January 5, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
295 
this hybrid were C. leeanum Burford var., itself a 
hybrid, and C. villosum, the latter beiDg the pollen 
bearer. The Burford variety of C. leeanum is a very 
fine one, the dorsal sepal being as much widened out 
and displayed as any. The particular hybrid under 
notice was raised by M. Draps-Dom, after whom it 
has been named. It is the progeny of three species, 
including those giving rise to C. leeanum and C. vil¬ 
losum. The effect of the 1 ter is well seen in the 
shape and colour of the petals and lip, which are 
much shaded with brown and edged with yellow. 
The dorsal sepal appears to lie between C. leeanum 
and C. insigne, the basal part being pale greenish- 
yellow and much blotched with rich purple or rosy- 
violet along the course of the veins, and extending 
almost to the apex over the white ground of the 
upper half. On the whole the flower is a bold and 
showy one as represented by the coloured illustration 
in Lindenia, PI. 724. 
* 
Planting is still being carried on, and so long as 
the weather and the soil remain in their present 
states, so long will gardeners, orchardists and ex¬ 
perimentalists keep on planting. What with occa¬ 
sional stoppages the work of root pruning or shifting 
old, or planting new trees, the season of work 
among the fruit trees is often extended over a long 
period. Save for the wet weather this, however, has 
not been put off this year; but then again the open¬ 
ness of the season has allowed many of long-con¬ 
templated jobs to be undertaken, and these at the 
present are being carried through. No doubt a good 
many gardeners have decided to include some of the 
newer fruits in their orchards for next season's trial. 
I refer to the Japanese Wineberry and the Logan¬ 
berry. These are ornamental at least, but as this is 
not sought for so much in fruit tree collections, their 
“ berry ” bearing qualities must be made the most 
of. The " berries ” are capital for jam-making. 
The Brambles are a class of plants much neglected 
considering how much appreciated their distinct 
flavour is. Either for tarts or for jam, they are very 
useful. Elaegnus edulis also produces good jam 
fruit. 
Cleaning the Fruit Trees. —Whenever any 
spare time can be mustered the men should be 
sanctioned to brush and clean the wall trees and the 
lower parts of the stems of standard fruit trees. 
This work is regularly taken in hand by all the best, 
painstaking fruit growers, and is performed after the 
pruning is finished. Nearly all trees are now 
pruned, though a great many growers like to see the 
new year past before they prune wall Plums, Pears, 
Cherries, Apricots or Peaches. Steps should be 
taken to cut out any cankered parts of stems, pro¬ 
vided the stems are not too badly attacked. Every¬ 
thing should be done to encourage vigour in such 
trees so as to make them fit, if this caD be, to over¬ 
come the mycelium of the fungus that troubles the 
tissues of the tree and causes the “ cankering." 
Washing with Bordeaux Mixture and syringing a 
sulphur solution into all the ruts and cracks and 
bruises of such infected or infested trees may do 
something to kill and stamp out these fungus 
diseases. A solution of caustic soda sprayed upon 
the trees is beneficial in cleaning them. Where 
fruit trees are grown by the thousand acres, as in 
America, Canada, Australia, &c., the sprayiDg busi¬ 
ness is becoming an item of necessity in the yearly 
routine of culture, and is being greatly perfected. 
Lime washes are good when trees are moss or lichen 
covered.— J. H. D. 
©leanings farnn tlje Dmdti 
of Sttencq. 
The undermentioned subjects were discussed at the 
meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on December 18th. 
Quercus sessiliflora.—Mr. Wilks showed leaves 
with petioles and sessile acorns of this variety, and 
remarked upon its rarity in the woods near Croydon. 
He hac only met with two, but very handsome 
trees, about 100 yds. apart, and probably 150 years 
old. He observed that this form of the Oak keeps 
its leaves longer than Q. pedunculata, which is the 
commoner of the two varieties. The leaves are 
inclined to be tomentose below, giving a silvery 
appearance. Sir J. D. Hooker, in " The Student’s 
Flora," records this character as belonging to Q. 
intermedia, a subspecies with short petioles and 
peduncles. Dr. Masters remarked upon the scarcity 
of the tree in Kent, and that it formerly, and perhaps 
still, grows at Brockley. 
