82 
■^OUR^UL  OF  HORTTCULTUnF  Ah^D  GOTTAOE  GARDEFrEn. 
July  2S,  1896. 
events  of  tHe  Week. — Relaxation  may  be  the  lot  of  the  rosarian 
who  so  desires  it  now,  as  with  one  or  two  exceptions  in  the  north  of 
England  (see  list,  page  80),  the  shows  are  over.  The  Committees  of  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  meet  at  the  Drill  Hall,  Westminster, 
on  Tuesday  next. 
—  Weather  in  London.  —  On  Thursday  there  was  a  decided 
change  in  the  weather,  rain  falling  at  intervals  for  several  hours, 
and  doing  a  considerable  amount  of  good.  Unfortunately  it  did  not 
last  long  enough,  for  on  Friday  we  Were  again  undergoing  the  parching 
process  from  an  intensely  hot  sun.  Since  then  with  brief  intervals  on 
two  or  three  days  the  heat  has  been  remarkable,  and  its  efEects  are 
being  keenly  felt  by  everyone.  At  the  time  of  going  to  press  it  was  a 
little  cooler. 
-  Royal  Horticultural  Society.— The  next  meeting  of  the 
Fruit,  Floral,  and  Orchid  Committees  will  take  place  on  Tuesday, 
July  28th,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  James  Street,  Westminster,  at  12  noon.  At 
3  P  M.  a  lecture  on  “  Cacti  ”  Will  be  given  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Chapman, 
F,R.H.S. 
—  CuFRESSUS  Macnabiana.— A  forest  of  these,  about  a  half- 
mile  square,  occurs  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Red  Mountain,  a  peak 
rising  2300  feet  above  sea  level,  near  Ukiah,  in  California.  Scarcely 
any  other  tree  is  to  be  seen  in  this  area.  The  trees  are  only  from 
12  to  20  feet  high,  as  a  rule,  but  like  the  miniature  trees  of  the 
Japanese  gardeners,  they  have  all  the  appearance  of  great  age.  Old 
and  gnarled,  tough  and  twisted,  covered  with  moss,  and  with  limbs 
broken,  they  look  like  the  old  forests  of  Cedar  of  Lebanon  as  they  are 
pictured.  A  forest  100  feet  high,  looked  at  through  the  large  end  of  a 
telescope,  would  give  the  same  impression.  A  fire  has,  says  the 
“  Garden  and  Forest,”  swept  through  one  side,  and  the  old  trunks, 
standing  black  and  naked,  aid  the  deception.  Only  the  surrounding 
objects  by  which  to  aid  the  sight,  keep  one  from  being  quite  carried 
away  by  the  deception.  These  trees,  dwarfed  so  strangely  by  the 
arid  soil  and  bleak  climate,  are  very  old.  The  west  face  of  the 
mountain  is  no  less  curious.  Here  the  Cypress  forms  a  dense  thicket, 
from  0  or  8  feet  high  in  the  open  bills  to  15  feet  high  in  the  gullies, 
and  stretching  over  the  whole  mountain  side  till  it  breaks  into  cliffs 
at  the  canon.  Where  the  fires  have  burned  over  the  little  seedlings  are 
coming  up,  but  in  no  such  profusion  as  in  the  thickets  of  Cupressus  on 
the  coast. 
