THE GARDENING WORLD 
109 
he ^Etrdening\^brld. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
lorlicuKure at Feltham 
A local society has been inaugurated in the 
stern part of Middlesex entitled the Fe-lt- 
u, Bedfont, and Han worth Horticultural 
Mtual Improvement Society. It. is 1 quite 
lying yet, having only commenced on 
Jiuary 6th, but the meetings will be con¬ 
tinued weekly until the end of March. The 
syllabus before us shows that certain of the 
evenings are already filled in, but evenings 
are still open to be filled up. Notwithstand¬ 
ing the infancy of the society, it. has already 
a membership of between thirty and forty. 
Mr. R. F. Martin dealt, with “ Rock Plants ” 
on January 6th. An impromptu discussion 
took place on the 13th. “ Insectivorous 
Plants ” was read by Mr. Cowley on the 20th, 
and Mr. Wittaker dealt with “ Onions for 
Home Use and Exhibition ” on the 27th. 
Effects of Thinning Tomatos- 
Some experiments have been carried out 
at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment 
Station with the object of determining the 
eff ects of thinning Tomatos on the size of the 
fruit. All the lateral shoots below the first 
bunch of flowers were cut off. The fruits in 
the bunch were thinned so that not more than 
three fruits were allowed to remain on one 
cluster, and generally only two. The thin¬ 
ning was accomplished when the fruits were 
only | in. in diameter. On the thinned 
plants the average number of fruits was 9.7 ; 
the average weight 9.57 lbs.; the average 
weight of each Tomato 15.82 ozs. The 
effect of thinning was to cause the large 
Tomatos to swell up fast and ripen earlier. 
The authorities of the experimental station 
conclude that enormous fruits are not so 
much required nor so profitable as an. even 
grade of medium size. Although the bulk 
was about the same as on the unthinned 
plants, the weight was less, and the buyer 
is usually most influenced by weight. 
—o— 
Insect Pests in California. 
The various counties of California are very 
largely interested in the cultivation of fruits, 
and that being the. case the insects which give 
them the most trouble are those which attack 
fruits, of various kinds, including Oranges, 
Peaches, Apricots, etc. The " Journal of the 
Department, of Agriculture of Western Aus¬ 
tralia ” for December publishes; a. list of the 
insect enemies for the various counties of 
California. We note that these insect pests 
consist chiefly of various, species of scale and 
mealy bug, including the redoubtable San 
Jose scale. The writer of the article, after 
discussing the various kinds which injure 
fruit trees and other plants, gives various 
methods for combating the same. It seems, 
however, that the natural enemies are of 
more lasting benefit than any artificial one 
that, can be applied. The writer of the 
article states; that a certain insect has been 
held iu check in Europe by its parasite for 
more than a century. He says that.the only _ 
orchards in Madera county now troubled with 
black scale are; those that would nqt listen 
to the advice of the State Board a few years 
ago to let the parasites do the work of - de~ 
• stroying the scale instead of fumigation and 
spraying. The brown Apricot scale-wasr at 
one time a, serious pest in California, but it 
is now quite harmless there. The same may 
be .said of two. scales that affect the Orange; 
also mealy bug and the Green-veined Cab¬ 
bage. Butterfly are now held in complete sub¬ 
jection-by their parasites. It seems that 
with the introduction of new fruits to Cali¬ 
fornia.-their enemies in the form of bug and 
scale had been introduced, but without their 
parasites. The climate of -that' country is 
highly favourable for the spreading of insect 
pests, and it wa.s'unly to berexpejeted that the 
pests, would spread far and wide in proportion 
to the development; of orchards, since they 
had no competition with their own natural 
ehe-mieTsyaud nothing to check their rapid in¬ 
crease. Now, however, the parasites affect¬ 
ing these insect pests are able to develop in 
the same proportions as; the; insects them¬ 
selves, and to, therefore, hold them duly in 
check. 
National Sweet Pea Society- 
The schedule of the above society for 1901 
is now before us, and shows that the past year 
was rather an important, one in .the. annals 
of its brief history. The-expenses in con¬ 
nection with it at. Earl’s Court, last -year were 
slightly higher than formerly, but; notwith¬ 
standing, there is. a balance in favour .of. the 
society of £30 8s., being a. slight’increase 
over that of the previous year. A number 
of gold, silver-gilt, and silver medals were 
awarded to. trade exhibits, which aided 
largely in making the .show a success. The 
exhibition for 1 this; year will take place ait the 
Crystal Palace on Wednesday and Thursday, 
July 20th-and 21st, A large and important 
class has- been, added to the schedule, and is 
termed a special -audit class. It. is reserved 
for nineteen varieties -here''.specified,' and 
refers to theca that, .took the. first position in 
the colour list during the past .jSear. The 
second class is a-lso for nineteen varieties of 
Sweet Peas, and is practically a continuation 
of the-big class for last year. Class, I. is 
T eserved -for amateur-and professional gar¬ 
deners and Class II. is open. 
—o— 1 - 
Daffodil Show at Ipswich. 
The Ipswich and East, of England Horti¬ 
cultural .Society hold a flower show at- which 
so much encouragement is given for Daffo¬ 
dils that it is termed a, Daffodil Show. Alto¬ 
gether, prizes are offered in sixty-four classes, 
but a large number of these are open for pot 
plants of various kinds, including certain 
collections of Narcissi in pots. Most, of the 
prizes for Daffodils, however, are offered in 
numerous classes fpr cut flowers. All the 
-more important sections, colours, etc;, of the 
Daffodil will be represented,' Prizes are also 
offered for table decoration's; bouquets, taste¬ 
fully-arranged vases, baskets, etc., ‘of Nar¬ 
cissi. This last division, is open to. ladies 
only. We think that these. Daffodil Shows 
would be improved and the interest, extended 
if the societies would includes, fair'll umber 
of- classes - for early-flowering Tulips, both 
species and varieties. 
