422 
JOUniVAL  OF  HORTTCULTURF  A^D  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
-  Gardening  Appointments. — Mr.  Alfred  Swanwick,  late 
Roby  Hall  Gardena,  Liverpool,  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  to 
W.  Lee  Pilkington,  Esq.,  Edenhurst,  Roby,  Liverpool.  Mr.  J.  Watson, 
Sea  View  Gardens,  Sunderland,  goes  to  Ashbourne  Hall,  Sunderland,  the 
residence  of  Mrs.  Backhouse,  in  a  similar  capacity. 
-  A  Flower  Parcels  Post. — The  suggestion  made  by  Lord 
Winchehea  on  behalf  of  his  Agricnltural  Produce  Association  to  the 
Postmaster  General,  that  produce,  flowers  especially,  might  be  sent  per 
parcels  post  in  larger  parcels  and  at  lower  rates  than  now  exist,  would, 
if  carried  out,  so  far  affect  trade  generally  that,  seeing  every  description 
of  produce  or  goods  would  be  sent  through  such  agency,  it  is  difficult  to 
perceive  how  the  products  of  the  land  alone  would  benefit,  and  that  is, 
no  doubt,  Lord  Winchelsea’s  object.  But,  after  all,  are  not  flowers,  as 
well  as  other  produce,  capable  of  being  sent  in  larger  quantities  as 
cheaply,  if  not  more  so,  and  more  expeditiously,  suffering  far  less  damage 
if  sent  per  rail  rather  than  per  post?  Certainly  experience  of  the 
parcels  post ’s  not  favourable,  but  per  rail  it  is  surprising  how  fresh  and 
good  things  soon  come  to  hand. — D. 
-  The  Weather. — After  enjoying  two  or  three  really  fine  dry 
days  with  lower  temperature,  leading  to  the  hope  that  continued  dry 
cool  weather  would  run  through  November,  and  t^us  give  a  fine,  hard, 
dry  exhibition  season,  it  was  disappointing  on  Saturday  last  to  find  the 
wind  had  veered  round  to  the  old  wet  quarter,  and  that  rain  during  the 
day  and  night  came  down  in  occasional  torrents.  Such  a  change  is  very 
distressing  to  everyone,  for  it  once  more  stops  good  work  on  the  soil, 
checks  planting,  the  most  important  work  of  the  autumn,  prevents  the 
getting  up  of  late  Potatoes,  and  is  as  bad  as  well  can  be  for  growers  of 
exhibition  Chrysanthemums.  Damping  must  be  giving  great  trouble  in 
such  weather.  It  seems  now  utterly  impossible  to  indicate  whether  we 
shall  have  a  soft  wet  winter  or  a  hard  dry  one.  Such  a  winter  as  the 
preceding  one  was  seems  too  good  to  hope  for. — D. 
-  Death  of  Dr.  H.  Trimen. — We  regret  to  announce  the 
death  of  Dr.  Henry  Trimen,  F.R.S.,  F.L.S.,  for  many  years  Director  of 
the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Ceylon.  He  was  born  in  London  in 
184.S,  was  educated  at  King’s  College,  and  graduated  M.B.  at  the 
University  of  London  in  18t)5.  For  a  time  he  was  Curator  at  the 
Anatomical  Museum  of  King’s  College,  and  lecturer  on  botany  at  St. 
Mary’s  Hospital  Medical  School.  Entering  the  Botanical  Department 
of  the  British  Museum  as  Senior  Assistant  in  1869,  he  held  that 
post  for  ten  years.  In  1880  he  was  appointed  Director  of  the 
Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Ceylon,  which  appointment  he  only  quite 
recently  resigned.  Dr.  Trimen  was  Editor  of  the  “  Journal  of  Botany,” 
1872-79  ;  and  he  was  the  author  of  “  Flora  of  Middlesex  ”  (written  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Thiselton  Dyer) ;  of  the  botanical  portion  of 
”  Medicinal  Plants,”  a  work  in  four  volumes,  published  1875-80  ;  of  a 
“  Systematic  Catalogue  of  the  Plants  of  Ceylon,”  1885 ;  and  of  a 
"  Handbook  of  the  Flora  of  Ceylon,”  1893.  He  was  likewise  the  author 
of  numerous  papers  in  the  transactions  of  various  learned  and  scientific 
societies. 
