550 
THE OAR DENI NO WORLD. 
■TbIt 2. 1904 
The CiNEM-LiuwftAPH and Plants.— At a meeting of the Royal 
Society on the 22nd. ult. Mrs. D. H. Scott had an exhibit of 
plants showing their movements by means of the cinematograph. 
Under the eyes the buds seemed to swell and develop into perfect 
flowers, straightening on the stalk. With nightfall many of 
them close as if in the act of going to sleep for the night, and 
this phenomenon, in its various stages, was shown. 
* * * 
Botanic Garden Appointment.— Mr. P. D. McNab, who has 
been employed at Hopetouii Gardens, South Queensfeny, N.B., 
for the past three years, has obtained a situation in the Botanic 
Gardens, Capetown, S.A., and was, on the 21st ult,, presented 
by his fellow workmen with a handsome travelling bag and 
set of gold links and studs. Mr. Hay, the head gardener, made 
the presentation, and referred to Mr. McNab’s many good 
qualities and to his worth as a man and a gardener. He also 
took occasion to say a word for the Gardeners’ Association that 
has been formed, and urged those present to support it. Mr. 
McNab sails on July 2nd. 
* * * 
Vandalism at Birmingham.— For the past 12 years the curator 
and staff at the Edgbaston Botanical Gardens, Birmingham, have 
been nursing and tending a plant of Coelogyne pandurata, and 
it dowered quite recently for the first time. Scarcely had the fact 
been noted in a local newspaper, or even before, but the autho¬ 
rities had to report the loss of four of the flowers, while two of 
the spikes wer mutilated or damaged. What possible use these 
flowers could be to the illegitimate possessor it would be diffi¬ 
cult to say ; so unique and distinct are they from everything else 
that he could scarcely dare to wear the blooms for fear of being 
detected. It would seem that this vandalism had been com¬ 
mitted before the announcement had reached the newspapers, 
so that, after all, we are inclined to think it merely a case of 
ignorance in seizing upon flowers which had tickled the fancy 
of the pilferer, who probably regarded them as a great curiosity. 
As the plant is now in excellent health and has reached the 
flowering stage, it will probably continue to do so in future 
years. 
* * * 
Caterpillars and Gooseberries. —A wail comes from the 
west that small, greyish-green caterpillars in countless hosts 
have invaded Middlesex fruit gardens and destroyed acres of 
Gooseberry bushes. The insects are not touching the fruit, but 
in a few hours after they have landed on a bush not a leaf 
remains. The caterpillars are most systematic in their work 
of destruction. They carefully, but quickly, travel up one row 
of bushes and down the next, and so on, until the whole field 
has been destroyed. They then move on to the adjoining 
garden. At Hounslow, Ealing, Twickenham, and Feltham there 
are hundreds of acres of land covered with leafless bushes, says 
“ The Daily Mirror.” “ We have not had such a plague as this 
for fifteen years,” said a big grower to a “ Mirror ” representa¬ 
tive. 11 The fruit is suffering from the want of the protection 
of the leaves, and I am afraid that most of the bushes will die. 
Yes, we can kill the insects with soot and lime, but this spoils 
the berries. The cure is worse than the disease.” 
* * * 
The Neill Prize.— At a meeting of the Council of the Royal 
Caledonian. Horticultural Society, held on 28th ult., the Neil 
Prize was awarded to Mr. R. P. Brotherston, gardener to the 
Earl of Haddington, at Tyninghame, East Lothian. The Neill 
Prize consists of two years’ interest derived from a legacy of 
£500 bequeathed by Dr. Patrick Neill, the first secretary of the 
society, to be awarded to some “ distinguished Scottish botanist 
or cultivator.” The position of Neill prizeman is much appre¬ 
ciated by Scottish gardeners, and has been held by such men 
as the late Professor Balfour, the Thomsons of Dalkeith and 
Drumlanrig, John Sadler and Robert Lindsay, of the Royal 
Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh ; Malcolm Dunn, Dalkeith ; John 
Webster, of Gordon Castle. The present recipient of the prize 
has been 30 years in his present position. A native of Rox¬ 
burghshire, he served his apprenticeship at Newton Don under 
Mr. William Thom, and seems to have caught something of the 
spirit of that fine old type of gardener, painstaking in all he did 
Hardy fruits, Carnations, Pinks,'Roses, Dahlias, and Hollyhocks 
were among the things well done at Newton Don, and at the 
present time Mr. Brotherston is recognised as an authority on 
hardy fruits and Carnations, both of which he is frequently 
asked to judge. From Newton Don he went to Loxford Hall to 
his friend Mr. James Douglas, V.M.H., now of Bookham, a 0 in* 
through all stages from the lowest to inside foreman. °Mr° 
Brotherston makes his gardening his hobby. Fond of collecting 
plant names and hunting out all that he can find about the 
plants, he has gathered a considerable horticultural library. 
