454 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 18, 1899. 
2 , 071,900 live Quails were sent from Egypt daring 
the past year. Of these 1,884,900 went to France, 
92,000 to this country, 70,000 to Italy, and 25,000 to 
Malta. The comparative few sent to this country is 
accounted for by the fact that many more found their 
way hither via Marseilles, and these are not counted 
in the 92,000. At any rate there seem to be plenty 
of people besides the Israelites who like quails. 
The Durham, Northumberland, and Newcastle 
Horticultural and Botanical Society.—The schedule 
of prizes for the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Flower Show 
issued by the above society is before us. The exhi¬ 
bition is to take place in Leazes Park, on June 19th, 
20th, and 21st, and we hope that this year it will be 
favoured with Queen’s weather. Prizes are offered 
in 67 classes, distributed amongst plants, cut flowers, 
fruit and vegetables. Special prizes are to be given 
by Mr. Robert Sydenham, Messrs Sutton and Sons, 
Messrs. Webb and Sons, and Messrs. Jas. Carter and 
Co. 
Chester Paxton Society.—A meeting of the above 
was held on the 4th inst, at the Grosvenor Museum, 
Mr. N. F. Barnes, of Eaton Hall Gardens, presiding 
over a large attendance. Mr. R. Todd, representing 
the Woolton Society, was introduced by the chair¬ 
man to deliver his lecture on " Orchids.” The subject 
was treated in a popular style with the means of 
furnishing a continuous supply of flowers throughout 
the year, with general notes on the culture of the 
various species. Mr. Todd illustrated his paper with 
overfifty varieties of cut flowers, whichenhanced the 
interest of the meeting. At the conclusion a discus¬ 
sion followed in which Messrs. R. Newstead, F.E S , 
J. D. Siddell, John Taylor and others took part. On 
the motion of Mr. Miln, seconded by Mr. Newstead, 
the thanks of the meeting were tendered to the 
lecturer. 
Bristol and District Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Association.—A large and appreciative audience 
assembled at St. John's Parish Room on Thursday 
last to hear a lecture by Mr. C. Bridges on “ The 
Culture of Hyacinths and Tulips.” The chair was 
taken by Mr. W. A. Garaway. The lecturer, in a 
racy and convincing manner, dealt with the early 
history of the bulbs, their introduction into this 
country, the necessary treatment required for the 
successful cultivation in the flower garden, for con¬ 
servatory decoration, and special treatment for ex¬ 
hibition. He also advised his hearers with regard 
to purchasing bulbs, and laid great emphasis on the 
need of dealing with reliable firms. He said all 
bulbs should be potted in October or early in 
November, and those for the garden planted early in 
November. A discussion followed the lecture, being 
taken part in by several members, and hearty thanks 
were accorded the lecturer for his interesting effort. 
Piizes for Tulips and mixed pots of bulbs were 
awarded Messrs. Bannister, and Pidgeon. — W. E. 
Groves, Hon. Sec. and Treasurer. 
Preserving Cut Flowers for a Month—A corres¬ 
pondent to the Golden Penny, discussing the preserva¬ 
tion of fl awers, avers that even "the most delicate 
and fragile of blossoms can be kept in good, healthy 
condition for a month or six weeks if systematic 
attention is given to them.” This is rather a tall 
statement, for as all practical gardeners know there 
are many flowers, such, for instance, as Irises, that 
are exceedingly short-lived. There is no doubt, 
however, that much may be done even by changing 
the water frequently. The method recommended is 
to cut from each of the stems one-sixteenth of an 
inch with a sharp knife—scissors squeeze the stem 
and hinder its absorptive powers. Five or six drops 
of sulphate of ammonia should be dropped into each 
vase, and the latter filled three-quarters full of water. 
At night the stems should be sponged off in clear, 
cold water, and any decaying parts removed. Then 
place the flowers in a solution of soap and water, 
and stand them in a cool place until next day, when 
the course of treatment begins over again. Violets, 
Roses, and Fern fronds will last best if laid, each 
night, on a piece of damp flannel and covered over 
with a bowl. White Carnations may be tinted to 
any desired colour by putting a little dye of the 
required colour into the water. This is the system 
recommended, and although it may savour some¬ 
what of an old woman’s pottering about, still, in the 
case of choice and valuable flowers, it may be worth 
trying. 
