October 22, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
837 
he (Jardeiiin^fybrld. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
otanical Gardens and Parks, the 
filgiris. 
From the report on our table of the 
overnment Botanical Gardens and Parks, 
ie Nilgiris, India., we not. that, the season 
nder review was an exceptionally wet one. 
The rainfall between April 1 sit, 1903, and 
Mia mb 31st., 1901, amounted to. 68.07 in., as 
against 59.67 of the year previous. Ma.y 
alone had a. rainfall of 13.13 in. in nineteen 
days. The higher temperature there would, 
however, make amends for the rainfall, thus 
making it- more agroeablhi than the same 
amount would be in this country. From 
the report we also glean that the Botanical 
Gardens at Ootacamund are continually 
being renovated, so as to. keep the buildings 
and other parts: in perfect repair. Orchids 
are fairly extensively cultivated in the 
gardens besides Ferns and various flowering 
plants. In the case of trees and shrubs, 
additions coggtinue to be made of such sub¬ 
jects as are likely to prove useful, either m 
the gardens there or to the cultivators 
generally in India.. The cultivation of vege¬ 
tables is not very extensively carried on. 
Amongst fruits, however, continued atten¬ 
tion is being given to the improvement of 
the Cape Gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), 
which has been developing in point of size 
and flavour for some years past. Experi¬ 
ments are also being made in the rapid pro¬ 
pagation, by grafting, of a fine fruiting kind 
of Mulberry. Medicinal drugs, both from 
warm and temperate countries, are being 
acclimatised for the purpose of extensive 
cultivation in India,, if that proves at all 
practicable. Short accounts are also given 
of the work being conducted in various other 
gardens: and parks under the Government. 
Plants and seeds of various useful plants 
are annually distributed amongst those 
likely to turn them to, the best advantage. 
For instance, wei ma.y state that subjects 
under experiment include rubber, fibre, oil, 
flour, and medieine>-prcducing plants. 
Paterson’s Potatos. 
No doubt many of our readers have heard 
of the variety of Potato knowm as Paterson’s 
Victoria. An interesting story attaches to 
this which has been all but forgotten by 
modern gardeners. Mr. William Paterson, 
of Dundee, commenced experimenting with 
the Potato about the year 1826—that is, 
about, twenty years before the advent of the 
Potato disease in this country. His experi¬ 
ments were carried on for forty years, this 
time being devoted to the raising of new 
varieties from the then existing Potato-. 
During the fifties and early sixties he had 
nineteen named varieties on the market, in¬ 
cluding Paterson’s Victoria, Paterson’s Seed¬ 
ling Regent, and several others which are 
still remembered by some Potato, growers. 
The story of his work is briefly told by bis 
grandson, Mr. George D. Paterson, and this 
is published in the form of a small pamphlet 
by Messrs. W. P. Laird and Sinclair, Ltd., 
Dundee. An illustration is given, of Pater¬ 
son’s Victoria, bis first seedling of any note, 
and which is stated to be the parent of all 
the improved varieties that have since 
appeared. We presume that most, if not all. 
of the famous Potatos in. .cultivation at the 
present day have been derived from this 
ancestry by the raising of new varieties from 
the apples or plums of that variety, or from 
the seedlings raised from it. That is, in 
fact, the purport of this pamphlet, which 
should form a worthy addition to Potato 
literature which apparently v'ould have been 
lost, to the history of the noble tuber if the 
information had not been compiled by the 
grandson of this early Potato- grower. Mr. 
William Paterson lived for twenty years 
after the advent of the Potato, blight, but 
although a skilful raiser of new varieties of 
Potatos, the blight was a great mystery to 
him, as it was to several more recent writers. 
British Weights and Measures. 
For many years past there has been an 
attempt on the part of many people to have 
the French metric system enforced on the 
British Empire, but on the other hand there 
are many who cannot see the utility or 
advantage of such a system. With the 
object of defending British weights and 
measures and of standardising and simplify¬ 
ing them, a society has been formed named 
the British Weights and Measures Associa¬ 
tion. In a pamphlet sent out by them, we 
note some of their reasons for declining to 
use the metric system. They, indeed, say 
that the original metric proposition has been 
dropped, and that it is but a fragment of the 
system originally proposed. They say, fur¬ 
ther, that navigators cannot use it, that it 
is unsuitable for textiles, for engineers, print¬ 
ing trades, agriculture, book-keeping, etc. 
In the case of agriculture, the farmer’s pint, 
quart, and gallon measures would be thrown 
on his hands, and his reckoning of so many 
bushels to the acre of seed or pounds of fer¬ 
tilisers to the rood or acre would all he in 
perfect, confusion. The association states 
that English units are the best, and quotes 
several instances for this assertion. 
Agricultural Organisation Society. 
A meeting and conference of members of 
the Farmers’ Co-operative Societies affi¬ 
liated to the aboviA body was held in the 
Westminster Palace Hotel on the 7th inst. 
The meeting was attended by a, large number 
of influential people, including delegates 
■from eighteen counties. An interesting dis¬ 
cussion took place, in which nearly all the 
delegates, took part, and several resolutions 
were unanimously passed. The meeting 
approved of the action of the committee of 
the Agricultural Organisation Society relat¬ 
ing to the formation of a separate society 
for wholesale puixflasei. It was also resolved 
that the meeting endorses the action of the 
said society in proposing that the business 
department should assist the affiliated 
societies in finding a market for their pro¬ 
duce. 
