March 11, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
i ] 1 
Mu. Chamberlain and Birmingham Chauities. —Wc under¬ 
stand that Mr. Chamberlain was approached by people of his 
own town for Orchid ffowers to be sold at a matinee on the 1st 
just. The buyers will be able to tell their friends that they 
had been once bulloti holed by Joseph Chamberlain. 
* * * 
An* Objectionable Report. —Messrs. Sutton and Sons, of 
Reading, ask us to mention that the report which has appeared 
in a London halfpenny daily paper as to a visit to London, 
arranged by them for' their employees, was entirely without 
foundation. No such visit was ever made or even thought of, 
and the Elitor of the paper in question has acknowledged his 
Mn. Chamberlain’s BrrroNiroT.E.—As we stated last week, 
Mr. Chamberlain sent a buttonhole Orchid by the requisition of 
a lady at Hastings. It consisted of a bloom of Coelogyne 
cristata, set up with Maidenhair Fern. The buttonhole was 
placed in a small vase in a side room of the bazaar, and 2d. 
charged for admission. By this means £2 was raised, and the 
buttonhole was finally sold by auction for 5s. 6d.—some accounts 
i/ive a higher price. 
O ox * * * 
Si-El) Potatos. —According to all accounts, in South Lincoln¬ 
shire the prices for seed Potatos continue to fall. Northern Star 
is said to have been sold for £3 per ton, although it was selling 
for £15 a short time previously. Surely these accounts must 
be exaggerated, as Potatos for cooking sometimes fetch as much 
as £6 per ton. This being the case, gardeners and farmers with 
shallow pockets will be able to plant a good breadth of this 
new disease-resisting Potato. 
* * * 
Snowdrops as Prophets. —The Rev. William Campbell, of 
Craigie, has been writing in the “ Scottish Field ” that he was 
in the habit of noting the date when he pulled the first Snow¬ 
drop. Early Snowdrops, he says, have always heralded .early 
harvests ; late Snowdrops have invariably been followed by late 
harvests ; and medium early blooms have preceded medium 
early harvests. January 6th was the date this year, and he 
predicts a medium date for the coming harvest. 
Heather in Australia. —A Scotchman in Australia had a 
sprig of Heather sent him from the Old Country, but on its 
entering Australia the Customs official demanded Is. 2d. duty. 
He objected under protest, and then brought a letter of 
remonstrance to the Commonwealth Minister of Customs, asking 
which of the flourishing colonial industries was likely to be 
injured by a sprig of Heather. His money was promptly 
returned. If it had been a live Scotch Thistle the Customs 
official might more consistently have inflicted a duty. 
* * * 
The Revolver Shrub.— The above is a name suggested for the 
American Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginica) by Joseph Meehan, 
in “The Florists’ Exchange.” The shrub flowers in October 
and November, as it does in this country, but the seeds do not 
ripen till the August or September following. As the seed pods 
dry up they burst open and project the seeds for some consider¬ 
able distance. As the name Artillery Plant has already been 
applied to Pilea muscosa, he suggests Revolver Shrub for the 
Witch Hazel. We may remind him also that there is a Cannon¬ 
ball Tree (Couroupita guianensis), the fruit of which bursts open 
with a loucl report when fully matured, and scatters its seeds 
like grapeshot. 
* •» * 
Rosa gigantea. —Some flowers of this new Rose were exr 
hibited by Mr. W. C. Leach, gardener to the Duke of Northum¬ 
berland, Albury Park, Guildford, at the meeting of the R.H.S. 
on the 28th ult. The species was discovered by Colonel Sir- 
Henry Collett in the Shan Hills, Burma, in 1888. Several 
attempts have been made to flower this Rose in Britain, but not 
much success has attended the efforts. Mr. Leach succeeded 
in getting a few blooms on bis plant in 1903. Last year the plant 
produced a larger number of flowers, and this year again he has 
been very successful. The flowers are of a deep> amber yellow 
in the bud state, the buds being very long. After expansion, 
however, the petals fade to pure white, with a fine brush of 
yellow anthers to form a contrast, as in other single Roses. The 
species requires to attain a considerable height before it will 
flower satisfactorily, and probably our climate is scarcely warm 
enough to grow this species well. . The plant which has been 
bloomed so successfully at Albury Park is grown under glass, 
vv e presume it will be grown to even greater perfection out of 
doors if sufficiently hardy to stand our winter on the wall of 
a house where it can be trained up to sufficient height. Possibly 
it may succeed in the south and west, but some more years are 
necessary to give it a proper trial in this respect. 
