78 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  27,  1899. 
Recent  Weather  in  London.  —  Cooler  air  has  come  to  the 
metropolitan  area  during  the  past  few  days,  and  there  have  been  several 
local  storms  of  more  or  less  severity.  Rain  fell  on  Saturday  and  Sunday, 
and  freshened  vegetation  ;  Monday  was  dull  and  dry,  but  Tuesday 
opened  with  warm  sunshine,  as  did  Wednesday  ;  but  on  the  latter  day 
there  was  a  pleasant  breeze. 
-  National  Chrysanthemum  Society.— The  annual  outing 
of  the  members  to  Mentmore  took  place  on  the  17th.  Dinner  was 
served  in  a  spacious  marquee  on  the  village  green,  under  the  chairman¬ 
ship  of  Mr.  P.  Waterer,  tho  Chairman  of  the  Committee.  The  health  of 
Lord  Rosebery  was  drunk  with  enthusiasm,  and  Mr.  J.  Smith  responded. 
The  gardens  and  grounds,  which  are  now  very  beautiful,  were  inspected, 
and  after  tea  the  party  returned  to  London  via  Cheddington. 
-  Malmaisons  at  Barford  Hill  Gardens.— These  popular 
flowers  have  been  quite  a  feature  at  the  above  place  during  the  last 
few  weeks,  and  have  been  used  by  the  hundred  in  a  cut  state,  as  they 
are  favourite  flowers  with  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  A.  Smith-Ryland. 
The  plants  are  grown  through  the  winter  and  spring  in  low, 
span-roofed  houses,  and  are  never  coddled  in  tho  least,  for  Mr.  R.  Jones, 
the  able  gardener,  is  a  firm  believer  in  abundance  of  fresh  air  for  Mal¬ 
maisons.  Ventilators  and  doors  are  kept  open  to  their  fullest  extent,  not 
only  in  summer,  but  often  in  winter  and  early  spring,  whenever  the 
weather  is  favourable.  To  this  fact,  in  conjunction  with  careful  watering, 
Mr.  Jones  attributes  his  success. — Visitor. 
-  The  Kew  Library. — \  isitors  to  Kew  Gardens  will  be  delighted 
to  learn  that  Mr.  B.  Daydon  Jackson,  the  well-known  bibliographer  in 
botany,  has  just  brought  out  an  excellent  catalogue  of  the  splendid 
library  at  Kew.  It  contains  over  750  pages,  dealing  with  upwards  of 
15,000  separate  entries  of  books  or  papers,  besides  numerous  cross- 
references.  This  library  was  thrown  open  to  the  public  in  1S52,  when 
Miss  Bromfield  presented  to  the  gardens  the  botanical  library  of  her 
famous  brother.  Dr.  W.  A.  Bromfield.  In  the  same  year  Sir  William 
Hooker,  the  director,  also  presented  his  private  library  and  herbarium. 
It  was  considerably  increased  in  1854  by  another  gift  of  a  large  number 
of  books  by  the  late  George  Bentbam,  F.R.S.  Other  valuable  gifts 
have,  from  time  to  time,  been  received  from  other  sources,  and  purchases 
have  been  made  with  occasional  grants  from  the  Bentham  Trust. 
-  Vegetable  Crops  and  their  Insect  Pests.  —  Whilst 
some  of  your  contemporaries  are  making  wide  inquiries  into  the  general 
condition  of  fruit  crops,  I  would  suggest  that  through  your  widely  read 
paper  invitations  be  offered  to  practical  observers  in  all  directions,  espe¬ 
cially  those  engaged  in  County  Council  inspection  of  cottage  gardens  and 
allotments,  and  therefore  havo  unusually  wide  experience,  to  report  as  to 
the  general  condition  of  vegetable  crops — and  I  would  now  limit  the  inquiry 
to  ordinary  vegetables — in  relation  to  insect  attacks.  My  own  experience 
is  not  of  a  pessimistic  nature,  as  generally  in  Surrey  I  have  seen  very  little 
to  complain  of,  whilst  what  may  have  been  in  evidence  of  insect  presence 
was  chiefly  where  soil  was  shallow  and  poor  and  indifferently  cultivated. 
