March  24,  1898. 
261 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTIGULTWRE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
-  Double  Peimroses. — Double  Primroses  are  not  readily 
propagated  from  seed,  because  the  truest  double  flowers  have  attained 
to  this  condition  owing  to  the  essential  organs  of  the  flowers  having 
lost  their  natural  functions  by  becoming  transformed  to  petals  or  floral 
leaves. — E. 
-  Nitrogenous  Manures.  —  The  chief  use  of  nitrogenous 
manures  is  to  promote  growth,  therefore  all  kitchen  garden  crops  upon 
which  we  depend  for  a  supply  of  luxuriant  leaves,  hearts,  or  stems  are 
benefited  by  manuring  reasonably  with  nitrogenous  food,  as,  for  instance. 
Asparagus,  Celery,  Cabbage,  Cauliflowers,  Brussels  Sprouts,  Khubarb, 
Savoys,  Spinach. — E.  D.  S. 
-  Wolverhampton  Horticultural  Club. — At  the  monthly 
meeting  of  the  members  of  this  Club,  held  on  March  1st,  Mr.  Burrows, 
Berwick  House  Gardens,  Shrewsbury,  gave  an  excellent  paper  upon 
“The  Cultivation  of  the  Dendrobium.”  The  subject  was  treated  in  a  very 
able  manner,  and  some  photos  of  houses  full  of  Orchids  grown  by  the 
essayist  showed  clearly  that  he  is  a  skilful  cultivator  of  this  beautiful 
and  interesting  class  of  plants.  There  was  an  excellent  attendance  of 
members,  who  showed  their  appreciation  of  the  paper  by  the  hearty 
discussion  which  followed. — .J.  F.  Simpson,  Chairman. 
-  Tritoma  Saundeesi. — This  beautiful  Torch  Lily  is  not  easily 
grown  everywhere,  and  the  treatment  indicated  by  “  N.  N.,”  on  page  242, 
may  help  some  who  have  up  till  now  failed  with  it.  It  may  be  well  to 
point  out  that  there  is  a  possibility  of  erring  on  the  side  of  keeping  the 
plants  too  dry  in  summer.  Even  in  wet  districts  some  growers  find  it 
worth  while  to  dig  a  trench  round  their  plants,  and  to  fill  it  nearly  up 
with  well-decayed  manure.  In  summer  several  canfuls  of  water  are 
frequently  poured  round  the  plants.  This  often  vastly  increases  the 
beauty  of  the  Kniphofias. — A.  Hardiman. 
-  Ribes  speciosum. — This  Californian  species  is  the  most  con¬ 
spicuous  of  the  spiny  section  when  in  flower.  The  flowers  are  pendulous, 
deep  red,  1  to  1^  inch  in  length,  with  long  protruding  stamens,  the 
whole  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  smaller-flowered  species  of 
Fuchsia.  When  not  in  flower  it  can  be  readily  distinguished  from  the 
other  spiny  species  by  its  upright  habit,  bright  brown  bark,  and  by  the 
wood  (particularly  when  young)  being  densely  clothed  with  stiff  hairs 
and  spines,  which  are  the  same  colour  as  the  bark.  Although  quit^ 
hardy,  it  flowers  better  if  it  can  be  accommodated  with  a  position  against 
a  wall.  When  grown  in  such  a  position  the  flowers  are  produced  during 
March  ;  in  the  open  ground  flowering  takes  place  several  weeks  later. — 
W.  D. 
-  Royal  Meteorological  Society. — At  the  meeting  of  this 
Society  held  on  W ednesday  evening,  the  16th  inst.,  at  the  Institution  of  Civil 
Engineers,  Mr.  F.  C.  Bayard,  L.L.M.,  President,  in  the  chair,  a  lecture 
on  “Photographing  Meteorological  Phenomena”  was  delivered  by  Mr. 
A.  W.  Clayden,  M.A.,  Principal  of  the  New  College  at  Exeter,  who  gave 
details  of  his  experience  as  Secretary  of  a  Committee  of  the  British 
Association.  After  referring  to  the  extreme  value  of  photographic 
methods  of  recording  the  movements  of  instruments,  the  lecturer  spoke 
of  the  real  importance  of  preserving  photographic  records  of  all  sorts  of 
unusual  meteorological  phenomena,  and  emphasised  the  necessity  of 
companion  photographs  showing  the  same  scene  under  normal  conditions. 
