6 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  5,  1900. 
present  case,  which  become  tinged  with  the  orange  colour  of  the  spores, 
which  they  eat.  On  some  of  the  leaves  the  nredospores  are  beginning 
to  appear,” 
Poia.to  croii  defective. — Mr.  F.  H.  Kettle  of  King’s  Ford,  Colchester, 
forwarded  samples,  of  which  he  writes  : — “  The  Potato  crop  in  this 
district  is  a  very  uneven  one,  and  various  reasons  are  suggested  for  it. 
The  specimens  sent  are  Bressee’s  Prolific,  and  they  are  typical  of  plenty 
of  others  in  the  store  room.”  The  samples  were  forwarded  to  Mr.  A. 
Sutton,  who  reports  as  follows  : — 
“  In  reply  to  your  irquiry,  it  is  quite  certain  that  Mr.  F.  H.  Kettle 
is  by  no  means  singular  in  his  experience  of  Potatoes  coming  up  very 
unevenly  this  season.  We  hear  from  all  parts  of  the  country  that  such 
is  the  case,  and  all  varieties  appear  to  be  suffering  more  or  less  from  the 
same  cause.  Pi’ofessor  Gordon,  of  the  Cheshire  Agricultural  and 
Horticultural  School,  Holmes  Chapel,  wrote  to  ns  recently  on  the  same 
subject,  saying  that  many  of  his  Potatoes  had  only  formed  very  weak 
spindly  sprouts,  no  thicker  than  a  knitting  needle,  and  there  were  a 
great  many  blanks  in  his  crop  ;  and  his  experience  is  the  same  as  ours, 
that  many  of  the  tubers  are  quite  sound  and  hard  in  the  ground  where 
they  have  made  the  thin  weakly  sprouts  complained  of. 
“  It  is  remarkable  that  tubers  which  were  ‘  boxed,’  and  very 
carefully  sprouted  before  being  planted,  are  just  as  much  affected 
as  those  which  were  planted  before  any  sprouts  were  made  by  the 
sets. 
“  Another  interesting  fact  noticed  on  comparing  the  many  hundreds 
of  samples  in  our  trial  grounds  is  that  the  only  case  where  Potatoes 
have  started  well,  with  strong  and  healthy  growth,  are  those  which 
were  grown  last  year  in  Scotland,  where  the  climate  and  soil  are 
comparatively  moister  than  in  England. 
“  The  only  conclusion  I  can  arrive  at  is  that  in  consequence  of 
the  excessive  drought  last  year  the  Potatoes  ripened  prematurely, 
and  owing  to  this  the  sets  are  not  able  to  develop  a  healthy  and 
vigorous  growth  this  year.  We  find  this  especially  the  case  with 
Potatoes  which  were  grown  last  year  on  hot  gravelly  soils.  The 
tubers  affected  with  us  in  many  cases  produced  shoots  at  the  crown 
of  the  set,  but  these  died  off,  and  the  later  growth  is  being  made 
from  weakly  shoots  put  forth  by  the  side  buds  or  eyes  near  the  stem 
end  of  the  set. 
“  I  can  think  of  no  possible  remedy,  and  certainly  in  our  experiei  ce 
we  can  remember  no  season  when  crops  were  similarly  affected  on  so 
large  a  scale. 
“  Mr.  H.  S.  Daine  of  Woolfall  Hall,  Huyton,  Liverpool,  mentioned 
at  the  York  Show  that  his  crop  was  suffering  in  the  same  manner, 
and  he  had  sent  tubers  to  Professor  Marshall  Ward  for  examination, 
and  would  let  us  know  his  reply.” 
Carnations  decaying. — Plants  which  had  decayed  at  the  base  were 
received  from  Mr.  R.  Keeble  of  The  Pines,  Horsall,  Woking.  Mr.  Jas. 
Douglas  reports  upon  them  as  follows  : — 
“  It  is  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  to  find  that  Carnations  grown 
under  artificial  conditions  will  die  as  the  example  enclosed  has  done. 
There  is  no  disease,  the  roots  have  died  owing  to  over- watering,  or  eLe, 
probably,  the  plants  were  allowed  to  become  overdry  ;  in  this  case  the 
delicate  root  hairs  are  desiccated,  and  thus  rendered  useless.  Too  much 
water  is  then  poured  in,  which  makes  matters  worse.  All  plants  suffer 
from  this,  and  some  die.  Moreover,  the  dried  peaty  soil  is  unsuitable 
for  Carnations.  In  my  own  large  collection  we  lose  a  fewevery  year  ; 
the  roots  perish  from  some  cause  not  always  easily  determinable,  but  I 
regard  it  as  a  matter  of  watering.  The  use  of  artificial  manure  in  ihe 
soil  will  cause  deaths  in  Carnations  when  grown  in  flower  pots.  I 
dropped  the  use  of  it  because  of  this.” 
