January  7,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
9 
-  Forced  Rhubarb. — Mr.  H.  Clayton,  head  gardener  at  the  Man¬ 
chester  Reformatory  School,  sends  us  a  sample  of  Rhubarb  such  as  he 
has  been  palling  for  five  weeks.  It  is  excellent.  The  stalks  are  15  inches 
long,  stout,  bright  red,  with  small  green  leaves.  We  are  not  surprised 
to  hear  that  it  finds  a  ready  sale,  though  American  Apples  affect  the 
price  of  the  Rhubarb.  “  One  of  the  Boys  ”  informs  us  in  an  extremely 
well  written  letter,  that  he  and  fifteen  other  young  workers  presented  a 
dinner  service  as  a  mark  of  their  esteem  to  Mr.  Clayton  on  the  occasion 
of  his  marriage,  on  the  28th  ult.  The  institution  is  evidently  doing  good 
work. 
-  The  Hessle  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Society. 
— A  meeting  of  the  above  Society  was  held  in  the  Parish  Schoolroom 
on  December  29th,  Mr.  George  Picker  (Hesslewood)  in  the  chair,  when  a 
paper  was  read  by  Mr.  G.  C.  Coates,  gardener  to  W.  Wheatley,  Esq., 
Hull,  on  the  “  Arrangement  of  Plants  in  General  for  Effect.”  This 
included  the  planting  of  herbaceous  borders  and  flower  gardens,  the 
arrangement  of  plants  in  glass  structures  and  grouping  for  exhibitions. 
Much  might  be  said  about  this  arrangement  of  plants  in  gardens,  and 
every  gardener  should  become  thoroughly  conversant  with  this  interest¬ 
ing  branch  of  horticulture,  by  which  means  their  gardens  would  he 
rendered  more  attractive  and  a  source  of  much  pleasure  to  their 
employers.— F.  L.  T. 
-  Rhododendron  grande. — Of  the  many  beautiful  Himalayan 
Rhododendrons  this  certainly  ranks  among  the  foremost.  If  it  were 
grown  merely  for  the  sake  of  its  foliage  it  would  be  worth  a  place  in  a 
cool  conservatory,  as  the  leaves  average  from  10  to  12  inches  in  length 
by  5  inches  in  width.  As  a  flowering  plant,  however,  it  takes  a  front 
place  in  a  genus  composed  almost  entirely  of  good  flowering  garden 
plants.  The  individual  flowers  are  about  2J  inches  long  by  2  inches 
in  diameter,  white  in  colour,  with  a  dark  blotch  at  the  bottom  of  the 
throat,  and  produced  fourteen  to  sixteen  in  a  truss.  A  plant  9  feet  high 
and  9  feet  in  diameter,  carrying  upwards  of  forty  trusses  of  expanded 
and  partially  expanded  blossoms,  may  now  be  seen  in  flower  in  the 
temperate  house  at  Kew. — W.  D. 
-  Emigrants’  Information. — The  January  circulars  of  the 
Emigrants’  Information  Office  and  the  annual  handbooks  show  the 
present  prospects  of  emigration.  According  to  the  report  of  the  Labour 
Bureau  at  Sydney  the  number  of  unemployed  persons  is  still  consider¬ 
able.  The  selection  of  land  by  small  settlers  is  proceeding  very 
satisfactorily  throughout  the  Colony,  especially  in  the  Riverina  district- 
A  report  from  the  rich  valley  of  the  Hunter  states  that  there  is  a  demand 
for  skilled  farm  labourers  and  dairymen,  but  none  for  mechanics  or 
miners.  Another  report  from  the  valuable  dairying  district  of  Kiama, 
south  of  Sydney,  state?  +hat  there  is  no  demand  for  labour  ;  land  there 
is  selling  at  £24  an  acre,  and  renting  at  30s.,  so  that  farmers  going  there 
require  some  amount  of  capital.  At  Robertson  (102  miles  from  Sydney) 
there  is  a  fair  demand  for  farm  labourers,  and  at  Hay  (450  mile's  from 
Sydney)  for  boundary  riders,  drovers,  and  country  carpenters  and  black¬ 
smiths.  The  Commission  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  financial  failure 
