482 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 23, 1901. 
For many years Mr. R. Veitch was gardener at 
Arniston, near Edinburgh, and for a number of years 
had one of ihe most select collections of hardy plants 
in the country. He was also the raiser of Hollyhock 
General Bern, one of the best crimson varieties. On 
his visit to Scotland in 1871, his wife, Mrs. Veitch, 
died and was buried in the grave of one of her own 
children at the Temple Parish Churchyard, and Mr. 
Veitch returned a widower to the land of his 
adoption While on a ten mile tramp in Scotland 
with a friend he conversed on the flora of Scotland, 
and the ups and downs of life. 
He first went to America in 1853, and continued in 
business there under his own name till 1873, when 
the name of the firm was changed to Robert Veitch 
& Son. Twenty-six years later the business was 
reorganised, and the name again changed to The 
Robert Veitch Company. He was full of enthusiasm 
to the very last over the flowers he so dearly loved. 
He had a great kncHedge of botany which he ac¬ 
quired in the old country and kept up in the new. 
Work and life were practically synonymous terms 
with him. When the infirmities of an advanced age 
were creeping in upon him, his supreme ambition 
was to be continually at work amongst his favourite 
flowers ; and even in the delirium of his last illness, 
It was evident to the bystanders that he fancied 
himself at work amongst the favourites of his life 
long labours. While in Scotland he made the wild 
flowers his friends and acquaintances, in company 
with those who were like minded ; and for the last 
forty-five years he made and maintained a friendship 
with every flower lover for miles around New Haven 
in the land of his adoption. 
Mr. Robert Veitch is believed to have been the 
oldest florist in Connecticut; and was thoroughly 
typical of the Scottish-American, maintaining a 
strong love and respect for the mother country and 
everything connected with it; but equally full of 
enthusiasm for the connections and associations of 
his adopted country, including the anti-slavery 
campaign. 
He was twice married, his wife dying as above 
mentioned in 1871. By the Scotch mother he had 
six children of whom three are still living. His 
second wife was Miss Helen J. Davidson, of New 
York, the marriage taking place in 1874. He leaves 
her a widow, and two of a family, namely Johnstone 
D. Veitch and Susan H. Veitch. 
It seems strange that two brothers at such ad¬ 
vanced ages should have died within so short a 
period of one another in the early part of the year. 
With the death of the two ends a loDg list of the 
noted old Scottish hardy plant collectors and culti¬ 
vators, including such names as McNab, Cunning¬ 
ham, Stirling, Turnbull, Lees, Miss Hope, &c. 
-- 5 —- 
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and should be marked " Competition." The address 
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judgment must be considered final. The communi¬ 
cations for each week should be posted not later 
than Monday night. 
The prize last week was awarded to “ Gardener," 
for his article on “ The Old Double White Primula,” 
p. 454. While all of the articles were of a decidedly 
practical character, eight were of a high order of 
merit. 
The Editor would be much obliged if competitors 
would forward their articles earlier in the week as 
the work is heavy on Wednesday morning, delaying 
the paper in going to press. 
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Qlie$T10n$ SDD AnSUJGRS. 
*** All correspondence relating to editciiai matters 
should be addressed to “Ihe Editor," 4, Dorset 
Buildings, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, 
EC. Timely notes or notices about intens'ing 
matters or current topics relating to gardens, gar¬ 
deners, or gardening, are alvjays cordially welcomed. 
When newspapers are sent would our friends please mark 
the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see ? 
Yine Leaf affected with Something. -A. V.M.\ 
We inspected the Vine leaves sent us, DUt found no 
evidence of fungus in them, and do not consider 
that their appearance suggested a fungus. We cer¬ 
tainly did find one mite upon those sent, but that 
was a full grown one, and was not the ordinary red 
spider. If the damage was due to mites there ought 
to have been young ones in various stages of develop¬ 
ment. It may ba added, however, that the leaves 
should have been wrapped up in slightly damp moss 
to keep them fresh. As it was they were partly 
dried up, and under such conditions mites of various 
kinds and insects crawl away, if they can, whenever 
they find theleavesupon which they have been feeding 
drying up. On the whole, however, we think that 
your other statement suggests the cause of the 
damage, which is akin to what is known as scalding. 