Crapes  scalded. — Mr.  H.  Pethick,  Trewartha,  Weston-super-Mare,  sent 
samples,  upon  which  Mr.  Douglas  reports  as  follows  “  The  Grapes  sent 
are  scalded,  caused  by  insufficient  ventilation  and  probably  too  much 
moisture  in  the  house.  It  cccurs  if  the  Grapes  are  entirely  shaded  by 
the  leaves,  and  the  Grape  that  suffers  most  from  scalding  is  Lady 
Downe’s  Seedling.  The  Vine  may  be  flourishing  in  every  respect,  but 
that  does  not  matter  ;  and  it  always  happens  when  the  berries  have  jnst 
passed  through  the  stoning  period  previous  to  colouring.  While 
stoning  is  going  on,  that  is  the  harding  of  the  seeds,  the  berries  do  not 
increase  in  size,  they  remain  stationary  for  five  or  six  weeKs.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  the  seeds  have  come  to  their  full  development,  and  the 
berries  increase  rapidly  in  size.  This  is  the  time  that  scalding  will 
happen.  It  can  easily  be  prevented  by  throwing  open  the  ventilators  to 
their  full  extent  In  hot  weather  ;  ventilation  to  a  less  extent  should  also 
be  given  at  night.  I  must  also  add  that  the  berries  will  scald  even  if 
the  sun  does  not  touch  them.” 
Pose,  variegated. — Mr.  G.  Rawlings  sent  specimens  of  Rose  leaves 
variously  spotted  with  jellowj  some  leaflets  being  entirely  yellow- 
orange  in  colour.  He  writes  as  follows: — “The  leaves  sent  are  from 
a  tree  of  Baroness  Rothschild,  a  portion  of  which  came  variegated  last 
year.  I  budded  a  few  buds  on  some  named  varieties,  from  which  those 
sent  have  been  cut.  They  are  much  more  highly  coloured  than  those 
on  the  original  tree.” 
Pears,  hlachened. — Some  fruit  decayed,  black,  and  attacked  by  fungi 
were  sent  to  Dr.  W.  G.  Smith  for  examination.  They  were  received 
from  Rev.  H.  W.  Fletcher,  Bicker  Vicarage,  Boston. 
Chiswick,  June  28tli. 
A  MEETING  of  the  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Committee  was  held  in  the 
gardens  at  Chiswick  on  Thursday,  June  28th,  to  examine’  early 
Peas  and  some  Lettuces.  Present :  Mr.  W.  Marshall  (chairman)  ;  and 
Messrs.  Basham.  Barron,  Esling,  Willard,  Wythes,  A.  Dean,  Keif, 
Mortimer,  J.  Smith,  Gleeson,  and  Woodward.  Some  forty-five  stocks 
of  Peas  were  seen,  but  only  a  few  were  ready.  Growth  had  been  very 
fair,  but  the  porous  soil  at  Chiswick  hardly  does  full  justice  to  Peas,  i;^ 
The  committee  first  took  special  note  of  nine  varieties,  and  after 
comparing  one  with  another  decided  to  give  awards  of  merit  to  Edwin 
Beckett,  3^  feet  in  height,  pod  long,  finely  filled,  indeed  the  best  filled 
of  the  whole  stock,  and  a  heavy  cropper.  This  was  without  exception 
the  most  advanced  Pea  of  the  trial  j  also  to  The  Major,  4  feet  in 
height,  pods  produced  in  great  abundance,  and  evidently  showing 
great  continuity  of  cropping ;  and  Monarch,  4  feet,  pods  of  good  size 
and  colour,  and  a  capital  cropper.  Other  varieties  of  promise  are 
to  be  seen  on  July  10th.  Several  Lettuces,  both  Cabbage  and  Cos, 
were  seen.  Three  marks  were  given  to  a  good  stock  of  the  old  curled 
Malta,  and  a  first  rate  stock  of  All  the  Year  Round  from  Harrison  of 
Leicester.  A  good  stock  of  Paris  Green  Cos  was  not  yet  ready. 
During  the  day  the  sky  was  much  darkened  by  a  visitation  of  London 
smoke,  which  did  not  add  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  committee’s  visit. 
He  Forlijiglitly  Committee  ffleetiijgs. 
Drill  Hall,  July  3rd. 
The  Drill  Hall  on  Tuesday  was  almost  entirely  filled  with  exhibits, 
this  being  largely  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  society  was  holding 
its  special  Rose  Show.  The  queen  of  flowers  occupied  several  tables  in 
the  centre  of  the  hall,  the  outer  tables  being  devoted  to  miscellaneous 
flowers,  plants,  and  fruits.  Orchids  were  not  numerous. 
Fruit  Committee. 
