August 21, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
805 
Science and progress —I see that the Scientific 
Committee have found the Kew bug at Chiswick. 
Well now that's clever; fori could never tell no 
man's bug from t'other.— Snaggs. 
The Cheshire County Council has caused a good 
deal of ill-feeling amongst various growers of veget¬ 
able produce at Macclesfield by causing the produce 
from the experimental gardens to be marketed. 
Ordinary producers claim that they, who have a 
living to get, are undersold by the Council. The 
question naturally arises has the County Council, as 
a Corporation, a right to trade ? At any rate they 
have no right to compete with other growers with a 
view to reducing their profits below the " living'' 
standard. 
Jew Agriculturists—Whilst a sale of land was being 
conducted at South Benfleet, Essex, on Wednesday, 
August nth, by Mr. R. Varty the inhabitants of the 
village were greatly surprised to find themselves 
invaded by an army of Jews aod their families to the 
number of 200. These included several Rabbis and 
other high officials from the Synagogue in London. 
Land to the value of ^3,386 was sold during the 
course of the afternoon, nearly all the plots being 
bought by the visiting Jews, most of whom were of 
Polish and Russian extraction. A regular Jewish 
colony is to be formed, and the site for a synagogue 
has already been decided upon,and arrangements have 
been made for the erection of factories and the 
formation of a number of farms, and it is evidently 
the intention of these Jewish settlers to become 
regular agriculturists. They may be congratulated 
on their good taste in having picked out a very pretty 
spot in a very pretty country. 
Land the Basis of Wealth and Contentment.—Air and 
land being the principal factor of all health, and 
contentment being the stepping stone to success, it 
has now become an easy matter for a few people to 
secure their own freehold in consequence of a tract 
of land at Thelma, New Jersey, U.S.A., recently 
secured by Mr. D. L. Risley, of 63, Chancery Lane, 
LondoD, and 211, South Tenth Street, Philadelphia. 
Five acres of farm land, comprising 217,000 sq. ft., 
especially adapted to raising vegetables, fruits, 
poultry, &c., for £ 20, so conveniently situated to 
Philadelphia, one of the largest cities in the United 
States, is an opportunity seldom offered to the public 
in this age of progress. Mr. Risley does not require 
the cash down for the land, but on the contrary is 
willing to give first purchasers an opportunity of 
paying instalments of 4s.. weekly. It becomes an 
easy matter to see the result of such a gigantic 
principle. Thelma is only twelve miles from 
Atlantic City, the world-famed summer resort, where 
thousands of Americans as well as Europeans spend 
their holidays. It is situated directly on the line of 
the new West Jersey and Seashore Railway leading 
to Philadelphia or Atlantic City. Heretofore there 
has been much idle land in the State of New Jersey, 
but since the numerous Railways have been built, 
bringing the land within easy reach of the people, it 
is no wonder th t the state is becoming more thickly 
populated every day by an appreciative general 
public. There is no State in the Union where 
excursionists more abundantly flock in the summer 
than in New Jersey : no State is more constantly 
patronised in the winter, on account of its mild and 
evenness 01 temperature. The tract has been sur¬ 
veyed, the farms staked off and numbered corre¬ 
sponding with the numbers on the plan or map, and 
streets and avenues have now been opened up for 
travel. The new railway has kindled an important 
spark of life in this new district, and houses are 
being erected on different parts of the tract. History 
tells us that some of the most important business 
cities of the United States were once upon a time 
naught but farm lands. The late James A. Garfield, 
President of the United States, was known as a 
ploughboy. Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt, the richest 
millionaire the United States ever produced, started 
life with a small farm by raising vegetables, fruits, 
poultry, &c , and shipping to the city markets. The 
advance in the price of Mr. Vanderbilt’s estate was 
the stepping stone to his success. As scon as a 
number of these farms have been secured by the 
first purchasers, Mr. Risley will advance the price 
on five acres to /40, and ten acres to £So. 
Q. What parish in England is most abundantly 
provided with clergy ? 
A. Kew. Since every dwelling is provided with 
a Kew-rate.— Punch. 
White Orchids.—The colour craze is a great one 
with most prominent horticulturists. Cultivators 
without number have striven and are striving to 
obtain blue in various races of plants. Again in 
certain sections of Orchids “white” is what is 
wanted. The little word “ alba ” added to any plant 
signifies a difference in its value from that of the 
type of anything from one guinea to a hundred. A 
Cattleya that should have been white, and wasn’t, 
was the subject of an interesting action in the 
Spiraea japonica Bumalda. 
Manchester County Court at the end of last month. 
The descriptions of various plants which appear on 
the lists are not always accurate, and at least one 
purchaser has kicked. 
Fruit Trees in Brittany. — The Nord-Horticole for 
August, says that the dry summer of 1896 was fol¬ 
lowed by a wet autumn and winter, yet the fruit 
trees, particularly Peaches were seen to be well set 
with bulls. This favourable appearance changed 
quickly during the nights of May nth and 12th, 
when the thermometer sunk several degrees below 
freezing point, causing considerable damage. One 
of the chief results was that the Peaches in low lying 
soils and wet places presented a lamentable aspect. 
