466 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 25, 1893. 
know, because they serve to dissipate some 
foolish notions still extant as to the using 
of certain colours in promoting plant 
growth. 
Mr. Henslow lent no encouragement even 
to the theory that artificial light, whether 
of gas or electricit}’, is at all helpful to 
plant life. Indeed, in showing that whilst 
in the pure light of day plants absorbed 
both oxygen and carbon largely, and at 
night largely respirated carbonic acid gas, 
he was probably but indicating that these 
are functions absolutely essential to the 
healthy life of plants, and that it would be 
folly to attempt to change them. After all 
Nature is our best guide in relation to 
plant life, and it is evident that whilst pure 
light serves great purposes, darkness also 
has its important functions. 
llotments. —A very interesting sight 
was that we noticed the other day at 
Richmond, Surrey, where on the large area 
of ground recently tenanted by the corpor¬ 
ation of that town, and let out in allot¬ 
ments to the woikers, there were seen 
actively at 'work digging and cropping their 
plots, what seemed to be a small army of 
men. It was Saturday afternoon, and here 
we had very conclusive evidence of the ex¬ 
cellent uses to which workers will put their 
spare time when hours of labour are 
shortened, and allotments are furnished. 
The action of the Richmond Corporation 
should be followed by every similar local 
authority in the kingdom, and in many 
places not only is it so, but a long lead has 
been taken. Even the City of London 
Corporation has just agreed to let some 
vacant land at Islington for allotments, and 
though small the area, a mere speck in the 
great wilderness of bricks and mortar, yet 
is the example one to rejoice over. In all 
directions the allotment movement is 
spreading, and any parish, especially if in 
a rural locality, that is without these valu¬ 
able social elements will soon be regarded 
as fossilised. No doubt so soon as parish 
and district councils are established,we shall 
see the movement indefinitely extended. 
Indeed it is a remarkable fact that whilst 
land of an agricultural nature seems so far 
as the farming interest is concerned to be 
going out of cultivation, for garden allot¬ 
ments it is being sought for with avidity. 
The great trouble largely has been in 
the rental, which very often is high, for 
whilst land will not let for farming 
purposes at from 15s. to 20s. per acre, yet 
from ^*3 to £\ per acre is asked for allot¬ 
ments. That is manifestly extortionate. 
Of course there are cases where high 
rentals cannot well be avoided, as for 
instance at Hampton Wick, where a very 
rich pasture soil adjoining the Home 
Park has been let to the local board by the 
Board of Works for allotments, and the 
board to recoup itself has to charge £3 per 
acre, and that allottees object to pay. The 
land, however, is old virgin pasture, a deep 
alluvial soil, that is certain to produce very 
prolific crops. 
f RAPE Currants.— How few people 
relatively are there who consume what 
in the grocery trade are termed “ Currants" 
yet have the least knowledge of their 
character. Currants are consumed literally 
all the world over, yet it seems that the 
bulk of the supply comes from Greece, but 
it may be that presentty so highly-favoured 
a country as is California may take to the 
culture of the Currant Grape, and if it 
does then may Greece find that it has a 
very formidable competitor. What would 
perhaps in this country be regarded as a 
very arbitrary law has just been adopted 
in Greece, which henceforth absolutely 
restricts the exportation of Currants until 
after the 28th of July, and whilst the Greek 
growers may complain the Currant 
consumer will have much reason to rejoice. 
Here at home too frequently do we see 
miserably immature fruit sent to market, 
which whilst bringing some little .profit to 
the seller, only brings disgust and disap¬ 
pointment to the consumer. Still we 
should rebel at legislation which made a 
close time compulsory for home-grown 
produce, the health of the consumer and 
honour in trade being of small consequence. 
Now, in Greece competition or excessive 
haste to catch the London market has led 
to the gathering of the Grape Currants 
before fully ripe, hence we have had sent to 
us a great deal of very imperfect and very 
acid fruit. The new legislation is intended 
to prevent this sort of thing, and we, the 
consumers, should have ample cause to be 
glad that so far we shall be protected from 
the rapacity of unscrupulous exporters. 
Henceforth it will answer no ones purpose 
to rush their fruits, indeed as they cannot ex¬ 
port from Greece before a stipulated date, 
they would lose both in bulk and in quality 
if they gathered before the time which is 
essential to have fruit dried, packed, and 
put on board the steamers ready for ex¬ 
portation. Instead of giving fancy prices 
for the earliest imports, our buyers will now 
be able to secure the very best samples at 
moderate charges, for the simple reason that 
no one can export his produce one day 
prior to the bulk of the fruit being exported 
also. 
-- 
The Crystal Palace Flower Shows. —Her Majesty 
the Queen having fixed May 10th for the opening of 
the Imperial Institute, the dates of the Crystal 
Palace Grand Summer Flower Show, are altered to 
Thursday and Friday, May nth and 12th. 
Rhododendron racemosum. —At the last meeting of 
the Edinburgh Botanical Society, Mr. Lindsay ex¬ 
hibited among several specimens from the Royal 
Botanic Garden .anew Rhodod endron (Rhododendron 
racemosum), which, he said, was one of about thirty 
new species discovered about twelve years ago in 
Yunnan by the French missionary, the Abbe Delavay. 
This was probably the first one that had flowered in 
Britain. 
Beckenham Horticultural Society.—The committee 
of this society have arranged for a course of half a 
dozen lectures at the Public Hall. The first of the 
course was given on Friday evening last, to about 
fifty members, by Mr. A. Dean, of Kingston, who 
kept his hearers closely attentive by an address of 
one and a half hours' duration on “The Potato.’’ 
The rector of Beckenham presided. Mr. Dean 
will take for his subject “ The Tomato,’’ on 
the 24th. 
