November  4,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
429 
one  stalk  begin  with  the  top  one  and  work  their  way  downwards, 
’whereas  bees  begin  at  the  bottom  and  work  upwards.  Why  they 
choose  to  do  this  is  one  of  the  many  things  I  do  not  know,  but  as  the 
Figwort  anthers  ripen  before  the  stigmas,  it  follows  that  the  Avasj) 
coming  in  laden  with  pollen  from  another  flower  fertilises  the  young 
flower,  and  visiting  the  older  flowers  last,  carries  off  from  them  fully 
matured  pollen  to  again  fertilise  the  younger  flowers  of  the  next  bunch, 
which  is  a  decided  advantage.  Does  the  wasp  know  and  adapt  its 
visitation  to  the  needs  of  the  plant,  or  has  the  plant  been  cute  enough 
to  observe  the  ways  of  wasps  and  hold  out  special  attractions  to 
them  ?  I  am  afraid  I  shall  have  to  add  this  to  the  things  I  do  not 
know. 
I  may  as  well  also  confess  I  do  not  know  why  our  common  Milk¬ 
wort  should  keep  a  sort  of  miniature  public-house.  The  five  stamens 
and  the  umbrella  or  disc  over  them  look  very  like  a  barrel,  and  the 
doors  are  open  to  all  comers.  Flies  of  many  kinds  and  moths  come  in 
and  have  a  drink,  and  as  some  have  to  pawn  their  legs  or  wings  for  it, 
one  almost  wonders  if  the  flower  is  strictly  respectable.  These  legs  are 
no  use  to  it,  however,  and  wasps  seem  to  be  able  to  tap  the  liquors  and 
get  away  without  paying  anything,  but  when  the  rightful  guest,  a 
bee,  comes  in  and  gets  his  feet  fast  in  the  sticky  mass  round  the  barrel, 
he  instantly  pulls  the  shop  down  and  flies  off  with  the  pollen  to  the 
next,  fer  which  sole  purpose  the  said  shop  was  erected.  Why  the 
wasp  does  not  get  the  pollen  and  the  bee  does  I  will  add  to  the 
growing  list  of  things  I  do  not  know. — {Paper  read  hy  Mr.  \V. 
Pickard  at  a  meeting  of  the  Sheffield  Chrysanthemum  Society.) 
(To  be  continued.) 
PRUNING  TREES  in  PUBLIC  THOROUGHFARES. 
Will  you  kindly  express  an  opinion  on  the  pruning  of  the  tree,  photo 
of  which  I  enclose,  also  one  of  an  unpruned  tree  ?  In  a  road  in  which  I 
have  property  Lime  trees  were  planted  some  eight  years  ago,  and  they 
were  in  most  instances,  at  one  end  at  least,  doing  well.  About  six 
weeks  ago  the  District  Clouncil,  or  its  surveyor,  put  an  ordinary  employe 
to  prune  the  trees,  and  he,  with  a  big  pair  of  secateurs,  severed  the 
trees  in  a  shameful  manner,  cutting  the  branches  very  roughly,  and 
leaving  snags  3  to  5  inches  in  length.  ^Vith  other  ratepayers  I  com¬ 
plained,  and  the  surveyor  has  called  in  an  “expert,”  who  informed  him 
that  the  trees  had  been  properly  pruned.  Unfortunately  the  best  and 
largest  trees  were  all  pruned,  and  I  can  only  send  a  photo  of  an  iinpruned 
tree  in  a  part  of  the  road  where  the  trees  did  not  do  well.  Kindly  let  me 
have  your  opinion  in  an  early  issue. —W.  J.  Godfrey,  Exmouth. 
[It  is  not  easy  to  judge  of  the  matter  from  a  photograph  showing  only 
part  of  the  tree,  though  if  the  whole  extent  of  the  branches,  mutilated  or 
not,  could  have  been  shown,  the  effect  might  possibly  be  more  hideous 
than  it  is  now.  Where  trees  are  properly  pruned  in  and  near  towns 
competent  persons  are  employed  by  parochial  or  other  authorities  to  do 
the  work.  This  should  always  be  the  case.  The  proper  name  for  most 
of  the  so-called  pruning  by  “  ordinary  employes  ”  is  ruthless,  barbarous 
mutilation.  The  non-pruned  tree  is  pleasing  in  outline.] 
ROYAL  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 
October  26th. 
Scientific  Committee. — Present  Dr.  M.  T.  ^Masters  (in  the 
chair)  ;  Mr.  McLachlan,  Mr.  Veitch,  Mr.  Douglas,  Prof.  A.  H.  Church, 
Mr.  Shea,  Rev.  W.  Wilks,  and  Rev.  G.  Henslow  (lion.  Sec.). 
