February 18, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
391 
fragrant perfume and nectar. The dust from them, 
however, was very light, and was often carried 
scores of miles. 
On the other hand, the insect-fertilised plants 
were floral, rich pigmented, very fragrant,, and nec¬ 
tar producing. As to the important part which 
animals had in fertilisation, the lecturer mentioned 
that in the island of Galapagos there were few bright 
flowers because there were hardly any insects. 
There were few insects even in Juan Fernandez, 
where there were very conspicuous flowers, but this 
want was made up by the humming birds, which 
carried pollen from flower to flower. The Red 
Clover in this country was fertilised by the bumble¬ 
bee, and the more bumble-bees there were one year 
the greater would be the crop of clover next year. 
There were often not nearly enough of these bees, 
and this accounted for the succeeding poor Clover 
crop. He might even go further in illustration of 
this. The enemies of the bees were the field mice, 
and the more field mice the less bees and the worse 
crop. The cats, again, were the enemies of mice ; 
and the more cats the less field mice, the more bum¬ 
ble bees, and the better a clover crop. (Laughter and 
applause.) 
Darwin had referred to the Clover crop in New 
Zealand, where there were no bumble-bees, and 
Professor Iverach (an Aberdeen professor) had 
handed him (the lecturer) a book on the “ Modifica¬ 
tion of Organisms ” in which it was stated that the 
Red Clover in New Zealand produced perfectly good 
seed although never visited by a bee. His explana¬ 
tion of this was that among Red Clover self-fertilisa¬ 
tion occurred. In our own meadows, after the first 
crop was cut, another crop grew up with slightly 
smaller flowers; and although the bee was quite un¬ 
able to reach down to the first crop, it could, strange 
enough, get to the nectar of the second crop on 
account of the flowers being a little shorter. There¬ 
fore, in New Zealand it was possible that the Clover 
was a little shorter to enable, not the bumble-bee, 
because it was not there, but a native insect to enter 
the flower and fertilise it. 
Mr. Thomson then proceeded to show that in 
some flowers, such as Chickweed, Woodsorrel, and 
the Pea, self-fertilisation was effective in bearing 
seeds. There was, therefore, every reason for 
modifying the Knight-Darwin law: that cross¬ 
fertilisation was the only legitimate and healthful 
process among plants. Dealing next with the 
colouring of flowers, he referred to the opinions of 
Mr. Grant Allen and Sir John Lubbock; but he 
thought that their statements could hardly be taken 
seriously. Bees got the credit of evolving the violet 
Pansy out of the yellow one, but that was putting 
the cart before the horse. Instead of asking how 
and in what way flowers were coloured, he should 
ask what they were coloured with, and what were 
the pigments ? They knew they were allied 
chemically to the aromatic group of substances, and 
that they were waste products. Having discovered 
that, they could return to the truth so deeply hidden 
in the answers of Mr. Grant Allen and others : that 
the pigments had the secondary advantage of 
of attracting insects. 
--—- 
Hardening ||iscellany. 
BEGONIA ARTHUR MALET. 
When so many of the Begonias are found service¬ 
able for winter decorative purposes, it is to be hoped 
that some one will undertake its culture with the 
view of demonstrating what can really be done 
with it when a portion of a house is set apart for 
growing it in quantity to bring out the peculiar and 
characteristic beauty of its foliage. The leaves are 
so oblique as to be half heart-shaped, and slightly 
lobed on the broad half; the upper surface is of 
rosy purple hue with somewhat of a bronzy or 
metallic lustre, while the under surface is red. Now 
when a number of species of Begonia are mixed 
together and associated together with other plants, as 
they usually are, the individual beauty of the plant 
is lost as well as crippled by the injurious effect of 
shade that might well be avoided. Of course in 
private establishments an attempt should be made 
to grow a batch of each kind separately so as to 
give it a chance of making good growth. It may be 
seen in the collection of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, at 
Forest Hill, where a large number of varieties is 
grown. 
