August  15,  1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
155 
-  Lobelia  casdinalis. — Oae  of  the  prettiest  combinations 
I  have  seen  for  a  long;  time  Mr.  Gibson  has  in  the  gardens  of  Mordeu 
Park,  Mr.  J.  Wormald’s  residence,  near  Wimbledon.  A  batch  of  seedling 
plants  of  this  rich  scarlet-flowered  Lobelia,  from  24  to  30  inches  in 
height,  blooming  profusely  and  fairly  close,  being  set  into  a  dense 
carpet  of  Dactylis  glomerata  variegata,  the  whole  edged  with  Iresine 
Lindeni.  It  was  surprising  to  note  how  charmingly  the  silvery  carpet 
lit  up  the  rather  sombre  hue  of  the  Lobelia  foliage.  It  is  very  interest¬ 
ing  to  find  how  in  the  newer  aspects  of  bedding  this  flue  old  herbaceous 
plant  is  again  coming  into  popularity. — D, 
- Asclepias  tuberosa,  the  Butterfly-weed,  may  well  stand  as 
a  representative  plant  of  our  hot  dry  midsummers.  In  sterile  sand  or 
the  open  gravel  of  thirsty  uplands,  where  other  plants  can  hardly  exist, 
its  flowers  are  resplendent  with  a  vivid  orange  which  approaches  red  in 
some  individuals,  and  pales  toward  yellow  in  others,  those  which  chance  to 
become  established  in  rich  or  moist  ground  showing  usually  the  most 
red.  There  are  places  in  the  garden  border  where  these  brilliant 
flowers  can  be  effectively  used,  but,  after  all,  they  never  make  so  strong 
an  appeal  to  the  eye  or  to  the  imagination  elsewhere  as  they  do  when 
glowing  on  some  parched  and  lonely  hillside. — (“  Garden  and  Forest.”) 
- Bush  Marrows.  —  Considering  the  fruitful  nature  of  these 
compact  habited  Marrows  it  is  somewhat  strange  they  are  not  more 
grown.  The  old  Custard  variety  is  of  the  bush  nature,  though  not  in 
so  marked  a  degree  as  the  later  introduced  ones.  I  saw  on  one  of  the 
allotments  at  Richmond  recently  Sutton’s  White  Bush  Marrow,  having 
stout  sturdy  stems  and  leafage  ;  of  which  the  grower  spoke  in  high  terms 
for  its  productiveness.  At  Ashtead  Park  Mr,  Hunt  has  a  variety  of 
which  he  speaks  most  highly  as  a  cropper,  turning  out  fruits  literally 
at  every  joint.  These  are  of  pale  green  colour,  medium  length  and 
size,  and  admirably  fitted  for  ordinary  use.  Mr.  Hunt  regards  his 
variety  as  distinct  from  all  others,  and  more  productive. — Traveller, 
-  Electricity  as  a  Weed  Destroyer.— Experiments  have 
shown  that  mild  currents  of  electricity  may  have  a  beneficial  effect  on 
the  growth  of  plants,  but,  of  course,  a  heavy  charge  will  kill  a  plant  just 
as  lightning  will  kill  a  tree.  Professor  Dolbear,  in  the  current  number 
of  “  The  Cosmopolitan,”  says  that  this  quality  of  the  electric  currents 
has  been  used  to  destroy  weeds  that  grow  by  railroad  tracks  and  on 
adjacent  embankments.  Without  explaining  the  apparatus  particularly, 
it  is  said  that  a  metallic  strip  behind  the  car  stretching  across  the  track 
a  short  distance  above  the  ground,  is  provided  with  many  fine  wires, 
which  hang  from  it  like  the  loose  teeth  of  a  rake.  Through  these  teeth 
the  electricity  is  discharged  as  the  car  moves  forward,  and  every  weed 
touched  by  a  live  wire  receives  a  deadly  current  which  traverses  the 
roots  to  their  very  tips  and  kills  the  plant  outright.  Very  evidently  a 
similar  plan  can  be  used  for  ridding  cultivated  fields  of  Daisies,  Chicory 
or  other  plants  when  their  stems  reach  above  the  grass  about  them.  A 
two-wheeled  vehicle,  like  a  horse  hay-rake,  carrying  a  battery,  could  be 
driven  across  a  field  so  as  to  kill  every  plant  with  which  the  metallic 
conductor  should  come  in  contact.  In  this  way  acres  of  valuable  land 
could  be  rid  of  coarse  weeds  in  a  day,  with  the  assurance  that  no  plant 
fairly  struck  would  ever  start  into  life  again. 
