36 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
July  12,  1900. 
Tbe  Summer  Thorn  Pear. — The  Summer  Thorn  Pear  is  worthy 
of  extension,  being  considerably  earlier  than  the  Jargonelle  in  ripening, 
of  somewhat  similar  shape,  but  smaller,  flesh  yellowish  white,  juicy, 
sugary,  with  a  slightly  musky  flavour,  ripe  early  in  September,  and 
like  the  Jargonelle  and  other  very  early  Pears  is  a  short  keeper.  As 
a  decorative  tree  for  the  lawn  or  other  portion  of  the  pleasure 
grounds  the  pendulous  habit  of  this  Pear,  especially  when  in  bloom, 
specially  commends  itself. — W.  G. 
Varying:  Colours  on  Iiahurnums. — The  different  coloured 
racemes  of  flowers  is  due  to  graft  influence,  and  chiefly  prevails  on 
Laburnum  Adami.  This  is  a  graft  hybrid  said  to  have  been  raised  by 
Jean  Louis  Adam  in  1826  by  shield-grafting  Cytisus  purpureus  on 
LSLburnnm  vulgare.  A  most  extraordinary  thing  in  connection  with  it 
is  the  complete  reversion  of  some  parts  of  the  same  tree  to  one  or  other 
of  the  parents.  The  mites  referred  to  by  Mr.  J.  Hiam  (page  535  last 
vol.)  are  probably  Tetranychus  Laburni. — A. 
In  Nature’s  Garden. — The  wild  flowers  of  July  are  certainly  not 
surpassed  in  splendour  by  those  of  any  other  month.  Among  the  Pine 
hills  of  Surrey  they  look  grand  just  now.  The  Heather — two  kinds, 
cross-leaved  and  fine-leaved — is  out,  though  not  yet  in  its  prime,  and 
many  roadside  banks  are  simply  yellow  with  Stonecrop.  Then  there 
is  the  intensely  blue  Devil’s  Bit  Scabious,  and  the  far  more  sombre 
Germander  or  Wild  Sage,  and  the  little  Heath  Bed -straw,  and  still 
smaller  Squinancy  or  Quinsey  Wort,  which  the  old  herbalists  swore  by 
as  a  sovereign  remedy.  Down  by  some  of  the  Hammer  Ponds,  which 
are  such  charming  features  of  the  Hindhead  district,  I  found  the  other 
day  a  fine  array  of  two  species  of  the  Marsh  Orchis.  Orchises,  if 
supplied  plentifully  with  water,  will  last  a  week  in  your  room.  I  had 
a  beautiful  Bee  Orchis  in  my  room  the  other  day,  which  had  been  picked 
quite  a  week  before,  and  was  still  unwithered. 
Ants  In  the  Orchard. — “  I  notice  in  several  late  numbers  of  the 
‘  Gazette '  questions  asking  how  to  destroy  ants.  I  would  like  to  ask 
why  people  desire  to  destroy  these  insects.  I  have  had  over  forty 
years’  experience  in  gardening  and  fruit  growing,  and  find  ants  my 
best  friend,  and  would  be  sorry  to  lose  them.  I  never  lose  anything 
sound,  either  fruit  or  vegetable,  by  them ;  but  find  that  they  clean  off 
many  small  destructive  insects  from  the  trees.  I  notice  one  writer 
advising  lime ;  that  be  scattered  lime  under  infected  Peach  trees  to 
keep  away  the  ants,  and  the  trees  flourished  after  it.  But  I  venture  to 
tell  the  writer  that  the  ants  did  more  good  to  the  trees  than  the  lime, 
though  lime  does  good  if  put  on  the  trees.”  Of  course,  everyone  is  at 
liberty  to  hold  his  own  opinion  about  questions  of  this  kind.  It  must 
be  remembered,  however,  that  the  mere  presence  of  ants  in  large 
numbers  upon  a  tree  is  a  sign  that  there  is  something  wrong  with  it, 
and  if  the  attraction  be  removed  the  ants  will  not  return. — T.  Grunsell 
(in  “  The  Agricultural  Gazette  of  New  South  Wales  ”). 
