December 31, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
211 
The Area of Ireland is, at a rough computation, 
25,000,000 acres, of which only 5,000,000 are under 
cultivation. 
The Medicinal Virtues of Rhubarb are pretty gener¬ 
ally known As a purifier of the blood there is 
nothing to beat it. It stimulates the healthy action 
of the liver, and also adds to the activity of the pan¬ 
creas, by reason of the potash and acids which it 
contains. 
Begonia venosa.—At the meeting of the Linnean 
Society, on the rst inst., Mr. Thomas Christy,F.L.S., 
exhibited a living plant of Begonia venosa, Skan, 
which had been raised from seed procured by Prof. 
Lofgren, F.L.S., on an island near Para, and pointed 
out some of its peculiarities. A discussion followed, 
in which Prof. Bower and Prof. Marshall Ward took 
part. 
Christmas Trees.—Like other trades the trade in 
Christmas trees has increased marvellously of late 
years. This year about 200,000 trees have passed 
through Covent Garden. The height of these trees 
varies from 2 ft. 6 in. to 30 ft., but if the average 
height is taken to be 5 ft., these 200,000 if placed on 
top of each other would reach to the very respectable 
height of 190 miles, and the weight would be, 
roughly speaking, about 5,000 tons. Another calcu¬ 
lation shows that if every tree wants on an average a 
piece of land 32 in. square to grow on, the whole of 
the 200,000 trees would occupy about thirty-two 
acres. Now and again there are calls for especially 
large trees, such as that supplied from Covent 
Garden to the Royal Aquarium some time ago. 
This tree was 100 ft. in height, and weighed half a 
ton. There is an increasing tendency in Scotland 
and other parts of Britain to grow Spruce Firs, 
especially for Christmas, for they are found to pay 
better than Hay. 
Destroying Weeds.—The practice of planting 
Potatos to clear newly-broken-up or foul land of 
weeds is a fairly common and effective one, but it has 
been found by experience, that where the land has 
been allowed to become very foul one green crop is 
not enough to clear it. Two are found to be neces¬ 
sary, and Turnips are suggested as the second. 
Some cultivators have found that the two successive 
crops of Potatos and Turnips have cleared the land 
of “ Finger-and-toe,” care being taken meanwhile to 
use no manure that may be infected. In many second 
year’s grass fields, Daisies are a great nuisance, and 
there is a proportionate scarcity of Rye-grass. The 
remedy suggested is that land laid down for new 
grass should be sown with five or six different 
grasses, so that when the Ryegrass is cut the others 
may continue to grow. The destruction of the Knot¬ 
grass forms a difficult task for many farmers. Grub¬ 
bing and harrowing in autumn is adopted by some, 
with the result that the breaking up of the roots 
aggravates the evil by causing the weeds to multiply 
greatly. The best plan is to let the weeds alone un¬ 
til spring, and then, when their green leaves make an 
appearance to lift them up in clusters, cast them off 
and burn them straight away. 
Oranges in Paraguay.— Oranges are of prolific 
growth in Paraguay, being found everywhere, many 
growing wild. They are cultivated, however, on 
farms. The seed will bear five years after being 
planted. The Orange flourishes all the year round 
except in January, February and March, and a tree 
seven years old bears about 1,000 Oranges. Accord¬ 
ing to the American Consul at Ascencionthe OraDge 
is one of the most generally used articles of food in 
Paraguay, forming a staple article for the poor, par¬ 
ticularly in the country districts. Hogs are fattened 
on them, and Orange-fed pork is stated to be very 
good. The exportation commences about the end of 
May and lasts till November The boats are loaded 
all along the river, women with flat baskets on their 
heads carrying them on board. Most of the fruit is 
sent to Buenos Ayres and Monte Video. During the 
season an average of 300,000 Oranges are exported. 
The Orange is usually about 3 in. in diameter and is 
very sweet. There are three classes, which might 
be mentioned, the ordinary Paraguayan Orange, the 
Mandarin and the bitter Orange. The first kind is 
described above; the second (Mandarin) is very 
small and not as sweet as the first, but its pungency 
makes it popular. The sale of this Orange is brisk 
and the price is remunerative. The third class is the 
sour, or bitter Orange, from whose skin marmalade 
is made. There is also an extract made from its 
blossoms, and some Frenchmen are engaged in this 
business in Paraguay, which is said to be very 
remunerative. 
