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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  3,  1901. 
Tomato  and  the  Grape  as  male  parent ;  the  fruit  were  not  large,  but 
well  shapen. 
Tropoeolum  hybrid. — He  also  showed  flowers  of  T.  Lobbianum  X 
majus,  which  were  intermediate  in  character. 
Agapanthus  umbellatus. — Mr.  Worsley  also  showed  a  flower  of  this 
plant  with  ten  leaves  to  the  perianth  and  ten  stamens,  from  sym¬ 
metrical  increase. 
Watsonia  Arderni. — Dr.  Masters  showed  leaves  of  this  plant,  which 
are  remarkable  for  being  quite  incapable  of  bearing  the  least  fumigation 
without  injury. 
Beech. tree  bug. — Mr.  Burbidge  sent  a  sample  of  this  well-known 
pest,  Cryptococcus  fagi,  exceedingly  common  this  year.  He  wrote  as 
follows  : — “  The  speoimen  came  from  Croydon,  where  trees  12  feet  in 
circumference  have  perished.  We  have  it  here  on  the  stem  of  a 
Weeping  Beech,  in  the  College  garden.  '1  his  stem  is  of  the  common 
Beech,  and  the  weeping  variety  is  grafted  upon  it,  about  5  feet  above 
ground.  The  Cryptococcus  only  infests  the  bark  of  the  stock  up  as  high 
as  the  graft-line,  and  does  not  spread  or  live  on  the  scion  or  weeping 
variety  above  the  graft-line.”  Mr.  Burbidge  refers  to  an  opinion  that 
this  insect  never  attacks  the  purple  Beeoh ;  an  undoubted  error,  as  a 
large  tree  of  this  kind  died  at  Ealing  in  1898  from  it  in  the  secretary’s 
garden. 
Plane-tree  leaf  diseased. — Mr.  Burbidge  also  sent  leaves  of  this  tree 
attacked  by  Pumago.  Several  other  plants,  he  observes,  are  similarly 
diseased  by  it. 
Proliferous  Barley.— lie  also  sent  specimens  of  Barley  with  extra 
short  ears  at  the  base,  imitating  the  so-called  “  Egyptian  Wheat.” 
They  appeared  among  a  crop  of  Chevalier.  He  raised  the  question 
whether  it  could  have  resulted  from  a  cross  with  the  six-rowed  Barley ; 
but  without  experiment  this  could  not  be  decided.  Probabilities  would 
teem,  however,  to  be  adverse  to  this  view,  as  no  such  crossing  would 
apply  to  proliferous  Wheat  and  other  cereals,  or  to  Plantains  in  which 
ic  is  of  common  occurrence. 
Prunus  sp.  diseased. — Dr.  M.  C.  Cooke  reported  upon  specimens  sent 
to  the  last  meeting  by  Mr.  Veitch  :  “  Plum  and  Cherry  and  some  other 
orchard  trees  suffer  from  the  attacks  of  what  are,  apparently,  wound 
parasites.  These  are  in  the  form  of  a  white  mycelium,  which  grows 
between  the  bark  and  wood,  and  ultimately  kills  the  tree.  This  is 
presumed  to  be  the  mycelium  of  some  Agaric,  probably  growing  in  the 
vioinity  of  the  tree,  first  attacking  the  root  and  then  proceeding 
upwards  beneath  the  bark.  From  the  mycelium  alone  it  is  impossible 
to  determine  the  speoies,  but,  in  such  cases,  it  should  be  noted  whether 
any  Agarics  are  growing  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  diseased  tree, 
such,  for  instance,  as  Collybia  fusipes.  Berkeley,  in  the  pages  of  the 
<  Gardeners’  Chronicle,’  often  direoted  attention  to  these  ‘  root  fungi,’ 
and  commented  upon  their  injurious  influence.  It  may  be  true  that  they 
are  originally  saprophytes,  or  the  mycelium  of  saprophytes,  but  they 
may  become  parasitic  under  certain  conditions.  We  contended  this  some 
years  since  in  connection  with  Conifers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Edin¬ 
burgh,  in  a  case  brought  for  trial  in  the  High  Court,  but  an  opposing 
witness  declared  the  mycelium  to  be  only  a  saprophyte,  and  unable  to 
cause  an  injury.  Subsequent  investigations  in  Germany  and  elsewhere 
have  confirmed  our  opinion.” 