= —  Suburban  Flower  Shows  — Is  there  going  on  around  London 
a  decadence  in  flower  shows  ?  I  have  seen  a  few  recently,  and  with  one 
or  two  exceptions  they  gave  me  heartache.  If  these  shows  really 
represented  horticulture  and  gardening  skill  in  their  respective  districts 
—then  one  would  have  cause  to  despair.  Localities  of  great  pretensions 
having  about  them  many  fine  gardens,  much  indeed  in  the  localities  that 
is  horticulturally  good,  yet  are  the  shows  but  miserable  evidences,  and 
would  be  far  better  if  entirely  abolished.  What  must  be  the  feelings 
of  plant  and  flower  lovers  when  visiting  such  exhibitions  they  find 
a  meagre  collection  of  really  poor  plants,  indifferent  groups,  hardly 
one  thing  amongst  the  whole  lot  more  than  third  rate,  the  exceptions 
being  so  few  1  Oddly  enough,  relatively  the  best  display  is  made  by 
the  cottagers,  whose  exhibits  are  as  good  for  them  as  those  of  the 
gardeners  are  third  class.  The  falling  out  from  exhibiting  of  the  best 
growers  in  localities  has  distinctly  lowered  the  general  tone  or  standard 
of  the  exhibits,  and  inferior  material  is  brought  to  make  up  entries  in 
the  expectation  that  they  will  gain  prizes  because  better  products  will 
not  be  present.  How  very  poor,  too,  the  competition  ;  indeed,  in  not  a 
few  classes  only  one  exhibitor  is  found,  and  in  most  others  but  two  or 
three.  Usually  vegetables  show  far  better  competition  than  plants  or 
flowers  do,  but  there  are  many  below  the  best  mark.  One  is  con¬ 
strained  to  ask  why  exhibitions  that  have  fallen  so  low  should  be 
continued  ;  indeed,  speedy  collapse  seems  to  be  inevitable.  It  appears 
also  that  with  this  neglect  on  the  part  of  good  gardeners  there  is  a  falling 
off  in  subscriptions.  After  all  the  best  shows  seem  to  be  those  more 
dependant  on  good  gates,  other  attractions  being  furnished  to  bring  in 
the  public  and  satisfy  them, — A.  D. 
-  We  learn  with  much  pleasure  chat  Mr.  Martin  John  Sutton  of 
Reading  has  been  appointed  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Oxfordshire. 
-  French  Honeysuckle. — This  is  the  odd  name  applied  to  a 
papilionaceous  plant  found  in  gardens  occasionally,  the  real  or  botanical 
name  of  which  is  Hedysarum  coronarium.  It  is  like  a  coarse  Sainfoin, 
grows  to  a  height  of  about  30  inches,  and  has  spikes  of  deep  red  flowers. 
It  does  not  seem  to  be  common,  but  is  well  known  to  hardy  plantsmen. 
I  found  it  the  other  day  in  a  cottage  garden  at  Clandon,  where  it  was 
very  attractive.  Calling  it  a  Honeysuckle  is,  however,  most  misleading, 
as  persons  seeing  it  so  named  in  catalogues  might  naturally  assume  that 
it  was  a  real  sweet-scented,  hard  wooded  climber.  That  it  is  a  pretty 
and  sturdy  growing  border  plant  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  that  is 
all.— D. 
- Outdoor  Grapes. — Although  the  halcyon  day  of  good  out¬ 
door  Grapes,  that  is  if  they  ever  were  good,  are  not  likely  to  return 
to  us,  yet  this  warm  season  has  demonstrated  so  far  how  possible  it  is 
with  common  hardy  varieties  to  have  Vines  not  only  in  capital  condition 
on  house  walls,  but  also  carrying  large  crops  of  fruit.  So  far  as  I  have 
seen  such  Vines  this  year,  where  they  have  been  well  cared  for,  there 
seems  to  be  every  prospect  of  their  carrying  an  abundance  of  well- 
ripened  bunches  next  autumn.  In  certain  districts  of  Surrey  such 
Vines  are  frequently  found.  It  is  very  likely  that  were  the  walls  so 
occupied  but  covered  with  large  Apricot  or  Marie  Louise  Pear  trees,  the 
product  would  be  more  profitable,  but  the  Vine  none  the  less  does  make 
a  pleasing  wall  covering. — A. 
