June  13,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
499 
Staking  Runner  Beans. — Regarding  Mr.  W.  R.  Raillem’s  query 
on  page  454  of  the  Journal  for  May  30th,  whether  we  advise  staking  as 
against  pinching,  we  had  hoped  our  oalendarial  writer  would  have 
answered,  as  the  advice  about  staking  is  his.  In  the  meantime,  failing 
his  opinion,  we  may  state  our  views  to  be,  that  where  stakes  oan  be 
cheaply  secured  (as  they  can  on  most  large  estates),  it  certainly  is  the 
best  plan  to  train  the  Runner  Beans  upon  stakes,  and  not  to  pinch. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  gardens  where  tall  and  suitable  stakes  are  not 
easily  or  cheaply  procurable  pinohing  may  be  resorted  to,  and  large 
crops  of  Beans  can  be  obtained  ;  also  in  field  culture,  where  the  rows 
are  close  together,  pinohing  is  advisable. 
Worthing  as  Bruit  Centre. — Worthing  has  long  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  one  of  the  most  important  fruit  producing  centres  in  the 
kingdom,  and  the  extent  to  which  the  oulture  is  carried  on  is  indicated 
in  the  latest  statistics,  which  show  that  there  are  now  in  the  borough 
abont  850  glass  houses,  which,  placed  end  to  end,  would  extend  a 
distance  of  twenty-four  miles  ;  and  that  more  than  120  miles  of  pipes 
are  used  in  the  heating  process.  The  growth  of  the  Tomato  shows  a 
considerable  diminution,  but  Grapes,  Cucumbers,  and  flowers  continue 
to  be  grown  in  immense  quantities,  and  about  90  tons  of  produce  are 
consigned  weekly  to  Covent  Garden  and  to  Birmingham,  Manchester, 
Glasgow,  ai  d  elsewhere.  Very  early  in  the  year,  when  the  scarcity  of 
the  crop  was  sufficient  to  account  for  inflated  prices,  from  16s.  to  18a.  a 
pound  was  easily  obtainable  for  Strawberries  in  the  wholsale  market. 
Exterminating  British  Flora. — The  “course”  for  1901  of  the 
Essex  Technical  Instruction  Committee  for  Field  Studies  in  Natural 
History  is  intended  to  instruct  teachers  in  the  elements  of  botany  by 
means  of  rambles  in  search  of  wild  flowers.  One  leading  feature  is  a 
vacation  course  <  f  ten  days  in  the  New  Forest.  “  The  teachers,”  writes 
Prof.  L.  C.  Miall  to  “  The  Times,”  “  are  to  be  accompanied  by  local 
guides,  and  their  attention  is  particularly  directed  to  the  rarest  species, 
which  aie  specially  named,  as  well  as  the  places  in  which  they  are 
known  to  grow.  To  collect,  dry,  and  identify  plants  is  the  chief  aim  of 
the  leaders,  who  not  only  urge  every  teacher  to  make  his  own  collection, 
but  suggest  that  duplicate  plants  will  prove  useful  for  ‘special 
fascicles.’  It  teems  to  me  lamentable  that  teachers  should  be  advised 
to  study  natural  history  by  schedules,  and  to  gather  plants  merely  in 
order  to  name  and  dry  them.  I  imagine  that  they  will  be  worse  and 
not  better  for  working  through  so  dry  and  barren  a  course.  All  of  us, 
whether  we  are  concerned  with  the  teaching  of  botany  or  not,  have  an 
interest  in  the  preservation  of  our  native  plants.  The  Essex  Committee 
is  simply  organising  a  raid  upon  plants  which  are  already  near  to 
extinction.  1  hope  that  they  will  fail  to  discover  the  rarities  which 
they  selfishly  covet  ;  their  enterprise  is,  I  venture  to  say,  an  injury  to 
natural  history  and  to  education  alike.” 
The  Bald  upon  Wild  Flowers. — As  a  supplement  to  Professor 
Miall’s  letter  in  “The  Tines,”  which  we  print  in  part  under  the 
heading  “Exterminating  British  Flora,”  Mr.  Herbert  Goss  wrote  to 
say  that  if  the  programme  of  the  Essex  Technical  Instruction  Com¬ 
mittee  for  field  studies  in  natural  history  be  carried  out,  such  very 
rare  and  local  species  as  Gladiolus  illyricus,  Isnardia  palustris,  and 
Spiranthes  testivalis  could  be  extirpated  in  a  week.  Isnardia  palustris 
has  disappeared  from  Buxted,  Sussex;  and  from  Petersfield,  East 
Hampshire,  and  is  now  only  found  in  a  few  places  in  the  New  Forest. 
