July 27, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
757 
and a few friends had what is hoped may prove to 
be the first of a series of annual outings, and which 
was on this occasion to the Royal Gardens, Kew. 
A most enjoyable and instructive day was spent in 
examining the large number of plants, &c., and by 
the kindness of the president, Mr. W. T. G. 
Spranyer (who accompanied the party), and a few 
friends, luncheon and tea were provided for the 
members at the pavilion inside the grounds.. The 
party, which numbered ninety-two, returned to 
Southampton by a late train, thus enabling those 
desiring to do so to pay a flying visit to Battersea 
Park and other places of interest. 
Bristol Amateur Horticultural Society.—The 
monthly meeting of this society was held at Colston 
Hall on the ioth inst., the president, Councillor 
Walls, F.R.H.S., in the chair. An interesting and 
instructive lecture was given by Mr. H. J. Smith on 
the subject of “Tuberous Begonias.” He traced 
the history of the plant from its progenitor (boliv- 
iensis) in 1864, and pointed out that improvement 
had been more rapid than in any other subject in the 
floral world, and urged the members to give the 
Begonia a more extensive trial for bedding and 
window-box purposes. Many useful hints and 
cultural details were given, and at the conclusion 
questions were asked and replied to, and the 
lecturer was awarded a hearty vote of thanks. The 
competition for a garden frame, given by Messrs. J. 
Crispin & Sons, F.R.H.S., for a Pelargonium (any 
species), was won by Mr. T. H. Sams, with a fine 
single flowered plant. The chairman announced 
that the schedules for the annual show in November 
(in connection with the Bristol Chrysanthemum 
Society) were complete. 
Use of the Scent of Flowers.—Its primary use no 
doubt is to attract insects, which will carry the pollen 
from flower to flower, thus insuring cross fertilisa¬ 
tion. Secondly, the scent acts, it is believed, in the 
same way as the glass roof of a hothouse. Professor 
Tyndall found that the luminous radiation from the 
sun can pass readily through an atmosphere im¬ 
pregnated with essential oils, but when it strikes the 
ground and is converted into dark heat (heat unaccom¬ 
panied by light) it can no longer traverse this 
atmosphere, the scent thus acting as a trap for the 
solar radiation. The absorbing power of these oils 
varies between that of otto of Roses, which is thirty- 
seven times that of pure, dry air, to that of 
Aniseed, which is 372 times. 
St. Ann's Rose Show.—The second day of the St. 
Ann’s and Nottingham Rose Show was rendered 
additionally attractive by afresh set of competitions, 
for which special prizes were offered. Out of the 
twenty-four exhibits of four varieties none was equal 
to that of Mr. T. Hallam, who showed specimens of 
E. Y. Teas, W. J. Long, Louis Van Houtte, and 
Merveille de Lyon. Mr. T. Barton gained second 
prize with similar varieties, other prizes going to 
Messrs. W. Francis, J. Stoneystreet, and F. Cox. 
Mr. J. S coney street’s group of three, which was 
awarded first prize, included a Marie Baumann, 
beautifully chased in colour. Other prizes were 
won by Messrs. G. Wray, J. Foulgham, and T. 
Hallam. The same bands as on Friday were in 
attendance, and the Roses, which had been re¬ 
plenished where fading was noticeable, presented an 
appearance but little less delightful than was the 
case on the first day. The show has been influen¬ 
tially attended. During the evening Mr. E. Bond, 
the Conservative candidate for the Eastern Division, 
distributed the prizes. In the course of a short 
address he said that it gave him very great pleasure 
indeed to be there that night to distribute the 
prizes. He was told, however, that he was not 
actually to hand the prizes to the successful com¬ 
petitors, but only to read over the names of some of 
the winners. He had been around some of the 
allotment gardens, and was surprised and pleased to 
see how well they were cultivated, and it had 
occurred to him that those possessing the gardens 
combined the delights of the town and country. A 
man who had got a garden of that kind had made a 
good investment, and he believed that he could make 
it pay as well. Anyway, he believed the experi¬ 
ment had been a successful one in Nottingham. He 
thought that the Corporation had done a good thing 
in letting the ground out for allotment gardens, and 
he heard that many other towns were following the 
example. He hoped that that would not be the last 
time he would have the pleasure of addressing them 
upon a similar occasion. After reading out the 
names of the most successful competitors in the 
show, Mr. Bond said that he thought that show had 
tended to extend the allotment garden movement 
and increased the delight of the cultivators. He 
had spent a very enjoyable quarter of an hour there 
and hoped that it would not be the last. 