of  the  Mildura  Irrigation  Colony  has  reported  that  it  was  mainly  due  to 
the  insufficiency  of  the  irrigation  works,  and  that  the  Government 
contributed  to  this  result  by  its  neglect.  They  recommend  that  a 
loan  of  £30,000  should  be  advanced  by  the  Government  on  security  of 
the  land,  and  that  the  original  concession  to  Messrs.  Chaffey  should  be 
cancelled.  There  are  excellent  openings  for  farmers,  dairy  farmers,  fruit 
growers,  and  wine  growers,  if  they  have  a  little  capital  and  some 
experience  of  the  country.  In  South  Australia,  owing  to  the  want  of 
rain,  especially  in  the  north,  farmers  have  greatly  suffered,  and  the 
demand  for  agricultural  labour,  for  shearers,  and  for  general  hands 
throughout  the  Colony  has  been  small.  In  Western  Australia  there  has 
been  a  marked  scarcity  of  farm  labour  in  agricultural  parts  in  the 
south-west  of  the  Colony.  The  wages  of  farm  hands  have  advanced 
during  the  past  two  years  in  some  districts  as  much  as  50  per  cent.,  and 
for  some  time  to  come  there  is  likely  to  be  a  good  opening  for  this  class 
of  labour.  Employment,  however,  is  not  permanent  in  all  parts,  and  in 
the  Kimberley  Division  and  other  parts  in  the  north  of  the  Colony  there 
is  no  demand.  In  any  case  emigrants  should  be  prepared  to  turn  their 
hands  to  all  kinds  of  farm  and  station  work,  to  cut  down  timber,  use  a 
pick  and  shovel,  and  to  rough  it  in  the  bush  and  country  districts. 
Intending  emigrants  are  warned  against  emigra‘ing  to  Chile  without  first 
verifying  at  this  Office  the  statements  circulated  by  colonisation  agents. 
Owing  to  misrepresentations  unsuitable  emigrants  have  been  sent  from 
this  country  to  the  Island  of  Chiloe,  and  distress  and  discontent  have 
been  the  consequence. — (Emigrants’  Information  Office,  31,  Broadway, 
Westminster.) 
-  My  Garden  Diary  for  1897. — Under  the  above  title  Messrs. 
Sutton  &  Sons  send  us  from  Reading  what  we  may  appropriately  term 
au  attractive  and  useful  gardeners’  and  amateurs’  companion.  A  list 
of  concise  reminders  is  given  for  each  month,  with  an  almanack 
and  space  for  memoranda,  which  will  prove  serviceable  throughout  the 
year. 
-  Devon  and  Exeter  Gardeners’  Association. — The  annual 
supper,  which  has  now  been  held  by  the  members  of  the  Devon  and 
Exeter  Gardeners’  Association  for  some  years  past,  took  place  recently. 
The  chair  was  taken  by  Mr.  G.  B.  Lansdale,  while  the  vice-chair  was 
filled  by  Mr.  W.  Andrews.  The  Chairman  having  submitted  the  loyal 
toasts,  which  were  accorded  musical  honours,  gave  the  toast  of  the 
evening — viz.,  “  The  Devon  and  Exeter  Gardeners’  Association,”  coupling 
with  it  the  names  of  Messrs.  W.  Mackay  and  C.  H.  Clarke.  Other  toasts 
were  submitted,  and  a  most  enjoyable  evening  was  spent. 
-  Christmas,  1896.  —  Very  few  persons  probably  take  the 
trouble  to  keep  accurate  account  of^the^nature  of  the  weather  which 
prevails  on  each  Christmas  Day.  If  they  did  so,  rather  than  trusting 
solely  to  memory,  which  may  be  very  treacherous,  they  would  probably 
find  variations  as  great  as  probably  any  day  of  the  year  would 
furnish.  Not  that  it  is  assumed  that  Christmas  Day,  or  simply  the 
25th  of  December,  is  or  should  be  of  more  importance  than  any 
other  day,  but  there  is  no  day  in  the  year  which  the  artist  and  the 
poet  have  so  much  marked  for  their  own,  and  around  which  they  have 
thrown  such  a  halo  of  romance — always  of  an  intensely  wintry  aspect. 
