C. 
(gleanings front the IDnrtii 
of Science 
The Jelly Fish at Regent’s Park.—Mr. G. 
Tupper, in writing to the Standard, recently said that 
it appeared to infer that the jelly fish was brought 
to the Botanical Gardens with the Victoria Regia. 
But a gentleman, some years ago, told his brother- 
in-law that it had only been noticed after the intro¬ 
duction of a Pontederia he left at the Botanical 
Gardens, in the Spring of 1879. If so, perhaps the 
zoologists have searched in the wrong place for the 
home of the jelly fish. He took his Pontederia (a 
troublesome, but very lovely, water- weed in Brazil) 
on board at Rio, in a tin filled with fresh water, 
and re-filled the tin several times during the voyage 
with condensed water supplied to the cabins. Is it 
not possible that the germs of the jelly fish may in 
that way have been obtained from the Atlantic 
Ocean ? 
Luminous Fungi.—Dr. Gardner, while walking 
through the streets of a Brazilian town, saw some 
boys playing with a luminous object, which he at 
first thought was a large firefly, but he found on in¬ 
spection that it was a brilliant Mushroom (Agaric), 
which now bears his name. It gave out a bright light 
of a greenish hue, and was called by the natives “ flor 
decoco,” as it grew on a species of Palm. The 
young plants emit a brilliant light, and the older 
ones a pale greenish light. Many kinds of fungi 
are phosphorescent. Humboldt describes some 
exquisitely beautiful ones he saw in the mines. The 
glow in rotten wood is caused by its containing the 
threads of light-giving fungi. 
The Spider Plant.—Travellers who visited or 
passed the Cape Negro country of Africa, says the 
Morning, often heard from the natives of a plant that 
was part spider, and that threw its legs about in con¬ 
tinual struggles to escape, It was the good fortune 
of Dr. Welwitsch to discover the origin of the legend. 
Strolling along through a wind-swept tableland 
country, he came upon a plant that rested low upon 
the ground, but had two enormous leaves that blew 
and twisted about in the wind like serpents ; in fact 
it looked, as the natives had said, like a gigantic 
spider. Its stem was 4 ft. across and but 1 ft. high. 
It had but two leaves in reality, that were 6 ft. or 
8 ft. long, and split up by the wind so that they re¬ 
sembled ribbons. This is probably the most ex¬ 
traordinary tree known. It grows for nearly if not 
quite a century, but never upward beyond about a 
foot, simply slowly expanding until it reaches the 
diameter given, looking in its adult state like a 
singular stool on the plain from 10 ft. to 18 ft. in 
circumference. When the wind came rushing in 
from the sea, lifting the curious ribbon-like leaves, 
and tossing them about, it almost seemed to the dis¬ 
coverer that the strange plant had suddenly become 
imbued with life and was struggling to escape. 
[This remarkable plant is no other than the 
Welwitschia mirabilis, a member of the natural 
order Gnetaceae and allied to the Conifers and 
Cycads.—E d.] 
Manufacturing Species ?-t-The Western Mail 
says that a North Walian has just done for Anglesey 
and Carnarvon what Mr. Storris has so effectively 
achieved for the neighbourhood of Cardiff. During 
the last twenty years Mr. J. E. Griffith has been 
working on the flora of the counties named, and has 
now published the result of his labours. The list of 
flowering plants enumerated by Mr. Griffith includes 
1,119 species and 219 varieties. Of these, nine 
species and varieties are new to science, and seven¬ 
teen species and varieties new to the British flora. 
There are, besides, over 170 species and varieties 
recorded in this volume for Carnarvonshire which 
are not to be found in the list for that county in 
“ Topographical Botany ” ; whilst in Anglesey there 
are 150 species, or thereabouts. 
Schabler, the well-known Botanist, has 
recently found that out of 1,000 flowers, 284 are 
white, 226 are yellow, 220 are red, 141 are blue, 75 
are violet, 36 are green, 12 are orange, 4 are brown, 
and two are black. White flowers become still 
more numerous as one advances towards the North, 