The  Durian. — American  visitors  to  the  Philippines  are  in  danger 
of  acquiring  the  Durian  habit.  The  Durian  fruit  is  described  as 
smelling  of  rotten  Onions,  but  when  the  taste  is  acquired  it  is 
preferred  to  all  other  food.  According  to  the  “  New  York  Sun”  the 
natives  give  it  honourable  titles,  exalt  it,  and  make  verses  on  it. 
The  Durian  grows  on  lofty  trees,  is  round,  and  about  the  size  of  a 
Cocoanut.  It  is  thickly  covered  with  spines.  The  interior  consists 
of  fine  cells,  each  filled  with  an  oval  mass  of  cream-coloured  pulp, 
embedded  in  which  are  two  or  three  seeds  of  the  size  of  Chestnuts. 
This  pulp  is  of  the  consistency  of  a  stiff  custard  with  the  flavour  of 
almonds  intermingled  with  other  flavours  that  suggest  cream  cheese, 
onion  sauce,  and  brown  sherry.  It  is  neither  acid  nor  sweet  nor  juicy, 
yet  the  absence  of  these  qualities  is  not  regretted,  and  the  more  one 
eats  of  it  the  less  inclined  he  feels  to  stop.  Wallace  says  of  it  that 
“to  eat  Durians  is  a  new  sensation,  worth  a  voyage  to  the  Bast  to 
experience.”  The  fruit  cannot  be  preserved  for  transportation  except 
in  salt.  Then  it  acquires  an  odour  so  disgusting  that  no  European  can 
tolerate  it.  It  is  like  the  Persimmon,  in  that  it  must  be  dead  ripe 
to  be  enjoyed.  Therefore  only  in  those  that  fall  from  the  trees  at  the 
moment  of  perfect  maturity  is  found  the  fascinating  quality  that  makes 
the  Durian  the  king  of  fruits. 
T/ult  In  South  Africa. — A  man  who  has  a  very  large  estate 
with  millions  of  fruit  trees  in  South  Africa  finds  that  it  takes  two  years 
for  well  trained  English  gardeners  to  get  used  to  the  soil  and  atmosphere 
before  they  will  succeed  out  there.  Trees  and  grain  need  very  different 
planting  in  South  Africa,  as  the  English  modes  do  not  answer  there. 
The  railway  freight  makes  produce  grown  far  from  the  coast  valueless 
for  England.  This  estate  owner  thinks  of  having  his  fruit  tinned  and 
dried,  and  for  this  he  might  employ  ladies,  who  might  develop  the 
industry  very  much.  Grapes,  Oranges,  Cherries,  Pears,  Apples,. 
Blackberries,  Peaches,  Strawberries,  Apricots,  and  even  English  Goose¬ 
berries  (which  require  frost),  grow  in  that  part  of  the  Orange  Free 
State  bordering  on  Basutoland,  yet  tons  of  fruit  must  rot  yearly  for 
lack  of  means  to  get  it  to  the  coast. 
Dwarf  Sweet  Peas. — Whatever  the  proposed  conference  will  do 
in  regard  to  the  classification  of  the  Sweet  Pea,  I  hope  it  will  not  give 
too  much  encouragement  to  the  further  dwarfing  of  the  habit  of  this 
popular  garden  flower.  The  oulinafy  dwarf  Pea  is  another  matter,  and 
the  early  section,  growing  from  1  to  2  feet,  is  a  valuable  one.  But,, 
then,  we  grow  culinary  Peas  for  utility  purposes,  and  so  long  as  a 
variety  is  prolific  and  of  good  quality,  appearance  is  not  an  important 
consiaeration.  Speaking  generally,  the  dwarf  section  of  Sweet  Peas  is 
not  a  success,  and  there  are  a  few  people  who  treat  it  as  anything  but  a 
novelty,  and  not  a  very  striking  one  either.  Dwarf  Sweet  Peas  bear 
no  comparison  with  the  tall  varieties,  and  one  of  the  most  pleasing 
features  about  the  plant  is  its  branching  habit,  and  the  free  way  in 
which  its  flowers  are  produced.  Nothing  of  this  is  seen  in  the  dwart 
division. — H. 
