438 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  15,  19CK)i 
NOTES 
Weatlier  In  laondon.  —  On  Saturday  and  Sunday  there  was 
a  decided  change  from  the  weather  of  the  previous  day^  it  being 
both  drier  and  cooler,  with  a  little  sunshine.  On  Monday  it  turned 
very  wet  and  duH,  no  eunsbine  being  registered,  the  same  conditions 
prevailing  on  Tuesday.  Wednesday  opened  fairly  bright,  but  with 
indications  of  rain. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society — The  next  Fruit  and  Flower 
Show  of  the  Tloyal  Horticultural  Society  will  be  held  on  Tuesda; , 
November  20th,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  James  Street,  Westminster,  1  to  4  p  m. 
A  lecture  on  “Mistakes  in  Fiuit  Culture”  will  be  given  by  Mr. 
Geo.  Bunyard,  V.M.H.,  at  three  o’clock.  The  following  dates  have 
been  fixed  provisionally  for  meetings  in  1901  : — January  15th,  29th ; 
February  12th,  26th;  March  12th,  26th;  April  9th,  23rd;  May  7th, 
22nd,  23rd, ‘^24th  (Temple)  j  June  4th,  18th;  July  2nd,  16th  (Con¬ 
ference  on  Lilies),  30th;  August  13th,  27th;  September  10th,  24th; 
October  lOtb,  11th,  12th  (Crystal  Palace),  15th,  29th ;  November  12th, 
2i3th ;  December  17tb. 
The  Value  of  Timber.  — Forests  of  shady  trees  mitigate  climatic 
conditions,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  attract  rain  showers. 
Leaves  generate  oxygen  and  absorb  obnoxious  gases,  forming  a  natural 
antidote  to  grievances  of  crowded  cities.  Shady  trees  prevent  sun¬ 
stroke,  aud  also  prevent  ophthalmia,  the  curse  of  many  southern 
climates.  Where  there  are  no  trees,  the  glare  of  the  sun  on  the  sand  is 
equal  to  its  shining  on  snow. 
Insects  and  Prehistoric  Forests. — It  is  not  unlikely  (writes 
Professor  N.  S.  Shaler  in  the  “  Forester  *’)  that  some  of  the  curious 
alterations  in  the  distribution  of  forest  trees  which  geologists  have 
recognised  may  have  been  due  to  the  development  in  former  ages  of 
the  gypsy  moth  or  other  like  destructive  species  of  insect.  Thus  in  the 
early  Miocenic  Tertiary  Europe  was  tenanted  by  a  host  of  species  closely 
akin  to  those  that  now  form  our  admirable  American  broad. leaved  forests. 
The  Magnolias,  the  Gums,  and  the  Tulip  Trees  were  as  well  developed  in 
Europe  as  they  are  in  this  country.  Suddenly  all  these  species 
disappeared  from  the  Old  World.  There  are  evidences  to  show  that 
the  change  was  not  due  to  an  alteration  in  climate.  It  is  a  reasonable 
conjecture  that  that  alteration  was  brought  about  by  the  invasion  of  an 
insect  enemy  which  may  have  been  the  ancestor  of  the  gypsy  moth. 
Truffle-Hunting. — There  is  an  interesting  illustrated  account  in 
the  November  “  Strand  ”  of  “  Trulfle-Hunting  with  Pigs  and  Doge.” 
The  writer  describes  a  hunting-ground  near  Carpentras,  in  the  Depart¬ 
ment  of  the  Vaucluse,  France,  as  “  a  plantation  of  small  but  bushy  Oak 
trees.”  This  is  how  the  hunting  proceeds : — “  The  pig  made  for  the 
plantation,  selected  a  tree,  and  began  digging.  With  her  snout  she 
quickly  made  a  large  hole,  scattering  earth  and  stones  right  and  left. 
