August 2, 1913.' 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. 
577 
NOTES FROM KEW. 
Achimenes. 
A collection of these charming summer- 
to the drai«ry tjade^su^^^uentjy 
regret and surprise that they are not more 
often met with in gardens. The probable 
reason is that they are of but little use for 
the supply of cut flowers. The range in 
who is a native of Norfolk, had a somewto 
experience in his younger days.^ He 
walTrst ^teacher at a Birmingham school 
^me a teacher at a National 
He must, how 
ever hive*devoted much time and at¬ 
tention to the study of fungi after he had 
commenced the battle of life to have en- 
abled him to obtain the official positions ne 
and Kew, and 
able ability. 
A Gardening School for 
Feeble-minded Girls has been 
formed at Knotty Ash, and is, we under¬ 
stand, making very satisfactory progress^ 
Canon Sylvester states that the school 
is the only one of its kind in Europe, and 
that its existence ifi due to the efforte of 
the members of the committee of the Liver¬ 
pool Society for the Care and Training of 
Young Girls. The school has forty-thr^ 
scholars, and the object is to develop their 
minds by encouraging healthy occupation, 
and this it is thought can he the most 
satisfactorily accomplished by teaching 
gardening. So far the results have fully 
justified this view of the case. 
Australian Dried Fruits.— An in¬ 
teresting statement illustrative of the 
remarkable development which the dried 
fruits industry has undergone in Aus¬ 
tralia within recent yeara was made 
at the annual conference of the Aus_ 
tralian Dried Fruits Association, re- 
I cently held at Melbourne. According to 
the statement made the forty delegates 
represented over 10,000 persons who are de¬ 
pendent upon the production of dried 
fruits for their livelihood, besides between 
8,000 and 4,000 casual labourers. The an¬ 
nual production of dried fruits controlled 
bv the association is about 12,000 tons, of 
tne value of dose upon £500.000. 
Oxydases in Plant Tissues.— 
Mr. W. R. C. Atkins contributed to the 
monthly meeting of the Royal Dublin So¬ 
ciety a paper having reference to 
oxydases in plant tissues. He expressed the 
opinion that the distribution of oxydases 
seems to point to their being concerned in 
production of cork and sclerenchyma. 
The guard cells of stomata and the cells 
abutting on them are particularly rich in 
epidermal oxydase. The leaf-saps of 
Iris germanica and Aspidium filrx-mas 
poutain powerful reducing substances which 
inhibit oxydase reactions. Precipitation of 
^“^yuies by alcohol or removal of the 
wucing substance by dialysis permits of 
the dotation of oxydase. The colours of 
the perianth of iris are due to the presence 
of a yellow plastil pigment, or of a purple 
antnocyan chromogen, which arises by the 
i ®^ion of the epidermal peroxydase on a 
^ chromogen. 
The Scottish Raspberry Crop. 
^ from “ The Scotsman ” that the 
pthermg of fruit commenced at the rasp- 
oerry farms at Drumtogle, Auchterarder, 
?? 21, and has since become general 
hroughout the district. The dry weather 
as brought the fruit on rapidly, and if it 
f rp/^tinues the crop will not be a large one. 
c prices for raspberries at present are 
^ per ton. The growers are holding back, 
^au^ they fear that, with the prospect of 
might oversell 
from pure white to deep purple, while 
the scarlet kinds the old Achimenes coc- 
cinea, the first member of the genus to be 
introduced into this country, still holds its 
own. A garden form of much the same hue 
which probably originated from it is Dazzle. 
In 'both of these the flowers are smaller 
than tWe of the purple ones. Taken 
altogether, achimenes are of very easy cul- 
succulent house, for the rich green, hand¬ 
some leafage droops over in a very grace¬ 
ful manner, and also serves admirably as a 
setting to the bright coloured blossoms. 
This oxalis might with advantage be more 
often treated in this way, while for hang¬ 
ing baskets it is also well adapted. 
Interesting: Beg:onias. 
As most of the tuberous begonias now 
grown are of garden origin, a selection of 
some of the original species in the cool 
end of the T range is very interesting Con¬ 
spicuous among them are Begonia Dregei, 
noteworthy as being one of the parents of 
Gloire de Lorraine; B^onia Sutherlandi, 
one of whose progeny is B. Weltoniensis; 
Begonia Baumanni, a tuberous kind with 
carmine-rose-coloured flowers, native of 
Bolivia; Begonia Pearcei, to which we are 
indebted for the yellow and similar tints 
among the tuberous-rooted varieties of to- 
Flowers rich yellow, with brown-red band round t^ ^sk. 
^ ^ Messrs. Sutton and Sons, Reading. 
ture one important point to bear in mind 
being that they require a liberal amount 
of g^ leaf-mould in the potting com¬ 
post. 
Bougainvillea rosa catallna. 
It is now four years since this beautiful 
and distinct bougainvillea was ^oira at 
one. one of the meetings of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society, when the rich colour of its 
bracts so impressed everyone that it was 
awarded a first-class certificate. These 
--r, evei^u. It was bracts are totaHy without the 
that there would be seme diffi- shade, which is so objectionable 
pickers because of the their colour .i>ci“8 of “ r^-pink 
good trade, but at present a large 
mber ar© to be seen at the roadsides, and 
thought that there will not be 
, difficulty in this connection. About 
fruit were sent from Aiichterar- 
tation on the first day of gathering. 
small plant in the succulent house is now 
flowering freely. 
Oxalis floribunda. 
Good use is made of this showy flowering 
oxalis as an edging to the stages of the 
day; Begonia Davisi, whose dwarf habit 
has had a great influence among the present 
race of tuberous-rooted begonias; and the 
distinct Begonia gracilis grandiflora a 
native of Mexico, with rose-coloured blos¬ 
soms. 
Eustoma Russelliana. 
This Mexican gentian-wort, more gene¬ 
rally known as Lisianthus Russellianus, is 
now flowering freely in the intermediate 
portion of the T range, though the blossoms 
are hardly as richly coloured as when they 
develop in a lighter and more airy struc¬ 
ture. It is, however, a very handsome 
plant, whose successful culture was in the 
days long past looked upon as a good test 
of the cultivator’s skill. At Kew there is 
a white variety (alba) associated with the 
ordinary form. The new comer is very 
chaste and beautiful, and affords a direct 
