May 5 , 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
567 
should first be removed Be careful to retain plenty 
of fresh furnishing wood, however, for a shoot once 
removed cannot be put back at will. Do not prune 
back extension shoots or buds, even though much of 
the back-part of the shoot is bare. It will not be 
long before some slight amount of tying is required. 
It is best for the health and vigorous up-building of 
the shoots that they be left free to receive sun, air, 
and dew on every side. Wherever possible, I should 
advise freedom to the shoots. But it has its draw¬ 
backs, and cannot always be allowed. The shoots 
may be broken, and they are less easy'to syringe 
and clean, when such operations are necessary, if 
they are growing outward. A puff of tobacco into 
the points of the shoots among the ycung leaves is 
an aid to the eradicating of aphides, which find 
their home and nourishment there. Tobacco 
powder is also a safe and effective remedy. Keep a 
smart eye on the trees at all times for the least sign 
of pests, and whenever an insect is seen, do, at once, 
take the necessary precautions to prevent its es¬ 
tablishment. 
Strawberries. —On light soils a good deal of 
watering and some liquid manuring is called for at 
this season. The plants will soon be blooming, 
therefore it is necessary to provide that which they 
require for their sustenance and growth. Like Roses, 
they have little or no means of storing up a reserve 
supply of nourishment, and have to secure and 
elaborate that which their blooms and fruits will re¬ 
quire for their development. Thus, I would advo¬ 
cate giving them an early supply. To hold it over 
till later is equal to offering a starved thing food 
half of which it cannot just then use. Another very 
important cultural item at the present is that of hoe¬ 
ing. Hoe between the lines of plants. It destroys 
weeds, slugs, probably insects, and it aerates the 
ground, and is as good as a surface mulch for pre¬ 
venting the evaporation of moisture. It also helps 
to draw up bottom moisture.— J.H.D. 
-- 
PLANTS UNDER BLASS. 
The Stove. 
Shading on all of the houses is now nearly com¬ 
plete. When the sun comes out in unobstructed 
force his power for scorching tender growths is great, 
so that though much of the weather has been and is 
yet, dull, the few sunny days have to be reckoned 
with. 
Gloxinias. —The earliest batches are row in 
flower and for these an intermediate temperature 
should be maintained. Plants just coming into 
bloom may be assisted with some Canary Guano or 
Thomson’s manure. 
Achimenes.— These may be transferred to pots or 
pans as the case may be, when they have grown to 
a quarter of a foot high. A light, rich compost 
suits them. A moist, warm stove is what they 
like. 
Caladiums.— These must be kept carefully in the 
shade, and should be given a temperature of from 
65° to 75 0 Fahr. Plants in small pots may te 
treated to some liquid nourishment, such as advised 
for the flowering plants. A moist atmosphere and 
a good root supply are the necessary factors for their 
success. 
Codiaeums and Dracaenas. —The chief point 
with these is to keep them free from their many 
insect pests. Young plants of Dracaenas may be 
lightly syringed : Crotons at all stages can be 
vigorously syringed. To keep large specimen plants 
fresh, use the spray-syringe freely into the centre of 
the plants. A glass of paraffin and soft-soap 
emulsion in a gallon of warm water is a splendid 
antidote for this purpose. Some stimulus may be 
supplied to established plants which have not been 
repotted. Crotons, if confined to a house by them¬ 
selves, should not be shaded for some weeks yet. 
The Greenhouse. 
Amaryllis (Hippeastrums) are still in great 
show. The fading blooms should be removed as 
soon as their freshness declines. 
Eupatoriums are also holding out. They may be 
cut right down when the flowers are past, and after 
being rested, may be repotted, or cuttiDgs may be 
taken now. The Primulas are giving way to pot- 
grown Stocks, Begonias, or Calceolarias. 
Cyclamen are yet in good condition, Do not 
over-water or stimulate them. Mignonette which 
was so«n in the back-end of last year has been 
yielding perfume and its grace for quite three 
weeks. 