Helianthus  hybrid. — Mr.  Buffham  sent  flowers  of  a  supposed  hybrid 
between  the  perennial  and  annual  species  of  this  genus.  He  observes  : 
“  The  seed-bearing  parent  has  an  annual  variety  (this  I  have  no  doubt 
about),  and  therefore  am  able  to  send  a  flower  of  it ;  but  I  send  also  the 
Harpalium  and  H.  multiflorus,  together  with  blossoms  of  the  two 
seedlings,  one  of  which  grew  to  a  height  of  7,  the  other  to  that  of 
4  feet.  For  years  I  have  been  crossing  varieties  of  the  annual 
Sunflower.  I  then  began  to  cross  the  annual  with  any  of  the  perennial 
species,  and  I  have  no  doubt  from  the  results  about  some  of  them  being 
true  crosses ;  the  seed  parent  being  the  annual.  The  offspring  never 
stood  the  winter,  so  I  was  unable  to  perpetuate  them.  Two  yeats 
ago  I  fertilised  the  annual  with  Harpalium,  and  possibly  with 
H.  multiflorus  (that  point  I  am  not  quite  certain  about).  I  sowed  the 
seed,  and  the  result  was  three  plants,  two  which  grew  about  7  feet  high, 
one  about  4  feet.  All  flowered,  but  they  are  not  likely  to  ripen  seed.  I 
dug  up  one  plant,  and  potted  it  when  in  full  bloom,  placing  it  in  a  cold 
greenhouse  to  ripen  seed,  but  it  did  not  do  so,  but  it  lived  and  is  still  in 
the  same  pot.  It  is  different  in  foliage  and  growth  from  any  other  1 
possess.  The  other  two  plants  I  left  in  the  open  ground ;  one  a 
Sunflower,  has  come  up,  and  I  enclose  a  blossom.  It  is  about  7  feet 
high,  growing  very  erect.  It  may  be  one  of  the  three,  but  I  cannot  feel 
certain.”  With  regard  to  the  differences  between  Harpalium  and 
Helianthus ;  Bentham  and  Hooker  describe  the  former  as  having  two 
paleaceous  awns  dilated  at  the  base,  and  sometimes  cleft,  but  without 
any  intermediate  smaller  scales  noticed  by  Desfontaine.  In  the  flower 
of  Harpalium  sent  by  Mr.  Buffham  there  were  the  two  opposite  lateral, 
and  often  cleft,  very  elongated  scales;  but  these  were  connected  with 
numerous  shorter  and  pointed  scales,  all  being  ooherent  into  a 
caducous  ring.  The  receptacular  scales  terminate  in  a  blunt  end, 
which  is  coloured  green.  Helianthus  multiflorus  differs  from  Harpalium 
in  having  no  intermedia's  scales.  In  this  it  agrees  with  the  H.  annuus, 
var.  sent  by  Mr.  Buffham,  while  the  receptacular  scales  have  acute 
points,  also  green.  In  Helianthus  annuus  the  receptacular ,  scales 
are  markedly  different,  being  excessively  elongated  into  awn-like 
terminations  of  a  dark  purple  colour.  With  regard  to  the  hybrids, 
they  both  agree  in  having  lanceolate  sub-scabrid  leaves,  similar  to 
those  of  Harpalium.  The  florets  have  the  two  longer  scales,  with  a 
few  short  ones  intervening,  but  not  ooherent.  The  receptacular  scales 
terminate  in  acute  (not  acuminate)  points,  and  are  thus  intermediate 
between  Harpalium  and  H.  multiflorus.  Comparing  these  supposed 
hybrids  with  the  hybrid  “Moon” — i.e.,  Harpalium  (Miss  Mellish)  x 
Helianthus  multiflorus,  they  entirely  agreed  with  it,  as  also  with  a 
hybrid  between  Harpalium  and  H.  mult,  from  a  friend.  If,  therefore, 
Mr.  Buffham’s  be  a  cross  between  the  annual  and  perennial  varieties, 
then  the  latter  is  so  strongly  prepotent  or  “  dominant  ”  that  no  trace  of 
its  parentage  is  present. 
Scented  Flowers  and  Leaves. 
Stephanotis  floribunda  when  planted  out  in  a  well-drained  border 
and  trained  thinly,  close  to  the  glass,  where  it  will  obtain  all  the 
sunlight  possible  in  our  short  and  erratic  summers,  will  repay  by  a 
wealth  of  sweet  odours.  In  planting,  let  fibry  loam  and  peat  in  equal 
parts  be  used,  removing  all  the  fine  particles  of  soil,  adding  plenty  of 
silver  sand  ;  6  or  9  inches  of  brickbats  for  drainage  is  not  too  much, 
as  the  Stephanotis  dislikes  stagnant  moisture  at  any  time.  In  winter 
very  little  water  will  be  required,  and  a  lower  temperature  is  beneficial. 