Lilies of the Valley cost Paris something like 
£50,000 during the winter season. 
Some of the Best Honey-producing Plants are 
Honeysuckle, Mignonette, Single Dahlia, Wall¬ 
flower, and Clover. 
Wakefield Paxton Society.— March 11th. This 
society opened a new quarter’s meetings on the above 
date, in its room at the Stafford Arms, Wakefield, by 
a lecture on ” Table Plants " from Mr. Dunsmore, 
Wakefield. The lecturer narrowed his considerations 
of the subject to foliage plants which may be grown 
in dwelling-house windows, such as Araiia Sieboldii, 
Kentias, Ficus elastica, various Aspleniums, Pteris, 
and other Ferns. Discussion followed the lecture. 
Cocos weddeliana was mentioned as having succeeded 
for years in a cottage window. It was advocated to 
keep plants at a distance from the window panes to 
secure an evenness in temperature. Broad-leaved 
plants are more easily kept clean than dissected- 
leaved ones. Messrs. Dunsmore, Wasse, and Dickson 
of Wakefield, exhibited cool-house plants. At the 
close of the meeting the usual votes of thanks to the 
lecturer and chairman were accorded, and next 
meeting’s subject intimated,—viz., " English Cathe¬ 
drals ".—J. H. D. 
Fertilisation of Glaux maritima.—Mr. Edward Step, 
F.L.S., read a paper on the fertilisation of Glaux 
maritima at the meeting of the Linnean Society, on 
March 2nd. After examining some hundreds of 
flowers gathered along the coast near Portscatho, 
Cornwall, he had come to the conclusion that the 
flower is protogynous. When open, the calyx-lobes 
at first separate but slightly, affording only a nar¬ 
row entrance. The curvature of the style is suffi¬ 
cient to bring it within the fold of a calyx-lobe, from 
which the stigma projects so as to be in the way of 
any insect that visits the flower for the liquid that 
exudes from the ovary and base of the style. When 
the yellow pollen is shed, the style is either quite 
erect, or retains its original bend sufficiently above 
the anthers to make self-fertilisation probable. 
Owing to the lowly habit of the plant and its cus¬ 
tomary crowding in with sea-sedge and grasses, it is 
not an easy one to watch. Doubtless it is often 
fertilised with its own pollen by the agency of flies 
and other insects; but from the position and precocity 
of the stigma, Mr. Step considered that cross-ferti¬ 
lisation is quite as frequent. He was consequently 
unable to agree with Mr. Henslow (Trans. Linn. 
Soc., n. s. Bot. i. 1880, p. 377, pi. 44, fig. 35) as to 
self-fertilisation in this plant, believing his conclusion 
to have been drawn from the examination of an 
abnormal specimen. 
The Legend of the Christmas Rose.—Helleborus 
niger, the Christmas Rose as it is popularly called^ 
is grown in our gardens nowadays for its beauty and 
for its value as an early flower. Whether or notour 
love for it is tinged, unknown to ourselves, by the 
superstitions and legends which our forefathers 
associated w.th it may justly be questioned, for the 
plant was at one time enwrapped by legends of 
ghosts and spooks, and credited with supernatural 
powers. Anyone who wished to make use of these 
occult powers had to pick three flowers on Innocents’ 
Day (December 28th) and keep them until New Year’s 
Eve, when a piece of the root of the plant whence the 
flowers were taken was to be dug up and placed 
alongsideof the flowers, and the person was instructed 
to take both flowers and root to the churchyard a 
little before the witching hour of midDight, and 
bury them at the east end of the church. The 
wculd-be enquirer into the future had then to stand 
upon the spot and desire earnestly to look into the 
future of the coming year. He would then see, 
immediately after midnight, a procession of the 
wraiths of those who were to die during the year 
pass between him and the church, unless it was fated 
that he himself was to tread the path of dcom, when 
his own spirit form would glide by, none other 
following. The mystic powers of the Hellebore went 
still further, for each wraith would wear upon its head 
a chaplet of snowy flowers or a coronet of the roots 
according to its lot, whether it came from the realms 
of bliss, or had been consigned to the depths of the 
damned. If the enquirer himself were to go to that 
bourne from whence do traveller doth return his 
ghost would wear neither flowers nor roots, for the 
issue was yet in the balance, and could only be 
decided by the actions of the watcher in the time 
yet left to him. 
