380 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 11, 1899. 
had made this clear. Of course the nodes (joints) 
have the same chance. 
If my friend wishes to test the practical value, let 
him get young stems, with a few tender claws 
attached, lay them on a damp soft surface and shady 
place, and he will find that the aerial roots will 
begin to lengthen and pass into un independent 
state. 
I agree with •• F.J.” that it does not follow that all 
aerial roots will develope into true roots, any more 
than Geraniums or any other cuttings will all root 
when placed into the propagating boxes. It is an 
admitted fact that the walls of historical buildings 
and old places are of great thickness, and have no 
damp courses ; but time disintegrates and crumbles 
the particles of the structures, making them great 
absorbents of moisture; and the Ivies, clinging and 
towering there, when by accidents and carelessness 
they become severed, can and do undoubtedly 
support themselves, drawing their sustenance from 
the walls by capillary attraction and suction, in com¬ 
bination with things mechanical, atmospheric, and 
terrestrial. What more do we want ? 
Anyone will see that those three are not in their 
due proportions, in the cases cited by “ Fiat 
Justitia’s ” example, that in cutting he severed the 
predominating force, conduction, which proved 
wholly mechanical, and inert, and death followed. 
— B. Lockwood. 
If a layer of Ivy is cut oft at each end and placed 
in the ground it will root at intervals throughout its 
length. That plants will grow on walls is well 
illustrated by Linaria, Sedum and others. When old 
Ivy is pulled down from walls the quantity of rubbish 
such as old leaves rotted, and other stuff nearly 
smothers you. Why should not the Ivy find in this 
material a favourable soil for aerial roots, and push 
them through the chinks in the morter into the 
wall!— Sigma, February 6th, 1899. 
PHYSALIS FRANCHETTI. 
Failures may, as mentioned on p. 362 by A. P., be 
from impatient cultivators in fruiting the above 
successfully ; but in few cases, I think, especially 
when grown in borders. We have a space allotted 
to it here, which is quite open, and, although its 
growth was of a very robust nature, it failed to 
flower and fruit satisfactorily, compared to those 
plants which were grown in pots. The roots or 
stems, in each case, were of the same age, being 
taken from the border and potted into 24-size pots. 
The number of fruits on a stalk was from nine to 
five; while those in the open ground carried two and 
three. The reason for this I cannot account, unless 
it was the limited amount of root-run in the pots, 
which is rather abundant in the border. The pots 
were stood outside, under a greenhouse wall, facing 
east. Those who have met with failure I should 
advise to give this perennial a trial as a pot plant, 
but plenty of water must be given during the hot 
weather, with liquid manure, upon the pots 
becoming full of roots and while fruiting. Another 
advantage when grown in pots is, if they are not 
required for cutting, they can be taken to the con¬ 
servatory where they play a very conspicuous part 
during the winter months.— W. IV. 
THE ORCHARDS OF NOVA SCOTIA. 
Mr. Cecil H. Hooper, of Swanley, Kent, delivered 
a lecture upon the Orchards of Nova Scotia, before 
the Royal Horticultural Society, on the 31st ult. Mr. 
Alexander Dean occupied the chair. 
After giving the latitude and longitude of the 
country, and describing its position upon the 
American coast, Mr. Hooper said that it was 
naturally well watered and fertile, although the 
winter was rather a long one. Such trees as Spruce, 
Larch, Ash, Alder, Oak, and Maple grew naturally 
in plenty, and the English Elm and French Willow 
had been introduced. The Cornwallis Valley, which 
varied in width from six to eleven miles was the chief 
fruit-growing centre. Apples and Plums were the 
staple crops, and near the towns of Middleton and 
Berwick, Raspberries, Strawberries, and a few 
Grapes were cultivated. The market for these soft 
fruits was, however, limited. In the centre of the 
valley there was a stretch of bogland, which had 
proved very suitable for Cranberries. Many of the 
orchards were fully fifty years old, and there were 
yet some trees remaining that had been planted by 
the French *50 years ago. 