Aotus gracillima is a pretty plant in flower now, 
and it, too, has been with us for some time. It is a 
leguminous flower, of an orange and deep brown 
colour, the flowers being borne closely all aloDg the 
length of the slender and arching stems. It is one 
of our most graceful, shrubby, spring-flowering 
plants. 
The strains of Cinerarias are increasing. It is 
not as though there were only one form and 
habit belonging to certain hybrids. Growers in 
various parts of the country, representing to have the 
same types, have yet their own strains of that race. 
The “ Star ” Cinerarias, and the old florist's type are 
the best kinds for the gardener. All kinds of spring 
forced plants and bulbs are in flower. Fuchsias, 
Pelargoniums, Begonias, and other plants are being 
pushed on to take their place. Celosias and Balsams 
must be carefully attended to, not to allow them to 
become drawn. Syringe them to keep them clean. 
Pits and Frames. 
Young Cyclamen now in 3 or 4-in pots should be 
placed in a light, comfortably warmed frame on a 
bottom of ashes. They should be dewed over on 
the mornings of bright days, and again in the after¬ 
noon. Allow them fresh air at all times, only one 
must guard against draughts. 
This is the great month for summer bedding, 
though, with such a backward season, there will be 
more planting done in June than in May. All stock 
for planting out of doors should be hardened off 
from this time forth.— J.H D. 
tub Oicliid Browers’ calendar. 
Giving Air. —How much depends on the proper 
carrying out of the work indicated in those two 
words it would be difficult to say. 
That there can be no hard and fast lines laid 
down we know, for so much depends on the kind of 
structure you have to deal with, the position of the 
same, &c. Yet the intelligent man is not long in 
detecting what amount of air to put on so as to suit 
the plants in this or that house. 
In some houses the plants will dry up much 
quicker than in others requiring the ventilators to be 
opened, but very little if anything, like a humid 
atmosphere is to be kept up. On the other hand we 
ourselves have a house that, unless the air is on 
night and day, always seem stuffy. This is a hip- 
span which can only be ventilated along the front 
and roof; that is why we prefer low span-roofed 
houses with ventilators on each side; you can then 
regulate the air to a nicety. 
The Value of the Syringe.— That there is no 
more useful implement for use amongst Orchids 
most growers are aware, but do we make as much 
use of it as we ought to ? Collectors tell us that even 
in the dry season dense fogs are seen lifting at sun¬ 
rise, and the mist collecting thickly on the plants, 
condenses as the temperature rises, trickles down 
the roots, and hangs on their points in great beads 
until taken up by them or evaporated. We cannot 
do better than to imitate nature as far as is possible ; 
and to that end we ourselves syringe heavily over¬ 
head early each morning when there is a prospect of 
a fine day. Under these conditions the moss grows, 
and the plants thrive, throwing up strong growths 
and sending forth a great quantity of roots, without 
which of course nothing can live for long. 
There are of course exceptions, and they are 
Orchids in flower, Phalaenopses, Aerides, and 
Saccolabiums, but later on even these latter plants 
may be syringed overhead with impunity if time is 
allowed for them to dry up before night. 
To the unpractised eye this watering by means of 
the syringe may be misleading, as the moss may 
look green and wet, whilst underneath they may be 
dry. We therefore advise that at least once a week 
the plants should be examined and a good soaking 
given where required. If this is persisted in there 
will be no trouble to keep the plants in good condi¬ 
tion. 
Shading.— This, like the two preceding items, re¬ 
quires regulating in the same manner if you are to 
be successful. A lot of damage is soon done if due 
care is not given to the letting down of the blinds 
when the sun pops out during showery weather, &c. 
—S. C. 
^Meanings Jtymt Dartlb 
of Science 
The undermentioned subjects were discussed at 
the meeting of the Linnean Society of London, on 
April igtb. 
High-level Plants from Tibet. — Messrs. 
