804 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 20, 1898. 
Royal Horticultural Society. — The next Fruit 
and Floral meeting of the Royal Horticultural 
Society will be held on Tuesday, August 23rd, in the 
Drill Hall, St. James Street, Westminster, 1.5 p.m. 
At 3 o'clock a lecture on “ Perpetual Fruiting Straw¬ 
berries ” will be given by Monsieur Henry de 
Vilmorin. 
A Vegetarian Experiment.-An orphanage is to be 
founded in Berlin, to be carried on strictly on vegeta¬ 
rian principles, for the purpose of settling the dispute 
as to the nutritive capacity of a vegetarian diet, by 
making a start at an early age. For this purpose a 
sum of money was left by Dr. Baron, late Professor 
of Jurisprudence in Bonn. 
Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland —Final 
arrangements have been made for the show of this 
society to be held in Merrion Square on the 26th 
inst. Their Excellencies the Lord Lieutenant and the 
Countess Cadogan have intimated their intention to 
be present at the show in the afternoon. The band 
of the 1st Dragoon Guards will play during the 
afternoon and evening. 
Rapid Growth of Potatos.—" It’s dreadfully queer,” 
said the housewife, “ that the Potatos you bring 
should be so much bigger on the top of the basket 
than they are at the bottom.” “ Well mum,” said 
the honest farmer, " it comes about this way. 
P'taters is growin' so fast right now, that by the time 
I get a basketful dug the last ones is ever so much 
bigger than the fust ones.” 
Syndical Chamber of Belgian Horticulturists.—The 
monthly meeting of this society was held in the 
Casino, Ghent, on the 7th inst., when the jury 
awarded Certificates of Merit for Odontoglossum 
Adrianae (crispum x hunnewellianum) var. M. Ver- 
douck, exhibited by M. Maurice Verdouck ; and to 
Cyrtostachis Rendah, shown by M. L. De Smet- 
Duvivier (with unanimity). At the same meeting 
Honourable Mention for culture was accorded to 
Aralia kerchoveana, presented by M. Ad. Alloncius; 
likewise an Honourable Mention for botany was given 
to Selaginella proniflora, presented by M. L. De 
Smet-Duvivier. 
Shirley Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Associa¬ 
tion.—The monthly meeting of the above society 
was held at the Parish Room, Shirley, Southampton, 
on Monday evening, 15th inst., Mr. W. F. Mayoss 
presiding over a rather thin attendance of the mem¬ 
bers. J. H. Aldridge, Esq., M.D., J.P., gave a most 
interesting and useful lecture on " Farm and Gar¬ 
den Insects and their Relation to Flowers and 
Crops.” With the aid of lantern slides the lecturer 
was able to give the life history of those insects with 
which he dealt, and also to make his lecture very 
interesting. Some hints were also given as to the 
best time to destroy some of tdese pests, and the 
best means to attain that end. Mr. R. Beck assisted 
v;ith a collection of beetles. On the conclusion of 
the lecture a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to 
the doctor, who expressed the pleasure it had afforded 
him to give the lecture. A vote of thanks was also 
given to the exhibitors for the display of fruits and 
flowers, with which they had brightened the room, 
and a vote of thanks to the chairman closed the 
meeting. 
Phoenix Park, Dublin.—This sp'endid park, in 
addition to its miles of roads and turf rides, has fea¬ 
tures in its bedding that are specially worthy of a 
visit of all horticulturalists. Although not extensive 
in this department the arrangements are of a varied 
and interesting character ; the bed of succulents in 
the centre of which stands the statue of George 
William Frederick, seventh Earl of Carlisle, is 
exceedingly pretty, the large fleshy limbs of 
many of the species utilised giving it a unique 
appearance. Begonias make a brave show; Mme. 
O. Larmarke, scarlet, proves a capital bedder for its 
free blooming qualities; B. superba is another fine 
scarlet with flowers of medium size and of good sub¬ 
stance. Standard Heliotropes, some three feet in 
height, with stems over an inch in diameter, show 
that they have been carefully tended for a number of 
years, and give a fine effect, standing well above the 
dwarfer flowers of more brilliant colouring. The 
rock garden with its pools of water, and Palms that 
appear to have withstood the elements of many win¬ 
ters are well worthy of a visit to all lovers of nature. 
—R. G. W. 