With regard io Apples the flavour of the fruit was 
not so quite so good as that of the best English fruit, 
but in the average of culture, shape, and appearance 
of the trees Nova Scotia would win against the old 
country. Amongst the social arrangements in force, 
the lecturer mentioned prohibition of the sale of 
intoxicants, which, he said, was rigidly enforced. All 
the chief houses were connected by the telephone, 
and he had on several occasions cabled to England 
and received an answer without going out of the 
house. 8 '« 
Mr. Hooper then went on to discuss in turn the 
various salient features of the orcharding industry in 
Nova Scotia. 
In pruning, the idea aimed at was to have a well¬ 
shaped tree with a clean central leader and main 
branches dispersed evenly around it. All the large 
wounds were dressed with a mixture of gum shellac 
dissolved in wood alcohol. It had been found that 
the best time to prune was just as the trees were 
coming into bloom. 
Speaking of the application of manures, he said 
stable manure was given one year, chemical manure 
another. If the trees ran to leaf, potash was given. 
A favourite dressing was twenty to thirty bushels per 
acre of wood ashes. Bone meal was given at the rate 
of from 5 cwt. to 8 cwt. per acre, and muriate of 
potash, 1 cwt. to 3 cwt., whilst nitrate of soda was 
not much used. Special mixtures were recommended 
for Strawberries, Apples, and orchards carrying an 
undercrop of clover. Once in five years a dressing 
of lime was given at the rate of twenty-five bushels 
to the acre. Green manuring was also practised- 
both with a view to protect the roots during winter, 
and also to add nutriment to the soil. Clover, Peas, 
Rye, Oats, and Buckwheat were thus employed, 
being sown in July, and ploughed in in the following 
spring. Apples were planted from 30 ft. to 40 ft. 
apart, the ground being ploughed to a depth of about 
8 in. for a few years subsequent to planting. The 
ploughing was done in fall or early spring, at the 
latter time for clayey land. The spaces between the 
trees were generally cropped (always for the first 
twelve years) with Maize, Beans, Clover, etc. 
Spraying for fungoid and insect pests was very 
commonly practised,for both fungi and insects seemed 
more numerous and destructive than at home. For 
chewing insects one-third to one pound of caustic 
potash to one gallon of water formed an effective 
spraying mixture. For fungoid attacks one pound of 
sulphate of copper dissolved in fifteen gallons of 
water, without lime, was recommended for use when 
there was no foliage to burn. The recipe for the 
Bordeaux Mixture used in Nova Scotia was given as 
four pounds sulphate of copper, four pounds quick¬ 
lime, forty gallons of water. On an average one and 
a half gallons were needed to spray a tree 
effectively, and this would work out at a cost of 
about two shillings per acre. 
Dusting with Paris Green had been found, very 
effective in dealing with insects. Fruit tree 
banding at the end of October and the beginning 
of November was carried on to some extent, but it 
was found that when spraying was properly executed 
there was little need for the banding. The bands 
used were about six inches in width and were put 
on about two feet above the ground. 
Passing on to the question of grading, packing, 
and marketing, Mr. Hooper saifi that the Apples 
were divided into firsts, seconds, thirds, and 
occasionally fourths, or scrubs. The first and seconds 
were exported, the thirds sent to the local market, 
and the scrubs given to the pigs The barrels 
usually employed contained 120 pounds of fruit, 
although some held 140 pounds. The methods of 
forcing in the fruit into the barrels were described. 
The cost of export per barrel to England was 2s. 6d. 
for the 3,000 miles, and the 60 miles of railway 
-journey is. 3d., or 3s. gd. in all. A price of is. per 
barrel was commonly paid for picking, packing, and 
hauling to the station. 
Cranberries formed a promising crop. The beds 
took four years to come into bearing, and lasted 
forty years. Mr. Hooper was of opinion that Cran¬ 
berries might be advantageously cultivated in many 
waste parts of this country. 