Gumming was very bad, and even young trees had 
hardly any trace of growth at the end of their shoots. 
Trees growing in light, peaty soils have scarcely 
fared any better. The question is mooted whether 
the growers will not have to change their mode of 
culture by elevating their trees as standards or half 
standards. 
Edible Lilies.—The Ainos were formerly the 
dominant race in Japan, but only a few scattered 
remnants now exist. They consumed only certain 
species or varieties of Lily, the bulbs of that named 
Lilium Glehni by F. Schmidt being their principal 
nourishment. The descendants of the original 
Japanese extract starch from the bulbs and make it 
up into biscuits having a hole in the middle by which 
they may be filed on strings and hung up till wanted. 
The flavour of wild bulbs is considered very superior 
to that of cultivated ones. In the matter of nourish¬ 
ing elements in these bulbs, there are 3 per cent of 
nitrogen, 19 of starch and 2 of dextrine. Sixty-nine 
per cent consists of water. They would be too bitter 
if eaten raw, and are usually boiled and seasoned 
with sugar. The bulbs are considered to have the 
consistency and flavour of Haricot Beans. They can 
also be eaten in a salad, or with rice. The species 
most often utilised as food are Lilium auratum and 
L. tigrinum. 
The Truffle is said to be the most wonderful vege¬ 
table in the world, because it has neither roots, stems, 
leaves, flowers nor seeds. 
- 4 * - 
SPIRAEA JAPONICA BUMALDA. 
The varieties of S. japonica (better known as S. 
callosa) now in gardens are fairly numerous, but most 
of them are tall. S. j. alba is a notable exception, 
being only 12 in. to 18 in. high as a rule. That 
under notice is 2J ft. to 3 ft. high, and forms a com¬ 
pact bush bearing cymes of rosy-purple flowers. 
The leaves are very moderate in size, lanceolate and 
serrate. The special recommendations of the variety 
are that it commences to flower pretty early, that it 
continues to produce fresh growth during a great 
part of the summer, and with fresh growth a 
succession of flowers. The accompanying illustra¬ 
tion shows the general aspect of a flowering spray. 
Planters would do well to remember this variety 
when making fresh plantations. For the front of a 
shrubbery or for beds on the lawn S. japonica 
Bumalda is admirably adapted. There is a varie¬ 
gated form of it which flowers as freely as the type. 
» ■— 
CRICKET. 
Played at Walthamstow, August 13th, and drawn 
in favour of Hurst & Son. 
Hurst & Son. 
Sampson (capt.), b Richards . . 23 
Squires, b Marlow. . . . 52 
Portch, b Scriven . 24 
Delacourt, b Scriven . 11 
Locke, b Scriven T . 13 
Thake, b Scriven . . . 2 
Blyth, st Marlow, b Scriven .. 14 
Jerry, b Scriven .. x 
Lloyd, not out . o 
Collins, lbw, b Kerridge .. o 
Byes . 13 
For 9 wickets.... 153 
SfOTTISWOODE C. C. 
Marlow, b Sampson. 23 
Kerridge (capt.), b Sampson . . o 
Richards, b Sampson . 23 
Heal, b Sompson . o 
Roper, b Portch. . . . 4 
Kyffin, run out . 5 
Ballard, notout . o 
Clarke 
Scriven 
Marsham 
Shaw 
Byes .. 6 
For 6 wickets .... 61 
---e-- 
A VISIT TO MESSRS. DICKSON’S, 
CHESTER. 
To provincials who rarely get as far as London, a 
visit to the Newton Nurseries, of Messrs. Dicksons, 
Limited, Chester, is considered a treat. It was on a 
scorching hot day early in this month that I was a 
caller ; and I could see as I walked up the drive lead¬ 
ing to the offices that the drought as well as the 
heat had exceeded anything we had experienced fur¬ 
ther north. Men were cutting down the Calceo¬ 
larias in the ribbon border by the side of the drive, 
as they had scarcely a respectable flower on them ; 
but the drought had not affected a breadth of Stocks 
higher up, which were very fine ; but many of the 
Asters here as elsewhere looked rather dismal. Ours 
and others in this neighbourhood sulked from the 
first, not from lack of moisture, for most other 
things have come along cheerful enough under the 
same conditions. How are your Asters doing this 
year ? or what is the matter with the Asters ? are the 
questions the gardeners and amateurs are asking 
each other. 
The thousands of Carnations in the open quarters 
had made a brave stand against the seven weeks 
continuous heat and drought, and my guide 
obligingiy gave me names of a few that anyone might 
venture to grow under the most adverse conditions. 
They are as follows: —Mrs. Reynolds Hole, 
Germania, Alice Ayres, Senator Walcott, Duchess of 
Fife, Trilby, and Miss H. Terry. 
The three most striking plants in the herbaceous 
^ did not bat. 