W. B. Hemsley and H. H. W. Pearson read a paper 
on some collections of High-level Plants from Tibet 
and the Andes. Mr. Hemsley first gave a brief 
history of the botanical exploration of Tibet, followed 
by an account of the unpublished coll-ctions pre¬ 
sented to Kew by Captain Welby and Lieutenant 
Malcolm, by Captain Deasy and Mr. Arnold Pike, 
and by Dr. Sven Hedin. These collections were all 
made at great altitudes in Central and Northern 
Tibet; few of them below 15 000 feet, and some of 
them at 19,000 feet and upwards. The highest point 
at which flowering-plants had been found was 
19,200 feet above the level of the sea. The plants 
recorded by Deasy and Pike at altitudes of 19,000 
feet and upwards are:—Corydalis Hendersoni, 
Arenaria Stracheyi, Saxifraga parva, Sedum 
Stracheyi, Saussurea bracteata, Gentiaoa tenella, 
G. aquatica, an unnamed species of Astragalus, and 
an unnamed species of Oxytropis. These are the 
greatest altitudes on record fcr flowering-plants. 
Deep-rooting perennial herbs haviDg a rosette of 
leaves close to the ground, with the flowers closely 
nestled in the centre, are characteristic of these 
altitudes. The predominating natural rrders are :— 
Compositae, Leguminosae, Cruciferae, Ranun- 
culaceae, and Gramineae. The Compositae largely 
predominate, and the genus Saussurea is represented 
by numerous species. Specimens of about a dozen 
species were shown to illustrate the great diversity 
exhibited by this genus in foliage and inflorescence. 
Liliaceae and the allied orders were very sparingly 
represented. Two or three species of Onion occur ; 
one of them, Allium Semenovii, in great abundance 
up to 17,000 feet. None of the collections contained 
any species of Orchid. 
The Andine Flora.—Mr. H. H. W. Pearson 
followed on the Andine Flora, with special reference 
to Sir Martin Conway’s small collection of plants 
brought from Illimani in the Bolivian Andes in 
1898. In consequence of the labours of d'Orbigny, 
Pentland, Meyen, Weddell, EandoD, and other 
botanists, the high-level flora of the mountains of 
Bolivia is better known than that of any other equally 
elevated tegion of the Andes. Weddell’s collections 
form the nucleus of the materials from which the 
“ Chloris Andina ’’—the classic work on the flora of 
the High Andes -was prepared. 
Many collectors have obtained plants in various 
parts of the Andes at elevations stated to be greater 
than 17,000 feer. Col. Hall states that he s iw four 
plan s on Chimborazo in 1831 at " nearly 18,000 feet.” 
These were two species of Draba, one of which was 
D. aretioides, H. B. K., and two Composites, one 
being a Culcitium. Mr. Whymper and others have 
thrown some doubt upon the determma'ion of this 
elevation, and it is probable that it was over¬ 
estimated. Out of forty-six species of flowering- 
plants obtained by Sir Martin Conway, seven are 
from 18,000 feet or above it, two being as high as 
18,700 feet. These, the highest Andine plants on 
record, are Malvastrum fiabellatum, Wedd., and 
Deyeuxia glacialis, Wedd. Thirty-nine species in 
this collection were found above 14,000 feet; these 
belong to thirty-four genera and twenty-one natural 
orders; fifteen (i.e. about three-eighths of the collec¬ 
tion) are Compositae. Of the thirty-four genera, one 
only—Blumenbachia—is endemic to S. America. 
The species, with one exception, are confined to the 
Andes, eight or nine of them not being found out¬ 
side Bolivia. 
In the collection made by Mr. Fitzgerald's expedi¬ 
tion in the Aconcagua valleys between 8,coo and 
14,000 feet, ten genera (i.e. one quarter of the whole) 
are endemic in South America. The contrast 
between this and the small endemic element in the 
Conway collection from above 14.000 feet gives 
additional support to the generalisation that the 
flora of high levels is more cosmopolitan than that of 
low levels. 
A discussion followed, in which Dr. O Stapf, Mr. 
F. N. Williams, and others took part, an i Mi-. 
Hemsley replied. 
A paper was read by Mr. E. S. Salmon on " Some 
Mosses from China and Japan ” ; communicated by 
Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S , F.L S. 