I  have  noted  that  generally  both  Parsnips  and  Celery  plants  so  far  have 
been  very  free  from  harm  by  the  well  known  maggot.  Parsnips  I  have 
seldom  seen  looking  better.  With  Celery  a  few  evidences  of  maggot  has 
been  seen  here  and  there,  but  very  slight.  Onions  have  generally  been 
very  K°°d>  the  maggot  doing  little  harm.  What  is  seen  is  evidently  the 
product  of  the  furlgus,  and  that,  too,  exclusively  on  poor  soils.  The 
worst  general  crop  is  the  Carrot.  That,  however,  docs  not  seem  to 
have  been  harmed  by  the  maggot,  but  rather  by  aphis.  The  Carrot 
suffered  materially  in  tho  same  way  last  year  ;  doubtless  the  intense 
heat  radiated  from  the  soil,  following  on  a  cold  spring,  is  the  primary 
cause  of  the  insect’s  presence.  Now  and  then  Carrots  were  excellent. 
Cabbages  have  evidently  suffered  more  from  drought  than  from  cater¬ 
pillar.  There  have  been  few  evidences  of  the  presence  of  this  pest 
sedn.  In  places  Broad  Beans  have  suffered  from  black  dolphin,  and 
Peas  from  thrips,  but  chiefly  on  very  dry  soils.  With  all  these  crops  so 
much  depends  on  thorough  cultivation,  as  the  weaker  the  plants  are  the 
more  damage  they  suffer  from  their  besetting  foes. — A.  D.  [We  shall 
be  glad  to  receive  notes,  as  suggested  by  our  correspondent,  from  various 
parts  of  the  country.] 
-  A  New  Dalston  Garden. — The  Earl  of  Meath  opened  the 
Albion  Square  Public  Gardens  at  Dalston  a  fortnight  ago.  In  the  course 
of  a  few  remarks  he  said  the  Albion  Gardens  made  the  hundredth  open, 
space  which  the  Association  had  been  instrumental  in  securing  for  the 
public  enjoyment. 
-  Gwinllanydd  YNYS  Prydain  — Though  we  cannot  pretend 
to  give  an  interpretation,  easy  as  it  may  be  to  some  of  our  readers,  we  can 
aver  that  no  such  heading  as  the  above  has  hitherto  appeared  in  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture.  We  find  the  mystic  alphabetical  in  a  list  of 
distinguished  persons  on  whom  honorary  degrees  were  conferred  at  the 
Welsh  Eisteddfod  at  Cardiff  last  week,  one  of  the  recipients  being,  as 
stated  in  the  “  Western  Mail,”  Mr.  A.  Pettigrew,  Castle  Gardens,  Cardiff 
“  Gwinllanydd  Ynys  Prydain.”  We  hope  our  friend  will  bear  Lis  honours- 
(we  had  almost  said  burden)  lightly  over  many  happy  years. 
-  The  Durability  of  the  Larch.— One  of  the  many  points 
in  favour  of  the  Larch  is  that  its  wood  is  very  durable,  even  when  quite 
young.  Larch  palings  made  of  trees  about  twenty  years  old  will  last 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  years,  whereas  palings  made  from  the  wood  of 
Scots  Pine  of  the  same  age  will  only  last  six  or  seven  years,  and  those 
made  from  Spruce  Fir  from  eight,  to  ten  years.  This  durability  in  the 
case  of  the  Larch  renders  it  specially  valuable  for  mining  purposes,  for 
which  large  quantities  of  it  are  annually  employed.  It  is  also  in  great 
request  for  railway  sleepers,  where  its  well-known  durability  stands  it  in 
good  stead.  One  of  its  shortcomings  is  that  it  is  difficult  to  season,  as  it  in 
liable  to  bend  and  twist  in  drying. — (“Irish  Faimers’  Gazette.”) 
