84 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  26,  1900. 
CARDEH.CI£MNINCS 
To  “  Vaccinate  Trees.” — A  New  York  painter  named  Brooks 
says  he  has  discovered  a  method  for  vaccinating  trees  to  prevent 
their  destruction  by  insects.  He  claims,  says  the  ”  New  York  World,” 
that  within  two  days  after  a  tree  trunk  is  vaccinated  with  his 
preparation  the  fluid  will  circulate  throughout  the  entire  tree,  killing 
any  caterpillar  or  insect  that  may  be  on  the  most  remote  limb  without 
injuring  the  tree  in  any  way.  Unhappily,  scientists  laugh  at  his  claims, 
saying  that  his  vaccinating  system  is  ridiculous. 
Tree  Planting. — Tree  planting  for  an  unusual  purpose  has  been 
recommended  to  residents  of  the  western  irrigation  districts  by 
Mr.  W.  L.  Hall,  assistant  superintendent  of  tree  planting  of  the 
division  of  forestry,  who  has  recently  been  in  New  Mexico  on  an 
investigation.  Agriculture  in  that  region  depends  largely  on  irrigation, 
and  the  streams  and  reservoirs  are  much  depleted  by  evaporation  due  to 
heat  and  dry  winds.  Mr.  Hall  recommends  that  belts  of  trees  be 
planted  along  every  ditch  and  reservoir,  not  only  to  shade  them  but  to 
shelter  them  from  wind.  The  problem  of  preventing  evaporation  is 
very  important,  not  only  on  account  of  the  loss  of  water,  but  because 
the  percentage  of  alkali  in  the  quantity  remaining  becomes  excessive. 
Outdoor  Tomatoes. — It  will  be  a  matter  for  regret,  says  the 
“  Rural  World,”  if  the  fear  as  to  the  outdoor  Tomato  crop  is  verified, 
for  it  has  become  so  popular,  and  those  grown  in  England  are 
greatly  preferred  to  the  foreign  article.  The  low  temperature  was 
followed  by  heavy  rains,  and  the  combination  is  more  than  likely  to 
result  in  a  partial  failure,  at  least,  of  the  crop.  It  will,  of  course 
be  a  heavy  loss  to  the  growers  in  many  of  the  southern  counties, 
where  thousands  of  plants  are  grown  in  the  open,  and  fruit  equal, 
if  not  superior,  to  that  obtained  from  Guernsey  is  produced.  If 
some  portion  of  the  crop  benefits  by  the  present  hot  weather,  a 
great  deal  must  be  counted  as  a  dead  loss,  and  the  chances  are  that 
prices  will  advance. 
Cucumber  Cardiff  Castle. — There  are  a  good  many  varieties  of 
Cucumber  nowadays,  but  none  too  many  that  possess  the  qualities 
that  growers  want.  The  other  day  I  was  much  struck  with  the 
appearance  of  a  Cucumber  growing  in  the  gardens  of  J.  F.  Campbell, 
Esq.,  at  Woodseat,  Staffordshire.  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Holling- 
worth,  the  gardener,  that  he  was  unable  for  soine  time  to  obtain  a 
Cucumber  to  suit  him,  and  he  mentioned  this  to  Mr.  Pettigrew,  the 
well-known  gardener  at  Cardiff  Castle.  The  latter  supplied  the  want, 
for  he  had  raised  Cardiff  Castle  Cucumber,  and  a  first-class  variety  it 
is.  It  is  not  large,  and  size  is  no  great  recommendation  in  a  Cucumber, 
but  it  is  tender  and  fleshy,  and  what  is  more,  a  great  bearer.  On  the 
plants  referred  to  I  observed  in  many  places  three  and  four  fruits 
growing  from  an  axil,  all  about  of  a  size,  and  the  plants  were  bearing 
heavily,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  had  been  cropping  for  some 
time.  Mr.  Pettigrew  has  done  rnany  things  to  benefit  horticulture, 
and  he  added  to  the  list  when  he  introduced  Cardiff  Castle  Cucumber. 