But  it  is  rare  that  the  romantic  ideal  of  snow,  hoar  frost,  and  all  these 
wintry  concomitants  is  realised.  Far  more  often  is  Christmas  of  a  very 
prosaic  order,  so  far  as  weather  is  concerned,  such  for  instance  as 
marked  the  present  year’s  festival,  when  a  heavy  rain  overnight 
literally  washed  all  romance  out  of  Christmas  Eve,  and  made  the 
famous  wassail  bowl  to  overflow  with  water.  Christmas  Day  was  soft, 
pleasant,  and  very  much  like  the  weather  of  early  April.  How  diverse 
from  the  ideal  weather,  and  yet  how  very  like  that  which  commonly 
prevails.  It  is  this  singular  diversity  between  the  real  and  the  sham 
Christmastide  which  is  telling  so  much  towards  the  destruction  of  all 
Christmas  romance.  We  are  after  all  a  very  practical  people,  and  hate 
thaws,  hence  we  are  getting  to  regard  Father  Christmas  as  something 
of  an  old  humbug.  The  most  real  aspect  of  Christmas  is  found  in  its 
family  gatherings.  That  is  a  delightful  feature,  which  will  long  endure 
after  fictional  Christmas  weather  has  been  forgotten. — A.  D. 
_  The  Apple  as  a  Prophylactic.— Many  can  testify  from 
actual  experience  to  the  value  of  the  following,  which  appeared 
originally  in  the  “  New  York  Merchants’  Review.”  "  Everybody  ought 
to  know  that  the  very  best  thing  he  can  do  is  to  eat  Apples  just  before 
going  to  bed.  The  Apple  has  remarkably  efficacious  medicinal  pro- 
perties.  It  is  an  excellent  brain  food,  because  it  has  more  phosphoric 
acid  in  easily  digestible  shape  than  other  fruits-  It  excites  the  action 
of  the  liver,  promotes  sound  and  healthy  sleep,  and  thoroughly  disinfects 
the  mouth.  It  helps  the  kidney  secretions  and  prevents  calculous 
growths,  while  it  relieves  indigestion,  and  is  one  of  the  best  preventives 
known  for  diseases  of  the  throat.  No  harm  can  come  to  even  a  delicate 
system  by  the  eating  of  ripe  and  juicy  Apples  before  retiring  for  the 
night.” 
_  The  Pear  Slug.— Pear  trees  have  been  severely  injured  in 
some  portions  of  Delaware  by  the  larva  of  this  insect,  Eriocampa  cerasi, 
during  the  past  season.  This  slimy,  dark  green  slug  eats  the  soft  tissues 
of  the  leaves,  leaving  the  coarser  veins,  and  the  mutilated  foliage  dries 
up  and  falls  in  midsummer.  The  insect  can  easily  be  checked  by 
sprinkling  the  trees  with  air-slaked  lime,  or  hellebore  can  be  applied 
dry  or  in  water.  Road-dust  has  often  been  used  with  success,  the 
efficiency  of  its  action  depending  on  each  slug  receiving  a  coating  of 
the  dust,  which  stops  up  its  breathing  apparatus  and  causes  its  death. 
The  effect  of  the  defoliation  of  a  Pear  tree  in  midsummer  extends 
further  than  the  immediate  loss  of  its  leaves.  The  dormant  buds,  which 
normally  produce  the  foliage  and  flowers  of  the  coming  season,  may 
push  forth  and  cover  the  tree  with  a  new  foliage  in  August  or  September. 
Then  a  new  set  of  bads  are  developed  on  this  late  growth  to  provide 
leaves  for  next  year,  and  these  buds  are  necessarily  weak  and  unde¬ 
veloped,  and  result  in  a  feeble  growth.  This  extra  effort  on  the  part  of 
a  tree,  after  its  growing  period  is  practically  over,  is  a  devitalising 
process,  and  if  continued  three  or  four  yearn  may  result  in  its  death.  I 
know  of  one  valuable  bearing  orchard  that  was  quite  destroyed  by  this 
pest  in  three  years.  Several  young  orchards  have  come  under  my  notice 
which  have  gone,  or  are  rapidly  going  the  same  way.— G.  Harold 
Powell  (in  “  Garden  and  Forest.”) 