Alpine Gardens.- —During recent years people on the Con¬ 
tinent have taken to the construction of alpine gardens for the 
purpose of acclimatising and increasing alpine plants in order 
to supply cultivators and thereby restrict the extermination of 
those mountain plants in a wild state. Already thirty-five of 
these gardens exist on the Continent, particularly in Switzer¬ 
land, France, Italy, and the Tyrol. These gardens must prove 
serviceable to those who study geographical botany, to botanists 
and to those who concern themselves in the acclimatisation of 
mountain plants in countries of no great elevation above sea 
level. 
* * * 
Monkeys as Fruit Pickers.— Some not over-busy Californian 
originated a story that fruit growers had decided to import 
monkeys to pick Primes for market. They woe, however, to 
be muzzled to keep them from eating the fruit. Credulous 
people enjoyed the joke, but it seems that a New York man 
brought the tale to the Commissioner-General of Immigration, 
raising the question whether the importation of monkeys for 
such a purpose would not be violating the contract labour law. 
The Commissioner seems to be rather nettled, inasmuch as he 
has received numerous letters on the subject. 
* * * 
Oldham Arbor Day.— While the late Bruce -Finlay was 
curator of the Botanical Society of Manchester, lie in 1878 advo¬ 
cated the planting of trees in certain parts of Manchester. 
Trees were planted, and many may be seen making successful 
growth in certain, parts of Manchester, notwithstanding that 
the atmospheric conditions are more unfavourable to tree life 
than they were in Bruce Finlay’s day. Other difficulties con¬ 
sist in the Oldham clay, added to which the streets and district 
everywhere have been intersected by large sewers and other 
drains, which carry away the moisture and leave the roots in a 
dry starving condition. 
* * * 
Pine Grove Pest at Rome.-— ‘Duke Salviati. of Rome, has a 
splendid Pine grove, occupying several miles along the banks 
of the River Tirreno, near the Royal estate of San Rossore. 
The duke set himself with great energy, and had practically 
conquered the beetle Cnitocampa pinivora, which had been 
destroying bis trees, but. later on the pest was worse than ever. 
He informed the administration of the Royal house of the 
danger to their Pines, but nothing was done. Recently, how- 
ver, the King instituted an International Chamber of Agricul¬ 
ture, and when this happened, the Duke Salviati went to the 
King personally and informed him of the danger of his own 
Pines, as well as others in the neighbourhood. His Majesty 
sent specialists without delay to fight the pest. 
* * “ * 
Old Trafford Botanical Gardens. —A meeting of the City 
Council of Manchester was held on the 15th ult., when the 
Lord Mayor reported that an offer had been received from the 
council of the Royal Botanical and Horticultural Society of 
Manchester to sell their gardens for a sum of £20,000. A long 
discussion ensued, at which it transpired that the society was in¬ 
debted to the extent of £11,000 after an existence of seventy 
years. The society had full power to sell the land for any 
purpose, they chose, and if put to building purposes it would 
bring £50,000 or more. As it was their intention to keep it 
as an open space or public park for the people, they did not 
wish to sell it for building purposes. They were hound to devote 
any profits of sale to horticultural purposes. The view of the 
trustees was that if they could get a clear £8,000 with the 
assistance of the Corporation, the society could be carried on 
more in the interests of the community and he more in a posi¬ 
tion to do educational work than if they obtained £50,000 for 
the gardens, and had to obtain a new place. From this point 
of view they offered the property to the Corporation for £20,000, 
which would leave a balance of £8,000 when all liabilities had 
been met. Mr. Alderman Gibson was of opinion that Stretford 
would become a part of Manchester before very long, and he 
moved that the matter be referred to the Parks Committee, with 
instructions to consult the trustees and council of the Botanical 
Gardens, and to report later on. Mr. Samson moved, as an 
amendment, that the proposal be not entertained. He was en¬ 
tirely in favour of providing open spaces, but strongly opposed 
to spending the ratepayers’ money in purchases outside the 
city. Mr. Fildes was in favour of providing open spaces, hut 
he was opposed to the purchase of conservatories to be kept up 
at great expense. Mr. Alderman Birkbeck, chairman of the 
Parks Committee, would not oppose inquiry, hut it was his 
impression that the more information they obtained the more 
determined they would be not to entertain the offer. On a 
division being taken, 53 voted for the amendment, against 38, 
so that the amendment was carried, and the City Council thus 
declined to buy the gardens. 