New York Botanical Garden.—Under the Act of 
incorporation, the citizens forming the society known 
as the "New York Botanical Garden ” have sub¬ 
scribed 250,000 dollars as an endowment fund, and 
the Department of Public Parks is authorized to set 
apart a portion of Bronx Park, not to exceed 250 
acres, for the purposes of the botanical garden. 
The city will also appropriate 500,000 dollars for the 
construction and equipment of buildings. Bronx 
Park is about two miles in length and half a mile in 
width, and contains 653acres; it extends along both 
sides of the Bronx River, in the northern part of the 
city. In the botanical museum will be collected 
specimens of the products of plants. This building 
will contain laboratories, lecture rooms and an her¬ 
barium, which, it is hoped, will ultimately contain 
specimens of all known plants. There will be a 
large number of greenhouses of various sizes, which 
will contain a great variety of growing plants from 
tropical countries. In the outdoor department will 
be as large a variety of plants as will grow in this 
climate; also an arboretum, in which all the trees 
that can endure the climate will be grown. 
Fruit in British Columbia.—It is difficult to find any¬ 
where such large fruit, and of such good quality as is 
grown in British Columbia. Plums the size of eggs 
and Apples the size of Turnips are not unusual in that 
country, some Apples weighing as much as twenty- 
one ounces. General Booth, of the Salvation Army, 
visited the country recently, and, it is stated, he was 
so favourably impressed that he intends sending a 
colony there. Lord Aberdeen, Governor-General 
of the Dominion, has purchased a large tract of land 
in that province, and 100 acres of it have already 
been planted in fruit trees, and are giving, we 
understand, great satisfaction. 
Horticultural Lecture —On the 29th ult. Dr. Clark, 
of Leeds, delivered a lecture to a good number of 
people in Mr. Calvert’s garden, Wenthorpe. The 
lecturer first of all went through the garden and 
spoke about each crop as it arrested his attention. 
In speaking of Apples, he recommended summer 
pinching when trees were making plenty of new 
wood. When trees bore a very heavy crop they 
drew upon the substance of the branch and weakened 
it. That was indicated by the curled appearance of 
the leaves. If a bad season followed, no fruit would 
be got. In order to prevent the tree becoming 
exhausted give sulphate of ammonia, one ounce to 
one square yard, when the fruit is the size of a Hazel 
Nut, because that quickens the flow of the sap. 
Gooseberry trees that bear leaves only at the end 
of the branch are either (1) exposed to strong 
winds or (2) have root rot. To form large fruit there 
was nothing like a summer pinch. To get Rasp¬ 
berries all along the branch the top of the branch 
would have to be cut off and the cane bent back. 
The surface roots should never be disturbed. If the 
soil was exposed to the sun mulch with manure. 
Cabbages should be grown as quickly as possible, 
and the soil for the hot bed should be prepared two 
or three minutes before required, and for every 
barrow load of soil add a six-inch pot of mineral 
super-phosphate. In the growing of Celery it was 
advisable to look for leaves turning yellow after the 
plants had been out for a week. If the yellow leaves 
remained give sulphate of ammonia, one ounce to 
the yard. If in case the leaves became thin at the 
end and curled back, dress with one ounce of nitrate 
of soda to the yard, and four days after with one 
ounce to the yard of mineral superphosphate. When 
Strawberries were healthy the leaf stalk could not be 
squeezed between the fnger and thumb. Every 
strong healthy leaf should manufacture sufficient 
material for five good berries. It was advisable to 
use two ounces to the yard of dissolved bone every 
autumn after a good crop. In taking runners, the 
lecturer said, take those from one to two good joints, 
because those were good, the third joint being a 
doubtful bloomer. Beyond this the plants would be 
barren, and runners from them would be barren 
also. A vote of thanks brought the lecture to a 
close. 
