232 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
March 18. 1905. 
Artificial Flowers.— An exhibition ancl sale of flowers made 
by blind anil crippled girls was opened in the Public Hall, Stir¬ 
ling, this week. 
* * * 
A New Zealand Garden. —A new work on gardening at the 
Antipodes is to be published by Mr. Elliot Stock immediately, 
entitled, “My New Zealand Garden,” by a Suffolk lady. The 
work will be illustrated by views of nooks and corners and 
remarkable shrubs and trees in the garden. 
* * * 
Tiif. Retirement of Professor Henslow. —We understand 
that a sum of £40 was subscribed as a testimonial on the occa¬ 
sion of the retirement of the Rev. I’rofessor Henslow from the 
secretaryship of the Scientific Committee of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society. The presentation took the form of a. silver tea 
service, and was made on Tuesday last. 
* * * 
Cultural and Industrial Exhibition at Cape Town.— 
Amongst the numerous exhibits at the above exhibition, several 
prizes were awarded for the best assortment of preserved fruits. 
Prizes were also offered for canned fruits, but these did not 
seem to be yet well understood at the Cape. Jams and jellies 
were awarded some prizes ; hut it seems that the jars had not 
been properly sealed or were not according to the prescribed 
pattern. Neither were there any Raisins, Prunes, dried 
Peaches, Apricots, Apples, Pears, or Figs. There is evidently 
some room for development in this industry at the Cape. 
* * * 
A Gardener as Pirate.— Our cousins in America have been 
searching Paris for the bones of the notorious Paul Jones. The 
real name of this man was John Paul, a. Scotchman, and not a 
Welshman, notwithstanding the assumed name. The interest 
attached to him from our point of view was that he commenced 
life as a gardener, working not far from St. Mary’s Isle, at one 
time the seat of the Earls of Selkirk. While commanding an 
American privateer he sent some of his crew ashore on St. 
Mary’s Isle in order to kidnap the Earl of Selkirk, but not 
finding him at home he was content to take the Countess’s silver 
plate, including her teapot. He had, however, ultimately to 
save this back,'and the countess found that not even the tea- 
leaves had been taken out of the pot. 
■* * 
Nephrolepis Piersoni elegantissima, the Tarrytowx 
Variety. —Judging from the plants and the pictures we have 
seen of Nephrolepis Piersoni, it sports both ways, sometimes 
losing and sometimes gaining in the amount of the' division of 
the fronds. The variety above-named is a remarkably highly 
evolved form, with the fronds two or three times pinnatisect. 
The' pinnae themselves are so closely arranged upon the frond 
that they overlap one another extensively, for the simple 
reason that the internodes of the frond have not become elon¬ 
gated with the remarkable development of the pinnae. The 
result is a frond remarkable for its thickness or depth between 
the face and back, owing to the remarkable breadth of the 
pinnae and the way in which they are set on nearly horizontal 
to the stipes. Indeed, the frond) recalls what we see in Poly- 
stichum anguiare piumosum densum. The ultimate divisions 
of the frond are', of course, much broader and more massive 
than in the feathery looking Polystichum just, named. Three 
views of it are given in “The Florist's Exchange.” 
* * -Si- 
Professor Trail on Herbaria and Biology.— Professor W. 
H. Trail gave a lecture on the above subject at a meeting of 
the Edinburgh Botanical Society the other week. He said that 
a report had been presented to the British Association at South 
port in 1903, expressing an unfavourable view with regard to 
the value of forming collections of dry plants. During the past 
too much attention" had been given in botanical education to 
the more technical description of plants, but the systematic 
study of plants ought not to be excluded. Even in the study 
of living plants dry specimens were a valuable accessory. Such 
specimens would serve to illustrate the structure of stems, leaves, 
defensive organs, fruits, etc. A well-provided herbarium should 
illustrate the life history of each plant from its origin to its 
death, owing to environment, friends, and foes. He considered 
it should be illustrated with dissections, drawings, descrip 
tions, and notes throwing light upon the various points at issue. 
This he considered would be a valuable aid to biological studv. 
