July  22.  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
75 
-  Plant  Collecting  in  Asia.— Professor  N,  E.  Hansen,  Horti¬ 
culturist  of  the  United  States  Experiment  Station  of  South  Dakota,  at 
Brookings,  was  recently  appointed  a  special  agent  by  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  to  visit  Eastern  Russia,  Siberia,  and  the  elevated  plateaux  of 
central  Asia,  to  gather  garden,  farm,  fruit,  shrub  and  tree  seeds.  Pro¬ 
fessor  Hansen  states  that  the  few  plants  from  this  dry  inland  European 
region  already  tested  in  South  Dakota,  Manitoba  and  the  north-west 
territory  have  proved  hardy,  and  it  is  his  intention  to  collect  during  the 
present  summer  and  autumn  as  complete  a  representation  of  the  plants 
of  that  region  as  possible. 
-  Dipladenia  boliviensis.  —  This  pretty  stove  plant  is 
perhaps,  the  most  beautiful,  and  certainly  the  most  easily  grown  Dipla¬ 
denia  In  cultivation.  As  it  is  of  free  growth,  and  most  floriferous  in 
character  and  blooms  when  in  quite  a  small  state,  it  differs  from  the 
other  members  of  the  genus  both  as  regards  the  habit  of  the  plant  and 
in  the  colour  of  its  flowers,  which  are  pure  white  with  an  orange 
coloured  throat.  These  are  most  useful  for  cutting  purposes,  lasting  a 
long  time  in  water  or  when  wired  for  wreath  or  bouquet  making,  pro¬ 
vided  a  small  piece  of  damp  moss  be  wired  on  to  the  base  of  the  tube. 
The  Dipladenias  succeed  best  in  pots,  and  require  a  moist  atmosphere 
during  the  season  of  growth  with  abundance  of  heat.  For  training  along 
the  roof  of  the  stove  it  is  unsurpassed. — H.  T.  M.,  Stoneleigh. 
-  Shirley  Gardeners’  Association. — The  monthly  meeting 
took  place  on  the  19th  inst.  at  the  Parish  Room,  Shirley,  Southampton, 
Mr.  B.  Ladhams,  P.R.H.S  ,  presiding  over  a  good  attendance  of  the 
members.  Tbe  subject  of  the  .evening  was  a  Rose  show  and  discussion 
on  the  exhibits  ;  but  owing  to  tbe  exceptionally  hot,  dry  period  Roses  in 
the  district  are  practically  over,  hence  a  small  display  was  the  result. 
There  were  three  prizes  offered  for  twelve  Roses,  Rev.  W.  J.  Rudge  being 
first,  and  also  securing  certificate  for  best  Rose  in  the  show  ;  Mr.  W.  F.  G. 
Spranger  (gardener,  Mr.  H.  Curtis)  being  awarded  second.  There  were 
good  collections,  not  for  competition,  shown  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Rogers,  Red 
Lodge  Nursery,  and  Mr.  B  Ladhams,  Shirley  Nurseries,  ani  a  collection 
of  buttonhole  Teas  by  Mr.  T.  M.  Lord  (gardener,  Mr.  W.  Knapp).  Mr. 
J.  Key  Allen,  F.R.H.S.,  showed  fruit,  Mr.  Curtis  Tomatoes,  Mr.  Jeffrey 
Sweet  Peas,  and  Mr.  Ladhams  a  fine  collection  of  hardy  and  herbaceous 
plants.  The  discussion  was  joined  in  by  a  number  of  the  members,  and 
was  of  an  interesting  and  useful  character.  Votes  of  thanks  to  the 
exhibitors  and  Chairman  closed  the  meeting. 
-  Wakefield  Paxton  Society.  —  The  annual  exhibition  of 
Pelargoniums  was  held  on  Saturday,  10th  inst.,  when  over  seventy 
trusses  of  bloom  were  shown  in  glass  bottles.  It  was  declared  to  be 
a  grand  show,  and  the  best  yet  seen  there.  There  was  an  average 
attendance  of  members.  Lieat.  Goodyear  was  in  the  chair,  and  Mr, 
W.  Hudson,  Sandal  Grange,  in  the  vice-chair.  Mr.  W.  E.  Corden, 
Wakefield,  who  has  often  read  papers  on  these  occasions,  contributed 
a  short  essay  on  the  cultivation  of  the  plant  from  seeds,  in  which  he 
has  been  a  distinguished  specialist.  He  advocated  a  firm  yellow  loam, 
mixed  with  well-decayed  cow  manure,  and  that  the  effort  should  be 
made  to  have  a  bushy  plant,  and  not  one  running  up  like  a  Hop. 