—  Soluble  Paraffin  Insecticide— Telola.— A  short  time 
ago  we  were  asked  by  “E.  J.  W.”  if  we  knew  anything  about  this 
insecticide.  He  was  informed  on  page  22,  July  2nd,  that  we  knew  a 
little  and  expected  to  know  more.  We  are  now  able  to  say  that  it  has 
been  subjected  to  repeated  trials  against  different  kinds  of  insects  on 
various  kinds  of  plants  and  trees.  The  result  is  that  it  has  destroyed  all 
the  insects  that  were  reached  by  it — American  blight,  red  spider,  and 
aphides— and  this  without  leaving  any  deposit  on  the  foliage  or  injuring 
in  the  least  the  tenderest  growths.  It  was  used  in  exact  accordance 
with  the  directions  of  the  vendors.  A  correspondent  who  is  troubled 
with  insects  on  his  Chrysanthemums  should  try  this  preparation, 
experimenting  on  two  or  three  plants  at  first,  and  let  Us  know  the 
results.  It  has  been  recently  advertised; 
- Mushroom  Growing.  —  An  experiment  to  transplant  to 
Germany  the  growing  of  Mushrooms  has  been  made  in  Wiesbaden, 
after  the  method  of  the  Paris  catacombs,  A  large  cellar  under 
storage  rooms  was  fitted  out  for  the  purpose.  The  cellar  is  500  square 
metres,  and  contains  three  times  400  squares  metre  s  of  surface  for 
beds,  as  three  wooden  frames  with  bed  surface  have  been  placed  one 
over  the  other.  The  temperature  is  kept  as  uniformly  as  possible  at 
-}-  15°  Reaumur  (or  662  Fabr.)  during  summer  and  winter.  The 
process  of  growing,  says  the  "  Globe,”  is  as  follows  ; — The  prepared 
horse  manure,  which  has  to  ferment,  is  packed  into  the  beds  on 
wood  frames  in  the  cellar,  then  the  Mushroom  spawn  is  embedded 
into  the  horse  manure,  and  is  left  untouched  fcr  thiee  weeks,  until 
the  seedlings  appear  to  view.  Then  a  layer  of  earth  is  placed  over 
them,  and  the  entire  mass  is  kept  damp  by  watering,  and  after  a 
fortnight  the  picking  can  begin.  Through  a  varying  course  of  pro¬ 
cedure  the  daily  picking  amounts  to  about  25  lbs.  Whether  the 
quality  of  these  Mushrooms  come  up  to  the  standard  of  the  French 
is  not  yet  known. 
-  Shirley  Gardeners’  Association.— The  monthly  meeting 
was  held  on  the  13th  inat.,  at  the  Parish  Room,  Shirley,  Southampton, 
when  the  President  presided  over  an  excellent  attendance  of  the 
members.  Mr,  J.  Jones  of  The  Gardens,  Terrace  House,  Polygon,  gave 
a  paper  on  the  “  Culture  of  the  Cyclamen.”  On  Monday,  the  20bh  inst,, 
the  members  to  the  number  of  about  seventy  had  tteir  second  annual 
outing,  the  places  selected  being  Hampton  Court  and  Messrs.  J.  Veitch 
and  Sons’  nurseries,  Chelsea.  A  special  train  conveyed  the  party  to 
Surbiton,  where  they  w6re  met  by  Mr.  A.  Dean,  who  generously  placed 
three  omnibuses  at  the  disposal  of  the  party  to  Hampton  Court.  After 
looking  over  the  Court  and  gardens  the  members  took  rail  to  Chelsea, 
were  they  were  received  by  Mr.  Smith  of  Messrs.  Veitch  &  Sons,  and 
every  assistance  was  given  the  party  to  inspect  the  splendid  collection 
in  the  houses  of  the  firm.  After  the  inspection  the  members  were  enter¬ 
tained  by  Mr.  Smith  on  behalf  of  the  firm,  and  a  very  hearty  vote  of  thanks 
was  accorded  to  Messrs.  Veitch  &  Sons  for  their  kindness.  The  members 
then  dispersed,  and  spent  the  remaining  part  of  the  day  in  London, 
returning  from  Waterloo  by  special  train  at  12.16  midnight. 
