802 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 21, 1907. 
The Planarian Worm, 
Gardeners finding this strange worm in 
their plant houses would most likely treat 
it with scorn under the impression it was 
injurious to plant life. We all know the 
objections people have to the common 
worms, on account of the untidy appear¬ 
ance of their castings on lawns; they are 
also the cause of much trouble in plant 
houses, in most cases through their work¬ 
ing amongst the soil of pot plants, the 
drainage thus becoming choked and caus¬ 
ing the soil to sour, and so injuring the 
health of the plant. W’orms ought to 
be considered useful on lawns, as they 
are constantly bringing finely-powdered 
soil to the surface, a great portion of 
which is washed in by the rain among 
the roots of the grasses; this is nature’s 
way of forming a top-dressing to the 
grass, and their burrows also allow rain 
and air to penetrate to a greater depth 
than would otherwise be reached. 
The Planarian worm, recently named 
Bipalium kewense, has never been known 
to prey upon vegetation, but seems to feed 
entirely upon insects and other worms. 
It has been found attached to partially- 
eaten worms, and also those brown milli¬ 
pedes that are so often found on Orchid 
stages, and I would say it is useful rather 
than otherwise. It is supposed to have 
originally come from the East, and 
several records of its discovery in British 
gardens have been made, but all of a 
somewhat recent date. It appears at pre¬ 
sent to be uncommon, and is easily dis¬ 
tinguished from the ordinary worm. It is 
from two to three inches long, of a brown 
colour, and has a flat triangular-shaped 
head. 
H. Wilson. 
-- 
The Lyon Rose. 
The above is the name given by Mr. J. 
Pernet-Ducher to a new Rose raised by 
him and being put into commerce this 
season. He also calls it Rosa pernetiana, 
which is rather going against the rules of 
botany in giving what is, to all intents 
and purposes, d botanical name for a gar¬ 
den hybrid. The Rose, however, is a re¬ 
markable combination of colours, if we 
are to judge from a full-page plate of it 
in the “Rosen Zeitung” for November. 
The raiser obtained it by crossing Mme. 
Melanie Soupert with a seedling from 
Soleil d’Or. The blooms are of the 
largest size, very full, cup-shaped, with 
the edges of the outer petals rolled back. 
It is described as being a coral-red or 
lake-red, shaded or suffused with chrome 
yellow. In the bud state the colour is 
coral-red, with a chrome-yellow ground. 
In the painting this yellow shows out very 
clearly towards the base of the outer 
petals, and is also well shown through the 
other colour. If the bloom comes up to 
this character in colour in this country, 
we think it will have a warm reception, 
besides being a novelty amongst its kind 
in the way of colour. The stems are red 
and the leaves of good substance. It has 
the appearance of a Hybrid Tea in many 
respects. 
Gooseberry Mildew. 
The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 
have issued an order dealing with Goose¬ 
berry mildew. It prohibits the landing 
in Great Britain from places abroad of 
any Gooseberry or Currant bush, and 
states that offenders against the order will 
be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten 
pounds. The order came into effect on 
December 14th. 
Salisbury Gardeners. 
At the last weekly meeting of the Salis¬ 
bury and District G.M.I. Society a capi¬ 
tal paper on Chrysanthemums was read 
by Mr. S. W. Tucker, Longford Castle 
Gardens. The lecturer dealt in a lucid 
manner with specimen blooms, bush and 
summer flowering. A splendid discus¬ 
sion followed, a good many present join¬ 
ing in. Inserting the cuttings and timing 
the varieties was much debated. A large 
number of questions were put to Mr. 
Tucker and answered in an able manner. 
The usual vote of thanks was accorded 
the lecturer for his paper on the proposi¬ 
tion of the chairman, Mr. Wyatt. A good 
number of members was present. 
W. Yandell. 
To Librarians of Horticultural Societies. 
It is the ambition of many horticultural 
societies, especially those of the mutual 
improvement order, to get together a 
library of gardening books for the benefit 
of members, and many of these societies 
have built up excellent collections of 
horticultural works which have added to 
the attractions of membership and proved 
of great value to the members. 
Librarians of these numerous and useful 
bodies will be pleased to hear that they 
may obtain a free copy of Mr. Montague 
C. Allwood’s “The Perpetual Flowering 
Carnation” by applying to the publishers, 
Messrs. Hugh Low and Co., the Royal 
Nurseries, Bush Hill Park, Enfield. 
