January 14, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
he Qardeniiig\\/brld. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
Plant Associations of West Yorkshire. 
At the last meeting of the Linnean 
Society, Dr. T. W. Woodhead, F.L.S., read 
a paper on the above subject. He com¬ 
menced by examining in great detail a 
small wood near Huddersfield, studying the 
main factors that determined the distribu¬ 
tion of the more important plants. I lie re¬ 
sults obtained were then tested by an exami¬ 
nation of an area of (5(5 square miles of wood¬ 
land to the south and west of Huddersfield. 
He found that this area divided itself into 
three distinct vegetation regions. The first 
of these, the Moss Moor, ranging in alti¬ 
tude from 1,000 ft. to 1,700 ft., showed ex¬ 
treme conditions of vegetation with few re¬ 
presentative species. The Whortleberry 
was dominant on the higher regions and the 
Hare’s-tail Cotton Grass equally so on deep, 
badly drained peat. On the steeper slope 8 
were grasses delighting in dry conditions as 
well as Bracken, Heather, and Whortleberry. 
The second region included the Millstone 
Grit Plateau with an altitude varying from 
1,000 ft. to 500 ft. IF re the vegetation was 
represented by plants delighting in dry con¬ 
ditions. The Heather and its associates 
were the leading features. Amongst trees 
the Oak, Birch and Pine were dominant. 
His third area he calls Coal Measure Area, 
ranging' from 500 ft. to 200 ft. elevation. 
The soils here consist of shales, clays, and 
sandstones with more constant moisture. 
The vegetation here consisted of those 
usually found in areas neither very dry nor 
very wet. The rainfall over the whole area 
varies from 32 in. at the lowest of the above 
mentioned regions to 45 in. on the Moss 
Moor. At the same time while certain plants 
may be confined to one region others extend 
over two or three regions. The Doctor gave 
particular attention to transition regions, 
and found that when moisture-loving plants 
invaded the regions more congenial to dry 
ones these conditions developed characters 
in the plants characteristic of those 
which habitually live in diy places. The 
reverse held good where the dry-loving 
plants encroached on moist ground. The 
more pliable the plant was he found that it 
more readily adapted itself to different con¬ 
ditions, and was thus to be found over a 
much greater area than those less capable 
of structural variation. He subjected a 
considerable number of them to microscopic 
examination, and found that they had ivell 
marked evidence of variation of structure 
according to the conditions under which they 
were found growing. 
—o— 
‘‘ My Garden Diary for 1905." 
The beautiful annual sent out by Messrs. 
Sutton aud Sous, Reading", under the above 
name turns up promptly with the com¬ 
mencement of the new year in covers 
adorned with the Blood-red Wallflower, 
a modern representative of One of 
the oldest favourites amongst garden 
plants. It runs to 31 pp., including re¬ 
minders for the cultivator during each month 
of the year. This will he of great service 
not merely to the beginner but to those of 
long standing, and shows that even in Jan¬ 
uary a considerable amount of work can be 
profitably commenced even at that early 
period. These details are given on the left- 
hand page, together with much other in¬ 
formation, while on tbe right-hand page 
we have the days of the week and month 
with the time for the rising and setting of 
the sun and moon. A space is left blank 
for memoranda on this page, making the 
diary a useful one to the cultivator who can 
jot down those things lie is least likely to 
remember, and can further refer to his notes 
on future occasions in order to rectify mis¬ 
takes or follow out the plans which may have 
led him to success in the past. At the end 
are some notes on bulbs, notes on Lilies, 
secrets of success with certain flower seeds, 
and lists of bedding and climbing annuals 
and everlasting flowers, etc. Remedies are 
given for certain garden pests, including 
those of a very common order, and which 
have to be dealt with by everybody who has 
a garden large or small. This little work 
fully maintains its traditions of the past. 
Tho Swamp Potato. 
Solanuin Commersom, an old introduction, 
is again being brought into notice by Messrs. 
Vilmorin-Andrieux and Co., of Paris, in their 
list of novelties for 1905. Several of the 
French agricultural papers have been bring¬ 
ing this wild Potato to tbe notice of the 
public, more, we suppose, from what can be 
done with it by improvement than as it 
exists. The tubers vary in size from that 
of a marble to a hen’s egg, being round, and 
of a yellow colour. Analyses have shown 
that these tubers contain 17 per cent, to 20 
per cent, of starch, though rather bitter. 
The practical value of the Swamp Potato 
which comes from Uruguay has not yet been 
established, but there are several facts in 
connection with it which may make it valu¬ 
able in the future. The plant and tubers 
are disease-resisting, and in that respect 
otter something tangible for cultivators to 
improve. The plant also grows in wet places 
where the ordinary Potato would scarcely 
thrive, and certainly fail to yield a remunera¬ 
tive crop. Messrs. Vilmorin have been mak¬ 
ing some trials of the plant in their grounds, 
and admit that it has extraordinary vigour 
of growth, producing underground branches 
that attain a length of 12 ft. to 15 ft. For 
this reason the ground will require consider¬ 
able preparation before planting, as it cannot 
afterwards he moved to any great depth on 
account of the underground rhizomes which 
would be in the way. The stems are fairly 
tall, and produce sweet-scented flowers. The 
length of the underground branches we are 
afraid would offer some difficulty in the way 
of field cultivation, just in the same way as 
the Sweet Potato made it difficult for agri¬ 
cultural implements to work it in this 
country. 