We have had evidence of damage done to Vine 
leaves owing to the presence of a heavy dressing of 
tank cow manure on the border. The high tempera¬ 
ture of the house caused rapid fermentation of the 
manure, so that there was an accumulation of 
ammonia in the atmosphere, and a very sudden 
appearance of scorching as if the leaves had been 
par-boiled. By this time the ammonia should be 
dissipated, and the Vines will recover. If not satis¬ 
factory, however, please send us fresh leaves in 
damp moss. 
Roots of Echeveria retusa destroyed.— E.D.: 
The grubs at the roots ot your plants of Echeveria 
are those of one or two species of Weevil, namely, 
the B ack Vine Weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) or 
the clay-coloured Weevil (O. picipes), bnt most pro¬ 
bably the former, as it ts more often found in hot¬ 
houses than its cousin with the clay-coloured coat. 
The best plan would be to take cuttings at once of 
the Echeveria and thereby secure a clean stock for 
next year’s work. Put the cuttings in soil that has 
been baked to kill any young grubs that may be in 
the same, though we think that the Weevils may 
have been bred from eggs laid by Weevils already 
in the house. The old soil in the pots should be 
burned or buried 3 ft. deep to prevent the grubs 
from reaching the perfect state and returning to 
trouble you. At the same time see that all cracks 
and crevices of the walls of the plant houses are 
cemented so as to prevent the old or perfect Weevils 
from hiding there and coming out at night to carry 
on their depredations. Remove all loose boards or 
anyihine else in the houses that would afford shelter 
to the Weevils. You may, however, keep a few 
pieces of board that you may use as traps bv having 
them slightly raised so that the Weevils can take 
up their abode there at night. You can then examine 
them in the morning and destroy any Weevils you 
may find lurking there. 
Black Spots on Leaves of Stephanotis — E. T.: 
The several specimens which we subjected to the 
test by the microscope all showed structure clearly 
enough We tested the small black spots first with 
a good J in. objective, and then the J in. objective 
which made them quite clear as to structure. 
They are not of a fungoid nature, but scale insects 
which have settled dowa, and had been developing 
the scaly covering which gives rise to the name scale 
as used by gardeners, or scale insects which puts the 
name in a clearer light. Along the middle of the 
scale a short ridge may be seen under a hand lens; 
but under a high power this appears as an oblong 
clearer line with less defined structure. The rest of 
the scaly covering is made up of cells something 
between square and oblong in outline. Evidently 
they had been killed by the XL \11 fumigator, unless 
they died after the leaf had been plucked and allowed 
to dry, for that alone would soon kill suctorial insects 
through starvation. If any fresh development 
should occur we should be pleased to have 
specimens. 
Doubtful Species of Grass.— A. Loydell: The two 
grasses, Alopecurus geniculatus and A. fulvus, are 
certainly closely allied, and on casual observation 
might appear to be the same thing. If you have 
both sp-cies and examine them closely you can 
easily see differences, however, even with a lens, and 
some of them with the naked eye. Taking A. 
geniculatus first, you will observe that the barren 
and the flower glumes are dark at the tips. The 
awn upon the back of the flower glume is inserted 
near the base of the same, and is almost twice as long 
as the glume. The anthers are purplish when fresh. 
These points you can observe as above mentioned. 
In the case of Alopecurus fulvus you will find that 
the glumes are all very pale; and that the awn is 
inserted near the middle or slightly below the middle 
of the flower glume, and extends only a very short 
way beyond the latter. Owing to its shortness and 
pale colour, you cannot see the awn in this species 
by looking at the spike with the naked eye. The 
anthers are yellow or tawny yellow when fresh. In 
thecjse of A geniculatus you can easily see the long 
dark awn with the naked eye. Your specimens 
belong to A. fulvus 
Samphire for Pickles.— Maritime: It should be 
fairly easy to cultivate a quantity of this seaside 
plant suffic'eot for your own use If you cannot get 
enough plants growing in positions where you could 
dig them up with good roots, you might be able to 
get seeds either from the seedsmen or from wild 
specimens. Take out the natural soil to a depth of 
18 in., and mix a quantity of it with sand (from the 
seashore if possible) sufficient to fill up the bed 
again. This should be done at once. Next month 
you can plant the roots or sow seeds, whichever you 
can get in lines 1 ft. apart. A distance of 9 in. at 
least should be allowed between the-plants in the 
row. At the proper distances you could drop in 
three or four seeds, covering them with about | in. 
of soil, and leave the strongest seedling after they 
have made a few leaves. Tne after culture would 
consist of keeping the bed clear of weeds, and water¬ 
ing it once or twice a week with sea water, or with 
water in which you have dissolved about an ounce 
of salt to the gallon. The bed should be made in a 
slightly shaded position, but not under the drip of 
trees. 
