January 12, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
315 
JADOO FIBRE. 
As far as we have been able to determine hitherto, 
the chief recommendation which Jadoo fibre carries 
with it is that it constitutes a suitable substitute for 
soil that may be used by amateurs in large towns 
where good potting material is expensive and difficult 
to procure. Being very light the cost of carriage 
must of a necessity be less than soil or ordinary 
plant compost. A comparison of prices must also 
be made, together with the durability of the two 
kinds of material and the result obtained. This can 
only be fairly estimated by a consensus of opinion on 
the part of those who use the Jadoo fibre to deter¬ 
mine its general utility as compared with the soil 
which they have hitherto been accustomed to 
employ. 
The material consists of native mosses, chiefly 
belonging to the genus Hypnum, with the peaty 
material on the base of the tufts or patches, and with 
which it becomes mixed, forming a compost of moss 
and peat. In the process of manufacture it is fer¬ 
mented and mixed with some plant food of an artificial 
nature. Why a mixture of peat and native mosses 
should be invested or obscured by a foreign name 
we are unable to say. “ A Rose by any other name 
would smell as sweet,” so surely the so-called Jadoo 
fibre would be as useful, efficient, and acceptable to 
the British public under a name of native growth. 
It possesses little or no smell beyond what the moss 
and peat themselves would naturally give off in a 
state of decay. Being very light it is advantageous 
in that respect for hanging baskets, and we should 
imagine would prove suitable for Ferns, particularly 
in cool greenhouses or conservatories. Yet the 
Jadoo Company do not seem to recommend it for 
that purpose. We have seen a large number of 
different species of Ferns grown with great success 
in a compost consisting largely of sphagnum, peat, 
and finely broken crocks. 
Owing to the spongy nature of Jadoo fibre, it 
requires only half the amount of watering demanded 
by ordinary soil. The question arises whether it 
would constitute a source of danger to plants under 
the hands of amateurs not particularly well skilled 
in the use of the watering pot. While the plants 
are growing in summer the danger would be mini¬ 
mised, provided always the pots are well drained, but 
in winter the case would be different, while by that 
time the fibre would necessarily be more decayed. 
Smaller pots, however, suffice where the fibre is used 
than in the case of ordinary compost, and the 
material should be well permeated with roots, besides 
offering other economical advantages. Those who 
grow a large number of Pelargoniums for bedding 
purposes might find Jadoo fibre useful, as the plants 
do not experience any check when transferred to the 
open ground. By tying some of the fibre round the 
Pelargonium roots they could be planted in frames 
till the planting out time in May or June. 
-- 
DROPPING OF PEACH 
BUDS. 
Now that the earlier Peach houses are well started 
and the time for setting the mid-season ones going is 
so close upon us, many gardeners find themselves 
worrying over the dropping of the buds, which may 
occur to a greater or a less degree, and are conse¬ 
quently brought face to face with the problem of 
how to lessen the evil, or, in other words, are con¬ 
fronted with the task of finding out the best plan for 
keeping the buds upon the trees. It is manifestly 
provoking after every care has been taken with the 
trees in the way of pruning, tying, etc., for the buds 
to drop off with provoking persistency—more 
especially when, as is often the case, they are none 
too plentiful in the first instance. 
Every cultivator is aware that this undesirable 
tendency to drop their buds is more particularly 
characteristic of some varieties than it is of others. 
Still, various errors in cultivation are quite sufficient 
to cause the evil irrespective of the natural tendency 
of the particular variety cultivated to such erratic 
proceedings. Like other fruit trees grown under 
glass, whether in pots or planted out in borders, an 
abundance of water—more particularly during that 
part of the growing season when the energies of the 
trees are taxed to the utmost to swell their fruit to a 
good size—is an absolute necessity. 
It oftens happens that during the few weeks in 
which the fruit is ripening off, that the borders are 
allowed to get into so dry a condition that it needs 
several subsequent waterings to reduce it once more 
to a state of sufficient moistness. If, therefore, 
water is given with a niggardly hand, this dry state 
of affairs cannot fail to be directly injurious to the 
constitution of the tree, and through lack of sufficient 
nourishment it is impoverished to a great extent. 