In conclusion the lecturer pointed out how 
advanced the people of Nova Scotia were in horti¬ 
cultural knowledge. They had a flourishing school 
of horticulture, and the fruit growers believed 
strongly in co-operation. 
A specimen of the spraying machine usually 
favoured with hose and bamboo attachment was 
exhibited. 
At the close of the lecture Mr. Roupell asked 
several questions, which Mr. Hooper duly answered, 
and the chairman pointed out the considerable 
difference that existed between fruit culture in the 
old country and in Nova Scotia. 
-"HH- 
HIPPEASTRUM PROCERUM, 
That exceedingly rare plant, the Blue Amaryllis, has 
been one of the most distinguished occupants of the 
Begonia house at Kew, during the last few weeks. In 
itself and apart from the unique colour of its flowers, 
which is a bright lilac-blue, it is a striking plant, for 
the bulb is very different in shape and appearance 
to those of the modern Hippeastrums or Amaryllis, 
as they are popularly called, which the florist has 
called into existence. The bulb has a very long and 
thick neck, and there is no very appreciable thicken¬ 
ing or swelling at the base. The specific name of 
"procerum'’ (tall) is thus not inappropriate. The 
flowers are produced five or six in a shortly pedun¬ 
culate umbel, and are quite distinct in form from 
those of the florists Amaryllis. The pedicels are 
rather long and slender, and the blooms being 
heavy droop considerably. The tube, too, is long but 
the segments recurve a good deal in the fully opened 
flower, and are more stellate in form than the florists 
varieties. 
The plant is well worth growing for its own merit 
as it is both a handsome and imposing object, but it 
would be even more valuable if it could only be 
employed by the hybridist to impart a new colour 
break to the florists Amaryllis. Mr. John Heal 
has indeed already tried its efficacy in this direction 
but hitherto the results have been nil. We can only 
hope that other attempts may be crowned with 
success, for a race of blue Amaryllis is something well 
worth risking a few failures for. It would give the 
cultivation of the charming bulbous plants a still 
further filip, for some people are apt to get tired of 
shades of orange and scarlet repeated almost to 
infinity. Although H. procerum is such a rarity in 
cultivation it has been in this country for nearly 
forty years. Monsieur Benit first found it in, and 
sent it home from, Brazil, and some of these plants 
flowered as far back as 1863. It is figured in that 
elaborate work Flore des serres as Amaryllis procera. 
We find it bearing the name of A Rayneri in the 
Botanical Magazine a few years after, in compliment 
to Dr. Rayner, of Uxbridge, in whose garden it 
flowered. There have long been planls at Kew but 
for some reason or other they have been excessively 
shy of blooming, the first occasion on which flowers 
were produced being in 1893, and on that occasion 
it was the newly imported bulbs that thus disting¬ 
uished themselves. Both planting out and culture 
in pots have been tried at Kew, and in each case 
flowers have been obtained, the greater measure of 
success having attended the planting out system. It 
has been shown, however, that cultivation in pots is 
quite practicable, and, as the plant will probably 
adapt itself to circumstances in the course of the 
next few years, we may reasonably expect to find it 
flowered regularly each season in the near future. 
Hardening Miscellany. 
DAMPING OF VIOLETS. 
Writing a few days ago a friend informed me that 
his Violets in frames had this year lost all their foliage 
by damping ; also many flowers by the same trouble. 
A neighbour, to whom he gave some plants, suffered 
similarly. Unlike myself, they are both out of the 
fog area, being in Hertfordshire, in fact. My friend, 
who has hitherto prided himself on his Violets, 
considered the damping due to soft growth, made 
after the summer drought. My experience leads me 
to think that one great cause of damping is the shut¬ 
ting down of frames at night. I have in previous 
years suffered from this damping, which occurred in 
spite of careful and repeated picking over, last year 
worst of all (I don't forget the fog visitation we had 
last year, a week straight off the reel). This year, 
however, I have had air left on the frames all night; 
even when covered with mats the lights have not 
been closed down, but had a brick under at the top, 
and my plants never looked-healthier at this time of 