-  The  Royal  Botanic  Society.— The  annual  report  of  this 
Society  was  published  on  Saturday,  aud  it  was  a  very  favourable  one. 
There  has  been  a  great  addition  to  the  number  of  Fellows  and  members 
since  the  last  anniversary  meeting,  eighty-eight  having  joined  during 
the  present  year  in  comparison  with  forty-one  at  the  date  of  last  year’s 
report,  and  not  only  so,  but  the  number  (eighty-eight)  is  also  in  excess 
of  the  total  of  any  year  since  1S30.  On  Whit-Monday  4918  persons 
were  admitted  to  the  gardens  at  GJ,  each  ;  and  on  Bank  Holiday, 
August  5th,  485  at  a  charge  of  Is.  The  ice  remained  in  gopd  condition 
over  twenty-three  days  last  winter,  and  a  total  of  5520  paid  for  admission 
to  it,  producing  a  sum  of  £127  15i.  In  addition  to  this  the  gardens 
were  kept  open  during  five  evenings,  and  the  lake  was  illuminated  ;  but 
the  weather  being  unfavourable  the  total  returns  only  amounted  to 
£53  53.  The  children’s  floral  parade  this  summer  was  specially  success¬ 
ful,  while  the  evening  fe:es  in  honour  of  the  International  Geographical 
and  British  Medical  Congresses  were  also  enjoyed  by  a  large  number  of 
visitors.  Mr.  C.  Brinsley  Martin,  who  presided  at  the  annual  meeting 
held  on  Saturday,  heartily  congratulated  the  Fellows  on  the  prosperity 
of  the  Society.  He  also  hoped  that  the  public  popular  openings  would 
be  successful  in  future  ;  but  they  must  move  with  caution,  as  many 
Fellows  joined  the  Society  on  the  understanding  that  it  was  a  private 
concern.  The  public,  however,  was  always  welcome,  and  he  hoped  that 
it  would  assist  the  Council  in  preserving  order  in  the  gardens. 
-  .Tuly  Weather  at  Hodsock  Priory,  Worksop.  Notts. — 
Mean  temperature  of  the  month,  G0T°.  Maximum  on  the  8tb,  77‘7°  ; 
minimum  on  the  5th,  44'3°.  Maximum  in  the  sun  on  the  25th,  126'9°  ; 
minimum  on  the  grass  on  the  5th,  36-2'’.  Mean  temperature  of  the  air 
at  9  A.M.  61’9°  ;  mean  temperature  of  the  soil  at  1  foot  deep,  60  l.°  Total 
duration  of  sunshine  157  hours,  or  31  per  cent,  of  duration.  We  had 
three  sunless  days.  Total  rainfall,  3  79  inches  ;  rain  fell  on  seventeen 
days.  Approximate  averages  for  July,  Mean  temperature,  60  7°  ;  sun¬ 
shine,  IGO  hours  ;  rainfall,  2'42  inches.  A  showery  and  rather  unsettled 
month,  especially  during  the  last  fortnight.  Nights  were  mild,  but 
there  were  no  hot  days, — J,  Mallender. 
-  Tender  and  True  Runner  Beans. — It  has  not  been  my 
good  fortune  yet  to  see  both  climbing  Tender  and  True  (Sutton)  an>d 
climbing  French  Bean  (R.  Veitch)  growing  side  by  side  this  season.  I 
still  very  much  wish  to  have  the  opportunity.  I  saw  the  former  (Tender 
aud  True)  at  Ashtead  Park  recently,  where  it  had  reached  5  feet  in 
height,  and  was  cropping  abundantly.  Mr.  Hunt  said  one  row  of  it 
rendered  several  sowings  of  Dwarf  Canadian  Wonder  needless.  Sutton’s 
Epicure,  which  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  climbing  Ne  Plus  Ultra,  is  also 
another  wonderful  cropper.  That  I  saw  doing  finely  at  Coulsdon,  where 
also  Prizewinner  was  in  fine  form.  Only  to-day  a  Chessington  man  told 
me  that  he  had  beautiful  pods  of  A1  12  inches  long,  and  he  chuckled 
over  the  way  he  was  going  to  astonish  his  neighbours  at  a  local  show 
next  week. — A.  D, 
-  Clematis  recta. — This  is  the  best  herbaceous  Clematis,  and 
there  are  few  white-flowered  hardy  plants  that  equal  it  when  in  bloom. 
