310 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
April 9, 1904. 
amalgamation of the societies, and, provisionally on confirmation 
by the council of the S.R.H.S., a committee was appointed to 
revise the schedule of prizes, to which some very handsome dona¬ 
tions have been promised'. It was also resolved to hold the show 
on the Pier at the end of July, the date being left open for the 
present. The council of the society met on the following Thurs¬ 
day evening, and unanimously confirmed the arrangement made 
by the committee for the amalgamation. The special committee 
will include Mr. W. Garton, jun., and several members, of the 
late Carnation Society. Schedules will be ready shortly, and 
may be obtained of the secretary, Mr. C. S. Fuidge, London 
Road, S out bam p t on. 
The Favourite Flowers of the Viscountess Belmsley are 
Roses, and Violets. 
* * * 
Easter Lilies in Bermuda.— The farmers of Bermuda export 
about £20,000 of Lilium longiflorum Harrisii every spring. 
* * * 
Fruit Gardens for Sussex.— In the hope of creating -a new 
industry, experimental fruit gardens are to be started by the 
East Sussex County Council. 
* * * 
Favourite Flowers with the Japanese are the Cherry, Peach, 
Plum, Morning Glory, Wistaria, Willow, Iris, Pae-ony, Lotus, 
Azalea, and Magnolia. Roses and Lilies are less, admired, and 
even considered rather crude and unrefined flowers. 
* * * 
Early Strawberries. —Recently the ruling wholesale price 
for Strawberries has been 4s. 6d. to 5s. for the best, but some of 
the West End fruiterers have been retailing them at 20s. per 
punnet, the object being to sell one pound at a large profit, 
even if two- pounds are thrown away, in order to keep up the 
price. This is hardly fair to the grower, who has only a small 
margin of profit. 
* * * 
Apples Indigestible.— A writer describes, the Apple as being 
as indigestible as pork chops to- some people. This rates all 
Apples .alike, however, but while one variety might be so de¬ 
scribed, there are others to which the same term would be in¬ 
correct. The same eaters at different times would also he dif¬ 
ferently affected. 
* * * 
Madame Melba likes Freesias on account of their beauty and 
fragrance. Orchids are also favourites of hers. She generally 
wears. Violets or Lilies. Roses do not come amiss, while Asters 
or Michaelmas Daisies and Marguerites of various kinds come 
in for a good deal of attention. She draws the line at Chrysan¬ 
themums, however. 
* * * 
Vegetables at Covent Garden. —Last week Cauliflowers were 
selling at 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per dozen. Brussels Sprouts are 
getting scarce, but were making 3s. per half bushel. Seakale 
was fetching from 17s. to 20s. per dozen punnets, but the supply 
is now becoming more regular, so that prices axe likely to drop. 
There is no great demand for Cucumbers. The average price 
for Parsley was 2s. per half bushel, the- demand not being very 
great. With these two- exceptions the prices have been considered 
satisfactory for the season. 
* * * 
Lady Ardilaun’s Flower Fete.—A s we announced sometime 
ago-, Lady Ardilaun is to organise ia Flower Fete in aid of the 
Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland. This she has named 
“ La Floralie,” a,nd it is to take place on April 14th and 15th in 
Dublin. She herself will preside over the Leinster stall, where 
the flowers from St. Anne’s, Clontarf, «.nd from Ashford, Lord 
Ardilaun’s Galway estate, will be on sale. Lady Oastlerosse will 
superintend the Munster stall, Lady Ashtown that of Connaught, 
and Lady Leitrim the Ulster stall. 
School Garden Movement in America.— During the past ten 
years or so this movement has been undergoing rapid develop¬ 
ment in the United States. The editor of “ American 
Gardening ” looks enviously across the “ herring pond ” and 
says, “With a round 100,000 school gardens: in Europe, is it 
any wonder that garden art has reached a wider distribution 
across the ocean than it has with ns ?” 
