All 16, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
315 
he 0ardeniivg\^rld. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
Stone Walls of New England. 
No doubt- many of our readers wlio are of 
an observant turn of mind have noticed the 
beauty of the wayside vegetation where a 
'K'all or fence forms, as it were, not merely 
a shelter, if indeed it forms any shelter at 
all, but a sort of refuge for the native plants 
which often grow uncommonly well under 
such conditions, and make themselves com 
spieuous. Dr. W. H. Bailey, in writing 
about the “ stone walls of New England ” 
in the “ American Botanist,” says it is pos¬ 
sible to determine in what region one finds 
himself in America, because it is a custom 
in these different regions to have walls, 
hedges, or fences of a. different character 
from that of neighbouring regions'. In New 
England the boundary fences consist, of stone 
walls, and he says that their ancestors 
“ budded better than, they knew.” The 
primary reason for making stone walls was 
the object of getting rid of the half-rounded 
pebbles and boulders left on the land by the 
glacial drift; in other words, the cultivators 
of ancient times built these walls with a 
double object in view; they wanted to get 
rid of the stones and they turned them to 
useful account by making fences of the same 
for their fields. This character of fences 
would be peculiar to New England, for the 
simple reason that the stones had been plenti¬ 
ful there when the settlers commenced the 
operation of cultivation. Stone walls are 
indeed a feature of many parts of Scotland 
for similar reasons. All sorts of plants 
nestle against these walls in New England, 
including Meadowsweet, Junipers, and the 
scarlet Woodbine. We presume he means 
Lonicera aampervireus, nearly always grown, 
in greenhouses in this country, although the 
shrub is really hardy in, its native state. 
This Woodbine scrambles over the stone 
fence®, rejoicing in the support. The' wild 
Grape behave® in a similar way and has de- 
liciously scented flower's in June, followed by 
blue berries in the autumn. A specieis of 
Clethra, with white flowers in August^ is a 
notable plant in these refuges. The Os- 
mundas also find suitable shelter safe 
from the destroying influence of the plough, 
which ousted it from cultivated land. Some 
of the grassy lanes protected at each side 
by walls, much in the same way, it would 
seem, as our ancient bridle paths, sometimes 
lead to nowhere, and may “ end in a squirrel 
track and run up a tree.” He concludes by 
saying that their stone walls are poems; 
they could no more dispense with them than 
with the Maple or Pine. He also looks upon 
them a.s the natural outgrowths of the soil— 
an unconscious contribution, to the beauty of 
the scene by the ancient settlers. 
—o— 
Meteorological Observations at 
Holland House. 
The average height of the barometer at 
Holland House, Kensington, for March was 
30.22, the highest being 30.60, and the! 
lowest 29.55. There was thus a considerable 
amount of variation during the month. The 
highest temperature in the shade was 59 deg. 
on the 8th, and the lowest 24 deg. on the 
2nd. The lowest reading was 22 deg., or 
10 deg. of frost, on the 2nd and 18th of the 
month. The mean temperature of the 
month was 37.6 deg. Frost occurred on 
twenty days dining the month in the shade 
and on twenty-one days on the grass. There 
was not, however, a great amount of frost; 
but taking the whole of the month together, 
it might he described as uniformly cold, 
owing to the) lack cf sunshine. Rain to the 
amount at least of .01 inches 1 fell on seven¬ 
teen days during the month. The greatest 
amount of rain in, twenty-four hours was 
0.31 on the 29th. The total rainfall for the 
month was 1.57 inches. March was there¬ 
fore a relatively dry month by comparison 
with the two previous ones. These records 
are being taken by Mr. Charlesi Dixon, the 
gardener. 
Watercress and Beri-beri. 
According to the “Vegetarian Messenger,” 
the British Consul at Nowmeia, New Cale^ 
donia, has reported to the Foreign Office 1 that 
Watercress) is an almost certain cure for the 
ailment known; as Beri-beri. The medical 
adviser to the department says; that in en¬ 
demic areas many kinds of bad nourishment 
predispose to the disease. He thinks that a 
deficiency of vegetables in the food eaten, at 
the mines would predispose to Beri-beri, hut 
the adviser seems to be confident that Water¬ 
cress lias the effect of curing those affected 
by it. He doubts, however, if the vegetable 
has any specific action on the germ causing 
the disease, and there are others wlioi agree 
with him in that opinion,. It may he, how¬ 
ever, that the additional properties supplied 
by the Watercress make up for some defi¬ 
ciency in, the food employed, thus enabling 
the patient to recover more or less quickly. 
It is stated that it is carrying the germ 
theory of diseases too far to reject, a certain 
remedy, because it acts without, reference to 
that theory. We think it possible, however, 
for substances added to, the usual food to 
become unfavourable to the germ of the 
disease, and therefore enable the patient to 
overcome its effects. 
—o— 
A Tree Morning Glory. 
The name Morning Glory is applied to 
Ipomoea, purpurea, which is grown in this 
country a® a hardy annual often under the 
name of Convolvulus major. We have been 
familiar with at least one shrubby species of 
Convolvulus that might, be t, earned a 
shrubby Morning Glory, but the “ American 
Botanist ” for January mentions a tree Morn¬ 
ing Glory known as I. aborescens. This 
forms a, tree 20 ft. to 30 ft. high, with a 
smooth, chalky grey trunk and branches. It 
is leafless during the month of January, but 
its flowers are produced at that time, and 
open one by one at the ends, of naked 
branches. This is a native of Mexico, and 
has 1 been known to science for many years. 
