August  31,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
191 
-  Berberis  Thunbergi. —  The  prominence,  profusion,  and 
uniform  good  appearance  of  the  Japanese  Barberry,  Berberis  Thunbergi, 
mark  it  as  one  of  the  most  desirable  shrubs  for  the  use  of  amateurs.  Its 
numerous  excellent  qualities,  says  an  American  journal,  sot  it  apart  from 
all  other  shrubs,  and  make  it  indispensable  for  small  grounds.  It  is  of 
comparatively  low  growth,  and  can  easily  be  kept  within  bounds  ;  its 
lively  green  colour  makes  it  attractive  all  summer  ;  it  takes  on  beautiful 
autumn  colours,  and  its  crop  of  pretty  berries  hold  on  till  late  in  winter. 
It  is  also  hardy,  and  easily  grown. 
-  Resting  Caladiums. — These  plants  will  soon  be  over  for  the 
season,  and  in  all  probability  nine  growers  out  of  ten  will  place  the  pots 
containing  the  bulbs  in  some  hot  dry  corner,  and  leave  them  to  look 
out  for  themselves  until  the  time  comes  for  starting  them  again.  Though 
they  doubtless  like  a  complete  rest,  it  is  quite  wrong  to  diy  them  off 
suddenly  and  entirely,  this  leading  to  their  starting  weakly  in  spring. 
They  should  be  well  ripened  by  exposing  them  to  sun  and  air  now, 
and  reducing  the  moisture  supply  by  degrees  until  the  bulbs  are  quite 
hardened,  and  the  foliage  has  fallen.  Then  for  a  week  or  two  they 
may  bo  absolutely  dry,  and  should  never  be  kept  in  a  temperature  less 
than  55°  if  it  can  be  avoided.  Another  mistake  sometimes  made  is 
giving  the  plants  a  shift  into  new  pots  late  in  the  season.  The  roots 
are  disturbed  that  should  be  supplying  nutriment  to  the  rapidly  finish¬ 
ing  bulbs,  and,  in  consequence,  these  are  starved.  In  no  case  ought 
the  plants  to  be  shifted  after  the  1st  of  June,  as  by  this  time,  if 
properly  grown,  they  will  have  reached  their  zenith  of  growth.  If  they 
are  in  smaller  pots  than  seem  desirable,  the  nutriment  may  be  kept 
going  by  feeding  with  artificial  stimulants. — C.  H.  B. 
-  Gardening  Instruction  in  Worcestershire." —  The 
Worcestershire  County  Council  has  committed  for  eight  years  the 
management  of  horticultural  instruction  to  the  County  Union  of  Work¬ 
men's  Clubs  and  Institutes.  This  body  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure, 
as  the  first  instructor,  Mr.  James  Udale,  and  in  1893  Mr.  Quintin  Read 
was  added  to  the  staff  as  assistant.  The  work  of  the  instructors  was 
not  only  in  lecturing  and  demonstrations,  but  also  in  visiting  allot¬ 
ments  and  gardens  to  give  advice  to  the  cultivators.  The  result  has 
been  a  steady  improvement  in  cultivation  in  many  parts  of  the  county, 
recognised  frankly  and  generously  by  the  County  C  >uncil.  A  county 
experimental  garden  of  two  acres  was  opened  at  Droitwich  early  in  1896 
under  Mr.  Udale’s  management,  and  his  annual  reports  thereon  are 
•widely  circulated  and  read.  Mr.  Read  being  about  to  retire,  after  good 
service,  it  became  necessary  to  choose  another  assistant  instructor,  the 
salary  offered  being  £150  per  annum,  with  railway  expenses.  There  were 
ninety  candidates  in  all,  from  all  parts  of  the  British  Isles.  Five  of  these 
were  selected  to  attend  in  person  at  Worcester  on  August  26th,  before 
the  Gardening  Instruction  Committee,  Lord  Cobham  being  in  the  chair. 
After  full  consideration,  Mr.  James  Lansdell,  of  Barkby  Hall  Gardens, 
near  Leicester,  was  unanimously  appointed  to  commence  duty  on 
October  1st. 