After the fruit has been plucked from the trees, it 
should be seen that a sufficient quantity of water is 
given to thoroughly soak the whole of the border. 
An examination of the surface only must necessarily 
be misleading. 
It is in the ordinary course of cultivation usual to 
syringe the trees liberally after the removal of the 
fruit to assist in keeping them free from the attack 
of insect pests, as well as to get rid of any dirt or 
dust that would choke up the breathing pores of the 
leaves, and thus hinder them in their work of 
respiration, all parts of the tree sustaining injury 
proportionate to the amount of retardment they 
meet with in the fulfilling of their important 
functions. These constant syringings cannot fail to 
give a wet appearance to the border, and thus it is 
very often the case that while the surface soil is 
almost muddy in character, the roots in the lower 
strata of soil are clamouring for water. 
In instances of this kind, therefore, it is not 
difficult to understand how the tree, stinted in its 
water supply from the deceptive character of the 
surface soil, becomes impoverished in constitution, 
which may in a great measure account for it 
dropping its buds at the commencement of another 
season from sheer lack of the strength necessary to 
bear them. As tending to the same result, too 
heavy cropping must be studiously avoided. It 
cannot be classed as economy in fruit culture (a 
field in which the economist is as much to the front 
as in any other which could be mentioned) to over¬ 
crop and tax too heavily the fruit-bearing resources 
of any tree. Nothing but the detailed acquaintance 
with the abilities and requirements of any one tree, 
a knowledge that comes only from practical 
experience in its culture, can possibly teach the 
cultivator the bounds or the limits of the fruit-bear¬ 
ing qualities of subjects under his charge, beyond 
which it is not advisable to go. 
But the greatest mistake of all in Peach culture, 
and the one which we would be inclined to consider 
as the most fruitful cause of the much-to-be-deplored 
"dropping of buds,” is that of "too hard forcing." 
Naturally, both the Peach, as well as its closely 
allied relative, the Nectarine, flowers at an early part 
of the year, weather, of course, permitting; and it 
takes surprisingly little artificial heat to induce them 
to bloom. Accordingly, the sudden application of a lot 
of artificial heat, and the persistent maintenance of 
a too high temperature cannot fail to be injurious to 
them. A minimum night temperature of 45 0 Fahr. 
is amply sufficient for all purposes upon starting, 
rising gradually about i° Fahr. per week as the buds 
begin to swell. On sunny days the house may be 
ventilated as freely as it is possible to do without 
causing draughts, which should be as carefully 
avoided as the too high temperature.— Pomona. 
NOTES ON HARDY PLANTS. 
Geranium Wallichianum (Buxton's variety).— 
This is one of the rarest and most beautiful members 
of the Geranium family, and although originally 
introduced to our gardens so far back as 1819 from 
Nepaul it is as yet very seldom seen. In appearance 
it is somewhat of a creeping nature, scarcely ever 
exceeding 9 in. in height, with spikes of deep 
Nemopbila blue flowers, which appear in July and 
continuing to flower until late autumn. When 
planted on the rockery in a sunny position, and in a 
compost consisting of rich loam and sand, it forms a 
very attractive plant, and as it has proved to be 
thoroughly hardy and easily grown without any 
extra care or attention, it should be possessed by 
every lover of hardy plants. This plant will be 
found described in Sweet’s " Geraniacea,” t. 90. 
Erigeron speciosum.— This is an old inhabitant 
of our gardens, and is often met with under the 
synonymous name of Stenactis speciosa, and for 
cutting or decorative purposes it is invaluable, as is 
testified by its great popularity with the market 
growers, there being indeed few plants that can equal 
it for its free-flowering qualities. It commences to 
flower in June and continues until cut down by frost, 
while often in mild winters it will be found flowering 
abundantly. It grows about 3 ft. in height, with 
large purplish-blue flowers and yellow centres. The 
individual flowers often measure an inch across, and 
as it is easily grown in almost any soil or situation, 
and its hardiness is unquestionable, it deserves to be 
grown where cut flowers are wanted. A native of 
California and was introduced to this country about 
1838.— E. Scaplehovn, Rose Bank, Fleet, Hants. 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Sweet-scented Flowers and Fragrant Leaves : 
Interesting Associations gathered from many 
sources, with notes on their History and Utility. 
