844 
August 31, 1901. 
\ 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Cherries have been the best tree crop this year. 
The Gooseberry Cobham, which was recom¬ 
mended for an Award of Merit at a recent meeting 
of the Royal Horticultural Society, is likely to 
become a general favourite. The Fruit and Vegetable 
Committee are of opinion that it is identical with 
Gunner, an old variety possessing considerable 
merit. 
Topiary Work. —The Midland Counties Herald for 
August 15th has a very good article on the above 
subject, and gives ominous hints about it again 
finding favour, and suggests that a league should be 
formed to check this contortion. We entirely agree 
with them, for while we like to see a few specimens 
as remnants of the old style we should be sorry to 
see it reinstated in its old position. 
More Heat.—By a series of deductions'from past 
observations and reports, Mr. Serviss, a lecturer on 
astronomy in America, advances some very fasci¬ 
nating theories. They are more fascinating than 
welcome, as he prophesies that the terrific heat 
experienced this summer will be continued for four 
years. Time and space will not allow of details as 
to how he made this discovery (?) but cur old friends 
and associates of the electric trams, the sun-spots 
play a conspicuous part in the theory. He is only 
a speculative theorist, and while we shall be sorry 
for his erroneous deductions we shall be glad to 
escape another summer like the past one. 
Mushrooms. —Mushrooms are very plentiful this 
year, especially in the north, and the lovers of this 
fungus may look forward to some palatable break¬ 
fasts for some time to come. As many as 1,000 
baskets a day are being sent from some districts. 
The Morning Leader says " that while Mushrooms 
are very acceptable to us in town, there is no ques¬ 
tion that the best wa/to eDjoy them is to turn out 
from the cosy farmhouse into the fields in the early 
morning and gather them fresh from the dewy earth. 
Besides getting them much more freshly, a zest is 
given to one's appetite which is well nigh impossible 
to the town dweller." 
The Garden City.—People have many ideas of 
settling the growing bogey—the housing question. 
Some strike high, some are nonsensical, others are 
worth consideration. One of the highest ideals of 
these people is to build a garden city—a city entirely 
new and built with numerous gardens and open 
spaces intersecting the houses. The city is not to 
be built in patches as various builders choose to put 
up houses, but is to be laid out on a gigantic plan 
and all built at once, with sanitary arrangements of 
the most perfect kind. A great conference has been 
held at Bournville to discuss the question, and 
we venture to say that before this beautiful blending 
of houses and gardens is really accomplished there 
will be many more discussions and many adjourn¬ 
ments. Prominent members of the London County 
Council are taking part in the scheme as well as 
influential members of Parliament. If this scheme 
comes to perfection it will be a veritable Utopia for 
gardeners. But who is going to finance such an 
undertaking ? 
The Recent Hailstorm at Hawick. — Dr. 
Hamilton, Hawick, forwarded to Professor Geikie, 
University of Edinburgh, specimens of a material 
found in the centre of some hailstones which fell at 
Hawick on the 10th inst. The Professor replied as 
follows:— "The specimens are as you surmise, 
cinders. Doubtless they were swept up from the 
railway or some other source. I cannot remember 
of any quite similar case, but during thunderstorms 
queer things are sometimes showered down. I 
remember a fall of perch taking place at Airdrie 
some years ago. They were swept up from a pond 
in the neighbourhood. ' Falls ’ of herring have often 
been recorded, and so have ' showers ' of haddocks ! 
Grain has been carried up from threshing floors in 
Morocco, and brought down again as 'showers.' 
Probably the manna of the Israelites was of the 
nature of an esculent lichen stripped from trees and 
distributed during a storm. Anyhow a so-called 
fall of manna took place at Herat while that place 
was being besieged—and the starving garrison was 
in that way relieved. Similar falls of manna have 
often been recorded as having taken place in Persia 
and other parts of L. Asia. The ' manna ’ was 
found to be an esculent lichen, and was traced to its 
source by a French botanist." 