—  -  Violas  for  Bedding  Purposes.— At  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Devon  and  Exeter  Gardeners’  Association  at  the  Exeter  Guildhall,  Mr. 
W.  Andrews  read  for  Mr.  J.  W.  Moorman  (Superintendent,  Victoria 
Park,  London)  an  interesting  and  practical  paper  on  the  above  subject. 
The  paper  made  special  reference  to  their  adaptability  for  association 
with  other  plants,  and  the  essayist  claimed  for  the  Viola  that  for  beauty, 
fragrance,  brilliancy,  and  diversity  of  colours  it  stood  in  the  first  rank 
of  decorative  plants.  About  six  species  of  the  genus  Viola  were 
indigenous,  and  distributed  generally  over  the'  British  Isles,  but  the 
parents  of  our  present  selection  were  principally  confined  to  V.  tricolor 
and  V.  lutea.  He  knew  of  no  other  plant  which  with  such  a  small 
amount  of  labour  brought  about  such  excellent  results.  They  were 
equally  well  adapted  for  small  as  for  large  gardens,  and  could  be  grown 
quite  as  well  by  the  amateur  enthusiast  as  by  the  professional  gardener. 
They  would  be  found  equally  as  useful  for  massing  in  large  beds,  for 
planting  in  borders  or  lines,  or  for  mixing  among  ordinary  bedding 
plants.  For  mixing  with  other  plants  he  held  strongly  to  the  opinion 
that  the  self-coloured  varieties  were  the  most  suitable.  For  success 
there  were  four  grand  principles  to  be  observed— 1,  Obtain  the  best  and 
freest  blooming  sorts,  not  necessarily  the  newest  kinds ;  2,  a  good 
rich  and  deeply  dug  soil ;  3,  always  plant  out  young  stock  raised  by 
annual  propagation,  as  he  attributed  many  failures  to  old  plants ;  and 
4,  always  choose  a  fresh  position  and  soil  for  planting  out  each  year. 
Mr.  Moorman  treated  at  length  on  the  raising  of  stock  by  the  propaga¬ 
tion  of  cuttings. 
Octobfei  29,  1896 
- Worm-eating  Slugs.  —  Mr.  Wilfred  Mark  Webb,  F.L.S., 
Eilerie,  Crescent  Road,  Brentwood,  Essex  (Editor  of  the  “  Journal  of 
Malacology  ”),  is  desirous  of  obtaining  living  specimens  of  worm-eating 
slugs  (Testacellse),  so  as  to  add  to  the  records  he  has  of  the  distribution 
of  these  animals  in  the  British  Isles. 
-  Pruning  Fruit  Trees— County  Council  Teaching. — At 
a  recent  meeting  of  the  Birmingham  Gardeners’  Association  some 
erroneous  teaching  on  the  pruning  of  fruit  trees  by  a  County  Council 
teacher  was  discussed.  Mr.  John  Hughes,  the  Secretary,  strongly 
animadverted  upon  the  appointment  of  persons  who  are  not  good  all¬ 
round  practitioners  of  the  subjects  required  by  County  Councils,  and  of 
which  he  could  name  more  than  one  instance.  Among  other  things  one 
such  teacher  advised  his  audience  to  grow  Tomatoes  in  trenches  manured 
as  if  for  Celery  I 
-  The  Hessle  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Society. 
— A  meeting  of  the  above  Society  was  held  on  Tuesday,  October  20th, 
when  a  paper  was  read  by  Mr.  Akester,  gardener  to  Captain  Goddard, 
North  Ferriby,  on  ”  Birds  that  are  Injurious  and  Beneficial  to  Gardens.” 
Mr.  Akester  described  the  habits,  haunts,  and  plumage  of  all  common 
birds  that  are  found  locally  in  gardens,  and  illustrated  his  lecture  with 
upwaids  of  forty  different  specimens  of  eggs  of  birds.  A  certificate  of 
merit  was  awarded  a  good  variety  of  Cattleya  labiata,  exhibited  by 
Mr,  Lead  better,  gardener  to  A.  Wilson,  Esq.,  Tranby  Croft. — F.  L.  T. 
