288 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 28, 1903. 
A nest oi' young thrushes was found in one of the shrubs at 
Mill Hill Park, London, on March 3rd. 
* * * 
Trees for Faiemuir. —The question of planting a- row of trees 
along the north side of the newly-acquired part of the Fairmuir 
was brought to the notice of the Works 'Committee of Dundee 
Town Council on the 9th inst. in a letter from Messrs. Shiell 
and Small, solicitors, Dundee. The committee, while favourably 
entertaining the proposal, thought that it was rather late in the 
season for planting trees, and agreed to carry out the under¬ 
taking in the autumn. 
* * * 
Dundee Potatos for English Palates. —The English have 
apparently a keen relish for Potatos grown in the Dundee dis¬ 
trict. The present season has been a busy one with local Potato 
exporters (says the “Dundee Courier”). Nearly every week 
several steamers have left the Tay for English ports with cargoes 
of tubers, and at the present time there is little indication of a 
falling off in the trade. The steamer Douglas left Dundee on the 
17th inst. with a cargo of Potatos for Wisbech. 
* -*■ * 
A Bamboo Garden in Ireland. —The gardens at Castlewellan, 
which are Lord Annesley’s particular hobby, are beautiful in all 
seasons, but especially at this time of the year, when over 
250,000 bulbs. Daffodils, Hyacinths, Tulips, etc., are annually 
planted out. The Bamboo garden is interesting with its. trea¬ 
sures from India, China, and Japan, growing in wonderful 
luxuriance beneath the shelter of the great Rhododendron bank. 
* * 
Fruit-growing in Perthshire. —The farm of Drumend, close 
to Old' Rattray, Perthshire, and extending to about 50 acres, is 
to be let for fruit-growing purposes. It is understood that a 
third of it is already applied for. The conditions are that the 
leases be fur 19 years, the lirst two years to be obtained at agri¬ 
cultural rates, and the land to be thrown back into pasture at 
the end of the 16th year, and all the fruit-growing adjuncts— 
stakes, wires, etc.—to be removed, unless a new lease be arranged 
for. 
* * * 
Whitewashing the Potato. —The noble tuber, which, on 
account of the starch and sugar it contains, has hitherto been 
banished from the table of those suffering from gout, rheumatism 
and diabetes, has now been reinstated in public favour by no less 
a person than Professor Mosse, of Toulouse, who publicly, before 
the Academie de Medecin, undertook the “ whitewashing of 
spuds.” Not only, says this French authority, is the Potato 
harmless, but he claims it to be even beneficial in the case of 
the last-named disease, for the water and organic salts contained 
in this tuber constitute a form of alkali calculated to nourish the 
sufferer while curing the specific disease. 
* * * 
The Obstruction of Light by Trees.— The Public Health 
Acts Amendment Act, 1890, authorises any urban authority to 
cause trees to be planted in any highway, provided, however, 
that this power shall not be exercised, nor shall any trees so 
planted be continued so as to become a nuisance or injurious 
to any adjacent owner or occupier. The question has recently 
been asked whether the above Act justified a local authority in 
allowing the branches of a tree to grow so large as to interfere 
with a householder’s enjoyment of light. The Prescription Act 
provides that 20 years’ uninterrupted enjoyment of light shall 
give a. legal right to it for ever. Therefore a householder who 
has this right to “ ancient lights ” has clearly power to have the 
branches lopped or otherwise restricted in their growth so as to 
prevent their impeding his light. 
* * * 
How Brambles Climb. —In “Knowledge” for March Mr. R. 
Lloyd Praeger, writing on “ British Wild Flowers,” remarks that 
Brambles are great climbers. “ Their stems are furnished with 
very strong hooked prickles—remarkable structures, arising, like 
hairs, from the skin, not from the wood, as do, for instance, the 
thorns of the Hawthorn. By aid of these prickles the Brambles 
support themselves amid tangled thickets, and may be often seen 
bursting into blossom 10ft. or 15ft. up in the air. It is interest¬ 
ing to note that the long arching stems in autumn, when their 
growth is nearly over, frequently again seek the ground, and their 
tips root themselves firmly in the soil. Next year the shoot pro¬ 
duces flower and fruit, and dies. But from the rooted tip proceeds 
a fresh plant, which in turn loops away and produces new offspring 
far from the parent. The plant may in this manner travel for¬ 
ward at the rate of 20ft. or more per year, and may cross 
obstacles such as a 10ft. wall in a single season.” 
