October 10,1903. THE GARDENING WORLD. 843 
OCTOBER io, 1903. <Ihe Gardening Woriel. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
few England Association of Park 
Superintendents. 
'fA pamphlet on our table shows that the 
itiv superintendents of New England have 
mied an association for their mutual 
fnefit. . The object of the association is for 
ie acquirement and dissemination of know- 
d" e , theoretical and practical, relating to 
I 16 Development and maintenance: of parks 
)! lneans of social intercourse and friendly 
derchange of knowledge between its memi- 
The association is. not exactly new, 
' * Ie pamphlet before us shows the names 
t ie officers for 1898 to 190-1 inclusive. 
J , e ist of members shows that a consider- 
) e n ondjer of parks are represented by 
dose belonging to the association. We 
ay state, however, that superintendents, 
assistant superintendents, engineers or 
foresters of public parks, and grounds are 
eligible. Mr. J. A. Pettigrew, of the parks, 
Boston, Massachusetts, was president from 
1898 to 1902, and, needless to say, has 
taken an active part in the doings of the 
association. The association also sends out 
a monthly bulletin, which circulates amongst 
thei members only. A copy of this, namely, 
the special “ Street Tree Bulletin,” No. 28, 
March 1st, 1903, shows that they mean to 
keep current and useful matters well to the 
front for the benefit of the members. This 
bulletin consists of thirty pages of closely 
typed matter, which has been written, by 
various members for the benefit of all. The 
number of articles in this bulletin would 
seem to show that the subject is of pretty 
wide interest, and that the members are 
fully in earnest in their dissemination of 
knowledge for their mutual benefit. The 
secretary is Mr. John W. Duncan, Jamaica 
Plain, Massachusetts. 
—o— 
Machinery for Cutting Water Weeds. 
The question of keeping ponds and lakes 
clear of weeds is one of growing importance, 
and whether it is possible for machinery to 
keep them clean would depend largely upon 
the number or quantity of Lilies and other 
aquatics that are grown in such pieces of 
ornamental water. If the cultivation of 
ornamental plants was confined to the banks 
a.nd the neighbourhood in such ponds, it 
would seem perfectly possible to make use 
of machinery for keeping the water clear of 
aquatic weeds. A machine of this nature 
has recently been made and tried by Messrs:. 
Saunderson and Co., Limited, Bedford, be¬ 
fore sending it out to East Demerara, where 
it is intended to clear the weed-choked canals. 
According to the account, of the: trial, this 
machine, which take® the form of a small 
steam launch, is able to cut not only the 
larger weeds, but even the mossy and slimy 
growths of algae which have been liable to 
choke the apparatus hitherto employed for 
this purpose. The principle of this machine 
consists of two. Y-shaped spring steel blades 
sawed or wavy on the edge, like a Christie 
bread knife. These knives are caused to 
oscillate sharply by a crank movement, and 
the weeds are sa.wn asunder as bread is cut 
by a wavy knife. One of the chief advan¬ 
tages claimed for this machine is that the 
cutters never get clogged up with slimy 
weeds. The larger machine used in the Ouse 
at Bedford would cut about five acres per 
hour. 
—o— 
Sir Thomas Hanbury at Chiswick. 
During the first day of the Fruit and 
Vegetable Exhibition at Chiswick Sir 
Thomas Hanbury, who recently honoured 
the Royal Horticultural Society, with the' 
munificent gift of the garden at Wisley, put 
in his-appearance, and was present at the 
luncheon. After the luncheon, the presi¬ 
dent, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., presented 
Sir Thomas with the Victorian Medal of 
Honour as a slight recognition of his 
splendid gift to the society. In his reply 
Sir Thomas expressed regret that Wisley 
should lie so far from London, but he hoped 
it would be in the possession of the society 
for an undeterminable period. He thought 
horticulture should always be combined with 
a. thorough love of nature. On the same: 
occasion Professor Bateman, of Cambridge, 
thought, the new garden at Wisley should 
be utilised for an attempt to determine the 
scientific principles governing the industry 
of horticulture. 
—o—- 
Orchids and Symbiosis. 
It is now w r cll known to many that Orchids, 
for their successful rearing from seeds, do 
best when grown in association with older 
plants of the same family. Before this fact 
was recognised, thousands and probably mil¬ 
lions of seeds were annually lost by sowing 
them on the surface of pots, like the seeds' 
of annuals or perennials of more common 
kinds. M. Bernard has recently laid before 
the French Academy of Sciences the result 
of some of his experiments, by which he de¬ 
monstrates 1 that Orchids are unable to 1 live 
unless certain microbes are present in associa¬ 
tion with the. roots of the plants. Par¬ 
ticularly is this the case with seedling Orchids 
making a staid, in life. We have seen large 
numbers of them successfully raised from 
seeds until the green, was quite visible to the 
naked eyet, after which they went off rapidly, 
when merely grown on pans of soil. M. 
Bernard cultivated those microscopic fungi 
by themselves and also Orchids apart from 
them, but the latter did not thrive until 
brought in contact with the former, after 
which the growth of the plants' became quite 
normal. Possibly, however, if all cultivators 
would take care to inoculate the soil in which 
they attempt to raise seedlings with some of 
that taken from pots of growing Orchid;, 
success might become perfectly certain, even 
with seedling Orchids. Some of our expert 
Orchid raisers, however, succeed by slightly 
different methods, such as by sowing the 
seeds on a coarse kind of cloth on the top 
of pots or pans. 
—o — 
The Naming of Wild FI owerr. 
The authorities at the Brighton Museum 
have adopted a plan that seems to be of soane 
■educational value. People are encouraged 
to make collections cf fresh flowers which 
they may find in their rambles and bring 
them to the Museum, where one of the offi¬ 
cials arranges the specimens in glass vases 
filled with water as the flowers are brought 
in, and attache® the English and botanical 
names to the vases. These fresh flowers 
make beautiful contrasts alongside of the 
stony and otherwise dead and dried speci¬ 
mens with which the Museum is filled. 
