20 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 8, 1894, 
to promulgate his own theory as to the 
genesis of new species, his leading or 
principal contention is that “all evolution 
is the result of forces acting from without 
and superimposing modifications.” We 
fail to see anything strikingly new or 
original in this theory. On the other hand, 
it seems another way of expressing much 
about the same thing as older and quite 
respectable propositions. It is merely a 
case of putting the cart before the horse, 
but cart and horse remain the same, 
although a little awkwardly placed with 
regard to one another. Naegeli suggested 
that in living organisms “ there is an 
inherent tendency to a higher organisa¬ 
tion, so that each succeeding generation 
represents an advance, though it may be a 
slight one, on its predecessors. The 
idioplasm of every organism tends to 
become more and more complex ; that is 
to become more and more completely 
differentiated physiologically and therefore 
also morphologically.” 'I hen the seat of 
all this change resides in the protoplasm 
which alone is capable of being moulded 
and altered into other forms when acted 
upon by external forces as the anonymous 
author has it. If the protoplasm were 
incapable of modification or alteration, no 
amount of external forces would have the 
slightest effect upon it. The process, 
nevertheless, is very slow, and writers in 
many cases are too apt to generalise upon 
the hasty observations made during a 
relatively short period of time. The life of 
a man is but a very small unit of time 
during which to observe any changes that 
may be taking place in the forms of either 
plants or animals. 
-•*»-- 
United Horticultural Benefit and Provident Society.— 
The Annual Dinner of this Society will take place on 
Tuesday, October 9th, at six p.m., at the Cannon 
Street Hotel, when Mr. Arnold Moss will preside. 
The St. Neots’ Chrysanthemum Show is announced 
to be held on Monday, November 5th. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next meeting of 
the Society will beheld in the Drill Hall, James’ 
Street, Victoria Street, Westminster, on Tuesday, 
September nth. At 3 p.m. Mr. A. Pettigrew will 
deliver a lecture on “ Lord Bute’s Vineyards.” 
The Merchandise Marks (Prosecution) Act, 1894.— 
Notice is given in The London Gazette that the Board 
of Agriculture, with the concurrence of the Lord 
Chancellor, propose, on or after the nth day of 
October, 1894, to make Regulations providing that 
in cases which appear to the Board to relate to 
agricultural or horticultural produce, and to affect 
the general interests of the country, or of a section 
of the community, or of a trade, the prosecution of 
offences under the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887, 
shall be undertaken by the Board of Agriculture, 
and prescribing the conditions on which such 
prosecutions are to be so undertaken. Copies of the 
Draft Regulations may be obtained at the Board of 
Agriculture, 4, Whitehall-place, London, S.W. 
Apple Crop of Nova Scotia.—The Agent-General for 
Nova Scotia has received the following cablegram 
from the Premier, the Hon. W. S. Fielding : “ Trees 
blossomed most abundantly. First of June rain, and 
a night frost prevented full setting, Long drought 
in July and August checked swelling, and caused 
fruit to drop. Present condition in export fruit 
region (King's and Annapolis countries) as follows : 
ioo representing a full average crop—Baldwin, go ; 
Ben Davis, 88 ; Blenheim Pippin, 77 ; Bishop Pip¬ 
pin, 72; Golden Russet, 84; Gravenstein, 84 ; King 
Tompkins, 80; Nonpareil, 64; Northern Spy, 73; 
Ribston Pippin, 73; Rhode Island Greening, 65 ; 
Roxburg Russet, 62. No variety up to average in 
quantity, but quality expected good, as fruit is 
swelling from recent showers, and will colour 
well.” 
The Banana Importation. —Judging from the great 
importation of bananas, it would appear that this 
luscious fruit is growing very rapidly in favour with 
the British public. It is not long ago that the first 
consignment of any pretensions arrived in Liverpool, 
and now, says the Liverpool Post, it is not an uncom¬ 
mon circumstance for the steamers arriving in Liver¬ 
pool to have their thousands of bunches on board. 
Messrs. Elder, Dempster, and Co., of Liverpool, 
were the first to ship the Grand Canary bananas 
which are now in so much favour, and their weekly 
consignment now amounts to about 2,000 bunches. 
