August !  ,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
.199 
- Foecikg  Tomatoes  in  Barbels.  —  At  the  Agricultural 
Station  Farm  in  Minnesota  Tomatoes  were  grown  in  an  old  sugar 
barrel,  in  the  bottom  of  which  was  a  foot  of  well-decayed  horse  manure. 
The  plants  were  trained  up  the  south  side  of  a  building.  When  plants 
are  grown  in  this  way  they  should  be  near  the  house  so  that  they  may 
be  properly  cared  for,  as  in  dry  weather  they  need  much  water. 
Treated  thus  the  plants  have  good  chances  of  growing  and  ripening  their 
fruit  even  in  very  unfavourable  years,  and  in  very  unfavourable  locations. 
The  soil  in  the  barrel  warms  up  quickly  in  the  spring,  and  when  placed 
against  the  south  side  of  a  building  the  plants  have  the  most  favourable 
conditions  for  ripening  their  fruit.  The  barrel  should  have  plenty  of 
holes  in  it  for  drainage.  Several  barrels  so  treated  will  furnish  quite  a 
supply  of  Tomatoes. 
-  Strawberry  Royal  Sovereign. — It  is  very  evident  that 
this  fine  Strawberry  is  going  to  be  largely  grown  for  the  production  of 
outdoor  fruit.  I  saw  big  plantations  of  it  in  Kent  the  other  day,  and 
Mr.  Cannell,  I  observed,  has  such  faith  in  it  that,  in  his  small  way,  he 
has  6  acres  of  it  at  Eynsford.  He  could,  with  the  stock  he  has,  soon 
plant  60  acres  if  so  disposed.  Yearling  plants  look  wonderfully  well  in 
spite  of  the  dry  season,  and  that  is  a  great  point  in  its  favour.  Breadths 
of  Strawberries  about  Swanley  have  often  been  referred  to.  I  saw 
immense  areas  there  the  other  day,  40  and  50  acres  in  extent.  No  wonder 
Strawberry  culture  is  an  important  industry  in  that  district.  The  odd 
practice  of  sending  the  moulding  or  double-ridge  plough  along  between 
the  rows  of  plants  soon  after  the  fruit  is  gathered  seems  inexplicable, 
especially  that  it  exposes  so  large  a  surface  of  the  soil  to  evaporation. 
'I  believe  the  ridges  are  left  till  the  spring,  when  they  are  levelled. — D. 
-  Open  Spaces  in  St.  Panckas. — According  to  a  report  just 
issued,  St.  Pancras,  taken  as  a  whole,  seems  happily  endowed  with  open 
spaces.  In  the  Kentish  Town  sub-district,  where  the  density  of  persons 
per  acre  is  fifty-nine,  there  are  Parliament  Fields,  with  its  267  acres, 
2  roods  ;  Waterlow  Park,  29  acres ;  Highgate  Cemetery,  38  acres  ;  Pond 
Square,  Highgate,  3  roods,  20  poles  ;  and  several  smaller  open  spaces.  In 
the  Regent’s  Park  sub-district,  where  the  density  of  population  to  acreage 
is  eighty-seven.  Primrose  Hill  Park  and  Regent’s  Park  combined  provide  a 
breathing  ground  of  400  acres.  Camden  Town  has  St,  Martin’s  Gardens 
and  St.  Pancras  Gardens,  together  yielding  6  acres  4  roods  of  open  space. 
The  density  of  persons  to  acre  in  this  sub-district  is  ninety.  Turning 
to  Somers  Town,  where  the  density  of  population  to  acreage  is  181,  it  is 
found  that  its  inhabitants,  in  the  possession  of  St.  James’s  Gardens,  have 
only  an  open  space  of  2  acres,  2  roods,  31  poles  secure  for  ever  against 
'  building  operations.  Tottenham  Court  sub-district  claims  for  its  own 
Whitfield  Burial  Ground.  This  division  of  St.  Pancras  has  relatively  to 
each  acre  183  inhabitants.  Finally  the  Gray’s  Inn  Lane  sub-district, 
with  a  density  of  persons  per  acre  of  178,  possesses  two  burial  grounds 
laid  out  as  recreation  places,  which  combined  are  not  4  acres  in  extent. 