St. Leonard’s Road Cedaji Tree, Windsor. —Mr. W. Shipley, 
Mayor of Windsor, has raised a fund for the purchase of an old 
Cedar tree, to savertt- from destruction, and to preserve it as a 
historical land mark in Windsor. Many of the old Clewrnr House 
Boys and other friends subscribed to this fund. An iron guard 
is to be placed round it to secure it from injury. 
* * * 
Mrs. Chamberlain’s Love of Flowers. —The Colonial Secre¬ 
tary loves Orchids, but it is not generally known that Mrs. 
Chamberlain belongs to a family distinguished for a love of 
flowers. Her famous'ancestor, John Endicott, the first Governor 
of New England, introduced the British Daisy into America. 
Of course, America has its Daisy family, but not the pretty 
starlight flower of our meadows. 
* * * 
Orchid Sale in Manchester. —There was a sale on the 13th 
inst. of a private collection of Orchids at the rooms of Messrs. 
Artingstall and Hind. The collection belonged to Mr. A. Y. 
Lees, of Stretford. The most interesting thing was an offer of 
two plants of Cattleya Mendelii alba, distinct specimens. One 
was sold to Mr. Samuel Gratrix for 100 guineas, and the other, 
a portion of the plant, fetched 49 guineas. 
* * * 
SouTiiroRT Municipal Gardens Scheme. —At the last meeting 
of the Southport Town Council it was decided to remove the 
fountain from the Municipal Gardens and erect a bandstand in 
its place. The Lord Street Gardens Committee have decided, 
however, that this feature of Southport, the removal of which has 
raised quite a storm of criticism, should not be demolished. The 
fountain will be placed in Old Bank Square, opposite Bank 
House, near London Square. 
* * * 
Death of Mr. Wm. Fell. —We have to record, with deep 
regret, the sudden death on Sunday morning of Mr. Wm. Fell, 
principal of the firm of Messrs. Wm. Fell and Co., Limited, 
nurserymen, Hexham. On Saturday he was conducting business 
up till 9 p.m., and on Sunday morning he was found dead in bed. 
Mr. Fell was 1 a business man of very considerable ability and en¬ 
terprise. The firm of W. Fell and Co. is well known over the 
greater parts of England and Scotland, and they are also a noted 
firm in their large trade with America, etc. 
* * * 
Fruit Growing in Australia. —A Californian paper of 
October last says:—Fifty Southern Californian families, some 
of them residents of Lbs Angeles, will embark from San 
Francisco for Australia' in about a month, there to form a 
colony and attempt to raise the products peculiar to California, 
principally fruit. The prime mover in the scheme is Mr. W. H. 
Cruikshank, a fruit-grower, residing near Long Beach. Mr. 
Cruikshank, who spent some time in Australia, owns a large 
tract of land in the northern part of Victoria containing about i 
7,000 acres, much of which he believes is especially adapted to 
cultivation of semi-tropic fruits. Seconding Mr. * Cruikshank 
is Mr. M. M. Hamlin, a resident of Manila, and formerly of 
Los Angeles. Many of the colonists are from this section, i 
Nearly all of them have been fruit-growers or farmers, and will 
not go without experience. Several are from San Diego county, 
seventeen from Orange county and Santa Ana, and seven 
families come from the Riverside district. It is the plan of 
the colonists to confine themselves strictly to farming for the 
first year, and then to experiment along the line of fruit¬ 
growing. . j 
* * * 
Fruit from Queensland.— The Queensland Citrus Fruit¬ 
growers’ Association, which was formed last year for the purpose [ 
of organising the export of fruit in the coming season, hopes to ' 
send forward shipments to London. Up to "the present the 
association has been bending its energies to the sale of fruit in 
New Zealand and other States, but with the break up of the 1 
drought it is proposed to ship to Europe. Grape growing has 
been much increased in Queensland of late, the coastal districts 
from Bundaberg to the New South Wales border being particu¬ 
larly fitted for the industry. The following kinds are grown with 
success in the State :—Chasselas d’Ore or Sweetwater,Precoce de 
Courtiller, Madelaine Augerine, Madelaine Royal, Luglienga, 
all early varieties, and Chasselas Negrepont, blue Portuguese, [ 
Black Hamburg, early, coloured varieties ; for later varieties. 
Mrs. Prince Muscat, Muscat Hamburg, Muscat Beaume,. 
Ronsette, Golden Champion, Bermestia, Gros Guillaume, and 
Worthey Hall. All those mentioned are European varieties. 
American varieties grown are Concord, Delaware, Wilder. 
Goethe, Iona, Alvey, F. de Lesseps, and a so-called Wantage.’. 
