January 8, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
203 
The Kew Pelican.—A creature which left the Oasis 
of Plenty for the Desert of Distress: The Kew 
Gardens Pelican—killed by someone who ought 
never to have been trusted with a gun—October 19th, 
1897—far,far from home.— Punch. 
Lilium Harrissii.—This popular Lily is now grown 
in considerable quantity in Natal, South Africa. 
The African bulbs have behaved very satisfactorily in 
this country, and the Bermuda growers will probably 
find the Cape a serious competitor in the Lilium- 
growing industry. 
The Silver Y Moth (Plusia Gamma), according to 
Miss Ormerod, proved very destructive to Mangold 
foliage during the past summer, at Kenmare in 
Ireland. It is very common in Britain, but lives on 
a great variety of plants, and does not generally 
seem to be guilty of serious damage to anything in 
particular. 
A White Asparagus Sprengeri —A Philadelphia 
correspondent of The Florists' Exchange mentions a 
seedling of this beautiful decorative plant that is so 
heavily variegated with pure white as to have only a 
line of green on each of its small leaves. The amount 
of green is sufficient to enable the plant not only to 
live, but to grow as vigorously as the type, according 
to the writer. 
Mr. J Dawe, of Lukesland Gardens, Ivy bridge, has 
just completed a successful course of six lectures 
which he was engaged to deliver by the Devon 
County Counci 1 . Mr. Dawe dealt with fruit culture, 
with special reference to cottage gardens. Practical 
open air demonstrations were given in pruning, 
grafting, etc The attendance at the lectures was 
satisfactory throughout. 
Elm Trees in Ross Church, Hereford—Except in 
glasshouses trees are very uncommon in houses, so 
that the two Elm trees in the old church of Ross are 
great curiosities. They grow at one end of the 
aisle, near the pew formerly occupied by Mr. Kyrle, 
who was, when alive, famous ia the neighbourhood 
for his love of trees. They were originally suckers 
from the roots of some large Elms outside, which 
had to be cut down some years ago. These trees, 
as might be expected, are not notable for great 
•vigour, but they have trunks as thick as a man's 
deg. 
Gardeners, Protect Your Friends —We have fre¬ 
quently read the account of the introduction of a 
ladybird named Vedalia cardinalis from Australia to 
•California, where a white scale known as Iceyra 
iPurchasi was threatening the entire destruction of 
the Orange tribe so extensively cultivated there. 
The December number of " Knowledge ” states that 
tthe white scale in question is now no longer an impor¬ 
tant injurious insect. In Britain we have a consider¬ 
able number of species of ladybirds which prey upon 
•various kinds of aphides, and other soft-skinned 
•vermin. These beetles are generally either black or 
ired, the predominating colour being spotted with 
tthe other, and easily recognised, so that every culti¬ 
vator should take care not to molest them more than 
ihe can help. 
Messrs- Fell & Co.’s Root Show.—The annual ro:t 
•show promoted by Messrs. Fell & Co., of Hexham, 
was held in the Town Hall, Hexham, on the 13th 
-and 14th December. The entries were fully tqual 
•to those of former years, and the high quality ex¬ 
hibited in former seasons was more than sustained 
rthis. Swedes and Mangles were especially good. 
Messrs. T. Rutherford & Co., Brokenheugh, Haydon 
'Bridge, secured the leading award for twelve 
^Swedes, and Mr. Robert Ard was first for six yellow 
Turnips; also for six white fleshed Turnips and 
’twelve Potatos. Mr. A. Maughan, Shaw Well, sent 
the best collection of agricultural produce in twelve 
kinds. The prizes were for the most part given by 
Messrs. W. Fell & Co, The display of Apples was 
excellent. Mr. Harris, gardener to the Duke of 
Northumberland, Alnwick Castle, sent a capital 
collection that included such varieties as Bramley’s 
Seedling, Newton Wonder, Ribston Pippin, Dum- 
elow’s Seedling, and Tyler's Kernel. Mr. Elliott, 
formerly one of Messrs. Fell & Co.'s pupils, who is 
now in charge of King's Acre Nurseries, Hereford, 
also had a nice lot of Apples, some of the most note¬ 
worthy sorts being Annie Elizabeth, Golden Noble, 
Gascoigne’s Scarlet, and Tower of Glamis. 
