384 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Mav 7, 1904. 
If carefully used, the Bordeaux Mixture might be made an. 
efficient and advantageous help to the gardener who has to 
keep the surface of Lily ponds and other sheets; of ornamental 
water clean, during the summer. A formula for the prepara- 
tion of the mixture for this purpose has been advised in some 
of the U.S. experiment stations!, and this is to employ 60 
gallons of water, 4 lb. of sulphate of copper, and i lb. of un¬ 
slacked lime. The preparation of this mixture is, of course, 
precisely the same as. that above detailed. The object of 
getting rid of grit is to- prevent it. from choking the spraying 
machine. The plan, adopted by Wm; Thicker was to spray 
the pond occasionally; that is, when green vegetation again 
grew on the surface. 
Although the mixture is. perfectly successful for the time 
being, it is quite conceivable that other water-weeds would 
be brought by water or other means later on. Although the 
weeds get destroyed for the time being, _wei must remember 
that water, and especially when a. fresh supply is continually 
running in, cleans itself of various impurities, so that the 
Bordeaux Mixture would lose its effect, after a time by being 
completely washed away. Water weeds, again finding the 
water suitable for their welfare, would multiply afresh from 
fresh importations. The last-named formula is said to effec¬ 
tively kill water-weeds without being injurious to Water 
Lilies. . 
It is merely a question of easy penetration by the Mixture 
to> kill the weeds!, while the Water Lilies would require a 
stronger solution to become harmful. When carrying out 
experiments of this, kind it is necessary to take the whole of 
the circumstances into consideration. The weakest solution 
that, will kill the weeds without injury to the cultivated plants 
is the main consideration. It is evident, however, that the 
depth of the water in the pond or lake will affect, the strength 
of the solution very quickly. A strong solution that, would 
he. harmless in a deep pond might possibly he very injurious 
to certain, cultivated water plants in shallow ponds, cistern si 
or tanks. 
While making experiments, therefore, it would he safe to 
work with weak solutions under these conditions rather than 
run the risk of destroying the cultivated plants. . Some gar¬ 
deners:, when recommended to use certain insecticides, or fungi¬ 
cides, are liable to blame the same for injury to the plants, 
whereas by taking the circumstances of each individual ca.se 
into consideration and applying the proper strength, no harm 
would occur. We must remember that a. remedy for the de¬ 
struction of certain plants would be useless if it were not 
poisonous. In this particular case we know that the lower 
organisms amongst plant life are more easily destroyed as a 
rule than the higher ones, so that what we have to do is. to. so 
temper the poison as to- render it innocuous; to the higher 
plants, while destructive to the lower organisms. 
Many ponds in which there is a small supply of water, 
whether continuous or intermittent, are liable to be over¬ 
grown with a green scum during the whole summer. Many 
gardeners resolve to clear this matter away, but find that it 
takes more time and labour than they have at command. If 
by careful experiments they succeed in destroying these water- 
weeds in a wholesale manner by means of the Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture distributed with a sprayer, it will undoubtedly be a. boon 
to such, gardeners. _ 
Horticultural Activity at Loughborough. The Lough¬ 
borough Garden Holders’ Association should 'have a. successful 
career 5 before it, provided the promises held out by its opening 
meetings are fulfilled. Expert lecturers are to he. engaged during 
next winter, when instruction in all the up-to-date methods of 
warden production will be given. This development of mutual 
aid cannot fail to be profitable to all the members, for from the 
tyro to the old hand each has something to learn or impart. Then 
an attempt is to be made to- revive the annual show, the date fixed 
being August Bank Holiday. An attractive schedule has already 
been" the° subject of preliminary arrangement, £40 being the 
amount to be distributed as prize money. And what is more, as 
the schedule has it, “ All prize money will be paid in full.” Lough¬ 
borough once had one of the finest .shows in the country, and this 
attempt to revive its former (glories will be awaited with interest. 
School Teachers’ Examination. 
Since we gave an account of the class proposed for school 
teachers .in connection with the Education Committee of the 
Essex County Council we have received particulars from the 
Royal Horticultural Society of a school teachers’ examination 
they propose to hold on Tuesday, June 21st next. The 
examination is intended for, and will be confined to, eletnentarv 
scliool teachers. It appears that there is an increasing demand 
in country districts that the teachers of elementary schools 
should be competent to give instruction in gardening suitable 
for cottagers and allotment holders. Hitherto there has been 
an absence of any authority to test, the capacity of school 
teachers for giving such instruction. We should say that how¬ 
ever competent a teacher might be for instructing the ordinary 
day schools, he would scarcely be competent to give instruction 
in gardening along the well-recognised lines practised by gar¬ 
deners, and still less for teaching physiology or the science that 
relates particularly to plant, life, without special preparation. 
It. does not seem t.o be the ambition of the R.H.S., however, 
to encourage' the more scientific aspect- -of botany, though we 
think that teachers should be well grounded in the scientific 
principles that, underlie; the practice of gardening. 
The outline syllabus of subjects in which teachers ought to 
be instructed shows the nature or the form of instruction re¬ 
quired by the R.H.S. examination. Such teachers will be 
required to have a knowledge of the formation or nature of 
soils, “ not necessarily scientific,” according to the syllabus, 
though we fail to see where it- is possible to draw the line at 
the word science', because if the teachers are to liave some 
knowledge of the formation, or nature of soils that must neces¬ 
sarily be scientific so far as it goes', or, in other words, some 
knowledge of the science of soils, which would be geology. The 
teachers are also required to have some knowledge of the 
preparation of soils, to know something of the renovation of 
neglected gardens, and to be conversant with the manuring of 
soils for different crops. 
All this, of course, would assume that the teachers have 
already been undergoing a course of instruction at the estab¬ 
lished schools or classes, or that they have been busy study¬ 
ing up the subject with the object of preparing themselves for 
the forthcoming examination. All of this they could do in 
their own study, with exception, perhaps 1 , of the practical pre¬ 
paration of soils for the; reception, of crc-ps. The education 
which teachers already have should, with a little study of 
the subject, enable them to give a much better account of 
their knowledge than many of the students who undertake- a 
course of study, and whose elementary education is often 
scarcely sufficient"to enable them to give a, true account of 
what they actually know. \ 
Other subjects that the teachers have to. be conversant, with 
are spring vegetable crops, together with all that pertains to 
their cultivation ; also summer crops for a. succession, and 
autumn or winter crops to give a supply of the necessary 
vegetables at those particular seasons. Then, of course, they 
are required to be able to- give an account of the general treat¬ 
ment- they would employ to secure the best results with the 
different kinds of vegetables. 
Some years, ago the society had a pamphlet prepared con¬ 
cerning the fruits that were suitable for cultivation in cottage 
gardens. This, of bourse, is touched upon here in so far that 
teachers are required to have a knowledge of those varieties of 
fruits most suitable for cultivation in small gardens. This also 
implies that they must have a. practical acquaintance with the 
pruning and training- of fruit trees. One item speaks of 
fruits suitable for allotment, culture, by which we suppose that 
the small fruits, such as Go-osebernes'. Currants, and Straw¬ 
berries, would be meant. Allotments are often so small that it 
would be extremely inconvenient, even if permissible, to plant 
Apple, Pear, or Plum trees, which would be liable to unduly 
shade some of the other .allotments with which they came in 
contact; or the insecurity of tenure in such allotments might 
prevent such trees from being planted. 
At the' same time there are frequently amateurs having 
gardens in which they a.re at liberty to do as they like in the 
matter of fruit trees, and such might, want to benefit from 