The  farmer,  who  is  intently  watching  the  operation,  stoops  down 
quickly,  gives  the  animal  a  tap  on  the  snout,  and  puts  a  few  acorns 
before  her,  then  fishes  out  of  the  hole  a  Potato-like  bulk  nearly  the  size  of 
a  hen’s  egg,  deep  purple  in  colour,  and  covered  with  little  warts  ;  inside 
it  is  grey,  veined  with  white  like  marbles.  This,  we  were  informed, 
was  a  good  specimen  of  valuable  black  Truffle.”  Pigs  are  passionately 
fond  of  Truffles,  and  the  acorns  with  which  they  are  supplied  are  a  “  sop 
to  Cerberus  ”  to  prevent  them  from  eating  their  find.  The  value  of  the 
”  Diamant  de  la  cuisine,”  as  a  French  wit  and  gourmet  calls  the  Truffle, 
has,  we  are  told,  wonderfully  increased  during  the  last  forty  years. 
They  were  sold  before  that  period  in  the  market  at  Carpentras  for  from 
four  to  five  francs  the  2  lbs.,  now  the  price  ranges  from  twenty  to  forty 
francs  for  the  same  quantity.  The  increase  in  price  has  naturally  given 
a  great  impetus  to  the  Truffle-collecting  industry.  In  former  years 
thousands  were  left  to  rot  in  the  ground,  now  every  villager  collects, 
and  every  nook  is  explored,  yet  the  demand  is  well  ahead  of  the  supply. 
For  a  medium  year  the  sale  of  Truffles  in  the  Place  for  Carpentras 
from  December  to  March  amounted  to  two  million  francs.  Certain 
kinds  of  Truffles  are  found  in  England,  but,  the  writer  says,  they  are 
of  very  inferior  quality.  On  account  of  beiog  much  cheaper  than  the 
black  Truffles,  they  can  be  bought  at  from  2a.  to  3s.  a  lb.  In  Epping 
Forest  false  Truffles  grow  in  large  quantities  above  the  ground.  These 
are  collected  and  sold  to  the  small  foreign  restaurants. 
Ben  Cant  Memorial  Prize  Fund. — The  following  additional 
contributions  have  been  promised: — Mr.  C.  E.  Shea,  £1  Is.;  Colonel 
Pitt,  £1 ;  Rev.  H.  B.  Biron,  5s. ;  Mr.  R.  G.  West,  10s.  6d. ;  the  Rev. 
H.  A.  Berners,  £1. 
Examination  In  Horticulture.  - —  The  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  will  hold  its  next  examination  in  horticulture  on  Wednesday, 
April  24tb,  1901.  For  syllabus,  apply  to  the  Secretary,  R.H.S.,  117, 
Victoria  Street,  S.W. 
An  Australian  Colony  of  Vegetarians. — A  colony  of  vege¬ 
tarians  is  living  on  Tagula  Island,  a  tiny  bit  of  land  in  the  Dutch 
archipelago,  about  700  miles  south-east  from  New  Guinea  and  1000 
miles  north-east  from  Australia.  Under  the  leadership  of  a  Methodist 
clergyman,  the  Rev.  James  Newlin,  of  Ohio,  some  seventy  people  sailed 
from  San  Francisco  in  1890  for  Hawaii.  They  believed  that  a  higher 
plane  of  Christianity  was  to  be  reached  by  a  vegetarian  diet  and 
freedom  from  contamination  with  degenerate  mankind,  so  they  gave  up 
their  friends  and  homes  in  the  Eastern  States.  Tagula  Island  was 
finally  chosen  for  their  colony,  and  the  fifty  good-natured  natives  there 
welcomed  the  newcomers.  There  have  since  been  accessions  to  the 
colony  of  people  from  England,  Australia,  and  America. 
Royal  Botanic  Society  of  Bondon. — Four  lectures  on  the 
“  First  Principles  of  Colonisation  and  Plantation,”  by  Mr.  R.  Hedger- 
Wallace,  formerly  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  Victoria,  and  the 
Government  Horticultural  College,  Melbourne,  are  to  be  delivered  in 
the  Museum  at  the  Gardens  on  Friday  afternoons,  November  16th,  23rd, 
30th,  December  7tb,  at  three  o’clock.  The  chair  at  the  introductory 
lecture  will  be  taken  by  Lieut.-General  Sir  Andrew  Clark,  G.C.M.G.,  &c., 
Agent-General  for  Victoria.  The  object  of  this  short  course  is  not  an 
attempt  to  teach  in  this  country  the  practical  details  of  cultivation 
requisite  for  the  successful  and  profitable  cultivation  of  the  plants 
named,  but  rather  an  attempt  to  indicate  the  various  factors  that 
should  be  determined  before  anyone  either  engages  personally  in  the 
cultivation  of  such  commercial  plants  in  any  British  colony  or  dependency, 
or  invests  capital  at  home,  in  such  ventures. 