10 , 000,000 Cocoanuts were exported last year from 
Jamaica, the bulk of them going to the United States. 
There are indications, however, that the changes in 
progress in the West Indies have affected the Ameri¬ 
can markets, and now the fruit growers of Jamaica 
are turning their attention towards the markets of 
the old world. 
Fossil Plants from Sussex. —At the meeting of the 
Linnean Society of London on February i6th, Mr. 
Clement Reid, F.L.S., exhibited some fruits of Najas 
minor, Allione, and of Najas graminea, Delile, found 
during a further examination of the interglacial 
deposits at West Wittering, in Sussex. Najas minor 
is distributed throughout Europe, except in the north, 
and in Britain ; Najas graminea is found in the 
tropics of the Old World as well as in the Mediter¬ 
ranean Region. In Britain, where it has been 
accidentally introduced, it has been found in a canal 
which receives waste hot water from a factory. A 
discussion followed, in which Messrs. Rendle, H. 
Groves, and Melvill took part 
Foreign Competition in France.—British fruit 
growers have long been grumbling deeply over the 
competition of foreign fruit growers, but although 
we Britishers think that we have a special grievance 
in that some of our own railways deliberately favour 
the alien at the expense of the home cultivator other 
countries have something to say about foreign com¬ 
petition. M. Henry Duval, in the current issue of 
Nord Horticole, points out how the fruit growers 
of France find their products swamped in Parisian 
markets by importations from the Cape. He says 
that the fruit growers of South Africa can, by going 
in for late varieties, send their Peaches, Grapes, and 
Plums to Parisian markets to compete with the best 
early French fruit, and that by dint of a little 
management Peaches, Apricots, Cherries, and 
Plums, either fresh or preserved in the cold chamber 
may be made to invade French markets all through 
the ordinary season. Already Cape fruit has 
fetched high prices, and these will surely bring 
more. Recently Cape Peaches have sold at 49 frs. 
a dozen, roughly speaking, or 4 frs. (3s. 4d.) each. 
M. Duval draws a gloomy picure of what is goiDg 
to become of French fruit forcing, and earnestly 
calls the attention of those interested to the facts of 
the case. Meanwhile, it may, perhaps, not be un¬ 
comforting to the Britisher to know that his brother 
fruit grower on the other side of the Channel thinks 
as he does about alien competition As for the in¬ 
clination to grumble, the gardener and market grower, 
have no more of that than anybody else, for it is a 
general failing of the human race. 
The Southern Counties Carnation Society.—This 
theyouDgest of the large Carnation societies has just 
issued its first annual report and statement of 
accounts. The first year of such an association is 
always a trying one, for it has to find its feet, so to 
speak, whilst from a financial point of view there 
are many expenses associated with the first year of 
work that do not afterwards occur. The report 
issued by the Southern Counties Carnation Society 
congratulates the members of that body upon the 
gratifying amount of support received from many of 
the leading growers of Carnations. The financial 
statement, we are sorry to say, shows a deficit of 
£72 2s. 7d., but it is confidently expected that much 
of this will be wiped off the slate in the near future. 
The whole of the receipts has been /107 6s., of 
which a sum of £87 7s. accrued from subscriptions 
and donations. £179 8s. 7d. has been spent, of 
which the comparatively small sum of £52 9s. 
went in prizes in cash, and £13 7s. 6d. in prize cups. 
Special mention is made of the work of the indefatig¬ 
able hon. secretary and treasurer, Mr. Wm. Garton, 
Junr. He has thrown his whole soul into his duties, 
and we trust that a full measure of success will not 
be denied him. The schedule of prizes for the 
second exhibition, which is to be held at Southamp¬ 
ton, but of which the date is not yet fixed, is given, 
and we notice that the list of prizes is a liberal one. 
The book containing the report and schedule is a 
bulky one, running to eighty pages, but a good deal 
of room is occupied by reports of last year’s show, 
and a series of articles on various phases of Carn¬ 
ation culture, from such able exponents as Mr. F. 
Nutt, Mr. M. Rowan, Mr. Jas. Douglas, Mr. H W. 
Weguelin, and Mr. Robert Sydenham. These afford 
most interesting and instructive reading and will be 
keenly appreciated by all lovers of the Carnation 