-  Potato  Oddities. — By  special  request  I  was  the  other  day 
permitted  to  see  the  Potato  oddities  which  Messrs.  Sutton  &  Sons 
are  growing  in  their  Seed  Farm  at  Reading,  products  of  certain 
•graftings  duly  reported  upon  at  the  time  of  performance,  and  fully 
referred  to  in  Mr.  Arthur  Sutton’s  now  famous  illustrated  lecture  on 
Potatoes.  But  in  detailing  those  very  interesting  graft  performances, 
Mr.  Sutton  could  not  for  one  moment  have  anticipated  what  would 
happen  to  the  rooUprogeny  of  the  Potatoes  grafted  on  to  Tomatoes,  or 
vice-versa.  One  of  those  grafts  was  a  Tomato  on  to  a  stem  of  Victoria 
Potato.  The  tuber  produce  was  grown  last  year,  and  again  that  season’s 
produce  is  this  year  grown  both  at  the  seed  farm  and  the  nursery. 
In  botlVcases  the  results  are  identical,  for  the  Potato  plant  is  dwarfed 
to  quite  one-third  of  its  normal  height.  Then  of  Perfection  Tomato 
grafted  on  Victoria,  the  plant  growth  this  year  is  not  one-half  that  of 
the  ordinary  plant.  But  the  strangest  thing  of  all  is  seen  on  the  pro¬ 
duct  of  Solanum  nigrum  grafted  on  Victoria,  for  here  not  only  is  the 
plant  greatly  dwarfed,  but  has  actually  become  abundantly  fruitful, 
producing  seed  apples  freely.  That  is,  as  every  Potato  grower  knows,  a 
most  unusual  thing  for  the  Victoria  plant  to  do.  Another  odd  product 
is  seen  in  the  plants}  resulting  from  sowing  and  planting  the  stem  on 
adventitious  tubers,  produced  by  Woodstock  Kidney  grafted  on  a 
Tomato  stem,  for  the  plants  now  growing  are  very  diverse,  not  at  all 
resembling  the  original  variety  of  Woodstock  Kidney.  Ham  Green 
Tomato  worked  on  Supreme  Potato  has  also  produced  very  diverse  plants 
from  the  latter  varieties.  These  were  all  curiosities  in  vegetable  life  that, 
if  productive  of  no  commercial  value,  yet  were  singularly  interesting. 
—A.  D. 
-  Papyrus  antiquorum.— Re  the  “  noble  ”  Papyrus.  Kindly 
allow  me  to  thank  Mr.  Elliott  for  his  information  respecting  its 
adaptability  to  cooler  conditions  than  those  of  a  strictly  tropical  house. 
I  may  add  that  specimens  previously  seen  required  some  assistance  in 
the  way  of  support,  hence  his  details  of  culture  are  not  only  timely  but  of 
twofold  value. — Iv  ,  Dublin. 
-  IIedychium  Gardnerianum.  —  The  pretty  flowers  of  the 
“  Ginger  Plant,”  as  this  has  been  called,  are  very  sweetly  scented,  and  a 
large  plant  or  two  in  a  conservatory  fills  the  house  with  its  pleasant 
fragrance.  The  plants  are  very  easily  cultivated,  and  flower  on  the 
end  of  the  herbaceous  shoot  in  late  summer,  the  time  averaging  according 
to  that  at  which  the  plants  were  started  and  the  heat  they  are  subjected 
to.  They  should  be  allowed  rather  large  pots,  as  the  roots  are  very  large 
and  fleshy,  and  soon  fill  pots  of  small  diameter.  The  compost  may  consist 
of  equal  parts  of  good  fibry  loam  and  leaf  mould  or  peat  with  a  liberal 
addition  of  either  artificial  or  well  dried  cow  manure.  Keep  it  on  the 
dry  side  in  winter,  and  in  a  fairly  cool  house. — R. 
-  Fruit  Eating. — There  is  a  widespread  belief  that  it  is  dan¬ 
gerous  to  eat  the  summer  fruits  in  hot  weather.  This  is  a  greatly  mis¬ 
taken  idea,  It  is,  however,  the  natural  result  when  so  many  summer  sick¬ 
nesses,  sometimes  fatal,  are  set  down  as  due  to  eating  fruit.  Immoderate 
eating  of  fruit,  sa}rs  the  “American  Cultivator,”  or  eating  it  under  wrong 
conditions,  will  always  account  for  such  cases.  Fruit  that  is  well  ripened, 
free  from  decay,  and  that  is  eaten  with  other  food  will  never  harm  any¬ 
body  if  eaten  moderately.  In  hot  weather  it  is  especially  dangerous  to 
overload  the  stomach  with  any  kind  of  food.  The  heated  air  does  not 
give  the  body  sufficient  energy  to  digest  the  food,  and  it  ferments.  The 
practice  of  taking  a  few  minutes’  exercise,  sufficient  to  expand  the  lungs 
early  in  the  morning,  is  always  a  good  one  in  hot  weather.  The  lungs, 
having  been  once  expanded  after  their  cramping  during  the  night’s  rest, 
the  breathing  will  be  deeper  through  the  day,  and  this  will  invigorate  all 
the  organs  of  the  body. 
