THE GARDENING WOfcLfi* 
23 
September 9, 1&99. 
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is an excellent 
forage plant for sows or milch cows, says a writer in 
a contemporary, and is easily grown in any waste 
corner. 
The Sweet Pea Show at Cohocton, N.Y., has been 
held and passed off satisfactorily. Mr. Charles Lar- 
rowe was a very successful winner, taking among his 
other prizes the Eckford Challenge Cup. All his 
Sweet Peas were grown in Jadoo. 
Bristol & District Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Association.—The monthly meeting of members was 
held on Thursday, the 31st inst., at St. John’s Parish 
Room, Redland. Mr. C. Lock presided over a good 
attendance. A very interesting and instructive lec¬ 
ture on “ Viola and Pansy Culture " was given by 
Mr. J. C. House, of Coombe Nurseries, Westbury-on- 
Trym. He dealt with the subject in a lucid manner, 
giving the history of the plants and explaining the 
marked difference between the two. He strongly 
urged their cultivation, especially for bedding pur¬ 
poses, claiming for them, freedom of blooming during 
a long season. Mr. House gave a list of good Violas, 
and detailed what he considered the best method of 
culture, advising cuttings to be struck in a cold frame, 
with plenty of air admitted, and careful watering. 
A discussion followed and the lecturer was heartily 
thanked for his attendance. The Society’s Certifi¬ 
cate of Merit was awarded Mr. McCullock for a 
well grown Vallota purpurea. 
Jub.lee Gifts and Priz-s—The firm of Messrs. 
Thyne & Paton, seed, plant, and bulb warehouse¬ 
men, i 3 , Union Street, Dundee, have just distributed 
the prizes and gifts announced by them last January. 
These prizes are given to gardeners, amateurs, and 
others who were presented with packets of Onion 
seed (to the value of /too), as a means of commemo¬ 
rating the jubilee of the senior partner (Mr. Thyne, 
Senr.), as a seedsman. The present firm of course 
has only been established twelve years, but Mr. 
Thomas Thyne had thirty-eight years experience 
before going into partnership with Mr. Paton, and 
thus founding the business under the present name. 
Valuable prizes to stimulate customers in the 
culture of the OoioDs were also awarded. The 
competitions as already noted have takefi place at 
Dundee, the Onions being judged by Mr. Wm. 
Harper, The Gardens, Tullibelton, Perth. "The 
specimens, considering the severe drought of this 
summer were of good size and well formed. The 
heaviest were:—Red, 16 ozs.; White, 23$ ozs.; 
Yellow, 24 ozs. The largest in circumference were : 
Red, 13J ins. ; White, 15J ins.; Yellow, 16 ins. The 
prize winners were as follows : First, Mr. James 
Kinnear, Fernbrae, Dundee; second, Mr. James 
Gilmour, Craig Road, Layport ; third, R. H. Law, 
1, Wolseley Street, Dundee; fourth, Mr. A. C. 
Cameron, Binrock, Dundee; fifth, Mr. W. Doggrell, 
Helenslea, West Ferry; sixth, Mr. John Laing, 
Craighall, Blairgowrie; seventh, Mr. Andrew Dun¬ 
can, Old Montrose, Montrose; eight, Mr. James 
Rae, Balgaries, Forfar; ninth, M. James Stewart, 
Station, Errol; and tenth, Mr. George Nicoll, Craig 
Road, Tayport. 
Sunspot Influence on London Summers.—"Do our 
summers give any indication of sunspot influence ? 
And does our past experience of summer near sun¬ 
spot minima give any hint as to what kind of summer 
weather we might expect near this next minimum ? 
These practical questions we may briefly consider.” 