— G.  H. 
Veronica  Colensol.  —  Out  of  a  collection  of  fifty  species  and 
varieties  of  shrubby  Veronicas  planted  in  a  border,  sheltered  by  the 
wall  of  a  greenhouse  at  Kew,  this  proved  last  winter  to  be  one  of  the 
most  hardy,  for  while  nearly  one-half  were  killed  outright  and  several 
severely  injured,  this,  with  buxifolia,  cupressoides,  decumbens,  Kirki, 
glauco-ccerulea,  and  two  or  three  others,  was  quite  uninjured.  In 
addition  to  being  one  of  the  most  hardy,  it  is  also  one  of  the  most 
beautiful,  whether  from  a  flower  or  foliage  point  of  view.  It  is  a 
New  Zealand  plant,  in  habit  forming  a  cushion-like  mass  6  or  8  inches 
high  and  sometimes  several  feet  through.  The  leaves  are  small,  thick 
in  texture,  and  very  glaucous.  The  flowers  are  white  with  purple 
stamens  and  are  borne  in  short,  dense,  upright  racemes  from  axillary 
buds  near  the  point  of  each  shoot.  Being  an  easy  plant  to  manage, 
of  good  habit,  and  free  flowering,  it  makes  an  excellent  subject  for  a 
sheltered  place  on  the  rockery  or  other  position  where  a  neat,  dwarf 
growing  shrub  is  required.  In  cold  districts  it  is  advisable  to  root  a 
few  cuttings  annually  in  case  a  severe  winter  should  prove  too  much 
for  it  to  stand. — W.  D. 
Scraping-  the  Old  Bark  of  Truit  Trees. — Trees  have  no  mire 
use  for  old  bark  than  for  old  leaves.  In  every  healthy  tree  Nature 
provides  means  for  getting  rid  of  it,  but  these  are,  says  Mr.  Meehan, 
not  always  so  active  as  they  should  be,  and  art  has  to  help  where 
nature  fails.  Hide-bound  trees,  and  scaly-barked  trees,  must  be 
assisted  by  washes,  and  by  scraping  where  the  old  bark  is  scaly  and 
does  not  pass  freely  away.  This  is  the  plan  for  temporary  relief.  But 
a  permanent  cure  is  by  liberal  manuring.  A  tree  in  prime  vigour  will 
take  care  of  its  own  useless  bark. 
Hydrangea  Hortensls  var.  alba. — A  group  of  this  white  flowered 
form  of  the  common  Hydrangea  has  been  in  flower  for  several  weeks 
in  the  temperate  house  at  Kew,  where  it  has  made  a  striking  contrast 
to  the  coloured  forms.  It  was  imported  from  Japan  two  or  three  years 
ago.  Grown  as  a  bush  it  made  numerous  heads  of  sterile  flowers  about 
3  inches  across.  This  year,  kept  to  a  single  stem,  the  heads  are  from 
6  to  8  inches  in  diameter,  and  some  of  the  larger  sterile  flowers  exceed 
4  inches  in  width.  With  stronger  cuttings  to  commence  witn  the 
heads  of  flowers  could  doubtless  be  got  quite  as  large  as  those  of  the 
coloured  forms.  Market  growers  who  have  seen  it  predict  a  future  as 
a  market  plant,  at  any  rate  it  makes  a  welcome  addition  to  those 
already  largely  cultivated. — R.  G.  K. 
The  Application  of  Xtlme. — The  best  as  well  as  the  cheapest 
form  to  apply  lime  to  the  land  is  in  powdered  phosphate  of  lime, 
procured  in  the  low  grade  powdered  phosphates,  at  a  lower  price  than 
for  lime,  with  the  additional  value  of  the  phosphoric  acid,  as  much 
in  quantity  as  is  contained  in  the  commercial  fertilisers  termed  super¬ 
phosphates,  and  very  much  more  than  is  contained  in  wood  ashes. 
