772 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 6,. 1898. 
flowers of N. marliacea carnea andN. m. rosea 
do not differ appreciably but there are some 
slight differences in the foliage. Huge 
clumps of leaves rise out of the water, 
indicating their vigour and the large white 
flowers are tinted with flesh or pink at the 
base of the petals. There is often a 
suspicion of pink at the base of the petals 
of N. m. albida, but otherwise they are of 
huge size and white. A huge clump of 
leaves is attended by numerous massive 
flowers that testify to the effectiveness of 
this hybrid. Decidedly blue flowers have 
yet to be added to hardy Water Lilies, 
though that may be accomplished in the 
near future. We have a slight tendency in 
this direction in the soft lilac flowers of N. 
Laydekeri lilacea, with its soft lilac flowers, 
surrounded by small bronzy, floating leaves. 
Large and massive flowers are the aim of 
most raisers and most acceptable to the 
general public ; but is nevertheless a genuine 
pleasure to pass from the above giants to 
the tiny pale yellow flowers of N. pygmaea 
helvola, hovering like distant stars on the 
surface of the water. The orbicular leaves 
are also quite small, thus justifying the 
specific name, but those of the variety never 
get so large as those of the type. The mass 
of stamens is orange, and forms a fitting 
centre to the flower. From the pigmy we 
again pass to the giant in the soft sulphur 
petals and golden anthers of N. aurora, 
which differs from N. marliacea chromatella 
chiefly by having its leaves blotched with 
bronze, whereas the foliage of the latter is 
green. The huge flowers, of the latter more 
especially, bear a not inapt resemblance to 
Cactus Dahlias as they rise clear of the 
water and their own foliage, which also 
stands clear of the water, owing to their 
vigour, crowding and morphological differ¬ 
entiation, as always happens when Water 
Lily leaves rise out of the water. The 
petals ofN.m. chromatella are rather more 
pointed than those of its rival. Another 
hybrid named Exquisita has bronzy young 
leaves, and white flowers about the size of 
those of N. alba. Altogether the collection 
is a most interesting one. 
-——- 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next meeting of 
the society will be held in the Drill Hall on Tuesday, 
August gth. The committee will meet at noon, and 
at three p.m. a paper on “ Water Lilies " will be 
given by Mons. Latour Marliac. 
Grammatophyllum Ellisii and G.rumphianum, de¬ 
scribed on p. 709 and p. 726 should have formed one 
article, and not disjointed as they were. The second 
part of the article had been written by mistake upon 
a sheet containing a description of two Cypripe- 
diums, and the fact was overlooked till the second 
part was read on the succeeding week. 
A Locality Rich in Ferns.—In the issue of The Fern 
Bulletin for October last, Dr. Underwood reported 
the finding of thirty-four species of Ferns within a 
circle with a diameter of not more than three miles, 
the locality being near Jamesville, Onondaga County, 
New York. A contributor to the issue of the same 
publication for July of this year goes one better than 
this, for she (it is a woman) speaks of a triangular 
piece of ground, two sides of the triangle being each 
three miles in length, and the third one mile, in 
which thirty-nine species and eight varieties are to 
be found. This piece of ground includes seme lime¬ 
stone cliffs and part of a swamp, and is situated near 
Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont. A list of the 
Ferns is given, and amongst them are many that are 
well known under cultivation in this country, whilst 
a goodly number are natives of the British Isles. Of 
these we may mention Pteris aquilina, our common¬ 
est Fern, Asplenium Trichomanes, A. Ruta-muraria, 
A. Felix-foemina, Ophioglossum vulgatum, Osmunda 
regalis, Polypodium vulgare, P. Dryopteris, Cysto- 
pteris fragilis, and Woodsia ilvensis. 
Euphorbia corollata.—The Florists' Review for the 
26th ult., gives an illustration of this distinct 
Euphorbia which is found wild in great abundance 
on railroad banks and in dry open fields in Illinois. 