Those who suffered loss during the recent hail¬ 
storms, if they did not belong to the Hailstorm 
Insurance Company, doubtlessly wished that they 
did. 
Buckwheat for Fowls —Th : s is an excellent food 
for fowls, and is used In large quantities on the 
Continent for that purpose. It fattens the birds 
with amazing rapidity, and produces a good coloured 
flesh, and is also credited with largely improving the 
flavour of the eggs. 
Dangers of Spraying.—At an inquest held on the 
bcdy of James Gordon Bailee at Ballymena, Co. 
Antrim, on August 23rd, it was found that deceased 
had met with his death in a remarkable manrer, and 
in a manner which it will be well for gardeners to 
note. He had been engaged in spraying Potatos 
during Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday night he 
was taken ill, and although two doctors were in 
attendance, he quickly sank and died. It was found 
that the unfortunate man had been poisoned while 
spraying with a sulphate of copper solution, pro¬ 
bably through absorption. 
- — » .- 
WASPS 
Are a perfect plague with us this season, and doubt¬ 
less other parts of the country are no less troubled. 
It does not seem to be generally known that there is 
a very cheap and effectual way. of getting rid c* 
these pests. I refer to a strong solution of cyanide 
of potassium. Any chemist should be able to make 
it up. What I have found very effectual costs one 
shilling for a quart bottle. The mode of procedure 
is to take a piece of cottonwool, about the size of an 
egg, soak it in the solution, and place on the hole of 
the nest, care being taken to see that there is but one 
exit for " Mr. Wasp.” Should the solution be weak, 
it may perhaps be necessary to pour half a wine- 
glassful of the liquid into the mouth of the hole, 
when I guarantee not one single wasp will escape. 
I must warn all users of this wasp exterminator, of the 
great care they must exercise in the handling of it, 
as it is a deadly poison. I may also say that a 
small quantity of sulphuric acid added to the water 
makes the cyanide of potassium much easier to dis¬ 
solve. When the nest is a hanging one, if a quan¬ 
tity of paraffin oil is poured over it and a light ap¬ 
plied, that particular nest will trouble no more. — C. 
Blair, Binny, Uphall, N.B. 
MARANTA MAJOR. 
This is one of the most useful of a beautiful genus of 
ornamental leaved plants, its very graceful habit 
making it a most useful plant for decorative purposes. 
M. major is a tufted plant, the leaves springing from 
the rootstock in two’s and three's, and it has slenier 
pale brown footstalks which are from 2 ft. to 3$ ft. 
high supporting an oval leaf of variable size, the 
blades of which are of various shades of green, rang¬ 
ing from about ; to 9 in. long and from 2 to 6 in. 
broad. Its leaves are produced continuously all the 
year round, and the plant has a very robust constitu¬ 
tion, enduring the changing temperature of a dwelling 
house without any injury for a long time. This in 
itself commends il to those who have a lot of furnish¬ 
ing to do. It delights in a strong heat, and also an 
abundance of moisture, and thrives extremely well in 
a compost of equal parts of peat and loam with a 
little sand added to keep it porous. It should be 
carefully drained, as the plants require water freely. 
Several of the species as arundinacea, nobilis, and 
ramosissima, are cultivated largely for the starch 
which is obtained from their tubers. This comes 
into commerce under the name of Arrowroot. Most 
of the species are natives of South America. —T. IV. 
Dollery, The Gardens, Whitburn, Sunderland. 
--5-- 
ASPIDIUM FALCATUM. 
This is one of the test Ferns for furnishing purposes 
and for this reason is largely grown by some 
nurserymen. Its fronds are thick in texture and of 
a glossy dark green colour, from which it gets its 
name of " Holly Fern." The length of the fronds 
varies from 1 ft to 2 ft. and about 8 in. broad. 
The pinnae are about 4 in. long by 1 £ in. in breadth, 
and irregularly toothed and sharply pointed. 
