March 11, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
'437 
IMMEDIATE 
DESPATCH. 
SUTTON’S 
PARCEL POST COLLECTION 
OF 
VEGETABLE SEEDS 
CONTAINS: 
4 varieties Peas for succes¬ 
sion. 
5 varieties Beans, Broad, 
Runner, and Dwarf. 
i packet Beet, Sutton’s 
Dwarf Red. 
1 packet Borecole or 
Kale, Sutton s Extra 
Curled Scotch. 
r packets Broccoli. 
t packet Brussels 
Sprouts. 
2 packets Cabba ge, 
Sutton's Early Market and 
another. 
1 packet Savoy. 
2 packets Carrot. 
i packet Cauliflower, 
Walcheren. 
1 packet Celery, Sutton's 
Sulham Prize. 
r ounce Cress, Plain. 
2 packets Cucumber, 
Frame and Ridge. 
1 pa.ket Endive. 
ipacket Leek,Musse)bjrgh. 
2 packets Lettuce, Cos 
and Cabbage. 
1 ounce Mustard. 
2 Packets Onion, Sutton’s 
Improved Reading and 
another. 
i packet Parsley, Sutton's 
Imperial Curled. 
1 packet Parsnip, Sutton’s 
Student. 
2 packets Radish, Turnip 
and Olive. 
i ounce Spinach, Round. 
i packet Sweet Mar¬ 
joram. 
1 packet Tomato. 
2 packets Turnip, Sutton's 
Green-top White and 
another. 
: packet Vegetable 
Marrow 
Post free on receipt of a remittance for io/-. 
*■ Your seeds gave me great satisfaction. I won last year 
between seventy and eighty prizes.’’—Mr T. BRIGGS, 
Jun., St. Ives. 
Sutton’s seeds) 
GEN UINE ONLY FROM SUTTON & SONS,READING. / 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refieshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
iJlHf 
Edited by J. FRASER. F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , MAR. nth , 1899. 
NE.XT WEEK'S ENGAGEMENTS 
Monday, March 13th.—Annual meeting of the United Horti¬ 
cultural Benefit and Provident Society, at the Caledonian 
Hotel, Adelphi, Strand : time, 3 p.m. 
Tuesday, March 14th.—Royal Horticultural Society; Meeting 
of committees at 12, noon. 
Wednesday, March 15th. —Smoking Concert, in the Pillar 
Hall, Cannon Street Hotel, E.C., od behalf of the Royal 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund; Sir A. F. Godson, M.P., Q.C. 
in the chair. 
^H?ast Winds and Vegetation.— Very 
seldom do we escape a visitation of east 
winds during the spring months, and while, 
generally, of the longest duration in March, 
they are also, as a rule, the most injurious 
while that month is in progress. Though 
blighting winds are occasionally very destruc¬ 
tive, even as late as May, March winds more 
often make their baneful influence felt. 
According to the old adage, “as the day 
lengthens the cold strengthens,” but the 
aridity of the wind from an eastern quarter 
is quite as hurtful as the actual cold. Many 
half-hardy subjects, whose vitality may be 
at a low ebb during the winter months, are 
more liable to succumb in March than, 
perhaps, in any other month ; but another 
set of plants suffers injury owing to untimely 
growth made as a result of mild weather in 
the early part of the year. Such plants in 
the more northern portions of theisland often 
pass the winter scatheless, because the 
lower temperature allows them to rest till a 
more seasonable period. Tree Paeonies, 
Escallonia macrantha and other subjects 
may be cited as an instance of this. 
Shallow rooting plants of an alpine 
character often suffer through the parched- 
up condition of the surface soil, whereby the 
roots are killed. Still another instance of 
injury may be mentioned, and that is in 
the case of hardy herbaceous subjects with 
evergreen foliage, grown in the neighbour- 
of London and other large cities having a 
smoky and soot-laden atmosphere, which 
proves more obnoxious in winter than in 
summer. In this category Lychnis Vis- 
caria, Primroses, Polyanthus, Aubrietias, 
Stenactis speciosa, and others may be 
placed. The foliage gets brown and the 
crowns gradually die away, whether the 
winds be dry or moist. This we attribute 
to deposits from a filthy atmosphere, and to 
ingredients, it may be, of a chemical nature. 
Loss of greater or less extent from these 
causes cannot be avoided until the dis¬ 
covery can be made of maintaining the 
atmosphere in a purer state, if even such a 
scheme may be practicable. 
With reference to plant injury from east 
winds, however, gardeners can alleviate the 
evil in a good many cases. The pruning of 
Tea, Noisette, hybrid perpetual, and other 
tender Roses, should be delayed until all 
danger is, practically, past. The young 
growths of these Roses, made as a result of 
the mild winter, are already more or less 
injured and present a scorched appearance ; 
but as they have to be removed presently 
by the operation of pruning, little harm 
may yet be done so long as the buds, to 
furnish the young growths, are maintained 
in a resting condition, which may generally 
be effected by deferring the work of pruning. 
A few Spruce or other evergreen branches 
stuck in the ground to break the force of 
the east wind, would save many choice 
things from being lashed about and broken, 
especially when in a frozen condition in the 
early morning. It would be impossible, on 
account of the labour attached, to thus pro¬ 
tect everything in a garden likely to suffer ; 
but choice and useful things would repay 
the trouble ; and the more a gardener could 
accomplish in this way the more it would 
redound to his credit. 