The Giant Wood Wasp,Sirex gigas—A correspondent 
to the North British Agriculturist, writing from Swin- 
ton, Masham, Yorks, calls attention to the fact that 
this destructive insect is not nearly so rare as it is 
said to be. He says that at the sawmill where he 
lives the sawyers cut through as many as eight of the 
larvae of this wood wasp in running off a fencing rail 
12 feet by 3J by 1^ in. Also that in a Silver Fir 
lying in one of the woods at Holkham, the trunk of 
which measures about 350 cubic feet, there were hun¬ 
dreds of the larvae, and the trunk looked as if it had 
been riddled with bullets, being, as a consequence, of 
no value at all. It is further pointed out that, 
whereas the wood wasp breeds in decaying and dead 
trees, such trees should be removed at the earliest 
opportunity, cut up at the sawmill, and the rubbish 
burnt at once. The more useful timber should be 
carefully examined, and any openings or galleries 
looked over for the larvae, which may either be 
destroyed or the hole stopped up with pitch. 
Chestnuts for Profit.—The culture of various nuts 
for market has been discussed at various times, and 
it has been found that both Filberts and Walnuts 
are remunerative crops when properly managed. 
Some attention is being paid by our American 
friends to the cultivation of the Chestnut as a 
market crop. Mr. Van Deman, in a letter to the 
American Agriculturist, discusses the pros and cons of 
Chestnut culture, and avers that it is going to be an 
industry of considerable importance in America. 
He says, moreover, that there are millions of acres 
of land suitable for the Chestnut, sandstone, shale, 
or sand, well-drained soil being the best. The hills 
and mountains from Massachusetts to Georgia are 
the home of the American Chestnut. There are, 
moreover, vast areas in Pennsylvania, the Virginias, 
and the Carolinas, which have been chopped over, 
which would make fine Chestnut groves if worked 
over with some of the improved sorts. This has 
been done in Pennsylvania to some extent and New 
Jersey, but with only qualified success. Mr. Van 
Deman has special praise for the Killen variety, 
which, he says, has the largest fruits of any of the 
varieties he has seen, whether European, Asiatic, or 
American. The Giant, a Japanese variety, is nearest 
to it, and some of the Parry Seedlings are stated to 
be nearly as big. The Killen is a seedling raised 
from the Japanese species Castanea japonica, and 
originated within the last ten years from a nut 
planted by Mr. J. W. Killen, of Delaware. The 
tree began to bear at a very early age. Mr. KilleD, 
seeing from the size of the nuts and the free bear¬ 
ing character of the tree, that he had a good thing, 
grafted scions of it on to other trees. These bore 
fruit the year after. Individual nuts of the Killen 
have been obtained which weighed 1^ oz., and 
measured nearly 6 in. in circumference. There are 
rarely less that three nuts to the burr. The tree is 
fairly robust in constitution, makes a good orchard 
tree, and does well when grafted on to some of the 
Japanese seedlings. The Canadian Horticulturist for 
November figures this mammoth Chestnut, and 
comments favourably upon the prospects of system¬ 
atic Chestnut culture for market in Canada. The 
opinion is expressed that although the Chestnut may 
not be hardy enough to succeed far north, there are 
plenty of ridges in southern Ontario where the 
American variety flourishes to a good old age. These 
high, sandy knolls or ridges, it is pointed out, might 
profitably be utilised for'the cultivation of the finer 
varieties, such as the Killen. 
ASCOTT, LEIGHTON BUZZARD, IN 
AUTUMN. 
(Concluded from p. 148.) 
After an interruption caused by the crush of matter 
resulting from the Chrysanthemum season, we now 
resume the account of the important and interesting 
gardens of Ascott, Leighton Buzzard, the residence 
of Leopold de Rothschild, Esq., who takes the 
keenest interest in everything the gardens contain, 
and that is done in them. The various arrange¬ 
ments, the plans for devices, the new plantations 
that are made, and the plants themselves, are all 
suggested by him, and carried out according to his 
ideas. Under such conditions the welfare of a 
garden is assured, simply because the owner is not 
only interested in it but derives a great amount of 
enjoyment from the same. 