Maclura aurantiaca, fruit.—An unripe fruit 
of this American tree was sent by Mr. Jas. Vert, of 
The Gardens, Audley End. It is known as the 
Osage Orange, and is a native of the S.U. States. 
It is allied to the Mulberry, and, like that, has a 
compound globular fruit. The tree, being spine- 
scent, is often kept dwarf, and employed as a hedge 
plant. The golden fruit, about the size of an 
Orange, is not edible. 
Fruit from old Melon Seed.—Mr. Th. Sharp, 
Westbury, Wilts, describes his experience in raising 
Melons from old seed as giving better results than 
from young seed. His observations are as follows, 
which entirely confirm that of previous observers :— 
'• In a small Melon house I noticed two plants which 
were very vigorous and survived the first crop. They 
produced a good second crop of female flowers, but 
somewhat smaller, as were the male flowers, than 
usual. In the same house was a batch of young 
plants, with good male blossoms. I fertilised the 
females of the older plant with the pollen from the 
younger. The crop of fruit was nearly douole that 
of the first. The fruits were large and of excellent 
quality throughout. A year or two afterwards, 
having to supply ripe Melons in May and onwards, 
and having noticed that plants from old seed pro¬ 
duced a less succulent growth than did those from 
young seed, for four years I raised my plants from 
old seed, always growing a few plants from new seed. 
I then fertilised the female flowers of the older plants 
with the pollen of the younger, which plants were 
invariably the more robust. The resulting fruits 
were more reliable in good quality, and though the 
female flowers had been small, the fruits were large, 
weighing from 3 to 7 lbs.” Mr. Henslow has given 
very similar experiences on the Continent in his 
‘‘Origin of Floral Structures," p. 247; M. F. 
Cazzuola, in addition, found that Melon plants 
raised from fresh seeds bore a larger proportion of 
male than female flowers; while older seed bore 
more female flowers than male. 
Ornithogalum lacteum.—Mr. Veitch brought 
a beautiful spike of this plant in full blossom. It 
was especially interesting as having been cut 
in South Africa from Table Mountain on 
November 27th. It was then put into the 
refrigerating chamber of a ship on the 28th, and 
thus has lasted exactly three weeks in a perfectly 
fresh state, illustrating the possibilities of the trans¬ 
port of cut blossoms from the colonies. 
Seakale defective.—Mrs. A. Williams, of Coed- 
y-Marn, Welsh Pool, sent samples of Seakale; they 
were thin, and carried numerous buds on the crowns. 
This was the result of defective soil, described as a 
stiff one and damp, imperfect nourishment, and 
neglect in removing the superfluous buds, instead of 
leaving one only in which the energy should be 
concentrated. 
Elm trees at Bath dying. — Mr. Milburn. 
superintendent of the Botanical Gardens, Victoria 
Park, Bath, records the dying of some five Elms :— 
" The trees were planted between fifty and sixty 
years ago. They form part of a line which still 
remain apparently healthy. The trees in question 
are situated on the base of a sloping bank running 
E. and W. On the S. side is a stone wall from 6 ft. 
to 8 ft. in the foundations. The subsoil is blue clay. 
Consequently, the trees have root room only on one 
side. Moreover, the last two or three seasons have 
been very dry. In addition to this a destructor has 
been erected 200 yards off; also close at hand are 
the gasworks. Matter is conveyed in the air from 
both these works, as it is deposited in the form of a 
black oily scum on the lake situated a little N. of the 
Elms." As Professor Oliver showed in his paper on 
" The Effects of Urban Fog upon Cultivated Plants " 
(Journ. R.H.S., xvi. p. 1), the extremely poisonous 
nature of vapourised carbonaceous products there 
would seem to be ample cause of injurious influence 
upon the trees, apart from the want of freedom in 
root production. 
Double Cyclamen.—Dr. Masters reported as 
follows upon the specimen sent to the last meeting 
from Messrs. Ker, of Liverpool: “ In these flowers 
there were five sepals, five distinct petals, no stamens, 
but several rows of additional petals. The ovary 
was normal." 