Choice things, whether of a shrubby or 
herbaceous nature, should have the protec¬ 
tion of evergreen branches, which break the 
force of the wind better than anything, short 
of covering up the plants with hand lights, 
bellglasses, frames or mats. Choice alpines, 
liable to be killed by the drying up of the 
surface soil containing their roots, might 
often be preserved by watering the soil 
early in the day, or as soon as frost may 
have left it. As to what plants might be 
succoured in this way the gardener, who is 
a careful observer, could best determine by 
occasionally looking over his borders and 
rockeries, in which choice alpines or other 
dwarf subjects are growing. Perfectly 
hardy things would take no harm from a 
moist soil in March, while shallow-rooting 
species would certainly be benefited. By 
doing this work early in the day, the foliage 
would be perfectly dry before night. This 
applies more particularly to the southern 
counties of England. Larther north the 
soil seldom gets injuriously dry till a much 
later period of the year. A judicious 
mulching with short dung, leaf mould, or 
even cocoanut fibre, would often prove 
extremely serviceable by preserving the soil 
moisture, and avoiding all necessity for 
artificial watering. 
The various plantations of fruit trees are 
generally too extensive to make the giving 
of artificial protection impracticable ; but 
Peach, Apricot and other choice trees upon 
walls, certainly repay a little trouble in pro¬ 
tecting the blossom from injury. In some 
cases a glass coping is provided to ward off 
frost, whiie tiffany or a double fold of 
herring netting is provided by other gar¬ 
deners. Some believe in the efficacy of a 
few Spruce or Cherry Laurel boughs 
inserted amongst the branches of the trees 
themselves, and we doubt not there is much 
justification for the practice. Provided the 
weather is dry, Peach trees often set well 
in spite of frosty mornings and cold east 
winds, which serve, no doubt, to distribute 
the pollen while the sun shines. Vege¬ 
tables, such as Cauliflower, Peas, Lettuce, 
and even Cabbages, are much benefited by 
the timely shelter of a few evergreen 
boughs placed between them and the wind 
to break the force of the same, but not in 
any way to obstruct the light of day,-a 
source of vitality but too frequently over¬ 
looked. 
-.«>- 
United Horticultural Benefit and Provident Society 
—The annual general meeting of this society will 
take place on Monday. March 13th, at 8 p.m., at the 
Caledonian Hotel, Adelphi Terrace, Strapd, 
London. 
Who Stole the Melons?—An advertisement that 
lately appeared in a Canadian newspaper ran as 
follows ;—“ Will the gentleman who stole my 
Melons last Saturday night be generous enough to 
return me a few of the seeds, as they are a choice 
variety ? ” 
Royal Horticultural Society—The next fruit- and 
floral meeiing of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
will be held on Tuesday, March 14th, in the Drill 
Hall, James Street,Westminsters to 4 p.m. Alecture 
on “ The Dukeof Bedford's Experiments at Woburn : 
their object and method,” will be given by Mr. 
Spencer Pickering, at 3 o’clock. 
The British Museum.—The magnificent collection 
of Mosses, comprising some 1,120 specimens, col¬ 
lected by the late Mr Charles Lyell, of Kilmordy, 
has been gifted by Sir Leonard Lyell to the Botanical 
Department of the British Museum. This is one 
of the most valuable gifts received of late years. 
The collection is lodged in the National Herbarium 
at South Kensington. 
Labiates with Alternate Leaves. —On February 16th 
at the meeting of the Linnean Society Messrs. I. H. 
Burkill, F.L.S., and C. H. Wright, A.L.S., read a 
paper “On some African Labiatae with Ahernate 
Leaves,” a peculiarity which had been recently used 
by M. Hua to characterise a new genus, Icomum. To 
this genus three new species were now added. Its 
affinity was said to be with Aerlanthus, in which 
certain irregularities in the arrangement of the bracts 
of the inflorescence and flowers might be observed. 
The types of the new species described were stated 
to be in the Herbarium at Kew Gardens. Dr. O. 
Stapf and Dr. Rendle spoke. 
Mildness of the Winter.—The winter of 1898 9, so 
far, bids fair to be recorded a mild one. Those who, 
like myself, favour the use of half-hardy plants, or 
those of a nearly hardy constitution, will—unless 
March has something unusually severe in store for 
us—rejoice that many subjects, usually killed, have 
so far escaped. I have here, outside in shrubberies 
and borders, quite healthy, several fine plants of the 
Blue Gum, Eucalyptus globulus, a large plant, 20 it. 
high, of Dracaena nigra, and two large plants of 
Chamaerops humilis. I think it is as vigorous and 
healthy-looking as in summer. Fatsia japonica 
(Aralia Sieboldi) I have had planted in a shrubbery 
for three years, and it is quite vigorous and happy. 
A batch of Polyanthus is quite showy and spring¬ 
like with bloom. I observe the market gardeners 
are gathering and bunching Wallflowers, evidently 
for market. Fruit buds also are swelling fast, and 
we shall have shortly to nail up our Peach trees on 
outside walls, although we generally prefer to leave 
them as long as possible before doing this. Spinach, 
Radishes, and Peas on the borders are through in 
some cases. When sowiag these a few weeks ago, I 
found the temperature of the border to be 45 0 3 in. 
below the surface. —A. P. 
