July 22. 1905-1 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
‘Some like the red Rose, some the white.”— A. Hume. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES - 
Enquiry into Fruit Culture. 
The Departmental Committee on Fruit 
Culture has presented its report to Parlia¬ 
ment, and, paradoxical as it may seem, 
they make the startling announcement 
that the fruit industry is the only form 
of agriculture which shows any progress. 
The committee also draw up a number 
of recommendat ons including a suggestion 
that there should be two branches of such a 
sub-department, namely, a bureau of in¬ 
formation, and secondly an experimental 
fruit farm. They also recommend that 
horticulture should be taught in elementary 
schools, the latter furnished with school 
gardens. It is also considered advisable 
that a fruit farm should be established in 
proximity to the experimental farm for the 
purpose of instructing fruit growers and 
lecturers. Experts should ca'culate the 
amount of compensation to outgoing tenants 
of a holding as a basis of value to the in¬ 
coming tenant. The committee also says 
that the State should be empowered to lend 
money to landlords who have fruit on their 
estate?, for the purpose of supplying the 
ready money required for the payment of 
compensation at the end of that tenancy. 
It is also desired that the railway companies 
should introduce a more simple and unifonn 
system of rates for the carriage of fruit. 
The Christmas Rose at Midsummer. 
It is difficult to account for the vagaries 
or erratic behaviour of plants, unless it be 
in response to the vagaries of our own 
peculiar climate. It seems paradoxical to 
think of the Christmas Rose commencing to 
flower in November, but this it certainlv 
does, even in the cold North of Scotland. 
At the present time we notice a variety of 
the Christmas Rose in bloom on the rockery 
at Kew, and cannot account for it unless 
drought in the early part of summer caused 
the plant to ripen up its crowns and then 
caused it to bloom again as the result of the 
recent rains and warm weather. Certain it 
is that many trees and shrubs have already 
made a second growth. The variety under 
consideration is St. Frigid, otherwise known 
as Helleborus niger angustifolius. 
The Marsh Marigold as a Pot-herb. 
We should little have expected the Marsh 
Marigold (Caltha palustris)Jto be a safe plant 
to use as a pot-herb, considering how many 
of the same family are really dangerous on 
account of their poisonous properties. Some 
of them are merely irritant poisons, but 
others are of a purgative character. Heat 
dissipates the poison in a great many cases 
and we know also that those which actually 
live in the water are less poisonous than 
those which live on dry land. Nevertheless 
we are told by the editor of the “ American 
Botanist ” that the Marsh Marigold is used 
as a pot-herb in America, but calls it the 
Cowslip, and says that the tender leaves “are 
m ich in demand by those who know their 
qualities.” It seems, however, that the 
plant is difficult to get at, as it grows in mud 
and water out of the reach of those who are 
not specially equipped for the work of gather¬ 
ing them. In this country the plant is also 
known by the name of King Cup, but certainly 
never as the Cowslip. It is a native of all 
north temperate and Arctic regions. 
The Ivy as a Dye Plant. 
At a meeting of the R.H.S. Scientific 
Committee on the 4th inst., Dr. Plowright 
discussed the fact that he had discovered a 
red dye in the ripe berries of the ivy. The 
berries he boiled in water, to which was 
added a small quantity of alum, and the 
resulting liquid was a rich reddish-purple 
fluid, with which wool can be dyed. J ery 
few Brit : sh plants give a red colour. The 
roots of the ivy also contained a certain 
amount of l ed colouring ma'ter. 
Yellow Dye in the May Flower. 
Very few who know the common May or 
Hawthorn would suspect that it contained a 
yellow dye, and least of all that it should be 
present in the blossom. Nevertheless, Dr. 
Plowright recently demonstrated that he 
produced a deep shade of yellow from the 
flowers of May by using a small quantity of 
alum in the water with the blossoms. 
The Queen at the Rose Show. 
On the occasion of the metropolitan 
exhibition of the National Rose Society at 
Regent’s Park, on the 6th inst., Her Majesty 
the Queen paid a private vis : t to the Show. 
Her Majesty is fond of a great variety of 
flowers, but she seems to make a point of 
visiting the Rose Show pretty frequentty, as 
the annual event comes round in the metro¬ 
polis. This is the first occasion, however, in 
which she has had the opportunity of seeing 
the roses in the gardens laid out by 
Marnock. 
WEEKLY PRIZE COMPETITION. 
- RESULT - 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
awarded to “E. T. L.” for his article on 
“ Adiantums and their Culture,” p. 572. 
A Drize for a supplementary reply was 
awarded to “ J C.” for his article on “ Gouty 
Phloxes”; and another to “Cal” for his 
article on “Roseleaves Losing Colour,” p. 573. 
Origin of Garden Varieties of Phyllocactns. 
At a meeting of the R.H.S. Scientific 
Committee, on June 20tb, a number of 
letters were received on the above subject. 
Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, stated that their 
hybrids were obtained by c ossing Phyllo- 
cactus Ackermanni, P. crenatus, P. phyllan- 
tkoides and P. albus superbus. M. de Laet, 
of Contich, relates that P. anguliger, P 
Ackermanni, P. grandis, P. latifrons, P. 
phyllanthoides, P. stricti*, P. crenatus and 
P. Hookeri may be regarded as true species, 
because they come true from seed. Hybrids 
of the Cooperi class were derived from 
P. crenatus x Cereus grandiflorus. Rose- 
coloured hybrids were derived from P. cre¬ 
natus x P. phyllanthoides and are those 
having small flowers. The most beautifully 
coloured hybrids were derived from P. 
Ackermanni x Cereus speciosus. In most of 
the PhvlLocacti, the sepals and petals 
gradually merge into one another in colour, 
but in Joseph de Liet, the sepals are very 
dark in colour and the petals of the softest 
shades. 