Ctarysantbemums  at  tbe  Exblbltlon. — The  Paris  correspondent 
of  “  Truth  ”  says  : — “  As  to  hands  we  are,  compared  to  Chinese,  Japs, 
and  Cingalese,  miserably  inferior.  We  are  a  handless  race,  and  the 
vaunted  Anglo-Saxon  the  most  so.  Who  else  but  the  Anglo-Saxon 
would  ruin  beyond  redemption  the  fine  hand  of  woman  by  setting  it  up 
to  scrub  and  freestone  hall-door  steps  ?  What  barbarism  under  the 
mask  of  cleanliness  !  As  to  gardeners,  the  Japanese  have  left  all  othera 
out  of  sight.  We  had  two  of  the  Mikado’s  head  gardeners  to  give 
lessons  in  Chrysanthemum  training  to  those  of  the  city  of  Paris.  They 
had  willing  and  skilful  pupils  ;  but  no  European  could  devote  to  flower 
culture  the  patience,  perseverance,  and  resource  of  the  Jap.  A  Chinese 
might,  but  he  would  go  in  beaten  tracks.  One  of  the  head  gardeners 
spent  eleven  hours  a  day  for  weeks  in  bringing  up  a  Chrysanthemum  in 
the  way  it  should  go.  He  coaxed  and  forced  it ;  he  studied  and 
modified  the  soil  as  a  French  chef  might  the  raw  materials  for  a  feast, 
and  he  produced  a  flower  so  wondrous  that  the  sight  of  it  took  one  a 
breath  away — a  plant  covered  with  flowers  that  had  all  the  caprice, 
daring  fancy,  amusing  imprecu  of  bonnets  fresh  from  a  Paris  millinei’s 
fingers.” 
A  Cherry  Sensation. — Count  Boni  de  Castellane  has  paid  Its. 
each  for  the  first  Cherries  in  the  Paris  market  this  year.  But  inquiries 
in  the  West  End  disclose  the  fact  that  preparation  has  been  made 
during  the  summer  to  furnish  the  tables  of  the  very  rich  this  winter 
with  tiny  fruit  trees  bearing  the  delicious  burden  of  summer  or  early 
autumn.  Said  a  Regent  Street  fruiterer  to  an  “Express”  repre¬ 
sentative,  “  No  dinner  will  be  really  smart  this  winter  unless  dwarf 
fruit  trees  are  used  for  ornament  and  dessert.  The  Cherry  tiee  is  thd 
favourite,  and  as  it  comes  to  the  table  it  is  from  four  to  five  years  old, 
and  not  above  3  feet  high,  with  compact  foliage,  and  all  agleam  with 
big,  red,  ripe  Cherries.  Every  day  trees  are  taken  into  the  hothouse  so 
as  to  have  a  constant  supply  of  fruit  in  midwinter.  We  arrange  it  so 
that  at  Christmas  one  tree  will  be  loaded  with  ripe  fruit  while  anothe 
is  in  blossom.  While  Cherries  are  the  favourite  forced  fruit,  yet  there 
is  some  demand  for  red  Apples,  Pears,  and  Peaches.  The  tiees  ar 
treated  in  the  same  way,  and  only  a  small  quantity  of  fruit  is  allowed 
to  mature.  The  Parisian  fruit-forcers  are  counting  upon  a  heavy 
demand  from  London  for  their  peculiar  product.  The  prices  will  be 
very  high.  As  for  the  Cherries  bought  by  Count  de  Castellane,  tb<  y 
were  the  first  in  the  market,  and  he  wished  to  make  a  sensation.  Th 
next  day  they  sold  for  only  6s.  apiece. 