-  Runner  Beans. — The  remarkable  persistence  which  most 
varieties  of  runner  Beans  show,  when  staked  well  and'grown  well  and 
thinly,  in  fruiting  up  to  the  latest  possible  period  in  the  autumn,  is 
doubtless  to  a  large  extent  due  to  the  full  exposure  and  consequent 
healthy  development  of  leafage,  which  the  climbing  habits  of  the  plants 
encourage.  Where  dwarf  Beans  are  grown,  even  under  the  best  con¬ 
ditions,  these  bush  forms  naturally  compel  much  of  the  foliage  to  be 
shaded  or  weakened.  Hence  not  only  is  such  leafage  the  more  readily 
susceptible  to  insect  attacks,  but  it  is  less  capable  of  performing  natural 
functions  than  is  foliage  that  is  more  thinly  placed  and  fully  exposed  to 
light  and  air.  But  when  it  is  desired  to  have  runner  Beans  fruiting 
very  late,  it  is  better  on  the  whole  to  make  a  late  sowing  for  that  special 
purpose,  as  when  cooler  temperature  and  wind  and  rain  come  fertilisa¬ 
tion  is  less  likely  to  result  on  plants  somewhat  exhausted  by  previous 
heavy  production  than  is  the  case  with  plants  still  in  full  vigour. — A.  D- 
-  Forests  of  Russia. — The  forests  of  Russia,  exclusive  of  those 
of  Central  Asia,  Caucasia,  and  Finland,  extend  over  a  apace  of  478,000,000 
acres,  or  about  40  per  cent,  of  the  total  area  of  the  empire  in  Europe. 
This  amounts  to  about  5  acres  to  each  inhabitant,  which  might  suffice  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  country  in  this  respect  if  the  ratio  of  the 
forest  to  the  population  were  uniform.  *  But  in  reality  in  the  densely 
populated  regions  of  southern  Russia  woodlands  are  scarce,  while  in  the 
four  most  northern  provinces  there  are  nearly  70  acre?  of  forest  to  each 
inhabitant.  The  disadvantages  of  this  unequal  disposition  of  the  forest 
are  aggravated  by  the  immense  distances  which  separate  the  thinly 
wooded  districts  of  the  south  from  the  rich  forests  of  the  north,  by  the 
lack  of  water  communication  and  the  cost  of  carriage  by  rail.  Plans 
for  reforesting  parts  of  the  denuded  area  are  therefore  under  consider¬ 
ation  by  the  Government,  and  since  private  owners  cannot  be  trusted 
to  look  forward  to  future  supplies  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  empire  will 
assume  the  guardianship  and  administration  of  these  forests. — (”  Garden 
and  Forest.”) 
- Cross  Fertilisation. — An  interesting  note  on  the  influence 
of  the  male  parent  in  crossing  varieties  of  Carnations  appears  in  the 
August  number  of  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society. 
Evidence  in  favour  of  this  prepotency  is  afforded  by  experiments, 
earried  out  by  Mr.  Martin  Smith,  on  the  fertilisation  of  ”  Germania.” 
This  is  a  flower  of  strong  individuality,  yet,  says  Mr.  Smith,  “  Ger¬ 
mania  (yellow)  is  swamped  by  the  prepotency  of  the  pollen  parent 
in  the  great  majority  of  cases.  I  hardly  ever  get  a  yellow  worth 
having  ;  but  when  I  do  I  find  them,  as  a  rule,  pure  reproductions 
on  a  most  feeble  scale  of  the  mother ;  and  I  always  regard  them  as 
products  of  Germania  fertilised  by  pollen  of  flowers  on  the  same  plant, 
or  from  one  in  the  immediate  vicinity.”  On  the  other  hand,  when  the 
pollen  of  Germania  was  used  to  fertilise  other  plants,  extremely  few 
yellow  flowers  resulted  from  the  cross.  It  seems  to  be  easy  enough  in  a 
cross  for  other  colours  to  overcome  yellow,  but  difficult  for  yellow  to  be 
masterful.  Mr.  Smith  adds  the  interesting  fact  that  when  he  crossed 
violent  contrasts  of  colour,  such  as  purple  and  yellow,  or  scarlet  and 
yellow,  a  large  proportion  of  white  flowers  appeared  among  the 
offspring. 