In Battersea Park a bed of this and Asplenium bulbi- 
ferum with a ground-work of Isolepis gracilis may 
now be seeD, and has a most graceful and unique 
appearance. It needs protection in the winter and 
succeeds best in a mixture of fibrous peat and loam, 
and for pot culture it should bave good drainage. 
Unlike some Ferns it can only be increased by 
spores, or by division of old plants which are both 
rather slo w processes. The spores should be sown 
in pans of very fine soil and with good drainage ; the 
pans should be placed in shallow saucers of water 
and kept shaded on bright days. As soon as the 
young plants are visible they should be pricked cfl 
into similar pans and kept close and shaded until 
they have formed fronds, when more air and light 
may be admitted. This is a very interesting process 
but is very often disappointing to the cultivator who 
may find his plants, when sufficiently grown, to be 
another quite distinct from what he expected.— 
F. W. M. 
MONTBRETIAS. 
At the present time, when the supply of Iceland 
Poppies, Sweet Peas, Sweet Sultans, Gypsophila, 
&c., so much in vogue for table decoration is getting 
scanty, gardeners are often perplexed when called 
upon to supply the demand. To such I would 
recommend the Montbretias, a group of Iridaceous 
plants at present in full beauty. The graceful 
racemes of yellow, orange or red flowers, last well 
when cut, associate well with all kinds of foliage 
and are therefore admirably adapted for the purpose 
in view. Montbretias grow well in any good garden 
soil, preferring, however, a sunny position. Planting 
may be done from November to March. The old 
varieties, M. crocosmiflora, M Pottsi, and its variety 
grandiflora, though well worth a place in any garden 
are now surpassed by many varieties in commerce. 
The undermentioned having come under my notice 
I can confidently recommend :—Gerbe d’Or, a fine 
variety with clear yellow flowers; Etoile de Feu, 
one of the very best, large orange scarlet and yellow 
flowers ; Rayon d’Or, large flowers, golden yellow, 
perhaps the best of all the yellow varieties ; Tran- 
scendant, a charming variety, with large orange red 
flowers.— E. C. 
TROPAEOLUM TRICOLORUM. 
This is one of the prettiest of our spring-flowering 
greenhouse plants and should find a place in every 
garden. Those who have tubers of it should pot 
them at once. Soil containing two parts rich loam, 
one part leaf soil and a sprinkling of sand, is best 
for them. If the tub .rs are large, about four or five 
in an 8-in. pot will make a grand plant ; if 
small, pot accordingly. Press the soil firmly and 
leave the tubers about an inch below the surface* 
Place them in a cold frame and shade from the sun. 
If potted in damp soil they will only need syringing 
twice a day to keep them moist until growth starts, 
when they should be watered through. Wire 
balloons or sticks should now be attached to the 
pots, and the shoots trained over them, taking care 
to furnish the bottom of the balloon first. At the 
end of September the plants will need to be taken 
into the greenhouse, where they should be given a 
cool, airy position, in full sun. They will need 
careful watering in the dull weather and will want 
the growths trained often. In spring, when well 
rooted, give weak manure water occas'onally until 
the flowers appear. After flowering gradually lessen 
the water supply until the growth dies down, and 
then keep quite dry until next August.— E. Brown, 
The Gardens, Nostell Priory, Wakefield, Yorks. 
-- 
THE SCHIZANTHUS WISETONENSIS, 
A new, dwarf variety of the somewhat well-known 
old sorts, may be grown in the open in sheltered 
positions, but cultivated as a pot plant, leaves little 
to be desired, for a more showy yet tasteful and 
artistic plant cannot be imagined. Innumerable 
flowers, much resembling an Orchid (hence the 
name, “Poor Man’s Orchid"), carried on a very 
bushy Grevillea-like plant, presents a mass of colour 
in either white, yellow, pink, or rose and brown 
flowers. Many of the readers of The Gardening 
World will doubtless remember the bank of flower 
in these shades as exhibited by Messrs. Hugh Low 
& Co., Bush Hill Park, at the Temple show. S. 
wisetonensis may be propagated either by seed or 