-  An  Acacia  Tree  in  Flower. — A  correspondent  writes  from 
Crieff  to  the  “  Dundee  Evening  Telegraph  :  ” — “  There  is  to  be  seen  in  the- 
Comrie  Road  just  now  a  large  Acacia  tree  in  full  flower.  I  am  well 
acquainted  with  the  Acacia,  having  seen  it  growing  in  sheltered  parts  of 
most  districts  of  Scotland.  Notably  there  are  some  good  specimens  at 
Bridge  of  Allan,  and  there  are  quite  a  number  in  the  Crieff  district,  but 
I  have  never  before  seen  one  in  flower.  Perhaps  one  or  other  of  your 
correspondents  may  tell  us  if  they  know  of  an  Acacia  flowering  freely 
anywhere  in  Scotland.  The  Acacia  is  a  very  beautiful  tree,  having  leaves- 
somewhat  resembling  in  shape  the  leaves  of  the  Mountain  Ash,  but  of  a 
more  delicate  green,  and  not  serrated  as  are  those  of  the  Mountain  Ash. 
The  flower  resembles  the  flower  of  the  Laburnum  in  shape,  but  is  of  a 
most  delicate  pale  white,  and  the  individual  blooms  have  all  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  Pea  blooms,  except  that  they  are  much  smaller  in  size  than 
ordinary  white  Pea  blooms.  The  Comrie  Road  tree  may  perhaps  be 
about  forty  years  old,  and  about  40  feet  in  height.  The  Acacia  is 
supposed  to  have  been  introduced  into  Britain  from  North  America,  and' 
it  is  common  enough  in  England,  where  there  are  many  specimens  ;  but 
in  Scotland  it  is  only  grown  >n  sheltered  places  like  Crieff  or  Bridge 
of  Allan.  The  oldest  Acacia  in  Europe  is  said  to  ba  in  the  Jardin 
des  Plants  in  Paris,  was  planted  in  1635,  and  is  now  about  75  feet 
high.”  [The  Acacia  is  sufficiently  often  seen  in  flower  in  the  South 
as  to  call  forth  no  special  notice,  but  this  is  evidently  not  the  case  in 
Scotland.] 
-  Women  in  Fruit  Preserving  Factories. — The  Secretary 
of  State  for  the  Dome  Department  has  issued  an  order  which  says  : — 
“Whereas  the  Factory  and  Workshop  Act,  1878,  contains  a  special 
exception  to  the  effect  that  the  regulations  of  the  Act  with  respect  to  the 
employment  of  women  shall  not  prevent  the  employment,  in  the  non¬ 
textile  factories  and  workshops  or  parts  thereof  and  warehouses  to  which- 
the  exception  applies,  of  women  during  a  period  of  employment  beginning 
at  6  A.M.  and  ending  at  8  p.m.,  or  beginning  at  7  A.M.  and  ending  at 
9  P.M.,  or  beginning  at  8  A.M.  and  ending  at  10  p.m.,  if  they  are  employed' 
in  accordance  with  the  following  conditions,  namely  :  (1)  There  shall  be 
allowed  to  every  such  woman  for  meals  during  the  period  of  employment 
not  le-s  than  two  hours,  of  which  half  an  hour  shall  be  after  five  o’clock 
in  the  evening  ;  and  (2)  any  such  woman  shall  not  be  so  employed  on  the 
whole  for  more  than  three  days  in  any  one  week,  nor  for  more  than 
thirty  days  in  any  twelve  months  ;  and  whereas  it  has  been  proved  to  mv 
satisfaction  that  in  the  class  of  non-textile  factories  and  workshops  or 
parts  thereof  in  which  the  washing  of  bottles  for  use  in  the  preserving  of 
fruit  is  carried  on,  It  is  necessary,  by  reason  of  press  of  work  arising  at 
certain  recurring  seasons  of  the  year,  and  of  the  liability  of  the  business 
to  a  sudden  press  of  orders  arising  from  unforeseen  events,  to  employ 
women  in  the  manner  authorised  by  this  exception,  and  that  such 
employment  will  not  injure  the  health  of  the  women  affected  thereby  :  I 
by  this  order  extend  such  special  exception  accordingly  to  factories  or 
workshops  in  which  the  washing  of  bottles  for  use  in  preserving  fruit  is 
carried  on.” 
