July  18,  1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
59 
-  The  Poison  Oak  of  California. — It  la  stated  that  the 
Poison  Oak  of  California  is  just  as  poisonous  as  other  species  of  Rhus 
on  the  Atlantic  slope,  just  as  is  the  case  in  the  East.  It  is  everywhere, 
and  people  often  get  slightly  poisoned  when  on  flower-collecting 
excursions. 
-  Newfoundland  Plants. — Through  Dr.  B.  L.  Robinson, 
Curator  of  the  Gray  Herbarium,  Harvard,  Kew  has  received  a  set  of 
about  260  species  of  dried  plants,  including  a  number  not  recorded  from 
the  island  in  any  of  the  existing  lists,  the  most  complete  of  which  is 
embodied  in  Macoun’s  “  Catalogue  of  Canadian  Plants.”  One  of  the 
most  striking  features  in  the  relatively  poor  flora  of  Newfoundland  is 
formed  by  the  numerous  Vacciniacere  and  Ericacem,  especially  the  pro¬ 
strate,  shrubby,  berry-bearing  kinds,  which  clothe  the  swamps  and  open 
•woods,  Macoun  enumerates  upwards  of  twenty  species  belonging  to  the 
two  natural  orders  in  question. — (“  Kew  Bulletin.”) 
-  Open  Spaces. — At  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  Metropolitan 
Public  Gardens  Association,  83,  Lancaster  Gate,  W.,  the  Earl  of  Meath, 
Chairman,  presiding,  it  was  reported  that  St.  Stephen’s  ground.  North 
Bow,  and  some  small  grounds  in  Canning  Town  were  being  laid  out ; 
■  that  the  Friends’  Burial  Ground  in  Long  Lane,  S.E.,  would  shortly  be 
■commenced  ;  that  the  purchase  of  10  acres  in  Hermit  Road,  E,,  for 
a  recreation  ground,  towards  which  the  Association  had  subscribed, 
was  almost  completed  ;  and  that  additional  seats  had  been  accepted  for 
Hackney  Churchyard.  It  was  agreed  to  give  the  support  of  the 
Association  for  the  acquisition  of  Churchyard  Bottom  Wood,  Highgate, 
and  of  a  recreation  ground  for  Barking  Side,  Ilford,  E.  Plans  were 
considered  for  the  laying  out  of  St.  James’  Churchyard,  Pentonville 
Road,  and  Christ  Church  Churchyard,  Blackfriars  Road,  S.E.,  and 
progress  was  reported  with  regard  to  the  efforts  the  Association  was 
making  to  acquire  sites  for  recreation  grounds  at  Putney,  Walworth, 
and  Deptford,  in  each  case  involving  the  collection  of  considerable  sums 
of  money,  towards  'vv’hich  contributions  were  asked. 
-  Lettuce  Williams’  Red  Prince. — The  drought,  which 
fortunately  has  to  some  extent  subsided,  has  been  a  test  on  the  resisting 
powers  of  Lettuces  of  both  sections,  many  of  which  are  prone  to  run 
to  seed  before  they  have  formed  any  heart  at  all.  Among  several  sorts 
sown  for  successional  supplies  during  the  past  few  weeks  the  one  which 
forms  the  subject  of  this  note  has  resisted  it  better  than  any  other  ;  not 
one  single  plant,  whether  transplanted  or  not,  ias  shown  any  tendency 
to  seed  prematurely.  Great  inconvenience  and  often  annoyance  is  given 
when  so  many  fail  in  the  manner  suggested,  as  generally  when  the 
weather  is  hot  and  dry  salad  food  is  in  greater  demand.  It  is  this  uncer¬ 
tainty  that  prompts  the  sowing  of  more  than  one  kind  in  small 
■quantities  and  at  short  intervals.  As  indicated  by  the  name  the  colour 
is  of  a  red  tint,  and  this  is  more  pronounced  than  in  other  kinds  of 
a  similar  character.  With  some  there  is  a  prejudice  against  red 
Lettuces,  but  for  this  there  is  no  justification,  because  the  quality  and 
crispness  is  equal  to  the  dark  or  light  green -leaved  sorts.  The  one  under 
notice  develops  a  very  fine  and  solid  head  when  allowed  to  stand  suffi¬ 
ciently  long  in  the  bed,  and  the  colour  passes  off  to  a  delicate  variegation 
of  light  red  and  pale  green  or  dull  yellow  when  fully  developed. — W.  S. 