It  was  suggested  that  meteorologists  throughout  the  country  should 
co-operate  with  the  Royal  Meteorological  Society  in  securing  such  records. 
The  phenomena  of  the  lightning  discharge  as  distinguished  from  those  of 
a  single  flash  were  next  described  and  illustrated  by  a  number  of  lantern 
slides.  Some  of  the  puzzles  offered  by  lightning  photographs  were  next 
alluded  to,  and  the  lecturer  stated  that  he  had  repeatedly  found  that  a 
single  discharge  lasted  several  seconds.  Mr.  Clayden  then  spoke  of  the 
“  black  ”  flashes  shown  in  photographs,  and  described  the  steps  by  which 
some  years  ago  he  was  led  to  the  proof  that  they  were  merely  a  photo¬ 
graphic  phenomenon,  but  one  which  still  remains  unexplained.  Passing 
on  to  a  consideration  of  cloud  photography,  the  various  methods  in  use 
were  explained,  and  a  large  number  of  lantern  slides  were  exhibited,  in 
some  of  which  the  clouds  were  shown  on  a  background  of  blue  sky  in 
nearly  their  natural  colours,  a  result  obtained  by  the  employment  of  suit¬ 
able  developers  on  a  specially  prepared  plate.  The  method  employed  at 
Exeter  by  the  lecturer  for  the  measurement  of  cloud  altitudes  was  fully 
described.  This  differs  from  all  other  methods  in  using  the  sun  as  a 
reference  point.  Mr.  Clayden  then  spoke  of  the  difficulty  in  getting  good 
pictures  of  cirrus  clouds,  and  described  the  methods  dependant  on  the 
polarisation  of  the  blue  light  of  the  sky,  but  expressed  a  conviction  that 
polarisation  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  efficiency,  which  was  really 
due  to  a  general  lessening  of  brightness  which  enabled  the  exposure  to 
be  properly  judged. 
-  Soot. — Soot,  as  a  rule,  when  employed  as  a  fertiliser,  is  best 
used  alone,  but  to  destroy  slugs  lime  may  be  mi.xed  with  it.  The  latter 
is  rather  the  more  wasteful  plan  as  regards  the  fertilising  qualities  of  the 
soot,  lime  quickly  liberating  the  ammonia,  which  may  be  lost. — D. 
-  Victoria  Nurseries,  West  IIumberstone.  —  Mr.  If. 
Duukin,  for  nearly  seven  years  gardener  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  The 
Castle  Gardens,  Warwick,  has  taken  the  Victoria  Nurseries,  West 
IIumberstone,  Leicester,  and  enters  into  possession  on  the  25th  of 
March. 
-  The  Hbssle  Gardeners’  Society.— A  meeting  of  the  above 
Society  was  held  in  the  Parish  Hall  on  Tuesday,  March  15th,  Mr.  Geo. 
Picker  (Hesslewood)  in  the  chair,  when  !Mr.  McIntosh,  County  Asylum 
Gardens,  York,  read  a  scientific  and  interesting  paper  entitled  “  The  Laws 
of  Nature  Relating  to  Horticulture.”  The  essayist  described  the  different 
constituents  necessary  to  plant  life,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
taken  up.  He  spoke  of  the  influence  frost  and  sunshine  had  upon  vege¬ 
tation,  and  also  gave  recipes  for  one  or  two  excellent  manures 
Owing  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  there  was  a  poor  attendance. — 
G.  W.  G. 
-  Akebia  quinata. — In  favoured  localities  this  climber  will 
stand  uninjured  through  ordinary  winters  in  the  open  air,  but  when 
it  can  be  accommodated  in  a  cool  house  with  a  pillar  or  similar  support 
to  ramble  over,  it  is  seen  to  much  better  advantage.  When  grown  inside 
it  flowers  during  March.  The  flowers  are  produced  in  short  drooping 
racemes  from  almost  every  node  of  the  previous  year’s  growth.  The 
flowers  are  purple  in  colour.  It  is  a  native  of  China  and  J apan.  As  it 
can  be  readily  grown  from  cuttings,  either  of  stem  or  root,  grows  very 
quickly,  and  flowers  freely,  it  is  worthy  of  note  either  for  a  cool  house 
or  sheltered  place  outside. — D. 