Annual  pruning  to  keep  the  plant  within  bounds,  and  to  avoid  having 
lengths  of  naked  stems,  is  needed  after  the  first  crop  of  flowers  in  early 
summer.  .Remove  as  much  as  desirable  of  the  growth  that  has 
flowered,  shortening  to  an  inch  or  so  from  where  it  sprung.  This  will 
give  room  for  young  growth  to  take  its  place,  which  will  become 
ripened  ready  to  produce  flowers  the  following  year.  This  treatment 
allows  of  two  crops  ot  flowers  annually. 
Eucharis  amazonica,  when  well  grown  (and  this  appears  to  be 
the  exception),  is  a  desirable  plant,  as  the  flowers  last  splendidly  in  a 
cut  state;  it  is  well  to  grow  it  in  an  ordinary  stove  throughout  the 
year,  never  allowing  it  at  any  time  to  become  dry.  Afford  liquid 
manure  or  soot  water  when  the  pots  are  full  of  roots.  It  thrives  best 
in  a  shady  position  a  long  way  from  the  glass.  Large  pots  are 
necessary  when  repotting,  as  this  obviates  the  too  frequent  disturbance 
of  the  roots,  which  is  a  check  to  the  plant. 
Repotting  is  not  necessary  until  the  pots  become  crowded  with 
bulbs  or  the  fibry  particles  of  the  soil  are  exhausted.  But  in  this  the 
opposite  extreme  must  be  guarded  against  of  allowing  the  plants  to 
occupy  the  same  pots  until  the  soil  is  really  nothing  but  clay  and  sand, 
as  when  the  fibre  is  exhausted,  the  humus,  the  main  constituent  of  a 
fertile  soil,  is  gone,  and  no  artificial  manure  can  make  good  its  place. 
Fibry  loam,  from  which  all  the  fine  soil  has  been  shaken,  with  nodules 
of  sandstone  to  insure  its  poroBity,  is  the  fittest.  Employ  six  bulbs 
to  a  10-inch  pot,  placing  these  2  inches  below  the  surface,  as  the 
new  bulbs  have  always  a  tendency  to  grow  upwards.  I  believe  that 
hard  water  impregnated  with  lime  is  detrimental  to  the  well-being 
of  the  Eucharis,  so  that  rain  water  should  be  used  if  possible. 
Pancratium  fragrans,  unlike  the  Eucharis,  requires  annual  potting 
in  early  spring,  carefully  removing  the  old  soil  from  the  roots.  Allow 
a  single  bulb  to  a  pot,  which  should  not  exceed  the  diameter  of  the  bulb 
by  more  than  1J  inch.  Nothing  is  gained  by  overpotting.  Feeding 
is  of  great  benefit.  The  Pancratium  lasts  well  as  a  room  plant;  it  may 
be  grown  in  different  sized  pots,  from  those  of  4£  inches  in  diameter  to 
9  or  10-inch  pots  containing  several  bulbs.  When  the  firnt  three  or 
four  flowers  are  opened  on  the  umbel  remove  the  plant  to  a  cooler  and 
drier  atmosphere,  or  into  the  sitting-mom,  when  it  will  last  in  beauty 
a  fortnight  at  least,  and  the  unexpanded  flowers  will  duly  open  ; 
whereas,  If  left  in  a  hot  moist  house,  its  beauty  is  very  transient. 
During  winter  the  Pancratium  should  be  kept  rather  dry,  but  not 
sufficiently  so  as  to  cause  a  single  leaf  to  turn  yellow  or  decay.  During 
summer  grow  in  a  stove  in  a  shady  place  and  water  freely. 
Hymenocallis  littoralis  requires  almost  identical  treatment  with 
the  Pancratiums,  but  during  summer  very  free  supplies  of  water,  as 
nearly  all  the  Hymenocallis  are  found  in  swamps.  Nerium  splendens 
fl.-pl.  (Oleander)  is  rarely  grown  in  batches,  but  its  delicately  scented, 
flesh-coloured  pink  flowers  are  always  admired.  It  is  easily  struck 
from  half-ripened  cuttings,  taken  off  when  well  consolidatea  during 
late  summer.  If  old  plants  are  retained  they  are  inclined  to  become 
leggy;  the  only  remedy  appears  to  be  to  cut  back  the  plants  hard 
after  flowering  each  year.  These  will  not  flower  the  following  year, 
as  in  the  successful  flowering  of  this  plant  a  good  annual  growth,  well 
ripened  by  exposure  to  sun  and  air,  is  absolutely  necessary.  During 
winter  it  may  be  kept  in  a  greenhouse  temperature,  but  as  soon  as 
the  turn  of  tne  year  occurs  in  January,  remove  to  a  stove  or  inter¬ 
mediate  temperature. 
All  through  the  growing  and  flowering  period  give  plenty  of  water  ; 
in  fact,  this  is  a  potential  point  in  its  culture,  as  in  its  native  habitat 
it  is  found  growing  ou  the  banks  of  lakes  and  watercourses. 
— F.  Street. 