* * * 
Rhodesian Textile Fibres. —Some lime ago Rhodesian fibres 
were placed with the director of the Imperial Institute for 
examination. These fibres included Sisal Hemp, Pineapple 
fibre, Banana fibre, Baobab tree fibre. According to the report, 
all the above, with the exception of the Baobab fibre, are con¬ 
sidered of considerable commercial value, and would sell freely 
in the- London market if imported regularly and in quantity. 
* * * 
Cypripedium insigne Sanderae. —A grand specimen of this 
Cypripedium is illustrated in “American Gardening” for 
March 12th. The specimen was grown in the collection of 
C. T. Roebldng, Esq., Trenton, New Jersey. It carried sixteen 
fully expanded, flowers, and is described as the finest known 
specimen of this, rare Orchid. Wei fancy the people of this 
country have been propagating the plant too frequently for 
obtaining specimens of large size. 
* * , * 
Strawberries at Westminster. —Tire growers of Strawberries 
and the contractors for the supply of the same for the teas on 
the terrace at the House of Commons are rather in a dilemma 
at the present as to fixing up the contract for the coming 
summer. This is due to the uncertainty as to the political 
situation. The contract must be an important one, seeing that 
a van load of Strawberries, lias toi be delivered every morning 
and another in the evening, amounting to about a ton a. week. 
* * * 
Polygonum spectabile. —From Continental sources comes an 
announcement of a new Polygonum under the above name. As 
yet it is very scarce, but is said to be a valuable novelty ou 
account of the beautiful variegation, of the leaves. Some of the 
large leaves are green with white, red, or purple blotches, stripes, 
or markings. In other cases, they diverge into white, orange, 
or fiery scarlet colours resembling the hothouse Caladiums. 
There are two plants named Polygonum spectabile, but both of 
these had previously been given other names. One of the 
plants is P. Bellardii, a native of the Mediterranean region and 
the Caucasus, while the other is named P. atteniiatum, and 
comes from Australia. 
* * * 
The Queen’s Cottage Grounds at Kew.— In the House of 
Commons, on March 29th, Mr. Joseph Howard asked the hon. 
member for North Hunts why the portion of Kew Gardens 
between the Queen’s Cottage and the Old Deer Park had been 
again closed against the public after being thrown open as a 
gift to the nation. Mr. Fellowes said that'the grass path through 
the Queen’s Cottage Grounds had recently been drained and 
levelled and the turf relaid. The fences were being repainted, 
and the grounds would be reopened to the public as soon as 
possible, probably about the middle of this month, the weather 
being favourable. 
* * * 
Huge Mandrake Root.- As some workmen were removing 
the ruins of an ancient edifice in a field adjoining Brunswick 
Terrace, Brighton, they dug up a root of the extraordinary size 
of 3 ft. in length and 10 lbs. in weight, and of a shape “to 
wake up the gloomy form of superstition,” as it proved to be 
the plant “ whose root shows half a man.” It was taken to Mr. 
Phillips, who pronounced it to be the Arepa Mandragora, or 
Mandrake, so celebrated of old ; and he accounts for it having 
remained for so long a time undiscovered partly by the unfre¬ 
quented situation and state of the ruins, but more particularly 
by its low growth. As it is not a plant of this country, and 
as there has been no garden or house in the field for many ages, 
it is presumed to have been lingering on the spot for several 
centuries, probably since the demolishing of monastic 
buildings by Henry VIII., at which time it was held in high 
estimation by credulous persons. It is generally believed to be 
the Dudaim of the ancient Hebrews, and the plant which was 
so coveted by Rachel. Mr. Phillips wished to have preserved 
this singular root by re-interring it in the new plantations he 
is forming at Kemp Town, had. the parties been willing to dis¬ 
pose of it on reasonable terms. The correct name of the plant 
should be Mandragora officinarum, a native of the Mediterra¬ 
nean Region. 