Gladiolus  illyricus  is  cot  fined  to  a  few  localitie  in  the  Forest,  but  it  is 
there  more  or  less  protected  by  its  habit  of  growing  among  the  braoken 
(Pteris  aquilina).  With  the  exception  of  one  locality  in  Wyre  Forest, 
Worcestershire,  that  beautiful  Orchis,  Spiranthes  aestivalis,  is  confined, 
in  the  Urited  Kingdom,  to  two  bogs  in  the  New  Forest,  and  in  one  of 
these  it  ba6  become  almost  extinct.  The  three  species  above  named 
are,  in  Professor  Miall’s  words,  “  already  near  to  extinction.”  *  *  Mr. 
J.  H.  Nici  olap,  secretary  to  the  Technical  Instruction  Committee  of  the 
Essex  C.C.,  and  Mr.  D.  Houston,  F.L.S.,  the  botanical  instructor,  have 
issued  a  strong  disclaimer  to  Professor  Miall’s  statements.  It  is  not, 
they  explained,  the  intention  of  the  Essex  ramblers  to  oarry  a  horde  of 
ignorant  vandals  into  the  secret  places  of  the  Forest,  there  to  root  up 
and  carry  away  rare  specimens  of  plants.  “  I  held  quite  as  strong 
views  as  Professor  Miall  himself,”  said  Mr.  Houston.  “  The  whole 
spirit  of  cur  teaching  is  against  the  mere  collection  of  rare  plants.  As 
it  happens,  I  am  not  a  collector  myself,  the  people  who  will  go  with  us 
to  the  New  Forest  will  be,  for  the  most  part,  skilled  students  who  have 
attended  our  weekly  rambles  and  lectures  for  years  past.  In  the 
syllabus,  to  which  Professor  Miall  objects,  we  twice  urge  the  members 
of  the  party  to  refrain  from  uprooting  rare  or  scarce  specimens.” 
Flowers  In  Season. — There  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  variation 
and  colour  oontrast  amongst  the  new  strains  of  hybrid  Aquilegias.  The 
blue  and  white  of  the  old  Siberian  A.  glandulosa  has  become  suffused 
with  the  red  and  orange  of  A.  canadensis  and  A.  chrysantha,  so  that 
now  we  have  such  lovely  presentations  as  creamy  white  petals  and  deep 
lavender  spurs  and  sepals;  canary  yellow  and  russety-orimson ;  prim¬ 
rose  and  “blotting-paper”  red;  and  a  great  range  of  other  very 
pleasing,  harmonious,  or  agreeable  contrasts.  Messrs.  James  Veitch 
and  Sons  of  the  Royal  Exotic  Nurseries,  Chelsea,  forwarded  a  delightful 
bunch  of  their  hybrid  strain  last  week,  and  it  was  their  flowers  that  the 
above  notes  describe. 
Royal  Botanic  Society. — His  Majesty  the  King  has  graciously 
consented  to  beoome  the  patron  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Society,  in 
succession  to  her  late  Majesty  Queen  Victoria,  its  first  patron.  *  * 
A  course  of  ten  lectures  on  “Commercial  Crop  Cultivation  in  Greater 
Britain,”  by  Mr.  R.  Hedger- Wallace,  are  arranged  to  take  place  in  the 
Society’s  gardens  on  Friday  afternoons  at  four  o’clock,  from  June  7th 
to  August  9th.  *  *  On  page  461,  May  30th,  it  is  stated  that  Mr. 
E.  F.  Hawes  is  superintendent  of  the  above  society’s  gardens.  This  is 
incorrect  ;  Mr.  J.  Bryant  Sowerby  is  secretary  and  superintendent, 
while  Mr.  Hawes  is  instructor  in  horticulture.  On  the  page  already 
quoted,  it  is  also  stated  that  the  gardens  are  four  acres  in  extent.  This 
refers  to  the  medicinal  or  herb  garden ;  the  total  area,  we  are  informed, 
is  about  eighteen  acres. 