LARGE COCOS WEDEUANA. 
Whether in a large or a small state, this Palm 
never gets coarse, in fact, never loses to any great ex¬ 
tent the graceful character of the small plants, with 
which we are familar. There are eight to nine trees, 
each 6 ft. to 8 ft. high, in the nursery' of Messrs. J. 
Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. They have a clean, mo¬ 
derately stout stem, surmounted with a fine head of 
gracefully arching leaves.. The latter never appar¬ 
ently attain any great length, so that they are similar 
in size to those on stems only just commenced to run 
up. One would think from the rich dark green leaves 
of Geonoma gracilis and their slender character, 
that this species would be more popular for decora¬ 
tive purposes than Cocos Wedeliana. Such is not 
the case however ; the. under surface of the latter is 
covered with a hoary or grey scurf that seems to act 
as a protection against the injurious influences of 
burning gas. Then again, the pinnae of the latter 
are shorter, making the leaves, on the whole, much 
more graceful. The short leaves offer a striking con¬ 
trast when compared those of C. plumosa in the 
same establishment, measuring 12 ft. long, and reach¬ 
ing up to the top of the house, although the stem 
supporting them scarcely rises above the surface of 
the pots. 
XYLOPHYLLA LATI FOLIA. 
The correct name of this plant, according to the 
botanists, is Phyllanthus speciosus, or for garden 
purposes it might be called Xylophyllaspeciosa, the 
genus Xylophylla being now included under 
Phyllanthus. The species under notice is the 
prettiest and most serviceable for garden purposes, 
because the lateral branches are disposed hori¬ 
zontally, and resemble pinnate leaves. The ulti¬ 
mate branchlets in their turn are arranged horizon¬ 
tally in two rows,one on each side of the branches, so 
that they resemble leaflets. They are lanceolate- 
elliptic, serrate at the edges with numerous parallel 
lateral veins,deep green and shining. The plants grow 
slowly, and are therefore serviceable for decorative 
purposes for a number of years without necessitating 
the frequent propagation that several other table 
decorative plants require. It is a native of Jamaica, 
and requires stove treatment. The small flowers are 
produced in clusters from the notches of the small 
branchlets at various times in the year in the nursery 
of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. Although 
interesting they are of no horticultural value com¬ 
pared with the leaf-like branches. 
LACH ENALIA TRICOLOR. 
Half a dozen well-grown fleshy specimens of this 
useful bulbous plant, recently exhibited before the 
Ealing Gardeners’ Society, by Mr. Long, gardener 
to E. P. Oakshott, Esq , has induced this note. 
After some discussion relative to the cultivation of 
Lachenalias, in which artificial stimulants played a 
part, Mr. Long was asked to express himself as to 
the modus operandi by which he had attained to such 
successful results. He caused general surprise by 
stating that those on view had had nothing of an 
exciting character except good loam and a sprinkling 
of silver sand. After flowering they would be 
transferred to frames, and thence to the open air 
to ripen and mature. During the summer season 
they took care of themselves, but in the autumn 
when they had been selected and repotted, and 
ultimately brought into heat, they required copious 
supplies of water. That was all they received in 
the way of liquid, as he found that manure water 
disfigured the foliage, lodged in the axils of the 
same, and otherwise tended to the detriment of the 
flowers. The gardener of the present day would 
seem to be a totally different individual to his 
prototype of, say, fifty years ago; for, unlike the 
latter, he seems ever ready to impart that know¬ 
ledge which, perhaps, he has only acquired a’t great 
expense of thought and labour. Such discussion as 
these then, before such bodies as these, cannot fail 
to have a useful purpose—cannot fail to find their 
full fruition in the progress of the times.— C. IS. G., 
Acton, W. 
HUGHES' ROLL FUMIGATOR. 
In your issue of last week your correspondent 
“ B. L.” suggests that these should be sold separ¬ 
ately, meaning the roll and the case. May I be 
allowed to state that such is the case, as I am now 
using rolls put into the old cases or tins that have 
been used previously several times. This is the 
second year of these fumigators, and Mr. Hughes 
will no doubt be improving upon their efficiency. 