By Donald McDonald, with Introduction by 
W. Robinson. London : Sampson Low, 
Marston & Company, Ltd. 
Pleasing indeed are the varied scents, the all- 
pervading fragrance of various flowers, and the 
delicious aroma of others, to those who by nature 
are favoured with the faculty of perceiving them ; 
for there are hundreds perhaps amongst us to whom 
the terms scent and fragrance scarcely convey any 
meaning, because the sense of smell is very feebly 
developed in them. Others live the greater part of 
their lives surrounded by the flowers that breathe 
the breath of spring, by fragrant meadows whose 
atmosphere is redolent with the scent of Clover, by 
fields of Hay, and by woods and forests of Pines, 
Spruces, Silver Firs, and fragrant Birch, each 
in their season loading the air with a balmy perfume ; 
and yet they are scarcely conscious of the favours at 
their command, nor the wholesome air they breathe, 
and can hardly be said to enjoy. 
It is not surprising that some one should conceive 
the idea of writing upon the subject, or of making 
an effort to pigeon-hole all the known species or 
tribes of fragrant flowers as an aid to memory in 
time of need. It will take many years to make a 
work like this complete, but the author has evidently 
taken great care and exercised great patience in 
placing before his readers what cannot be but 
delightful reading to those especially who are pent 
up in towns and can only, at rare intervals, enjoy 
the sweets of life in garden or field under the broad 
expanse of the sky. He makes no pretension to 
completeness, but speaks of his book as a “ fresh 
posy of interesting associations amongst these—the 
sweetest of sweet odours.” The historical sketch 
which precedes the author’s list of sweet-smelling 
plants and flowers contains many quotations from 
the best of old authors, both in prose and poetry, 
and constitutes pleasant reading, both tor those 
who have a garden and can introduce the living 
plants to their own doors, and upon the walls of 
their houses, and to those who can only imagine the 
presence of those sweet-smelling odours while read¬ 
ing the book. We cannot agree with the author 
when he quotes Gray, upon flowers wasting their 
"sweetness on the desert air,” and asks "why 
should they be scattered where there are none to 
enjoy them.” To many it constitutes half the 
pleasure to visit those flowers in their native habitats, 
where they will continue to flower and give off their 
sweet-smelling odours to generations yet unborn ; 
whereas like Emerson’s shells of the sea shore, many 
of them lose more than half their beauty when 
removed from their natural surroundings. 
The list of sweet-smelling plants is arranged in 
alphabetical order, the botanical names determining 
the sequence. Doubtless like many another writer, 
the author in this case found it impossible to utilise 
the English names to determine the arrangement, for 
the simple reason that only a small percentage of 
the plants enumerated have any English equivalent 
at all by which they could be recognised. Inter¬ 
spersed with the various subjects enumerated, are 
short interesting topics about their history, economic 
or other uses, and occasional references to the folk¬ 
lore of certain kinds. The list is a lengthy one, but 
might well receive additions, particularly of our 
native plants, seeing that the Yarrow is included 
amongst the list, for the writer of this well remembers 
his first experience of that weed, because while 
inhaling peculiar odour too freely in order to 
make its acquaintance, he contracted violent sneezing 
and headache. Since then, however, he has learnt 
that moderate doses of the smell of various other 
things are more enjoyable than a feast of the same. 
That maxim applies to many other plants that are 
really delicious at proper distance according to their 
power and penetration, which must also be regulated 
according to individual experiences and peculiar 
constitution. Another experience of the writer is 
that two plants of the Night-scented Tobacco were 
too powerful for endurance in the same room on a 
warm summer’s night. Nicotiana affinis is not, how¬ 
ever, a variety of the plant of commerce, nor does 
it come from Eastern Asia. It is the N. alata of the 
botanist, and comes from Brazil. 
To the Musk Thistle, most or all of the rest of 
our native Thistles might have been added, for most 
of them share in their own peculiar and not at alj 
