146 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  12,  1897. 
-  Abbey  Park  Show,  Leicester. — An  interesting  ceremony 
took  place  in  connection  with  the  above  last  week,  when  Mr.  Alfred 
Ontram,  F.R.  H.S.,  presented  to  Mrs.  J.  Burn,  the  wife  of  the  much 
respected  carator,  a  valuable  gold  watch  and  chain,  in  appreciation  of 
her  great  attention  and  kindness  to  horticulturists  for  many  years. 
The  amount  was  subscribed  for  by  the  judges,  exhibitors,  and  other 
horticultural  friends,  and  came  as  a  most  agreeable  surprise  to  the 
recipent. 
-  Hemp  Cultivation  in  Bologna. — One  of  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  agricultural  products  of  the  provinces  of  Bologna  and  Ferrara  is 
Hemp  (Cannabis  saliva).  Bologna  Hemp  is  generally  manufactured 
into  yarns  and  canvas.  The  Ferrara  quality  is  principally  used  for  rope 
making.  The  former  is  a  finer  fibre  than  the  latter,  but  not  so  strong  ; 
they  are  both,  however,  held  in  high  esteem  in  textile  centres  abroad, 
according  to  the  United  States  Consular  Agent  at  Bologna,  chiefly 
in  Germany,  France,  and  Spain.  The  cultivation  of  Hemp  has  greatly 
developed  in  Bologna  and  Ferrara  owing  to  the  favourable  conditions  of 
the  climate  and  soil,  which  are  not  easily  fonnd  in  other  countries. 
Hemp  may  be  cultivated  between  the  Equator  and  GO®  latitude 
Chemically  the  land  must  be  siliceous,  argillaceous,  calcareous,  and 
richinizote.  Physically  it  must  be  soft,  fresh,  and  deep.  In  addition 
the  land  must  be  abundantly  manured.  Sowing  generally  takes  place 
in  the  spring,  owing  to  the  necessity  of  a  temperature  of  4:6  4°Fahr., 
and  a  moderate  degree  of  humidity.  It  is  preferable  to  sow  by  machine, 
this  system  saving  seed,  and  the  sowing  being  much  more  regular.  The 
land  must  be  previously  deeply  ploughed.  After  sowing  the  land 
requires  to  be  hoed ;  and  much  other  work  is  necessary,  such  as  the 
extirpation  of  weeds,  in  order  to  obtain  an  abundant  crop.  The 
crop  ripens  in  August  or  September,  according  to  the  weather.  It  con¬ 
sists  of  stalks  about  3  metres  long.  These  stalks  are  placed  in  bundles 
and  put  into  ponds  expressly  constructed,  where  they  remain  about  a 
week.  They  are  then  dried  and  scutched  by  means  of  a  complicated 
process,  which  produces  the  fibre  ready  for  market.— (“  Journal  of  the 
Society  of  Arts.”) 
-  Edinburgh  School  of  Rural  Economy. — The  prospectus 
of  the  Edinburgh  School  of  Rural  Economy  for  the  session  1897-98  has 
now  been  issued.  Under  the  care  of  an  influential  Board  of  Management, 
appointed  jointly  by  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  the  Highland  and 
Agricultural  Society,  the  Edinburgh  Town  Council,  and  the  County 
Council  of  Mid-Lothian,  these  classes  have  met  with  great  success,  and 
have  been  highly  appreciated.  In  each  of  the  last  two  years  over  200 
students  attended  the  classes.  The  courses  of  instruction  arranged  for 
the  sessicn  1897-98  are  similar  to  those  of  last  year.  Their  main  features 
*16  : — 1,  A  two  years’  curriculum  of  day  classes  in  agriculture  and  allied 
sciences  ;  2,  a  course  of  day  lectures  on  forestry  in  the  University  ; 
3,  an  extensive  series  of  evening  classes  on  agriculture  and  allied  sciences, 
embracing  horticulture  and  forestry  ;  and  4,  the  usual  summer  vacation 
classes  for  schoolmasters,  which  have  been  well  attended.  The  day 
classes  extend  over  two  sessions,  each  beginning  in  October  and  ending 
in  March.  It  is  expected  that  those  entering  for  these  classes  will  have 
