162  , 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  22,  1900. 
Currants,  with  Strawberries,  have  a  considerable  amount  of  space 
devoted  to  them,  as  of  course  large  quantities  are  required  for  various 
purposes.  In  the  vegetable  department  everything  is  grown.  Some 
kinds  are,  of  course,  not  greatly  in  demand,  while  to  others  extensive 
breadths  of  ground  are  exclusively  devoteil.  Ou  every  hand  one  may 
see  evidences  of  sound  culture,  and,  moreover,  clear  indications  that 
care  is  taken  in  so  laying  out  the  ground  that  while  nothing  is  so 
overcrowded  as  to  suffer,  space  is  not  wasted  anywhere.  Thus  the  best 
returns  are  secured,  and  the  whole  reflects  great  credit  on  Mr.  Hunt, 
to  whom  we  tender  thanks  for  a  pleasant  visit  to  Ashtead  Park. 
— H.  J.  Wright. 
LATHYRUS  PURESCENS. 
This  rare  perennial  Pea  is  now  being  offered  in  the  shape  of 
seeds,  and  it  is  likely  that  those  who  are  admirers  of  the  charming 
Lathyiuses  will  take  an  early  opportunity  of  securing  a  supply.  As 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  being,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  the  first  to 
flower  this  charming  Pea  in  the  United  Kingdom,  I  think  a  few  notes 
of  experience  may  be  of  service  to  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horti¬ 
culture.  I  received  the  seeds  through  the  kindness  of  that  ardent 
grower  of  new  plants,  Mr.  W.  E.  Gumbleton,  who  kindly  sent  me  a 
few  of  those  he  had  received  Irom  M.  Ed.  Andre,  of  Paris.  I  was 
more  fortunate  than  the  others  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  obtain 
them,  and  raised  some  young  plants,  but  all  of  these  save  one  fell 
victims  while  small  to  the  greed  of  the  slugs.  This  plant  was  kept 
in  a  pot  during  winter  for  the  first  year,  and  was  eventually  turned 
out  with  the  ball  intact  into  a  warm  border  of  light  soil  against  the 
gable  of  an  outhouse  facing  almost  south-west,  and  covered  with  a 
trellis,  over  which  the  plant  grew.  The  plant  was  not  free  in  growth, 
and  while  it  lived  seemed  half  shrubby  in  habit.  It  grew  to  about 
6  or  6  feet  high,  but  was  far  from  luxuriant  in  the  way  of  covering 
the  trellis.  In  winter  it  had  only  the  protection  of  the  dead  stems 
of  some  perennial  Asters  loosely  arranged  over  it. 
When  I  realised  that  it  was  so  scarce,  I  cove'ed  it  with  a  mat  in 
the  winter  of  1898-9,  and  to  this  excessive  care  I  attribute  the  loss  of 
the  plant  in  the  spring  of  1899.  It  had  made  fiesh  shoots  below  the 
mat,  and  the  late  frosts  in  INlarch  of  that  year  destroyed  these,  and  no 
others  took  their  places.  Fortunately  I  had  saved  some  seeds  in  1898, 
These  passed,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  previously  promised,  into 
the  hands  of  Messrs.  Sander  &  Co.,  of  St.  Albans,  who  have  raised 
plants  from  them.  Tt  appeared  to  me  that  it  might  be  increased  by 
cuttings  in  the  hands  of  an  expert  propagator,  and  I  think  the  firm 
mentioned  was  ruccessful  with  a  very  few  of  the  cuttings  I  sent  to 
them.  I  do  not  think  any  of  tie  young  plants  raised  from  my  seeds 
have  yet  flowered,  but  I  exptct  they  will  do  so  in  May  or  June  of  this 
year. 
There  can  hardly  be  two  opinions  as  to  the  beauty  of  this  Pea, 
whose  racemes  of  small  lilac-blue  flowers  are  so  pleasing  in  every  way. 
If,  as  has  been  said,  the  leaves  of  the  plants  from  which  the  seed  now 
offered  came  are  glaucous,  like  those  of  the  Sweet  Pea,  they  are  not 
the  same  as  mine,  which  had  distinctly  pubescent  leaves.  I  may 
further  remark  that  the  seeds  germinate  very  slowly,  and  that  it  is 
doubtful  if  Lathyrus  pubefcens  is  hardy  in  the  greater  part  of  the 
kingdom.  It  is  so  beautiful,  however,  that  it  is  worthy  of  a  good 
place,  and  of  some  little  care. — S,  Aenott. 
