32 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
.January 14, 3-905. 
The Italian Cauliflowers I have always thought so inferior 
to the home-grown as to be scarcely worth buying, though I 
had attributed it to the fact that they are not to be had really 
fresh. The whole question of manure is a difficult one, in my 
opinion, the objections to it from several points of view being 
so obvious. Some food-reformers suggest leaves, vegetable 
ash and refuse, straw, etc., as substitutes. I know little on 
the subject, but I cannot help thinking that as the necessity 
for perfect purity and cleanliness in food becomes more ap¬ 
parent, science may set itself to discover some better method. 
11 Vegetarian Messenger.” 
Chelsea Physic Garden. 
A few years ago there was reason to fear the abandonment of 
the Physic Garden at Chelsea, and the- close of the useful and 
interesting career of an old educational trust. Happily that 
threatened fate has been averted, and the steps taken are re¬ 
sulting in the resuscitation of the garden on a scale of com¬ 
pleteness worthy of the past. 
In connection with the garden a misapprehension exists, the 
general impression being that we owe its establishment to Sir 
Hans Sloane; whereas to the Apothecaries’ Society the credit 
of its creation belongs. The site was secured by the society 
in the year 1673 on a sixty-one years' lease from Mr. Charles 
Clieyne at an annual rent of £5. Twenty-four years later an 
extension for a further term of sixty years was granted. Some 
fifteen years subsequently the freehold became the possession 
of Dr. Hans Sloane, by whom it was conveyed in the year 1722 
to the society subject to a. rent charge of £5. Thenceforward 
a keen interest was taken in the garden, and at one time and 
another its usefulness was increased by the erection of glass¬ 
houses. Moreover, the society placed a statue of Sir Hans 
Sloane in a conspicuous position as an expression of gratitude 
to him for his gift. Lectures were delivered at the garden over 
a long course of years, and at one time—1862—the number 
of medical students granted permission to use it educationally 
was no less than 500. 
Some five years ago the increasing cost engaged the serious 
attention of the court, and eventually the Charity Commis¬ 
sioners were asked to formulate a scheme for the relinquish¬ 
ment of the trust by the society. The usefulness of the garden 
being recognised, the trustees of the London Parochial 
Charities were approached, and as a result they agreed to pro¬ 
vide £800 a year on the Treasury contributing a further £150. 
A board of trustees was then appointed, representatives of a 
number of public bodies co-operating in the matter with the 
trustees of the charities. Since then much has been done to 
raise the status of the garden, and increase its practical useful¬ 
ness, the trustees providing the capital outlay—£4,0-)0, in 
addition to £2,000 received from the authorities of Chelsea 
for a small strip of frontage—on an undertaking for the repay¬ 
ment of the money out of income in a period of thirty years. 
A lecture-room with laboratory, and new glasshouses have been 
erected and equipped, and an educational syllabus has been 
approved, the principal rules adopted being as follows :—- 
The purposes for which the Chelsea Physic Garden is 
maintained are : (1) To render assistance in the teaching 
of botany; (2) to provide material and opportunity for 
botanical investigations. 
The garden will be accessible to teachers and students 
on week-days from half-past nine a.m. to five p.m., except 
during the months of May, June and July, when it will not 
be closed until sunset. 
Teachers holding tickets of admission will be allowed to 
introduce their students to the garden for purposes of 
study, but each teacher will be held responsible for any 
damage that may be committed by his or her students 
whilst in the garden. 
No plants grown in the open ground may be cut or up¬ 
rooted without the consent of the curator or some other 
responsible person directly connected with the garden, but 
it is to be understood that permission to gather specimens 
for the purposes of study will be accorded whenever pos¬ 
sible, but in no other circumstances. 
No plant cultivated in the plant-houses may, under anv 
circumstances, be cut except by the curator, or some other 
responsible person directly connected with the garden. 
Teachers requiring specimens for use in their own 
laboratories, on furbishing a list of desiderata, may be 
supplied with such specimens as can be spared from the 
garden on reasonable notice being given to the curator, 
and on the understanding that the applicant undertakes 
the trouble and charges of transfer of the specimens from 
the garden to his or her institution. 
A ticket of admission to the garden does not include 
access to the laboratory building. Any person desiring to 
make use of the laboratory for purposes of research or 
otherwise should make special application to the clerk to 
the trustees. 
Courses of lectures have also been arranged by recognised 
scientists, and the large attendances evidence the practical use¬ 
fulness of the garden under its new conditions. In particular 
it may be mentioned that Mr. Francis Darwin, F.R.S., has de¬ 
posited in the lecture-room the splendid library of over 5,000 
volumes formed by his father, Charles Darwin. The volumes 
are under lock and key, but every facility for reference or study 
is offered. The exchange of seeds with other botanical gardens 
has been maintained, and in other ways the trustees have 
shown themselves fully mindful of the responsibility entrusted 
to them. It will thus be realised that, under the new condi¬ 
tions, the Physic Garden is upholding all past traditions, and 
proving a valuable educational agency for the study of the 
science of botany. “ City Press," 
Apple Berks Pearmain. 
The above variety is one of the most recently raised by Mr. 
Charles Ross, gardener to Col. Archer Houblon, Wellford Park, 
Newbury, Berks, and gives some promise of being a useful and 
handsome-looking Apple of appreciable-size and good quality. 
The fruit is conical, about 2J- in. wide and 2f in. deep. The 
eye is closed and seated in a shallow cavity surrounded by five 
crowns, with five smaller knobs inside of the others and alter¬ 
nating with them, giving the crown a plaited appearance. The 
skin is clear yellow, flushed with red in places and marked all 
over with minute brown or white specks. The stalk is short 
and set in an even russety cavity. The flesh is pale yellowish- 
white, tender, crisp, juicy, slightly acidulated and aromatic. 
It seems -o us a variety that maybe used for dessert or culinary 
purposes at pleasure. It comes into season in October and 
keeps some time. 
Daphne Dauphini. 
The above is a hybrid which has been in cultivation for many 
years, but is seldom seen in cultivation. - A figure of it was 
given in the “Botanical Register,” t. 1077 under the name of 
D. hybrida. The parentage of the plant was D. sericea x 
odora. The last-named parent is well known to gardeners 
under the name of D. indica, which, of course, is not the correct 
name, but is well known as applied to a plant which appeals 
to everybody on account of its remarkably strong and agree¬ 
able odour. As a matter of fact, it does not come from India 
at all, but from China and Japan. It was named D. indica by 
a botanist, but Linnaeus had previously given this name to 
another plant altogether and which is seldom if ever seen in 
cultivation. The plant under notice is intermediate in char¬ 
acter between the parents, and if we compare it with D. odora 
we may describe it as a more branching and bushy plant with 
lanceolate-elliptic leaves only about half or one-third the size 
of those of D. odora. There is not much reduction in size of 
the flowers, but they are different in colour, being rosy-purple, 
fragrant, and produced in clusters at the end of the short 
branches. A fine bush of it, about 3 ft. high, is now flowering 
in the Temperate House at Kew. 