-  Pelargoniums  at  Swanley. — It  is  not  possible  to  notice  at 
flower  shows  the  comparative  neglect  shown  to  Zonal  and  Ivy-leaf 
Pelargoniums  without  feeling  deep  regret.  They  make  not  only  some  of 
the  most  effective  of  show  plants,  but  also  some  of  the  most  useful  for 
decoration  at  home.  I  do  not  think  one-half  so  much  of  the  large- 
•  flowered  or  Fancy  sections,  beautiful  as  they  are,  as  I  do  of  the  sections 
I  have  mentioned.  When  the  other  day  looking  through  the  really 
marvellous  collections  of  these  which  Messrs.  Cannell  &  Sons  have  at 
Swanley,  where  they  seem  to  be  in  perpetual  bloom,  I  could  but  think 
a  sight  of  these  by  gardeners  and  amateurs  generally  would  wonderfully 
stimulate  their  culture.  The  effect  on  me  was  to  create  an  intense 
desire  to  grow  many  of  them  as  specimen  plants,  a  desire  that  cannot 
now  be  gratified.  One  need  not  have  a  single  variety  in  the  Zonals 
that  is  old,  they  come  new  so  rapidly  and ,  what  is  more,  so  varied  and 
beautiful,  that  old  sorts  are  quite  knocked  out  of  time.  There  are  iu 
both  double  and  single  Zonals  new  features  developing.  Some  have  on 
the  bases  of  the  upper  petals  orange  tints  like  we  see  in  Rhododendron 
flowers.  Others  are  developing  little  clusters  of  spots  which  it  is 
expected  will  in  their  progeny  develop  into  blotches.  Some  have  flowers 
BO  large  that  even  Mr.  CannelTs  watch  laid  over  them  still  left  a  margin 
of  petal  beyond.  Colours,  too,  are  indescribable  and  exquisitely  beautiful. 
The  darks  are  most  lustrous  and  rich,  the  softer  tints  charming,  the  whites 
pure  as  snow.  All  seem  to  be  first-rate  bloomers.  It  is  only  when 
looking  over  a  great  collection  such  as  at  Swanley,  literally  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  world,  that  we  can  see  the  nature  of  the  development  iu 
progress  in  double  and  single  Zonals  and  Ivy-leaf  Pelargoniums.  I 
propose  to  give  later  some  selections  I  made  to  my  own  taste.  I  could 
wish  that  the  love  for  these  superb  flowering  plants  might  once  more 
'  be  aroused  to  a  worthy  pitch  of  enthusiasm. — A.  D. 
-  Purchase  of  Manures.  —  The  necessity  of  purchasing 
manures  under  guarantee  and  of  checking  the  analysis  given  by  the 
vendors  is  shown  in  the  report  to  the  Leicester  County  Council  by  Dr. 
Bernard  Dyer,  the  County  Analyst,  Dr.  Dyer  refers  to  two  samples  of 
manure  sold  in  the  county  at  £5  lOs,  and  £4  respectively,  which  proved 
in  each  case  to  be  worth  not  more  than  a  few  shillings.  Only  1  per  cent, 
of  phosphate  of  lime  and  a  small  fraction  of  ammonia  were  present  in 
the  samples.  The  substance  was  in  one  case  sold  as  bone  compound,  and 
in  the  other  simply  as  manure.  In  the  former  case  the  name  was  a  mis¬ 
description,  and  in  the  latter  the  vendor  infringed  the  Act  of  Parliament, 
which  prescribes  that  the  invoice  shall  specify  the  per-centages  of  the 
various  fertilising  constituents  present.  In  these  cases  the  purchasers 
were  wise  enough  to  submit  the  substances  to  the  County  Analyst,  but 
the  fact  that  it  is  possible  to  induce  farmers  to  buy  worthless  substances 
indicates  a  want  of  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  farming  community  of 
one  of  the  most  important  matters  to  which  the  cultivator  must  give  his 
attention. 
