596 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 13, 1895. 
bedding purposes it is necessary to get 
masses of separate colours, and those which 
flower continuously all the season would 
serve to form combinations accordingly. 
But, as far as spring bedding is concerned, 
the object to be kept in view is that fine 
effects may be produced by the use of her¬ 
baceous plants alone, independently of 
Dutch bulbs. We do not mean to imply 
that the latter should be discarded or dis¬ 
pensed with, but that a style of spring 
bedding may be developed without them 
in a separate part of the park, garden, or 
pleasure ground. 
• I - 
Mr. J. Dymock, late foreman in the gardens at 
Devonhurst, Chiswick, has been appointed gardener 
to B. Wentworth Vernon Esq., Stoke Breuerne Park, 
Northampton. 
Mr. W. M. Mcir, late gardener at Glenfenian, 
Dumbartonshire, has been engaged as gardener to 
J. D. Fletcher, Esq., Rosehaugh, Ross-shire. 
The London Catalogue of British Plants—A new 
edition (the ninth) of this work by Mr. F. J. Hanbury 
has been issued by Messrs. G. Bell & Sons. 
Messrs Heath & Son's collection of Exhibition Plants 
was sold by auction at Cheltenham on Wednesday, 
by Messrs. Protheroe & Morris, the firm having 
decided to give up exhibiting. 
Mons. D. Hooibrenk, a famous Dutch Horticulturist, 
who for some years had charge of Baron Hiigel’s 
noted gardens at Vienna, and subsequently became 
a nurseryman in the same city, died recently at the 
ripe old age of eighty-three years. 
The Temple Show—We are requested to state in 
connection with the Royal Horticultural Society's 
Annual Show to be held in the Temple Gardens on 
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday next, that the 
Fruit, Floral and Orchid Committees will meet at 
the exhibition at ii o’clock on the 21st. The official 
list of their awards, however, will not under any 
circumstances be issued from the Secretary’s tent 
until the following day. 
Death of Mr. Thomas Hogg —We regret to learn of 
the death on the 4th inst., aged seventy-four, of Mr. 
Thomas Hogg, head of the old established nursery 
and seed business of Messrs. Hogg and Wood, of 
Coldstream, N.B. Mr. Hogg had long been in 
indifferent health and died at Droitwich where he 
was on a visit to the salt baths. 
Royal Botanic Society.—At a meeting of this 
Society held in the Gardens at Regent’s Park, on 
Saturday last, it was announced that the donations 
recently made to the Society included fruits of a 
species of Gardenia known as Wonderboom in 
Zululand, where it is held sacred by the natives. 
Attention was also called to the exceeding beauty of 
the Gardens at this present time, and the Fellows 
were congratulated on the very small amount of 
damage done by the late severe winter. 
The Annual Summer outing of the members of the 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners' Mutual Improvement 
Association has been arranged to take place on 
Wednesday, July 24th, and by permission of Lord 
Poltimore, Sir W. H. Walrond, Bart , M. P. ; and 
Sir J.H. Amory, Bart., the members will be enabled 
to visit Poltimore Park, Bradfield, and Knightshayes, 
all of which places are noted for the horticultural 
interest they possess. 
Death of Mr. John Walker of Thame.—We regret to 
record the death on the 8th inst., after an attack of 
apoplexy, of Mr. John Walker, the well known and 
much respected nurseryman of Thame, aged seventy- 
six. Mr. Walker was a very successful raiser and 
exhibitor of Dahlias, Sweet W illiams and other garden 
plants, and successful also as a grower and exhibitor 
of Roses. He was also we believe the raiser of that 
excellent Pea, Walker's Perpetual Bearer. 
A New Recreation Ground for Willesden was opened 
cn Saturday last by Mr. Littler, Q.C., chairman of 
the Middlesex County Council. Roundwood Park 
comprises 26J acres, and is entered from Harlesden 
Lane. It was purchased by the Willesden Urban 
Council for £15,000, anc * the central part stands at 
a good elevation commanding an extensive view of 
the surrounding country. On the summit of the 
elevation there is a fine band-stand, and some 14,000 
trees and shrubs adorn the ground. The cost of 
laying out the Park was £9,000. A more suitable 
spot for a recreation ground in the district could not 
have been chosen, but when acquired it was as rough 
a piece of ground as could be imagined, a minature 
Dartmoor without the granite, now converted into a 
Garden of Eden without the serpent. 