Last year I was very much puzzled with black fly 
in a Peach house, and was recommended to try these 
rolls. I did so, it sickened the fly, but I was afraid 
to apply it too strong in case of injuring the foliage 
which I saw I was likely to do. So I was disturbed 
with this black fly till the leaves were off. I then 
thought I could fumigate pretty strongly, which I 
resolved to do. I smoked the house morning and 
evening for several days till I had quite destroyed the 
fly, and I believe I have gof quite rid of it now. This 
black fly is not an ordinary one, and I never had 
anything to do with it before ; it came on a young 
tree from the nursery, and I took little notice at the 
time and it was soon all over the house. Th’.s winter 
I have seen another case of this fly. In a neighbouring 
garden a Peach house, though the leaves were off, 
the wood was all covered with it, and only deter¬ 
mined measures will do, as it is much worse to kill 
than green fly ; many a time I wished I had never 
seen the tree. But I have banished the fly from the 
nursery I think by Hughes’ Rolls, excepting eggs are 
laid that may yet be hatched, which I do not antici¬ 
pate.— R. M. 
PTERIS REGINA CRISTATA. 
In this we have one of the more recently obtained 
variegated Ferns that are now getting more 
numerous than could have been anticipated a few 
years ago. In habit it strongly resembles Pteris 
serrulata, but in addition the long slender pinnae are 
crested at the apex, and assume a drooping or 
pendulous habit as if weighted down by the crests. 
The fertile fronds are the most graceful, because 
their stalks are the longest, thus carrying the crested 
pinnae well up and leaving ample scope for displaying 
their natural characteristics. The variegation takes 
the form of a silvery hue, pervading the pinnae with 
exception of the veins which are bright green. The 
veins lie parallel, and being forked some distance 
before reaching the margin, they add much to the 
beauty of the whole. The plant is easily grown, can 
be freely raised from spores, and must eventually 
become widely disseminated and popular as the 
public get acquainted with it. We noted a large 
batch of it in the nursery of Messrs. H. Low & Co., 
Clapton. 
GEONOMA SCHOTTI ANA. 
The leaves of this palm acquire their characteristics 
at an early stage of the development of the seedling. 
They are pinnate with moderately wide pinna 
tapering to a point, and the terminal one is deeply 
forked or bifid. The young leaves are red on both 
surfaces and retain that colour till long after they 
are expanded; the pinna also present a plicate 
appearance due to their structure and folding in the 
bud. For decorative purposes it has been more or 
less extensively used for some time past, but has not 
acquired the popularity of Howea Forsteriana or 
Cocus Weddeliana, whatever it may do in the 
future. It is a native of Brazil, from whence it wa s 
introduced in 1820, and therefore requires stove 
temperature though not particularly high. We 
noted some plants of a useful size in the nursery of 
Messrs, f. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. 
DRAC/ENA ARGENTEO-STRIATA. 
This is doubtless a garden variety, as the name would 
lead one to expect. It does not possess the brilliancy 
nor showiness possessed by many of those already 
widely distributed in gardens ; but it has something 
about it which is graceful and pleasant, while the 
colours are characterised by their subdued tones. 
The leaves are of a light glaucous green, variously 
striped with grey, and these stripes change to a sil¬ 
very white as the plant gets old ; they are also dis¬ 
tinctly of a grey hue underneath. In shape they are 
linear-lanceolate and long pointed. Small plants are 
therefore very suitable for table decoration in 60 and 
48-size pots. The narrow leaved kinds are most 
popular at present for this kind of work, a fact'to be 
attributed to their light and graceful character. 
BEGONIA ARGENTEO-GUTTATA. 
The general aspect of this Begonia would suggest its 
being one of the numerous Continental hybrids. 
The leaves are half cordate, slightly lobed on the 