-  The  Oak-leaved  Hydrangea. — Our  native  Hydrangea 
quercifolia  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  genus,  although  the  large- 
flowered  panicled  Hydrangea  from  Japan  is  much  more  often  seen  in 
American  gardens.  Oar  native  species  resembles  in  its  mode  of 
flowering  H.  paniculata  rather  than  its  variety  grandifiora,  having  a 
long  thyrsoid  panicle  which  carries  on  spreading  branches  a  few  clusters 
of  perfect  flowers  and  large  sterile  flowers  at  their  extremities,  which 
change  slowly  from  white  to  a  dull  red.  The  Oak-leaved  Hydrangea  is 
a  good  shrub  here  all  the  year  around,  and  in  autumn  its  deep  plum- 
coloured  foliage  is  very  attractive.  In  Georgia  and  Florida,  where  it  is 
found  wild,  it  reaches  a  height  .of  15  feet  and  becomes  almost  tree¬ 
shaped.  Here  it  is  rarely  more  than  4  feet  high,  a  broad  spreading 
graceful  shrub,  which  flowers  every  year.  It  is  not  reliably  hardy  much 
north  of  this  latitude,  but  another  native,  H.  radiata,  found  in  the 
Appalachian  region  of  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  endures  even  New 
England  winters,  and  it  is  a  striking  shrub  for  the  snowy  down  which 
covers  the  under  side  of  its  leaves. — (“Garden  and  Forest.’’) 
-  The  Egyptian  and  Indian  Cottons  are  considered  by  many 
to  be  superior  to  the  varieties  cultivated  in  the  southern  States  of 
America,  That  this  is  so  is  proved  by  the  large  American  importation 
of  staple  from  Egypt  and  India.  Owing  to  the  increasing  importation, 
gays  “  Garden  and  Forest,’’  the  varieties  referred  to  are  being  cultivated 
at  experimental  stations  for  comparison  with  American  kinds.  Of 
course,  nothing  definite  can  be  determined  about  these  plants  until  they 
have  become  acclimatised  by  some  years  of  careful  cultivation.  At 
Auburn,  Alabama,  experiments  have  been  made  in  naturalising  these 
plants  with  the  effort  to  secure  the  best  results,  so  far  as  the  health  of 
the  plant  is  concerned  and  the  soil  and  climate  will  permit,  and  cross¬ 
fertilisation  was  then  tried  in  order  to  unite  the  best  properties  of  the 
foreign  cottons  with  those  of  the  superior  grades  of  American  varieties 
to  produce  an  exceptionally  good  plant.  Last  year  several  hundred 
crosses  were  made  between  American  and  foreign  species,  and  from  the 
seeds  gathered  the  station  has  been  quite  successful  in  growing  these 
cross-bred  plants.  It  is  too  early  to  pronounce  with  definiteness  the 
final  results  of  these  trials,  but  they  will  be  watched  with  interest. 
-  Californian  Bee-keepers,— In  California  bee-keeping  is 
regarded  as  an  industry  worthy  the  fostering  care  of  the  State,  and  the 
yield  of  honey  is  no  mean  factor  in  contributing  to  the  individual  and 
general  wealth.  A  single  bee-keeper  there  has  as  many  as  6000 
colonies,  which  produce  a  total  yield  of  20,000  lbs.  of  honey  in  a  year. 
So  far  as  statistics  are  available,  this  is  the  largest  apiary  in  the  world. 
But  even  in  California  prejudice  is  still  rife,  and  because  of  the 
mistaken  idea  that  the  interests  of  the  bee-keeper  and  those  of  the  fruit 
grower  are  inimical  the  bee-ranches  are  usually  relegated  to  remote 
nooks  among  the  foot-hills  and  in  the  mountain  canons.  The  California 
bee-keeper  is  a  man  who  deserves  more  than  passing  notice.  “  Remote, 
unfriended,  solitary,’’  are  the  words  that  come  to  my  mind  instinctively 
as  I  think  of  the  isolated  huts  upon  the  mountain  side  or  in  some 
narrow  cleft  between  the  hills,  where  I  have  so  often  found  him.  He  is 
always  peculiar,  and  often  a  type  that  would  do  credit  to  Philiscus 
himself.  But  if  yon  can  once  penetrate  through  the  crust  of  the  man, 
pity  for  his  solitary  condition  will  soon  vanish.  The  bees  are  his  friends, 
and  with  them  he  has  little  need  of  mortal  companionship.  Often  he  is 
a  man  who  has  known  the  world  and  who  has  tired  of  it,  and  now,  like 
quaint  old  Zimmermann,  who  had  known  schools  and  courts,  finds  his 
most  keen  delight  in  the  solitude  that  Nature  affords.  He  is  no 
mercenary ;  yet  the  bees  toil  for  him  as  they  would  not  for  any  other, 
and  his  hives  flow  over  with  honey. — (“  Lippincott.’’) 