The Oaks, of Magdalen, Oxford, that Macaulay 
lauded so highly, proved to be Elms upon casual 
inspection. 
Kew Notes.—Gentleman, showing his friends 
round ; 11 This is the Holy Anna Plant ” (Oleander). 
Lady, pointing to Drosera rotundifolia : " This is the 
Sensitive Plant.”—After a pause : "Have you been 
into the wood house.” (She meant Wood Museum.) 
— Patterson. 
Tintern Abbey.—This fine old abbey and attached 
estate has been nominally in the market for seme 
little time, but the Marquis of Worcester is hanging 
back from setting a price upon it. The proposal has 
been mooted that part of this fine Monmouthshire 
estate should be purchased for public use, but the 
proposal has not yet taken definite form. 
A 160 Guinea Ring in a Tomato.—In a thickly pop¬ 
ulated part of Hull, says the evening paper of that 
town, an urchin picked up a Tomato and commenced 
eating it till something hurt his teeth. He dropped the 
hard substance on his hand, and lo, it was a ring, 
which he took home to his mother, whe, seeing 
something flashing with brilliancy, took it to the 
jeweller to ascertain its value. That worthy assessed 
its value at 150 guineas. How did the milk get into 
the cocoanut ? 
Crimson Rambler Rose an Old Aquaintance.—The 
current issue of the Revue de 1 'Horticulture Beige 
points out that the supposed new Rose, Crimson 
Rambler is in reality an old friend. In 1886 M. 
Cochet introduced it to France. It was figured in 
the July number of the Journal des Roses in the same 
year under the name of Rosa platyphylla, and 
appears to be synonymous with the Rosa multiflora 
coccinea which it bore in the year 1815, when some 
seeds of it were brought to Europe. Following M. 
Cochet came a Japanese student, M. Takasima, at 
the Nancy School of Forestry, who brought it to the 
notice of M. Sisley, of Lyons. In Japan, Crimson 
Rambler is called Sakoura-Ihara (rose-cerise) and 
there are numerous varieties of it in existence. One 
of the best is Cramoisie which was put into com¬ 
merce by Mr. Chas. Turner. 
Self-Irrigation in Plants.—The Rev, Alex. Wilson, 
M.A., B.Sc., continues his interesting remarks upon 
this subject in the current issue of Knowledge. The 
case of the F'uller's Teasel is instanced as one of the 
best established cases of imbibition, the plants being 
provided with " leaf-cups.” The leaves of the 
Teasel are arranged in pairs, the broadened base of 
each leaf uniting with that of its neighbour to en¬ 
circle the stem, and form the " leaf-cups.” Silphium, 
a member of Compositae, also has “ leaf-cups, 1 ’ whilst 
many epiphytic Bromelias and Tillandsias retain 
quantities of water in their expanded leaf bases. Of 
this water a portion is imbibed by means of thin- 
walled cells. The writer next goes on to consider 
the Chickweed, and attributes in large measure the 
rapidity with which it spreads over the garden to its 
very complete system of self-irrigation. Here again 
the sheathing bases of the leaves form " leaf-cups ” 
in which the water collects. The leaf stalks are 
channelled, but the stems are not, the water being 
conducted from one "leaf-cup ” to another by a line 
of deflexed, easily wetted hairs, which the writer 
considers are meant to act as water conductors. 
Each hair conxists of several cells filled with proto¬ 
plasm. In a dry condition the walls of the basal 
cell present a striated appearance, and this has caused 
Kerner to assign to them an absorbent function. 
The Rev. A. Wilson, however, points out that this 
can hardly be, for the cells are not directly connected 
with the vascular system. The water and particles of 
earth that collect in the " leaf-cups ” conduce to the 
formation of roots, and the hairs serve to conduct 
water to these roots. Another interesting fact in the 
connection between the row of conducting hairs and 
the axillary buds, the former being placed on the 
same side of the stem as the axillary bud immedi¬ 
ately below them. Aquaducts consisting of lines of 
hairs similar to those found in the Chickweed are to 
be seen in a number of other plants, including the 
Germander Speedwell. The Rev. A. Wilson thinks 
it not improbable that the rootlets of the Chickweed 
take up nitrogenous compounds dissolved in the 
water accumulated in the "leaf-cups.” Several ex¬ 
cellent cuts illustrate the writer's remarks, which, 
however, are exceedingly lucid throughout. 