FORCED  RHUBARB. 
But  for  the  award  of  a  silver  Knightian  medal  to  Mr.  W.  Poupart 
for  his  splendid  exhibit  of  Rhubarb  at  the  recent  Drill  Hall  meeting, 
he  would  have  received  a  cultural  commendation,  for  all  members  of 
the  Fruit  Committee  agreed  that  no  such  exhibit  of  forced  Rhubarb 
had  previously  been  seen  at  any  meeting,  and  the  one  in  question 
displayed  quality  such  as  is  very  rarely  seen  anywhere.  Of  course  a 
large  market  grower  such  as  Mr.  Poupart  is  has  a  great  quantity  from 
which  to  select  his  stems,  but  it  was  evident  that  whatever  the  extent 
of  the  forced  crop,  the  average  must  be  very  high  indeed.  It  was 
noticeable  that  none  of  the  varieties  staged  excelled  Victoria  in  colour 
and  in  general  excellence  ;  but  Daw’s  Champion  is  a  rather  more 
robust  variety,  having  a  trifle  broader  and  longer  stems,  and  is  com¬ 
paratively  new.  Hawkes’  Champagne  gave  stems  not  much  more  than 
one-half  the  stoutness  of  those  of  Victoria,  and  did  not  excel  the  latter 
in  colour.  AVhen  the  old  Victoria  is  thus  shown  so  good  forced,  and  we 
know  how  excellent  it  is  outdoors,  it  is  evident  that  in  Rhubarbs  we 
have  not  made  great  progress. 
But  such  stems  as  those  referred  to  are  not  produced  solely  by 
forcing,  howsoever  excellent  the  method.  Really  they  have  to  be  made 
by  high  culture  the  previous  year,  on  deeply  worked  soil,  that  is 
heavily  dressed  with  manure,  for  Rhubarb  is  a  gross  feeder,  and  needs 
plenty  of  manure  to  create  very  strong  summer  growths,  which  in  turn 
leave  behind  extra  stout  crowns,  that  alone  will  produce  very  fine 
stalks.  It  is  such  treatment  the  breadths  of  roots  lifted  at  Twickenham, 
and  forced,  receive.  The  forcing  was  in  this  case  done  in  a  low 
greenhouse  sufficiently  heated,  the  glass  roof  beine:  densely  covered 
with  litter,  which  at  once  excluded  light  and  cold.  Of  course  the  roots 
were  set  into  good  soil. — A,  D. 
ROYAL  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 
Scientific  Committee,  Feb.  13th. — Present  :  Mr.  Bennett  Poe  (in 
the  chair) ;  Mr.  Hudson,  Rev.  W.  Wilks,  and  Rev.  G.  Henslow, 
Hon.  Sec. 
Elm-harh  with  Larvce. — Mr.  W.  Brooks,  of  Weston-super-Mare,  for¬ 
warded  a  piece  of  bark  of  an  English  Elm  tree,  with  the  following 
observations The  Elm  trees  are  attacked  by  an  insect  which  is 
destroying  them.  Some  of  the  trfees  are  fine,  nearly  100  feet  high,  and 
in  their  prime ;  others  are  smaller.  The  larger  trees  are  attacked 
more  especially  on  the  north  side  ;  but  the  smaller  all  around  the  stem 
from  bottom  to  top.  One  of  the  largest  trees  shed  all  its  leaves  in 
August,  and  it  looks  as  if  the  whole  of  the  trees  will  die.” 