What about the. big Strawberry ?—Is the big 
Strawberry going to take the place in periodical 
fiction of the big Gooseberry ? We ask without in 
the least expecting a reply, but merely to call 
attention to the case of one Joseph Lyons, who plies 
his trade as a costermonger in that always over¬ 
crowded thoroughfare in London known as Liver¬ 
pool Street. Lyons was summoned for obstructing 
the highway. We should have thought, by the 
bye, that it was not a little difficult to single out 
any one person or object in that street and say he or 
it obstructed. The general impression to any eye 
but that of a London policemen is that every person, 
cab, bus, barrow, and other vehicle is trying to run 
into or over every other person, cab, bus, &c. But 
to return to our Strawberries. Lyons had Straw¬ 
berries of such enormous proportions on his 
barrow that they really constituted the obstruction, 
so he said. And he indicated the size of the fruit 
so as to convey the idea that the smallest were 
rather larger than an ordinary breakfast cup. They 
attracted a big crowd of watery-mouthed lads 
“ callin’ of emselves clerks," scornfully explained 
the fruit dealer, and the clerks in turn attracted a 
big policeman. The magistrate was obviously 
much touched by the coster's tale of woe and 
Strawberries. He gently suggested a wider street 
or smaller Strawberries in future, and sent Lyons off 
without any reduction of his profits. 
———- 
GARDENIAS. 
W. P. R. enquiries on page 729 in The Gardening 
World, if Gardenias can be grown successfully in 
loam alone. I have always found them do just as 
well in loam as peat. I have grown them in pots 
and planted out, and they have always done well. 
They are likewise very easy things to propagate ; 
if a branch is pegged on to a pot full of soil, it will 
soon strike root into it, or, if a little moss is bound 
round the stem or rather a branch and kept moist 
it will root in less time than a Dracaena; all they 
require is heat and moisture.— T. Cock trill, 
Wirksworth. 
THE ALLAMANDA. 
What a wonder it is that this beautiful plant is 
seldom seen doing well. It is without doubt, one of 
the easiest stove plants there is to grow, but well 
repays any little extra attention that may be given 
to it. Last year I struck three cuttings in a three- 
inch pot in April ; they were moved into an eight- 
inch pot as soon as rooted ; they started to bloom in 
July, and from then to Christmas I cut 180 blooms. 
The first week in the New Year it was put under the 
stage of a cool greenhouse, where the frost was just 
kept out, and it remained there for three months 
without any water. The first week in April it was 
returned into the stove pruned and potted ; it started 
to bloom three weeks ago. I have cut six and seven 
blooms a day, and the plant is covered with buds. 
I have likewise some cuttings that were struck in 
June, and I cut my first bloom of them yesterday, 
July 16th. Last year I noticed when going round the 
gardens at Gilkin House, Wirksworth, in the stove, 
some Allamandas blooming in three-inch pots. Of 
course the blooms were only small, but they looked 
very nice dotted about amongst the Ferns.— T. 
Cockcrill, Wirksworth. 
CANNAS AT CHISWICK. 
As greenhouse flowering plants of first-class merit, 
as well as sub-tropical bedding subjects of no mean 
order, Cannas have of late years monopolised a 
considerable share of the attention of far-seeing 
horticulturists, who perceived in them qualifica¬ 
tions that would in time place them in the front 
rank of decorative plants. Nor have the expecta¬ 
tions of these lynx-eyed gardeners been disappointed ; 
for, as the fruits of their continuous and painstaking 
labours, we have now a race of plants second to 
none in intrinsic beauty, and in decorative effective¬ 
ness. With the introduction of C. indica from the 
West Indies in 1570, their cultivation may be said 
to have commenced, but it is during comparatively 
recent years that the greatest improvements have 
been effected, and the numerous fine varieties now 
forthcoming brought so prominently into notice. 
A splendid batch of pot plants are at the present 
time making a brave show in the Royal Horticul- 