Asparagus grows wild, but sparingly, on some of 
the British coasts. On the Russian steppes it is so 
abundant that cattle eat it like grass. The seeds are 
used as a substitute for coffee in some parts of 
southern Europe. 
A Lady Gardener in the Emerald Isle.—A military 
officer’s wife was wandering in her husband’s gar¬ 
den one day, and, seeing a spade, conceived the idea 
of digging up some Potatos with it to see what the 
work was like. Her husband’s servant, an old 
soldier and a Scot to boot, walked down the garden 
path. With a smiling countenance she looked up 
and asked, "Don’t I dig these well, Sandy?” 
" Mebbe you were reared till it,” was the Scot's reply, 
as he passed on to his work. 
Public Park, Widnes.—The first prize of thirty-five 
guineas in the public competition for the best design 
for laying out the Appleton House Estate as a public 
park, has been awarded to Messrs. Wm. Barron & 
Son, Elvaston Nurseries, Borrowash. The area of 
the park is about 36 acres, and in addition to the 
general plan of the park, which contains a lake, 
cricket and recreation ground, and lawn tennis 
grounds, bowling green, gymnasiums, &c., they also 
furnish three alternative plans for dealing with 
Appleton House and premises; also designs for 
entrance gates, bandstands, shelters, fountains, &c. 
Primeval Vegetation.—Lord Kelvin says there is 
not more than three hundred and forty million 
million tons of fuel in the earth, and says that this is 
the exact amount because all the oxygen of our 
atmosphere came from primeval vegetation. One 
ton of coal takes three tons of oxygen to burn it, and 
therefore its vegetable originals, decomposing carbon 
dioxide and water by the aid of sunlight, gave three 
tons of oxygen to the atmosphere. Every square 
metre of the earth’s surface bears ten tons of air of 
which two tons are oxygen. The whole surface of 
the earth is one hundred and twenty-four thousand 
millions of acres ; hence his reasoning. 
National Co-operative Flower Show.—The " One 
& All ” Flower Show to be held at the Crystal 
Palace on Saturday next, in connection with the 
National Co-operative Festival, promises this year 
to exceed even the gigantic proportions of previous 
years. Last year it will be remembered that the 
Crystal Palace authorities were unable to find 
accommodation even in their great building both for 
the Victoria Jubilee Exhibition and this great annual 
industrial flower show at the same time,and the flower 
show had to be housed in a gigantic tent, over one- 
tenth of a mile long, and the whole width of the 
great terrace of the Palace, specially erected for its 
temporary accommodation. This } ear, however, the 
" One & All” show is able to get back to its old 
quarters, where it will fill the whole centre of the 
Palace from end to end. The enthusiastic horticul¬ 
turist who intends to conscientiously inspect every 
exhibit should be warned that if he is to walk down 
each side of all the long tables he will have over a mile 
to walk before his task is accomplished. The competi¬ 
tion for the Challenge Cup, instituted this year by the 
Countess Grey, promises to be very keen, the entries 
in the industrial section being heavier than usual, we 
are informed by Mr. Edward Owen Greening, the 
Hon. Sec. The two classes for Vegetable Marrows 
in this section exceed 50 entries in each class ; there 
are over 175 entries for the four classes of Potatos, 
the other entries of vegetables being in equally re¬ 
markable proportions. But in addition to the large 
entries for the commoner kinds of vegetables usually 
grown by working men, the entries in the classes 
for the choice vegetables usually grown by 
well-to-do amateurs and professional gardeners, 
such as Tomatos, Celery and Cucumbers, are 
remarkably well filled, and the interesting compari¬ 
son between the produce of these simple amateurs 
and the better equipped gardeners of the second 
section of the show has by no means in previous ex¬ 
hibitions always been to the advantage of the latter. 
More room has bad to be found for the growing 
photographic section, which will move across from 
the Italian Court to the larger Egyptian Court near 
the main entrance. The hints which this pictorial 
exhibition enables one horticulturist to convey to 
another as to the arrangement of small town or 
gardens, the greenhouse, the window box, hanging 
basket, rockery, or other objects not readily movable, 
are most instructive, and form a feature entirely 
lacking in the usual exhibitions confined to the more 
portable fruit and vegetables. 
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