Messrs. Low and Co. say: “ Our primary 
object in publishing the work was to ad¬ 
vance the cultivation of this flower.” 
Croydon Gardeners. 
Scientific combined with practical know¬ 
ledge is very essential to the gardener, 
and a pleasant and profitable evening was 
recently devoted by the members of the 
Croydon and District Horticultural 
Mutual Improvement Society to micro¬ 
scopical studies. Under the guidance of 
Mr. J. Gregory classes have been held 
during the past year, and those members 
attending were able to exhibit the progress 
they had made by giving demonstrations 
to interest their fellow gardeners. This 
society is fortunate in possessing a good 
microscope for their use in investigating 
plant structure, the cause and effect of 
plant diseases, and any subject which re¬ 
quires researches of intricate character. 
The loan of other instruments was much 
appreciated, and a vote of thanks was con¬ 
veyed to Dr. Hulse Willocks, Mr. D. P. 
Roberts, Mr. F. W. Moore, and Mr. Gre¬ 
gory, who so kindly came to the aid of 
the society in making the evening a suc¬ 
cess. A good variety of specimens were 
shown, including leaf formation, fungi 
and insect pests, among the latter the 
bulb mite, busily at work in its depre¬ 
dations, created-great interest. The even¬ 
ing proved very interesting to all present, 
and the time limit expired all too soon. 
Southampton R.H.S. 
The 46th annual report and statement 
of accounts of this society were submitted 
at the annual meeting on December 16th. 
The three exhibitions held during the 
past year were quite equal, if not superior, 
to any held by the society in recent years. 
Unfortunately, with the exception of the 
Carnation Show, the attendance was not 
so satisfactory, the two wet days on the 
occasion of the Rose Show resulting in a 
loss of nearly ^40. During the year 87 
new subscribers were added, but unfor¬ 
tunately the names of an unusually large 
number (76) of former members had to 
be removed in that period, the net gain 
in subscriptions being £2. 
Midland Counties Sweet Pea Society. 
This is a recently-formed society, and 
will be welcomed by Midland Sweet Pea 
growers, who have hitherto had few 
chances of exhibiting, the two chief floral 
exhibitions of the Midlands, at Wolver¬ 
hampton and Shrewsbury, being, in an 
ordinary season, too early and too late 
to catch Sweet Peas at their best, while 
the N.S.P.S. show held in London is too 
far off for most Midlanders to carry their 
Sweet Pea blooms. That the society has 
filled a want may be gathered from the 
fact that it already boasts a membership 
of nearly 100 Sweet Pea enthusiasts. 
The first show will be held in Wolver¬ 
hampton on July 29th, 1908, and a great 
success is anticipated. The hon. secre¬ 
tary of this very promising society is Mr. 
Owen F. Trott, 104, Waterloo Road, 
Wolverhampton. 
Where are you Spending your Christmas 
Holidays? 
In a worthy spirit of enterprise the 
Great Central Company are catering 
handsomely for the Yuletide traffic. 
Most extensive arrangements have been 
made for the running of express trains, 
with buffet-car accommodation, at excur¬ 
sion fares from Marylebone on Sunday, 
December 22nd, Tuesday, December 
24th; Wednesday (Christmas Day) and 
Thursday (Bank Holiday). The cheap 
bookings apply to over 300 of the prin¬ 
cipal towns arid holiday resorts in the 
Midlands, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Lin¬ 
colnshire, and the general districts of the 
North. The facilities on the Sunday and 
Tuesday are offered in order that the con¬ 
venience of different sections of the tra¬ 
velling public may be suited. The com¬ 
partments of the trains represent the acme 
of comfort. They are luxuriously up¬ 
holstered, well lighted, perfectly venti¬ 
lated, and maintained at a genial tem¬ 
perature, without being stuffy. It is good 
to see a railway company so closely 
studying the needs of its patrons. Shop¬ 
keepers and others whose business will 
keep them in town until late on Christ¬ 
mas Eve will have the advantage of suit¬ 
able trains to take them for the “home 
holiday” of the year. On applying at 
Marylebone station or any of the com- 
panv’s town offices, or sending a postcard 
to Publicity Department, 216, Maryle¬ 
bone Road, N.W., intending passengers 
"fill be supplied, free of cost, with A.B.C. 
Excursion Programme, from which they 
can readily ascertain just -how, and at 
what cost, a long or short journey may be 
taken over this comfortable and expedi¬ 
tious system. 