In the previous account of the place we confined 
our attention to the outdoor gardens as they appeared 
at the end of October last. The glass department 
for the same period of the year must now engage 
our attention. One of the pits contained a fine lot 
of Vallotas from the Cape. Nerines are rather ex¬ 
tensively grown for a.private establishment, as may 
be gathered from the fact that something between 
500 and 600 spikes are produced during the autumn. 
A fine batch of Pelargonium Raspail Improved was 
flowering freely iu a frame. Violets are also exten¬ 
sively cultivated in span-roofed frames, and had even 
then commenced to bloom. The favourites are 
Marie Louise, White Czar, Lady Hume Campbell, 
and California. The latter is sweetly scented. 
Lady Hume Campbell is a late variety and had not 
then commenced to bloom. The method of cultiva¬ 
tion interested us, by the way in which the bed and 
soil were built up in a triangular ridge so as to con¬ 
form to the outline of the ridge of the span-roofed 
frames, thus bringing the plants close to the glass, 
and giving them the full benefit of light. 
One of the houses contained fine batches of Ciner¬ 
arias, Celsia arcturus, Campanula pyramidalis, and 
a large batch of Fairy Roses, grown in pots to supply 
small Roses for mixing with cut flowers. A large 
batch of Kalosanthes coccinea was also being brought 
along for London work In summer. In the same 
structure was a fine batch of Carnations in pots for 
flowering in May. Elsewhere a fine batch of two- 
year-old plants of the Malmaison Carnation Princess 
of Wales, was healthy and vigorous. 
Not only doss Leopold de Rothschild, Esq., take 
a personal interest in the welfare of the garden, but 
he encourages his three sons, Lionel, Evelyn and 
Anthony, to do so also. A span-roofed house, 
divided into three compartments, is set apart for 
them, the divisions havmg the name of the respec¬ 
tive owner over the door. Each of the young 
gentlemen sees to the welfare of the plants under his 
care. In one of them we noted a conspicuous and 
showy Pelargonium named Mme. J. Chretien, of a 
rich carmine colour with a white base to the upper 
petals. It looks promising as a bedder. 
Malmaison Carnations are one of the most impor¬ 
tant features of Ascott, and on this occasion we noted 
some 3,000 layers, and 2,000 large plants. Some of 
the big plants had commenced to flower, and will 
keep up a succession till the end of next August. 
The layers will flower during June, July and August; 
they were in 60-size pots at the time, but are put into 
24-size pots to bloom. Indeed, the work of potting 
was proceeding with all expedition, and as we passed 
through the potting shed, we noted the young men 
making the soil very firm, which is no doubt one of 
the secrets of success with this important class of 
plants. 
A plantation of Strawberry Hautboy had been 
made in the open, and the strong runners were 
making vigorous growth. Royal Sovereign is the 
favourite Strawberry for pot work ; and a large batch 
standing in the open possessed notably good crowns. 
The stove contained a collection of fine foliage 
plants for putting in boxes and for decorative work 
generally. Gardenias in 24-size pots were healthy 
and vigorous. A large piece of Vanda teres, growing 
on a piece of Elder stem, flowers freely every year. 
Hibiscus splendens, planted out, forms a large bush 
which flowers continuously, summer and winter. The 
large and perfectly double scarlet flowers are really very 
showy and conspicuous. Another warm house con¬ 
tained a great variety of Palms, Dracaenas, Crotons, 
Pandanus, Gesnera fulgens, and Euphorbia jacquin- 
iaeflora, the one year old plants of the latter being 
tall, branched, and capable of supplying a consider¬ 
able amount of flowers for cutting. Maidenhair 
Ferns and Cypripedium insigne, intended for cutting, 
were the features of another house. 
In one Rose case the Roses are brought into bloom 
during February. May Paul, a sweetly scented 
variety, is a great favourite with the owner. Here, 
too, was a large batch of Mignonette in plants 2 ft. 
high, then coming into flower, and expected to bloom 
till some time after Christmas. The varieties grown 
for winter work are Parson's White, Pyramidal and 
Golden. Chrysanthemums in great variety for 
cutting were accommodated in a Peach case, where 