New Plants Certificated in Belgium.—At the last 
meeting of the Belgian Chamber of Horticulture 
at Ghent, certificates of merit were awarded to M. 
C. Petrick for Smilax argyraea ; to the Societe 
Horticole Gantoise for seedling Anthuriums ; to M. 
T. Szewezik for Begonia Stephaniae and B. 
velutina (Fulgens x Pearcei); to M. L. De Smet, for 
Scolopendrium scalariforme, and Begonia Mons. 
Louis Cappe ; to M. Em. Martens for Dracaena 
cannaefolia aurea striata ; to M. Jules Hye for 
Miltonia vexillaria Hyeana, and M. vexillaria alba ; 
to M. Ed. Pynaert for Dracaena indivisa Leopold II. 
and Strawberry Souv. de Madame Trullens. 
Restoring the Interior of a Tree.—A unique process 
of restoration has been carried out in the interior of 
the famous "Rollo’s Oak,” which is to be seen within 
an easy distance of Rouen, France. It is declared 
to be the identical oak upon a branch of which the 
first Duke of Normandy used to hang his gold chain 
to see if any of his subjects would like to hang there 
instead. It is, at any rate, so old that it has com¬ 
pletely lost its inside, and was liable to collapse at 
any moment. Ic has now been relieved of this 
liability. An arboricultural genius has fitted it with 
a solid new inside of masonry. The masonry is made 
to follow and fit every turn and twist, and gnarl of 
the patient; and there is the veteran solid as a rock 
again. Then the fissures and cracks on his exterior 
have been neatly filled up with cement, and the 
cement has been artistically coloured, so that you 
would hardly know it from the natural bark. It is 
expected and believed that the tree will not know the 
difference either, and take to flourishing again as it 
did a few centuries ago. 
Dundee Horticultural Association.—At the usual 
monthly meeting of the members of this association 
held on the 8th inst., Mr. A. W. Wade, Glencarse 
Nurseries, read a paper entitled “Gardeners’ 
Education and Qualifications.” Having pointed out 
that only men of a high degree of intelligence come 
to the front in the profession, the essayist gave some 
valuable advice to young gardeners, who too often, 
especially in bothies, spent their spare time in card¬ 
playing, draughts, &c., instead of acquiring informa¬ 
tion that would aid them in their work. The result 
was that the profession was overstocked with inferior 
men. By way of bringing about improvement, and 
allowing for the recognition of merit, the essayist 
advocated the institution of a system whereby 
gardeners could pass an examination and get a certi¬ 
ficate of their qualifications. He hinted that 
practical gardeners might with advantage give a 
little more attention to the proper training of 
apprentices. An animated discussion followed, and 
the essayist was heartily thanked for his paper. 
PropagatingDavallia Mooreana.—DavalliaMooreana 
is a Fern which sends its stems close along the surface 
of the soil, or a trifling depth under it. It is, there¬ 
fore, a surface rooter. The roots being small never 
penetrate deeply into the soil, but form a thick mass 
for two or three inches at the top of the pot or pan. 
While growing, the young rhizome-looking growths 
must have a sufficiency of fresh and easily pene¬ 
trated soil, or they either get sick and liable to the 
attacks of insects, or the plants will stop growing, 
and ultimately shed their fronds. The method of 
propagation which struck me as being a good one 
is as follows: ‘‘ Old plants are divided up and planted 
out on a bench holding about four inches of well 
prepared soil, firmed with the feet. The plants at 
once begin to make rapid growth, but as soon as the 
new growths are sufficiently rooted they are severed 
from the parent, when, instead of the vigour going 
into large fronds, as is usually the case when grown 
as specimens, new breaks are made, and these are 
treated in the same manner as soon as it is considered 
safe to do so. In this way, the leaves are small, 
with a healthy look about them, the yellowish colour 
we so often see is absent, and the foliage is more 
graceful than what we are usually accustomed to in 
pot grown specimens. It is evident that a goodly 
number of small sized plants can be got from one 
piece in a season.— G. W. Oliver in “ Florists' Ex¬ 
change.'' 
The Japs, and their Floral decorations.—The per¬ 
ambulating florist offers quite a contrast to our ideas, 
with his flowering branches standing in bamboo jars. 