It is a plant of easy culture and is grown to some 
extent for supplying cut flowers in the States. Its 
stems branch freely, and these branches divide and 
sub-divide to form a bushy plant bearing multitudes 
of small white flowers. Its general appearance is, 
roughly speaking, not unlike that of a Gypsophila, 
although there are, of course, wide points of variance. 
Royal Botanic Society—At the annual meeting to 
be held in the gardens on the 10th inst. at 1 p.m., 
Mr. J. S. Rubinstein will recommend that the 
present system of electing the Members of the 
Council whereby they are practically elected and 
re-elected year after year by the Council itself, should 
be brought to an end ; and further that the scientific 
and administrative branches of the society's work 
should be divided and that each branch should be 
supervised by a competent manager. He will also 
propose (1) the establishment of classes for the study 
of botany to be open to all students (2) the reorgani¬ 
sation of the refreshment department and the 
obtaining of a licence for the restaurant newly built 
in the gardens, and (3) the erection of a large floral 
hall to serve as a winter garden and wherein exhi¬ 
bitions, flower shows, receptions and musical 
promenades can be held in all seasons and in any 
weather, architects being invited to send in plans in 
competition.— J. S. Rubinstein, F.R.B.S., West 
Cromwell Road, S.W. August 1st, 1898. 
The Asparagus Rust, which has long been known 
to gardeners in this country has commenced to 
plague the United States as well—up to quite 
recently it was unknown in North America. In a 
badly attacked ciop the plants appear as if they 
were maturing early in the season, for the healthy 
green changes to a brown hue as if the work of the 
stems and leaves had naturally come to an end. 
Examined closely, the rusted plants are observed to 
have the epidermis of the stems lifted as if in blisters, 
with ruptures here and there showing the spores 
within. A series of experiments has been carried on 
of late at the New Jersey agricultural experiment 
station, and the spraying of the plants with Bordeaux 
mixture is now recommended. Burning the infected 
brush in autumn, according to the common practice 
in this country, was also found effective. Research 
has brought to light the existence of two other 
Fungi that attack that producing the rust. One 
Tubercularia persicina appears to attack the cluster- 
cup stage of the rust. Future investigation may 
result in the finding out of a system whereby these 
two hyper-parasites may be turned to account on 
behalf of the Asparagus. 
Our Fruit Crops.—In this garden we have a heavy 
crop of Apples, Blenheim Orange, Golden Noble, 
King Pippin, Grenadier, and a local variety named 
Scotch Bridgett; but this is a notable exception in 
this district for which I cannot account as our best 
tree of Blenheim Orange is fully exposed. In look¬ 
ing through an eight acre orchard about two miles 
from here, the only kinds of Apples that had any¬ 
thing like a crop were Golden Spire, Gold Medal and 
Irish Peach ; and the owner assured me that it was 
the worst fruit year he had experienced for a great 
number of years, and from what he gathered from 
his friends at market, matters were no better in the 
district. In fact, he said, if any one else had a good 
crop of fruit he himself was sure to have one. The 
crop of Pears was, if anything, worse still. Ours 
are fair, the best being Louise Bonne, Beurre 
d’Amanlis, and Beurre Bose. Plums are almost a 
failure except Damsons, of which there is a sprink¬ 
ling. Small fruit is an abundant crop here and else¬ 
where. Cherries are more than an average crop, 
whilst other fruit trees have been infested with 
insect pests. The Cherries have been free from 
their enemy, the black fly. Continuous cold winds 
are said to be responsible for the light crops, for we 
had no frost, and it is possible that our trees were a 
week or ten days later in coming into flower than 
the orchard referred to, and others ; and as gardens 
not more than a mile from here are that much 
earlier with vegetables, Strawberries and Raspberries, 
it is possible that there might be that difference some 
years in the trees flowering.— W. P. R., Preston, 
Lancs. * - - 
A Seedling Bamboo.—Seeing that Bamboos rarely 
flower even in their own country, seedlings must be 
rare. Arundinaria Laydekeri must be an exception 
to the general rule, for it flowered at several places 
in this country in 1895, after which it died. A seed¬ 
ling shown at the last meeting of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society by A. B. Freaman-Mitford, Esq., 
C.B., must have raised from seeds that ripened in 
the open air during that year on his plants at Bats- 
ford, Moreton-in-Marsh. Seedlings of Bamboos are 
evidently of slow growth during the first few years 
of their extstence, for that under notice was much 
branched, but only 1 iD. high, leaves and all. 
