rch 19, 1904, 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
231 
he Qardening\^/orld. 
NOTICES TO READERS AND 
CORRESPONDENTS. 
The Gardening World is published every 
mrsday morning, and dated for the following 
.turday. Price, 2d. ; Annual Subscription, 
ist free, 10s. for the United Kingdom, for 
iroad 12s. 6d., prepaid. 
Subscriptions and Advertisement Orders 
lould be addressed to Maclaren & Sons, at 
le offices, 37 & 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
heques, Post Office Orders, etc., to be made 
ayable only to the Proprietors, Maclaren & 
ons, and crossed London City and Midland 
ank. 
Letters for publication, specimens for 
iming, books for review, and all communica- 
ods on matters of an editorial character must 
) addressed to “The Editor,” and written on 
le side of the paper only. All communica- 
rns must be accompanied by the name and 
Idress of the writer, not necessarily for pub 
nation, but as a guarantee of good faith: 
itials, or a nom de plume, will be used, if 
■sired. 
Photographs and Other Illustrations.— 
he Editor will be pleased to receive photo- 
•apbs and drawings for reproduction of fine 
( >ecimens of flowers, plants, trees, fruit, etc., 
of interesting gardens. Only such as are 
rely to prove instructive and interesting to 
e class of readers reached by The Gardening 
'orld will be considered. If payment is 
, -sired, the price for reproduction must be 
stinctlv stated, and it must be understood that 
dy the actual photographer or owner of the 
pyright will be dealt with. 
Return of Manuscripts and Illustra- 
ons. —The Editor will not be responsible for 
je loss of unaccepted MSS., photographs, etc., 
t if stamps be enclosed for return postage 
id particulars for identification appear on the 
■ntributions, ordinary care will be exercised to 
sure return. 
Notice to Subscribers. —No change of 
Idress can be made the Same week in which 
btification of it is sent. To prevent copies 
'|)ing astray subscribers should, when possible, 
otifv us a week or so in advance of their 
tpnded alteration of address. 
The Gardening World Telegraphic and 
able' Address is “ Bum, London,” and the 
dephone Number is 997, Holborn. 
COMMUNICATIONS SHOULD BE AD- 
RESSED TO “THE EDITOR” OR “THE 
UBLISHERS,” AND NOT TO IN- 
IVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE STAFF. 
EDITORIAL NOTES. 
he Shamrock. 
For some years past we have made 1 some 
narks on our friend the Shamrock, some- 
nes speaking of it as the true Shamrock or 
; .e asking what is the true Shamrock. A 
writer in “ The Amea’ican Florist ” says that 
it was “ held sacred at a period anterior to 
the day of St. Patrick. It was known, in 
fact, as the Shamroc and Shamrakh in the 
Arabic, these names being given to the tre¬ 
foil which was held sacred in Iran, and was 
emblematic of the Persian triad long before 
St. Patrick’s Pay.” This same writer men¬ 
tions several plants which have been regarded 
■somewhere or other as the true Shamrock, 
and states that London claimed the Black 
Medick (Medioago lupulina.). We have on 
several separate occasions received plants 
from Ireland and from different parts of it, 
all of them being claimed as the time Sham¬ 
rock. In our experience the Black Medick 
was the least common. The other two' were 
Trifolium repens and T. minus, the latter 
having a yellow cluster of flowers similar to 
the Black Medick. In our opinion few of 
tire people' who gather these Shamrocks in 
Ireland are sufficiently versed in botany to 
distinguish between one and the other when 
collecting them. The plants doi not flower 
until long after St. Patrick’s Day, when their 
differences would be more evident. We 
know that the Shamrock which was grown 
at Cork and sent over to the late Queen 
Victoria was T. minus, the small yellow 
clover. The above-mentioned writer says 
that, the seeds of Trifolium repens for sale 
at any seed store in America at Is. 0J,d. per 
lb. are just, the same as the humorous Irish¬ 
man would charge 8s. Id. a, lb. for. He also 
says, on the strict “ q.t.,” the seeds in. both 
cases were most likely grown in Germany. 