One steamer, the Angola, which is due at Liverpool 
in a few days, has on board about 1,500 bunches of 
bananas to their consignment. So many bananas 
are now arriving that they are sold retail from 6d. to 
is. per dozen. 
Autumn Flowers.—What a wealth of these we 
have ; at present the borders are gayer than at any 
other period of the year. Spring and summer 
flowers are charming, but for variety and quantity 
we cannot beat early autumn. Unfortunately the 
weather is very unsettled, and ior some lime we 
have had little sun. Without sun our autumnal 
flowers are lost, they needing bright and fine 
weather more than any others. Dahlias are 
coming on in a most promising manner, Roses 
are still with us, and in some cases as good as at any 
period of the present season. Roses, and especially 
dark ones have been in grand form. Perennial Sun¬ 
flowers arecoming in, Poppies abundant, Cornflowers, 
Phlox, Delphinums, Coreopsis, Gallardias, and an 
immense variety of bedding plants are gay all 
through the autumn. Then we have Gladiolus, 
Lilies, Michaelmas Daisies and others coming on 
rapidly, while summer Chrysanthemums and the 
earliest of others have no such blank between 
autumn and winter as we used to experience. 
The Kentish Fruit Season.—The warm weather of 
the past week has made the Kent fruit growers very 
busy. Owing to the continued rains the Cherry 
season fell far short of the anticipated results, but of 
the hard fruit there is an abundant crop. This is 
especially the case with regard to Plums, with 
which the trees are literally loaded. But this very 
abundance is acting prejudicially to the grower, for 
while it affords the public an opportunity of enjoying 
the luxury of good fruit at a cheap rate it yields but 
a small return by way of compensation for the 
expense and trouble entailed in picking, packing, and 
placing on the market. Cases have been known 
within the past few days in which fruiterers have 
only been able to obtain three shillings per bushel, 
and out of this sum has to be deducted the cost of 
picking, etc., and carriage, which leaves a very 
slender margin of profit. Many fruiterers in the 
Sittingbourne district siy that they have more 
Plums than they will be able to pick, while others 
maintain that the present low prices will not pay 
them to pick the whole crop. Heavily-freighted 
fruit trains are leaving Sittingbourne and adjoining 
stations for London and the North every day. Pears 
are also a heavy crop this season, but Apples are 
short. 
Plants Certificated in Holland. —At a meeting of the 
Dutch Horticultural and Botanical Society, held at 
Amsterdam, on August nth, the Floral Committee 
awarded First Class Certificates to, Mr. Egb. 
Kloosterhuis of Veendim, for Berberis vuigaris alba 
spicata Krynsi; Berberis vulgaris atropurpurei 
Egberti; and Sorbus Aria aurea argentea; To 
Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, Haarlem, for 
Gladiolus hybridus Lemoinei, varieties Tricolore, 
Manzoni, and Sceptre d’azure; Gladiolus hybridus 
nanceianus varieties —Dr. L. Wittmack, A. R. 
Smith, and Colonel Archinard; Canna hybrida 
Konigen Charlotti, Tigridia pavonia rosea grandi- 
flora, Begonia tuberosa Surprise, and Begonia 
Beaumanni carminea. Awards of Merit were ac¬ 
corded to Messrs. E. H. Krelage and Son, for Cactus 
Dahlias; Mrs. A. Peart, Lord Nelson, Centenary 
and Oban; Montbretia crocosmaeflora, varieties 
Vesure, Brilliant and Californie ; Begonias Hensbaw 
Russell, Brilliant and Pride of Bexley ; Gladiolus 
hybrida Lemoinei Tartarin and Guy de Maupassant 
and G. h. nancieanus, Robert Lindsay; to Messrs. 
Groenewegen & Co., for Cactus Dahlia Blanche 
Keith. 