Plants from Cambridge Botanic Gardens— 
Mr. I. Lynch forwarded the following interesting 
species, for which a unanimous vote of thanks was 
passed, and to the three first named were awarded 
Botanical Certificates: Kleinia pendula, with fleshy 
stems and scarlet heads of flowers, from Somaliland ; 
Kalanchoe marmorata, another fleshy plant; and 
Nematanthus longipes (Gesneriaceae). A few 
observations are here added. The genus Kleinia is 
a Groundsel, or Senecio, with fleshy stems ; K. nerii- 
folia, the " Barode,” being a native of the Canary 
Islands; most of the species are S. African. K. 
pendula has a rod-like fleshy stem the thickness of a 
a pencil, from which a long pendulous peduncle 
arises at the apex. The leaves are reduced to 
minute prickles. Kalanchoe belongs to the Crassu- 
laceae, is from tropical Africa, but has species in 
Asia and Brazil. It has tubular, greenish-white 
flowers, nearly 6 in. in length, and fleshy obovate 
leaves. 
Phylica ericoides (Rhamnaceae), called Bruyere 
du Cop, is a Heath-like plant, with terminal clusters 
of minute white flowers. 
Lindenbergia grandiflora (Scrophularineae), 
figured in the October number of " Bot. Mag.," is a 
genus with yellow flowers, and nearly allied to 
Mimulus. There are eight species in E. Africa, 
Arabia, E.I., and the Malay Archipelago, 
Nematanthus longipes has sub-fleshy lanceo¬ 
late leaves and long scarlet tubular flowers pro¬ 
truding from one side of the calyx. It belongs to 
Gesneriaceae. There are only three or four species, 
all natives of Brazil. 
Senecio vulgaris x S. squalidus, a remark¬ 
able natural hybrid between these two British plants, 
the former being the Groundsel and the latter, 
naturalised on old walls at Oxford and elsewhere. 
The flowers are small (£ in. from tips of ray florets) 
with the foliage of Groundsel. It comes perfectly 
true from seed, and has commenced being a weed in 
Camb. Bot. Gardens. It is said to grow wild with 
its parents near Cork. 
Cardamlne chenopodifolia is remarkable for 
bearing perfect seed, both above and below ground. 
Mr. Lynch observes that he has two sets of plants— 
one always raised from seeds out of the subterranean 
pods, and another set always raised from the other 
seeds, in order to see whether in course of time any 
modification of habit may arise in consequence of 
growing always from seed produced in the same 
way. The white flowers are excessively minute, and 
are fertilised in bud, the anthers being closely ad- 
pressed to the globular stigma, the conditions usually 
prevailing with normally self-fertilising Crucifers. 
The subterranean pods are white and spindle-shaped, 
and a quarter of an inch in length. They contain 
one or t wo seeds, being separated by a delicate white 
membranous false dissepiment. They are attached 
to slender pedicels, x in. long, which turn abruptly 
downwards from their point of insertion in the stem. 
These are doubtless the result of cleistogamus buds. 
Heliamphora nutans.—The flower consists of 
five or four sepals, no petals, many stamens, the 
pistil having a long style and truncated apex, not 
spreading into an umbrella-like expansion as in the 
allied genus Sarracenia. There is but one species, a 
native of Venezuela. 
Begonia venosa.—This is remarkable on account 
of its fleshy leaves and large scarious stipules, both 
features being characteristic of hot and dry climates. 
Cecropegia dichotoma, with tubular flowers, 
the tips only of the corolla remaining coherent. C. 
stapeliaeformis, C. elegans and C. Woodi, all 
remarkable fleshy climbers, the last bearing tubers 
and pendulous. It has been figured from the Cam¬ 
bridge plant in Bot. Mag. of March, 1900. 
Bonplandia geminiflora (Polemoniaceat) is 
remarkable for the corolla being lipped, two upper 
petals cohering above the tube and provided with a 
white lined base as a “ guide," the three other petals 
project forward, upon which the subdeclinate 
stamens rest. The long style with three spreading 
stigmas project a quarter of an inch beyond the 
anthers. It is a monotyplc genus, of one species 
only, and a native of Mexico. 
Nepenthes Veillardi, a species of Pitcher 
Plant, with small pitchers 3 in. long, and remark¬ 
able for the white border round the incurved red 
margin. The lid is red, and the under side of the 
leaves russet but smooth. 