Dutch Horticultural and Botanical Society.—At the 
floral committee meeting of July 13th, 1898, the com¬ 
mittee awarded First-class Certificates to Mr. C. 
Kwint, of Bloemendaal, for Begonia Tuberosa fl. pi. 
cristata; to Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, of Haar¬ 
lem, for Begonia tuberosa fl. pi. Orange ball, 
Begonia tuberosa fl. pi. Souvenir de Pierre Notting, 
Calochortus Gunnisoni, and Petunia Sneeuwbal 
(Snowball); and to Mr. C. G. van Dijk, of Zeist, for 
Schubertia grandiflora. Certificates of Merit were 
awarded to Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, of Haar¬ 
lem, for Ageratum Blue perfection, and Helenium 
Bigelowi. Botanical Certificates were also accorded to 
Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, of Haarlem, for Calo- 
ohortus obispoensis and Lilium elegans Alice Wilson. 
Victoria Regia at Kew.—At the present time there 
are ten huge leaves on the Victoria regia in the tank 
of the house No. 10, where it is always grown. Some 
of the larger leaves measure between 7 ft. and 8 ft. 
in diameter, the rim included. The upturned edge 
is not so deep as that of last year’s plant, the variety 
being different. The first flower this year opened on 
July 1st, and another bud was so prominent that it 
appeared fit to open on the 31st of that month. This 
would make the twelth flower for the season, or 
within the calendar month. The flowers are creamy- 
white on the first day, and when fully expanded on 
the second day they are of a rich rose all over, with 
the exception of the tips of a few of the outer rows 
of petals. At this time they are very handsome. 
The flower in question stood about 6 in. above the 
surface of the water, which would indicate that the 
peduncle is much stronger than usual. 
A State Model Forest for Scotland.—Some discus¬ 
sion has arisen anent the proposed establishment of 
a Scottisn State Model Forest for the practical and 
scientific training of foresters, and the carrying on of 
experiments has lately arisen, and we notice that our 
esteemed contemporary, The North British Agricul¬ 
turist, strongly backs the proposal. The Land Agent's 
Record has had something to say against such an 
institution, and, amongst other things, says “ we fail 
to see why the county should be called upon to pur¬ 
chase an estate for this purpose before it utilises any 
of the Crown Lands of England.” Again, " If gross 
mismanagement be the object to be aimed at, these 
Crown Lands in England are worthy of being called 
model forests.” The North British Agriculturist 
effectively disposes of these argumentative sneers, 
rightly calls attention to the fact that Scotland has 
a much larger interest in the matter than England 
has, for she has a far greater acreage of land suitable 
for afforestation. Besides, England has already a 
finely equipped forestry school at Cooper's Hill. In 
Scotland there are three separate courses of class¬ 
room instruction in forestry; viz., one at the Edin¬ 
burgh University, one at the Koyal Botanic Gardens, 
and one at the Heriot-Watt College—all in Edin¬ 
burgh. Attention is also drawn to the points urged 
by Mr. Mackenzie before the Board of Agriculture, 
when he suggested as methods of aiding the 'advance¬ 
ment of forestrj—(1) ‘‘Freeing lands under planta¬ 
tions from all taxes until the timber has reached the 
stage for being realised; (2) loans at a low rate of 
interest to landowners for extensive planting; and, 
(3) Parliament taking over the lands for the purpose 
of such afforestation, leaving it in the option of the 
landlord or his heirs to redeem the lands so taken 
over on paying the initial costs and interest there¬ 
on.” That afforestation of waste land would pay is 
proved by the fact that whereas the Germans are, 
according to Dr. Schlich, well satisfied if they can 
produce 1$ tons per acre per annum, in Scotland, in 
properly managed woods 2 or 2J tons per acre can 
be obtained, whilst the quality is fully equal to the 
Germans’. 