- Brighton  and  Sussex  Horticultural  Society. — The 
members  and  friends  of  this  Society  had  their  annual  outing  on 
Thursday,  the  11th  inst.  The  party,  numbering  about  one  hundred, 
took  train  from  Brighton  to  Portsmouth  Harbour.  From  thence  they 
proceeded  to  the  Docks,  which  was  the  first  item  on  the  programme. 
The  sights  to  be  seen  here  are  too  numerous  and  too  wide  apart  from 
the  peace-loving  horticulturist  to  be  enlarged  upon  here.  Perhaps  the 
moat  interest  and  astonishment  was  evinced  by  the  visitors  when  they 
stood  under  the  keel  of  the  “  Royal  George  ”  (a  large  battleship  now 
being  bnilt)  and  gazed  up  at  the  numerous  tiers  of  men  hammering 
at  her  sides.  This  vessel  is  396  feet  long,  and  our  friends  will,  no 
doubt,  retain  a  lasting  impression  of  her  huge  proportions  and  some 
little  interest  in  her  future.  After  a  good  dinner  the  party  then  went 
by  steamer  to  Ryde,  and  from  thence  visited  the  combined  fieets  of 
Italy  and  England  then  lying  off  Spithead.  Upon  returning  to  Ryde 
an  excellent  tea  was  served  at  the  Waverley  Hotel,  after  which  the 
party  amused  themselves  in  various  ways  till  seven  o’clock,  when  the 
return  journey  was  commenced.  Arriving  at  Southsea  Pier  the  music  at 
the  Pavilion  was  enjoyed  till  time  for  the  train.  Brighton  was  reached 
about  half-past  ten,  all  having  thoroughly  enjoyed  a  pleasant  day.  The 
arrangements  were  under  the  personal  direction  of  Mr.  W.  Belcham,  jun., 
Chairman  of  the  Committee;  Mr.  J.  S.  Johnson,  Hon.  Secretary;  and 
Mr.  R.  Miller,  Assistant  Secretary,  who  laboured  assiduously  to  make 
the  day  a  success. — R.  I. 
- North  Mexican  Plants. — According  to  the  “  Kew  Bulletin” 
Kew  has  acquired  by  purchase  a  collection  of  dried  plants,  numbering 
about  550  species,  collected  by  Dr.  C.  LumhoUz-  They  are  from  the 
Sierra  Madre  region  in  the  North-West,  where  Seemann  collected  forty- 
five  years  ago.  There  is  a  considerable  number  of  novelties,  including 
a  Pinus  and  a  Bravoa — Amaryllidacese. 
-  The  Dispersion  of  Plant  Diseases. — It  is  remarked  in  the 
“Kew  Bulletin”  that  the  dispersion  of  plant  diseases  through  the 
interchange  of  plants  is  a  peril  requiring  careful  precautions.  The 
phylloxera  was  introduced  from  England  into  Switzerland.  The  Coffee- 
leaf  disease  has  been  conveyed  from  Ceylon  on  the  one  hand  to  Fij  i 
(with  Tea  seeds),  where  it  practically  extinguished  the  promising  Coffee 
industry,  and  to  German  East  Africa  on  the  other.  It  has  always  been  a 
matter  of  the  deepest  anxiety  lest  by  any  accident  it  should  be  intro¬ 
duced  through  Kew  to  the  New  World,  where  it  does  not  at  present 
exist.  It  has  been  no  less  a  matter  of  anxiety  lest  the  Coffee-leaf  miner 
should  be  introduced  into  the  Old  World.  Kew  extends,  undoubtedly, 
an  involuntary  hospital  to  many  strange  guests  which  come  unbidden, 
no  one  knows  whence. 