It  is  a  many-stemmed  plant  of  compact  habit  with  abundant  dark  green 
healthy  leave.s.  The  first  year  after  transplanting  it  only  grows  about 
3  feet  high,  but  when  it  gets  well  established  it  reaches  a  height  of  4  or 
5  feet.  The  flowers,  which  are  plentifully  borne  in  dense  corymbs  at 
the  ends  of  the  stems,  are  white  and  fragrant,  and  last  well  when  cut 
It  would  seem  that  a  plant  so  easily  grown  and  with  such  good  flowers 
might  be  of  great  use  to  florists.  C.  recta  makes  an  effective  plant  in 
the  herbaceous  border,  but  it  grows  well  in  almost  any  position.  There 
are  plants  in  the  Harvard  Botanic  Garden  under  Oak  trees,  where  they 
get  very  little  sun,  and  they  are  as  healthy  as  those  which  stand  in  fall 
sunshine,  and  their  flowers  last  even  longer.  This  Clematis  comes  from 
the  South  of  Europe,  and  was  introduced  from  there  in  1597.  It  can 
easily  be  increased  by  dividing  the  plants  and  also  by  seeds,  although 
they  are  slow  to  germinate. — (“Garden  and  Forest.”) 
-  Flora  of  British  Somaliland. — Miss  Edith  Cole  and  Mrs. 
Lort  Phillips  and  party  made  a  journey  in  this  country  last  winter  and 
early  spring,  and  collected  and  dried  about  300  species  of  flowering 
plants  and  a  few  Ferns,  which  they  have  generously  presented  to  Kew. 
The  country  traversed  was  from  Berbera  to  the  Golis  range  of  hills, 
which  rise  to  a  height  of  5000  feet.  In  view  of  the  comparatively  recent 
partial  botanical  investigation  of  the  island  of  Socotra,  and  Mr.  Bent’s 
collections  from  Southern  Arabia,  toge':her  with  the  fact  that  little  is 
known  of  the  flora  of  Somaliland,  some  highly  interesting  results  are 
expected  from  the  working  out  of  these  ladies’  collections.  The 
Acanthaceie  especially  are  very  strongly  represented.  There  is  a  new 
Fern,  and  the  three  Orchids  include  an  apparently  new  species  of 
Epipactis,  a  genus  not  previously  known  to  inhabit  tropical  Africa, 
though  we  believe  Mr,  Scott  Elliot  also  collected  a  species  in  the 
Ruwenzori  mountains.  Miss  Cole  also  collected  and  presented  to  Kew 
plants  of  a  species  of  Eulophia,  a  Dracmua,  various  bulbs,  aud  twenty 
packets  of  seeds. — (“  Kew  Bulletin.”) 
-  Philadelphus  Zeyheri. — This  shrub  was  sent  out  several 
years  ago,  says  the  “  Garden  and  Forest,”  aud  is  quite  different  in 
appearance  from  the  numerous  Mock  Oranges  in  ordinary  cultivation. 
It  is  just  passing  out  of  bloom,  being  considerably  later  in  flower  than 
the  well-known  Philadelphus  coronarius.  P.  Zeyheri,  or,  as  it  is  some¬ 
times  called,  P.  Falconer!,  is  a  vigorous  rather  upright  shrub  with  arching 
branches,  and  grows  to  a  height  of  6  or  8  feet.  The  leaves  are  narrower, 
rather  smaller,  and  usually  more  sparse  than  those  of  P.  coronarius  or 
P.  grandiflora.  The  narrow  petals  do  not  open  horizontally,  so  as  to 
make  a  fiat  flower,  but  one  rather  bell-shaped  in  general  contour, 
although  when  looked  at  directly  in  front  the  separate,  boat-shaped,  and 
pointed  petals  give  it  the  appearance  of  a  star.  The  flowers  are  but 
slightly  fragrant.  The  branchlets,  each  of  which  bears  four  or  five 
flowers,  are  arranged  closely  on  the  main  stem,  and  when  in  flower  the 
shrub  has  a  distinct  and  pleasing  appearance.  Most  of  the  Mock 
Oranges  are  desirable  free-flowering  shrubs,  and  as  they  hybridise  easily 
they  assume  a  variety  of  forms,  which  makes  a  satisfactory  classification 
of  them  extremely  diflScult  if  not  impossible. 