Mr.  McLachlan  sends  the  following  report : — “The  Elms  are  attacked 
by  the  larvm  of  a  beetle.  No  perfect  beetles  are  to  be  found  in  the 
bark  sent,  but  there  are  numerous  larvae,  each  in  a  small  cell,  in  which 
it  will  undergo  its  transformations.  So  far  as  can  be  judged  from  these 
larvae,  they  are  those  of  Scolytus  destructor,  so  common  in  many 
places.  In  order  to  destroy  them  it  was  suggested,  more  than  forty 
years  ago,  by  the  late  Capt.  C.  J.  Cox  (who  probably  took  his  idea  from 
the  French),  that  all  the  old  outer  bark  be  pared  off  by  a  spokeshave 
or  some  similar  instrument  (ihe  scrapings  being  of  course  collected 
and  burnt),  taking  caie  not  to  injure  the  inner  bark  and  wood.  Dress¬ 
ings  of  dilute  petroleum,  repeated  at  intervals  in  dry  weather,  might 
also  be  of  service.  But  the  subject  opens  up  a  wider  question — viz., 
whether  the  beetle  is  the  cause  of  the  condition  of  the  trees,  or  only 
steps  in  where  these  latter  are  in  a  moribund  state  from  some  other 
cause.  The  writer  of  these  remarks  is  inclined  to  think  the  beetles 
come  as  scavengers.  At  any  rate  in  the  case  of  tall  old  trees,  probably 
already  “stag-horned,”  it  is  practically  useless  to  employ  remedial 
measures,  and  the  best  thing  is  to  cut  them  down  and  burn  them,  or  at 
any  rate  cart  them  away  at  once  from  the  vicinity  of  trees  not 
already  attacked.  The  bark  of  such  old  trees  is  usually  riddled  by  the 
laivce  fiom  base  to  top.  When  the  trees  are  younger  and  less  tall 
remedial  measures,  such  as  those  suggested,  might  be  tried.  Even 
suppcsins  ihe  trees  to  be  in  an  unhealthy  state  from  some  other  cause, 
the  attacks  of  the  beetle  must  aggravate  that  state  and  hasten  decay, 
and  if  these  attacks  could  be  lessened  or  averted  there  might  be  a 
chance  of  the  trees  recovering  from  the  other  conditions  whatever  they 
may  be.  But  as  a  rule  disease  or  decay  have  already  proceeded  too  far 
before  being  discovered.” 
Fern  roots  attached  by  grubs. — Mr.  Burt,  of  The  Gardens,  Caenwood 
Towers,  Highgate,  sent  a  specimen  of  soil  and  grubs  with  the  rhizomes 
of  Adiantum  cuneatum.  Mr.  Hudson  observed  that  he  was  not 
unfamiliar  with  them.  The  specimen  was  forwarded  to  Mr.  McLachlan, 
who  reports  as  follows  : — 
“  The  grubs  at  the  roots  of  Adiantum  are  those  of  a  species  of  weevil 
probably  Sitones,  but  I  cannot  commit  myself  to  anything  more  precise 
without  seeing  the  perfect  insects.  I  should  think  the  best  thing  to 
do  now  would  be  to  turn  out  the  plants  from  the  pots,  shake  the  old 
soil  from  the  roots,  and  repot  in  clean  earth,  taking  care  to  burn  all 
the  old  with  the  grubs.  When  the  foliage  shows  signs  of  being  attacked 
go  over  the  pots  at  night,  turn  each  pot  gently  on  its  side,  and  shake 
the  foliage  over  a  sheet  of  paper.  By  this  means  multitudes  of  the 
perfect  insects  may  be  collected  and  destroyed,  and  the  deposition  of 
eggs  prevented.” 
Orobanche  on  Pelargonium. — A  plant  in  flower  was  received  from 
FrancesM.  Cooper,  ForestRoad  Gardens,  Wokingham, described  as  having 
“  established  itself  in  a  pot  of  •  Geranium.’  The  latter  at  first  showed 
no  sign  of  diminished  vigour ;  but  now  the  specimen  has  come  into 
bloom  its  host-plant  seems  to  be  weakly  and  its  leaves  are  turning 
yellow.  The  plant  does  not  seem  quite  like  any  wild  species.”  The 
Orobanche  was  of  a  purple  colour  throughout,  but  not  agreeing  closely 
with  any  true  British  species. 
Forestry  as  It  Affects  Material  Progress. — The  .fertility  of 
the  soil  and  the  material  progress  of  the  human  race  cannot  be  main¬ 
tained  without  forests.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  argue  this  point. 
It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  those  who  have  watched  the  rapid  deforesta¬ 
tion  of  the  middle  and  eastern  States  have  for  a  number  of  years 
advocated  some  method  of  preventing  the  wholesale  destruction  of 
trees.  In  some  of  the  older  States  there  are  areas  once  clothed  with 
fine  forests,  but  now  being  without  trees  have  become  almost  valueless. 
These  are  being  bought  by  the  State  at  great  cost,  and  an  attempt 
made  at  reforestation.  I  have  maintained,  says  a  writer  in  a  trans¬ 
atlantic  journal,  for  years  that  Wisconsin  should  withdraw  all  her 
timber  lands  fi-om  the  market.  I  am  quite  sure  that  all  timber  lands 
that  have  been  sold  by  the  State  for  the  past  ten  years  have  been 
purchased  solely  on  a  basis  of  what  the  timber  will  be  worth. 