* * * 
Shamrock eor the King — We understand that the King has 
given his usual order for a supply of Shamrock for St. Patrick s 
Day to Messrs. Nlit tall, of the Gulleenamore Violet and Sham¬ 
rock Farm. 
* * * 
Crawford’s Heath.— At the meeting of the Edinburgh Botani¬ 
cal Society, 5, St, Andrew Square, Professor Bayiey Balfour 
gave a description of Crawford’s Heath, an interesting form of 
Erica Tetralix discovered in Connemara by Mr. F C. Crawford. 
* * * 
Dear Strawberries. —Those who have been successful m 
bringing the earliest supplies of forced Strawberries to Covent 
Garden have been securing high pi’ices. The best quality 
iiuits are packed separately in cotton woo], and fetch from 25s. 
In 30s. per lb. Second quality fruits are priced at 12s. to 16s. 
per 1 b. 
* * * 
'Glasshouses in Hyde Baric. —During the past two years or 
so a tine range of new glasshouses Inis been in course of erection 
in Hyde Park, where the forcing and other bouses had been re¬ 
moved from Kensington. Gardens, it is reported that the ranges 
near the magazine will be completed for next year. I he old 
orangery and other houses m the neighbourhood of Kensington 
Palace were seriously detracting from the aspects and amenities 
of the Palace. 
Nitrogen Fixing Bacilees. — A paper entitled “Nitrogen 
Fixing Micro-Organisms” was read by Mr A. E. Lewis, B.A.. 
at the second ordinary meeting of the Liverpool Microscopic 
Society, in this he gave ample details concerning the fixation 
of nitrogen from the atmosphere by micro-organisms in the 
roots of the Pea family. This he named Bacillus radicicola. 
We presume, however, that this is a composite name, as there 
is not merely one organism, but a large number of them inhabit¬ 
ing different species of plants belonging to the Legummosae. 
Importation of Shamrock Seed to the United States. It 
seems that a duty of 30 per cent, ad, valorem was charged by the 
collector at Philadelphia for Shamrock seed which had been 
imported. Wm. A. Harris protested against this, and claimed 
that Shamrock seed should come duty free, like grass seed. This 
set Judge Waite thinking about the subject, particularly about 
the botanical classification of the Shamrock. He said it was 
not absolutely certain what plant was' used, by St, Patrick to 
illustrate the meaning of the Trinity. In spite of some uncer¬ 
tainties the, board came to the conclusion that the Shamrock 
was a variety of clover, and as such it had repeatedly been 
decided that Clover seed should be classed as grass seed and 
imported duty free: * * * 
The Winter Aconite. —Few colours are more effective than 
yellow in the landscape, especially if it is well pronounced. 
Those who doubt this might try it in. an experimental way by 
making sure, that the area occupied is fairly extensive, so as to 
c^tch the eye from a distance. We have noted the splendid 
effects produced by the golden Elder during summer; even 
when it was about half a mile or more off it had the povei to 
attract the eye. At the present time there is another good 
instance of this in the shape of a broad area of the winter 
Aconite (eranthis hvemalis) in the Royal Gardens, Kew. lhe 
chief drawback to it is the almost level ground on which it is 
planted, and the fact that it cannot be seen until the onlooker 
is fairly close to it. This, of course, is due to the relatively level 
character of the gardens and their surroundings. The roots 
are planted beneath a large mass-of Lilacs. The Aconite never 
fails to come into bloom during February, provided the weather 
is open, and the advantage of this is further emphasised by 
the fact that this plant is able to take care of itself aftei 
having been once planted. It is sometimes regarded as being 
naturalised in England, hut this is due in the first place to 
planting in parks and private grounds, where the Aconite is 
afterwards left practically to its own resources. It is fitted foi 
this kind of culture by being able to bloom, perfect its foliage, 
anil ripen seeds before the leaves of deciduous trees or shrubs 
can obstruct the light. Gardeners might well take this hint if 
they want a bed to be effective in spring and require no furthei 
care beyond that necessary to keep rampant weeds from crowd¬ 
ing it out. Care should be taken, however, to plant it beneath 
deciduous subjects only, as it can thus produce the best results 
from year to year. 