Culture of the Grape Vine.—A small pamphlet has 
been written on this subject by Mr. J. W. Nunn, who 
has had fifty years' experience in this branch of 
gardening on open walls and under glass, and in 
converting the fruit into champagne and other wines, 
as well as in the manufacture of British wines. The 
work is not intended for experienced gardeners, but 
for the amateur and cottager who may wish to grow 
vines. A calendar of operations is given, extending 
from April to December, the first three months being 
omitted, apparently as no operations are needed 
during that period. The directions are simple, con¬ 
cise, and such as the intelligent amateur could 
readily understand. Directions are also given for 
the making of a vine border, together with a 
descriptive list of five varieties of Grapes best 
suited for open walls in this country. Vine culture 
under glass is also dealt with, though not at great 
length. The second part of the pamphlet discusses 
the manufacture of champagne and other wines 
from home-grown Grapes. The methods of manu¬ 
facture will doubtless be interesting if not useful to 
those who have no knowledge of the subject, as ripe 
and unripe Grapes are discussed in relation to the 
requisite treatment for wine making. Champagne 
from green Gooseberries, Orange wine, Raisin wine, 
Frontignac, Red and Black Currant, Raspberry, 
Sloe and Damson, Ginger and Elderberry wines are 
all separately treated, and the receipts for making 
them given in a way that the readers may put them 
into practice for themselves. 
Terrible Forest Fire.—The appalling fire which 
swept over the great Pine forest region in the States 
of Minnesota and Winconsin, in the United States 
of America, is probably the worst on record, both 
in the extent of the forest that has been devasted 
and the loss of human life and property. No rain 
had fallen for nine weeks, the forests were almost as 
dry as tinder, the land baked, and the lakes almost 
dried up. There had been several fires on a small 
scale, but they were easily subdued and the people 
again acquired confidence and probably became 
careless. On the 31st ult. several fires broke out 
almost simultaneously, and soon attained a volume 
which defied all human effort to cope with them. 
Then the people cleared areas round their home¬ 
steads, but the flames easily overlapped the belts 
and burned up the wooden dwellings as if they had 
been tinder. Whole villages and the town of 
Hinckley and several other towns were more or less 
completely destroyed, many of the inhabitants 
perishing in the flames in the vain endeavours to 
check the progress of the fire. About 800 men 
women and children have perished as far as can be 
estimated while we write. A train loaded with 
people escaping from the fire was caught up by the 
flames, and narrowly escaped being entirely de¬ 
stroyed. No estimate can yet be given of the 
damage to property, but the Cornell University, an 
agricultural experimental station, whose trials of 
plants and vegetables we have frequently recorded, 
has lost millions of dollars’ worth of timber on its 
estate at Minnesota. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned subjects received Awards of 
Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society on the 
28th ult. 
Caladium Gurupa.— This variety was introduced 
from Brazil, and has not yet attained full size 
although its general characteristics can easily be 
determined. The leaves are sagittate-cordate, and 
dark crimson or blood-red in the centre with a broad 
green margin. Exhibited by Messrs. J. Laing & 
Sons, Forest Hill. 
Croton M. E. Fourner.— The leaves of this new 
variety are oblong-ovate, and inclined to be three- 
lobed in the same way as C. Disraeli, but faintly 
so and scarcely noticeable. They are yellow in the 
centre, with that hue often running along the veins, 
while all the rest is of a rich green. Sometimes a 
leaf will be almost wholly yellow and spotted with 
green towards the margin. Exhibited by Messrs. 
J. Laing & Sons 
Anthurium Scherzerianum rotundiflorum 
sanguineum. —The leaves are lanceolate, leathery, 
and deep green. The spathe is roundly cordate, 
shortly and suddenly pointed, very leathery, and of 
a dark, crimson-red. The spadix is orange and 
twisted in the usual way. Exhibited by the Hon. 
Frederick Smith, M.P. (gardener, Mr. H. Perkins), 
Henley-on-Thames. 
Melon Fairlawn’s Empress of India. —The 
fruits of this variety are nearly globular and pale 
or lemon and netted ; occasionally the skin is quite 
gray. The flesh is very thick, pale green, almost 
white towards the rind, very juicy and sweet. Half- 
a-dozen fruits were shown, each about four pounds 
in weight. Award of Merit. Exhibited by Mr. E, 
Hart, Fairlawn, Totteridge, Herts. 