Philadelphia is un'que in having an "Onion 
Club." 
All the Difference.—Clergyman; " My child, be¬ 
ware of picking a toadstool instead of a mushroom ; 
they are easy to confuse." Child: "That be all 
roight, sur, that be. Us bain’t agoin’ to eat'em 
oorselves-they’re agoin’ to market to be sold." 
South American Forests.—Thousands of acres of 
forest in South America have been cut down, and 
the home they afforded to epiphytic Orchids thus 
destroyed. This is especially the case in the regions 
suitable for the cultivation of the coffee. The 
plantations of the latter are, year by year, increasing. 
The Cattleyas are the greatest sufferers, although 
Odontoglossums have also been affected to a con¬ 
siderable degree. 
Mistleto.—From the orchards and woods of the 
" West Countrie ” vast supplies of Mistleto are 
placed on the market. A gentleman at Penzance has 
a plant growing in his garden, which, he says, can be 
traced back as having been there for upwards of a 
hundred years. A correspondent writing from a vil¬ 
lage in north Devon, says that there is a huge bunch 
growing over a wall in his village, and overhanging 
the public road. He mischievously suggests that the 
district council should cause a seat to be placed 
there. 
The Canna Disease —In a recent bulletin of the 
Trinidad Botanic Gardens it is stated that one of the 
new strains of Canna imported for the gardens has 
been badly attacked by a yello w rust called Uredo 
Cannae, described as a parasite on Cannas from 
Brazil. Bordeaux mixture seems to have had no 
effect upon the fungus, and the infested plants soon 
die This disease has not hitherto been heard much 
of, but, if its virulence and deadly character are not 
exaggerated, it soon will be. Meanwhile, we have 
no doubt that stringent measures are being taken to 
limit as far as possible, the sphere of its operations, 
otherwise the queenly Canna will be in some danger 
at what is practically the beginning of its horti¬ 
cultural career. 
Roof Gardens have up to the present not " caught 
” in London, although several attempts have been no 
made at various times to naturalise them. In 
American cities and towns, on the other hand, the 
roof gardeos constitute a happy feature of gardening, 
and in some of the most crowded cities the poor as 
well as the rich have them attached to their houses. 
Great business houses, too, utilise their large roof 
areas in this way, and their employes reap the 
advantage. At the present time we have an 
instance of roof gardening a little nearer home. Mr. 
Julius Wernher has formed a very pretty terrace 
garden on the flat roof of Bath House, Piccadilly. 
He is, of course, not the first West End resident who 
has followed out the idea, but if he succeeds where 
others have failed in popularising this style of 
gardening he will at least score a triumph. 
Dessert and Cooking Apples —In the judging of 
Apples a considerable amount of doubt must often 
exist as to whether certain varieties should be 
classed as culinary or dessert. With a view to 
obviate this difficulty the council of the Royal 
Horticultural Society made a classification of a con¬ 
siderable number of varieties, stating definitely 
which were to be regarded as dessert and which 
culinary. Judges at the shows of the society will 
now have to be provided with the lists, so as to 
obviate mistakes, such as occured at last year’s 
Crystal Palace show. Hitherto, Blenheim Orange 
has been admissible in either class at various shows, 
but it is now classed as a dessert variety alone. The 
Council admits, however, that the distinction is 
arbitrary, and that "everyone is at liberty to use 
a variety for any purpose he likes." Many will, no 
doubt, fail to see that information is tendered by the 
statement. The intention, however, is to make a 
fixed line of division, solely for exhibition purposes, 
to prevent disappointment at their shows. In order 
to have the proposition universally adopted, it might 
have been worth while consulting with the leading 
societies throughout the country, because if adopted 
by them likewise, all the smaller societies would 
sooner or later follow suit. We offer the suggestion 
gratis. 