The Brisbane Botanic Gardens. —We regret to learn 
from the Sydney Daily Telegraph of February 9th 
that, during the recent inundations which did so 
much damage to property in Queensland, the 
Botanical Gardens, which were the pride of Bris¬ 
bane, were completely under water. The curator's 
house was washed off the blocks, the forcing houses, 
stables, and other buildings destroyed, and the 
beautiful gardens completely wrecked. 
The High Railway Rates. — “I had a curious 
example given me this week,’’ writes a correspondent 
of the Birmingham Daily Mail, "of how seriously 
Birmingham tradesmen suffer from the high railway 
rates from London to Biamingham. A florist in the 
town ordered 100 cases of Japanese Lily bulbs from 
Yokohama. The carriage from this port to the 
London Docks was /18, while the same goods cost 
£14 to bring from London to Birmingham. The 
bulbs were packed in soil and the whole weighed 
about seven tons, though the bulbs themselves only 
weighed one and a half tons. In future the bulbs 
will be sorted from the soil in London and sent of 
course at a much lower rate.’’ 
Freesias net starting into growth.—Mr. George 
Griffith, writing from The Gardens, Penywern, 
Aberystwith,remarks that our correspondent “ Con.,” 
p. 442, appears to have had the same experience as 
himself. “ Two years ago,” writes Mr. Griffith, 
“after my Freesias had done flowering, I placed 
them in a cold pit, and the rats eat off all the foliage. 
When the roots were re-potted they appeared all 
right, but not one of them started into growth, a 
circumstance which I attributed to the non-ripening 
of the corms. This year the same corms have 
done splendidly, and one of them produced upwards 
of fifty blossoms, the top spray having fifteen 
fully expanded flowers upon it, and there were eight 
others in the same 6 in. pot.” 
Plants Certificated in Ghent. —At the last meeting 
of the Syndical Chamber of Belgian Horticulturists, 
Certificates of Merit were awarded to Messrs. Edm. 
Vervaet & Co., for Dendrobium nobile Cooksoni, 
and Cypripedium hybrids, one, Boxalli x Spicer- 
ianum, and two, Boxalli x Chantini ; to Mr. Jean 
de Kneef, for Azalea Jean de Kneef; to Mr. A. Van 
Imschoot for Brassavola glauca and Odontoglossum 
Rossi majus purpurescens ; to Mr. L. de Smet for 
Agiaonema costata and Churizema Lowi ; to Mr. 
Schmitz for Chrysanthemum Reine d’Hiver ; to Mr. 
Jules Hye for Cattleya Trianae var. Orion, Od. 
species, and Od. triumphans maximum. 
The Weather in the north of Scotland. —Writing 
under Monday's date, 20th inst , our Aberdeenshire 
correspondent says : The clear weather that pre¬ 
vailed after the snowstorm of Thursday last, was not 
of long duration. About midnight, on Friday night, 
snow began to fall heavily, and continued until about 
three o'clock on Saturday morning. In exposed 
places the snow lay on the ground to a depth of 
several inches, but in the city the streets were almost 
blown clear by the gale that during the night and 
morning raged with considerable violence. The 
weather on Saturday was bitterly cold, but all fore¬ 
noon the sun shone brightly, and what snow there 
was lying about rapidly thawed. The weather in 
the north-eastern extremity of the country- (Peter¬ 
head) has been very cold and stormy during the past 
few days, and the country round about presents a 
very wintry appearance. On Upper Deeside, March 
is making up for any arrears in stormy weather, and 
for several days past the weather has been of an in¬ 
tensely wintry type. The weather has quite put a 
stop to eutdoor operations in almost every depart¬ 
ment, although it is anticipated that the cessation 
will be but temporary. In the far north, Ross-shire 
and Sutherlandshire, snow lies to a great depth, and 
a keen frost prevails. 
Birmingham Flower Shows for 1893. —The season 
opens with the Spring Flower Show Society’s 
Exhibition, and the Birmingham Botanical Society's 
Exhibition of Narcissi in the Edgbaston Gardens in 
April, and this is expected to afford an opportunity 
for witnessing a very fine display of this popular 
flower, and especially new varieties. The Moseley 
Botanical Gardens on the south side of the City of 
Birmingham will have four exhibitions, one in May 
for floral designs in various forms, a handsome Gold 
Medal being offered for the finest display in a given 
space. In June there will be an exhibition of 
Pelargoniums, Orchids, stove and greenhouse plants, 
and Pansies. In July a great exhibition of Roses 
and groups of Begonias ; and at the end of August 
a great Dahlia show and exhibition of hardy fruits. 
We note in the schedule that collections of all kinds 
of Roses and all kinds of Dahlias have prizes set 
aside ior them. Bank Holiday in August is a great 
day for the outlying districts of Birmingham, and 
from eight to ten horticultural exhibitions take place 
in the district on the Monday and Tuesday, and 
through August numerous exhibitions take place in 
the Black Country district, and the season winds up 
with the Chrysanthemum Show in the Town Hall, 
so that altogether Birmingham will do its fair share 
of horticultural exhibiting th ; s year. 
A Botanic Garden for New York. —A meeting 
of the Finance Committee of the corporators 
of the Botanic Garden of New York City 
was held in the office of J. Pierpont Morgan, 
23, Wall Street, on the 21st ult. Mr. Morgan pre¬ 
sided, and reported that he had practically completed 
the task of raising $250,000, which was necessary 
before anything definite would be done toward 
establishing a garden. In order to raise this sum, 
Mr. Morgan had adopted the plan of finding ten 
men who would give §25,000 each, and yesterday he 
reported that he had found seven contributors. He 
added that he had hopes of reporting three more 
men who would give $25,000 each in a few days 