Present :  H.  Balderson,  Esq.  (in  the  chair)  ;  with  Messrs.  H.  Esling, 
Jas.  H.  Veilch,  E.  Shaw  Blaker,  M.  Gleeson,  J.  Cheal,  G.  Keif,  A.  Dean, 
W.  Bates,  S.  Mortimer,  T.  Coomber,  E.  Beckett,  G.  Wythes,  J.  Smith, 
G.  Reynolds,  W.  J.  Empson,  W.  H.  Divers,  and  J.  Willard,  with  the 
Rev.  W.  Wilks. 
Mr.  Thomas  Coomber,  gardener  to  Lord  Llangattock,  The  Hendre, 
Monmouth,  showed  a  collection  of  fourteen  Queen  Pines.  The  fruits 
were  in  most  excellent  condition, and  were  evidently  the  result  of  skilful 
culture  (silver-gilt  Knightian  medal).  Mr.  W.  Taylor,  gardener  to 
C.  Bayer,  Esq.,  Forest  Hill,  contributed  Peaches  Crimson  Galande, 
Dr.  Hogg,  Dagmar,  and  Early  Albert,  and  Nectarines  Dryden,  Lord 
Napier,  and  Advance.  Though  not  large,  the  whole  of  the  fruits  were 
beautifully  coloured  (silver  Banksian  medal).  Mr.  E.  Beckett,  gardener 
to  Lord  Aldenham,  Elstree,  showed  Pea  Edwin  Beckett,  a  splendid 
variety,  with  large  pods  filled  with  peas  of  excellent  colour  and  flavour. 
Strawberries  in  variety  were  shown  by  Messrs.  Laxton  Bros., 
Bedford.  The  varieties  included  Fillbasket,  Maincrop,  and  St.  Joseph. 
Mr.  J.  Hudson,  V.M.H.,  gardener  to  L.  de  Rothschild,  Esq.,  Gunners- 
bury  House,  exhibited  a  box  of  Strawberry  British  Queen  in  exception¬ 
ally  good  condition,  with  Cherries  Bedford  Prolific,  Empress  Eugenie, 
Early  Rivers,  Frogmore  Bigarreau,  Black  Eagle,  Large  Black  Bigarreaii, 
St.  Margarets,  Florence,  Emperor  Francis,  Bigarreau  Noir  de  Schmidt, 
Bigarreau  Noir  de  Guben,  and  Bigarreau  Napoleon  (silver  Knightian 
medal). 
A  splendid  box  of  Strawberry  Veitch’s  Prolific  was  staged  by  Messrs. 
J.  Veilch  &  Sons,  Chelsea  ;  the  fruits  were  of  fine  shape  and  colour. 
The  same  fiim  sent  the  new  Pea  Acme,  a  variety  that  produces  its 
well-filled  pods  very  freely.  Mr.  G.  Keif,  gardener  to  Miss  Adamson, 
Regent’s  Park,  sent  grand  Royal  George,  Dr.  Hogg,  and  Dymond 
Peaches ;  the  specimens  were  large  and  grandly  coloured  (silver 
Knightian  medal).  Mr.  J.  Budd,  Romney,  sent  a  seedling  Nectarine, 
much  resembling  Pineapple;  and  Mr.  J.  P.  Jupp,  Walton-on-Thames, 
Strawberries  and  Peas. 
Messrs.  T.  Rivers  &  Son,  Sawbridgeworth,  contributed  magnificent 
Thos.  Rivers  Peaches  and  Victoria  Nectarines,  with  Early  Rivers 
Cherries  and  The  Czar  Plums.  All  the  specimens  were  from  pot  trees 
(silver  Banksian  medal).  One  or  two  other  exhibitors  sent  Melons. 
Messrs.  Barr  &  Sons,  Covent  Garden,  exhibited  Cauliflower  Barr’s  Best 
of  All,  and  Peas  Boston,  Duke  of  York,  Pride  of  the  Market,  Telephone, 
Herald,  Empress  of  India,  Stratagem,  Alderuian,  and  Capt.  Cuttle. 
Floral  Committee. 
Present :  W.  Marshall,  Esq.  (in  the  chair) ;  and  Messrs.  R.  Dean, 
G.  Reuthe,  J.  Jennings,  C.  E.  Pearson,  J.  Walker,  C.  E.  Shea,  E.  H. 
Jenkins,  W.  J.  James,  C.  J.  Salter,  J.  Hudson,  H.  B.  May,  and  E.  T. 
Cook. 
Messrs.  H.  Canned  &  Sons,  Swanley  and  Eynsford,  showed  a  group 
of  single  and  double  tuberous  rooted  Begonias.  There  were  numerous 
varieties  above  the  average  of  excellence  ;  while  the  colours  were  well 
diversified  (silver  Banksian  medal).  Messrs.  Barr  &  Sons,  Covent 
Garden,  were  represented  by  a  collection  of  hardy  flowers  in  variety. 
There  were  Irises,  Liliums,  Pseonies,  Gaillardias,  Calliopsis,  and  many 
others  (silver  Banksian  medal). 