Plant diseases distributed by Insects.—Recent ex¬ 
periments conducted by Italian scientists are stated 
to demonstrate conclusively that moulds and other 
fungoid diseases are readily carried by insects from 
diseased to healthy plants. 
Christmas Trees are not always young trees but 
the top of old ones, or the thinnings of woods and 
forests. This year they have come from the north 
of England, from Scotland, Woking in Surrey, and 
largely from Belguim. 
The Sacred Lily.—The selling of worthless roots 
as rare bulbs too often proves a paying game for the 
unscrupulous vendor, but a losing one to the buyers 
who may not only lose their money but their tem¬ 
per. It is declared that hundreds of gardeners have 
been victimised by a man selling what he called 
“bulbs of the Chinese Joss Flower or Sacred Lily." 
These gardeners could hardly have been pro¬ 
fessionals, but that does not make the offence any 
the less. The vendor had a coster's barrow, on 
which he had the nut-like fruits of the Water-chest¬ 
nut (Trapa natans)—price sixpence each. On the 
barrow also were pictures of plants bearing flowers 
of large size and brilliant colours, which would have 
made the Sacred Lily itself (Narcissus Tazetta 
chinensis) green with envy. These fruits are obtain¬ 
able in Covent Garden at twopence or threepence a 
dozen. They constitute an article of food in the far 
East, where they are grown in great quantity. This 
man having done good business in Brighton left for a 
tour amongst other provincial towns. One of our 
correspondents noticed the scoundrel in several 
places, and tackled him upon the subject, whereat 
the vendor replied that he knew too much, and 
should give him a chance. 
Hybrid Roses.—Professor J L. Buid, of the State 
Agricultural College, Iowa, U.S A., has been busy¬ 
ing h'mself since the spring of 1892 in crossing the 
beautiful Rosa rugosa with pollen from such varie¬ 
ties as General Jacqueminot, Lamarque, and La 
France. He has as a result a large plantation of 
hybrids. The plants show a ggod deal of variation 
in the habit, style of growth, foliage, and flowers, 
but all are alike in being vigorous and healthy. A 
large percentage of the flowers have come single, but 
they exhibit a wide range of colour and size, some of 
the smallest being little buttonhole Roses, whilst the 
largest run to a diameter of fully 5 ins. The 
colours merge from deepest crimson to purest white. 
The influence of the variety General Jacqueminot 
is very marked in the rich hue of the flowers of the 
progeny. Professor Budd's hybrids will largely 
augment those raised from R. rugosa and some of 
the best German Roses by the German growers, and 
their perfect hardiness, the ease with which they 
stand drought, and their high decorative value 
should make them eagerly sought after both in the 
" States " and the United Kingdom as well as, in a 
less degree perhaps, upon the Continent. 
“Who Sets the Fashion in Flowers P "—This ques¬ 
tion is discussed by a writer in Longmans, but there 
is no attempt to answer the question. Too often the 
rarity or the price of the specimen is the determining 
rule. No matter how beautiful it is, so soon as a 
bloom can be easily obtained it is termed common, 
and loses interest forthwith, adds the writer. This 
may be true to soma extent but not to the degree 
that the writer claims. The Rose has more than 
held its own, and the national emblem of Southern 
Britain seems likely to do so still. The Primrose 
and the Violet are both common and fashionable, 
both of them perhaps from sentiment, particularly 
the former. Price is undoubtedly an attraction to 
the collector of Orchids who has the means to gratify 
his passion for collecting, but we think the high 
esteem in which Orchids are held generally is due 
quite as much to their intrinsic beauty as to the com¬ 
parative rareness of some of them. Fashion in 
flowers, just the same as fashion in other things is 
worked by more than one string, and in this one 
direction the workings of the human mind are very 
complex. We do not claim that gold is highly 
esteemed because it is rare, or that diamonds are 
eagerly sought after by the beau monde because every 
man cannot dig them in his back garden, although of 
course the price is regulated by the relations of supply 
to demand, but the demand for these things is 
decided by their intrinsic value. A man sees a 
flower, and is attracted by it for a while, but like an 
overgrown child he tires of it, calls for something 
new and—the fashion changes. 