Galls  on  Oak  Boots. — With  reference  to  the  specimens  exhibited  at  the 
last  meeting,  Mr.  McLachlan  observed  that  the  name  of  the  insect  was 
now  Biorhiza  aptera,  and  that  only  one  sex  (the  female)  was  known  as 
occurring  in  the  root-galls.  As  soon  as  it  was  hatched,  the  insect  climbed 
to  the  terminal  shoots  and  laid  its  eggs  in  the  buds.  The  result  was  the 
common  spongy  gall,  known  as  the  Oak  Apple.  In  this  both  male  and 
female  insects  were  produced,  and  were  formerly  thought  to  be  a  distinct 
genus,  under  the  name  Teras  terminalis.  The  females  fall  down  to  the 
foot  of  the  Oak,  and  lay  their  eggs  in  the  roots  under  ground,  and  so 
reproduce  the  root-galls.  This  dimorphism  is  characteristic  of  other 
gall  insects  on  the  Oak. 
Cattlcyas  sub-Pelorian. — ]\Ir.  Veitch  exhibited  two  sprays,  carrying 
several  flowers  of  Cattleya  labiata  autumnalis,  having  the  two  front  sepals 
assuming  the  form  of  lips.  He  observed  that  the  same  plant  had 
repeated  the  peculiarity  both  last  year  and  this,  but  the  lip  markings  are 
now  more  pronounced.  The  specimens  were  received  from  Mr.  P.  R. 
Lloyd,  of  Coombe  House,  Croydon. 
Carnation  Leaves,  Malformed. — Mr.  Douglas  exhibited  leaves  with 
peculiar  horn-like  excrescences  on  the  margins.  It  was  suggested  that 
they  might  be  caused  by  acori.  They  were  forwarded  to  Mr.  Michael  for 
investigation.  Dr.  Masters  observed  that  a  Yucca  in  the  Botanic  Gardens, 
Dublin,  produced  very  similar  structures  every  year. 
Cauliflower.  Malformed. — Mr.  Henslow  exhibited  a  branch  bearing  a 
cluster  of  short  Asparagus-like  shoots,  the  leaves  being  rediu^ed  to  a 
bracteate  form,  suggestive  of  the  name  of  Broccoli — viz.,  Brassica  oleracea, 
var.  Botrytis  asparagoides.  Dr.  Masters  observed  that  it  bore  a  very 
unusual  appearance,  and  was  really  intermediate  between  a  Cauliflower 
and  Broccoli. 
Rose  Crimson  Rambler. 
In  reply  to  Mr.  C.  D.  Elliot’s  inquiry  respecting  this  Rose  I  quote  as 
follows.  All  that  I  vouch  for  is  that  this  appears  in  the  “  Grantham 
Journal”  of  5th  October,  1895  : — “It  was  purchased  for  Mr.  Jenner  by 
commission  in  .fapan,  in  the  year  1878,  through  Professor  B.  Smith, 
residing  in  Tokio  at  that  time,  but  who  was  presently,  if  not  still,  at  Mason 
College,  Birmingham.  Mr.  Jenner  was  particularly  pleased  with  its 
free-flowering  and  very  striking  effect,  and  it  was  grown  for  about  a  dozen 
years  in  a  private  garden.  Then  Mr.  .tenner  presented  the  entire  stock 
to  Mr.  Gilbert  of  the  Bulb  Nurseries,  Bourne,  Lincolnshire,  and  he,  with 
his  consent,  sold  it  to  Mr.  Turner  of  Slough.  It  was  originally  called 
The  Engineer,  I  believe,  because  an  engineer  first  brought  it  to 
Mr.  Jenner’s  or  Professor  Smith’s  knowledge  ;  indeed,  it  was  actually 
shown  as  such  at  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  and  received  an  award 
of  merit  on  .Tuly  8th.  1890.  Mr.  .Fenner  consented  to  the  name  being 
changed  to  Crimson  Rambler,  which  is  most  appropriate.  .  .  .  The 
gold  medal  of  the  N.R.S.  was  unanimously  awarded  it  at  the  C.P.  exhibi¬ 
tion  of  1893,  when  it  was  described  as  a  climbing  Polyantha  Rose.” 
I  have  no  idea  who  wrote  this.  The  accuracy  of  part  of  it  could  he 
easily  tested.  It  is  said  to  be  quoted  from  “  Rosarian  ’  in  a  recent 
number  of  “  Amateur  Gardening.” — Alan  Cheales. 