-  STAPELIA  GIGANTEA.  —  Recent  discoveries  point  to  the  fact  that 
in  size  and  distribution  this  plant  is  the  most  remarkable  of  the  whole 
tribe  of  Stapelieac.  Not  only  has  it  very  much  larger  flowers,  but  its 
geographical  range  is  vastly  more  extensive  than  any  other  known 
species,  as  the  plants  of  this  tribe  are  notably  somewhat  local  or  restricted 
in  their  distribution.  S.  gigantea  was  originally  discovered  by  Mr.  R.  IV. 
Plant,  whilst  collecting  in  Zululand,  and  at  his  death  a  living  plant  was 
brought,  with  the  rest  of  his  belongings,  by  his  Caffir  servants,  to  Durban, 
Natal,  where  it  is  recorded  as  having  flowered  in  1860  ;  and  a  portion  of 
that  plant  was  brought  alive  to  England  by  Mr.  T.  Co.oper,  in  1862.  It 
was  next  collected  by  Gerrard,  in  1861,  near  the  Umvelosi  river,  in 
Zululand.  Since  then  it  has  also  been  found  on  the  Magaliesberg  range, 
and  near  the  Nylstroom  river,  in  the  Transvaal.  In  1887  a  specimen  and 
a  living  plant  were  sent  to  Kew  by  Professor  MacOwan,  collected  at 
Walfisch  Bay,  in '  Great  Namaqualand,  quite  the  other  side  of  the 
continent.  And,  lastly,  specimens  were  sent  to  Kew,  in  1897,  from 
British  Central  Africa,  by  Mr.  Kenneth  J.  Cameron,  who  states  that  it 
is  “  found  growing  wild  at  Namasi,”  in  Nyasaland.  This  species  has  a 
range,  therefore,  through  about  thirteen  degrees  of  latitude  and  seventeen 
degrees  of  longitude,  being  found  within  and  without  the  tropic,  and 
on  both  sides  of  the  Continent  of  Africa.— N.  E.  Brown  (in  “Kew 
Bulletin.”) 
2VX  STEOiltOIiOGICilli  OBSERVATIONS  AT  CHISWICK. 
— Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens — height  above 
sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
M-l 
O 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
© 
1899. 
August. 
©•g 
+3 .2 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
Etain. 
At 
. 
At 
At 
Lowest 
nperat 
n  Gras 
u  ^ 
3 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
Highest 
Lowest. 
1-ft. 
deep. 
2-ft. 
deep. 
4-ft. 
deep. 
S  o 
Ei 
N.N.E. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
ins. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Sunday  .  .20 
69rl 
62-0 
63-0 
74-9 
53-5 
— 
66-3 
65G 
62-1 
45’5 
Monday.  .21 
E.N.E. 
55-5 
73-8 
48'2 
_ 
65*5 
64-9 
62-1 
36'9 
Tuesday  22 
S.E. 
63'0 
58'2 
75-1 
45-0 
— 
64-9 
64-7 
621 
36-9 
Wed’sday  23 
S.E. 
6S’4 
62-4 
79-1 
50-9 
— 
64-9 
64’3 
62-1 
41 ’S 
Thursday  24 
S.E. 
70-9 
64-7 
85*5 
(50*5 
— 
66-0 
64-5 
61-9 
51-5 
Friday  ..25 
S.E. 
79-9 
65'3 
87T 
55-9 
— 
67  T 
64-7 
61-9 
45'1 
Saturday  26 
N.N.E. 
70-1 
61-7 
82  T 
51 -5 
— 
67-9 
65‘1 
61-9 
42-5 
Means  .. 
69T 
61-5 
797 
52-2 
Total 
o-oo 
6G-1 
64-8 
62-0 
42-9 
The  weather  has  again  been  very  hot  and  dry,  witn  high  winds 
mos’v  from  the  South. 