He contributes frequently to horticultural literature, and a 
look through the fine collection of shrubs and the gardens at 
Tyninghame shows that what, lie writes he practises. 
* * * 
Fruit Prospects in the Carse of Gowrie. —Last year the 
fruit crop in the Carse of Gowrie—Apples, Pears, and Plums 
especially—was the worst for a long lifetime. This year, so far 
as prospects look at present, Nature seems preparing to make 
up its leeway. If the weather proves at all favourable, Apples, 
Pears, and Plums give promise of an abundant crop. Small 
fruit, such as Strawberries and Raspberries, look very fair, 
as do also Black Currants, where gardens and plantations are 
not barhwith the Black Currant mite. Red and White Currants 
and Gooseberries in most places are deficient, and many and 
loud are the complaints against the devastations of the sparrow 
in the gooseberry plots. In some of the gardens the Apple 
bloom is unusually rich and healthy looking. The trees in 
sheltered gardens are in full bloom, but in more exposed 
orchards it is just bursting out. To those who are fond of 
floral beauty a walking trip through the Carse during the next 
fortnight would well repay them. At the Grange of Errol the 
orchards are really lovely, especially those recently planted 
by Mr. Hunter, of Waterybutts, consisting mostly of dwarf 
trees of the Paradise stock. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
& 
The Editor invites enquiries for reply in this column. Thes 
enquiries may cover any branch of gardening. Questions should be put 
as briefly as possible, and written on one side of the paper only; a 
separate sheet of paper should be used for each question. 
Readers are also invited to give their fellow gardeners the benefit 
of their experience by sending supplementary replies. 
Replies cannot be sent by post, even if a stamped, addressed 
envelope is enclosed, and the return of specimens cannot be undertaken. 
Anonymous communications are treated in the usual editorial manner. 
Address letters: The Editor, “The Gardening World,” 37 and 
38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
Double Iceland Poppy. 
I beg to enclose a few flowers of a double form of Papaver 
nudioaule. Would you kindly give me your opinion of them ; 
Is the yellow worth naming ? I have had it for three years, 
and a great many admire it. Thanking you for past kindness, 
and hoping to be still favoured. (B.) 
Both the yellow and the white double forms are very pretty 
in our opinion, and we think should be preserved! until you get 
better. The yellow is certainly the finer of the two, and we 
consider it worthy of a name. The form of the flower, in our 
opinion, is even prettier than that of the double Welsh Poppy, 
being a broad basin-shaped flower, with the centre filled up with 
numerous narrow petals like that of a double Anemone. We do 
not remember seeing these forms in cultivation, but good as 
they are we should not rest satisfied with them in their present 
form. The ovary is perfect, and it seems that you should have 
no difficulty in obtaining seed with the object of getting finer 
varieties with broader petals. Some of the narrow petals in the 
centre, and certainly some of the stamens, carry anthers, and 
we think you should be able to get pollen for fertilisation. The 
white variety is constructed on the same plan, but the small 
central petals are not so pure, so numerous, nor so perfect as in 
the yellow one. We should not, however, discard it until you 
can get better varieties from it. 
Vine Leaves with Blisters. 
Can you tell me what is the matter with the leaves of the Vine 
enclosed ? You will notice they are covered with little green 
blisters. (R. J.) 
The blisters you speak of are usually spoken of as warts, which 
frequently occur upon the leaves of Vines that have been kept in 
a close and moist atmosphere for long periods of time. This is 
often brought about by keeping the ventilators closed, with the 
object of saving fuel in the heating of the house. If they were 
present in very great numbers over all the leaves they would 
certainly hinder the natural and proper function of the leaves, 
but in moderate quantity their evil effect is seldom felt. You 
can avoid it in future by ventilating more freely, and, as the 
weather is now genial and the berries advancing, there is no 
necessity for keeping the atmosphere of the house continually 
closed and saturated with moisture. It is not due to any insect 