-  St.  Swithin’s  Day,  says  the  “  Daily  News,”  has  come  and 
gone  without  a  drop  of  rain — an  omen  of  delight  for  the  holiday 
maker,  though  something  like  a  sentence  of  doom  upon  the  sorely  tried 
gardener.  The  old  superstition,  however,  is  baseless.  Observations  on 
the  rainfall  extending  over  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  show  that,  in 
London  at  all  events,  we  have  never  had  anything  like  forty  consecu¬ 
tive  days  with  rain,  either  after  St.  Swithin’s  Day  or  at  any  other  time 
in  the  year.  During  the  past  twenty-five  years  there  have  been  only 
two  cases  in  which  rain  has  fallen  every  day  for  more  than  a  fortnight, 
the  longest  spell  of  wet  weather  being,  not  in  July,  but  in  January, 
twenty  years  ago,  when  rain  fell  in  London  on  sixteen  consecutive  days. 
In  this  part  of  the  country  spells  of  continuous  wet  weather  are,  in 
fact,  nothing  like  so  long  and  frequent  as  spells  of  dry  weather,  periods  of 
drought  extending  over  a  fortnight  being  of  almost  annual  occurrence. 
-  Storing  Seed  Potatoes.  —  It  is  well  known  that  seed 
Potatoes  which  are  stored  for  late  planting  often  become  soft,  while 
much  of  their  nutritive  matter  is  exhausted  in  developing  sprouts 
which  must  be  broken  off  in  planting.  The  first  sprout  is  always  the 
strongest  and  thriftiest,  but  it  often  happens  that  these  sprouts  have 
to  he  removed  several  times  before  the  Potatoes  are  planted,  and  each 
time  some  of  the  vitality  of  the  tubers  is  lost.  A  comparative  test 
was  made,  says  an  American  contemporary,  by  Professor  Taft  at  the 
Michigan  Experiment  Station  last  year,  when  two  equal  lots  of  Potatoes 
were  taken,  one  being  left  in  the  cellar,  the  other  spread  in  a  dry,  well- 
lighted,  moderately  warm  room.  On  April  20th,  both  lots  were  planted 
side  by  side  and  the  plants  from  the  unsprouted  seed  came  up  first, 
looked  the  best  throughout  the  season,  and  produced  a  greater  amount 
of  Potatoes  and  a  greater  proportion  of  large  ones  with  fewer  ill-shaped 
tubers.  Of  course  it  hardly  needed  an  experiment  to  demonstate  the 
superiority  of  unsprouted  seed,  but  since  no  one  can  afford  to  grow 
anything  but  the  very  best  crops  it  would  seem  to  be  worth  while  to 
take  every  precaution  to  prevent  sprouting,  or  to  secure  second  crop 
seed  from  the  south,  which  is  rarely  affected  in  this  way. 
-  Rainfall  in  London. — The  showers  experienced  during  the 
early  part  of  the  present  month  were  sufficient  to  upset  the  record 
of  partial  drought  which  had  lasted  in  the  south-east  of  England  for 
over  sixty  days.  During  the  past  few  days,  however,  the  tendency  for 
dry  weather  has  reasserted  itself,  and  from  the  following  facts  it  is 
quite  evident  that,  in  all  but  a  technical  sense,  the  drought  in  this 
part  of  the  country  remains  unbroken.  Since  the  beginning  of  May 
rain  has  fallen  in  London  on  fifteen  days,  the  total  amount  being 
very  little  over  an  inch,  and  giving  an  average  for  each  rainy  day 
of  less  than  seven-hundredths  of  an  inch.  Taking  an  average  of 
the  twenty-five  years  1866-90,  it  appears  that  the  number  of  days 
with  rain  in  the  same  period  should  have  been  thirty-three,  and  the 
total  fall  nearly  5|  inches,  giving  an  average  for  each  rainy  day  of 
about  sixteen-hundredths  of  an  inch.  During  the  past  two  months 
and  a  half,  therefore,  the  number  of  days  with  little  rain  has  been 
less  than  half  the  average,  while  the  total  quantity  collected  has 
amounted  to  very  little  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  normal.  It  is  rather 
singular  to  observe  that,  in  spite  of  so  much  dry  weather,  there  has  been 
in  London  no  period  of  sufficient  length  to  conform  to  the  scientific 
definition  of  an  absolute  drought  as  a  spell  of  more  than  fourteen 
days  without  rain.  We  have,  however,  had  three  distinct  periods  of 
six  rainless  days,  one  of  seven,  one  of  nine,  and  one  of  ten,  the  last- 
mentioned  case  occurring  between  the  2nd  and  11th  of  May; 