So writes that ingenious statistician, Mr. Alexander 
B. MacDowall, M.A., in Knowledge for September. 
Seeing that we have state-supported observatories 
for the collection of the data necessary to answer 
these questions, it is apparent that officials in high 
places have been impressed with the importance to 
agriculture, trade, and commerce of reliable informa¬ 
tion on the points named. " Now,” says Mr Mac¬ 
Dowall, " the hottest summers cluster in the earlier 
years of the series, that is to say, about the time of 
growth and maxima of the spots.It is in 
accordance with these results that we generally find, 
in regard to summer rainfall at Greenwich, a pre¬ 
ponderance of wet summers in the five years ending 
with sunspot minima, and a preponderance of dry 
summers in the five years following minima. The 
practical view, then, to which these inquiries point 
(and it is offered without dogmatism as to sunspot in¬ 
fluence, or affirmation of an unvarying law), is that 
we are art present at a time when cool summers are 
to be looked for rather than hot ones, and that only 
after the next sunspot minimum is passed (say 1901, 
but not certainly), need we prepare for recurrent 
times of thorough and persistent broiling ! " 
Three Monumental Books— Cervante's "Don 
Quixote ” is the mightiest work in the realm of 
imaginative literature, and according to a corres¬ 
pondent, there are three books of scientific research, 
amassing knowledge upon confined subjects, which, 
because of their vastness and accurate intricacy of 
detail, may also be classed as mighty books in every 
sense of that word. These our correspondent 
names, as Cuitise’s work on " Insects,” Dr. Black- 
wall’s " British Spiders,” and the third comes from 
an altogether different source, i.e., M. Layonet, who 
published from the Hague in the year 1762, a book 
entirely devoted to a treatise on the larva of the 
Goat Moth (Cossus ligniperda). The book runs to 
616 pages, has iSr full page plates each bearing 
five or six separate figures. This latter book is 
probably the finest sample of patient dissection and 
observation that we have. 
FLOWERS AND FRUITS IN SUISSE. 
As you have been kind enough on former occasions 
to find a corner for a few discursive notes from these 
parts I venture to intrude again. The merry Swiss 
boy as a rule does not trouble himself much about 
flowers. His hard life in the country parts is 
occupied in such agricultural pursuits as are possible, 
and during daylight hours in the brief summer 
season he is generally away from his home. In the 
villages the wooden huts are crowded together, 
and houses with gardens are rare. Occasionally in 
the winding main street you will see a few window 
plants, generally Carnations treated as hanging 
plants, or a Pelargonium or two stuck in an old 
meat tin. The inn perhaps possesses a couple of 
Oleanders in tubs at the principal entrance which 
make a brave show. 
In popular centres, however, where British gold 
and American dollars have brought about an un¬ 
wonted prosperity there are higher flights of horti¬ 
culture. The pensions and houses of the trades¬ 
people are usually surrounded by gardens full of 
flowers and vegetables and fruit trees, not a square 
foot being wasted. 
The only noteworthy feature that I need trouble 
you with, however, is the lateness of everything. 
Here, at Chateau d'Oex, in the last days of August, 
there are Roses in full bloom, Gladioli just in their 
first bloom, flowers not halfway up the spike, Pelar¬ 
goniums with no dead flowers or spent trusses, 
Carnations, Sweet Peas, Phloxes in their prime, 
Verbenas, Petunias, Lobelia, Cannas, Convolvulus 
minor, all like early summer. As for fruits 
and vegetables there are Gooseberries just 
ripening, Strawberries, Raspberries, Currants 
lingering on the bushes; Peas in full crop, 
Broad Beans just coming in, and Scarlet Runners 
beginning to bloom. In the garden of a pension 
here are six standard Gooseberries, four red 
and two green (young plants judging by their slender 
stems) about 5 ft. high, laden with fruit just ripening, 
a graceful and attractive sight. I think I have 
enumerated all the things I have seen in bloom 
except Dahlias, Hollyhocks and Marguerites; and I 
only add those because the spikes of Hollyhocks 
were wonderfully fine—pale pink in colour—and the 
latter very poor. 
At Martigny I saw some very showy white 
Oleanders but they were single or very semi-double ; 
still they formed a charming contrast to the bright 
red rosettes of the ordinary variety. The Carnations 
are all very poor, which is not matter for surprise, 
looking at the way they are treated. The flowers are 
small, excessively fimbriated, and with a very poor 
range of colour. I have noted one good crimson 
Clove, and one yellow ground splashed with red but 
not sufficiently open to enable one to judge what the 
flower would be like. 
As to fruit, I have seen no show anywhere. In 
the course of ramblings through three cantons I have 
only seen one Apple tree with a crop sufficiently 
heavy to require the branches being propped up. 
Pears are also a poor show, the only good crop I 
have seen beiDg on a tree near Spiez, in Lake Thun 
district. This tree, the trunk being apparently 
about 15 in. in circumference, had been trained to 
form an awning on the sunny side of a house. 