In  reply  to  Mr.  C.  D.  Elliott  (page  388)  I  may  say  that  Dr.  Ramsay 
is  probably  correct  in  saying  that  he  knew  this  Rose  forty  years  ago  in 
the  garden  of  Mr.  .lenner  at  Edinburgh.  I  visited  this  garden  shortly 
after  Mr.  Jenner’s  death,  and  Mr.  Mungo  Chapman,  the  head  gardener, 
who  is  now  in  business  at  Bridge  of  Allan,  N.B.,  pointed  out  to  me  the 
original  plant,  which  he  said  had  been  given  to  ilr.  .Tenner  by  an  engineer 
who  had  brought  it  from  Japan.  Mr.  Jenner  had  named  it  Engineer, 
but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  ordinary  rule  regarding  prior  names  may 
not  be  enforced  in  this  case,  I  think  that  Mr.  ()lhapman  said  that 
someone  in  Yorkshire  had  been  given  a  plant  or  plants  by  Mr.  .Tenner. 
Perhaps  it  was  in  this  way  that  it  came  into  Mr.  Turner’s  hands.  M''hile 
on  the  subject  of  this  Rose  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  that  it  is,  in  some 
gardens,  very  long  in  coming  into  flower  after  being  planted.  I  know  of 
several  gardens  where  it  has  been  grown  for  some  years  without  producing 
a  bloom.  This  year  I  saw  a  plant  of  Crimson  Rambler  flowering  for  the 
first  time  after  having  been  planted  for  three  years.  In  many  places,  of 
course,  it  produces  its  brilliant  flowers  in  great  masses  the  first  year. — 
S.  Arxott. 
PuEPARiNCr  Soil  for  Poses. 
The  season  for  planting  is  now  with  us,  and  a  few  notes  on  the 
subject  of  preparing  the  positions  for  them,  either  in  beds,  borders,  or 
larger  plots  of  ground,  may  prove  useful  to  some  who  contemplate 
growing  a  selection  of  Roses. 
Whenever  Roses  are  planted  the  work  should  be  thoroughly  well  done, 
and  the  first  matter  to  attend  to  is  the  preparation  of  the  soil.  Roses 
absolutely  refuse  to  succeed  in  poor,  shallow,  uncultivated  ground.  They 
cannot  obtain  the  food  they  require  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  roots  have 
not  the  opportunity  of  ramifying  in  a  rich  fertile  medium,  whereby  they 
can  secure  the  soluble  food  and  moisture  they  demand. 
The  plants  may  attempt  to  grow  for  a  time  simply  because  of  the 
inherent  vigour  they  possess,  but  ultimately  they  develop  weakly, 
producing  but  poor  wood  and  foliage,  which  may  probably  become  a  prey 
to  mildew,  especially  if  the  plants  have  to  experience  dry  hot  weather 
followed  by  wet  and  cold.  Under  such  conditions  the  blooming  is  at  least 
unsatisfactory,  if  not  an  absolute  failure.  In  order  to  avert  such  disap¬ 
pointing  results  study  neither  expense,  time,  nor  trouble  in  giving  the  soil 
thorough  and  careful  preparation,  so  as  to  afford  the  plants  a  good  start, 
sending  them  along  to  become  well  established. 
The  ground  intended  for  planting,  whether  of  large  or  small  area, 
should  be  thoroughly  open  to  sunshine.  It  is  best,  however,  if  sheltered 
from  rough  winds.  If  the  shelter  is  living  vegetation,  trees  or  shrubs, 
these  should  not  be  in  close  proximity  to  the  Rose  beds,  or  their  roots 
may  seriously  impoverish  the  soil.  The  strong  roots  of  evergreen  and 
deciduous  trees  will  chiefly  prove  harmful  by  abstracting  moisture,  and 
without  a  due  amount  during  the  period  of  active  growth  food  in  the  soil 
is  rendered  unavailable. 
The  above  points,  however,  having  been  fully  settled,  turn  next  to  the 
digging  or  trenching  of  the  soil.  The  ground  must  be  well  broken  up  to 
the  depth  of  2  or  2i  feet,  not  necessarily  because  the  roots  will  occupy 
the  whole  depth,  but  to  afford  a  suitable  medium  for  them  to  ramify  in 
if  necessary.  In  dry  parching  weather  of  summer,  when  the  roots  can 
descend  a  little  deeper,  the  advantage  of  a  good  moist  medium  is  of  great 
advantage.  Another  reason  why  a  tolerably  deep  root  run  is  essential 
is  that  better  drainage  is  secured  should  the  ground  tend  to  be  rather 
heavy  or  damp.  Shallow  and  light  soil  also  requires  that  the  subsoil  be 
made  of  service  for  the  rooting  generally  to  be  carried  on  at  a  lower 
level  where  more  uniform  moisture  prevails. 
Trenching  ground  may  be  understood  to  mean  that  the  surface  soil 
and  the  subsoil  are  reversed  in  position  by  the  operation.  This  is  really 
the  case  in  true  trenching,  and  it  is  sometimes  desirable  that  this  should 