previously  completed  a  good  general  school  training.  The  work  of  the 
first  session,  embracing  mensuration,  mechanics,  elementary  physics  and 
chemistry,  botany,  book-keeping,  drawing,  and  handicraft,  practically 
completes  the  preliminary  education  of  the  student,  and  gives  him  an 
adequate  knowledge  of  the  elements  of  the  sciences  that  have  a  direct 
bearing  on  agriculture.  At  the  same  time  his  interest  in  the  practical 
aspect  of  his  work  is  maintained  by  such  class  exercises  as  those  in 
measuring  buildings  and  fields,  in  making  drawings  of  these  to  scale,  in 
woodwork,  and  in  the  application  of  physics  in  agriculture.  The  subjects 
of  study  in  the  second  session  are  agriculture,  agricultural  chemistry, 
botany,  zoology,  and  entomology,  veterinary  science,  and  forestry.  The 
complete  course  thus  aims  at  fitting  a  young  man  to  enter  with  intel¬ 
ligence  into  his  work  as  a  farmer,  a  gardener,  or  a  forester.  It  should 
enable  him  to  understand  the  greater  part  of  the  work  that  he  will  see 
in  practice,  and  to  study  for  himself  any  special  subject  that  he  may 
afterwards  find  to  be  of  importance  to  him,  A  student  who  has  satis¬ 
factorily  completed  the  two  years’  course  of  study,  and  who  has  had 
the  required  experience  of  practical  work  on  the  farm  or  in  the  forest, 
should  find  himself  sufficiently  prepared  for  the  examination  for  the 
diploma  of  the  Highland  and  Agricultural  Society.  Numerous  and 
varied  evening  classes  are  provided  for  those  who  are  otherwise  engaged 
during  the  day.  A  specially  moderate  scale  of  fees  has  been  arranged. 
This  will  be  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  inclusive  fee  for  the 
first  year’s  entire  course  in  agriculture  is  5  guineas.  Copies  of  the 
Syllabus  are  to  be  had  from  the  Secretary,  3,  George  IV.  Bridge, 
Edinburgh, 
-  Huyton  Show. — In  our  report  of  the  Huy  ton  and  Roby  Show 
in  last  week’s  issue  Mr.  Oldham  was  credited  with  having  won  first  prize 
in  all  Grape  classes,  whereas  the  winner  for  Black  Hamburghs  was  Mr: 
Eaton,  gardener  to  Jno.  Farrington,  Esq.,  Roby  Mount,  Roby,  Mr. 
Oldham  being  second. 
-  Weather  in  South  Wales. — The  following  is  a  summary 
of  the  weather  here  for  the  past  month  : — Rainfall,  2*29  inches ;  greatest 
fall,  1  06  inch  on  the  25th.  Number  of  days  on  which  rain  fell,  eleven. 
Maximum  temperature,  98°  on  the  11th.  Mean  maximum  for  the 
month,  79  9°  ;  mean  minimum  for  the  month,  47'9°,  with  a  minimum  of 
34°  on  the  7th.  The  wind  was  in  the  W.  and  S.W,  for  twenty-three 
days.  Very  cold  winds  the  beginning  of  the  month,  but  the  latter  part 
has  been  very  hot  and  dry. — W.  M Abbott,  Vowlais. 
-  The  Weather  Last  Month.— July  gave  us  more  sunshine 
than  usual,  also  a  heavy  thunderstorm  on  the  2Gth,  which  measured 
1'28  inch  of  rain  in  an  hour  and  a  half.  This  is  the  largest  amount  regis¬ 
tered  here  for  one  day  since  October  2nd,  1892.  The  wind  was  in  a 
northerly  direction  nineteen  days.  Total  rainfall,  1‘70  inch  ;  this  fell 
on  eight  days,  and  is  1'12  inch  below  the  average  for  the  month,  the 
greatest  daily  fall  being  1 '28  inch  on  the  26th.  Barometer  (corrected 
and  reduced)  ;  highest  reading,  30’390  inches  on  the  11th  at  9  A.M.  ; . 
lowest,  29’614  inches  on  the  20th  at  9  A.M.  Thermometer  :  highest  in 
shade,  83°  on  24th  ;  lowest,  42°  on  8th  and  11th.  Mean  of  daily  maxima, 
71'96°  ;  mean  of  daily  minima,  filHG'’.  Mean  temperature  of  the  month, 
61'56°  ;  lowest  on  grass,  37°  on  the  8th ;  highest  in  sun,  145°  on  the  12tb. 