Fyrethrums  from  Eangport.  —  A  seleoted  consignment  of 
Pyrethrum  varieties  was  received  by  us  last  week  from  Messrs.  Kelway 
and  Sons  of  Langport.  In  this  delightful  posy  there  were  some  very 
beautiful  singles,  and  none  superior  to  James  Kelway,  with  rich  cherry* 
amaranth  ray  petals  and  golden  disc.  Of  a  paler  shade  is  General 
Gaselee,  which  is  also  first-rate ;  and  paler  still  (lilac-crimson)  is  the 
variety  named  Grizel.  Single  Pyrethrum  Countess  of  Onslow  is 
delicately  beautiful,  and  of  a  pale  rose-lilao  oast,  and  is,  moreover, 
faintly  odorous.  Queen  of  the  Whites  is  very  pure  and  lovely,  besides 
producing  a  strong  flower;  and  equalling  any  of  the  preceding  is  the 
variety  named  Alice,  whose  deep  pink  flowers,  with  their  orange 
disc,  are  pleasingly  attractive.  The  doubles  are  not  so  graceful. 
We  are  rather  gratified  than  regretful  to  know  that  taste  favours 
the  much  more  aosthetio  single  varieties.  At  the  same  time,  they  are 
very  showy,  and  well  nigh  indispensable  in  the  hardy  plant  borders. 
May  Weather  at  Belvolr  Castle. — The  wind  was  in  a  northerly 
direction  twenty-two  days.  The  total  rainfall  was  1'24  inch,  this 
fell  on  eight  days,  and  is  1T2  inch  below  the  average  for  the  month. 
The  greatest  daily  fall  was  0’50  inch  on  the  25th.  Barometer 
(corrected  and  reduoed) :  highest  reading,  30  483  inches  on  the  23rd  at 
9  p.M. ;  lowest  reading,  29  240  inches  on  the  7th  at  9  a.m.  Ther¬ 
mometer  :  highest  in  the  shade,  76’  on  the  29th ;  lowest,  28’  on  the 
5th.  Mean  of  daily  maxima,  60  73° ;  mean  of  daily  minima,  40'74°. 
Mean  temperature  of  the  month,  50-73°;  lowest  on  the  grass  27°  on 
5th,  highest  in  the  sun  135°  on  the  29th.  Mean  temperature  of  the 
earth  at  3  feet,  49’483.  Total  sunshine  220  hours  30  minutes,  which  is 
32  hours  37  minutes  above  the  average  for  the  month.  There  was 
one  sunless  day.  May  was  unusually  dry,  with  a  temperature  slightly 
above  the  average,  and  a  large  amount  of  sunshine ;  no  rain  fell  for  a 
period  of  sixteen  days. — W.  H.  Divers. 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Cblswlck. — Taken  in  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens — height  above  sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
O 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
© 
n 
1901. 
a  • 
o'd 
5.2 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
05 
At 
At 
At 
®  £  g 
S8.o 
-t  a  a 
©  o 
June. 
5 
Dry 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulb. 
A3 
CO 
<D 
A 
bfi 
5 
•s 
© 
* 
o 
t-3 
1-ft. 
deep. 
2- ft. 
deep. 
4-ft. 
deep. 
H 
Sunday  ..  2 
Monday..  3 
Tuesday  4 
Wed'sday  5 
Thursday  0 
Friday  ..  7 
Saturday  8 
s.w. 
s.vv. 
w.s.w. 
s.  w. 
N.N.E. 
E.S.E. 
E.S.E. 
deg. 
62-4 
604 
52  9 
62-6 
62  9 
59-7 
60  1 
deg. 
67-0 
65-5 
61-8 
655 
58-0 
51-8 
53  3 
deg. 
713 
69-5 
71- 3 
75-6 
72- 2 
68-5 
710 
deg. 
33  8 
47  8 
47-3 
49-8 
65  "6 
46  5 
48  0 
Ins. 
deg. 
604 
60-6 
60-0 
61-5 
64-0 
62  3 
61  6 
deg. 
57-2 
57-6 
67'8 
58  0 
68-6 
59  2 
591 
deg. 
63- 4 
53  4 
63  7 
63  9 
54-2 
64- 6 
64-7 
deg. 
47-5 
37'9 
37-0 
88'2 
49  ’3 
36-0 
409 
...  . 
1  ■ 
Means  . . 
60-1 
64  -7 
71-3 
470 
Total 
61-4 
68  2 
640 
41-0 
Another  week  of  hot  dry  weather,  with  strong  winds  on  two  days, 