Peronospora  In  Greece. — During  the  past  spring  we  had,  through 
the  Foreign  Office,  some  discouraging  reports  as  to  the  commercial 
prospects  of  the  Currant  and  Grape  crops  at  the  ensuing  gathering 
season;  from  Patras  we  have  now  to  hand  disquieting  intelligence 
respecting  the  ravages  of  the  Peronospora  throughout  the  more 
extended  district  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  the  above-noted  crops. 
The  pest  appears  to  have  been  spreading  and  growing  in  activity  since 
the  early  part  of  May,  and  when  the  news  was  forwarded  the  damage 
was  estimated  at  30  to  50  per  cent,  for  the  Currants,  and  50  to  60  per 
cent,  to  the  vintage.  The  weather  continued  to  be  favourable  to  the 
development  of  the  pest,  which  is  reported  to  be  rapidly  spreading. 
As  both  crops  are  liable  to  sustain  damage  from  the  malady  until  they 
obtain  maturity  towards  the  middle  of  next  month,  fears  are  naturally 
entertained,  says  a  contemporary,  that  a  very  largo  proportion  of  both 
crops  will  be  lost,  unless  some  favourable  change  in  the  weather 
suddenly  arrest  the  progress  of  the  disease.  As  to  remedial  measures, 
sulphate  of  copoer  and  lime  dissolved  in  water  to  the  extent  of  1  to  2 
per  cent.,  and  then  sprinkled  over  the  plant,  is  considered  a  remedy  or 
preventive  against  the  Peronospora ;  but  although  this  method  has 
been  largely  adopted  by  most  cultivators,  the  result  has  been  only 
partially  successful.  It  may  be  noted  that,  as  the  welfare  of  most 
classes  of  the  population  in  the  Patras  district  is  bound  up  in  the 
success  of  the  two  crops  mentioned,  it  will  readily  be  understood  what 
a  calamity  may  ensue  should  the  disease  not  be  checked.  It  is  reported 
from  Nauplia  that  the  crop  of  Sultanas  has  also  suffered  severely. 
Cambridge  Botanic  Gardens. — Among  the  more  important  and 
interesting  of  the  plants  which  have  been  received  are  Begonia 
Hemsleyana  (“  Botanical  Magazine,”  tab.  7685),  remarkable  as  an  Old 
World  species  on  account  of  its  palmately  divided  leaves ;  Begonia 
venosa  (”  Botanical  Magazine,”  tab.  7657),  characterised  by  the  large 
membranous  stipules  which  hide  the  stem ;  Cinnamomum  zeylanicum, 
the  Cinnamon  tree  ;  Crinnm  natans,  extraordinary  among  other  species 
of  this  genus  in  the  adaptation  of  its  leaves  for  growth  in  water ;  Cycas 
siamensis,  a  rare  and  distinct  species  (purchased)  ;  Encephalartos 
brachyphyllus,  a  good  addition  to  the  collection  of  Cycads ;  Fugosia 
.  hakemfolia,  a  rare  ornamental  Malvad ;  Incarvillea  variabilis 
(“  Botanical  Magazine,”  tab.  7651),  an  interesting  addition  to  the  genus  ; 
Dianthus  Knappi,  interesting  in  the  genus  on  account  of  its  yellow 
flowers ;  the  true  Delphinium  Staphisagria  in  the  place  of  a  long 
cultivated  spurious  plant,  interesting  from  the  use  of  the  seeds  in 
certain  parasiticide  ointments  ;  Lewisia  T  weedyi  (“  Botanical  Magazine,” 
tab.  7633),  a  choice  perennial  for  rock  culture  ;  Lycopodium  diohotomum, 
a  tropical  species ;  Meoonopsis  panioulata,  probably  a  new  species ; 
Nicotiana  sylvestris  (“  Botanical  Magazine,”  tab.  7652)  a  new 
ornamental  species  of  the  Tobacco  genus;  Salvinia  auriculata,  an 
interesting  addition  to  the  one  species  hitherto  cultivated;  Zizania 
latifolia,  a  gigantic  aquatic  Grass  allied  to  wild  Eice ;  and  Kniphofia 
Tysoni,  a  recently  introduced  species  from  East  Griqualand. 