Watering  regularly  prevented  theldoss  of  rootlets,  and  the  pots  should 
be  clean.  He  declared  that  two  of  tbe  specimens  shown  of  white 
double  blooms,  grown  from  his  seed  by  two  members,  were  as  fine  as  any 
in  England.  Mr.  Milnes  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  essayist  in 
some  lengthened  remarks,  with  thanks  also  to  the  exhibitors,  who 
included  Messrs.  Corden,  Moody,  Hudson,  Vere,  Calvert,  and  Thomas. 
-  Plagianthus  Lyalli.— Until  recent  years  this  New  Zealand 
Malvaceous  shrub  was  treated  solely  as  a  greenhouse  plant,  and  even 
now  very  few  gardens  can  boast  a  really  good  specimen  outside.  In  the 
south-western  counties  it  is  perfectly  hardy,  and  attains  a  considerable 
size  if  planted  in  a  sheltered  corner  where  it  will  not  get  cutting  north  or 
east  winds.  About  London  and  further  north  it  is  better  to  give  it  the 
protection  of  a  wall,  as  the  wood  then  becomes  better  ripened  for  the 
winter.  The  flowers  are  produced  during  June  and  July  from  several 
of  the  lower  nodes  of  the  current  season’s  growth.  They  are  pure 
white,  about  1^  inch  across,  and  produced  three  or  four  together  from 
each  node.  The  leaves  are  from  3  to  4  inches  long,  more  or  less  ovate, 
inclined  to  cordate,  with  acuminate  apex  and  deeply  cut  margins. 
Growths  2  to  3  feet  long  are  often  made  during  summer.  These  should 
be  shortened  to  half  that  length  the  following  spring  before  growth 
commences.  A  light  loamy  soil  is  suitable  for  this  plant.  Cuttings  of 
half-ripened  wood  can  be  rooted  if  put  into  sandy  soil  in  a  close  case 
during  July.  Young  plants  should  be  sheltered  in  a  cold  frame  during 
their  first  winter. — D. 
-  The  Garden  Isle. — Mn  C.  Orchard  writes  : — "  We  are 
having  glorious  summer  weather  now,  and  it  is  checking  the  ravages  of 
the  Potato  disease  that  set  in  so  early  throughout  the  Island.  Apples  in 
some  places  are  plentiful,  in  others  very  scarce,  and  this  occurs  in  places 
close  to  each  other.  It  very  much  depended  on  the  condition  and  posi¬ 
tion  of  the  trees  during  the  cold  easterly  winds  that  prevailed  at  the 
time  they  were  in  bloom.  Strawberries  have  been  plentiful.  Plums  and 
Pears  scarce.  The  hay  harvest  is  the  best  for  years.” 
-  Melons. — Although  it  is  admitted  that  in  granting  awards  to 
Melons  it  is  ordinarily  done  in  the  dark  as  to  the  general  merits  of  the 
variety  honoured,  one  thing  is  very  certain — that  is,  that  a  really  good 
Melon  is  a  very  highly  appreciated  fruit.  That  fact,  doubtless,  has  much 
to  do  with  the  practice  of  making  awards  to  single  fruits  of  seedling 
varieties.  Whenever  it  is  the  goodjfortune  of  the  Fruit  Committee  to 
have  before  that  body  a  Melon  that  deserves  an  award  of  merit,  nothing 
is  more  remarkable  than  is  its  quick  vanishing  properties.  Doubtless  it 
is  due  to  its  inherent  goodness,  and  of  the  general  desire  shown  to  taste 
the  rara  avis.  It  is  rather  awkward  for  the  reporters,  no  doubt,  who 
in  seeking  for  the  subject  of  the  award,  find  only  a  plate  and  a  card. 
However,  it  doubtless  gratifies  the  exhibitor  to  thus  note  the  tribute  paid 
to  the  excellence  of  his  ”  fruit.” — A.  D. 