Names of Plants.— A. J. B. : 1, Cornus mas; 2, 
Nuttaliia cerasiformis; 3, Forsythia suspensa.—■ 
W. D : 1, Anemone Hepatica rubra; 2, Scilla 
bifolia ; 3, Scilla sibirica ; 4, Helleborus antiquorum. 
— M. C : 1, Dendrobium crassinode; 2, Dendrobium 
findlayanum ; 3, Dendrobium nobile var.— A. L.: 
1, Akebia quinata ; 2, Acacia ovata; 3, Acacia ver- 
ticillata; 4, Narcissus odorus rugulosus; 5, Nar¬ 
cissus Jonquilla ; 6. Nephrolepis Duffii.— T.A.S.: 
r, Cyrtanthus Mackenii; 2. Erica persoluta alba ; 3, 
Erica hyemalis.— Alex. Brown-. Leucojum vernum. 
— T.S.D. : 1, Codiaeum (CrotOD) Van Oosterzei; 
2, Begonia Gloire de Sceaux ; 3. Begonia margar- 
itacea ; 4, Begonia haageana ; 5, Begonia manicata; 
6, Begonia suaveolens. 
Communications Received.—Doonfoot.—A. W. 
Godwin.—R. M.—Barr & Sons.—Howard Ruff.— 
H. N. Ellison.—D. C.—A. M.—W. H.-S. V.-R. 
-—J—- 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Barr & Sons, it, 12 and 13, King Street, Covent 
Garden, London.—Barr's Hardy Perennials, Alpines, 
Aquatics, &c. 
Frederic Adolph Haage, jun., Erfurt, Germany. 
—Special Offer of Choice Cacti, Succulents and 
Seeds thereof. 
H. N. Ellison, 3 and 3A, Bull Street, West 
Bromwich, Staffordshire.—List of Bulbs and Cacti. 
FIXTURES FOR 1901. 
(Secretaries of shows will oblige us by sending early notice 
of their fixtures.) 
March. 
26. -—R H.S. Committees ; Brighton and Sussex 
Horticultural Society Show (2 days). 
27. —Liverpool Horticultural Show. 
29.—Blackheath Horticultural Society Meeting. 
April. 
3. —Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society Show, 
Edinburgh (2 days). 
4. —Linnean Society Meeting. 
6. —Royal Botanical Society Meeting ; Societie 
Francaise d’Horticulture de Londres Meeting. 
9.—R.H.S. Committees; Durham, Northumber¬ 
land, and Newcastle Botanical and Horticul¬ 
tural Society Spring Show (2 days). 
10.—Shropshire Horticultural Society Show at 
Shrewsbury. 
22. —Chesterfield Spring Show. 
23. —R.H.S Committees. 
24. —R.H.S. Examination in Horticulture. 
25. - Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural Society 
Exhibition. 
May. 
2.—Linnean Society Meeting. 
4.— Royal Botanical Society Meeting; Societie 
Francaise d'Horticulture de Londres Meeting 
7. —R.H.S. Committees; Royal Gardeners’Orphan 
Fund (Annual Dinner at Hotel Cecil). 
13.—United Horticultural Benevolent and Provi¬ 
dential Society Committees’ Meeting. 
16.—Royal Botanical Societv Meeting. 
21. —Kew Guild Dinner at Holborn Restaurant. 
22. —R.H.S. Great Temple Show (3 days); Gar¬ 
deners' Royal Benevolent Institution Annual 
Dinner at Hotel Metropole; Bath and W. 
and S. Counties Society and Somerset 
County Agricultural Association at Croydon (5 
days). 
June. 
I. —Royal Botanical Society Meeting; Societie 
Francaise d’Horticulture de Londres. 
2.—Ghent Show. 
4.— R H.S. Committees; Devon County Agricul¬ 
tural at Torquay (3 days). 
6.—Linnean Society Meeting. 
10 —United Horticultural Benevolent and Provi¬ 
dential Society Committees' Meeting. 
12.—Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association at 
Bodmin (2 days) ; Yorkshire Gala and Horti¬ 
cultural Exhibition at York (3 days). 
18.—R.H.S. Cormittees. 
15.—Oxfordshire Horticultural Exhibition. 
20 —Linnean Society Meeting ; Royal Botanical 
Society Meeting. 
26. —N.R.S., Richmond. 