Mean  of  earth  at  3  feet,  59'22°.  Total  sunshine,  217  hours  5  minutes. 
There  was  one  sunless  day. — W.  H.  Divers,  Belvoir  Castle  Gardens, 
Grantham, 
-  A  Darwin  Memorial.— Shrewsbury  was  en  fete  on  Tuesday 
on  the  occasion  of  the  unveiling  of  a  memorial  statue  to  the  late  Charles 
Darwin  on  a  site  in  front  of  the  Free  Library  (formerly  the  old  school 
where  he  was  educated)  given  by  the  Corporation.  The  statue,  which 
coit  £1000,  is  the  gift  of  the  Shropshire  Horticultural  Society,  whose 
President,  Lord  Kenyon,  unveiled  it  at  noon  in  the  presence  of  a  dis¬ 
tinguished  company.  The  statue  is  beautifully  executed  in  bronze  by 
Mr.  Horace  Montford,  who,  like  Mr.  Darwin,  was  born  in  Shrewsbury, 
The  work,  which  has  been  excellently  done,  stands  on  a  pedestal  of 
Swedish  granite,  supported  by  steps  of  Dartmoor  grey  granite.  Lord 
Kenyon,  after  a  few  happy  words  as  to  the  occasion  of  the  gathering, 
called  on  the  Mayor  to  take  charge  of  the  statue,  which  the  Horticul¬ 
tural  Society  so  generously  presented  to  the  town.  A  public  luncheon 
followed  in  the  Music  Hall,  presided  over  by  Lord  Kenyon,  and  among 
those  present  were  the  Mayor  and  Mayoress  of  Shrewsbury,  the  Bishop 
of  Shrewsbury,  Sir  Joseph  and  Lady  Hooker,  Professor  Darwin,  F.R  S,, 
Mr.  W.  E.  Darwin,  with  the  Town  Clerk  of  Shrewsbury,  the  architect, 
and  the  Hon.  Secretaries  (Messrs.  Adnitt  and  Naunton)  of  the  Shropshire 
Horticultural  Society. 
-  Destroying  Weevils. — The  recognised  method  of  destroying 
weevils  and  other  seed-infesting  insects  which  cause  serious  loss  to  seed 
and  grains,  both  for  sowing  and  for  food  purposes.  In  the  United  States 
is  to  treat  them  with  the  fumes  of  carbon  bisulphide  at  the  rate  of  1  lb. 
to  100  bushels.  This  chemical  is  a  colourless  liquid,  but  when  exposed 
to  the  air  the  sulphur  and  carbon  separate,  each  uniting  with  the 
oxygen,  forming  a  carbon  oxide  and  sulphur  dioxide,  the  latter 
of  which  is  a  very  poisonous  gas  with  a  disagreeable  odour.  To 
ascertain  whether  seeds  treated  with  this  chemical  lose  their  germinating 
capacity  an  experiment  was  made  by  the  Division  of  Botany  in  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  in  which  seeds  were  exposed  to  a  saturated 
atmosphere  of  carbon  bisulphide  for  forty-eight  hours.  They  were  then 
placed  in  a  germinating  chamber  in  which  check  lots  of  untreated  seed 
were  also  tested.  The  result  was  that  the  germinating  percentages  of 
almost  all  the  seeds  treated  and  untreated  were  the  same,  although 
in  Barley,  Rye,  Wheat,  corn.  Crimson  Clover,  Millet,  and  Rice  this 
extreme  treatment  caused  some  injury.  The  varieties  which  were 
damaged  by  an  exposure  of  forty-eight  hours  were  then  put  to  another 
test  of  twenty-four  hours’  duration,  and  the  result  seems  to  be  that  in 
general  the  seeds  of  Cotton,  Peas,  Beans,  Buckwheat,  Oats,  the  Cabbage 
family,  and  Cow  Peas  will  endure  severe  treatment  with  the  fumes  of 
carbon  bisulphide  without  losing  their  germinating  quality  to  any 
appreciable  extent,  while  on  the  other  hand  seeds  of  corn.  Wheat,  Rye, 
and  crops  belonging  to  the  Grass  family,  except  Kafllr  Corn  and 
Oats,  should  be  treated  with  caution,  since  a  deterioration  in  vitality 
is  likely  to  result  from  excessive  exposure  to  the  gas. — (”  Garden  and 
Forest.”) 