-  Jubilee  Day  in  Rhodesia. — Jubilee  Day  in  Rhodesia  was 
observed  as  a  great  tree-planting  day  in  honour  of  the  Queen  ;  but  it  is 
said  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  celebration  was  that  each  white  man 
who  planted  a  tree  had  himself  to  dig  the  hole  for  it  3  feet  in  diameter, 
and  3  feet  deep.  The  planter  was  allowed  to  obtain  the  help  of  a  friend 
in  this  task,  but  the  essence  of  the  celebration  was  that  the  hole  should 
be  made  by  the  white  planter  himself.  He  was  not  allowed  to  hire  a 
native  to  do  the  work  for  him.  This  labour  was  regarded  as  “  a 
voluntary  act  of  individual  homage  to  the  Queen.”  The  Administrator, 
Lord  Grey,  himself  set  the  example,  and  the  nativss  on  Jubilee  Day  saw 
a  strange  sight — white  men  voluntarily  doing  what  they  contemptuously 
call  ‘‘Kaffir  work”  in  honour  of  the  Great  White  Queen  over  the 
water.  Let  us  hope  it  would  do  them  good. 
_  Uses  of  the  Poppy. — The  Poppy  is  cultivated  for  the  sake 
of  the  opium  which  it  yields.  This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  of 
medicines,  says  an  Irish  contemporary,  and  one  which,  as  a  commercial 
article,  exceeds  in  importance  every  other  drug  in  use.  Opium  is  the 
dried  juice  of  the  unripe  capsules  of  the  white  Poppy.  The  Poppy  is 
also  of  great  value  for  its  oil  and  other  purposes.  The  seeds,  which 
contain  no  opium  or  other  narcotic  principle,  yield  about  40  per 
cent,  of  oil,  and  the  oilcake,  which  is  much  appreciated  by  the  natives 
of  India,  is  useful  for  manure  and  cattle  feeding.  These  seeds  were 
well  known  to  the  ancients  as  a  pleasant  article  of  food,  and  some 
German  cakes  have  Poppy  seeds  plentifully  sprinkled  on  the  top.  The 
oil  expressed  from  them  is  perfectly  wholesome,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
one-half  of  the  oil  used  for  cooking  and  otherwise  for  alimentary 
purposes  in  France  is  of  this  kind.  It  is  a  valuable  and  much  used 
medium  for  artistic  oil  painting.  The  inferior  qualities  are  consumed  in 
soap  and  varnish  making,  and  for  burning  in  lamps.  The  oil  is  also  very 
extensively  used  in  the  valley  of  the  Ganges  and  other  opium  regions 
for  food  and  domestic  purposes. 
_ How  Frost  Affects  Vegetation.— In  his  most  exhaustive 
and  instructive  work,  ‘‘ The  Student’s  Text-book  of  Botany,  Professor 
Vines  gives  an  interesting  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  extreme 
cold  injuriously  affects  vegetation.  Injury  or  death  by  exposure  to  cold 
is  only  induced,  he  says,  when  the  temperature  falls  below  the  freezing 
point.  The  liability  to  injury  from  frost  largely  depends  upon  the 
amount  of  water  contained  in  the  plant.  Dry  seeds  and  the  winter  buds 
of  trees  can  readily  withstand  very  low  temperatures,  but  when  they 
contain  much  water— as  when  the  seeds  are  germinating  or  the  buds 
unfolding — they  become  very  susceptible  to  injury  from  this  cause. 
When  any  part  of  a  plant  which  contains  a  large  proportion  of  water  is 
exposed  to  a  low  temperature  a  portion  of  the  water  contained  in  the 
cells  escapes  from  them  and  gets  frozen  on  their  surface,  the  whole  tissue 
at  the  time  contracting  ;  the  water  does  not  freeze  in  the  interior  of  the 
cells.  The  water  which  has  thus  escaped  and  become  frozen  forms  an 
incrustation  ;  but  it  has  been  found  that  this  formation  of  ice  is  not 
necessarily  fatal  in  all  cases.  If  the  frozen  part  be  slowly  thawed  the 
cells  may  gradually  reabsorb  the  water,  and  so  return  to  their  previous 
normal  condition.  If,  however,  the  frozen  part  is  rapidly  thawed  the 
cells  cannot  absorb  the  water  with  sufficient  rapidity,  and  it  therefore 
either  collects  in  the  intercellular  spaces,  causing  discolouration  and 
decay,  or  runs  off  and  evaporates,  so  that  the  part  dries  up. 