After our experience with the Shamrock we 
are perfectly satisfied that almost any Trefoil 
with small leaflets will answer the purpose. 
Just as our pages are being published the 
Shamrock will, no doubt, be as plentiful as 
ever on the streets of London, not only in 
places usually frequented by flower-girls, but 
elsewhere, as the 17th of March is quite a 
special occasion for this plant even in London. 
Fruit as a Necessary Food. 
The Chislehurst Gardeners’ Mutual Im¬ 
provement Society have come to look upon 
an annual visit from Mr. H. Canned, of Swan- 
ley, as being indispensable. On the 23rd 
ult. he took as his subject, “ What Fruit is 
For, and How to Use It.” Mr. Canned re¬ 
gards fruit as unquestionably the first means 
of sustenance mankind partook of. Fresh 
fruit juices were intended to supply moisture 
to the body, and the pureist water free from 
microbes was that afforded by the juice of 
fruit. It stimulated appetite, and did much 
to ensure perfect health. The sugar in fresh 
fruits was not the same as the manufactured 
article. The salts and acids in fruit were 
diametrically opposed to many ' of. the 
poisonous mineral preparations sold. He 
said that nearly all the great athletic races 
were being won by vegetarians, and tho-se on 
the side of temperance, He thought that 
if every wine cellar could be turned into a 
fruit-room, and fully stored with, fruit, it 
would be a blessing, to the community. The 
bottling and preservation of fruits to ensure 
a supply throughout the year was also dealt 
with by Mr. Gannell. He also exhibited 
samples of the fruit bottled at his own estab¬ 
lishment, and these specimens were handed 
round amongst the gardeners to. show how 
the fruit could be preserved, and at the same 
time retain its natural qualities. He was 
assisted by his son Robert in his demonstra¬ 
tions concerning various kinds of fruit. 
The Vitality of Seeds. 
A discussion has been going on in our con¬ 
temporary “ The Standard ” concerning the 
vitality of seeds. Mr. C. C. Ohataway, of 
Cambridge, states that a box of seeds had 
been given to a missionary in 1895, and had 
been left unopened by him on leaving Daw¬ 
son, Yukon Territory, in 1900. These seeds 
had been subjected to a winter temperature 
ranging as low as 68 Fah. below zero, with 
a rise to 90 deg. ini summer. Planted in 
1903, these seeds grew perfectly. Some days 
later Mr.. Martin J. Sutton also wrote to 
Thei Standard” on, this same subject, stat¬ 
ing. that he had been studying the subject 
twenty-five years ago, making many experi¬ 
ments in the preparation of seeds tor 
despatch to countries abroad. He found a 
great diversity, in the amount of moisture 
which different seeds contained. These 
seeds parted with moisture in a varying 
degree according to their nature, so' that the 
dry heat to which.the seeds could be safely 
exposed.and the.proper duration of.such ex¬ 
posure before packing varied very greatly. 
Some seeds required more gradual drying 
than others for their perfect safety. The 
result of the experiments seemed to show 
that there is hardly any limit to the durar 
tion of the vitality of seeds when they are 
properly prepared by drying them in a suit¬ 
ably high temperature and hermetically seal¬ 
ing them in that temperature. For many 
years past seeds thus packed by his firm 
have been, successfully used in. all climates, 
and the box mentioned by Mr. Chataway was 
one of those which every agent of the Church 
Missionary Society, the London Missionary 
Society and the Baptist Missionary Society 
receives annually, containing seeds for his 
personal use in, mission gardens from the 
tropics to the arctic circle. 
The Dog Daisy in Colonsay. 
A gardener in the island of Colonsay says 
that a seed or two of the above plant came 
in, a packet of seed from London about fifty 
years ago, and being unknown in the island 
and much admired, the plant was allowed to 
grow, ripen and scatter its seed unheeded. 
Since then great patches annually whiten 
the meadows of the island when in bloom and 
cannot he eradicated, 