Planted about 12 ft. from the building, the branches 
— ■■ ■ ~ - 
had been trained up to a point about 12 ft. from the 
ground, and pruned on the spur system apparently 
It was covered with good-sized fruit. As I made 
these calculations while driving slowly by, I cannot 
vouch for their accuracy. The Walnut crop seems 
very poor. The ODly good show I have seen was on 
the old trees close to the well-preserved Chateau, at 
Aigle. The trees in the fashionable promenade at 
Interlaken are in splendid health, full of foliage, but 
few showing a dozen nuts. The best crop was on a 
young tree with exceplionally rich foliage, so I don’t 
think the reison was that the trees had run to 
leaf, through the moist situation. The Vines in th-; 
Rhone valley look wonderfully healthy, but I should 
think there is only an average crop. I noticed over 
and over again that the berries on the bunches had 
failed to swell, and hundreds of bunches had but 
four or five full-sized berries. 
I don’t think I have noticed anything else that 
would interest your readers, so a word in conclusion 
on matters social. There are about sixty people 
here who have come all the way from England or 
the United States to play lawn tennis or bicycle polo 
for a month. It is true the air is delicious, the sun 
persistent, and there is some mild climbing in the 
neighbourhood, which few indulge in. All the 
advantages might be obtained nearer home except 
the name of the thing. They dress like the waiters 
for dinner, and lounge about in flannels during the 
heat of the day. Your humble servant is but a pass¬ 
ing visitor taking a few days’ rest, and the only con¬ 
cession he makes to the convenances is to exchange 
his knickers for a pair of breeks, and bis climbing 
brogues for a pair of shoes, sitting down to dinner in 
his Norfolk jtcket with as much nonchalance as he 
is able to assume, &c., &c. — E. Ranger Johnson, 
Chateau d'Oex, August 27th. 
THE PEOPLE'S PARK, TIVERTON. 
The above was opened to the public in 1888 and wa; 
in commemoration of the Jubilee of our beloved 
Queen. No less than 1500 friends of the movement 
subscribed towards the purchase money, though a 
large portion of the ground was presented to the 
" late borough " by a former resident, John Coles, 
Esq., whose generosity is greatly appreciated by the 
inhabitants of Tiverton. The Park itself stands on 
high ground, and magnificent views are obtained of 
the surrounding country, which can be seen for many 
miles around. It is rather exposed to the north and 
west winds, some of the many Conifers exhibiting 
signs of distress from these quarters. There is a 
nice size tennis court with a pavilion just above, 
also a plot about four acres which can be used for 
amusements of almost any kind,—fetes, flower shows, 
&c.; while a finely-sculptured drinking fountain 
erected at a convenient spot was being much 
indulged in at the time of my visit, the day being 
perfect in the extreme, the thermometer registering 
85° in the shade not far away. This fountain was 
presented by the Rev. George Hadon, rector of Tid- 
combe, and serves two purposes, bathes the throat 
of the thirsty pedestrian, and supplies various basins 
below, where I noted several of the newer Water- 
Lilies making good headway ; and Ferns of many 
kinds added a greenness to the whole, peeping out of 
the many nooks at the base, where a miniature rock¬ 
ery has been formed. 
As yet very little summer bedding appears to be 
done in the park. This is to be regretted, as nothing 
to my mind so cheers the heart of a busy towns¬ 
people (who perchance are shut up in their offices or 
workrooms the greatest part of the day) as a blight 
show of flowers do, and these beds should be so 
dotted about as to catch the visitor’s eye unawares at 
different parts of the ground. Dahlias and a few 
annuals appeared to predominate. 
There are a nice few Conifers, the best being 
Thuya Lobbi, Abies MeDziesii, A. Douglasi, Sequoia 
gigantea, Cupressus macrocarpa, Pinus insignis, 
Cedrus Deodara, C. atlantica glauca, a fine healthy 
piece of the last named, most of these standing on 
the sheltered or south side of the park ; and huge 
bushes of the many different varieties of the Veron¬ 
icas full of flower were to be seen, as well as Escal- 
lonia macrantha, a useful flowering shrub and 
fairly hardy in Devon and Cornwall. There were 
many other interesting shrubs, plants, and trees in 
the park ; but the railway companies wait for few, 
so I had to hurry off to get the train for the ever 
faithful city, Exeter.— J. M. Bicton. 