The Japanese are great flower lovers, and the flower 
vendor is a familiar sight in the streets of their cities. 
They are very fond of flowering shrubs, cut sprays 
being much used in decoration. But their ideas of 
floral arrangement are very different from ours, and 
our choicest decorations would be coarse and 
inartistic in their eyes. All theirfloral arrangements 
have an underlying symbolism which we find 
difficulty in comprehending, though we can recognize 
the main principle, that of fidelity to nature. A 
single branch of Cherry blossoms, standing in a 
bomboo flower-holder, will be the result of as much 
thought as w r e give to an elaborate arrangement, and 
a mixture of incongruous bloom is never seen, 
being absolutely repugnant to them. The 
idea that a single Rose, thoughtfully placed so that 
stem and foliage, as well as bloom, show to 
advantage, is sufficient decoration for a table, an 
opinion offered recently by a lady of much taste, is 
certainly a move toward the Japanese ideal. — A merican 
Florist. 
The Bitter Apple or Bitter Cucumber.—In a report to 
the Stats Department at Washington, Mr. Wallace, 
the United States Consul at Jerusalem, describes the 
culture of Citrullas Colocynthis, the Colocynth 
Apple, Bitter Apple or Bitter Cucumber. The plant, 
he says, grows abundantly on the maritime plain that 
lies between the mountains of Palestine and the 
eastern shore of the Mediterranean. It is found from 
below the city of Gaza, on the south, to the base of 
Mount Carmel, on the north. The dwellers along 
this plain pay little attention to the plant, and spend 
neither time nor labour in its cultivation. It grows 
without cultivation, the soil and climatic conditions 
producing it without the help of the husbandman. 
With some attention the plant would undoubtedly 
bear a larger and richer fruit—richer in that pulp 
which makes the Colocynth valuable. But there is 
no object in thus improving the plant and its yield, 
as nature alone now supplies far more than the 
natives can find a market for. The soil of this 
maritime plain is a light brown loam, very rich, and 
almost without a stone. In places where the loam 
has been mixed with sand the Colocynth plant seems 
to thrive best. The plant itself resembles our com¬ 
mon Cucumber, but its fruit is globose, about the size 
of an Orange, of a light brown colour. Its rind is 
smooth, thin, and parchment-like. It is known as 
the Turkish Colocynth,and is superior to the Spanish 
and Mogador varieties in the amount of pulpits fruit 
contains. The pulp constitutes 25 per cent, of the 
fruit. The rind and seeds are valueless. The fel¬ 
laheen, or peasants, gather the fruit in July and 
August, before it is quite ripe. It is sold to Jaffa 
dealers, who peel it and dry the pulp in the sun. It 
is then moulded into irregular small balls, packed in 
boxes, and shipped mostly to England. The average 
annual shipment from Jaffa is 10,000 pounds. The 
quantity could be increased indefinitely if there were 
more demand for it, and a price were paid that would 
make it an inducement for the peasants to gather and 
prepare it. 
Catalogues of Tropical Plants.—Two catalogues, 
very different from the ordinary run of them in this 
country, have reached us from Messrs. J.P. William 
& Bros, nurseryman, Heneratgoda, Ceylon. One is 
a descriptive list of bulbs, tubers and yams, and the 
subjects offered for sale consist of various curious or 
interesting plants, valued either for their flowers or 
foliage, but in a great many cases for their com¬ 
mercial products. Amongst others is Amorpho- 
phallus giganteus with flower spathes ift. to 3ft. in 
circumference, according to the description ; the 
solitary leaf covers an area of 5ft. to 15ft. In these 
respects, however, it is no rival for A. Titanum. 
The yams are pretty numerous, and most of them are 
edible and considered wholesome food. The other 
catalogue is a descriptive list of tropical seeds and 
plants of commercial products, with which we are 
more or less acquainted in botanic gardens here but 
seldom outside those establishments. Food and 
textile plants are very numerous, but no less than six 
species yielding rubber are described and offered for 
sale while gutta-percha is stated to be obtained from 
Achras Sapota or the Sapodilla Plum. Most of the 
kinds are both useful and valuable for cultivation in 
tropical countries. Curiously enough, Cynara Scoly- 
mus is described as the Jerusalem Artichoke but the 