Powdered  phosphate  of  lime,  moistened  with  a  little  water,  yields  to 
water  a  considerable  quantity  of  soluble  phosphate  of  lime,  and  the 
solubility  rapidly  increases  by  the  addition  of  organic  ma^tter.  Hence, 
says  Mr.  A.  Ward  in  a  trans-Atlantic  contemporary,  wherever  earihy 
phosphates  of  lime  exist  with  organic  matter,  water  will  invariably 
dissolve  a  portion,  progressively  with  the  decomposition  of  organic 
matter  by  fermentation.  This  fact  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
agriculture. 
Fruit  Culture  In  South  Africa. — South  Africa,  until  quite 
recent  years,  was  noted  more  for  the  production  of  wool,  mohair,  and 
ostrich  feathers,  than  for  the  growth  of  fruit.  The  reason  was  simply 
that  all  these  could  be  exported,  in  the  raw  state,  to  European  markets, 
without  any  risk  of  damage  in  transit  from  the  slow  state  of  transport. 
With  fruit  it  was  otherwise.  It  is  not  so  long  ago  that  tons  of  Peaches, 
Apricots,  and  such  like  fruit  were  allowed  to  rot  under  the  trees  within 
one  hundred  miles  of  Cape  Town,  and  all  the  Grapes  grown  had  perforce 
to  be  made  into  cheap  wine  or  brandy.  The  ever-increasing  growth  of 
the  markets  in  Kimberley  and  the  mining  to.wns  of  the  Transvaal  and 
Rhodesia,  to  say  nothing  of  the  export  trade,  has  provided  an  outlet 
for  all  the  choice  fruit  that  can  be  grown.  The  South  African  railways 
have  now  quite  an  up-to-date  system  of  cool  cars  for  the  conveyance 
of  fresh  fish,  fruit,  and  other  perishables  to  the  interior  from  the 
coast. 
Xilllum  kewense.  —  Several  plants  of  this  new  hybrid  are  at 
present  flowering  in  the  Himalayan  house  at  Kew.  It  originated  by 
crossing  L.  Browni  var.  chloraster  with  pollen  of  L.  Henryi,  and  in 
flowers  and  foliage  the  parentage  can  be  readily  traced.  As  yet  the 
bulbs  are  small,  and  with  the  exception  of  one  plant,  which  has  two 
flowers,  one  flower  only  is  prr.duced  by  each  plant.  In  shape  the 
flowers  suggest  a  large  “Henryi”  or  medium-sized  “auratum;”  they 
are  between  5  and  6  inches  across.  The  segments  of  the  corolla  are 
4J  to  5  inches  long,  rrflexed  at  the  end.  The  outer  segments  are 
li,  and  the  inner  If  inch  wide.  In  colour  the  groundwork  is  cream 
with  a  rich  yellow  mark  along  the  centre  of  each  petal.  The  centres 
of  the  petals  are  channelled  rather  deeply  towards  the  base,  the  channel 
being  green.  In  one  or  two  flowers  a  few  splashes  of  brown  are  found 
at  the  base  of  the  petals,  and  on  a  plant  flowering  in  an  open  frame 
in  full  sun  tinges  of  rose  are  evident  outside.  On  different  plants  the 
leaves  vary,  some  being  long  and  narrow  as  in  Browni,  others  very 
similar,  to  Henryi.  The  bulb  in  shape  somewhat  resembles  that  of  the 
male  parent.  The  cross  was  effected  on  July  23rd,  1897,  the  seeds  sown  on 
November  5th,  1897,  and  the  first  flower  opened  on  July  19th,  1900, 
so  that  barely  three  years  have  elapsed  between  crossing  and  flowering. 
It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  Henryi  has  transmitted  its  good 
constitution  and  hardiness  to  its  offspring,  if  so  it  ought  to  make  a 
useful  garden  plant.  In  shape  of  flower  and  almost  entire  absence  of 
scent  a  large  share  of  Henryi  blood  is  evident — ,  Kkwitj:. 