-  Fruit  from  the  Cape. — A  second  cargo  of  fruit  has  recently 
arrived  from  the  Cape.  The  ss.  “Norman”  of  the  Union  Line  brought 
242,boxes  of  Nectarines  in  first-class  condition,  which  realised  good  prices  ; 
62  boxes  of  freestone  Peaches,  also  sold  at  good  prices  ;  417  boxes  of 
clingstone  Peaches  which,  for  the  description  of  fruit,  realised  fair  prices  ; 
these  latter  are  not  considered  a  good  sale  in  this  market.  Some  30  boxes 
of  black  Grapes,  which  were  very  small  and  of  poor  quality,  were  sold  at 
only  nominal  prices.  Pears  were  sent  to  the  amount  of  40  boxes,  which 
arrived  in  good  condition,  and  fair  prices  were  realised  for  this,  the  first 
consignment  of  the  season. 
-  Spring  Trenching  and  Results. — I  am  sending  you  an 
Onion,  as  a  sample,  grown  on  the  boys’  gardens  at  Hawkhurst.  It  is 
Ailsa  Craig,  and  the  weight  when  lifted  was  just  over  a  pound.  There 
were  (and  are)  many  more  like  it.  The  important  j)oint  in  connection 
with  the  bulbs  is  that  they  are  not  the  produce  of  box  sowings,  but 
resulted  from  seed  sown  out  of  doors  early  in  April  last  year.  The 
ground  is  stiff,  wet  clay.  Up  to  the  middle  of  March,  1897,  it  was 
under  turf.  I  had  the  latter  removed  and  the  ground  trenched  in  the 
wet  spring  of  that  year.  We  not  only  had  some  grand  Onions,  but  a 
splendid  lot  of  Peas  and  other  vegetables.  At  the  local  shows  the 
Onions  were  an  easy  first.  Some  people  are  asking  what  the  boys  will 
do  when  they  get  to  be  men  if  they  go  on  like  this.  If  you  allude  to  this 
in  the  .Journal  do  not  forget  to  notice  that  the  fine  Onions  and  other 
vegetables  were  the  result  of  spring  work,  not  autumn  or  winter  trench¬ 
ing,  as  the  fact  is  suggestive,  and  should,  I  think,  please  Mr.  David 
Thomson,  He  is  a  grand  old  man.— INSTRUCTOR.  [The  Onion  is  a 
model,  finely  shouldered  and  14  inches  in  circumference.  We  have  not 
seen  a  finer  from  autumn  sowing  in  April.] 
-  Keeeia  JAPONICA. — The  double  form  of  this  Chinese  shrub  is 
frequently  met  with  in  gardens  ;  the  type,  however,  is  not  very  often 
seen.  Both  are  desirable  garden  plants,  being  easily  grown,  if  given 
fairly  good  soil,  in  almost  any  position,  and  producing  their  deep  yellow 
blossoms  in  great  profusion  every  spring.  The  double  form  was  in 
cultivation  for  a  considerable  period  in  this  country  before  the  typical 
plant  was  discovered.  The  single  variety  is  not  so  vigorous  as  the 
double,  but  is  more  graceful  in  habit.  The  flowers  are  about  1  inch 
across,  and  produced  on  almost  the  whole,  of  the  previous  year’s  growth. 
If  left  to  itself  it  makes  a  dense  bush  3  to  4  feet  high.  To  be  seen  at  its 
best  a  quantity  of  the  old  wood  should  be  thinned  out  every  year  after 
flowering  ;  by  doing  this  long  young  shoots  can  be  obtained,  which 
produce  abundance  of  blossoms.  Plants  lifted,  put  in  pots  in  autumn 
and  slightly  forced,  come  in  very  handy  for  decorative  work  in  spring. 
In  addition  to  the  double  form  there  is  a  useful  variety  with  silvery 
variegated  foliage  ;  this  also  flowers  freely.  Anyone  who  has  a  single 
plant  of  either  can  quickly  raise  a  stock,  as  cuttings  root  readily  in  sandy 
soil  in  a  cold  frame  during  summer,  and  young  plants  grow  quickly. — D. 
